I knitted!

Oh, seriously, I've been knitting all along, but a suitable model was not to be found, and then...

Along came Tony!

Every family has one, looks like (at this present time) ours is Tony!

Now go out and be a blessing to someone...I will too!

Love,

Jan

Bet you thought I quit knitting, didn't you?

Well...just look here:
Any time you see 'dumb' socks, you should realize they are for Andy. Andy swears that these are the only sock he can wear with his work boots. He's been known to do a load of laundry if he needs hand knit socks for work the next day. Yes, he takes a lot of ribbing, but he thinks the guys have gotten used to them as long as he avoids borrowing Kailyn's pink striped ones.

This is the first time ever, I used self striping yarn and did not match the stripes. It's so disturbing to my OCD eyes, that I am not sure I can leave the photo up here, let alone have the socks around the house. Both will probably disappear rather quickly.

'Nuff said 'bout that!

We thought, just for a second, that we would have a nice, quiet day on Sunday. Not so! Not only did most of the kids show up, but we had visitors...and one surprise visitor:
My Grandson, JR! Listen? Hear a strange noise? It's probably JR growing. If the photo looks blurry, it's because he's springing upwards! Hard to believe he's 16! Time really does fly!

The sky was beautiful, even though we were being watched by our resident big bird. Not sure what it is, but once I found out it wasn't the stork looking for me, I relaxed!


Of course, we had the usual crowd on the dock...
We invited some friends of ours to come for the afternoon. They brought their daughter and her friend. I forgot how silly girls can be...they put their life jackets on upside down and floated around!

In addition to the guests, we had the regulars...

Like Andy...
And Kailyn...
And Mark...
Oh...and never let your husband play with sharp knives...we interrupted our day with a quick trip to urgent care for 4 stitches!

Later in the afternoon, we all walked down to the dock. Probably the first time I did without my camera and certainly the first time JR ever water skied, so when he jumped in the water like this:
Who would have thought he'd end up doing this:

???

Yes, that's JR skiing on his first try...ever! and there is his grandmother, with only a point and shoot camera with no zoom!

Oh, in case you're wondering if Kailyn went out on the knee board...
Duh??? She's getting pretty fancy, isn't she?

Yesterday morning, I woke up to temps in the high 50's. Just what I had been waiting for! I made a huge pot of potato soup. Certainly, the kids smelled it...and came for dinner.

After dinner, Andy, who never gets tired of playing, 'invented' his game of t-ball-golf-with a stone:And played until he finally knocked the stone off the stick:Every family has one...Andy is ours!

Oh, and since the freshly dug earth feels soooo good, Arnie, the best dog in the world, found a soft place to lay:
This morning is another gloriously cool and bright mornings...feels almost like autumn. I love the cooler weather. I got up early and have brownies baking. I'm going to take lunch down to share with Andy.

Sigh...I am blessed!

August started with a BANG!

Michael, my oldest son, married the beautiful Catherine in a wonderful and elegant wedding in a lovely mansion in Pittsburgh.

Andy and Tony were Michael's best men, he said he didn't want to decide between his brothers, isn't that cute?

It was a wonderful time to get all four of my kids together for a photo...
And even one with spouses, fiancees and girl friends!
And one of our family!
For the most part, my children were on their best behavior. Vicky and Kailyn just had a momentary lapse of judgment.

Please indulge a very proud mother...and pretend like I didn't post a thousand photos of this wedding!

Michael left home when he was 20...just short of half his lifetime ago. Over the years, he asked me about pictures of himself when he was young. I used to kid him and say he could have them when he got married. After all, by time he was 30 and still single, I thought I was safe. That's how he and Catherine annouced to me that they were engaged...they asked for his pictures!

What a wonderful trip down memory lane that was!

Oh, and you are wondering about Bill? He's doing fine...bigger and better.
August also brought Tony's 20th birthday...
And Tony and Morgan went back to school, Morgan for her freshman year, Tony for his sophomore year. How quickly time flies!
We continued to enjoy the river...more and more each week! The kids never tired of playing in the water
Some days we had the whole family there!
Even my grand dog, Max, and my son-in-law went in swimming, some by choice...
It always makes me feel good to see my kids play together and be friends.
Everyone made themselves at home. My daughter didn't get off this innertube all afternoon. If she didn't have her second degree black belt, the boys might have knocked her off!
My grandson, JR, came home from spending the summer at his father's house in Virginia. Andy and JR have always had such a special relationship, can you see the love there?
I could have spent every waking hour on the dock. Did I ski or knee board? Heck no...THIS is my idea of summer heaven on the dock:
Are you enjoying this as much as I am?

The end of August brought good news for Andy and Kailyn. The house that they had been watching for six months, became available for rent. They were in seventh heaven!

You'd think, that since Andy is my third child to leave home, I would be used to it.

NOT!

Tune in for September!