I just happend to have this photo of the twin towers because I think it is beautiful.
It is from the New York Times website.

I visited New York City when I was 14 and saw these buildings.
Unbelievable…..to a young girl from Iowa.
And, I’ve seen the gaping hole.
Still Unbelievable….to an older but wiser girl from Iowa.

That’s Valerie, our cousin.
She’s WAY over that HUGE pile of gifts!

Megan made her the most beautiful and thoughtful baby book.
It’s a scrapbook, and Valerie and Casey can insert photos on already made pages, and they can write baby Liam notes, along with ideas for photos for THEM to take.
It was a very nice party.
We played a few baby shower games.
And, I could FEEL the bonding of women in that room.
Women who were all connected to each other by friendship or marriage or birth.
Women who support each other through marriages and deaths and births and accidents and work and life.
Women who Knew.
Women who were just learning.
Women who were right smack in the middle of it.

In the middle of life.
Because whatever age you are, you ARE right smack dab in the middle of it.

…you gotta re-a-raaaaaaannge….
I’m doing two things at once here and almost fell off my ladder when I was watching the Brady Bunch Biography and Peter started singing that song and there I was….
re-arranging the family room for the fall.

Now.

I still had VALENTINE decor up there, but don’t tell anyone.
I made it seem kind of patriotic after a while.
But it was time to change it.
So I went in the basement and brought up the sunflowers and fall fake flowers and plopped them in their orange vases and put them on display on top of our beautiful entertainment unit.

And we’ve been watching our childhood flash before our eyes because on Biography this week was stories about The Partridge Family,  Mary Tyler Moore Show, Brady Bunch and tonight is Happy Days.
Great behind the scenes interviews and footage, along with just re-living those great days.
I used to watch Mary Tyler Moore show ON THE PHONE with my friend Laurie. We also watch Carol Burnett while on the phone, too. Great fun.
I watched the Brady Bunch ONLY because it was on before the Partridge Family.
THAT was the EVENT OF THE WEEK.
And that show——I watched THAT SHOW totally alone.
Just me
and
David Cassidy
were in the room.

So, my family room is now cleaner and more seasonal.
My heart is full of great memories.
And I only have 45 more rooms to clean!!!
yikes

One of the lines in a story in the Omaha World Herald today.
A story about another soldier killed in Iraq.
Normally, they are from other states. Strangers to me.
A name and a face on the nightly news that I watch while making dinner for my family.

Until the funeral today.

The funeral for a soldier from Nebraska.
I didn’t know him.
But I know another member of his group.
And that is as close as I’ve come to knowing anyone who is fighting for my right to make dinner in a country free from terrorism.

And, then on Monday morning, while Kevin was relaxing and enjoying a holiday at our home at Okoboji, he got a call. He is the Master Sergent of the 167th Cavalry Squadron.
Another soldier killed.
And he had to make 20 phonecalls to other soldiers in his National Guard group.
And tell them again.
And they will go to another funeral.

The president said today that we are a nation at war.
I don’t always remember this.
But that war hit a little closer to home this weekend.

Thanks, Kevin.
On behalf of this grateful citizen.

More smatterings….

My favorite season has begun….BAND season!!!

Our favorite First Grader and her parents came to visit at the Lake. Emily is the little sister we never had and we enjoy her so much! She spent some time coloring some wood paper-dolls I got at Hobby Lobby. They are all named Sally……Sally 1, Sally 2, etc.
While Emily was doing crafts, she accidentally cut her finger. She had to have THREE stitches.

Man, I felt so BAD, but she was a trooper, as usual.
Here she is going 45 miles an hour in the boat!!!

We all rode on the Queen II and it wasn’t really as cold as it looks.

We did camp crafts, including the obligatory pot holders!
We are using them as coasters, but they take FOREVER To make!

Matt snapped this great picture of Scout. He’s a Great Photographer!

Good-bye to summer.