Children are a gift from God......

When my husband and I were married he decided to become Lutheran.  He was raised Catholic, but there were some things he just didn't agree with, and since I was Lutheran, it was an obvious change.  Now 37 years later and 4 grown children, the three that are married, married into the Catholic faith because their partners were Catholic.   It is not a problem in any way for us, as long as they are Christians, go to church and raise their children with a belief in the grace of God.  I love my son in law and daughters in laws to death.  I couldn't have picked better mates for our children, actually they are young adults.

We celebrated our youngest grand child's Baptism a few weeks ago, (Christening).  It was a wonderful celebration.  I just wish one thing, that they would teach pasters, any religion mind you, how to speak in public.  How to make a sermon interesting, hold your attention, and motivate you to be a better person.  When someone speaks in a low quiet monotone, it isn't good.  And now I am going to be a better person and talk about it again!  And now some pictures....

 Daughter, Son in law, God father ( # 4 son ) and God mother, his wife.

                                                       The Baptism, God bless Ryan!

Daughter, son in law and our three grand kids.  Megan was a little disappointed that Ryan was a boy.  She said to me one time, "Nonna, I don't know how I am going to handle it with 2 brothers."  Pretty funny, now she just loves him to death!  Connor of course loves having a little brother.

The hubby, me and the family!

Son in law and his parents.

Party time!  Hubby, daughter in law with # 4 son & # 3 son.

Son in law's family, and one of their little ones.

Daughter, niece, Ryan, # 1 son's girlfriend and # 3 son's wife.

More family, sister in laws & niece.

Brother in laws and niece.

Who are all these crazy people?

It was a wonderful day spending time with family!

Susan

Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall!

Happy Saturday everyone!  This is the weekend that represents the end of summer.  You can feel the temperature dip in the evenings and early mornings.  It usually warms up during the day, but it is still different from a few weeks ago.  I love the fall.  I think it is like my New Year.



(pic we Heart it)

It seems as though the wind brings fresh air and new beginnings.  It was always fun getting the kids ready for school.  There was an air of excitement, they were nervous and excited at the same time.  They wondered what teachers they were getting, and who was going to be in their classes.

(pic. We Heart it)

( pic. We Heart it)

And then they started College, we had to buy towels, bedding and every other thing a new College kid needed.  The boys were easy, they were happy throwing everything in a plastic bag, but our daughter seemed to be much more organized.  Plastic containers, suitcases and everything had to match.  Girls have so much more STUFF!  Did I ever tell you how much I missed her when she went off?  Well with 3 boys and 1 girl, you can understand that, right?  Her first year away, I was looking forward to her coming home this one weekend.  Well it just so happens that we were going to have a snow storm.  I was devastated!  My husband must have know how upset I was, because he took off work that day and we drove up to Penn State to pick her up!  Don't get me wrong, I love my boys dearly, but they don't call as

much as your daughter does, just to chat.

Penn State.

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(pic. We Heart it)

# 3 & Wife M., Husband B & daughter, #4, graduate, me & hubby, # 1.

Number 4 ( the last one) and his then girlfriend K.  Now his wife.

Now they all have graduated and left home, 3 are married, we have 3 grand kids, and I don't know where all that time went!

So now here we are in the new Fall season and we don't have to move anyone up to school anymore.  I love it and hate it at the same time.  We don't go up to school anymore just to see the kids and go to the football games, it is just different.  Although  now we can enjoy helping our grand kids get ready for school, and the excitement is back again.  We can watch our 5 year old grandson play football, I can't believe they start them that young now.  We can watch our grand daughter in her cheer leading outfit, cheer for the teams.  I am also delighted to say that I am watching the youngest, 3 months old, while our daughter goes back to work.  I am so glad that I can finally help her out now that I am not working anymore.

 
Megan

Connor

I know this is a soccer game, I don't have a football picture yet.

Ryan

So this is how my Fall season is starting this year.  How has your season been going?

Getting kids off to school?

Enjoy the last weekend of Summer!  Say hello to Fall~

Susan

Hurricane Irene 2011......

Well, we made it through without much damage in our community.  We lost some trees and new fencing that was just installed this year.  This is right next door to us.  Our neighbors lost their tree next to the deck.

The fencing below was damaged due to the tree that fell through it from the other side.

My hubby and I decided to take a ride into town and see what was going on there.  Couldn't believe what we saw!  This is the road that takes you into our town.  You normally would go over the bridge.  The building there is one of our Historic buildings here in town.  I guess we know why it has been empty for many years now.

A car dealership tried to get all of his cars moved.

Check out this guy's mailbox right in the middle.

Well, that's what is going on in our little town.  I believe that most of the rivers have crested now, so hopefully people can get cleaned up.  Things will never be the same for some people.  Our hearts go out to them.

Any one else affected by Hurricane Irene?

Susan

Home Good & bedroom makeover...

My friend Joanne and I went to my favorite place yesterday, Home Goods!  She needed to get some things for her guest bathroom and I love to go over there and just look around,,,,it makes me happy!  Well, really I had something in mind.  I was explaining to Joanne that I wanted two long pictures or long mirrors to go in a specific spot in my bedroom.

They are getting ready for Halloween already!  Yes, I know fall is just around the corner, and I do remember being in retail for a million years that the department stores had Christmas up before Halloween is even over.

They had so many pretty things. 

I did end up with this cute little pumpkin.  I am excited to add it to my collection.

My friend Joanne, checking out.  Looks like she found what she needed.

 I saw this beautiful trunk that would have been perfect for under the buffet in my foyer!  I was set on getting that, until I saw these......I just turned the corner and there they were!  Perfect!

Two of these cost me $44.00!  They were $29.99 but I showed the manager a few little nicks and he reduced them to $22.00 each!  I'll take them!!!  I was going to get the ones from Target, but these are larger and heavier. You see we are in the middle of doing a bedroom make over.  I have the perfect spot for them.  It was just meant to be I guess.

Our, on going bedroom makeover.

That's the hubby up there getting ready to paint.  Mr Fix It, he can do anything, usually.  He is starting to slow down a bit as we get older.  I don't think he enjoys it as much as he use to.

Can you guess where I am going to use those mirror's?  I will surprise y'all when we are complete!  I can't wait.  It seems to take me so long.  First I can't find what I want, or else I can't make a decision, or # 3, budget!  It will eventually get done.

Have you been to Home Goods lately?

Have an awesome weekend!

Susan

Back Home.....

Well, we are back from vacation.  I love going away, but I always love coming home.  We had a wonderful time with our family!  It was fun, relaxing and hot!

Before everyone arrived on Friday.

Once everyone arrived, the men all went to play golf.

And then off to the Beach. Nieces and Nephews playing with grand kids.

The baby was so good.  Sometimes we actually took him to the beach.  Other times Grandpop stayed up at the house and babysit.

Daughter along with her cousins.

 We even took an updated family picture.  It was a little windy, so I am not sure if I like the way they turned out.  I also think it was too early in the evening to take the pictures, I prefer to take pictures a little later, but we had two different families to get photographed and my daughter wanted to start earlier.  I haven't seen the pictures that everyone else was taking, so I am hoping some of them turned out better then mine.

Family

Of course, some of us needed some refreshments during the photo shouts!



Two of the grand kids.

Sister in law with her family.

Sister in law with her family.

# 1 son with girlfriend

Daughter and her family.

# 2 son and wife.

# 3 son with wife.

Just trying to get everyone together.

Then, it was time for our seafood fest!  Everyone had a job.

Scallops, fish, lobster, crab, muscles along with corn, salad, baked macaroni and many more good side dishes!

Sunday night I made baked Ziti for everyone along with garlic bread and salad.  Some more relaxing along with some computer help from # 2 son.  Trying to teach me "light room" for pictures.  I think that is going to take some practice on my part!

Then it was time for everyone to say good bye, until next year!  Hubby and I stayed until Tuesday, which was wonderful.  We didn't have to sit in traffic on Sunday night!

We have to thank Andy and Nancy (sister & brother in law) for hosting our week and weekend!

Now back to reality along with laundry and cleaning!

Susan