Well... WE MOVED!!! Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020

 We hired movers--and I'm glad we did! They brought their semi truck because it was what they recommended.

 The shed in our new back yard.  I think those are a couple of old-fashioned rose bushes to the right of that green bush along the wall of the shed.

We strong-armed our son to come and help us move.... he and his dad enjoying the first day of sunshine we'd seen all week---something I specifically asked for (no rain!!!!).

The new kitchen (picture from the real estate site) at the new house. 

The "before" picture of only one room in the old house! 

We only moved about 7 miles north of the old house.... but this one is MUCH easier to get around (versus the 2-story 1920 house we lived in for the past 23 years!).

Alex and Samantha (our kids) trying to figure out where to start unboxing!

Maybe Mondays don't end on Monday??? Wednesday, April 10th, 2019

 Maxwell (grandson, 19 months old) at his house in Minnesota last week while we were there babysitting (while his parents went to London on vacation!).

 Wyatt on Saturday enjoying the warmer temperatures at his house.

 Bogie, trying to keep warm today because the furnace broke (again and again and again and again.....), and it's gotten much colder since last Saturday!!!

 The old van John uses to get around when he's at the other end of the road needed work, too.  Sunday when I got home the water heater was under water again because a drain in the basement backed up.  What will happen next?

 Miss Olivia's unicorn hat looks lovely with her art clothes at her preschool yesterday.

 Mr. Wyatt at day care playing outside Monday.

Wyatt enjoying his lunch at day care the other day.

My brother's 60th birthday party!! March 31, 2019

 This is our nephew, Joe, and his new daughter, Avery Jo.

 That's Elysce (Adeline, Avery, Ava and Asher's mom) with Adeline (in high chair) and Ava and my mom across from her.  That's my son-in-law, Marty, my hubby, John, and our daughter, Samantha at the table behind them.

 Elycse and Avery Jo (at Mema's after the party).

 This is our nephew, Ben (Joe's little brother) holding his new niece.

 The 'birthday boy' holding his new granddaughter for the first time.

 We are a little bit of a Cubs household so we had the party at the Iowa Cubs restaurant (Cub Club) yesterday.  It was fun and the view was nice.  There wasn't a game yet (opening day is April 9th!!), but it was still fun.

 The view of the ball park from the Cub Club.

 "Uncle Billy" (Audrey and Izaac's dad) with Wyatt.

From left:  Adeline, Elycse, Bob holding Avery Jo, Joe, Ben and Kylie (Ben's wife).

 From left around the table:  Audrey, Amanda (Audrey and Izaac's mom), Michelle (Harper and Reed's mom), Harper, Billy, Reed and Izaac.

 Grandpa John with Wyatt, who had just woken up from a nap.

 Samantha (Wyatt's mom, our daughter), holding Miss Avery Jo, and Elycse with Adeline making sure Avery isn't crying.

 "Aunt" Michelle (My sister, Shirley's youngest) with Wyatt.

Asher, Harper, Audrey and Shirley.  Bob and Avery Jo in the background.  I tried to get a shot of everybody in the blog, but think I missed Mema this time.

ANOTHER LAZY WINTER DAY! March 7, 2019

Well, this happened yesterday.  That's my mom with her newest great-granddaughter, Avery Jo. She makes 13 great-grandchildren for my mom!

 So, this is the standoff between our cat, Bogart, and the grand-dog, Stig.  They had their moments off and on during the day when Bogie decided Stig was just annoying..... so Bogie chased him a couple of times, but didn't catch him.

 This is how Stig entertains himself sometimes.... by putting his plastic ball into a cat cube and attempting to retrieve it.

 Bogie and Watson relaxing after a chase session (they were chasing each other but only in a fun way). 

Stig comes to get help when he gets stuck in the cubes.  It doesn't deter him from trying it again, however.

A Wyatt weekend (last weekend). March 6, 2019

I got to spend some time with Wyatt just for fun last weekend  (at his house)... and it WAS fun! 

 He's so silly sometimes. I think he was practicing his 'spring layout' for my photo book!

 He's now 13 months old but not quite walking.

 He stands with pretty good balance, but gets places faster by crawling.

 We got him this small slide so he can have some fun inside in the winter weather we're still enjoying(?).

This is the firetruck my mom got him for Christmas and he LOVES the storage compartment.  He's stashed a diaper, his sippy cup and his toys in it so far.  

After the storm.... February 27, 2019

 We live in the country, and our great neighbor, Alex, (who is a couple of years younger than our OWN Alex) came by in his green tractor with the scoop (is that the right word on a tractor??) and pushed the snow around so we could get in and out of the driveway/garage, etc., easier.  I'm sure it made it nicer for the mailman, too!

 We appreciate having neighbors like him!!!  This is the front of the house after a few days of melting, but I'm not really sure how high it was on Sunday because I didn't venture out--and John didn't venture too far that day either!

This is looking west this afternoon.  The drifts have gone down slightly, but it's still cold for the end of February, and snow is back in our forecast! 

This is the same (almost) view from 2/24/2019.  It was a pretty sunset, though!  (That makes this the 'before' picture of the one just above it.)

The weather people got it right, unfortunately! February 24, 2019

(Above) The 'before' picture from yesterday looking east. (Click on each picture if you'd like to look at any of them a little bigger.)

 The 'after' picture from this morning! Now it's blowing so much you can't see across our road to the field!

The 'before picture looking west yesterday (above).

This morning's view to the west, including some blowing snow.  

That's a snow plow stuck at the north end of Stanhope. (Photo taken from Facebook from a resident in Stanhope.)  It's been there a couple of hours already!  The road through Stanhope is closed, as are a number of other roads in the state, including I-35 from Ames, (Iowa) north into Minnesota!

Pictures of our trip to the Grandkids' house... February 21, 2019

 This is my favorite picture of Max from our weekend stay.  He's eating the remnants of a cake we made to celebrate Olivia's 5th birthday.

 This is the decorated cake for Olivia.  She frosted and decorated it mostly by herself!

 At brunch, Olivia was gifted with a Unicorn headband (it was metal).  Max had to try it on for fun.  That's his dad (and our son), Alex, beside him.  (Brunch was delicious!)

 Olivia and Max watching something on her tablet.

I think this is my favorite picture of Olivia smiling over the weekend (that I captured on the camera).  She and Max BOTH like to do the 'cheese' smile.... but I don't always think they're the most attractive of smiles!