Merry Christmas 2011

Well another year has come and about gone. So finally I am updating our blog! Here are a few pictures and news about how our 2011 was. We had some good times and and some sad times with illness and deaths involving some dear family and friends. I now have a new job right here in Owensville, working for the Gasconade County Health Department. I still am doing some things for the Osage County Health department as well...but will leave that position in the spring and only work in Gasconade County...our home county! We will be sharing Christmas with my sister and some of my brothers and family this year. But we have had some parties and gatherings here too for the holidays. We love our home here and living in Owensville. We treasure our friends here and our church family and love becoming more and more involved with the community!Mike's daughters, their husbands and the grandkids came out for a brunch and gifts and games...and Ella is about the only one who let's me take her picture anymore!! It was a fun day though for us.... I am so excited that my Christmas Cactus looks as if it actually may bloom on Christmas Day this year. The following posts will show you some things that happened through out 2011. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who read this!!

Misc Happenings....

In June we finally sold our Michigan home!! Some very nice people bought it who are loving it and though we will miss it lots, it was becoming quite a drain on our finances! We loved our time there and made many dear friends whom we will never lose contact with and we plan to go back to visit everyone often. But good by to our wonderful home and Diamond Lake!

Now we were able to do some things to our house here that we had been unable to do before...we did some improvements to the kitchen....new sink, new countertops, new dishwasher etc. We got a new roof on our garage and did some landscaping. We also sold the van and got a Prius to drive which saves us a lot on gas!! We love our Prius!!

In the fall, we also were able to see Ella in a school concert....and visit with her and her mom and dad at their new home. Here is Ella being a cowgirl....

And her in the back row on the left with her class as they sung patriotic songs...Our area has so many wineries which we enjoy...so here we are doing a late fall dinner while listening to a band at a winery not too far from us...one we had not been to before....And Mike in his Halloween costume...we was suppose to be a pirate...I was his aging wench.

Trip to Maine...partial family reunion

In August of the this summer we took a long planned for trip to Maine for a family reunion. My brother Paul, Judith and Evan were not able to make it and were very much missed...but we had a great trip! For most of the time, we rented side by side cabins on a beautiful lake....The views were gorgeous ...it was a great lake called George's Pond...My brothers and brother in law were very successful fishing and we had actually more than we could eat at one sitting!We bought lobsters from a local lobster man and were able to eat lobster which were in the ocean that morning!We toured around wonderful little coastal villages on more than one day....And ate some great meals waterfront!Maine is so gorgeous!And we had lobster more than once needless to say!But mostly just being with family was what was so special about it! Love you guys!!!

Family Memorial Day Visit

On Memorial Day Weekend we had visits from my brothers and their families...one from Springfield, Mo and the other from the Chicago area. Did some porch sitting....











Amanda brought her new little baby Mason...so there was lots of snuggling with him

The proud Grandma, Pam

The proud Grandpa Steve....

Evan is such a great baseball player! Played with the guys in the back yard...

The brothers made their famous lemon BBQ chicken..yum! And Evan apprenticed. It was so fun!!

Spring Training, 2011

In spring of 2011 we took a trip to Florida. Traveled up and down and to both sides of the state in the limited time we had. Here is a view from our room where we stayed to go to Cardinal Spring Training Games. We plan to do this again and stay here again too this spring! We saw then future coach Mike Matheny there!

We got to see Cardinals like Molina up close and personal...so neat!

By, by Albert....we had your best years and last year was really not one of them!

Crowded dugout!

We met and mingled with radio personality Mcgraw Milhaven!

Visited dear friends....

And ate lots of great seafood!

Thanks for putting us up guys...on both coasts!