Just got back from Illinois where one of our former neighbors threw a bridal shower for Michelle.  There were friends who had been neighbors, mom's club friends and church youth group friends plus a few high school buddies.  It was great fun.  Girls only, except for Kaden!

Kaden was passed from lady to lady and he seemed to enjoy every minute of it!

And what red-blooded American male wouldn't like being held by two pretty young women like these?

Aww.  Diane got her baby fix for awhile, at least until her daughter decides to get married and have a few of her own!

And I even got a hug!

I think their kitchen is well stocked now - time to find an apartment to rent, don't you think?

I thoroughly cleaned out our bedroom yesterday.  I'd like to get the basement done early in the week.  I have meetings all day Wed (three of them) so that day is shot.  Michelle is planning to pick up Katie, her mother-in-law on Thursday because Katie said she'd help us clean!  I'm not going to say no to that offer!  It's an Amish tradition to help each other clean before a big gathering.  So I figure the three of us should be able to accomplish most of the deep cleaning then.  That will leave Friday for purchasing food, making fruit salad, cleaning vegies, wrapping napkins around utensils, etc etc etc.

Keep praying for sunshine!  We're really hoping to have the do here, but I have the church hall lined up "just-in-case!"

I'm getting excited now - can't believe the reception is 6 days away.  Unbelievable!

Goofy entry today:

The ceremonial burning of a 70's treasure:

This was hanging on the wall of the cottage that Sue bought two years ago:

It had to go.  Sue found this mirror on one of our many shopping trips.

We are silly.

So we stoked the fire.

then tossed in the "treasure"

There she blows!

all that's left: one lone tulip!

I have to address a question from TNuts before I do anything else, because some of the rest of you are probably wondering the same thing.

When the Amish travel distances they rent a driver and ride in a 15 passenger van.  So the Amish who are coming to the reception will leave their horse and buggies at home and ride in motorized vehicles like the rest of the world!

I have to give my talk in 2 hours, but thought I'd answer that question first.

He's alive!  Yes, that's right, my son called yesterday.  Gave us a song and dance about bad to no cell phone coverage.  He'll be home this weekend for a week.  So he'll be able to help get ready for the reception.  It's less than 2 weeks away.

He called while I was on the phone with my college roommate.  She's one of those people who I always feel like we just pick right up where we left off the last time we talked, no matter how long it's been.  And we talk and talk and giggle and laugh.  It's great to have friends like that.  I called her back after I got off the phone with Ken.  I don't usually interrupt a call to take another, but it'd been too long since I talked to Ken and with caller ID I knew it was him!

My lists are getting longer and there are more of them.  I have to make lists, otherwise I forget to do things.  Which often isn't so bad, but I'd hate for forget the food or something else major on the day of the reception.

At least the favors are all done - we made over 120 of them, which is the current guest count.  I'm not making any more.  I figure there will be enough men like my husband who won't even take one that we'll have plenty, even with all the Amish kids there.  LOL

I need to call the rental place and revise the number of tables and chairs needed - up for the tables, down for the chairs.  And I have to pay for the cake this week.  Today I have a luncheon to plan the books for book club, then I have to take Barney in to the vet (I hope I can find him when it's time).  I also have to make some calls for my ladies group - I'm program chair this year.  And prepare the talk on Dorcas for Wednesday night's women's ministry meeting.  What would I do if I didn't have something to do?

I still have to post pictures of the ceremonial wall-hanging burning that Sue and I did on vacation.  Maybe next time.  I have to get my walk in and then start making phone calls.

Oh yeah - Wings, Etc will have 300 bbq wings ready for us at 10:15 the morning of the reception even though they don't usually open until 11!  Whoot whoot!  Now I just have to find a local provider of sushi to go with the quiches!

Today I took my daughter and her mother-in-law, Katie, over to the huge annual craft fair at Amish Acres.  It was the perfect day for it - sunny, but high about 78 with a breeze.  We all found treasures, but then we spotted the monkey!

Isn't he a cutie?

So I headed over with Kaden in tow.

Look at the monkey, Kaden!

The monkey took a quarter from my hand,

then gave Kaden a kiss!

Thanks for heading over to my mom's site to wish her happy birthday.  I know she enjoys the attention!

So, since I know she chomping at the bit, here are some more pictures of her favorite (also only) great-grandchild.

August 10 is my mom's Xth anniversary of her 29'th birthday.  Please head over to josaju 's site and wish her many more healthy years!

This year, at Michelle's shower

This year, Michelle's birthday

2004, 50th wedding anniversary

2000ish

1985

Christmas 1958

Family 1958

that's not me, that's my brother in there!  I was already out!

There I am with a doll as big as me!

 1956

This is as far back as I have pictures for. 

I hope my mom enjoys this trip down memory lane!

Happy birthday mom!

Remember your present 22 years ago?  That's when we brought Ken home from the hospital!

Yippee!  Today they are letting us download photos again!  Maybe the note I wrote to the xanga intern helped?

Anyway, in keeping with our policy of taking pictures of where we ate on vacation this is the Serving Spoon, a wonderful restaurant directly across the street from Lake Michigan, in Menominee, Michigan, in the UP.  You may recognise this from last year, since it's a repeat!

This one was new - The Gateway Bar and Grill in Crivitz, Wi.  We ate here the first night and had broasted chicken - for $4.95 the dinner!  How's that for a great price!  Included potatoes, coleslaw, roll, breadsticks and cheese!

Here's another repeat - Soup to Nuts, also in Crivitz.  Homemade hamburger buns!  We didn't do the ice cream there this time - we were too stuffed!  We got fudge later than day.  Sue is wearing a jacket because the cool front had come in and it wasn't hot anymore!

We didn't try any of these delecacies though!

Here am I, eating dinner at Bergs Seafood Landing, also in Mennominee and on the lake side.  Great view.  We watched the guy mow the lawn the whole time we ate.  It was pretty funny.  We think he got eight rows done.  I couldn't walk that slowly.  Sue and I both could have run circles around him.  But hey, at least he was working!

Mimiwi and her husband Ken outside the four seasons restaurant in Manatowok, Wi.  Great company!  We surely had a wonderful time with them.  They told us next year at their house.  They're on!

I think that's it for the restaurants.  I'll do other pictures tomorrow!

In the hope that my son will read this, since he's aparently keeping his phone turned off,

HAPPY 22'ND BIRTHDAY KEN!

Unbelievable!

I'm back!

I'm refreshed, revitalized and thinner!

What a wonderful trip.

I'll probably spread this out over a few days, but hit some highlights now.

Traffic through Chicago STINKS, I don't care when you go through.

Traffic through Milwaukee isn't much better.  I was listening to Wadaya know on NPR on my drive home today and even a guest on that show (who had just written a book on his car trip across America) commented on how all the highways in Milwaukee were torn up.  What's with that?

Driving north past Green Bay was fine.  I did a lot of driving and riding this past week.  Temperatures ranged from 100 down to the 60's on Wednesday night, when the cool front went through.

I got a lot of great shopping buys.  What fun is that!  And ate a lot of food food, even if it didn't involve cheese or sugar!  I did cheat - I ate fudge.  But that was my only slip-up so I think I did great!

I scrapbooked 18 pages, front and back.  That's 36 individual pages!  I did our trip to Hawaii all the way through Kaden's birth.  Still have more to do to catch up, but this was a major head start!

We watched 6 movies:  Monster-in-Law (hysterical), How to Lose a Guy in 10 days (Sue had never seen that one), Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ladies in Lavender, The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio (wonderful), and I don't remember the last one.  Sue?????  Help me out.  I think it was the first one we watched.

Edit:    Because of Winn Dixie  :  An absolutely adorable movie.

We went to a festival in Menomonee, Mi (Did I get the name of the town right).  Went out to one really great sit-down-restaurant right on Lake Michigan, at at a lot of other good places, shopped, spent money, did a ceremonial burning of a ghastly wall hanging that came with the cottage, (that will be a later blog) and generally had a blast.

And on the way home, we met mimiwi and her husband for brunch!

Then I drove to the western Chicago suburbs and heard the senior vocal recital of the daughter of one of my mom's club buddies.

I got home this afternoon, but after first going out to brunch with Mary S, another of my mom's club friends.

Then I got home and back to the grind.  I've got laundry (stinky) in the wash and will read you guys later.

There's no place like home, but vacations are wonderful once in a while!

 Why won't xanga let me include my uploaded pictures yesterday and today?  That's why no photos mom.  I can't get them on this!