October Report

 We made it through the first anniversary of Judson's passing.  We miss him terribly, but we are thankful that we had him as long as we did and that we have Betsy and Kyle and Rachel here with us to love.

 And Tami has been gone a whole year too.   I wish she had been here to help me thru this last year, but still I talk to her everyday and I know she's been by my side. 

I love this picure of Isaac.  He's in the middle of finding something to mine in that wall behind him so he's in his element here and looks so happy. 

My mama shot through her cardiac valve replacement surgery like a rock star.  It was amazing to be with her and with PJ to celebrate how well it went!

We got to go to Mrs Grae's greenhouse again :)

We planted this Winter Orange Japanese Maple in the back yard.  It just glows with the late afternoon sun.

Summer 2018

Another cub-cardinal game! We had a great time again with Judson and Rachel & the kids.  Once again, it rained on us!

I spent part of July with my dear friend Tami.  She's home now, recuperating, and getting ready for many years of health and happiness to come <3 p="">

We've been walking and walking this summer, getting ready to walk Abe's Amble at the State Fair. 

Mark had his 40th high school reunion.  His classmates did a great job with the party!

Who's that lady?!? 

Six pounds six ounces!

And then just like that, summer's over and it's time to go back to school!

Wait. . . is May gone already?!?

 We haven't been to a ball game in years, and then we went twice in the same weekend!  We had so much fun!  Thank you to Judson & Rachel and to the Estrops :)

We celebrated Tami's birthday :)

Here's our Skye girl--she's been keeping me company in the garden.  I love the bleeding hearts.  They remind me so much of grandma and mammy.

 And we celebrated Mark's birthday too :)

Skye went with us to St Louis to walk in the Love A Golden Rescue fundraiser.  She did great!  We're so grateful to LAGR for bringing Skye to us.

My Sweet Friend Tami

 Our little fundraising team with Tami:  Mary, myself, Vickie, Tami, Dan, Dana, Roni.  It was an emotional day seeing so many people turn out for Tami.  She is loved.

 The silent auction was huge!

Our friend Dave K played with his music friends.  Dave was a social worker with us in the McFarland days but he's always been a musician at heart. 

  Doesn't her mom look great?   

 The old CP gang!  Tom, Mark, Sue & Mark visited and laughed together.  It was so good to see them!

 And Edward.  Our friend Edward traveled all the way from St Louis to be with us.  How long has it been? 

And this little shot was taken in Tami's backyard a few weeks ago.  I'm so thankful that she's in remission and we are in this life together.   

Happy Birthday Tami!

I met my friend Tami when she worked at McFarland. We used to call each other up and ask if it was time to go outside to smoke. There was a flower bed just outside the door where we would stand, talking about the crisis of the day at McFarland, our private practice, and life in general.

One summer I collected seeds during those breaks. Now they grow in the back yard.

They remind me of Tami and make me smile.

Happy birthday, Tami! I love you.