Willard

When my dad opened his trucking agency he was told to keep the door between his office and the drivers room shut. The other agents said drivers were a nuisance. In response to that advice, the day my dad opened shop, he took that door off it's hinges and set the coffee pot next to his desk.

In spite of their hard living (or maybe because of it) my dad liked the drivers and respected their hard work moving freight from coast to coast - driving grueling hours, eating at greasy truck stops and making it home only a day or two a month, making a buck the best way they knew how. He especially liked the drivers who were rebellious "driving the back roads so they wouldn't get weighed" to get his freight delivered on time.

So this song is for Willard, who died 16 years ago today, and to all those drivers.
I miss you dad!

Q3 2012

 

Katie and Matt were married on August 25th. Here are some nice pictures of

the bridal shower and wedding.

 

Rose - Katie's mother -in-law.

Mom & daughter

 

Dad & daughter



 

Sisters

 

The Grandmas.

 

Now for a nice wedding picture:

 

 

The bride & groom.  

 

But if you want to see the real us, Here are few shots of the

party reception for your amusement.

Oh yea. It rocked.

 

 

 

 

 

   

There was added excitement during our celebration - baby Charlotte Ann

decided to come into the world a whole month early! Her

 grandparents, Jay & Micky, missed the birth since they

were here, 1600 miles away from AZ  - at the wedding.

Sheesh.

We forgive her. She's healthy, beautiful and loved. 

Sammy & Jon are as proud as can be.

 

 

 

 

 

Other family news includes Jennifer's new position at Potts Law in Bellingham,

Tim's return to the Pacific Northwest, Seattle, with a new job in marketing as his dad (the new grandpa) is very

happy to report.

And then there's this news alert: 

  Safety Man's new pride and joy.

 

 

I think it's a tractor.

 

It pulls precious cargo.

 

Spoiler alert:

Next quarters updates will include 2 more babies (Courtesy of Gina & Elisa)

 and pictures from Rome, featuring the canonization of Blessed Kateri!

 

http://www.catholic.org/hf/faith/story.php?id=44138

 

 

 

 

My high school reunion

 

I'll be off to my high school reunion in a couple weeks. Here's a picture of the old gang at a football game when I was my son's age.

I'm right smack in the middle of all the fun, as usual. I'll be staying with Dierdre,

who's falling over in front of me in the front row.

 

We listened to music like this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVAnlke_xUY

 

 

 

 

The Assumption of Mary

"Mary, totally united with God, has a heart that is so big that all creation can find a place there…”

 - Pope Benedict

Lake Chelan

To get these two smiling together, all cozy, I think I said something like this:

I planned this fun vacation for you. We're boating, jet skiing, tubing, swimming, and

having a blast because of me.

The least you can do is smile together for a picture or two. 

 

Otherwise, they look like this.

It's a beautiful day.

It's the 4th of July. The sun is shining (finally). The family has gathered and there's T-Bones on the barbie.

Here's Kirby with baby Chris. It's was two years ago on July 5 when Kirby was badly injured and Louis Fastuca was killed in

Afghanistan. There aren't enough days to honor our soldiers.

Oliver

Dashel.

                                                                              Lucy.

Dash & Chris

                                                  Max took all the "little" kids for rides.

                                                       Waiting for some fireworks.

Fireworks.

Here's "Fiver" a new member to Evan & Elisa's family.

Pete

Harvey

SWEET!

I would have taken pictures of the steaks and more of the happenings but I left early.

Stupid me! I scheduled my colonoscopy on the 5th so instead of eating steak and celebrating our independence I was drinking Movipro. I'm sorry for sharing something so personal, but I'm so mad at myself I could spit.

July 3rd ?!

This is Lily and her friend going to our mailbox.

Does it look like summer to you?

Does it look like July 3rd to you?!!! 

Come ON sun. Where are ya hiding?

2nd Quarter 2012 News

              This quarter's news is filled with academic achievements, sex (gender) and honey.

      As Sara said - "In 2002, Andrew started working on his graduate degree. Now, after 6 years of course work, 1 wedding, 4 moves, 5 jobs, 1 Master's degree, 4 kids, 1 oral exam (and 2 written), and a 300 page dissertation, he is finished with his PhD in History "

                                   Jennifer received her law degree from Seattle U in May.

                                                                         

Sammy graduated from ASU with her Masters in psychology.

She and Jon will be having a baby GIRL! in October.

                                        Tim Graduated from WSU and landed a job in his

         field of marketing, in Phoenix, which plants him near my brother & family.      

                                    

                                   Gina and Kirby will be having another BOY! That makes 3.

                                                    

And to finish off the pregnancy trifecta,

Evan and Elisa will be adding a GIRL! to their family.

Boy, girl, boy, girl.

 In other news:

                   Lily turned 14!                 

            I'm going resist the temptation to say the obvious, like, "Where has the time gone?" or "They grow up so fast." 

           So I'll quote the beautiful Patti Griffin song and say - "Time keeps moving from a crawl to a run."

                                                    You should listen to it for yourself.

  While we're on the topic of life zipping by -

 Safety Man and I were married 23 years on May 13th.
I picked a good one.

                                                        

That's enough milestones. Now onto the real  big news.

            SM started a sweet, new hobby this spring. It's all the buzzzzz.

                                                                     Honeybees.

You can read more about them here.

http://www.gpnc.org/honeybee.htm

They are fascinating creatures.

And that's all the news that's fit to print.

      Spoiler alert: Next quarter's news will have wedding pictures.