Christmas Day

We had a wonderful time at Pete and Meg's. Our table was full--Dan, Trish and myself, Laura and Sheila, and Pete's friends, Paul and Josh enjoyed a delicious turkey and all the fixings. Lilly enjoyed all the attention!

A Southern Thanksgiving

It was 80 in New Orleans. Carolyn and I packed sunscreen and lots of water and headed for the zoo one day and enjoyed a walk to the Levy on another. During our 12 hour drive to Texas the temp dropped 40 degrees! Yikes. We had to dig out our coats at our dinner stop. Dan flew in on Thanksgiving Day, and Adam spent the weekend with us. The cold weather added to the holiday spirit, and A.J. kept a fire going to keep us warm and toasty. It was great seeing Ellen and A.J.'s new home. We enjoyed daily walks on the golf cart path outside their door, and we all loved loving up the two precious kidlets!
(If you click on "Thanksgiving 2007" you can see a larger version of the pictures.)

A November Family Reunion

So great to have my brothers and sister-in-law come for a visit. We had a very fun time in Chicago touring the top sites of interest. We even were treated to fireworks on our walk back to the car. Mike gave some private carpentry lessons to Lilly!

Wednesdays with Lilly

Dan and I have been enjoying breakfast with Lilly at her house on Wednesday mornings. As you can see she gets grapes while Dan drinks his morning tea. Then later in the afternoon Lilly comes to Grandma's house and has fun with all of Grandma's toys! One of her favorites is the Bingo dog that I keep in my kitchen toy drawer. It is one of Danny's favorites as well.

Happy Birthday Sheila!!!

Chocolate cake--Sheila's favorite! Celebrating with Laura and Beka.
Have a great day, Sheila!

Beach Talk

I love the beach! I got to go to Lake Michigan two times this week! It was so beautiful. The sky was so blue both days. Thursday, Trish and I had a day hanging out--that was a treat. We headed north to New Buffalo beach. The water was very calm, and it was warm enough to wish we had brought our suits. Today, Dan and I spent the day at South Haven beach,www.southhaven.org Check it out. The water was deep blue and very wavy--the sound of the waves was wonderful. The air was cool and windy, but the water was too cool to be inviting. Everything was sparkling--the sand, the water, the sky! It was so amazing. I felt surrounded by the Lord's love for me to put me in the middle of such a beautiful place! I was filled with so many good memories of good times at the beach so I thought I'd post some beach photos.

Ellen and A.J.'s visit

Ellen and A.J. visit

We had a fun visit from Ellen and A.J. over the Labor Day weekend. They got to see Lilly walking. She is taking off. She's a quick climber as well. Trish gave us a tour of her houses and Lilly enjoyed the stairs! (Trish has more pix on Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9605209@N07/.
I gave Ellen and A.J. a ND campus tour, and they spent an afternoon at the College Football Hall of Fame. They made it to the South Bend Chocolate Cafe twice! and we had a fun evening at Fiddler's Hearth. We played Scrabble without keeping score--I slept much better without the stress of competition!

Lilly is One!

Lilly's birthday!

We had a fun time celebrating Lilly! Mary Jo, Meg's mom, drove from New York with 6 of her girls. They had a great time playing with their niece, Lilly, and their nephew, Sam. At first Lilly didn't know what to do with her cupcake but as you can see she figured it out. She enjoyed Aunt Trish's gift of her old cell phone! Lilly is on the verge of walking--such an exciting time!

The Grand Canyon North Rim

Grand Canyon

Today is Grandpa and Grandma's 56th wedding anniversary. In their honor I'm posting our Grand Canyon pictures. Dan and I felt very connected with our parents while we were there. George and Marie Brewer actually honeymooned in a cabin at the North Rim. We might have been in their very cabin! And my mom and dad honeymooned in a similar little cabin at Lake Tahoe. We had fabulous weather while we were there and spectular hikes and picnics soaking in the view. Enjoy! We sure did.

Patrick and Shaunna's wedding in Pasadena

The wedding reunion

What an amazing gift to have such a wonderful family! Pat and Jean provided the setting for 4, count them FOUR, family reunions--the Bowlers, the Brewers, the McCabes, and the Dalys (Jean's family from Ireland). All their friends, neighbors, fellow parishoners, partners, and clergy friends played a role in hosting each one of us comfortably and feeding us abundantly.

Jean had masterminded their back yard so that all 30 of us hanging out there had a comforable place to relax. From the moment we first walked into the backyard and saw the Irish relatives chatting at the table I "saw" grandpa sitting there with them. His spirit was in us the entire event enjoying the chat, the food, the grandkids, and the dancing!

Every night we were graciously served an abundant meal. The rehearsal dinner for 100 was unbelieveable! The food was so delicious. We celebrated our 32nd anniversary that night with a champagne toast surrounded by all our children. What a thrill.

One of my favorite moments was in Patricia and Daniel's pool. All our children and grandchildren were having a great! I was so filled with joy just enjoying everyone enjoying themselves!

And the wedding! It was beautiful. Patrick and Shaunna were very relaxed and able to enjoy all their guests.

Thanks to all the Pasadena Bowlers and Friends for all their hard work giving us all such a memorable week together.

Latest Lilly Pictures

Lilly celebrating the 4th! Aunt Ellen stayed out of the pictures.

Mayo Visit

Mayo

Thought you all would enjoy a few photos from our week up at Mayo. We were so blessed by great doctors and nurses caring for Dan. Trish and I got to see a few of the sights of the "Medical Disneyland". The picture of Dan was taken on Wednesday--it was his first day to set foot on Minnesota soil. He was feeling real good that afternoon.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! Lots of great dads in our family! I was thinking of dad yesterday as I was doing some landscaping work at one of our rentals so I thought I'd post some garden photos. Dad gave me some neat tiles last July. My friend Gloria helped me turn the little plot of earth next to the back door into a work of art.
Mike was telling me how dad always whistled or sang while he worked. So I decided to try it yesterday while I was digging away. It made the work more enjoyable. I'm sure that's why dad chose "whistle while he worked"! I'm hoping to start a new habit. Thanks Dad for being so cheerful.

Memorial Day Reunion

Memorial Day Reunion

We began our weekend honoring mom and dad with a big celebration of Patrick and Delia's birthdays! How wonderful to be together!
Sunday, after a traditional breakfast at the "Video Cafe" we all headed for the Giants game. It was very exciting to see Barry hit one out of the park.
Monday, Father Greene once again honored dad and mom with his encouraging words. We unveiled the plaque honoring my parents. It is appropriately on the St. Michael side of the altar where dad usually served as a Eucharist Minister. After the blessing of the plaque we had a reception in the church hall. It was great to meet many of their friends. Then we headed out to Holy Cross Cemetary and prayed together at mom and dad's gravesite and left flowers from their garden. We stopped in at "Molloy's" and reminisced about the Irish foot stomping gatherings our parents attended there every year.
After the Pasadena crowd headed south Mike, Dan and I spent a beautiful day at Jack London State Park in the middle of the wine country. We enjoyed seeing and hearing lots of birds and frogs. Then we stopped in Sonoma and had a delightful dinner at a neat resturant.
Dan and I spent the rest of the week walking and enjoying our favorite local spots. Thank you Lord for the blessing of being able to travel across country to be with family!

Liz comes for a visit!

Liz's b'day visit

Liz came to the Bend on business last weekend and was able to join the fam for a birthday dinner. Liz and Lilly had a little bonding time. Notice Peter is getting Lilly interested in basketball already!

Honoring my dad and mom!

This weekend Mike, Pat, Jean, Dan and I will be in S.F. for the dedication of a plaque in honor of my dad and mom that the pastor of our family's church commissioned. The ceremony take place on the day of my mom's 8th anniversary of her death. We are all honored by this honor! Thought I'd send along this video that Bill made in honor of my dad in case you haven't gotten a chance to view it.

Jane's Baptism

Jane's Baptism

We had a wonderful time celebrating Jane's baptism this weekend. Bill's family is so great at including us and loving us! Jane has gotten sooo filled out since her birth. Her eyes are very big and beautiful. And she coos and gave us little chats and smiles.

Lilly says hi!

Lilly

Lilly joins in the family tradition of hanging out in the laundry basket. She is 9 months on the 9th. Click her photo to see a few more!

Dingle on My Mind

My friend Betsy went to Dingle last September. She loved it. While there she gave Betty a call and they arranged to meet at church. Betsy got some great pictures of the church and a couple of Betty and Billy. Apparently Billy drove Betty to church. Thought you'd all enjoy taking a look. The picture of the motorcyclists is fun. They were a couple from France touring. I enjoyed the good picture of the "petrol station". Click on the picture to the right to see the slideshow.

Easter Thoughts

"But the steadfast love of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to their children's children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember his commandments." Ps. 103

Pat's recent question: I was reminiscing about Dad on his birthday and I remember fondly how Dad used to emphatically say "Good bye" with a wonderful lilt and sense of humor. He would have a smile from ear to ear and he knew it was a bit of fun to say it that way. Dad always had a "disarming" smile, which could melt titanium. My question is when did he start this new method of saying good bye; I think it was in the last 2-3 years; and did Dad ever mention why he started that or did he just take a fancy to it? Mike knew the answer: Dad picked up saying ba bye, ba bye from Margaret Mannion of Clooncureen. That's how she would say good bye.



"My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life,
they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10

Mike: Dad was like a little kid when he was opening presents - it didn't matter what you got him he loved it.
Anne: Dad had a child like spirit. Liz and I were just discussing what a trusting guy he was.
Mike was telling me how dad always brought lilies from the back yard to church for Easter. Dad knew the Lord's voice. He was proud of those lilies that mom had planted and he was glad to share them generously. Isn't that special that he has a grandchild named Lilly!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter celebrating with Peter, Meg and Lilly, as well as Trish and her household, the Flynns and Sheila. We enjoyed an evening of singing songs with Trish and friends. As you can see from the delight on Lilly's face she is destined to be a great ball-handler just like Pete.

Snowy Day in the Bend

This was the view from our house this morning! Wow! But we are not depairing because spring is surely "around the corner"!

Jane Cecilia Born!

It's a girl! Jane Cecilia...she is beautiful. She looks a lot like Danny when he was born except for more delicate features. I just spent some time cuddling her so Carolyn could sleep and she found her thumb which she proceeded to suck violently. She's got very strong arms and hands--she likes to wale them around. Danny is adapting well to having a little sister. He piles up toys on top of her while mom nurses. He and I have been having lots of fun going for walks and playing at the playground. We discovered that we both really like popsicles!

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Having a great time in New Orleans waiting for the #3 grandchild to be born! Click the "Grandkids" album on the right to see some recent pictures of #1 and #2!

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Celebrating St. Pat's Jamaican Style

We had a wonderful time celebrating the High Holy Day here in the Bend. We had 2 men from the POP branch in Jamaica staying with us. Dan and they were at meetings all day starting on Thursday. They mentioned to me that they had special connections with the Irish. Locksley is an amazing musician! He accompanies groups to Lourdes as their music minister. After hours he hangs out with the musicians that accompany groups from Ireland and they jam together. He loves Irish music. Saturday night when they got home we gathered in our living room and the fun began. Locksley played and Noel sang and we had a "hooley"(Gaelic for awesome time!). We sang old Irish favorites and some rocking Reggae. Noel treated us to some Jamaican dancing and we all jumped up to join the fun. We rocked until 2:00 a.m.--in Jamaica they dance and sing all night so that was an early ending for our guests! They sang us some of their favorite praise and worship songs as well. Our hearts were lifted very high last night. Music is such a wonderful gift. Sheila had guests over for an Irish movie and snacks. They all joined us as well and a couple of them called their friends. Around midnight two young men from Africa joined in the fun. Music drew us together and gave us great joy!

Wanderers

From Marge:

When Anne and I were out visiting in California, I suggested to Anne we go over to the DeYoung Museum at Golden Gate because I hadn't seen the new design, and of course Mike was game. First we took a couple of buses and then we walked in the fog. Then we got to the museum and found out we had arrived on the day it was closed. Then we wandered through the museum garden for a while. Then we went over to the Japanese tea gardens (paying customers!) and wandered around there for a while. Then we had tea. Then we decided to walk home through the park. We got into the jungly part of the Rhododendron grove and got completely lost! Anne, Mike and I had three different ideas of which way was "home." So first we tried one way, then the second, then the third. After wandering around for what seemed like a couple of hours (discovering a deep, dank, lake and making several other wilderness sightings) we came back out at last to civilization. What I remember about that episode was the extreme good humor, even cheer, shown by your dad/grandpa. You would have thought we had planned the whole thing on purpose! He acted as though it was all a grand adventure. I was flagging and had had enough long before he was ready to call it quits. And THEN, after we finally found the way out, we hiked up to USF to pick up something for Dan from the giftshop. What a spirit of adventure he had! That's what I'll miss.

Grandpa Stories

This week Grandpa would be 88. In his honor I thought I'd start a blog with some of his stories.
We love you Dad. We're so proud of you!

Hard worker and a Gentleman

From Mike:

I was really missing Dad today. A tenant from 46th called at 6:30 this morning to say there was a flood of water in the garage. Usually Dad would go out with me and help me fix whatever problems the rentals had. The Saturday before he injured his finger we went out to 41st Ave. The tenant's kitchen sink was clogged and the toilet was also backing up. Dad plunged out the toilet and we worked on freeing the sink. We ran the snake down the sink but it didn't help so we had to remove a clean out plug outside. The plug wouldn't budge so I cut it open with the chisel. The plug's threads were still stuck. I went to the bathroom and when I came back Dad had chiseled and cut out the rest of the plug. He was amazing. We then got the pipes cleaned out by running the snake and a water hose down the pipe.

The St. Gabriel's St. Patrick's dinner dance was this past weekend. For the last few years Dad had been going out there. Last year a woman from St. Monica parish, Faye Willig, needed a ride to St. Gabe's, as her usual ride wasn't going. Dad drove by himself to her house at 46th near Anza and gave her a ride to the dinner dance. After we played last year, we drove home together and dropped her off. I remember Dad getting out of the car and walking her to the door of her house. Faye has been on the sick list in our parish bulletin so I don't think she'll be going this year either. Dad was such a gentleman.

I was coming home from work during the last year when at 21st and Geary I saw Dad carrying a bag and walking with an older Chinese woman. I asked him about it at dinner otherwise he probably wouldn't have told me. He said he was walking over to do some work at Clement St. when he saw this woman who was dealing with 2 bags of groceries. It was too much for her to carry at once so she would carry the one bag foward a distance then leave it down on the sidewalk and then go back and get the other bag. Dad offered to help and ended up carrying one of the bags for her (or maybe both I forget). I'm sure it must have taken all of a half hour because she was walking extremely slow and lived up at 21st and Anza.

I was also looking around the house for anything that Dad had written. Dad always took his time when he was writing - he had a very deliberate way of writing even his own signature.

My Dad

From Anne:

When Brian lived with us in household dad loved him and understood him better than anyone. A big part of Brian at that time was his Irishness. So one morning when dad was visiting our family went to mass. When we came home Brian was frying up bacon. He had started breakfast for us which was a very loving thing to think of. The house was filled with smoke and I jumped all over Brian about burning the bacon. I completely missed the kind act. Dad mentioned to me later how Brian was trying to do something nice for us and I needed to be easier on him. That was very unusual for dad to correct me in any way. I was really struck at the time how dad really knew and loved Brian the way he was. I was all about "fixing" Brian, and dad was all about love!

Last July I was out visiting and it was Saturday night so in the Bowler/McCabe tradition we went to the Parkside with the McCabes for dinner. Dad ordered his favorite turkey dinner which first they thought they were out of but they found they had one left. After dinner Mike suggested that we go to the Cultural Center because the Coeltis (sp) dancing group was out there. Everyone wanted to go so we headed out there. We found a table where we saw the dancing real well. When they invited anyone to come join them I asked Mike and Oliver but they declined. So I asked dad and he jumped right up! We had a great time dancing the Seige of Ennis. As usual I think I got more winded than dad. It is so special to think of that memory and our dance together!

Ironman

From Pat:

A couple of years ago when Dad was into his bike we were down in the basement changing a tire tube. We got the new tube in and we were attempting to put the tire back on the rim; my attempts failed miserably. As I was searching for a tool Dad started in to put the tire back on; I told Dad he shouldn't bother since it was an extremely difficult procedure without the tool. Of course Dad considered this a "nice" little challenge, and proceeded to install the tire inch by inch as I stood by in amazement. Dad finished up the tire as my jaw dropped with a thud on the basement floor; he never boasted or called me a weakling or anything negative. I just had witnessed a 83 or 84 year old do an amazing thing, which I'm sure only Jack LaLane could only replicate. Dad was an IRONMAN, yet he was totally unassuming; this, in my mind, summarizes Dad's character. A giant of a man stored inside a 5 foot 8 inch frame; he was my idol.