Mosaic Monday

THE LAZY DAZE OF SUMMER

As the summer draws to a close I look back on the waning baseball season and remember fondly the game we attended when we were in Denver this summer.  The game itself was a gift, yes, a treasure.  It was the culmination of a day that ended in a WIN for the Rockies over the Braves.  

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AND THEY WON

12-3

OH! AND ON THAT DATE 43 YEARS AGO, RON AND I WERE WED.  THAT'S WHAT I CALL A WIN, WIN SITUATION!!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!!

Cathy

Now please visit Mary at The Little Red House and share in the beauty offered there.   Lisa at  Macro Monday  also has much to offer.  The pictures are grand.

~~Adventure Tour Express~~

This photo collage created with Smilebox

You often don't know when you are traveling and your itinerary is not set just what you'll come across in your adventures.  That's what happened when we stopped at the The Edelweiss Bed and Breakfast and Restaurant.  It is a delightful place in the heart of Missouri's Wine Country.  We had visited Daniel Boone's home and stopped to sample wine at one of the wineries on the way back to St. Louis.  On the way home we found this wonderful restaurant with the best BLT I had had in a long time.  It was delightful way to spend the day with family.

If you look closely you will see the skeletons of very early aircraft.  The restaurant was  full of memorabilia of the early days of flight.  If ever offered the opportunity to do so, give Missouri a try.  There is a lot more to be seen outside St. Louis.

Wishing you all a grand adventure.  Hoping you will share one of yours.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Hope you will join us with an adventure of your own. It is grand to share in one another's fortunes. Just link your tour below.

Aunt Mimi's Baby Shower

Click here to view these pictures larger

We had such a grand time this weekend. Here are pictures. On Sunday after Mass we went with Wes, Annie and the Girls to Steak and Shake. Grandpa's favorite. Then after the Girls and Grandpa worked on their penny coin collection, it was off to Aunt Mimi's (Marianne's) baby shower for Daniel. Daniel is due to arrive near October 1st. We are really looking forward to his coming. Please enjoy the pictures and thank you to Beth, Eric's sister, for having the party and to Nancy, Eric' mother, for hosting it. We had a wonderful time.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Honest Scrap Award

My sincere thanks to Lisa at Are We There Yet and Eileen at Umma's World for this delightful award. Both of these ladies offer me a place to go and enjoy the environment and down home friendliness. I will try to do justice by them in accepting this award and sharing a bit of who I am.

Rules:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving it.

Ten Insights I may not have shared before:

1) I knit, crochet, embroider, and do counted x-stitch (not all at the same time) but cannot skillfully use a sewing machine. My poor mother really tried, but I am totally inept!

2) I played the organ at church for 5 years, but found it to be the most difficult thing I ever had to do. I felt as if I never celebrated Mass on Sunday because I was so concerned about "getting it right." I am grateful I was able to assist in this ministry, but am most grateful to have passed it on to another.

3) I take real pleasure in being a part of the RCIA process here at St. John the Baptist Church. Being "used" in the preparation of those entering the Catholic faith has been one of my great joys. Witnessing the work of the Spirit in the lives of those choosing to enter is a thrill!

4) I love to travel. Will spend a good deal of this summer on the road! YEAH!

5) I have 5 children born in four different states, Colorado, California, Oklahoma and Indiana.

6) When in nursing school I found that the worst patients in the hospital were the Dr. and nurse. I was determined that when I was in the hospital I would not be demanding and bad humored. I hope I was successful.

7) Giving birth in a military hospital is an interesting experience. One is not allowed to lie around and feel sorry for oneself. The next day the corpsman comes in with your sheets and towels and gives them to you so you can get ready for breakfast. You shower, change your sheets and then get breakfast. (That was 30 years ago so I'm not sure if it has changed.) Not much time to develop postpartum blues.

8) I enjoyed Forensic and Debate in high school. There's a lot to be said for being able to stand in front of a group, perform, and take the criticism...Like American Idol?

9) Would much rather watch a live sporting event than watch it on TV...No on can hear me yell when I'm home alone watching!

10) One of my favorite flowers is the day lily! When we were in NC this last weekend I saw BLANKETS of day lilies on the highway medians!!!! It was glorious. I just wish I could have gotten a picture to show you all!!!!!

Now for the hand-off (football term)!

Abbey at Abbey's Road

Anita at Castles, Crown and Cottages

Eileen at Eileen on Him...at least I try!

Dorothy at Musing at 85

Jennifer at My Chocolate Heart

Sarah at Ora et Labora--Journey of Truth

Esther at A Catholic Mom in Hawaii

It just occurred to me that two of the women above are in Hawaii! INTERESTING!

~~~^j^~~~

For all this fun and ecxcitment I say,
"Thanks again
and
Thanks be to God!!!"

A Victorian Birthday Tea

A wonderful time was had by all.

There was dancing, singing, gifts and the special
birthday cake.

Before the cake we had tea. Constant Comment,
fruit punch and Lemonade. There were chicken salad
and egg salad sandwiches with the all time favorite
peanut butter and jelly sandwich, all courtesy of
Aunt Ruthie's Tea Room

A wonderful way to spend your 5th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Lindsey.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God~

ET First Look: 'Monsters vs. Aliens'!

This was just soooo much fun. We went to see it last night and had a grand time. It was entertaining and I was awed by the realism. Thank you, Neil. Grandpa and Grandma were glad you came to stay, because we got to see this movie.

A Saturday in INDY

Reitz Memorial High School Winter Guard
3/2009

Is it possible that when you are a grandmother you are more sensitive about watching family members perform? I don't remember tears in my eyes when I watched Laura or Wes perform at solo and ensemble. I didn' t even cry when Wes sang Bridge Over Troubled Waters at his high school graduation. But yesterday watching Kellie (3rd from the left) perform her teams winter guard performance tears did indeed well up in my eyes. Perhaps that's the reason I succeeded in getting only one good picture! They were disappointed in their performance, but when all was said and done they were 5th out of 35 school. Quite an achievement!

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Earlier that morning, Ainsley, my 6 year old granddaughter, and I had a chat. She jumped on the sofa and said "Grandma, I'm so excited!"

GM: What are you excited about?

AK: Aunt Mimi (Marianne) is going to have a baby and I am so excited. I love family.

GM: I love family, too.

AK: It is so much fun to have us all together and now you know there will be 12 of us.

GM: Yes, I know and it will be fun.

AK (With a twinkle in her eye): That means that along with Maddie you have another one of us to put on your sweatshirt.

And with a giggle she was off. You know she's right! It is fun when we are together! Family is a wonderful treasure given to us by the Father. Oh my, how fortunate I am.

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Thanks be to God!

Bad Haiku Friday

Leftover Friday
Turkey, stuffing, sweet taters
Much more Thanksgiving!

All with the family
No day more cherished than this
For all are cherished!

~~^j^~~

Truly, Thanks be to God!

Bad Haidu Yuktoberfest

It's Bad Haiku Friday with a festive flavor. So I invite up you all to enjoy the fun and frivolity here and at Catholic Teacher Musings.

It's Autumn it's true
When Halloween comes around
So here's BOO to YOU!

~~~^j^~~~

Have a grand day
and

THANKS be to GOD!

A Busy Weekend Ahead

to travel
and get there safely
a real "trip"

This is the weekend I begin my journey as a candidate as an Associate of the Sisters of Providence. I will spend Saturday at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods with my companion Sister Dorothy Rasche and other candidates to hear what is expected of us on this journey. Pray for me!

Then I'm off to Indianapolis. Sunday is Marianne's bridal shower. I'm not quite sure how to get to Marianne's as Ron is the one who always drives. Pray for me!

It should be lots of fun as it is an "around the clock shower." We will celebrate at Wes and Annie's new house and co-hostess is her sister Laura. It'll be fun to see what her "day" will hold for her.

Then, I'd like to get home by 7:00 p.m. Sunday evening. Our parish mission starts Sunday night and I really would hate to miss "opening night." Fr. Dennis is the retreat master and he was wonderful at our women's retreat last winter at St. Meinrad Archabbey. Pray for me!

You all have a grand weekend and I'll pray for you!!!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Penrod Arts Fair

We were actually at this one...had to miss last years shows but NOT this year. It is a really wonderful opportunity to see the work of the gifted and talented. So we're off tomorrow for INDY and the Penrod Arts Fair, as well as, celebrating Wes' 36th birthday. You all have a grand weekend! We will!

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Thanks be to God!!

Who'd have thought...

First Class

Ron and I have traveled some in our 40 years of marriage, though not extensively and it has mostly been to visit family. So when this summer's vacation itinerary was adopted we knew it would be exciting and challenging...

The first trip to MT started off a little rocky with a storm delay in INDY that caused us to miss our scheduled flight out of Minneapolis. Northwest took great care to make sure our flight and plans were not disrupted to dramatically. As a matter of fact, when we got off the plane in Minneapolis they already had our tickets to Billings available to us and much to our surprise we were up-graded to 1st Class.

The next trip was to the Stubbs Family Reunion in Santa Fe. All went well in our travels until our flight home. It seems the American Airlines plane that arrived the night before from LA had smoke in the cabin and it needed to be test flown to make sure it was safe to carry passengers. We were going to be late leaving Albuquerque by about 1 1/2 hours. American was great and had our flight to INDY scheduled without too much delay. When we arrived in Dallas, Marianne noticed that there was an earlier flight to INDY and so we decided that since we would not lose our seats if we chose to fly stand-by we'd give it a shot...Well, we made the stand-by flight and much to our surprise and delight we were again seated in...YES, 1st Class.

Knowing this may never happen again, Ron and I have laughed and shaken our heads in delight. It will be known as the Summer of 2008 Keller's Great Travel Adventure that began and ended in FIRST CLASS!!!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!!

"Back Home Again in Indiana..."

What a trip!! We had adventure, magnificent weather, and family fun! Montana is a great place to visit! It started off a little bumpy in INDY as we were delayed for over an hour because of severe thunder storms. So, we missed our first flight to Billings. When we landed in Minneapolis Northwest Airways already had us booked on the next flight and we were up-graded to 1st class...Have never flown 1st class and probably never will again, but it was GRAND!


There is so much to tell you and so little time (I'm doing the laundry as we speak), so I thought I would share one of the unique sandwich places to which my brother, Phil, took us. Actually, he and Ron ate at the same place in Bozman the day before...Ron just had to have another sub so they took Mom and me the next day.

It is from the Pickle Barrel...

This is just 1/2 of the Cougar Sandwich and Mom and I only ate 1/3 of it...
Whew!!! But is was good!!
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To which we all said after lunch,
"Thanks be to God!"