Celebrating with Earl and Marilyn

Yesterday we were blessed with about 5 hours of dry weather sandwiched between drizzle in the morning and drenching down pours in the evening. We picked up a few things at the store and then had lunch at the Jade Garden in Cranberry. They have good lunches at a reasonable price.

In the evening we took the Campbells out to Red Lobster in Butler as a thank you for Earl's help in installing and creating the chair rail for our kitchen. Their 60th wedding anniversary was last week too. Marilyn really likes Red Lobster, so that's why we went there. A short stop afterward at Ollie's gave them both a "never been there before" experience. On the way home I play the XM radio channel for music of the 40s. They knew most of the songs and artists who performed them. Then we stopped at Bruster's for an ice cream dessert. Just as we finished it started to sprinkle rain, however, we got home before the clouds let loose. It was a nice time.

We watched "Yes Man" with Jim Carey. It was a cute story with a funny twist at the very end. Netflix seems to be working out for us. We got the lowest rate plan. That allows us to see some movies without overdosing on them. As we went to bed we heard the sound of the rain falling on the deck.

Golfed in the morning

Yesterday I went golfing in the morning while Dee went grocery shopping. We met for lunch at McGinnis'. They have a $3.99 hot sandwich special. Afterward, it started to rain and so we went home. I worked on typing the words to our new songs so I can memorize them and then I figured out how to put Kate's photos on my Ipod. They look great! Here's a recent one.

In the evening I put some of our songs on my laptop and then burned 8 Cd's for the bass section of the chorus. These learning Cd's are very helpful for learning the new songs. It's time consuming, but will pay of in the long run.

Dee talked with Kerri this morning and Kerri said that last night was the best so far. She managed to get lots of sleep between feedings. PTL!

It's Off To Work We Go

Here's Kate checking you over.

Yesterday my mother had her car inspected and it passed with flying colors! Good. Also Rotary had a speaker from PNC talk about their mergers and the economy in western PA. Good stuff. Dee went back to work at McGinnis and received lots of "welcome back" hugs. They were really glad to see her because she's a good worker and has a good attitude.

I did some reading during the day and then in the evening we watched part of President Obama's speech and then Dee and I used the hot tub and relaxed with a pinot grigio. It's like a little vacation. Some of the shows we like to watch were recorded and so we got to see them on our schedule.

Kerri had called during the day and let us know Kaitlin did well on her 2 week check-up. She's back to her birth weight and then some more. She's up to 8 pounds 6 oz. now. Kerri said they also actually got some good sleep too. PTL.

A Good Day

Kaitlin at just 13 days!

Yesterday we just did some catching up and I was able to go to Bogmeister Chorus practice in the evening. We've started working on our Irving Berlin Show for the fall. And I learned that we're selling flowers as a fund raiser. They come from a local nursery that has a good reputation in the area. I'll be sending the flier and price list out to people I think may be interested in getting some flowers. The order will have to be turned in by May 11th.

Today, I went to the Men's Bible Study group with Earl and then came home. Dee and I transplanted an rhododendron plant that didn't do well out back. We think the deer may have had it for dinner one night. We'll see how it fares in the new location. Shortly after we finished it started to rain and the temps dropped from 75 to 57 over a couple of hours. It's cool now and damp. So we decided to go to Barnes and Noble to peruse the books and magazines. We talked with Kerri briefly - she's doing well and so is the baby. They take her for the two week check up tomorrow.

Tonight we're going to watch "Scoop". A movie we got from Netflix. I'll call my mom to remind her of her appointment to have her car inspected tomorrow morning at 9.

Enjoyable Weekend

Here are a couple of pics I thought you'd enjoy. Mother and daughter and daughter and granddaughter.

Saturday we were going to take it easy until we realized that the whole neighborhood was having a giant Yard Sale. So we went to breakfast at Freedom Diner and then headed home to see what we had that we didn't want anymore. En route to breakfast we found a fantastic stroller and swing set for Kate to use when she comes to our place.

We carted stuff up from the basement and carted most of it back, but did end up making a few bucks more than we'd spent. I recall saying, "I've gotten more exercise lugging this stationary bike up and down the steps than I ever did riding it.;) It was a beautiful day and we were in the shade all day, so it was a nice afternoon.

Sunday we went to church. Dee went to her Sunday School class and I attended the class that I think I'll be teaching in the fall. It was good to talk with the current teachers about their process and see their attendance sheet of names and participants. It'll be a survey of the New Testament class.

After ward we went to Eat 'N Park for lunch and then as soon as we got home, friends from Butler stopped by. Rich and Monica are thinking of moving and they wanted to see some of the homes in our area that were having open house. We went with them to five houses within walking distance of our place. Three of them were sorta like our place and the other two were town houses that we were just curious to see. We had a nice time with them.

After they left we sat on the deck and read for awhile, and then I cooked chicken on the grill. While we ate in the kitchenette area we watched "Last Cake Standing". A contest between wedding cake decorators for a big prize. We got hooked and watched two episodes before we just set up the record mode to record the final episode. Then went back to the deck. There was a nice breeze and so we continued to enjoy being outside.

During the evening we watched the episode we'd recorded and then next leg of "The Amazing Race." A nice day - full but nice.

Enjoying the Nice Weather

Little did we realize that Kate likes to do Yoga stretches and positions. Here's one from yesterday.

On Thursday I got to play golf with Steppy at Sun Crest Golf Course. Steppy is one of the foursome that I often play with. This is the first time just he and I played alone. The other guys are away. It was a nice afternoon and I hit a few straight.

Yesterday I went to visit with my mother in Monongahela. We were able to take care of a couple of bills and spend some time together. She had plans for the afternoon with the Senior Center she attends. They were having a "volunteer recognition" gathering at 3:00 p.m. So I took care of what I needed to do and headed home.

Then Dee and I went to Zelienople and picked out a new kitchen table. It's a pub height table with a found out leaf. It'll measure 36x54 when folded and that'll work fine for us. While we were at Kerri's we sat at her pub height table and liked it. That confirmed our decision to get this one. It's off white with a light brown top. Earlier in the week Dee met with a gal from Penny's who came to the house with ideas for window treatments that Dee liked. So the front windows will also get a make over. should be nice when it's done.

We spent the evening on the deck reading and enjoying being outdoors. It had been 85 degrees during the day and so the evening was pleasantly warm. The news people said it has not been that warm in Pittsburgh since last October. We also signed up with Netflix and received our first movie. We watched "Get Smart" in the evening and enjoyed the story. I laughed a lot.

Back at Home Again

Here's a photo of Kaitlin taken by Kerri with her Blackberry phone. I'm currently using it as my cell phone wallpaper. I also put some of our photos on my Facebook page and got instant responses from friends there who saw the photos and loved them. That was nice.

Yesterday we settled in to our old routine. First I went to the post office to pick up our mail. There was a pile of stuff to sort through. I was glad I didn't have them keep delivering it. (All that is now done on the computer.)

Then, I went to Rotary where we heard a speaker from the "Butler Blue Sox" a new baseball team that will play at the new Pullman Stadium". this summer. The players will be college kids from around the country who play for their colleges during the school year. Their hope is to eventually play professional baseball. The speaker was the Owner/Manager of the team. He started a similar team in Washington PA that now gets about 3,400 people per game in their 3,200 seat stadium. The tickets are $6.00 per game and sounds like it will be a lot of fun for the whole family as they have various activities between innings to keep the kids engaged. Sounds like fun. The start playing on June 4 and play for 9 weeks. Their home games will be in Butler.

During the meeting I was asked to make an announcement. I told them about Kaitlin's birth as our first grandchild. Everyone applauded! Nice.

From there I went to pick up Bonz from the kennel. He was groomed on the last morning there so he'd be ready for the summer. He was in good shape and quite excited to be with us again and back home. We walked him later in the day after the rains stopped.

Dee stopped in a McGinnis. They were happy to see her and they said they'd put her back on the schedule starting next week. I stopped in at Giant Eagle where I could print out some photos of our trip to be with Kerri Pat and Kaitlin. Now we'll have some photos to show folks. I also printed some to mail to people and to give to my mother.

Dee heard from Kerri during the day and they're doing fine. Had a good night with Kate as they regulate her day/night clock. Every time I look at the picture above I realize how blessed we are.