Liam Cuteness

Liam came over to play while Christy went to a bridal shower on Saturday. He thinks he is pretty cool now that he can walk and get into everything! He helped Grampy make a few teeth out in the lab while he was here--maybe we have found the heir to take over the lab at last! While he was here he also chatted with Aunt Lisa on the phone. She had some interesting things to tell him as you can see. . .

Brittany's Birthday

Today was Brittany's 15th birthday. We took her to the Spaghetti Factory for lunch. Christy & Liam joined us, along with Britt's friend Amanda. Afterwards, we went to Fiesta Village for golfing. I can't believe she will be old enough to get a driving permit in 6 months--I'm not ready for that one yet! Happy birthday, Britt!!

What's Happening!?!

So sorry to not be a regular at blogging. Christy stopped by and helped me get a new background today and reminded me that I need to add something new ONCE IN AWHILE! Here is what has been going on with us since the last time . . .

• David has started his baseball season so he is testing out the success of his shoulder surgery. Hopefully he will be blessed with no injuries this season. He is supposed to be a designated hitter and avoid throwing as much as possible. He has had to play more than he should, however, since the team is down to 9 players for some games.

• Denny went to Chicago last weekend for a dental conference. He nearly froze!! Said he probably wouldn't do that again in the winter. We feel pretty certain now that he won't be packing us up and moving back home to Indiana anytime soon. He has threatened that for years, but we just saw the wimpier side of him this last week!!

• Got my foot x-rayed on Monday and they decided 2 of the 3 fusions aren't quite complete yet so I have another 4 weeks in my cast. Not what I wanted to hear, of course. I'm having to cut back on some of the physical therapy, but I can still walk on it while it is in the cast. The doctor did say I could go ahead and get my knee replacement scheduled for May, so I'm hopeful that I may still be ready to go back to work in September--we'll see.

• The world's best grandbaby, Liam, is now walking. Cutest thing you ever saw!! I really need to get the camera out.

Birthday, Birthday, & One More Birthday!

January is a big birthday month for us--first mine, then Denny's, and best of all Liam's. Denny and I went to the Melting Pot to celebrate ours. It was delicious! (Thanks Lisa & Matt) The next day we celebrated again at the Olive Garden with the rest of our family. Liam celebrated his 1st birthday at our house yesterday. We had a blast watching him destroy the cake and open his presents. I didn't get any great shots of Liam's birthday, but you can visit Christy's blog for lots of good ones. No more birthdays till Brittany's in March. . .

On the Mend

The healing process is a slow one. . . but I am hopeful that this will all be a distant memory soon. I am now wearing an air cast at least until the end of January. Thankfully it is removeable so I can shower! I am going to physical therapy once a week to start building the muscles back. Liam thinks the wheelchair is cool so we cruise through the house together when he comes to play on Saturdays!!

David Turns 17!!

Today is David's 17th birthday--can't hardly believe the time has gone so fast. Seems like just a short time ago that he was claiming to be a "big boy man" and now he really is! To celebrate we all went out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner last night. David and Britt had their friends Ben and Samantha spend the night and then today Lisa baked David a cake. Christy and Liam joined us for the festivities. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID!!!

Christmas Memories

Celebrating Christmas

Christmas is the best time of year! Lisa is visiting us for a week--there could be no better present. Our thoughts and prayers are with Matt while he spends another Christmas in Iraq. We were blessed to have Deron, Christy, & Liam over for dinner and then off to church for the Christmas Eve service. We opened presents afterwards. It was fun to see Liam get excited over his first Christmas experience! Christmas morning we had Aunt DeNelda & Jeanette over for brunch, along with Grandma & Ted and Larry & Darla. We had ableskievers (our traditional favorite) and quiche and lots of other scrumptuous food! Lisa took David & Britt up to Forest Falls to play in the snow after everyone left. We broke in Lisa's new Christmas Story version of Monopoly with a most rousing game. Denny beat everyone soundly and will probably be reminding us of that for the next several years. He claims he offered us many "sweet deals" that we were fools not to take. We each have our own version of what took place. . .

A Few of My Favorite People...

Grampy and Liam















Christy, Liam, and Deron
















Matt and Lisa















Brittany, David, and me in San Diego














Liam

Beginning to Blog . . .

At the prompting and guidance of my children, I have decided to take on the challenge of having my own blog. I need somewhere to post pictures and share updates with friends and family who I do not see often enough! Hopefully this works well and is interesting enough to keep you coming back!