Tater Tot

I forgot to let everyone know that Tate was baptised this past Sunday. He handled it very well and was so proud of the fact that he is now baptised also. Aunt Rose and I enjoyed the church service following the baptism as well. Everyone else is doing well, enjoying our wonderful weather. Rose and the kids are coming over on Friday night for a sleepover with my three. The guys are going to Canada fishing so it is a perfect time for the kiddies. Hope all is well with everyone, love and kisses. Es

Back from Phoenix

Hi Everyone,

Well, I just got back from Phoenix having spent time with Ing and Finny. We had a wonderful time and I so enjoyed my grandson. He is at that stage where he gets anxious every time Ing leaves the room. I tried not to intrude when Ing was around so he felt I wasn't a threat. It worked because when she would leave he would be just fine. We had so much fun together, he is such a ham already. I tried to attach pictures but it didn't work, SURPRISE, the moron tried something and are we surprised? Someday I will understand these computers, but for now they drive me nuts. Anyway, I will email some of the shots I took. Ingrid won all the games she played and Finny and I spent time in the wonderful pool that the Westin hotel had. The weather was in the high 90's so it was hard to be outdoors but the evenings cooled down, which made it nice.

I am trying to set aside the week of the 7th of July for my flight across the country in Conchita. I hope to set out the 7th, be there the 8th late. Stay in Michigan until the 13th when we fly to KT. Return on Sunday the 15th and I head home the 16th. How does that sound? There could be one little glitch in that because of a fundraiser trip we would have to do for these people that spent alot of money, did that make sense? That would be the 17, 18, 19th of July. In which case I would have to leave a few days earlier. I will let you guys know what happens as soon as I hear.

Love and miss you all, Linda

Happiness!

Isnt it strange
that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper
in sawdust rings,
And common people
Like you and me
Are builders for Eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass,
A book of rules;
And each must make-
Ere life is flown-
A stumbling block
Or a stepping stone.

by R.L. Sharpe

One of my favorite poems. Hope you are all well and happy. I am thinking of you all today and want you to know I love you every one!
Your sister/Nana/Auntie, Rose

HE'S HOME!!!

HELLO FAMILY OF MINE. JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT REESE'S SHIP DOCKED ABOUT 20 MINUTES AGO AND HE IS SAFE AND SOUND!!!! NOW THAT HE HAS LANDED ITS TOO MUCH TO WAIT FOR TOMORROWS FLIGHT SO WE ARE GOING TO PAY MORE AND BRING HIM IN TO KENTUCKY TONIGHT BY ABOUT 7!!! YES HE COULD WAIT BUT ITS BEEN A YEAR AND I DONT BLAME HIM. WE DID NOT KNOW THE SHIP WOULD ARRIVE SO EARLY OR WE WOULD HAVE SCHEDULED THE FLIGHT ORIGINALLY FOR TODAY. OH WELL, HES HOME HES HOME.....LOVE TO ALL, CINDY

I'M BACK!

Hi Family,

Well, I got back from Oregon and I have to say, if anyone gets a chance to see the Gorge, should because it is so very beautiful. I went with a group of women and two guys and all we do is get up early, get in cars, drive to wherever the good photo opportunities are and pull our gear out and spend hours wandering looking for the right light in which to shoot and what to shoot. The funny thing is, when we get were we are going I always wonder, what the hell am I going to shoot here and within minutes I find hundreds of things to shoot. Then what apeture/sutter speed and iso do I use? I shout that question and David (our fearless leader) comes running with answers. I learned more about photography this trip than ever before. I am really excited about it. Well, enough about that.

Peter and I decided we were not going to get a boat afterall, he and I both were feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. We both felt really good about our decision. Then our broker called to say another slip in Santa Barbara has come on the market and the price was so low, we had no choice but to say "lets go for it". Now we are scrambling to find a boat to put in it because you can't buy the slip without having a boat. Here we go again!!!!!!!!

I have not put aside time for a trip out to Michigan yet but I will take care of that this week. I will let you all know asap.

I head to Phoenix on Friday to meet up with Ingrid and Finny. Ing has hockey games and tournaments so from Friday until Monday late I will get to play, sleep, eat, swim and laugh at Finny. I will let you all know how it goes. I can't wait! Cindy I know how you are feeling with Maya leaving soon but I know you will go see her as often as I try and see Fin. You will make it happen!

I miss everyone and hope to see most of you soon.
Love you all very much, Linda

Home at Last!

Hello everyone, wanted to let you know Devin and I made it home last night at 2:00 a.m. Was a long trip with several train delays that kept us on board longer than usual; however, it was fun. Devin had a great time and loved alot of the activities that we saw. Sorry we didnt get to meet up with you Lin, but it would have been a waste of your time, we were only in Sacramento a couple of hours. This will be the last trip of this kind so Devin was lucky he made it in at the end. It would have been a shame had he not been able to experience this trip. Tate will not likely be able to go, but they will come up with a different 5th grade trip, it just wont be as long. So now that the trip and hockey is done for a while, I can catch up on some things around here. My fish need to go outside and I need to transplant some things in the yard, havent had a chance to do any of that. Love to each and every one of you and Rose, when the kids come up let us know, so we can get the kids together. Love and kisses, Es.

Closer Look

Hello again family, I just wanted to pass along that if you click on the pictures of mom and dads art piece that Rose did you can get a big picture and see details. Rose, they are so beautiful and touching. Thank you for making them. We love you, Cindy

Wow...

Well rose, you did it again. those two peices look like they would be so beautiful. it brought tears to my eyes. i cant wait to see them up close and study all the details. what a wonderful way to pay honor to our parents. once again you have moved me. I love your art and am a total fan. so glad to hear you are doing better, be careful with the allergy to that anitbiotic. from now on whenever you fill out forms, be sure to include that as allergies, they say each reaction gets worse. i cant do penicillan. glad to hear your remodeling is moving along. we have a lot to see when we come for christmas!

im expecting to hear from es on here soon, about her trip with devin. thanks for letting us know you heard from her lin.

well, we have four more days until reese is home! thank the good Lord he brought him home safe to us. we have our game plan all set for the trip back to virginia. we will leave on monday, memorial day, and arrive tuesday. the kids will get their stuff out of storage on wednesday and thursday we will help them set some stuff up and friday we will have to leave for kentucky.

i had a long weekend this week because we didnt have a doctor on friday. i decided to have a grandbaby day so maya and i got up early friday and met becky, a friend from work for breakfast. then we went to the hobby lobby and shopped for a few hours. maya and i came home and played in the family room and then took a nap. she is sooo cute. this morning grandpa and i took her for a walk with the dogs and then after that we took the dogs home and went to walmart. we stopped and picked up lunch and drove to a park and ate lunch in the park and let maya swing and play. she is so good when we take her out with us. we are going to miss our little jaunts with her.

we have been working on the yard, the fence is finally done, the back yard is seeded, now we will see how long it takes to get the gate up....hahahha then some day it may be done. well thats it for now. will get some pictures of reese when he gets home to share. love to all and we miss you terribly. rose, i truley love the memory pictures. good job. love to all, cindy

Our American Hero!

Hi guys!
Here is a photo of Dads Military art peice recently completed. The material around the border is Dads old 1960's full dress uniform that he retired in. An American 1940's flag (four stars has 4 pearls for us girls) four half finger prints of the four daughters, an old military abandoned parachute (white border around the black center), his Mstr/Sargent arm patch, medals, uniform buttons, uniform pocket flaps, old military papers, awards, small photos in the letters and the Army code of ethics. You have to look at it for a long time to see it all. will be framed in old oak fence boards. I hope you enjoy it! Next peice is honoring Larry and my life together called "The Rockin Sixties"....to be started after kitchen remodel. Will keep you posted.
I love you all,
Rose

The Mama Art Peice!

Hi guys!
Here is an example of the art Peice created to honor our mother. The background green is out of the lining 0f Dads old uniforn, the fag is half of the 1940's flag that is on Dads art peice, the letters are made from an old 1978 Frankfurt, Germany calender, the underlaying material is peices of mom's old night gown, lace from curtains she had on her windows, her old pink robe, an old Army parachute, a suit of cards (a royal flush) because she played the hand that life dealt her and played it well, a pocket flap off Dads uniform breast pocket, her Naturalization papers, old Germa documents, there are birthdates of us girls (example the letter "E" is under October, etc.) half a fingerprint of each daughter...the other half is on Dad's art peice. It has buttons off his old uniform, very small photos of Mom as a child, teen and adult in the letters. It takes a while to see it all. It will be framed in rough, oak fence (old horse fence) boards. Please ignore the white paper on the photos left...was a sticker I did not notice before we shot it. Hope you enjoy seeing these. The next one in line is honoring Larry and my life together called "The Rockin Sixties". Wont start that for awhile...house project comes first.
I love you all, Rose

The Art Projects!

Hi guys! Here is an example of the Dad art peice. Will try to scale it down some for you.
Love,
Rose

Hello from Midland!

Hi everyone!
Just a few lines to say hello. No construction updates except that its still on hold due to the rain we have had. Got the upper cupboards down, decided on our countertops and will order them next week. Thats as far as we are right now. We are living out of boxes and the lower cupboards. Its okay.....can live with it.
My strep throat is gone but after 7 days of antibiotics I have developed hives all over my body! I itch so bad I cant sleep. Its in my eye lids, mouth etc. Dr. told me to stop taking it and now will begin Clariton for the itching. This alergic reaction to this particular antibiotic is awful...almost as bad as the strep! Hopefully this is as bad as it gets and soon I will be free of it all. Geez, this has been quite an episode!
Hope everyone is well. Thank you for the update on Esther, Lin. Thank you for the update on Reese. Be safe, everyone. I love you all,
Rose

Heard from Es

HI Gang,

I heard from Esther last night and she and Devin are having fun. Sounds like the train ride is giving them some problems, like not being on time. They have missed out on a few of their stops. They were getting into Sacramento really late so I did not drive over. They head to Oregon next and then on to Washington and Montana. She sounded good but a little tired. Just wanted to let you know.

All is well here in Napa. Fog in the mornings and 70 degrees during the day. My fruit trees are doing well, especially my peachtree. It is so full of peaches, turning pink, that the tree branches are breaking. I have taken hundreds and hundreds of peaches off that tree and still it breaks. SIGH! Grapes are going from flowers to grapes now so the action has begun for another season, this part is always fun.
Well, love to you all. Linda

Just to let you know....

Hello family, well we all just got back from the presidents ranch. we spent a week with him and heads of state riding horses and having a good ole time. hahahah i hate that my blogs arent more exciting!!!!! all is going well here in kentucky. we are down to single digits counting the days when reese will be home. we will be picking him up next thursday!!! wooohoooo....wahhhhh wahhhhh yes it is joy and sorrow. joy that he will be home with family and sorrow that i lose the munchkin full time. but hey, im prepared...cant you tell?!? seriously though, we thank God he is coming home safely and anxious for them to be a family again.

we have rain again, of course, what else. actually we need it for our back yard, they leveled and reseeded it again. now we wait for grass again.....jeez. the house is wonderful, lots more room then we had before and slowly decorating here and there. cant wait for the visits to start...hint hint.....

rose i hope you are all better from your strep and that the cupboards are coming along nicely. lin, no beaches in hawaii? i dont think i would like that either. what made you go to that particular island? but who can really complain, your in hawaii for goodness sake...hahah es, i hope you and devin are having a good time and cant wait to hear the updates.

well family, i have to get back to work. would love to hear from some of the nieces and nephews and what is going on with their lives. love and hugs to all. cindy

I'M BACK!!! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MY LOVED ONES!

Hi Everyone,

I just got back from Hawaii, the big Island and wanted to tell every women in our family, Happy Mother's Day!! I hope everyone had a wonderful day. Cindy, I knows yours would have been better had Reese been home but SOON! I talked to Es yesterday and I will not be meeting up with her and Devin. The train is running late and she has no idea when they will be in Sacramento. I will miss not seeing them but will see everyone this summer sometime. Rose, I sure hope you are feeling better, strep is nothing to sneeze at. We had a good time in Kona, the weather was humid but sunny, the island is ok, not much there besides a volcano and old lava everywhere. No BEACHES! Won't go back there! I take off for Hood River Oregon on Thursday with my photo group and will be back on Monday. I will be adding pictures this time next week. I love you all very much and miss everyone terribly.

Love, Linda

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

To my own mother, who sacrificed so much of her own dreams and goals for us out of love more than necessity. Thank you, Mom! I hope we (me & Erik) make you proud and that you always know how much you are loved and appreciated.

To my mother's sisters, who have always been like mothers to us - a consistent, stable force in our lives, especially through a childhood of uncertainty and insecurity.

To my grandmother (Oma), who was always there for all of us and loved us all so much.

To my cousins who are fellow mothers, who share in the modern joys and trials of motherhood.

To mothers everywhere. To my step-mother and to my mother-in-law. To Nanny. To mothers whose lives are less fortunate, and those whose journey to motherhood has been cut short. To Mother Earth and to Mother Necessity.

Happy Mother's Day.

With love,
Fintan's mom.

Happy Mothers Day from Kentucky

Thanks for the great wish Rose, right back at you and all the mothers out there. Wow, we have alot of mothers now too, don't we? Sorry to hear you were under the weather, but glad your on the mend. Maya had a slight case of it too a few weeks ago. We are all doing fine, in to the two digits now on our count down for Reese to get home. It was two weeks from yesterday!!!! Woooohoooo. We are all excited and can't wait to hug him. Kelly is planning every detail to make sure she looks just so which is funny. Primping for sure. They work on the back yard at their leisure. Its been leveled again now and they are going to power seed it again. Someday....The fence is still almost done. I know that weather hasnt been real cooperative, but im starting to get irritated. One more week and then I am going to start calling the builder on it. Enough is enough...haha Ed is doing good, putzing around the yard all the time and of course arranging his garage! He hit the mother load with finding two metal cabinets someone was throwing out and even found a new hose curled up in the bottom of it. He also brought home a brand new bird bath. Hes the man!!! Work is work, wish we didnt have to, but what are you going to do. I hope everyone is happy and enjoying life, take each dat like its your last and look at it as the gift it is. Big hugs to all and know you are all loved very very much. Love Cindy psss....how did you like our redneck wagon?....hahaha Maya loves riding in it.

A Mothers Day wish to all you mothers! :)

Hello to you Barrett women and descendants!
I hope you all have a wonderful Mothers Day surrounded by the offspring that love you! I will be thinking of you too. Right now I am battling a bad case of strep throat. Have no clue where I got it from but it sure did knock the stuffing out of me!!! Four days I could hardly eat, two days I could not sleep it hurt so bad till I finally decided that it wasnt going away so I went to my Dr. She said it was strep and gave me antibiotics and viola....I feel better!!! My throat is still sore so I eat soft stuff but I can drink without much pain and my body aches are gone. I think I am on the mend!
The contractors have still not started the roof but hope I see them at this by next week if we get no rain. We are stripping cabinets as we take them down. Picked up our Corian countertops today. Remodel never goes fast enough for the people who want the remodel done and it takes great patience to see it thru with people hired to do it for you. This will take most of the summer. :)
Well, ladies, (and the gentlemen who tune in here) enjoy your special day! I love you all very much! Till next time....Bye!
Love, Aunt Rose

Oregon ho !

Hi all, I am sorry I have not been on the blog lately, just got back from a tournament in Toronto last weekend and this Sat. Devin and I hit the Oregon trail. We leave the school at 5:00 a.m. sharp and board the train in Ann Arbor. We will be gone nine days returning a week from Monday at about 2:00 a.m. Last year was fun and this year there will not be as many people so it should be great again, Devin is very excited. Stan left for Florida this morning, he will return after I have already left, so we have not seen much of each other lately. Now that hockey season is over it will be nice to have some free time once I get home from our train excursion. Linda, we will be in Sacramento on Tuesday the 15th late morning and staying until approximately 2:00 a.m. I can call you when we get close if you still want to meet us, we would love to see you. Everyone is doing great and the kids are looking forward to summer. Cindy I am so excited for you that Reese will be home soon, give him lots of hugs and kisses for us. Kiss all the grandbabies for me and keep sending pictures, they are great. Rose, I will defintely be over to see your remodeling after I return from Oregon, maybe we can finally spend some time together. I love each and every one of you and if you dont hear from me again I will write upon our return. Love to all, Es.

getting anxious

hello everyone, just wanted to check in and update. rose, i can just read it that you are loving your grandkids so much. you have alot to be proud of. all i have to say is, even though ed and i are far away, when they become famous, nathan and actor, logan winning the gold, olivias first fashion show, devins first wings game as official goalie, reeses first game making most goals, and tate growing up to be the family doctor...haha hes to little to make a decision yet. we have alot to be proud of, thats for sure.

well so far reese with and ssssss auntie rose, hahah will be back to port may 23rd. he will fly into nashville the next day. we have a big embarrassing homecoming for the airport.....do you expect anything else? then they will be here to just hang out a few days and then we are off to virginia. we are very excited he is coming home soon. kelly has already started primping...its funny.

saturday, ed and i took maya and we decided to do an over night with her and give kelly a day to herself. we had a ball. did some rummage saling, went to lunch out, stopped at some antique stores, got a hotel with an indoor pool, swam a bit, had dinner and slept. she was soooo good. we got home sunday about 8. was really fun and we got to spoil her to death. she loves being with her grandma and grampa, thank goodness. maybe she wont forget us after she leaves.

weather is finally shaping up again. had enough rain already. want to get our back yard done someday. anyway, hope everyone is fine and happy. we miss and love all of you. love cindy

Early mother's day

It's a little early but since we're all mothers (or love our mothers), here's a little e-card to get the week of appreciation and love started :)

http://www.tonyrobbins.com/Marketing/Mothersday/mothersDay.html#ec=135534

Ingrid

A Grandmother bragging a bit!

Hello my family!
Just wanted to check in with you as I wait for the Kentucky Derby to begin. I just got home from an overnight at Christy's....went to a play with my oldest grandson and had a good time with him as he enjoyed watching the little 5th grader who beat him out of the part of Kurt in the Sound of Music! Then spent the night to go to a soccor game at 10:30 AM next morning to watch Nathan play goalie and Olivia defense. Nathan has gotten SOOO much better this year and plays with great heart! I am so proud. Olivia gets timid when the boys aggressivly go for the ball but this is her first season and she will get better as time goes on. She LOVES playing...they BOTH do which is whats most important. They lost again! :0
Nathan was awarded a prize last week for having the overall highest MEAPS score for all third graders in their school. He was happy...we were very proud of him. They have a lovely little blue ribbon school that they go to and love. If I lived down there closer I would volunteer for anything to help out. The teachers, the principal are terrific!
All is well here with us and hope the same for you all. Thanks for the photos, Cin....the baby is CUTE!!! She looks like her mother. Bet they are excited about Reece coming home. Bet you are too. Keep us posted on his return.
lin, have not heard from you....everythin okay? Es, where are you??? Hope all is well. Okay, will sign off now and wish you all well. I love you and miss you and will write again soon.
Your Sister/Aunt/Mom,
Rose