Christmas 2007

It's been a busy and exciting Christmas. All of our family was here on the 26th and the house was full of grandkids - nothing makes Grandpa happier than that!

Harry (Bump as he is called by family) arranged a special Christmas treat. He reserved 4 hours at a recording studio to put together a family CD and it was the best time ever. We make no claims to perfection, but we so enjoyed the time and now have a remembrance of all the good times that music brought to our family.

Our thanks to three wonderful daughters-in-law who took charge of the 13 grandchildren while we were there and to Courtney, Hal & Tyler who entertained the young ones in our absence.

Deck the Halls with Lots of Grandkids!

And Grandma, Too

Levi and His First Preschool Program

Had a good time recently watching Levi's preschool Christmas program. Levi has lots of spirit and puts his all into everything he does. Natalie and I made an early retreat as soon as the program was over and had a little date of our own - to the ice cream shop and then a short drive to see the neighborhood Christmas lights.



Harry will be in his new office on the north side starting Monday (Dec. 19). He'll be located in an office near the Dupont Hospital - 5 minutes from home so I expect will see him for lunch most days. After all these years, he finally has a prime spot in the new office. He has a corner office with windows on two sides.

We went to Frankfort on Tuesday and celebrated Mom's birthday with my sister Marleta, her daughter Anita, and my brother Roy. We had a good visit and the Manor did up a nice dinner for us in one of their small private dining room areas.

Snowball Fight

Down on the Farm

For the fun and fancy of some of the grandkids, we had to try the JibJab. The kids went wild over Bump's movies last weekend when they were here.

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Syd and H.O. - Way to Go

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Plugging Away

It's been a couple weeks with nothing monumental going on. I got into the winter nesting mode and started cleaning out closets and drawers, trying to make some space here and there and not wanting to feel trapped by excessive "stuff" all winter.

We've been excited about the prospects of two more grandkids in the family next Spring/Summer. We'll have to set up tents out back when the whole family comes to visit. Last night George & Anna came over with the kids and stayed with Grandma H. while we went to the movie, "Bella." It was a good movie, though short - not even 90 minutes but well done and we had a good time. We brought back drumsticks (ice cream type) for the kids and they dug right into them - including Sam:


Ice cream mustaches are way fun!! Just like grandparents to send the grandkids home full of sugar two hours past their bedtime.

We were so enthralled with Bump's Jib Jab movies that we had to make some for Sydney & Nolan when they were here last weekend. I'll try to post them here.

A Fall Day Away

Kensi, Harry & Amy

The Boys Find a Great Tree in Their Woods

Yesterday we took off and visited Grandma Simpson. Our friend Bonnie took Grandma Hazel to Rochester for the day to visit with her nurse friends over lunch. We took Grandma S. and met up with Amy's at the Golden Corral for lunch, then toured Amy & Chuck's new place. He has plans for the sprawling ranch on 17 acres that include subdividing the acreage and selling lots and uncovering an indoor pool that was covered with flooring and made into a rec room/playroom. It's a beautiful property with lots of potential. They won't move in until Chuck's done some of the remodeling he wants to do. Always easier without kids under foot.

Amy is home schooling the boys and doing a great job of it. She is using Utah's K-12 program so the curriculum is set and it's just a matter of sticking to a schedule and introducing the subjects and motivating the boys to get their work done so that they can go do something else.

A Beautiful Sunset Tonight

A Busy Week on the Farm

Grandpa and Grandma Lyon visited us with George and Anna & the gang for lunch today. Sam got his first taste of pie and I'd have to say he is into it in a big way.

Amy and the kids visited last Sunday evening and Monday. We had a great time and are so happy to have them back in Indiana. She's home schooling the boys so they spent Monday morning doing their assignments. Grandpa gave them the tour of the Fort and Headwaters Park downtown to augment their history lesson for the day.

Grandma Hazel is doing better since her vertebroplasty on the 8th. She woke up Monday morning and noticed one of her front teeth was broken, so we spent a couple hours at the dentist Wednesday getting 4 teeth "bonded". In spite of that, she felt well enough that we met up with her nurse friends Lillian, Beth, and Della in North Manchester for lunch on Thursday. She's enough better that the home health nurse said she can't come and visit us anymore - Hazel is too healthy. Tomorrow will be her last day to come. We've enjoyed the luxury of not having to go to the doctor's office lately. We love our doctor but it's usually a 2 to 3 hour wait, wait, wait when we go.



The landscaper came a couple of weeks ago and got the mound seeded out front. We're excited to see it greening up out there instead of looking at a big pile of dirt. It may actually look good one of these days. We still get comments from people wondering why we have all the dirt out front. The small hill has 3 nice blue spruce trees on it and Harry got it mulched last week.

Janet's Visit

Fortunately, Janet took a couple pictures while they were here so here are a couple that she emailed to us.

A Visit from Michigan Family

Harry and I went to Rochester and did some sorting yesterday. We found 2 whole boxes of photos and had fun going through some of them with visitors from Michigan today. Aunt Grace, Aunt Jean, Anita, Lisle, Jill and Jane made the long trip down to see us and we enjoyed a good time catching up on news and browsing through old photos.

Here's a blast from the past. The year of the Mohawk!

Update From Oregon

Janet & Lydia accomplished the near impossible. They packed Granny's china and goblets in their luggage and got them to Oregon without a single broken piece. Many prayers and lots of worrying and a miracle. The luggage had even been opened and repacked at some point because of some metal in them. All is well and they are home safe and sound.

Family Visits

Janet, Lydia, and 2 yr. old Sahara arrived on the 8th. Harry picked them up at the Indy airport and took them back today (the 15th) to catch their flight back to Oregon.

Can you believe we didn't get a single picture of Janet's while they were here? Amidst doctor appointments for Hazel and Janet going to Rochester for a couple days to sort out some things, I didn't think of pictures at the times I could have actually taken some. The picture above is of John and Janet, Jill and Jane - the year of the twins. Janet found lots of old pictures hiding in the nooks and crannies when they were sorting out.

Lydia brought lots of things back here and put things up on Grandma Hazel's walls so it really looks like home in there.

John and Janet were able to celebrate their 51st birthday together Thursday night. I'm sure it's been many, many years since they were able to do that. They went to a new pancake house in Akron for dinner.



Amy and family arrived back in Indiana a week ago Tuesday and spent 4 days with us. They expect to be in Indiana for a few months and are not sure of their plans after that.

Family Fun on Labor Day

Cousins, cousins, everywhere! What a great time for the cousins. Harry and Teresa, Anita and Mike, George and Anna, Marleta and Larry, and both grandmas were here in addition to all those great cousins.

We had to stay inside most of the time because of the recent invasion of mosquitoes - our first real case of them all summer.

Uncle Dew stayed long enough to see Harry and Teresa and family, then made his way back to the UP.

The Week in Review

It started out as a simple project - paint the front of the house. After close examination, the cedar siding had enough rot/cracking problems that we had to have the house resided on the front. Off with the old on with the new - a cement/fiber siding. They tell us it will last forever....

This week Chad Swing spent the week off and on painting for us. Linda threw in a couple hours of painting one day, and Harry and Dewey worked with Chad all day yesterday to finish the project. We are no longer the little brown house on the prairie. When you see us now the whole house matches.

Grandma Hazel took a ride to Rochester on Friday with Bonnie Swing. She and her nurse friends (Lillian, Beth, and Della) met at Karen's Restaurant for lunch. Karen's has let their indoor/outdoor carpet on their entry ramp fall into disrepair and Grandma caught either her walker or foot on the carpet and took a tumble. Nothing broken, but she admits she really got banged up and has been resting and trying to recover from the fall.

More Family on the Move

News from Amy - their house is sold in Utah and they will be heading back to Indiana in early September. She is home schooling Logan and Cole through the Utah public schools K-12 online program. She is hoping that a move back to Indiana will still allow them to use this program. It is not strictly a computer-based program, but more a curriculum directed through the computer with lots of physical materials and books that they are using.

George and Anna sold their house this week! Great news all around. Nobody likes having 2 house payments. They are getting unpacked and settled in the new place.

We celebrated our 39th anniversary today by cleaning the garage. This evening we went to see the movie Hairspray and out to dinner. All around one of our more exciting and enjoyable anniversaries.

Moving Days

It's been a busy week and month so far. Pat and Amber got moved into their new home. George and Anna will be moving this coming Saturday.

We spent today with John in Rochester preparing to get Grandma's house up for sale. It will be listed as of Wednesday this coming week. Fond memories as we go through old photos and vestiges of childhood and years past.

Harry in His Orchard

What a Pair (Pear)!

(Click on Photos for Closeup Views)
















Reports that dirty clothes deter deer may be true. Harry's sock in the sweet potatoes seemed to do the trick! The deer had this eaten back to a stub but it grew back after we gave it the sock treatment and no more nibblers visiting.

Saturday Picnic Down on the Farm

Traffic Jam

Lots of Rainbows Where We Live

Saturday Visit From Ada Miller and Michelle

Levi Turns 4

Harry, Linda & Hazel Jones