Remember Ranger?

Back in November, my friend, Vonnie, stopped by with her new puppy. He was barely 6 weeks old and just beginning to walk. Well, last week she stopped by again and I couldn't believe how Ranger had grown!

He is very cute and shiny. But like kids, they don't stay little very long..

Shaelin's first Christmas Concert

The other night we had a chance to see and hear Shaelin sing in his very first Christmas concert held at his school. Because we were not allowed to take photos or video, I did manage to SNEEK these shots...

He is the cutie wearing the white shirt and suspenders in the front row. He and his class were singing Away in the Manger.

He spotted us in this photo so I tried to act like I didn't see him.

After his performance was over, we had a tour of his classroom.

He wanted Grandpa to sit down at his table.

Shaelin and his teacher, Mrs. Sass. What a fun time it was to hear Shaelin and his entire school singing and reciting the Christmas story..all by memory!

Girls day out in the Windy City!

Last Sunday, my friends, Judy, Kathi, and I decided to take Diane out on the town to do a little shopping and Holiday Lights viewing in Chicago. Despite the low temps, it was quite enjoyable.
Because Diane will be moving to Florida next week, we wanted to give her one last taste of cold weather.

Here we are dressed in many layers of clothing posing in Macy's.

One of the many many Christmas trees in the Museum of Science and Industry.

A quartet of German fellows entertaining the passers-by.

Macy's indoor tree reaching over 9 floors high!

The lights on Michigan Ave. were quite spectacular. It was a fun day in the Big City.

Beautiful SanFrancisco

Clear skies and light breezes stayed with us all the while we visited Kim.

St. Patrick church with a magnificent backdrop.

Walking down a street we took in these lovely flowers.

Macy's at night.

We stayed at the Hilton and this was the view from our room.

Kim made use of all our manpower and quickly put them to "use." Her new condo looked great.

Let's Party!

After months of planning, Kim finally had her 40th birthday celebration..and it was truly a success!

Here Kim & BZ are soaking in the sounds of the band...Mississippi Cactus. She flew the band members in just for her party.

A guest friend of the band, now living in San Francisco, sat in on a set playing a mellow sax.

Mike, sporting a great smile, having a blast.

Monica showing her talents on her accordian.

Heidi , Margaret, and their hubbies hamming it up for the cameras.

Meet the Author

The Book Group I belong to got together this past Monday evening and it was my turn to host it.
It was the first time that everyone could make it.

The book we chose to read was "While My Sister Sleeps"..and we were fortunate enough to have the author, Barbara Delinsky, join us as a guest speaker....

by phone! We called her personal cell number and she was gracious enough to talk with us for an hour! We put her on speaker-phone and the questions began flying. How fun it was to speak with a "real" author who sounded like she could fit right in with our group.

When the evening ended, we posed for a group picture that we will enclose in our thank you card

to Barbara Delinsky. What a fun evening it turned out to be.

Shaelin on a sunny Sunday afternoon..

Our favorite visitor spent a weekend with us. What a beautiful day it was. Lots of sunshine and exploring going on.

Here is a picture of "the apple of my eye."

Shaelin took my camera out in the yard to capture anything exciting or dangerous!

Here he found a very appealing catterpillar and snapped this great picture.

After running off a ton of energy outside, he and his dad relaxed..

To watch the Packers lose..again!