COUSINS PAY A VISIT

We had a nice visit with my cousins yesterday when they stopped by. Sharyl & Karen had traveled to Salina for their 50th high school class reunion this weekend so they came to Hutch to see our parents. Sharyl's dad was my dad's brother, Tom, and Karen's mother, Anna, was my dad's sister. We had a good time of reminiscing and it's always fun for us and especially my parents when family stops to see them.

WORK TO BE DONE - SPRUCING UP OUR PLACE

Now that the weather is cooler, we are getting some work done that has been waiting for us for some time. Rog is scraping the windows and I'm painting them. On the end of the house and along the bottom where the patio door to the folks part is, we are having new siding put on(when we pulled the steps away, we found a mess). We intend to get everything that is not brick painted before the winter weather sets in.

GIVE ME FIVE MERYN - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Meryn is FIVE years old today and because her Daddy is working today, she will probably have to celebrate for 2 days. She has been counting the days until her birthday was here and it is finally here. Meryn does not get to start school until next year so she is busy helping her Mommy with everything and a lot of the time is a 5 year old going on 16. She loves to play games(and likes to sing while playing by herself), clean house(and I'm sure that will wear off when it would be even more helpful but we hope not:), and she loves to shop. Her Mommy could have her try on everything in a store and Meryn would love it. That's not the way I used to be. She is known as "Snookie" to her great grandpa & grandma Tucker so that was her name in the Happy Birthday song today. We love you Meryn and hope you have a really fun day. She has already been to the state fair with grandpa & grandma Neir so it has started out great.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

OUR FIRSTBORN TURNS FORTY

Today our oldest son, Roger, is celebrating his 40th birthday. Where have the years gone? We are so proud of you Roger and the man that you have become. We are so thankful that you as our oldest child were a good role model for the younger children and are grateful that you have continued to follow the Lord. When you came into our lives forty years ago, we felt really blessed and still do today. We love you and trust you have a wonderful day.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

We had a quiet Labor Day weekend with John and Melanie and their children and Greg and Susan with their children. I never think to take a picture of Greg & Susan and family because they are around more often but I did get a picture of John & Melanie with Ella & Hudson. We always have fun when our kids and grandkids come home and this time was no exception.

Melanie has a lot of pictures on her blog so check it out.

MY HUSBAND'S BIRTHDAY

Today is Rog's 66th birthday. Doesn't seem possible - the years are flying by! We will get to go to Wichita to eat and I made him an orange chiffon birthday cake from scratch(just like he used to make when he would stay home from school as a kid). I don't get pictures of him very often but once in a while with a grandchild(this is Hudson a few months ago). I hope you have a great birthday Rog and I love you very much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

RAEGAN IS ONE YEAR OLD

Today, August 23, is Raegan's first birthday. She has been walking for a couple of months already and is a real joy to all of us. She always has a smile on her face and is ready to have fun.

Hard to believe that she is already one year old. We love you Raegan and hope you have a really fun birthday. You are a sweetie!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

CELEBRATING 68 YEARS

We are grateful for our Mom & Dad and the Christian home they provided for us. We are grateful for their walk with the Lord and for their prayer for their family over the years. It was a blessing to grow up in a Christian home and a continued blessing to have our folks with us in our home in their sunset years.

God Bless You and We Love You Mom & Dad!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!




Below are the beautiful roses Dad gave to Mom

THE YOUNGEST OF OUR DAUGHTERS HAS A BIRTHDAY

Susan is 32 years old today. We always called our 3 youngest children "our little ones" and it is hard to believe that it has been that many years ago. Susan is a delightful daughter and we appreciate how she helps us in so many ways. We are glad that she didn't wander off to KC with all the rest of our children so that we can enjoy her family here. We love you Susan and hope you have a great birthday.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

OUR TRIP TO STAFFORD AND A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

My Mom has been wanting to go to Stafford to visit her great grandfather's grave so last Monday we made our visit to Stafford. I took some pictures of the headstones for dates so that I could share with my children some history of their great great great grandfather Nunn's family. My Mom's mother's maiden name was Nunn.


Eli and Nancy Nunn lived in Marysville, Tennessee. They had 4 sons and 1 daughter. Eli's wife, Nancy, died in 1872 and was buried in Tennessee.


Eli married Martha Thompson in 1884. She came from New York as a missionary to teach black children to read and write -- because of this, they were ostracized and so left Tennessee and came by covered wagon to Kansas (Stafford). The colored children took up a collection of dimes and had them melted into teaspoons for Martha L. when they left Marysville.(I now have those in my cedar chest)

His son, John(who was grandma Tucker's grandfather), went to Beloit, KS, where he met and married Mary Parker, a dressmaker and they settled in Downs, KS. He is buried in Downs so that is why there is not a grave marker for him.


Mom by her great grandfather Nunn's grave

Eli Duehring - this is your great great great great grandfather Eli Nunn - isn't that something!

Charles Richard never married and while grandma Tucker was still living at home, Charles(known as Uncle Dick) lived with my grandpa & grandma Burkholder and stayed there until he died. He always kept his valuables with him if he traveled anywhere. He had a watch that he received from his step mom when she died and he gave that to grandma Tucker for a graduation present. He was staying with them at that time.

I was only 5 years old when he died but I remember him very well and the room that was his in my grandmother's house.

Martha Jane stayed and lived with a couple of aunts of hers in Tennessee when her father & step mother left and later was able to go on to college and was an excellent pianist. She never married and they called her Aunt Matt. She came to Stafford after the step mother died to help take care of her Dad.

The J stands for James on the stone below.

BIRTHDAY GIRLS

Today, August 9, Elisa came into our home 34 years ago. Doesn't seem possible. She lives in the Olathe area and has a wonderful family with 4 of our grandkids. Elisa is so helpful and has such a wonderful spirit. Elisa - you are truly a gift from God and we love you! Have a great day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Melanie joined our family when she married our youngest son 6 years ago and turns 27 years old today. Melanie is a real sweetheart and an attentive mother and wife. We are so glad to have you in our family Melanie. We love you and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MEREDITH & DADDY(PHIL) SHARE BIRTHDAY

Today, July 30, we celebrate 2 birthdays - Phil turns the big 40 and Meredith turns 4. Phil teaches at Johnson County(a math whiz) and Meredith keeps everything lively in their home. She is gramms's little sweetie pie! We appreciate and love both of you and hope you have a fun birthday as you share this day together.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Correction to a previous post

Please notice the correction on the Wed. of Camp Gramma post - I named the wrong grandchild watching the chimps - forgive me Molly & Ella.

MAGGIE VISITING GRANDMA'S HOUSE

Maggie wanted to come home with us so she could spend some quality time with grandma. Camp Gramma was so busy that there wasn't a lot of time to spend with each individual grandchild. I love to have them come so until Friday, we are going to be doing lots of things together.

Today we are canning tomatoes and Maggie is doing a good job helping me. In the first picture she is chopping the veggies for stewed tomatoes.



Here she is taking the skins off the tomatoes

And below are the tomatoes she has finished

the pot of tomatoes getting ready for canning



And now we are ready to fill the jars

THE PRAIRIE PUNISHER DUATHLON

Last Saturday morning at 5 a.m. we got up to get ready for the Prairie Punisher. We were to be at the race at 6 a.m. to check in and receive any furthur instructions. Someone from the Olathe News had called Julie and asked if they could talk to us about our team(Julie & Mom) participating in the Prairie Punisher. Julie said she would have me call her and on Friday we see that we were on the front page of the little Gardner Newspaper which is part of the Olathe News.


It was a very foggy & humid morning and here all the runners are ready to start at 7:00 a.m.

Below I am taking the band off of Julie's ankle (it has a computer chip in it to tell the time for running & biking) and putting it on mine before I take off riding.

And here I go - I cannot mount my bike until I cross the white line
just hope I can see where I'm going

I'm almost back and it was hot and humid and a very hard ride (18+ miles) with many hills ( one of them they call heart attack hill)

We look a little worn out but we worked hard. Julie did great on her running and I just enjoyed doing the biking for her. Julie ran 3 miles - I rode 18 miles - Julie ran 3 more miles -- and we did it in 2 hrs. and 17 min. It was a fun time.

Yes, it was a family thing - June biked, I biked, Elisa ran, and Julie ran. If you didn't see Elisa's blog, she and her partner received prizes for 1st place in the teams. Congratulations Elisa! June's team was 2nd place and Julie & I were 4th place.

CAMP GRAMMA 2008 - The Hutchinson News

The News did come and talk to us about Camp Gramma but little did we know that it would end up on the front page of the News the next day.(July 23, 2008)

POOL LASTED JUST LONG ENOUGH

Hey grandkids, count your blessings - our pool lasted through Camp Gramma. Grandpa went out to do something in the yard and found the water pouring out of a hole about the size of a quarter and we saw several places where the heavy plastic was splitting apart. We are so glad it waited until the kids were gone.


It's slowly going down and is all thrown away now.

CANNING BACK IN PROGRESS

We did not have time to pick tomatoes for the last few day so today we had lots. We canned 7 quarts this afternoon and as you can see we will have more to do when we return from KC .

CAMP GRAMMA 2008 - continued

We began our day early Wednesday with breakfast and then all the getting everyone ready and the clean-up around the place. By 9:30 we were ready to load the vans and let me tell you, that is no easy job. We were counting kids many times to make sure we did not leave anyone behind.

Below we are having a short meeting just before we leave.

Our driveway looked like we were having a convention most of the time.

arriving at the zoo in Wichita by 10:15

the babies are all ready and it was HOT

we had a wagon to carry canteens that each grandchild had and it also became a carrier for the grandchildren that were tired of walking

Cooper learned quickly that if you just stay on you won't lose your place

It got pretty heavy on the inclines

giraffes

lunch time and we even found a shady spot on the far side of the zoo

the tables had a play area right next to them so the kids loved that

the camels were busy eating but I asked them to smile and this one did
what pretty teeth:)

elephant

anteater

Molly watching the Chimpanzee - when June first pushed her up to the window where this chimp was, Molly covered her eyes with her hands

WRONG - this is Ella watching the Chimpanzee (Molly has blond hair:)
what I said about Molly was true but she didn't want to stay there long
looks like Ella is enjoying it - sorry Ella for calling you the wrong name!

above the boys are resting about halfway through the jungle

the jungle - hot and humid

some very colorful birds

if you ever are discouraged with how you look - take a look at this rhinoceros - made me glad I'm me!

It was soooo HOT all day and when we returned home - guess where everyone headed!

After supper, our grandchildren love to go walk over the bridge at 30th street and 61 highway

they like to signal for the semis to honk for them and many did and several cars as well

this was up on the slanted slab at the end of the bridge close to the train track where the train had just gone by

Wednesday night we had a campfire meeting where the kids were invited to share meaningful things and tell about when they were saved.

We roasted marshmallows over the fire before heading into our tents for the night.