Wedding Reception at the Winery.

I fear that summer is coming to a close. It's still warm and sunny, but the nights are a little cooler. Today the wind is blowing at a stiff rate. They say it could be as high as 40 mph until 9 PM. Our weather has been very good lately. We went to Leanne's reception last Friday. She is Phillip's daughter, that's Annette youngest brother. It was a really nice reception and the food and drink was very good. They had a DJ and the dancing was good also. Met some new people and saw a lot of old friends and family. It's always nice to see the family grow. James, Leanne's husband is a gymnastics coach. He works in the Bothell area of Seattle. That's the north end if you don't know Seattle. He is not a teacher, just helps run a gymnastics program. Who knows, we might see one of his proteges in the Olympics some day. The quilt was a gift from Annette and Maggie. Maggie put it together and Annette quilted it. It is a beautiful quilt. We spent the time with Stan and Teri, Annette's other brother. We went to Cottage Grove on Sunday to see Jodi and Jim. We haven't been there for a few years. It was good to get together with all. And of course the food was good everywhere. We are getting ready for a busy September. As you can see by the photos, Kathleen and Zmo were at a biergarten somewhere enjoying the time. She starts school next week. Their time here seemed very short, but time flies when you are having fun.

Goning Home Again

Well. we haven't written for a while. We got home from Kansas on the first Thursday of August. We had a great time. Saw a lot of people and I think this was the biggest group of I'm not sure who you are reunions. I think the family is in good shape. We spent a couple of days at Gary's and Nancy's and of course had a fish fry. Dixie was able to come and join us for the festivities. Yesterday we loaded Kathleen, Jim and Zmo for the ride to Seattle for the flight back to Germany. It seemed such a short time that we got to see them. They are home now and Kathleen said that Zmo was a good traveler on the way back. She did shed a tear while landing at Amsterdam. Cindy and I put the office back together and all is well on the home front. I'll write more in a few days.

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.