Dad's 80th

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Rocco - 7 months

He sure is cute!

Enjoyed the 3 E's Jr. over the weekend.

New Floors

BEFORE

in the front hall and Aussie Dunny........

BEFORE in the dining area....

AFTER....Tada....

new honey oak laminant floors. Note also the freshly painted Dunny....olive green, and the hall....something 'wheat' colored.

Kitchen AFTER....

Dining....AFTER.

I am thrilled with the results. Next I will redo the carpet. I suspect we will be in this house at least until Joel graduates from Purdue...so I figured we may as well get some enjoyment out of new flooring.

Rocco

Rocco is almost 5 months. He sure is cute!! Kevin and I went to Columbus to visit for the weekend.

Happy Birthday Eli...21 years old

We took cupcakes and gummy fish to school on Friday for Eli's birthday. His friends in the classroom, as well as teachers, gathered to sing happy birthday and enjoy treats.

Below is Eli's friend Maria.....

And Eli's friend Sasha. These two have became good friends this year.

Sasha is sweet with him. She is a-verbal s well - or maybe has a few words.

The group signing Happy Birthday...led by Mr. Chauncy - one 0f the gym teachers that takes the Life Skills Class for gym twice a week.



Mr Chauncey and Mr. Doug.
Mr. Doug has a classroom with hearing impaired kiddos - but the classes share some activities together - so Eli knows and likes Mr Doug as well.



Eli's friend Danny....he rushes up to the door to greet all the visitors.

More friends - Terry on the left and Raphael on the right.

Cards and cake to celebrate Eli turning 21.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy tO KeViN

Kevin plays a gig once a month at a restaurant called "The Loft". It is located on an organic farm with a dairy and creamery. The menu changes seasonally and they always have fresh, local, organic meats and vegetables. The band provides some dinner music that picks up a little in tempo as the evening goes on.

During a break we had cake and candles for Kevin.

I collected some fans to celebrate Kevin's 50th - Paul and Kathy, Maureen and Mark, Jay.

It was a nice evening.

Kevin's 50th Birthday

We celebrated Kevin's 50th birthday (May 19th) by going to Nashville, Tennessee for a long weekend. A fun city with a lot of live music and fabulous food.

Kevin loves rivers and river boats - so we took a lunch cruise on the General Jackson Paddle boat. It was quite impressive and at least 4 times bigger than the boat we took the cruise on in St. Louis

We enjoyed fish and chips at an Irish Pub.

Nashville is a beautiful city with parkland and artwork.

Downtown Nashville...

With all the rain we have had the river is up 10+ feet. You can see the river lapping at the walk along the river front.

A fun birthday celebration weekend!

Joel's Fleet

Joel has added to his Fleet. Now he has one BMW 318is, the incoming Honda VFR700 motorcycle, and the outgoing (up for sale soon) Kawasaki Ninja 250.

He got the VFR from friend's dad who gave him a great deal - the VFR was actually cheaper than the ninja, and the sale of the ninja should pay for the VFR with a few hundred in profit.

Washington DC

I had a 2 day conference - AMGA (American Medical Group Association) in DC and Kevin and I went 2 days early and stayed an extra day to see the sites. Kevin had a great time at the Smithsonian while I was in conference. Our first day we went to the Library of Congress where there was an exhibit of Thomas Jefferson's Library. He was a great book collector and reader. We thought of Garry - he would have been like Kevin - salivating.







The Library of Congress

The White House

We went on a 4 mile self-guided walking tour of the monuments and memorials. Below is the Jefferson Memorial.

The Korean War Memorial. The granite wall has 'ghosts' carved in the stone. The sculptors reflect in the wall as well. Beautifully designed.

The Vietnam War Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial

The WWII memorial in the foregound - looking to the Washngton Memorial int heg background.

4 days in Vero Beach, Florida

We had a great 4 days with Russ and Sara at their winter home in Vero Beach, Florida. Vero Beach is on the east coast of Florida - 'The Atlantic Side' about 60 miles south of Cape Canaveral.

The temperatures were in the high 70sF (18-20C) with mostly clear blue skies. We really enjoyed meeting Sara and Russ's lovely neighbours and temple friends. We can see why they have such a nice time when they are in FL and why they are anxious to get back each season.

Enjoying lunch at Squid Lips right on the water.

Then beach time with a nap or bird watching......

Russ was listening to NASA for the countdown.

Here are the GREATS....Great-grandma Sara and Great-grandpa Russ....or The Greats for short.


Many gathered to watch the final launch of Discovery. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we only saw a couple of orange specks through the clouds. It was still an enjoyable afternoon on the beach.

Friday we visited MeKee Botennical Gardens with beautiful tropical specimens. It made me homesick...MANY things that were either native to or proflic in SE Queensland. Beautifully maintained - for the middle of winter!

'The Sleeping Tree'

It was knocked over by a Hurricaine and continued to grow horizontally.

A fork in the palm forest.



Friday night we went to Temple with Russ and Sara. Here we are outside their cute little pink home, affectionately named "Sadie".