Birthday Foot Rubs and Friends

Saturday we got invited to travel to Aunt Lil's house to use her pool for a birthday party for my niece, Allison. We jumped at the chance to swim so off we went. Over the river and through the rain....

Don't they look like t-r-o-u-b-l-e??

Cassi and Allison


Carly decided to take a snooze during Cake-time. She covers her mouth just like Uncle Joe when he sleeps! Funny! She is still my baby.

Alli's favorite gift: A free foot massage from Uncle Joe!!

After the party we went to visit some friends we haven't seen in a long time: Matt and Tamara. We got to know them attending the same church when our daughters were little bitty girls. Tamara and I taught childrens church for years and became very close. It has been 5 years since they moved away and I miss them terribly. Now that we know where they are we will go and visit again soon. We got there about 4pm-ish and didn't leave til 11:30pm ! We sat around and talked, laughed, cried and listened to the children play. They have 4 children now: Zana 14, Hannah 11, Trent 8 and Abigail 5. They love kids! We stayed for hamburgers and had a very nice visit.

Sunday was also a nice day. I took Uncle Joe to Tedly's house to listen to some music then we went to Rib Crib for a quick and quiet bite to eat before heading to Walmart. Yes people, my husband went to Walmart with me. I can count the times on my fingers and toes that he has gone to Walmart with me since we have been married. (15 years 8-14-08!) We had a list and pretty much stuck to it unless there was something we just had to have like a new phone and some shorts for vacation.....yout get the picture. :o)

My boat was floating

My tanks are full and I am over flowing.

A weekend filled with fun and family, who could ask for anything more??

The Real Me

This is who I really am and I am ok with it. :o)

Who knows what movie this is from?

Buhmatoes

First fruits of our garden

The Most Interesting Meal I Have Ever Had

Yesterday my daughter, CassiJo and my niece AlliJo called me at work and said, "Mom/Aunt SuSu, don't stop and get ANYTHING for dinner OK?? Come straight home."

My thought, "Well this should be interesting. It could be steak or cereal. I can't even guess."

I got home and this is what they had for me. It is (from L to R) cream of mushroom soup. with chopped onion. and......chopped lettuce. Yes lettuce. Before you say yuck.....it wasn't THAT bad. Kinda like a salad and soup all in one bowl. To the right is a salad drenched in Paul Newman's Honey Mustard and Italian dressing. Next to it is the dessert: Weight Watchers White Choc Cheesecake and cantaloupe. A very healthy dinner if you ask me. :o)

Don't be jealous that my family is such creative cooks. Maybe I could hire them out to come cook for YOU!

When they got up this morning they were planning to cook a Cat Cake. I had to tell them no. Alli said, "Aunt Susu it doesn't stink up your WHOLE house!"

That was enough for me to stick to my guns.

Maybe the Nap Took My Husband

Poor Uncle Joe. The intenseness of the last 4 days has exhausted him. He has slept more in the past two days than he has in weeks.

I hope he gets rested up soon. I miss him. :o) We are in the post reunion exhaustion phase now.

We look forward to keeping in touch with the new friends we have made. Some near, some far, and all dear.

I feel an early bedtime for AJ coming........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Winding Down

We are winding down from a whirlwind of a weekend. It started on Thursday when UJ's classmate, Leslie, came down and met us for dinner. Her daughter, Cambryn and Cassidy hit it off and were two little peas in a pod for 24 hours while Cassidy spent the night at Leslie's parents house on Friday night.

Saturday was the dinner and music for the reunion and it all turned out very well. The music was pleasant and the visits with friends, old and new was fun.

The event was held in the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee in a renovated depot. It was rustic and wonderfully decorated with painted banners of Oklahoma musicians. Here is Uncle Joe playing on that stage. What a memory that will be!

BatGirl

I don't have a mask, so I have to wear a BatGirl hat.
I got it before I was BatWife. I should really get it updated.

Reunion Blast Off

Yesterday was Uncle Joe's 30th High School Reunion Meet and Greet. I have been anxious for WEEKS for this to come. I had a list of people I wanted to meet and got to meet almost all of them last night.

We arrived at the hotel on time and the two meeting rooms filled up with MHS grads very quickly. The room got crowded with people hugging and visiting and the volume went up uP UP til it was a deafening roar of happy grads reliving their glory days, sharing family stories and making new friends.

The mass of bodies in the room caused the temperature to rise so we left a few times to cool off and see who was waiting in the cool air in the halls.

Here we are taking a break from the festivities at Starbucks. We left to have some refreshments and let our ears rest a bit. After some hot coffee, some cold coffee and a sweet snack we went back to check on everyone and bid them good night. A good time was had by all........

Left to right: Leslie, Monica, Jeff, Me, Uncle Joe

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to the father of our children.

You are a sweet "girl Daddy" and it shows in the way you interact with our daughters. You can manage their stresses and drama like a pro.

Mine too.

You give good pep talks

You discipline with love and understanding

You fill our lives with laughter and love (and pinches and pesters too!)

But we know you tease the people you like. :o)

It is fun to watch you with Carly and Cassi. You pester them mercilessly then pull them in for hugs and kisses. They always want more and you always oblige.

We are very blessed to have you in our lives

and we love you very much.

With much love,

Suzy, Carly and Cassi JOE

******************************

To my father:

The first man I ever loved

The man who knows a little bit about everything

The man who can fix anything or build it (if you can draw it)

You taught me to be a hard worker

Be honest

Help others

Be fair

Love family

I hope I have done a good job.

Love,

Suz

**********************************

To my Father In Law

I love your son very much

I am glad he has your gift of making people feel good

It is one of his most endearing qualities.

You did good.

You are loved very much Utah!

Love Suzy

*************************************

To my Fater In Law

The smartest person I know

and the tallest. :o)

You are a gentle giant and I love to see you with the little girls playing and talking just like you were their playmate.

Thank you for being so loving to me and my family.

You are loved.

K, S, C & C

...........and We're Off!

Plans have been made.

Reservations reserved.

Credit card is burning hot.

We are going to Chicago for vacation in July!

The children will have their very first airplane ride.

We are going to see some famous Chicago landmarks and

We will also be meeting her and her sweet family.

We are excited! Well maybe just me. I am easily excitable. haha

Leaving Oklahoma

Today while I was at work I got paged to take a call. Nothing unusual about that. The man on the other end greeted me with a thick country accent. (It may have been and probably was fake.)

"Good Mornin' Maaaaaam"

Me: Good morning.

"My name is Buddy from the Oklahoma Wildlife Federation and I am calling today to tell you about some new information coming into effect in Oklahoma in October. Do you have a huntin' or fishin' license??"

Me: Ummm no we don't hunt or fish. Is this a personal call??

"Well maaaam I would like to tell you about the new law. Next year if you live in the state of Oklahoma and do NOT hunt or fish at least once in a 12 month period, we are going to ask you to leave the state. "

Me: silence.....mind racing.....this doesn't sound like Uncle Joe, or Tedly. Maybe it is a new crazy friend, CJ?? No I don't think any of them could keep a straight face that long. Is this guy for real?? Am I being punk'd?? Is there a camera watching me?? ARE YOU SERIOUS!? I started to laugh out loud.......

"Naaaawwww maam, not really, we are just soliciting donations for the Wildlife Camp for local children to experience all that Oklahoma has to offer...would you like to donate??"

NOT NOW YOU TRICKSTER!

I wonder if that works on anybody?? It really is mean....but funny.

Already Gone

Last night UJ's friend Billy and his wife Laurie came over for music practice for the guys. Laurie and I sat in the kitchen or outside visiting, listening with one ear to the guys play.

I think they have some good arrangements of the song selections and will be a great asset to the entertainment at the upcoming class reunion. I mentioned it on an earlier post, but they will be playing some old jazz tunes: A Summer Wind, It's Only a Paper Moon, Orange Colored Sky,and Fly Me to the Moon. Fly Me to the Moon has the best arrangment and sounds good even with just two guitars. They are working on getting a drummer. I hope Kerry, the vocalist, is able to pull some strings, call in a favor,or kick some kneecaps and get a drummer to play with them because that will just make them ROCK!

The evening ended with me singing all the tunes, semi badly but happily! I felt totally at ease singing in front our friends. (Heck they didn't care!)

After one practice round UJ started playing some Eagles songs. He picked out Already Gone and we all chimed in singing at the top of our lungs "cause I'm already gone, and I'm feeling strong, I will sing this victory song. woohoohooooooo !!

It's the simple things in life ........

Symphony In the Park

Last night Uncle Joe and I got to go to Symphony in the Park, sans children!

It was a very hot and humid evening, but pleasant nonetheless. We got to see friends we haven't seen in a while and hear some good music performed by the Muskogee Community Band. It was held at Honor Heights Park in Muskogee and has become an annual event. I think it improved since the last time we went.
Here is the picnic basket we bought there. It was full of meat, cheez, and fruits and veggies. ( I let UJ have ALL the celery. haha)





























There are banners for sale every year. They are all very nice but this one was my favorite. I loved the color.......
















I wanted a shot of the moon over the band tent. You can see the moonspeck....


The night ended with fireworks.

How can a night that ends in fireworks be a bad one?? It can't.










Well there was the fact that we parked up a hill and while trudging up it in the dark in my new sparkley blue flipflops I got both feet stuck in a mud slide, then had to dig them out and step in more mud up to my ankles! I had mud all over me and my clothes by the time I got to the top. haha

I was in Hollywood?

Today I went to get my hair done. I had taken some medicine early that was making me a bit drowsy. As I was talking to my hairdresser I was trying to say, 'My hair wasn't like this in highschool' and it came out, "My hair wasn't like this in Hollywood."

Huh??

Uncle Joe, who was sitting on the couch watching this whole thing cracked up and I wondered where that came from as I have never even been to Hollywood.

Does It Count?

My children have started playing a game while we are driving. I don't know of a name (I guess I could make one up) for the game, but when you see a certain type, color or style of car you yell out a buzz word.(sometimes it is annoying when you are trying to concentrate on traffic though) For example:

KA-CHING! for a yellow or gold car of any type

SMOKEY! for a police car

BEETLE BOP! for a Volkswagen

CRUISER BRUISER! for a PT Cruiser.

ETC.......so on a so forth

Here is my question: When I am by myself and yell out those words do I still get the points?? :o) Now they are playing that game I see yellow vehicles everywhere and yell out KAAAAA-CHING!!!! Does it count??

How Did She Know My Name?

Last night while Joe and I were in the garden spot pulling weeds (me), watering (him) and admiring our tomato plants (us) when I heard the neighbor call my name very loudly.

"SUZY!" she said.....and I turned around thinking to

myself, "Hmmm I didn't even know they knew my name! How did they know my name?"

"SUZY! SHUT UP!!" Now I was really mad. I wasn't

doing anything and this woman is yelling at me to shut up!!

As I turned around, looked at Joe, then back to the neighbors yard and then realized.....she was talking to her dog.

Joe yelled at her and said, "Hey what is your dog's name??"

"Suzy" she replied.

I stood there and pointed to myself, "Me too."

She was horrified and Joe almost fell down laughing, and he yelled back at her, "You can scream that again any time I don't mind. "

Foodie Wannabees and Rabbit Trails

Here is some of the spoils from the Farmers Market yesterday. The sugarsnap peas steamed up nicely and I tried a new "German style" potato salad. (Vinegar, salt & pepper only....the receipes on line called for more ingredients and I wasn't prepared for them. I had a potato salad like this at a catering and have always wanted to try it. It tasted different and not bad, but I am not sure that I would ever make it again. It's just not potato salad unless there is mustard/miracle whip/boiled eggs/pickle relish and onion! MASHED) You will also notice the upside down stuffed grilled pepper. We fired up Uncle Joe's new birthday grill and grilled the peppers. We had to make them upside down because when we tried to put them in a pan they would only stand up if they were upside down. We rubbed the outside of them with EVOO, wrapped them in foil and put them in the grill. They turned out pretty tasty.


Here is what CassiJo had for lunch. She didn't like the idea of all that new food. See even a sammwich looks good on those new plates! (Note the summery lady bug placemats Joe found for me!)

How old do kids get before they eat the crust on the their bread?











CassiJo was in charge of dessert. She made (all by her little self) strawberry shortcake, her daddy's favorite. :o)

I bet you are wondering where CarlyJo is....she is at a friends house for the day.








Rabbit Trails:

Last night at CassiJo's dance recital I teared up and just was so thankful for that child of ours. God has been so good to us where she is concerned. We had a scare with her when I was pg with her. Our alphafetaprotein test came back elevated and indicated there was a chance she had Down's Syndrome. After much prayer (more than we ever prayed in our lives) and an amniocentesis she got a clean bill of health. Then, when she was about 5 1/2 months old she developed a seizure syndrome called Infantile Spasms. It is a rare type of epileptic seizure that has on onset in infancy. She had onset on Memorial Day, so a Monday.....we took her to the ER and of course they had never or seen or heard of what we were describing. She had them as she woke up....like her brain got caught in a loop and she had to fight to get back on track. Well we were camped out on the front steps of our pediatrician Dr. Kevin Wade and he was so awesome. He didn't poo-poo us and believed us when we told him of what had been going on. He called (here is the God part) Dr. John Kevill a new local pediatric neurologist who he knew was involved in a study with UCLA on Infantile Spasms. We had an EEG done lickety split and thank God, the technician got to witness a seizure and by her description Dr. Kevill was on the right track and sent us to another ped. neuro in Dallas: Dr. Roy Elterman Dr. Elterman was in charge of a drug study for the treatment of Infantile Spasms and we were prime candidates. We went down to Dallas on Friday of the same week...less than 7 days from onset and got a medicine called Vigabitrin and after her 2nd dose CASSIDY NEVER HAD ANOTHER SEIZURE. She was off the medication in 6 months....and one of only two children to respond so well to it. The medication didn't cost us a dime. The visits to Dr. Elterman didn't cost us a dime. The tests she had didn't cost us a dime. The only expense we had was our travel costs, which were off set by Love Offerings from our family and church. At our last visit Dr. Elterman gave credit to prayer for her healing and he said, "I really don't expect to hear back from you unless it is to tell me how well she is doing in school." This was such good news because there are so many kids who didn't get proper and timely treatment for their IS and they had brain damage or had permanent seizure disorder. Cassi has no memory of these seizures and we have not seen any side effects. So, when I was watching her dance last night all those memories came back to me and I was just thankful that she was healed and was able to get up there and dance her heart out. God is so good to us.


Cassi and Uncle Joe are watching Willow in the other room so I think I will join them and hope that a nap comes sneaking by so I can catch it.