The four pearls are rolling!!!

The first official (all four) sister trip to lovely Beaver Creek, Ohio will take place on July the 13th. (ugh) to the 15th. Updates and photos on this hystorical (haha) event can be viewed here afterward. It should be fun for all!
Love, Rose

Remodel Update!

Hello you guys!
Well, since everyone has been sharing their remodeling adventures I will add my updates! We are at a stand still at this point. The kitchen/dinning area is covered in plaster dust and chunks on the floor, equiptment everywhere and our upstairs/downstairs is plastic covered so we cannot go up or down. We have to get into the house thru the utility room entrance to get to our livingroom. We cook and eat in the camper (thank goodness we have it) but really dont mind that at all. We are waiting for the drywallers to finish sanding the walls and hoping they paint this week. At least we can clean up the shit on the floor! No, we do use our bathroom...I am talking about the plaster wastes. :) The cupboards are done with sanding and staining and are ready for varnish. I want them ready to go back on the wall when the original crew comes back here to put in the new floor. So we wait.........ahh the wait! I keep reminding ourselves it takes patience, lots of patience!
Glad you are almost done Linda! Your paint colors sound BEAUTIFUL! My kitchen/dining room will be a light sage green. Cin, dont worry about your grass....you will get going soon. Leave it alone now till the cooler weather and then cover the seeds with straw. You will have a nice lawn next year. Es, I love your new pond lights...they really make the pond lovely at night. Your waterfall is soooo soothing. Thanks for a great dinner last night! Okay I have rambled long enough and need to go clean my little mobile cottage. You all take care and keep writing. Linda, hurry up and get the heck out here....looking forward to your visit!
Love you each and every one,
Rose
PS. Here are some beautiful food for thought: Helen Keller said this......
I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief activity to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

Fintan updates

Click the blog link to the left to visit Fin's blog.

Love you all!
Ing

hello all

nice to hear from you linda. the snake would have scared the crap out of me. im sure it got your adrenoline runnig just fine. seems everyone is working on their house our place is coming together good, still getting bits and pieces i find. havent touched the windows yet, cant decide on them. actually having the girl i work with and her friend over to barbque tomorrow. first time entertaining here. no biggie though but we will make it nice. our back yark is fried, we have not had rain and the new grass just isnt hanging in there. we will have to deal with it again again, im sure. but we will make it. we got our dining set friday which we both love and ed got me this big painting i loved for our anniversary which was very very sweet. i miss my baby so much and seem to have wierd worries about her but i am dealing with it. i talk with reese or kelly at least every day and video talk with maya at least once a week. just want to hug and kiss her. well its late and i have to go. everyone get busy and lets use this blog. l0ve and hugs, cindy

Well, lets not all write at once!

HI All,

Well, I have given up hope that anyone is going to write soon so you now have to live with my ramblings.
We are almost finished with the painting of the house and guesthouse. Rust for the mainhouse and this great yellow/cream for the guest. They are working on the porches now and there is water everywhere. The gardners came today and add dust to the mix. Are you guys getting the picture yet? AAGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Rose, how is your kitchen coming along. I HAVEN'T heard from you so assuming all is looking good. Cindy, how is the fence and yard coming? Es, have you finished the pond yet? I went to see my baby last Monday and would have stayed for another day if my husband hadn't been with me and needed to get back, men, I hate them! He is so cute and I think I am in now. HE saw me and went right to me. YEAH! Nothing new about Erik, his lawyer has postponed his sentening date until July so Erik is up in arms. Rightly so but what can you d0. I will keep you all updated on his progress. Well, Peter and I flly to Maryland on Sunday to look at two boats on Monday and then home Monday night. Then we decide which one and we go from there. I am starting to watch the weather, to make sure I can fly. So far so good. I am looking forward to my flights and being with you guys. It will be fun!

Well, I think I have rambled enough, please write!

Love, Linda

Reconstruction Update!

Hello dear family!
Well, we are going into week three of construction and I am amazed at how fast they have accomplished the first phase. To date they have moved the back door twice (first time was not far enough) framed and walled in the closet and rest of kitchen, all electrical is in, the new window is fabulous....one solid window, no frame in the middle to break your view and the outside siding is now going back up and the wall board is being plastered and sanded which will take a week or so to finish then the painters come in to paint the kitchen. Then the old floor comes off and a new oak floor gets put on. Larry and I have stripped all the cupboards, now working on all the drawers then all the doors. Then we varnish, then put all light fixtures in, then garbage disposal and counter tops. Then we should be done...or very close to it! It looks lovely now even in this rough shape!! Larry and I have been doing fine in the camper. We cook and eat in there but have been sleeping in our own beds in the house. When they start sanding plaster we will remain in the camper to sleep till they are done. Its all going along just fine.
Es and I are looking forward to our Ludington trip with the kids in July. Going on a river rafting trip with all of them which should be fun for all. Along with our usual hiking the dunes and swimming in the great lake. The first week in July the Holmes family and the Beckman's are camping in Grand Haven on Lake Michigan for three days. I enjoyed that last year so we are doing it again this year. Then Logan and I are flying to Kentucky to visit Aunt Cindy and Uncle Ed for 4 days. He is excited to fly and use his new travel duffel from Aunt Linda. It will be fun for him and for me.
Weather has been HOT and no rain for a while. Nights are comfortable. We love spring, summer and fall!!! I have a different opinion of winter! :(
Well, I have gone on long enough here so I will bid everyone so long for now. Take good care and keep smiling. We have LOTS to be thankful for!
I love you every one,
Rose

VideoCams!!!! Too cool

hello dearest family....well as you can see I have survived the grandbaby going away. Not that we dont miss the heck out of her and the kids. But.....i have to tell you that i got my webcam yesterday and it is too cool. i sat for a half hour with kelly and maya talking and looking at them. maya isnt quite sure what is happening yet, but she does stare intently at the computer screen. i loved it and it gave me a quick fix until i can actually go back to virginia. which by the way i am hoping will be after rose and logan leave in august. i know its along time, but i have to space them out. with my camera i will survive.

seems our memoirs site isnt getting much on it as of late. are we fizzling it out? i hope not. i enjoy coming here to catch up....when someone writes that is. you know, the phones do work down here in the south too. .... anyway, just wanted to tell you about my webcam. love to all, cindy

Interesting...

I just thought this was an interesting video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJM9PTpa-tQ

:) Ingrid

Reconstruction!!

Hello my family!
Well, the deconstruction has begun! The crew came in on Monday morning to tear down and prep for the new roof. While one guy cleared off old shingles the other two detached the old kitchen roof and today lifted the whole thing off at once and laid it on the ground! Larry wants to use the old roof to shelter our 5th. wheel in the winter. So rather than tear the roof apart they just decapitated my kitchen. It was amazing to watch. This afternoon they had the new rafters on and are putting plywood on them as I write! All the kitchen cabinets are outside being stripped and sanded by Larry and me so we hope to have them done at the same time as the man who is putting in our counter tops. After the roof comes the new window and skylight, then new plasterboard, new pantry closet and move the back door over 3 feet, then floor, lighting, replace cupboards and finally put on the counter tops. Wow, the end sounds like a long way off!!! :0 We must be patient, I keep saying over and over again. I have been living and sleeping in my camper every night since they started. Last night it was COLD but I stayed snuggy warm with my goose down comforter. My meals are scraps of this and that but who cares...Larry is in Canada fishing and I DONT HAVE TO COOK!!!!! He is missing ALL this fun!!! Three big strapping construction workers at my beck and call.....hummmmmm!
We are well...busy as always. The summer is moving very fast...beautiful so far. Warm days, chilly nights. Hope you are all well and happy. Will write more as we progress here. Take care all.
Love you every one,
Rose

A PHOTO OF OMI & FINNY

Since me mammy couldn't get a pic up, I got one up for ya... of Omie & Finny in Phoenix/Scottsdale. Click to enlarge.


She did mention we won all our games... :) And we beat a team from Calgary for the championship... I did not score and had to run to the bathroom in the middle of the final game hahahahaha. It was a great trip, a lot of fun, my first tourney since i was pregnant 2 years ago, and I am soooooooooooooo grateful to my wonderful mother for coming along and looking after the bunk, but we also had great fun together in the down-times :)

Alas I did not run into Wayne Gretzky while there, but I sure skated like him! (NOOOOOOOOT!!!)

Love you all!
Ing

Back in Kentucky

hello my family....well ed and i just got home from virginia....whew, what a long drive it is, but beautiful. we left last sunday instead of monday to get the kids back. reese and maya were doing fine together again, i will be sending some pictures as soon as we get settled back into this big, quiet tomb of a house....haha just kidding, but it is big and quiet now. the kids were a little dissappointed with their new duplex at first, but as we looked things over and discussed what goes where they were much happier. its a cute little place and its only three very short blocks from the nicest beach!!! its a two bedroom and has a washer and dryer and a nice sized yard for them and the dog. they pretty much have everything in the place but are still deciding where things go, if they are like ed and i, they will be doing that for a month...hahah we helped as much as we could and then decided it was easier to keep the baby busy and let them do their thing. wednesday we had her all day and night and had a great time. she is soooo good with us. we went to the beach which was her first time and she loved it. not the water though, but loved the sand and the rocks. again, i will send pictures. then of course on friday morning it was time for us to leave for home and that of course, sucked! i did ok though, didnt get hysterical or anything, just felt empty already. im fine and maya is where she needs to be. yeah, whatever, i miss the hell out of her and am already planning on how i can save from this trip to go see her. anyway, everyone is safe and sound and that is the main thing. it was great to come on and get updates of how everyone is doing. lin, i thought you guys were coming the end of june? i will write you more later about the plans. love and hugs to all, cindy/sister/mom/grandma/auntie

Hello my family!
Well, its week end and the kids go home tomorrow. They have been here since Mon. night. We do a sleep over at Aunt Esthers tonight and my three have been counting the minutes since they woke up this morning!!! Its been a while since they have seen their cousins and they show their excitement. We will do pizza, soccor games, a board game a new Sponge Bob movie and that should keep them busy for an evening. Tomorrow I deliver them back to Mama and Dad. I'll tell you...having boys around is sure different than having girls and I still dont how to handle those boys! Boys THINK differently than the girls do, they even play different. Its interesting.
Last week Larry and I spent a lovely weekend in Ludington at a Bed and Breakfast thanks to our younger daughter and Sean. They wanted to thank Papa and me for all our help over the years so they sent us up north. It was a lovely place, Norwegan Inn keeper, great food, went aboard the SS Badger, the ferry ship that takes you to Fon Du Lac, Wi. from Ludington. We went gambling at the casino, investigated Manistee, Mi, and spent one more night in Ludington and then came home rummage saleing/bargain barning all the way. Was fun!
On Monday the contractors are tearing off our kitchen roof...need to move furniture and food out tomorrow. Will be busy for awhile now. Will keep you posted on the progress.
Hope you are all well. I love you every one.
Your Sister/Aunt/Nana/Mother,
Rose