Easter Lunch

Isn't she sweet? Savannah certainly loves to have her accessories!

We were glad Casey came for a visit!
Char with her champagne.....
Missy and Al made these for a grade school project one year. I haven't been able to part with them, I put them out every Easter.

Dad Beguhn doesn't feel as though we should always pose for photos....
My girls.....
Al and Jess watching a movie....

Mom and Jerry made it for a wonderful family luncheon too. We had all the normal foods, ham, potatoes, carrots, jello, and 7 layer salad. I made one of our favorite angel food cakes with whipped cream frosting...mmmm. That was a hit. The little kids had such a good time with their wheelbarrows and egg hunts.
At one point we caught Tommy going outside with his wheelbarrow trying to find frogs....

Zeus Wants Clint to come home, soon.

We are trying to keep him happy, but Zeus really wants Clint to come home soon....

Easter through the years.

Isn't this adorable? Missy is 8, Al is 2. It was taken at their house on Glacier Road in Pewaukee. They are standing in front of a dry sink cabinet that Grandpa Tesser made for me. He made it to display some cannisters that I inherited from my Aunt Marge. The cannisters came over from Germany and first belonged to my Grandma Lentz.

Anyway, Missy forever had that beautiful, long, thick brown hair! It wasn't easy to comb and brush, she probably remembers that! Isn't Al adorable too? Every year they used the same Easter baskets they received from their Grandma Legg. Missy still has hers, I would bet Al's is around somewhere....

Well, here they are almost 19 years later. Still a wonderful looking couple of children!

Clint

Clint was so close to getting hired by the Green Bay Police Dept. In fact, he has a letter from the Chief there saying he has a job with them when he comes home from active duty. The Friday before Christmas Clint got a letter from the Army saying that he was being re-activated. He had one month to get his things together and get to Fort Benning, Georgia.

That in inself was one thing, but here it is March 22, 2008 and we finally know what the Army plans to do with him! They called him up under Operation Iraqi Freedom, so we knew it would have to do with Iraq, just didn't know where.

They shipped him to Missouri, then to New Jersey. Then to Mississippi where he is now. He says it is like camping out. Doesn't seem like a good thing.... Anyway, he now knows he is going to Ramadi, Iraq. He will be working with the Iraqi police. Most of the batallion he is with right now are police officers. He expects by the first part of May they will be heading out. Unfortunately that means hot dessert sun. Ramadi is about 70 miles from Bagdad. It is the capitol of the Anbar Providence. Al Qaeda considered it their capitol. Three years ago it was the most dangerous city for Allied Forces. Today it is much safer (a relative term) There are now hundreds of Iraqi police officers. From what we have read about the Iraqi people there are very happy to have armed forces there.

I took this photo off the Operation Iraqi Freedom Multinational Force websit. It is a photo of an Iraqi Police graduation.

We just want him to get home safe. Zeus is waiting....

Spring Snow 2008

Good thing the calendar says it is Spring, sure can't tell by looking out the window this morning! What a day it was yesterday! Snowed all day, really! Heavy wet snow. My car sat outside all day yesteday at work. By 4:00 we had about 10" of snow out there, higher than the botttom of my car door. It was fun! The drive home wasn't too bad, just had to take it easy.

Here are photos of our backyard. Within the past month there are two houses being built. Lucky for our neighbors Margaret and Steve, they have one on each side of them!! Actually it is lucky that it is winter, they don't have to deal with it in the summer when you like to have your windows open!

Tomorrow is Easter at our house! Lot's to get done today, so I better move on.

My Dad

March 20, 2008. Today is the first day of spring. It is a beautiful day here today, perfectly blue sky. Little cold, but seems nice with the clear sky and bright sun.

Twenty years ago today my Dad died. When I think of that day, I remember it as though it was yesterday. I have often said that no one can prepare you for the loss of a parent. I still know that is the truth. I remember every moment, every decision that we made, everything...

Dad was retired for just a year when he died. I had just gotten over the death of my Grandmother the previous August. In fact, Dad was the one who called me to tell me about her... Anyway, it was a Friday evening when Dad had an aneurysm burst in his brain. Dianne and Derek had just dropped Courtney and Shannon off by their house to babysit. They were still there when Dad just collapsed in his kitchen chair. The ambulance came and took him to St. Joseph's Hospital. The doctors there did surgery to relieve bleeding and pressure in his brain, but didn't give us much hope. Connie and Gordy were in Florida but quickly drove home. Allen came from Hawaii.

Saturday the doctors did a brain scan and told us there was no brain activity. Allen stayed in the hospital room with Dad that night. Sunday morning the doctors advised us there was no hope for survival so we all said our good-byes. Dad very peacefully passed away with all of us around him.

The above photo of Mom and Dad was taken at Connie's wedding, June 1987, less than a year later he was gone.

Dave got a new car!

Dave's new work car was delivered this weekend. It is a brand new Dodge Charger. It is so sharp. Wish I could take a ride.... And I don't mean handcuffed in the back seat!

St. Patrick's Day

My maternal Grandfather's family is from Ireland. I know my cousins have done some research on where, but I don't know. I really should check into that! Anyway, my mom was always very proud of her Irish heritage. She worked full time for many years prior to retiring, and always wore her green carnation and/or green scarf around her neck! We never had any traditional Irish meals, the closest we came was a boiled dinner; pork shoulder, cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

I was going to try to make a corned beef tonight, but was saved by Dave's parents. They invited us for corned beef, cabbage, and carrots. It was wonderful, especially since I didn't have to cook! It was topped off with Dad's famous homemade pineapple upside down cake. Delicious!

Dinosaur with no name....

Today I met Missy and the little kids for some "exercise" walking around the mall. I needed a couple ideas for little Easter gifts, and Missy had to return a few things. Missy didn't tell me they had a new kid, Dinosaur. He is big enough to be one of the kids. When I asked Tommy was his name was, he said he doesn't have a name. Okay!

Savannah did a great job driving the ice cream truck at the food court...

I was busy trying on sunglasses and look over and what do I see, Tommy and the dinosaur with sunglasses on. He is such a compassionate little guy, always thinking of his little friends.

Playful Boys.....

Two male dogs. Both alpha dogs, of sorts.... Life in our home is interesting. Gunner generally has the upper hand. We have been buying rawhide bones for them to chew, but that is starting to backfire. Whichever one dog has, the other one wants.

Generally they are pretty good though, and love to roll around and chase through the house. They are both pretty fast.

Greg's 60th Birthday

Dave is in the best golfing outfit we could find. Unfortunately, he was no match for Jeff and Ellen's creativity.

He had the courage to take the dogs out for a quick walk in full golf attire.

The party was at Hi-Way Harry's in Johnson Creek for our friend Greg's 60th Birthday party. It was a golf theme, with prizes to be awarded for most Outrageous Golf costume. We had a wonderful fish fry and enjoyed the evening with friends.

Happy Birthday Greg. Thanks for a wonderful evening Kathy!

Diane and Terry "forgot" about the golf theme..... Jeff is always teasing Joyce....

This last photo of a group photo of all that dressed up for the occasion.

My Harley Guy

Dave has turned into a HOG. Really. He loves his Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail so much. Some friends told us how much they liked the Harley Davidson store up in Madison so we took a "Sunday drive". They had a great selection of clothes and bikes up there. Our friends also told us about a favorite eatery in Lake Mills called the Blue Moon. They are supposed to have wonderful pizza. Alas, The Blue Moon was closed... so we will have to take a bike trip there once it warms up. Anyway, we drove to Hi-Way Harry's in Johnson Creek and had a terrific brunch!

Dave's first motorcycle was his 1979 Suzuki. He had that for about a year and then gave it to Clint. Dave then bought a Kawasaki 1000. He had that for about a year and that was it! He had to have a Harley. So, he then bought his Sportster. Of course he only had that for a year and he needed something bigger. Now we have the Softtail. Next year, I have been told, we will have a Road King....

One purchase we made today was Dave's new hat. I love it on him, don't you?

Growing Up

I recently was made aware of the new google maps street view. I think most of us who have visited it have gone back and checked out the homes where we grew up. I know I did. It made me reminisce about my younger years. My mom has Alzheimer's Disease. Seeing her memory disappear has made me try to remember more about my past so I could pass along some memories to my kids, and hopefully on to their own someday.

In an earlier post I talked about spring cleaning. While cleaning my dusty room, I was reminded about a special piece of furniture that I own. Looking at the piece, you would repeat "special??" as it is nothing to look at. The special part of this little cabinet is that it was made by my Grandfather Frank Lentz. Grandpa Lentz died when I was very young so I have no memory of him. Grandma Anna Lentz died when I was very small also, probably about 8. My memory of her is singing to her while visiting her in the nursing home. She had "hardening of the arteries" among other things. I would guess now that they would call that more like Alzheimer's. She would get her medications mixed up so my Grandpa made this cabinet to keep them in. On the side of the cabinet are two little holes, which he put in so he could insert little wooden dowels and she could not open the drawers. I thought it was pretty ingenious!

As a child Memorial Day was truly for honoring the dead, not just a day off of work. We would all load up in the car (all 7 of us) and drive up North 76th Street. We would always stop at a little garden center to buy geraniums. We always bought red geraniums. Back in the car and continue north to Mill Road. On Mill Road we would go east to the Graceland Cemetary where both Grandma and Grandpa are buried. I believe I still could drive straight to their cemetary plots. Anyway, there we would plant those red geraniums and stand back and look at the headstones. As a kid I never was really very sure of what we were to do while we were just looking.

A dog's Life

It is Saturday morning again. Like clockwork, Gunner's 6am alarm goes off and I can only hold him off for about 15 minutes today. So, off I go, bedhead and all, down the street with my two boys for our weekly early morning walk. It is really cold this morning, about 10 degrees and windy. At least we are far enough away from Lake Michigan so we didn't get the lake effect snow the lake counties got!


Anyway, after a couple cups of coffee Dave and I have work to do. We bought a new king size bed so we need to organize our room to get ready for it. That means, taking down our queen size bed that hasn't been moved in almost two years. (That is a record for Dave and I!! Not necessarily moving the bed, just moving in general...) Gunner and Zeus spend a lot of time under that bed, so it needed a good vacuuming and carpet cleaning. So, we are "spring cleaning" our bedroom. We are washing new sheets, blankets, old sheets and blankets as well! Now I am ironing the new bedskirt.




I look over, and this is what I see! Glad to see that all my noises didn't disturb their naps.

Number 4 is Retiring

Anyone that knows me knows I have been a Packer fan from way back, and more importantly, a Brett Favre fan. I enjoyed watching the Packers and the excitement that Brett brought to the game for many years. Here in Wisconsin we watched his ups and downs, the loss of his father, the breast cancer diagnosis of Deana, but we always knew we could count on Brett to excite us on a Sunday afternoon (or Monday evening!) Lots of times we held our breath as he threw one of his incredibly long passes, praying that someone wearing green and gold would catch it!

The photo shows Missy and the kids on her birthday. Dave and I got her an authentic jersey to wear. Maybe worth something in a couple years Missy.....


I give up, I have been trying and trying to attach that photo. I give up for tonight.

On to a new era.

Dad's 81st Birthday!

Here is the group visiting!

Charlotte is 12, going on 20. Looks like she is catching up to Aunty Gina pretty quick!

Thom kept Tommy busy with puzzles while we all ate the pizza that he couldn't have.... It is hard on me that he doesn't get to eat all our favorites. He is such a good sport though.
Al and Jess, which a nice looking couple, aren't they?

It may be Great Granda B's birthday, but Dave and I got a special present from Tommy. He made us these cool bracelets. Lucky for me that Dave's didn't fit him and I got to wear them both!
Grandpa B is 81 years old. His birthday was Feb 17th, but Rod had just passed away on the 13th so no one was up to celebrating anything! But we needed a break so we all got together for drinks, conversation and of course, desssert. Gina drove up from Chicago, but Ben worked so she stayed by us alone. Clint is in Fort Leonardwood, MO, but called to say hi. Missy, Thom and kids were here to entertain us, and that they did. Al and Jess had been to a "wild dinner" but came back to visit afterwards. We had a wonderful eveving.
Roxie was very proud sitting with her two brothers! She always says she doesn't know whata she would do without them right now!

Sunday Mornings!

I love Sunday mornings. I get to "not" take the dogs for their morning walk. I stay in bed and wait for my cup of coffee to be delivered. We love our weekend mornings, drinking coffee and watching the first hour or two of local and national news.

March 1st!!

I turned my calendars over this morning! Yeah! I am so very happy it is March 1st. Doesn't it just make you feel like winter is behind you once March gets here? I remember being a kid in high school walking around the first week of March without a coat on! I know spring is just around the corner. I know it is.....

It has been such a long winter. I don't remember when we didn't have snow! And ice. This morning, while walking the dogs at 6:30 am, (why don't they sleep in on Saturday??) I slipped all the way up the road. The sidewalks are still solid ice. Tomorrow it should be around 40 degrees so hopefully it will melt some of it. But guess what, snow again on Monday!