Thanksgiving 2009

While we all have our own, we always enjoy going to Bob and Marge's the Saturday after Thanksgiving to share the day together.

After dinner, the men went outdoors to take down the "dish". Question of the day: How many men/boys does it take... While Jon appears to be working, the rest are standing around with their hands in their pockets.

There's always lots of good food, good company and fun playing, or just sitting around and chatting.

Thanks for a nice day of fellowship and, of course, Thanksgiving!

Fall Get-Together

Another successful Fall Get-Together. Our annual Fall Get-Together was October 10th at Tim and Dee Dee's. A cool, crisp day -- just perfect for a hayride and wiener roast.

It's always good to see everybody and catch up on news. A few people were missing -- Mike's family and Terri's family. We missed all of you, but had fun talking about you behind your backs. JK

Lori, Jason and Jessi were there, but Scott had to work. Jessi brought her boyfriend, Kyle. These kids are growing up way too quickly!

It was fun to watch the little ones, i.e., Dylan, Zach, Lily, Kyle, Allie, Kelsie, John, and Rose run around and play together like the older ones used to. Katie and Cody both had friends there. Little Ben is so cute and he'll soon be running around with the rest of the kids.

We all appreciate the effort that Tim, Dee Dee and family put forth. Everybody always has a good time and we all look forward to next year.

2009 OBX Vacation

Our vacation this year was in Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks. What a beautiful area of the country! After driving to Williamsburg, VA, we, and Lori's family went on a Ghostwalk of the historical village of Williamsburg. We're not sure whether we saw a ghost or not, but one of my pictures has a image or two on it that shouldn't be there. See below.

Our guide, John, told good "stories"? of ghosts that had been seen in various houses/buildings in the city. We also visited a small cemetery where we met "Emma". She was buried there over 100 years ago and had deteriorated somewhat as you can see.
We ended up at the Raleigh Tavern where we had dinner with lots of colonial ambience, historically dressed waiters and strolling minstrels. Very quaint and enjoyable.








Then on to Corolla! Since our house wasn't quite ready when we arrived, we went to get groceries at Harris Teeter. After receiving a call that the house was ready, the women and children went to the house while Charles, Mike, and Scott stayed and shopped for groceries. We managed to take pictures of the house and rooms before taking the luggage in and messing up the newly cleaned rooms.


First object of business, of course, was to check out the pool and the ocean. We were at the ocean every day, but we also spent a lot of time in the pool, especially Allie. The pool table also was used a lot during the week. Jacob was, I think, the 9-ball champion and Mema did well on 8-ball until Mike came along and challenged her -- and won.

Charles, Lori, Jessi , and I went to see the outdoor play, "The Lost Colony" which we had tried to see the last time we were in OBX but got rained out. It was really a pleasant evening and we all had fun. When we got home, Jason was suffering with severe itching from his sunburn the day before. After trips to the pharmacy and placing cold towels on him, he finally fell asleep. The next day he was back to normal. Jody had some experience herself with the same malady and was very helpful and supportive.

We all had a lot of fun and the week passed much too quickly. All too soon, it was time to pack up and get ready to leave for home.

An Up-and-Down Day

Saturday, May 23, 2009, was an up-and-down kind of day.


First, we attended a memorial for Fred Leckie, the CEO of NCS Corp. where Charles is president. He passed away on April 11th at the age of 86. Fred wanted to be cremated and his ashes placed in a "coffee can". His children live in Minnesota and Virginia and his grandchildren do not live locally, so they scheduled his memorial for Memorial Day weekend. It really was a nice memorial with the family, and anyone present who wanted to, speaking about their thoughts and rememberances of Fred. There probably wasn't a dry eye at the gravesite, but there were many moments of laughter and quiet understanding, too. After the service, the family hosted an open house to anyone who wished to go back to Poverty Acres, Fred and Jane's home in Madison County, one more time. We all miss Fred -- he enjoyed life to the fullest and made anything he did fun for him and those around him.


After going home and changing clothes, we left for an open house and graduation ceremony for Travis Scott, son of my niece, Terri Scott and her husband, Jon. Travis graduated from John Glenn High School in New Concord, and plans to prepare himself for a career in law enforcement. Travis is a special young man (as is his brother, Ben), handsome, intelligent, polite and very down-to-earth. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.


As you can see, it was an up-and-down day. We were happy for the new graduate and sad about the passage of a dear man who will be truly missed.

Happy Mother's Day 2009

What a beautiful Mother's Day! The weather was sunny, a little cool , but better than the rain we've been having.

We all met at J Liu's in Worthington at 10:00 AM for a Mother's Day buffet. If you went away hungry, it was your fault. Lots of breakfast items, lunch items, salads, roast beef and ham and, of course, desserts.

We hadn't gone out for Lori's or Charles' birthdays, so we celebrated the birthdays and Mother's Day together. After the buffet, everyone came back to our house and opened presents and shared a large chocolate chip cookie (as if we needed anything else).

Andrew had a final soccer game so they left for the game, but Lori and the kids stayed and chatted for a while. That evening, we went to a "Broadway Across America" production of "The Color Purple".

Hope all of you had a great Mother's Day. I certainly did!

Columbus-style Ships in Stuart, Florida

Today, we went to see two Columbus-style ships anchored for a week in Stuart. David told us about them when he called earlier this week. Laurel , David, John and Rose are visiting Laurel's aunt and uncle in Vero Beach, which is only about 35 miles from where we are on Hutchinson Island.

As we were walking toward the ships on the walkways, David had started to say to John, "You'd better hold onto your ... " when the wind plucked John's hat off his head and into the water. Since there was no way to retrieve it, we continued on to see the ships. John was very good about losing his hat and didn't whine or cry at all.

One guide told Charles that the ships really don't have a permanent dock, but sail around to different cities (although on one of them it said "Nina - Wilmington, DL"). The crew slept below in small bunks and the captain had an area with two bunks and a small desk. Ceiling height was only about 5 feet. Guess men must have been shorter then or had lots of backaches.

On our way back to land, we all kept looking for John's hat -- especially John. David spied it among some rocks on the shore. (See blue hat by the rocks.) There was an open spot at the end of the railing, and David climbed down. He removed his shoes and crawled along the rocks and finally reached the hat.

After throwing it up to Laurel, he then proceeded back the way he came and with a little help climbed back up to the walkway. John was really glad to get his hat back, but I'm surprised that we

didn't get caught.

After all that work, it was time for lunch. We went to a place in Stuart where we've eaten before. It's on the waterfront and you can watch the boats and seagulls. John tried some calamari and shrimp. Rose seemed to think the calamari was really good. After lunch, we went back to the condo and Rose napped while David and John hit the pool.

It was good to see the Derry's, but it's funny we have to go to Florida to do it. I think all of us will sleep well tonight after being out in the sunshine and wind most of the day.

Lordy, Lordy, Lori's Forty!

April 9th was Lori's 40th birthday! It never seems possible when you bring those precious little bundles home from the hospital that someday they'll be as old as you think you are!! Lori's had a rough year healthwise, and we think being out of her 30's might just might be good for her. We all wish her a Happy Birthday and a healthy and prosperous year ahead.

HAPPY 40TH!!