Our Kitchen

In 23 years our kitchen has seen a lot and done a lot.  There's been some fabulous meals and baked goods coming out of this room.  Our oven has roasted big birds, and small birds, baked casseroles, runzas and cinnamon rolls galore.  And looking ahead, there's much more to come! 

Remembering past successes,

here's just a few great momentscaptured on film! 

(oh, that made me sad because none of these are captured on film --

these photos are all digitally captured, saved and stored! 

On the other hand, what fun digital photos and cameras!

It is a curse and a blessing : )  but, back to the subject at hand.

Himself's Pork chops.

Oh yum.

Imagine these with mashed potatoes and gravy.   

Glorified Tuna Sandwich w/home grown tomatoes and Provalone.

Makes my mouth water (but not his!)
Delish!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds -

We have experimented.

Some win.  some lose! 

OMG!  What's that in my kitchen!!

Birthday Cakes

Too many too count! 

3 times 6 and 4 times 7

28 and 11!

He's a young thing and cannot leave his mother!

(oh, errr . . . sorry.  I got carried away.)

Pickles, Peppers, Pickled Peppers

Relishes and canned tomatoes.

That is almost a poem. 

Wait!  We didn't bake that one! 
But it is cute and has a 4-wheeler on it!  

Oh boy.  I don't know what that is! 

Stop! don't eat that! 

But the grilled, barbeque chicken breast

 closest to Himself looks good! 

Easter Eggs.

Died cloth.

Died hair.

Experimental open heart surgery.

Well almost.

We've tried about everything in this kitchen

including these beauties displayed in Gramma's crockery bowl -- 

homemade muffins.  Yumm! 

Much has passed through this kitchen, across the stove, through the oven. 

Through the teeth and over the tongue,

look out stomach! 

Here I come!  oops.   

But this? 

What on earth?

What does Himself have to say about this?

TP IN OVEN



guess you will have to ask him. 

Abbacadabra !!

From this . . .

and this . . .

to This! 

Magical!  Love this room with the angles and hall.

And of course, the color green and the built in audio.

Pretty cool!

(and the play kitchen around the corner!  lol)

Morghan Grace

Happy 13th Birthday, Morghan Grace.

Nana loves you!

I put these pics in from birth order, upwards . . . and what happened?  Blogger scrambled my photos . . . at first I thought, Yikes!  I've got to sort these pics all out again.  Then, thinking it through, I realized that 13 years of memories don't come thru in chronological order.  These precious memories pop into our minds at odd and various times.  They come to warm our hearts a minute and then (especially in my old mind!) they are gone again until another day and another time reminds us of that special memory.  Thank goodness for my photo albums!  I have had a lot of joy and fond memories in my stroll tonight through the last 13 years with Missie.  Miss Morghan.  Morghan Grace, my first and bestest oldest granddaughter.

                                                              Love you, Missie Morghan!

                                                                    Happy teenage years.



Craig

Prankster

Father

Family Man

Tease

Willing Participant

4 Generations

Wrestler . . . and in this case "Loser"

And the Winner IS!  Gabrielle!

Uncle

and Uncle a bunch of times . . .

Married Man
Love this wedding photo!

Happy 36th Birthday, son o' mine.

My big bro . . .

February 2011.

Austin Christmas.
Gary. 

Interested and involved and

Fit as a Fiddle.

May 19, 2011

Taking my grandchildren

on a pickup ride thru the pastures

to check on the cows --

and going strong. 

July

Gary and Alice weren't stopping

every Friday like they were.

I thought Alice was upset because I had

unfriended Brittney.

Then, one day on the phone,

Gary told me he was forgetting things.

That he would have a list of things

to do on Friday morning but would forget.

Alice told me her concerns one evening

and we thought it was a new medicine

causing the memory problems and the confusions.

So we determined to get him to the doctor. 

August 23, 2011

Just home from Des Moines Surgery.

Ms Dog, Lady, had missed him
and climbed on his lap.

"Zipper", he called it,
that thing in his head.

October 01, 2011.

Gary's 66th birthday celebration

at April and Harold's

with family all around.
Still the Center of the Household.
The Master of the House. 

October 4, 2011.
Gary gave Beth and I permission
to visit his radiation treatment.
It was fascinating.  It was hopeful. 
But it wasn't the answer to our prayers. 

January 6, 2012

Gary's Hospital Stay.

A slippery, slidey slope,

but still pretty much himself on this day. 
A sight for sore eyes. 

January 23, 2012

A quiet Monday night.

Good Night,

Kind Brother.

Sleep Tight. 

January 24, 2012

Gary hadn't eaten his supper

so I fed him some pears and pudding

while Alice stood by.  I asked him to smile
 for the photo and he did. 

There!  that looks better! 

Thursday, January 26,

Gary moved to the Hospice House.
Monday, January 30, 2012.

Gary departed this life for the next. 

Rest in Peace, my brother.

Rest in Peace. 

Barbies gone wild.

We left the girls home alone for a few days.

They invited in friends.

And more friends. 

I think they had a whee of a time.

More Games

Wrestling is an Individual Sport.  It is an official Olympic Sport and it is one of the oldest sports (I think).  It is intense to watch.  It is really intense and potentially stressful when it is your son or grandson wrestling.  It is also potentially rewarding.  There are proud moments watching a grandson trying his best, giving 100% and never giving up.   

Wrestling is physical.  Lonely.  Challenging.  Ever changing. 

Wrestling brings conditioning, commitment, physical and mental toughness.  Individual Responsibility.  There is no way to blame a classmate or the coach's starting line up. 

And wrestling provides great opportunities

for Father / Son opportunities . . . 

Bonding. 

Time together.

Life lessons.  

and, oh yes, I was right.  Wrestling is an ancient sport.  Ancient Greece: 
Athletic contests are held at Olympia every four years, between August 6 and September 19. Records reach back as far as 776 B.C., but it is generally accepted that the Olympic Games had already been held for several centuries before that.

The Games originally consist only of foot races. Other events are gradually added, starting with wrestling and the pentathlon.

The Games Children Play

 Girls

Boys

These games sometimes overlap.  The boys play with the girls in their games.  The girls play with the boys on their games. 

But doesn't this all look pretty typical? 

Oh wait, with Morghan, it would look more natural, perhaps, if she had the children lined up, organized, in front of the white board with the overhead on -- teaching!

Love these children (and Audri & Bella)  to pieces!  love, Nana