Picnic on the Quad with family August 2011

We appreciated the time to get together for a quick picnic, a little play time and some cart rides. Thank you Paisley, Ada and Kaiser for the photo shoot!

3 in a cart was slightly crowded, but they managed it to get at least a few snapshots.

and more cart rides...

It was a nice picnic and we appreciated a little time spent together. Odin ended the picnic with a few cart rides for the kids. It was a little hard to fit 3 in the cart, but they seemed to enjoy some single and double rides.

Every young man needs to know how to have a tea party, give treats to a huge dog, go grocery shopping and run a train.

The joy of being a grandparent is to re-live the special moments you had with your own children....and then there is "creating new moments". Maybe ones you wished you had taken the time to do and never did. So here we are, taking in as much as we can with our grandchildren and thoroughly enjoying every sweet, cheesey grin they give us, every twinkle in the eye that says they are "up to something" and every quiet moment of just soaking it up and cherishing each second we have with them. When we are in our 90's (yes, we plan on living that long), these are the pictures we will have in our minds. Seeing these sweet faces and reflecting on our own sons at this age....you never lose those images....ever

Enjoying the train, nap time, Odin time, every minute with Kaiser was fun!

Fun with Kaiser, August 2011

Odin, waiting for Ada to come over and play

More of Ada-Fun

Having fun with Ada

We have so much fun with Ada. Tea parties, watering the flowers, making up songs about the Chicadees, painting rocks for the 4th of July....every moment is a true blessing. WE learn from HER

Mom

Mother's Loving Hands

Hands that have
 played as a child,
 and as she grew, these hands worked in the garden in the morning,
 baked and cooked in the afternoon to feed her family, and many times, friends, at night.
These hands
 worked full time,
 unselfishly volunteered her time,
 bathed her children on Saturday nights, helping them with their Sunday School lessons,
 nursing her children when they were sick, loving her husband unconditionally.
These hands held
 her husband’s hand for 72 yrs.,
 her children’s hands for over 71 yrs.,
 her grandchildren’s hands for over 45 yrs. And her great-children’s hands for over 20 yrs.
These are the softest, kindest hands I first held.
Your loving hands have touched many lives.

In honor of JoAnne

She was a good person, with a warm heart full of love that reached out to so many people. She was humble, she was strong, and she was intelligent. She was unselfish, sharing her time and her talents. She was a sister to 2 siblings, a loving wife, a sweet mother of 4, the kindest Nana to 7 than you could ever imagine. She was the best Aunt you could ever wish for and a friend?? Yes, the best friend ever....one you could count on, the one you could share your worst fears with and know you would feel her compassion and hear her wisdom. She loved with all her heart. She will be missed by all who ever knew her. We will miss you Jo, until we meet "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

"In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song".
"Live simply, so others may live".
Remember the "Golden Rule".
"It's nice to be important , but it's more important to be nice".
"On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"