Sweet Pea Turns One!

Guess who just celebrated her first birthday?

A year ago today my husband and I were awaiting the birth of our first grandchild, a child that we were madly in love with before we even met her. She is the joy of our lives and forever has changed and completed our family! We treasure each moment that we share with her and her parents.

The last few days have been spent with sharing lots of hugs, kisses, laughs, swimming, and playing.

Wishing our little sweet pea the happiest birthday!

The Italians Have Landed

A little tired and weary, the Italian couple landed safely stateside to be greeted by family anxiously waiting at the luggage carousel.

It's great to have the family all back together once again! This is the first time Uncle Danilo meets Cara and Aunt Cyndi is seeing Cara for the second time. What a difference nine months can make in the life of a baby. Aunt Cyndi will certainly be surprised at how much more Cara can do since the last visit.

Have to go now; it's time to head out to Outback as requested by Cyndi.





This is the official time out until August! Have a great summer!

Time Out

In one day Cyndi and Danilo will land in the states to visit with family and friends! It has been way too long since a visit from them and we are looking forward to a fun filled visit with them.

This visit will include going to a family wedding, taking trips, eating at favorite restaurants, loafing, and visiting with family and friends.

My blogging will be done after the busy month of July and I will share pictures and stories of our adventures. Hope everyone has a safe and happy July. See you in August. So I guess this is time out for now.

Up, Up, & Away

Today was another celebration for Ameridad's birthday. In our family we have a tradition of celebrating ones birthday many times, so today was just such an occasion.

Bruce has always had a desire to fly and enjoys those times when he can take off in a plane. For his birthday I called our dear friend and expert pilot, Al, to see if I could arrange a flying trip for the birthday guy. Working around busy schedules, making a few phone calls, being out of town, and hoping for good weather, we managed to pull this off tonight without Bruce having a clue.

Telling Bruce that we were all going out to dinner we picked up Al's wife, Sandy, and headed to Al's workplace to pick him up. Well, part of that was true, we just didn't tell him about the flying part. The above picture was taken right after Bruce found out that a plane ride would happen before we ate. The guys went off to the airport and the women went shopping. I by the way thought the women had the best deal.

After filing flight plans, checking out the plane, taxing down the runway, it was time for take-off. Leaving Ft. Wayne the guys found their way down to Muncie then headed back home. The weather was hot and sunny, temeperature outside around 88, with a slight haze in the air. The temperature cooled down outside to 60 degrees as the plane flew above the ground at 6,000'. Before landing at the airport they flew over the city then found their way out to the country, flying over their houses.


The is our homestead at 2,500', with our pond in the foreground and the house in front of that, our pole barn is off to the right. How tiny everything looks, hard to believe that it takes three hours to mow the grass.

Time to land the plane and get to Outback for a birthday dinner.

Clearance Clarence, Roger Roger, Over Over.

A big thank you to Al and Sandy for helping me pull over a surprise on Bruce and taking him up flying!

Happy Independence Day

Happy 231st Birthday America ! As you celebrate this 4th of July with family, friends, or kicking back to enjoy a restful day, here's wishing all a safe and fun filled day.

Playdate

Cara visited Grandpa this past week and enjoyed exploring the new playhouse with him. The two of them had fun answering the door whenever someone would knock on it. Each time the door was opened there were always big smiles and laughs. Cara also had fun walking around the playhouse, going down the slide, and climbing in and out of the window.






We also celebrated Grandpa's birthday with a delicious homemade cake that Scott and Emily brought with them. Fun, food, presents, lots of laughs, and a quick nap were enjoyed by all.




A special thank you to Scott and Emily for the extra time spent at our house helping Grandpa plant a tree and do work on our patio deck. After Scott's family headed for home we received a call from them asking if we could use some help the next day and offering to come back to help us out. This was a sweet offer that we could not refuse and we both appreciated the time they took out of their busy schedule to help us. Again a big thank you!