Newest addition to the family......

 

Welcome to Gigi!!!..here with her Great Aunt Neva....and we all know how I feel about actually being CALLED "GREAT" Aunt Neva...I AM a great aunt...but Aunt Neva works for me......

2 Brothers and 1 cousin

 
2 well dressed young men at the club.

The brothers (Eric and Greg) with their youngest male cousin. Grandma has 22 grandchildren --11 grandsons and 11 granddaughters...Gregory is #3 grandson, Eric is #4 and Kieran is #11.
 

Spongebob square pants

 
Gives SpongeBomb Square pants a whole new dimension doesn't this?
Greg in Las Vegas in September..

Paul Bunyan

 
You might have thought that Paul Bunyan was just a story....but....I am here to tell you that 2 of them were in my backyard chopping down the dead Austrian pine. When I asked what killed it to the daughter who is a Natural Resource Environmental Scienc resource major and got a 100% in her dendrology class....her answer..."we don't live in Austria"..
my rsponse....really?

Take me for a ride

 
I have been gone so much lately that this is the only way this little guy seems to think he can see me. ...He LOVES the car but he is IMPOSSIBLE to drive with......

A Graduation Day

The Graduate
 
Graduation for our second son ....and the first son is home from Beijing for the week and the daughter is home from India.....all the children in Illinois at the same time.....that is very unusual!!!

 

You'd think you would get used to how tall the kids are when you see them with others...not so much! The poor little guy in the back was totally obscured by Eric....These were the recipients of the Bachelor Degree....there were 30 who received their associate degree.



 

They were given a rose to give to the person they felt helped them the most during their schooling.

I have never seen this boy smile so large....

 

 

Always nice to have a Cake!!



 

See who got the rose......:)

 

His diploma.....
The man who spoke at graduation kept it short and sweet....the theme was network network network.....we liked his talk ....if not only for the brevity but because of his theme.

Michigania family portrait 09

 

Getting 30 people ready for a family portrait is an heroic effort!

 

The final result!

Woodpeckers marks

 
While on a nature hike, we found this tree that had been used by a woodpecker. I was amazed at the design of the holes as they work to get the insects out of the dead tree.

The Unicorn

 
The family camp we attend in Petosky, Michigan caters to the 3 and 4 year olds and the 5 and 6 year olds. The 5 and 6 year olds sing a song that goes:
"fives and sixes are the best
the very best kids in camp.
And if you think you can mess with us
we'll show you that you can't, uh -huh!"
and they tell the kids about the unicorn. One of the horse staff, dresses up and rides the unicorn by the kids. It is amazing to see the faces of the kids.....

An organic garden

 
This is an organic garden in Petosky, Michigan. It is on an acre and they have volunteers come and pick the produce. It was pouring the rain the day we were here but it was a lovely place to visit......

Cousins.....

 

 
While we were on vacation in Petosky, Michigan with 30 family members, these 2 found that swinging in the hammock is a GREAT time....

A week later

Shannon is feeling much better a week after her accident. Here she is after he stitches were removed and she is cooking dinner.

An update on the leg wound...

Shannon is home from India and this is one of her favorite pictures.....she is the tall blonde!!!



I thought I would update you on her leg wound that I posted in March.....She would not take a photo of it until she got home...

Here is what it looked like...




From this to this....whew.....that is just disgusting..


 
..and healed thank heavens.

But now we have another issue with little Shannon.....of all things...she got hit by a car on her bike while she was back at her old University. An ambulance ride and 36 stitches in her face later.....this is what she looks like........



she is very fortunate she only had stitches...probably a broken nose as well as she has 2 black eyes and whiplash of course.....we thought we had revoked her bike privilege's 2 years ago when she had a bike accident (same place --- different circumstances) but she is 23 and can make her own decisions....but we do think she has decided that India is safer than her on her bike!
She really is better after 4 days ...she just feels like she got hit by a car...oh wait...she did!

A celebrity

 
I took my Scholastic Bowl Varsity Team (ok just 4 of them!) to a National Convention at the Hyatt Renissance Hotel (by O'Hare airport). Out of all the peolpe that were there, my guys ran into none other than Ken Jennings(shown in photo). For those of you that aren't Jeopardy! watchers, he is the guy that holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! (His book is quite a good read Brainiac). For the Academic crowd, this was like meeting the President! He happens to be very involved in Scholastic Bowl -or Academic Bowl or Quiz Bowl....pick a name you understand!---and he was very very nice to the kids.

Sari....

 
 

I have been given a lesson on how to wear and wrap a sari. What do you think? Kinda fun. Shannon has returned from India....very Indian.........she LOVED India..... Really...it is good to have her home after 6 months.
I think I still need some practice on the Sari wrapping!