Meet the babies.....

Decklan Furey                                          Norah Noelle

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

Elizabeth Stone

Welcome to the family, little ones. 

We'll love watching you grow!

and welcome Buster....

Happiness is a warm puppy. 

Charles M. Schulz

Welcome to the family, Buster!

Welcome Decklan Furey!

A boy is . . . trust with dirt on its face, beauty with a cut on its finger, wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket!  Welcome to the family, baby boy...we're so very glad you're here...and can't wait to meet you!

the boys of fall....

and its knocking heads and talking trash....

(Tyler....Execs B)

its slinging mud and dirt and grass....

          Keegan...Police D

you mess with one man, you got us all....

(Nathan....Execs Rookie team)

....the boys of fall.

(Cameron....Dolphins)

(lyrics from Kenney Chesney)

take one Monday night, add six hours of a hot Sunday afternoon...mix well with sweaty little boys, cleats, shoulder pads and flags....and you get entertainment ...and memories to last a lifetime.

Go Dolphins, Execs Rookies, Police D and Execs B!

and our summer girl.....

our sun kissed girl of summer!

Mr. Toad comes to stay....

"May the light always find you on a dreary day.

When you need to be home, may you find your way.

 May you always have courage to take a chance....

And never find frogs in your underpants."

(author unknown)

Never let it be said that Cameron doesn't find some light on a dreary day....or that he'll never have the courage to take a chance....and we hope to never find this toad in his underpants!  Our own little treasure finder....he discovered a tiny toad early in the summer...and we've watched that toad grow up.  He sunbathes in cool dirt in the flower bed...and laps up insects with his long skinny tongue as the sun sets.  Toad remains nameless....but still resides in our breezeway.  He startles Gus and Grandma...and has amazed the kids all summer long.

We've been waiting for you!

Cousins are flowers picked from the same garden....

and what a garden full we have!

Two more flowers are soon to join this group......

and we're all waiting patiently!

A perfect day....

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken"

James Dent

Our lawn mower wasn't broken....but what a perfect summer day this was!

(and thanks to Uncle Jimmy,  there may have been a couple rabbits

 that didn't feel the same way about it ! )

The more candles...the bigger the wish!

Happy, happy birthday Nathan.  Here's wishing you a big win in your basketball tournament...a great weekend celebration...and the chance to sneak another piece of your birthday ice cream cake!   Love you, Nathan!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Few things are more satisfying

than seeing your children have teenagers of their own.

Doug Larson

Unbelievable....T is 13?  Where did that time go?  Soon you'll be driving something a lot faster than Grandpa's lawn tractor!   Welcome to your teenage years, Tyler.  And to your Mom and Dad....enjoy the journey, rough waters ahead!  In the blink of an eye, you'll be looking back, laughing....take time to enjoy each and every day of it.  Love you Tyler!

Heroes....

America is the land of the free....because  we are the home of the Brave!
Thanks for all you do, Kevin...and those that walked that line before you...Joe, Grandpa Von, Grandpa Bill, Joe's Dad, Joseph...Great Grandpa Fred....and soon to be Jake! 

A Case of Bieber Fever?

There's a lucky little girl who has the best daddy in the world....he won her tickets to a concert she's been dreaming of going to! Justin Bieber....for the little girl with Bieber Fever!   The best part of this windfall was being with her  when he called to tell her about the prize he'd just won!  Not sure if Daddy realizes just what he may have started here...the next thing out of her mouth, after the screams of joy was..."I have to have a new Justin Bieber t-shirt to wear, Mommy!"   Enjoy your "girls night out", Miss K and Mommy...wonder if Mommy will come home with the fever too?

Summer afternoon....

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon;

to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

Henry James

One summer afternoon +one clean garbage pail+one garden hose

+three small children = a memory in the making!

Summer fun in the sun at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Happy Anniversary!

Newlyweds become oldyweds,

and oldyweds are the reasons that families work.

Author Unknown

Happy 15th Anniversary to these special "oldyweds"...

what a fantastic job of making your family work you guys are doing!

Hope you're planning something special on this rainy day in June!

Love ya all!

Dog days

No matter how little money and how few possesions you own,

having a dog makes you rich.

Louis Sabin

Gus isn't certain who coined the phrase "dog days"...but he's certain that this summer day was not a celebration!  Thanks, kids...for bathing our "dirty dog"!

Filling the days....

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.

Johann Schiller

(and this little group of children fill our hearts with joy!)

Spring smiles provided willingly by Tyler, Nathan, Keegan, Cameron and Kenzie!  Enjoy the view.....

Science Fair, 2010....good times, learned lots!

Spring sports have started....free nights are few and far between!

We have baseball....(Cyclone style)

and Football...(Steeler style)

and soccer...(Extreme style)

and more football...(Dolphin style)

and basketball...(Tiger Coaching style)

this spring, we've enjoyed an (almost) teenager..

not sure just how that's happened already????

and a kindergarten music program...

and to kick it all off.....

my Nikon's been at the repair shop for most of it!

And we wouldn't trade a moment of it...at all!

Thanks for filling our days, kids..it's ok if you want to give us a little break now!

Purple days...

If you pass by the color purple in a field and don't notice it,

God gets real pissed off.

Alice Walker

Spring has sprung....the grass is growing, tulips are blooming, the crocus and daffodils have come...and gone.  There's a world filled with purple in our own backyard.  (Hard to believe just one short month ago that same yard was filled with snow!)

Progress...

Every day is a work in progress...

Like a turtle, slowly sticking it's neck out...these fragile little crocus show more of their faces with each passing day.  Hope....in purple, waiting outside the backdoor to brighten my day...and show me that spring is, indeed, just around the corner.  Anna..you're welcome anytime to enjoy  this work in progress!

Home....

Home is a shelter from storms - all sorts of storms.

William J. Bennett

On a rainy  afternoon in March we sat on a muddy road, in the rain...

and were amazed at the sight of thousands of Sandhill cranes, headed home. 

There is such beauty in their music...and the mystery of how they know when..and where to go  ...is  incredible!   We've made this  a yearly migration of our own...this trip to see the cranes.....but this day, this unplanned detour on a Monday in  early March....was a reward in itself.  We sat undistrubed, unhurried...in the rain and the mud, watching, wondering...and planning another journey back....soon!

Pure joy...

Joy is not in things: It is in us.

Wagner

Take a lazy Sunday morning...add sunshine,

two dogs, three adults, one happy two year old.

Buckle them up in a well traveled Pathfinder...

and head up into the mountains.

Watch mountain goats munching on early spring plants....

and ice fishers camped on frozen mountain lakes....

explore a little mountain soap shop

share a dish of home made black walnut ice cream...

watch a happy dog roll in the snow...

and you've found pure joy, indeed!

Laugh...

A good laugh is sunshine in a house!

William Makepeace Thackeray

Turn on the faucet.  Jump in the tub.

Pick up the washcloth.

Scubbity-dub.

Then...take the washcloth and throw it at Grandma, splash most of the water out on the floor, giggle, swim, kick, squirt Grandpa with the starfish...wrap it all up by looking like an angel on the counter wrapped in a duck towel!  There was SO much sunshine inside the house this weekend! 

We got sunshine....on a cloudy day!

Happy Two-rrific Birthday!

 Find delight in the simplest things.

 Today and everyday.

 And have the happiest of birthdays.

 Happy Birthday, Koko!

Who needs toys when there's ice cubes to play with?

What a joy..to be there to celebrate YOU!

Growing color..

The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy

 places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.

Gertrude Wister

On a chilly March morning, spring peeked it's purple head up....and I was there to capture it in my photo of the day!

spring grows...

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'

The Talmud

The angels seem to have paid us a visit....

spring  grows along the south side of the house!

spring...

Sitting quietly.  Doing nothing.  Spring comes.

Right outside my back door.