August Events

Here's Leila hob-nobbing with fellow baby Addison DeJongh, at Addison's parents' wedding reception last Friday (I documented this "meeting of the babies" in an earlier blog).

Addison's parents, Dave and Shelley, were married some time ago in a private ceremony, but this was their first public celebration of the event. They had a festive, picnic-style reception at Cornell's Mill Yard Park. The whole town of Cornell seemed to be in attendance.

It was a fun event. Jon saw friends he hasn't seen in years. The park's pavillion was decorated with colorful paper lanterns that lit up after dark. Instead of cake each guest could take their choice of a beautifully frosted cupcake, artfully arranged on tiered plates. Very nice.

Leila's hair is now long enough for me to put up in wispy little pig tails, so of course I had to style it like that before going to the wedding reception (Leila, nevermind that Daddy says you look like Shrek with your hair like that; you're adorable).

We spent the night at Bud and Jane's house, in part so that we could more easily attend the Ellis family reunion in Holcombe the next day. "Ellis" is Grandma Jane's maiden name; she's a middle child in a family of about ten children (I didn't call and confirm the exact number from her, but it's something like that). This is a reunion for her side of the family.

I had never been to the park in Holcombe before. It has a very nice indoor/outdoor building and kitchen area, and was airy and clean. Jon's sister Sally, along with a cousin, organized this year's reunion and potluck dinner, and the food they managed to assemble was amazing. There were games of Bingo, relay races for the children, and an auction as well.

Here's Emma with Bailey-- don't they both have pretty brown eyes? Bailey is the granddaughter of Jane's sister Pat, who's married to Marshall Ruegger. Marshall remembers Mom from her days in the DNR office, before she was married to Dad. Aunt Pat has always been very kind to Emma and Michael, remembering their birthdays and making a point to say hello and talk a little.

Here's my sister-in-law Tammy with granddaughter Malia.

I was surprised and pleased to win a large round mirror at the auction (for only a dollar!). Jane brought the mirror from her house; she showed me what good quality it was and how nicely it was mounted. I figured it would go for a lot of money at the auction but made a bid anyway, and couldn't believe it when no one else bid. Maybe because the mirror is so large. Anyway, I love it and think I found the perfect place for it...

You can see the mirror below, hanging in our house, along with our "new" dining room table (also inherited from Bud and Jane, who recently replaced their dining table). This is that extra room off our living room, which has been empty up till now. Guess we'll have to put the air mattress somewhere else when we have a guest...

Our first chance to use the new table came Tuesday, when my sister visited. Laurie had just finished a class for her teaching certification, where she learned how to use Photoshop to make cool personalized projects. We were the beneficiaries of some of that. She'd made Emma and Michael personalized note pads, magnets, even a zany puzzle featuring a bewigged maestro with a vaguely familiar face named "Michael von Hurlburt".

Another fun gift was a personalized notepad with pictures of different types of slugs on it (Last year Michael insisted that his favorite animal was the "slug"). However, the slug is now, technically, Michael's second favorite animal-- this year Michael's favorite became the platypus. Still, he appreciated the gift. Thanks, Laurie!

Laurie also brought the beautiful baby quilt she made for Leila. I love its warm colors and modern pattern.

It's always fun visiting with Laurie... the kids love her, but she isn't afraid to let them know when they're getting out of hand. She can be firm, and they listen to her! It reminds me of my dad's mother, who was also a school teacher: she did fun things like play cards and write letters to us, but she also expected good behavior and table manners. We respected that.

Laurie is a great photographer with a very good camera, and she was kind enough to take photos of my kids and then download them onto our computer before she left. I'll include some favorites here...

I think Leila looks like Dad here...

and like Susan here...



Great stuff, huh?

After Laurie's visit we packed our bags and headed to Sally's. Jon's sister Sally had Emma and Michael for an overnight last summer (she camped outside with them), but this time Leila and I were invited, as well. We didn't camp, though; we slept very comfortably in the upstairs bedrooms.

Sally's house itself is beautiful, but the house's setting-- on top of a hill overlooking miles of rolling woods and farmland, is spectacular. The house has lots of big windows, so you never forget where you are. White picket fences and grazing horses... perfect.

One luxury is the large bathtub set inside a bay window. Sally let Emma take a bubble bath in it (wearing her swim suit). Sally had "won" bath crayons at the Ellis auction a few days earlier (something Emma had also been bidding on). Sally gave Emma the crayons when we stayed at her house, and let Emma use them in her fancy white bathtub (pretty nice). Of course, Leila had to join in the fun, though she ended up leaving a little "present" for Sally to clean up later, in the bath water.

Sally is an animal lover and has taken in all kinds of "orphaned" animals. Her two little white dogs recently had puppies, and she still has two of the pups. They are adorable, and Emma held them and carried around like they were her babies.

We had planned for Sally to watch the kids for me Thursday morning, while I went to an eye appointment. I didn't make it very far out of Cornell, though, before our red van broke down. My brother-in-law Pat Sime's garage was able to send someone out with a tow truck; they took a look at it and think it will be pretty expensive to fix (a cracked gasket?). Anyway, we're likely to retire the van rather than do the repair; we have two other, better, vehicles, so it's not essential that the van is running. We preferred using the van to the Tahoe because it is better in gas mileage, but so it goes. Anyway, I was just glad the kids weren't all with me when it happened, and that I had a cell phone handy!

Also, if something like that's going to happen, it's nice when it happens near Cornell. Jon's family is very helpful to me... Jon's nephew Joe gave me a ride out to Sally's house, so I could rejoin the kids and bring the car seat, and then Sally gave us a ride back to Colfax.

Anyway, today's my birthday! Happy 39th Birthday to me! Jon's coming home tonight from his week in Crivitz; for a birthday treat we will probably go to the Festival in the Pines this weekend. That's my favorite annual arts & craft festival, so I'm excited.

Take care!