Trip to Columbia

Alan had a VA appointment in Columbia Wednesday so off we went.  These appointments are always a good excuse to fly off to Columbia to spend a little time with Karen, Mike, Andrew, Emily and Aaron.  We spent the night there but had to leave the next morning.  It was sure good to see all of them though.

They seemed to be having the "mechanical curse" that affects us all at one time or another.  They had a dead clothes washer and a dead car at the same time.  How frustrating these things can be in our lives.  Maybe it's good that we don't have more "things" or we would just be having problems with more of them.  I hope it all works out for them soon.  They do have some cute kids.

Oh, what a funny face!!

Then he would stop and laugh at himself.

Emily learns the basics about electronics.

What a pleasant little face!

Time at Jeanette's

I did spend a little over a week at Jeanette's house prior to Michael & family coming down.  She required surgery for a cyst that needed to be removed.  We had hoped that it would shrink and go away on its own, but since that didn't happen it was back to the hospital for Jeanette.  Luckily this surgery was done on an out patient basis and she was able to come home the same day.  She was pretty sore from it for a week and had a pretty bad headache too.  That seems to be under control though.  They were able to get all of the cyst removed and leave the ovary.  That was sure an answer to prayer.  Here are a couple of pictures.  They took one of the cyst but I'll spare you that.

Jeanette with little Noah

Jeanette used this one on her blog but it is so darned cute I had to use it too.

I got a late start heading home but I just couldn't put the little guy down.

Michael & family visit us in Salem

Eddie and Bumper played hard and then snuggled down together.

Michael, Danny & Bumper seemed to have done the same thing.

Our little cutie has a chocolate cake mustache.

Grandma found a fun backpack at Wal-Mart.

Michael drove down right after work on Friday.  He needed to be here to have some dental work done that evening.  But first we took him to Salem City Park for Salem Branch's Sept. Social which was called "Pie and Ice Cream in the Park".  Boy, oh boy, did we ever eat a lot of sweets at that -- and right before seeing the dentist too; how bad is that?  Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to the branch social.  Laura and the kids came Saturday afternoon; they had a Primary activity in the morning which they wanted to attend.  They also brought along their dog, Eddie.  We wondered how that would go with our somewhat recently acquired blind dog, Bumper.  They had a ball running all over and playing, puppy-like.  Finally they wore themselves out.  I think they wore us out first though.

Grayville High School Reunion

Me with my best friend Marcella from grade school

We shared a house with the Cowlings in Guam.

Got your attention with that first picture, didn't I?  No, he wasn't there physically but he was there via a very interesting story that Marcella shared with us.  She was a model in New York and then decided to go to California to live in Hollywood.  She worked by day in the movie business and by night in a popular restaurant.  That was where she met Fabio.  This is one of the most memorable stories I heard at the reunion.  She dated Fabio.  Can you imagine?  She said that he was a very nice guy but she lost interest because they really had nothing in common.  Marcella, if you are reading this -- you positively made my day with this story.

Setting up some of the rides downtown.

 We didn't stay for the parade or fireworks on Saturday, but here are some of the rides they were setting up along the main street of Grayville.  My "kids" will remember riding the same ones years ago.

Who wants to go back to St. Louis??

My kids will remember this too.  One of the first times we went back to Grayville to visit Grandma & Grandpa Rough someone made a joke about turning here (after our long ride) and heading back toward home.  After we asked if they were ready to head back they all hollered, "No!"  After that we had to make the same joke every time we went to Grayville.  I even found myself saying it in my head when the kids were grown and Alan & I were going there without the kids.

Sad--- the Wabash River changed its course and no longer flows past Grayville.  It now looks more like a mud hole.

The old Grayville High School that I attended has now rotted away and part of it has collapsed.  My old 7th &8th grade science room is gone.  The saddest thing of all may have been when we drove out to the Dairy Queen to get a milk shake.  It had burned down.  When I told Michael, Laura, Amy and Jeanette about it they all had the same reaction that I did:  "Awwww". You've got to get that dip in the awwww when you say it though.