Bestest Uncle Andy

Photoshop Practice

A Sleepover at Papa and GG's

We had Felicity over for the night. We had so much fun and she really was an angel. She took her naps and went to bed perfectly. We never even left the house for two days. Spent lots of time playing and enjoying every minute of it.

Here she is in her Easter Jammies we got her from Florida. She will have to wear them for a few months yet as they are just a little big.

We spent a lot of time on the floor. She loves to play when you come down to her level.

Then it was bath time. She loved the big tub. She splashed and splashed constantly. I took a video of her, I will post it later tomorrow.

After her bath she was tired and ready for bed. We had to make her wait an hour yet. She kept snuggling into her blanket.

Aren't grandkids the best.................................

Brian’s Chili

Today Brian made some of his award winning chili. Award winning as in St.Paul’s Church chili cook off winner. The difference with today’s chili is he was taped by a camera crew. He will be on a local channel sometime in May. We don’t know the date yet but I will let you know when we find out.

Quiet Days

It has been pretty quiet around here the last couple days. I get all excited when the weather gets nice, then crash when it starts to snow again. The rain/snow has made some of the lawns and plants start to turn green. Kylee and have been hanging out in the house, eating. I better get back to my "idiot" diet again.

I have also been playing with Photoshop a lot. I have conformed many pictures over the last few days. I have mastered the few techniques that I have learned. I am ready to learn something new this program can do. Tomorrow night is another class and hopefully we will learn even more.

Tonight we went to bible study. Our small group is growing, slowly. I love the relaxed environment. At first I thought I might feel a little weird, but it is so casual that everyone fits in. You can talk a lot or a little, or not much at all like me. I have learned so much just listening to everyone discuss the verses of the bible. If you have to opportunity to attend a bible study I strongly urge you to go.

Start of a Great Day

One of my favorite things is having coffee out on the front porch in the morning. This morning is the first time this year that has been warm enough to sit out there. Deb brought me a piece of Lazy Daisy cake this morning. It goes great with a cup of hot coffee.

Yesterday I set out a lot of my "outside things" and cleaned up the last of my flowers that I was too lazy to do last fall. Now I'm ready for flowers. Some of the nurserys are opening this weekend. That's kind of crazy. Don't we still freeze at night around here?

First Signs of Growth

I walked around my yard today looking for some new spring growth. This is all I could find. Everything here is still afraid to come out. I am so tempted to start putting all my fun stuff out in the yard. But I know it is only mid April and that would be pushing it. Tomorrow it is supposed to hit 70 degrees! I can’t wait to start digging in the dirt and planting things.

Photoshop Class

I had my first class tonight. I found out that Photoshop has way more to it than I have ever gotten to. I find that I learn how to use a program by playing around pushing buttons. I have done this many times in the past but have never really liked the way any of the pictures turned out. In class tonight we learned about the auto fix tab. I had seen it before but never really used it. Then I found many auto buttons. I used all of them on this photo and really like the way it turned out. Brian took this when we were outside a mall in Florida. The colors are fantastic. I don’t know what kind of flower it is, but this picture sure makes it beautiful. Can’t wait for Thursday’s class to learn more.

Happy Easter

Felicity's March Pictures

Cruise Slideshow

We're Back

We (Laurie and I) got home about one oclock this morning. After the car ride, the plane ride, the van ride, and the final car ride I was ready to be home. We all had a great time and we would do another cruise again. Our ship was big but not as big as some of them out there. Next time we will do a bigger ship and maybe a few days longer. We were fortunate that none of us got sick, which is a big plus. I can't imagine being sick out there and you can't make it stop.

It was bitter sweet coming home last night. I had to leave Brian behind in Florida. Believe me, he is not still having fun. He had to load down there heading for home in a week or so. But on the flip side it is great to be home. Kylee came back this morning and Andy, Tracy, and Felicity came over this morning. It sure is great to see them. I was only gone about 13 days but sometimes it seems like forever. I do miss the warm weather and the freedom of "doing nothing." We spent a lot of time at Jodi and Mark's house. We hung out at the pool and totally enjoyed the time we got with them.

Now I have to get back to day to day life. The first thing on my list is taxes. No, I haven't gotten them in yet. I thought about it before I left, really I did. But first I am going to get some much needed sleep.

See you all soon.

Sunset on the Plane

Lunch at the Beach

I know I have been posting out of date order, sorry. I forget what day came first. I don't even know what day it is now. You know it is pretty tough when they are all 80 degrees and sunny. I know, you feel real sorry for me. Anyhow, Jodi took us to a restaurant on the beach. It was great. A little windy though.

After we ate we went and looked through a 10 million dollar house for sale. It is right on the beach. Oh my! The master bedroom suite had more square footage than our whole house. I loved it but I think I would get lost in it. The taxes for the year are 200 thousand dollars. A little steep for me. It sure would be fun to stay there for a while. But you would all have to come there too. I am getting a bit homesick.

Tell Felicity GG and Papa miss her!

Priceless Friendship

We got to spend 4 days with Mark and Jodi. For those of you who have no idea who they are, Jodi was my maid of honor for our wedding. That was 27 years ago. She moved to Florida a few years later. I only get to see her every 5 years or so. This was the longest we've been together since she moved. The time we spent with them was priceless and will be remembered for years. Thanks for the great week Jodi and Mark.

Fun and Games

Sunday on the ship was a "Day at Sea." We sat on the top deck and relaxed in the sun. There was entertainment all the time all over the ship. We decided to get involved with one of the games. They needed 4 men and 4 women, perfect for our group. Laurie and Allyson didn't want to play, so Laurie took the pictures. Here we are, waiting to find out what we were going to do.

Here are Brian and Tim with their partners. At this point we still didn't know what games we were going to play.

The first thing we had to do is hand off an apple to each other and the fastest team won. Pretty simple.

Then the "fun" began. We had to pass the apple to each other from chin to chin. Have you ever done this before? It was the most impossible thing I have ever done. I never thought I would get to know Jim and Chris this well.

Here is Tim and his partner handing off the apple, with Brian and his partner watching what they had to try to accomplish next.

That darn apple kept falling and we had to try to get it back up without using our hands. What a pose this is!!

Then we had to blow up balloons and pass them from person to person, without using our hands. With the balloon between our knees we had to walk out around a cone and back. Then pass the balloon on to the next person. It sounds easy but it is hard to walk with a balloon between your knees.

I could never get a good grip on that darn balloon. I looked really silly waddling with that balloon.

Here is Char and Chris doing the balloon switch.

Here's Brian waddling with his balloon. There was lots of laughing coming from the crowd. They were also taking lots of pictures. When they got home I am sure they showed their friends the weird people from Wisconsin that were on the ship.


And yet another switch between Chris and myself.

In the final game we had to put a balloon between our bodies and sqeeze each other until the balloon popped. Jim and I popped both of ours instantly. (thanks for the back adjustment) You can see Char and Chris squeezing and sqeezing each other. That darn balloon would not pop.

And this is my favorite picture. Brian and his partner squeezing each other to get their balloon to pop. You can see Tim and his partner squeezing on the right side of the picture. It was all pretty silly but something we will always laugh about.