Weekend at the Lake

What a great time we had with Peter and Meg and Lilly hanging out at a little cabin near Lake Michigan. We had fun digging in the sand and watching Lilly revel in climbing the sand hills. The weather was cool but crispy clear and beautiful. Liz and Trish were able to join us for Sunday brunch and we celebrated Liz's birthday. It's so great to live so close to the Lake!

May Flowers and Lilly

Grandpa and Lilly had some great bonding time Monday. They stretched on the grass at Pete's house and looked at the sky and the clouds, and listened to the birds. Dan and I had a fun walk at Bendix woods. We enjoyed seeing the "Jack in the Pulpit", Trillium and other neat spring wildflowers.

Danny and Jane's Visit

We're enjoying fun times with Danny and Jane. We love having Carolyn and Bill here also! It was wonderful seeing all the cousins together. We've had dinner at Peter and Meg and Lilly's house, Liz's house and Trish's house. The kids are doing great now in spite of a few days of bad coughs and fevers. The temperature rose to 60 degrees today. It's been great to play outside with the kids. And Danny and I saw my first robin since last year, a sure sign that spring is on the way.

A snowy day here in the Bend

Liz and I enjoyed a fun trudge through the snow. It is beautiful here.

Happy Valentine's Day

Two fun pictures--mom relaxing in the backyard, May 1968, and dad hard at work, December 1977. Dad's tile helper took this shot.

SF Anniversary Trip

Dan and I joined my brothers Mike and Pat, and Pat's wife, Jean, in SF to celebrate the one year anniversary of dad's death. We were able to attend his daily morning mass and enjoy pancakes at the corner resturant. Then we all went to Denise's mother's funeral mass and said hello to all her family. It was such a blessing that we were able to be there to honor Denise's loving and friendly mom.
We had a wonderful time in Carmel with Mike. We saw tons of sea life!!! Each elephant seal weighs 2 tons and we saw 4 four of them! Then we returned home to more rain and more favorite SF things to do.

A year ago....

A year ago my dad cut his finger. I thought of him all day today. Dad was a very organized man but I never appreciated that fact. But he had to be organized to lay tile as well as he did. So one day when I was out visiting he woke up and told me the plan. 8:30 mass, followed by a trip down to Kaisar to get his blood work done. We had to walk to Kaisar of course. Before the blood work he turned in his perscriptions at the pharmacy and delighted in telling me how they would be ready after his appointment and that would save him waiting in line. So that all played out exactly as he had planned. Then we proceeded walking further down Geary Street to the glass place where he got a piece of glass made for Clement St. He joked around with the glass man who knew him well. And then we walked home. Mission accomplished all in dad's timetable. Today as I did my mundane errands I thought of that day and how fun it was watching him delight in checking off his list of things to do. And I prayed, "Jesus, Jesus" just as he taught us to do. Thank you Lord for your presence with me as I go about my daily work and thanks for such a great dad and mom who taught me to work hard and take delight in the small things of my day.
Mike adds, "Dad didn't waste much time in his life. When we were doing a job together and we were near the finish of the job he'd tell me to take something down with me if I was going downstairs - not to waste a trip. He said he learned that from Carrington Cook, the guy he worked with for so many years."