Happy Birthday to....

can you guess who???
Now do you know??

I bet you've figured it by now! Happy Birthday Andy!

We had a joint birthday celebration last night for Andy and his Dad... Abigail and J.T. really wanted to help open the gifts and blow out the candles...



We are going to have a quiet dinner at home tonight since it's been such a busy weekend. Many more happy birthdays to Andy...

Branding slideshow

Here's a slideshow of all the pictures I took at the branding....

These pictures are MUCH clearer in real life than they are here on the slideshow. I uploaded them to Costco if you want to see them better or order any. Email me if you want the link sent to you.

Branding: 2 down, 1 to go!

We had our second branding of the season yesterday and I took lots of pictures. It's always difficult for me to decide which ones to put on here. I try not to put too many on, but it's often hard to choose.

This is my favorite one of the day.... not photographically speaking (because in that way it's not that great), but I just think it's really cool that our friends and family come out for the day and help us get the branding done. I know it's hard to see faces... sorry about that.

And here's a few action shots from the day...


I think I take this same picture every year, but I still like looking at it...

There wasn't just a little mud, there was A LOT of mud! And the boys loved it! In case you can't tell, J.T. is on the right.

Andy and Salty are waiting patiently for the calf to get branded and vaccinated...

I am not sure what Abigail was doing here...

The kids entertained themselves pretty well throughout the day.

This might be one of my favorite action shots for the day. I know it's hard to tell on here, but you can see the loop of the rope in mid-air right before it landed on the calf...

At the end, Abigail and J.T. were able to each brand a couple of calves with the help of Bill. J.T. took the job pretty seriously...

Abigail really wanted to do it, but as you can see, she really didn't look like she enjoyed it.

Last but not least, the kids always have to get a ride on Salty (with Papa Walt leading them)...

Now that's two down, one to go (in May). Yesterday was the biggest day so it's nice to have it done. I did lunch for the crew for Friday and Saturday and I am REALLY glad that's done. It's more work than I remember! Oh well, for the effort that our friends and family put into the day, it's worth it!

Then and now

I am in the process of going through all the branding pictures I took yesterday. Hoping to get some on later today but there's a lot to go through.

Anyway, I came across one that looked very familiar.... here's the one I took yesterday of Abigail.


And here's the one I took in 2003 in the same spot. She's grown quite a bit, hasn't she!

Be careful what you wish for....

Andy and I have had many conversations about what each of us does all day long. I think we have finally come to the conclusion that neither of us can *really* appreciate what the other does to make things work around here. I know I couldn't do his job.

Last night I got this funny email from my friend Krisitina in Ferndale. I don't usually forward stuff but I thought I would put it on here since it's related to what I wrote above...

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:


'Dear Lord:
I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through. So, please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen!'

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman.
He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate,
Awakened the kids,
Set out their school clothes,
Fed them breakfast,
Packed their lunches,
Drove them to school,
Came home and picked up the dry cleaning,
Took it to the cleaners
And stopped at the bank to make a deposit,
Went grocery shopping,
Then drove home to put away the groceries,
Paid the bills and balanced the check book.
He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.
Then, it was already 1P.M.
And he hurried to make the beds,
Do the laundry, vacuum, and dust,
Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.
Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home.
Got the kids organized to do their homework.
Then, set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.
At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad,
Breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.
After supper,
He cleaned the kitchen,
Ran the dishwasher,
Folded laundry,
Bathed the kids,
And put them to bed.

At 9 P.M . he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said: -

'Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh! Oh! Please, let us trade back. Amen!'

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied:

'My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were.

You'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got pregnant last night.'

Daddy's girl

Yesterday Andy took Abigail with him out the hill ranches. She was so excited to go. She doesn't get to go very often because of school. We got her all bundled up and off they went... (Can you see how foggy it was in the morning?)

I am pretty impressed with Andy's photography, even though it was only my little point and shoot camera.

I think that Abigail and Molly had fun playing together....

I went with my dad quite a bit when I was little and have fond memories of the days we spent out there (doing odds and ends, as my dad used to say). Hopefully Abigail gets to do this a little more so she and Andy can have their own memories.

Happy Easter!

Just wanted to wish you all a very happy Easter! We went to church first thing this morning. Here's one I took right before we left...

After church, we went to Andy's Grandma Jane's house for brunch and an egg hunt for the kids. Grandma Jane always fills the eggs with nickels, dimes or quarters. J.T. was UPSET when he dropped one of his on the pavement and the coins went everywhere...

Andy's Uncle Tom's dog likes to herd the ducks around the yard....

Abigail was a good helper with cousin Jaiden...

We walked over to Uncle Tom's yard to take advantage of his gorgeous pond for pictures...

Abigail was a little more cooperative....

than her brother!
We finally got a normal-ish smile...

It has been a nice Easter so far. The sun is out so that is even better!

Thank you!

I just wanted to thank all of you, my family and friends, for visiting Drake's tribute website. I also really appreciate those of you that signed the guest book and/or made memorial contributions. I can't say how much it means to me. Thank you....

"A Little Book of Wit & Wisdom"

I got this cute little book from Christina for my birthday called "A Little Book of Wit & Wisdom" that has some great quotations in it. I will share a couple of my favorites with you.

"It goes without saying that you should never have more children than you have car windows."
-Erma Bombeck

"Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so."
-Lord Chesterfield

"The wise man is not the man who gives the right answers; he is the one that asks the right questions."
-Claude Levi-Strauss

And my personal favorite.....

"One out of four people are unbalanced. Think of three friends- if they seem OK then you're the one."
-Anon

Thanks for the book and the card, Christina!

Remember When: 1975

Chet and Karen got me this fun book for my birthday called "1975 Remember When: A Nostalgic Look Back in Time." I will share a few neat tidbits of things that happened in 1975.


*A new car cost $4,225.00.

*Eggs cost $0.47 per dozen.

*A US postage stamp cost $0.13.

*Gasoline cost $0.44 per gallon.

*Other people born in 1975 were: Drew Barrymore, Tiger Woods, Kate Winslet, and Angelina Jolie.

*Disco was recognized as a new musical and social formation.

*TV favorites were "Rich Man, Poor Man," "Laverne & Shirley," and "The Bionic Woman."

*In March of that year, Pennsylvania became first state to allow girls to compete with boys in high school sports.

That's just a few little things.... It's a pretty cool little book!

In Loving Memory of Drake Lewis Crone

I am so sad that I have to post this.

You may remember my posts about my friend Sara's nephew, 4 year old Drake. He was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer one year and two days ago. Little Drake lost his battle with cancer yesterday morning, March 17.

I wasn't sure what to say or when to make this post, but I got an email from Sara this morning that helped me decide to do it today. Please click on this LINK and read Drake's story. As a parent, (especially as a parent of a 4 year old boy) and a long time friend of the family, it is truly heartbreaking.

There is a place to sign the guest book and also to make a donation to St. Jude Childrens Hospital, in Drake's name. I know most of you don't know Drake, but as a favor to me, could you check out the website? I would appreciate it and so would Drake's family. Thank you so much for all your prayers over the past year. And please continue to pray for Drake's family as they go through this sad time.

Early birthday celebration

Last night we celebrated my birthday a couple days early (it's on Tuesday) since all of our parents were here for Sunday night dinner. We had steak fajitas, rice, and taco salad. Andy's mom made a great chocolate cake with whipped cream filling and chocolate frosting. Abigail thought I needed A LOT of candles so she put on 30 individual candles and a "3" candle... yes, I will be 33.

Of course the kids wanted to help me blow out the candles....

This time it was Andy behind the camera, but here's the rest of the family...

The kids each brought me a gift that they had picked out themselves when they were at the mall with Grandpa Chet and Granny Karen. They each gave me a scented anti-bacterial soap and a chocolate heart.

I got some really nice gifts from our parents too! Thanks Mom, Dad, Pam, Charlie, Chet and Karen! Andy also gave me (part of) his gift last night. It's a gift certificate to my favorite spa. I can't wait to use it!

The kids love to take pictures with Grandma Pam's camera. She's so nice... she lets them use hers. I guess I am the meanie, because I don't even let them use my point and shoot.

It was nice to be able to celebrate with everyone....

Easter egg hunt

On Sunday afternoon, the golf course had their annual Easter egg hunt. My parents are members so my mom always likes to take the kids to this. The sun was out, but it sure was cold! That didn't stop the egg-hunters though. They had the kids divided up by age group.

The kids get so competitive.... although there really are plenty of eggs for all the kids!

The kids had a great time and brought home some fun little prizes.