Happy Birthday Barbara

Well, it took a little doing, but we finally celebrated Annette's Mother's 90th Birthday. She was released from the hospital on Thursday and placed in an extended living home. She has a nice room and it is a beautiful building. We have a friend whose wife is there with alzheimers. She is happy doesn't remember much of anything. He told us that the staff was great and that he did some volunteer work there each week. We are now in the getting ready to go phase of the trip. We are looking forward to seeing Dixie on the 27th. We will be in Topeka on the 28th. We had a very scary incident occur last night with Jim, Kathleens husband. He and a riding buddy had stopped here on their way back to Wenatchee from the BMW rally in Redmond, OR. When they were about 15 miles north of here a wind shear hit Jim and blew him off the road. He was doing about 65 and he was able to walk away from it. Good clothing and helmut made the difference. He's stiff today and probably will be for a few days. He spent the night here. He has a few cuts and bruises, but he should mend OK. We thank the Lord that he is with us every step of the way. We'll see you soon.

Aren't Grandkids Fun?

We were at Kathleen's on Sunday and Grandma got to make cup cakes for Zmo and family. Jim was on a bike rally near Mt St. Helens. He arrived home in the late afternoon. It was very hot and the pool on the deck was used by people and animals alike. We had hamburgers on the grill and enjoyed the time together. Our plans got a little changed this last week. Annette's Mom was placed in the hospital early Thursday morning. We are taking everything day by day. The Birthday party for this weekend has changed. We are not sure what it will be like. She should be released from the hospital tomorrow. She probably will not be able to come out, so we will go into town to celebrate. We will know more tomorrow. We have also decided to cut back on the trip. We will be in Topeka for the Reunion, but will probably go right back home after. Kathleen and Jim and Zmo leave here on August 14th for Germany. We felt that with all that is going on, we should be close to home. Hopefully we will see those we planned to stop and see later. We are looking forward to the trip, but also know that things could change at a moments notice. See a lot of you soon.

The Fourth of July

It's that time of year again. We had 58 golf carts in the parade this year. As you can see, grandma is getting the goodies from the drivers for Zmo. She had quite a day. Time in the pool with Grandma and Cindy and then time in the pool with Grandpa and then out to the street to watch the Golf Cart Parade. This is becoming quite a show. All are decorated and most throw candy to the kids along the route. Zmo also had time to try out the new flower pot. All in all it was a wonderful day. We had ribs on the Traeger and good wine to go with it. What can get better than that. The wind was blowing so the evening fireworks were cancelled. It was too bad, but we have so much fuel on the ground it's better to be safe than sorry. Today was our big Firecracker Scramble and my team finished one shot out of the money. That's about normal. Annette's mother is turning 90 on the 17th of July. We are hosting a party for the kids and hope to have good weather, good food and good vibes. We are starting to plan for the trip to the reunion. We hope to get away from here about the 23rd or 24th of July. We will probably take four days to get to Topeka. We will stop at Dixie's on the way and maybe see Gary and Nancy there. We will spend time with Gary and Nancy on the way home. We are looking forward to seeing many friends along the way. Kathleen will leave Stuttgart tomorrow to fly home. Jim will pick her up in Seattle. She spent the Fourth in Brussels for a conference. We are looking forward to seeing her. We know they will be very busy this summer seeing old friends. I think they have to be back in Stuttgart in mid-August.

Summertime, Finally

Summertime and the living is easy. This is Francis, Kathleen's cat, enjoying the beautiful weather. Annette is in Wenatchee visiting the granddaughter. I stayed home to play golf. Many little projects to get done and the Reunion Trip is getting closer every day. We have not decided the complete trip. I was saddened to hear that Ted Coulter had passed away last week. I was planning on seeing him again this summer when we were in Topeka. I'm glad that I got the chance to see him in 2006. We'll probably be in the area about two-weeks. So many people to see and not alot of time. We will determine soon our route and let you all know. We need to check with a few people to see when they will be around and if schedules match up. We are looking forward to the trip and seeing many old friends.

Home again!

Jim and Zmo enjoyed a walk on the beach at Lake Sammamish State Park. We had lunch there after picking them up at the airport Tuesday about noon. We had some great lunchmeat we picked up in Burien and some Bitburger Bier I got at a QFC in Burien. So, we had a lunch similar to what we would have had in Germany. Jim said, "Everyone in this park speaks English, what a concept." We enjoyed the sunshine and the almost empty beach. Once we got to Wenatchee, Zmo had to get reaquainted with all the toys she used to play with. The little car was a hit and she can really make it go now. As you can see, she has grown alot, but that's what kids are supposed to do. She finally crashed about 6:30 PM. Cindy said she was up at 4:00 AM That time difference is bad.

It looks like it's heating up in Germany

What a pleasant place for a glass of Reisling. A small tributary and a cool bottle of the German good stuff. That's what they are famous for. It looks like the kids are having a good time too. Our Bestball Tournament is this weekend and we'll see if the shoulder will produce. Dave (brother-in-law) and I will see if there is any thing left in the tank. I really have been playing pretty good of late. I hope it continues. I am going to the Seattle area to play in a benefit tournament on Monday. A bunch of my ex-students are playing and I will join them. It will be interesting to see if any of them are any good at the game of golf. I am sure a few are. It will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it. July is filling up. Annette's Mother celebrates her 90th birthday on the 17th. I thought the reunion was on the third weekend, so we had planned to leave the 18th. Now, I think we will wait a week and plan on arriving in Topeka on Wednesday the 28th. We will plan on seeing friends and family after the reunion. I think Kansas City for the Fiskins and Salina for the relatives and the Harding's then on to Stockton and ScottsBluff and home. I hope we will be able to see most of you at that time. We are looking forward to the trip and getting back with friends and family. I think that Jim and Zmo are coming the 22nd of June and Kathleen will follow July 6th after a seminar. We are just taking it one day at a time. Isn't that something I heard some great coach say?

BRIGHT EYED AND BUSHY TAILED

I guess that the weather is nice in Stuttgart, too! It certainly looks like the fathers are having fun using the strollers as seats as the children play. It was very nice in Desert Aire today also. I played golf with friends and enjoyed my beer, although it was Budweiser, on the Deck. I'm getting a new computer tomorrow. It is a Quad Processor and has a lot of goodies on it. I'm sure it will be faster and more fun it play with. It also has Windows 7 and that will be fun to learn. We have a big Senior Golf Event on Wednesday. We have players from around the area coming here to play. We have 124 signed up. That will fill up the course. We have 12 golf courses we play each year and this is our turn. We will have Hamburgers and all the trimmings after golf. Annette said yesterday, Did you realize that it is only six weeks till we head for Kansas? I knew that. We are looking forward to seeing all of the cousins. But, for right now let's just keep the sunshine coming every day.