This is our Charlie Brown pumpkin for 2007.

Finally Here!

Hey Everyone!
We, as in I, finally got on to here. Don't know if the parental units did this yet, but I'll make them sooner or later.
Missy, good pictures of Grandma and the bunch. They turned out better than I expected!

Sorry for thinking so early, but is Uncle Jim going to have Thanksgiving?

Hope to see ya'll soon.


-Dana

Happy Fall

Hi all,

We have enjoyed weather in the mid 80's the past few days. We got to try out our new A/C. It works beautifully. Looks like we'll be able to try our new furnace before the week is over.

The basement is coming along. Dave has the week off. He and our old roommate, Peter are beginning to build the bar today, and the new tile should be down by Monday. I have the next 5 days off. I have been assigned to stain our new doors and trim. Dave and I planned 3 months ago to take this time off to hang out and relax, go on bike rides, etc. But the basement project will consume most of our free time. We are having a holiday get-together with friends on December 1st, so that is our goal. I'm fully confident we'll make it.

Grandma Grace is being transfered to a hospice hospital today. My uncle John took a tour of the place and said it's very nice. It's a brand new building, which is a plus. Grandma sleeps most of the time and is pleasantly confused. Her pain is well controlled with meds. She also has a catheter like Grandma Dorothy because she is too weak to get out of bed. Mom is going up tonight to help settle her in at the new place. Bobby and I are going up on Thursday. Please keep her in your prayers.

Tommy's senior pictures turned out fantastic! What a handsome young man. Aunt Shawn, will you sent me a copy? And Sami's new school pic too please? I display them on my fireplace mantle. Sounds like Sami is kicking butt at fencing. Congrats on winning 1st place! :)

Ang, are we still on for November 3rd? Let me know what time you'll be coming. I'm looking forward to our fun day of shopping.

Enjoy the week.

Love,
Missy

Hi from IN

Rick and I have had sore throats this week and we are finally on the mend.

I'm meeting Scott tomorrow and we are heading up the IL way to a family picnic out in the woods. I'm hoping for a good day.

Angela and Jeremiah will be coming to the picnic as well.

Next weekend, we will be going to EIU for Parents Weekend.

We received Tommy's Sr. Picture. It is a really great photo of him.

Hope everyone is well.

Ellen

Sunday morning 9/09/2007

Hello Everybody,

Another beautiful weekend here in the Mundelein area. Kaye & I visited both Grandmas yesterday, and things are pretty much the same.
Kaye & Missy are out together this morning looking at tile for the basement floor. The rug was destroyed in the flood, so they are looking at alternatives for a new floor.
Bobby is out with his friend, Melanie. They are going to Chicago and seeing the sites.

Kaye & I are invited to "the first Bear game party" this afternoon. Go Bears!!

I hope you had a good time in Hawaii, Fred. What we have to do for work sometimes.

Have a great week everybody.

love,

Brother / Uncle Jim.

Look what we found... :(

Yep, it's mold! YUCK. We've just finished tearing all the drywall out, which is a little over 2 feet all the way around. Dave demolished the bar today too. Tomorrow, the tile is being taken up. Then, Dave will begin replacing the drywall. We've decided to build our own bar instead of replacing the laminate cabinetry, but we are keeping the counter tops. Hopefully, we'll have our basement back in 2 months??? The most exciting part of this all is that we are the proud new owners of a new sump pump and a battery backup! :)

More later...

Hope all is well...

Love Ya,
Miss

Labor Day Greetings from GA

Hi all - Hope you've all dried out. Sorry about the flooding for Missy & Dave, but good job on the extra insurance. We could use some of that rain, we're in one of the worse droughts ever. Anyway, all is well here. School is going along for all 3 students - the eldest being the biggest complainer of homework. She can sure complain, so immature. Tommy will be judging a novice debate this upcoming weekend then he'll go to Texas for his first debate of the year. And Fred will be in Hawaii Sunday for a week - all business, of course. So we are all jealous of him this week. Sami is finalizing her book, making some changes and looking for publishers, much harder than she thought. She's starting confirmation, will be done Nov 17. Her saint name will be Francis even though it's a boy because she wanted a saint that loved animals. Speaking of animals, Rayna and Jesse are living the dog's life - eating and laying around. Fred's been trying to train them to do the taxes, but mostly they just sniff at it. Kindof what he does. That's about all the excitement for us.
The Freds