Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

It's official.

She's no longer a teenager.

As of 3:21 p.m. today, the girl is 20 years old.

Born on a Tuesday, 6 days overdue. Labor and delivery full of stress and drama, but everything ended up okay.

When she was newborn, I called her my "angel baby", convinced I could never be mad at her. Ha!

She has provided our family with spunk - she's the risk-taker, the one who makes me cringe with worry. Sometimes with good reason.

She's also brought laughter and fun.

She's compassionate and kind and loving.

She knows all the words to the classic rock songs we love, and we crank the car stereo and sing our lungs out together.

She steals my library books and (gasp!) reads them!

She's creative and dramatic and musical.

She can quote almost the entire script of a movie after having seen it once.

She is still finding her way in the world and I feel privileged to be along on the ride once in awhile.

Welcome to the Family!

Cousin Jeff and his lovely wife Shannon have added a new member to our family - Case William Anderson was born on Friday, June 22. We cannot wait to meet him!

Congratulations to the new parents, and to his GRANDMA!

First day of summer

This is what a slice of it looks like in my back yard. :o)

More than meets the eye...

We're looking forward to the new Transformers movie due out the first week in July. At the theater we try to decorate the candy case to reflect either a current movie or the season. We just put away our pirate treasure chest and set up "Transformer town" last night. These are Nick's Transformer toys, circa late 1980's. We had such fun setting them up last night, playing with transforming them from cars, planes, etc. to robots. He still remembered how to operate each one - "Yeah, I didn't spend hours playing with these..." he told one of the guys. :o)

Can you tell which are Decepticons and which are Autobots?

(FYI -The construction paper skyscrapers are intended to look cartoon-ish.)

We finished the display at about 8:30 last night, then had several guys come to see the late shows - it was fun to hear them talk about the toys, remembering their own, or how they watched the cartoons when they were kids. Tonight we had several small boys ask their moms to buy them. :o)

Being Crafty

I had to wait to post these photos of Ben and Abbie decorating bowling balls. They made them as a surprise for their parents. I made one, too, so Tonita snapped this photo just before they left last night. (I wasn't unhappy, she just took the picture before I was ready. :o) ) We used GE Silicone II (in a caulking tube) for the glue. The kids each chose their own stones. I used some glass pieces I purchased last summer.

(Grace just loves these - she calls them "pretties" and rubs her hands over them again and again.)

My other roses

The other two rose bushes are blooming now, and both are the correct color. :o) The yellow is from my co-workers when my dad died. The orange rose was a mother's day gift a long time ago. The one that bloomed red last week, also has some white buds, so I'll get the correct color roses after all.

Cabela's Adventure

We fulfilled one of Ben's dreams today when we took him to Cabela's near Omaha. When we first walked in the store, the greeter wanted me to apply for a Cabela's card. I told her no thanks, that we live 100 miles away and just brought the kids to see the store. She gave us each free tokens for the laser shooting ranges instead. :o) We walked through the aquarium and Ben knew which fish was which without looking at the signs.

Then we went back to the shooting range and each took a turn shooting at the fake animals. Greg won a free turn. We can't figure out why. Ben and I each had more points than him, but he got a free turn. :o)

Then we found the animal display and had fun finding all the little hidden creatures.

Ben and Greg shopped while Abbie and I took a sit-down break in the cafe. We could have eaten bison, ostrich, or several other kinds of exotic meats if we'd had lunch there. Instead we chose to share a piece of chocolate cake. :o)

Now Ben REALLY wants to go to the Cabela's near Forth Worth, so be prepared Tonita! :o)

I'm so proud

And so should their parents be! :o) This is what happens on a 13 1/2 hour-long drive home from Texas. We must entertain ourselves...

The Graduate

We're in Texas right now, having attended Caleb's graduation yesterday and the church banquet in his honor today.

Lots of fun family time and an abundance of good food as is usual with our family gatherings. :o)