Susan's Visit and Macey's Baby Shower

Well, it's September and quieter here... the kids are back to school. Michael is now a sixth grader (a middle schooler, if you can believe it-!) and Emma is a fourth grader with her first "man teacher". Both kids were happy to get back to the school routine and their friends.

In August we enjoyed a 2 week visit with Susan and Jay. They came here by train, making a vacation of it by first stopping at noteworthy places like New York City and Chicago. They stayed in hostels, ate at interesting restaurants, and attended concerts (including Lollapalooza) along the way. Jon picked them up in Minneapolis.

One of the highlights of their visit (I'm sure) was helping us catch chickens so we could have them butchered (as a former vegetarian I can't believe I just wrote that).

For those of you acquainted with Pumpkin and Dot and our other egg-laying chickens, have no fear. Those original six chickens will live out their lives with us and never turn up on a plate. But in June we'd gotten a dozen baby chicks from our farmer friend up the road. Tiny peeping balls of fluff when we got them, they grew quickly (in part because they are bred to be voracious eaters). By the time they were full-grown I had to fill their feeders 3 times a day (this was in addition to the bugs and grass they foraged on as they roamed around our yard).

Susan and Jay helped catch the chickens and then hauled them to Dorcester for us, where an Amish couple "took care of business" for $2.50 a piece. The chickens came back to us neatly wrapped in freezer packages (and much quieter).

On my birthday, Jay helped us make "beer can chicken" with one of them, on the grill. We had a second meal the next day by turning the leftovers into chicken dumpling soup. Their meat tasted MUCH better than the skinless boneless chicken breasts I usually buy by the bag.

Raising chickens is work and definitely not the cheapest route for obtaining meat, but we plan on doing it again next year. The chickens had relatively good lives-- better than they would have had on a factory farm-- and their meat is organic and better quality than anything available in American grocery stores.

But getting back to Susan and Jay's visit...

Susan and Jay came "just in time" as far as Michael, Emma, and Leila were concerned. By mid-August, summer vacation had lost its novelty and they were restless for things to do. So playing chess, having water balloon fights, and even just watching TV with their big sister and "Jay Jay" at the end of the summer livened things up quite a bit.

One day the kids made chalk drawings on the sidewalk and played "soccer" together. You can catch some of the soccer game on the link at left...

We also caught up with Jonathan and Lindsey one day at Olive Garden, for lunch. This was Susan and Jay's first opportunity to meet Lindsey. Lindsey works at the Green Mill restaurant in Eau Claire, and is a college student as well. Jonathan recently started a new job at AT&T.

It was fun seeing (almost) all the kids together-- we missed David. (In case you hadn't heard, David is now a college student at MSU and has his first job, at a KFC).

Another day we went to the mall to do some school shopping... and to let Emma get her ears pierced. Emma's very proud of the small silver studs that will remain in her ears six weeks. After that she'll be able to wear different earrings.

Don't worry, grandparents: there will be no eyebrow, lip, or belly button piercings any time soon.

(Can you see the tiny earrings below?)

Another fun event was Shana's baby shower. Jon's nephew Nathan and his girlfriend Shana had a baby girl about a month ago, named Macey May. Jill, Sally, and Grandma Jane had a shower for Shana and Macey at Jill's house. Susan, Emma, Leila and I attended.

There were all kinds of good things to eat at the shower. We sat outside on the back deck until the mosquitoes got too bad, then moved inside for more good food (including a hot dish with crumbled potato chips on top, that Emma was really impressed with). We played a game and watched Shana open gifts.

Below, Emma and Leila cozy up to Macey... who is tinier than many of the presents she received.

Macey is a calm, alert, and friendly little baby. She let us take turns holding her, with never a complaint. Brent and Nathan were at the shower as well, and it was fun seeing them dote on sweet little Macey.

Below: Susan, Tammy, Ann, and Allison, with Emma in the foreground.

It's always fun going to a baby shower and seeing what the newest styles are in baby technology and fashion. My personal favorites was a cute fork and spoon set with Tonka trucks built into the handles. What will they think of next???

At left, Shana admires a miniature sock monkey that came fastened with a bow to one of her packages.

Of course, Susan had to put up with some good-natured teasing about how someday we'll be throwing one of these baby showers for her...

So it was a very good visit with Susan and Jay. We really appreciate the long, quality visit they spent with us. When I said something about that to Susan, she jokingly responded "Oh yes, my time is so valuable, you know." Well, Susan, it is!!! Especially now that you're a PA.

Congrats and thanks again for coming over. We got to know Jay better and see first-hand how happy the two of you are together. Love, Lisa