Old But New Again

Remember this chair? It was one of Great Gram's grandfathers and the cross stitch was started by her mother, Nana, and finished by Great Gram. Well, the cross stitch was starting to tear. Time to redo the chair.


The finished product! Mom picked out the material and had me add the decoritive tacks next to the legs, and with new stuffing and all, it's as good as new. Come enjoy a sit in it! - Dad

It's a Franklin!!

Yesterday, Mom got a call from her cousin letting her know that Grama Muhlestein's sewing machine was available. Seems that it needed a new home.

Of course Holly was excited to be able to get it!!

So now we have an other project to do. Clean-up the machine and get it oiled up, repair the cabinet and drawers, weld a crack in the metal frame, sand it down and refinish it, then display it proudly with a quilt that was sewn on the machine by Grama Muhlestein draped over it.

It's great to be able to have these rare objects in our home to remind us of who we are, and where we came from.

For your information: It was manufactured between 1911 and 1924 (probably close to 1920) by the Domestic Sewing Machine Company of Buffalo, NY for the Sears Roebuck Company.

The Soccer Babe Is Back!!

MAC MADE THE HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER TEAM AGAIN!!

Third year in a row! We are proud of Mac and wish her and the team a great season.

(Hope this new uniform idea of hers doesn't catch on.)

Cub Scout Day Camp

Holly and her boys headed out to Camp Kiesel last week for Cub Scout Day Camp. Jackson got his first taste of bad scout skits and lots of fun.

Thought you would like to see a few pictures from the camp.

Back To School

After two LONG weeks of summer break, Jazzy and Jack are headed back to school.

Jack was so excited that he was up an hour before he needed to be.

Off they went, hand-in-hand, for the new school year and another adventure in education.

Jazzy "the hair" - The Big 4th Grader.

Jackson "the Stud" - 3rd Grade Here He Comes.

Happy Anniversary - My Love!!

HAPPINESS IS BEING MARRIED TO YOUR BEST FRIEND.

THANKS FOR BEING MY FRIEND FOR THE PAST 31 YEARS!

LOVE YA!

john :)

The Great Horseshoe Competition

For our activity after FHE yesterday we went to the park and had a horseshoe competition. Dad started the kids out at the regular pitching spot. (The shoes only made it half way.) It was decided that for some of the contestants - everybody but dad - 20 feet out worked better. We got some good practice in. Not sure if we will be joining any city competitions; maybe keeping it in the family works for now.

Camping Out?!

The kids are out of school for TWO weeks (what a summer break!) and wanted to camp out. A trip to the mountains wasn't in the plans, but the back yard was just right.

We had a fire...









Sang songs...









Roasted marsh mellows...









And slept out...









The best part was the Ghost Stories and Mac scaring us just as we were about to fall asleep!
Who needs the mountains?!

The Harvest Begins!

While the girls were here from AZ, Karter loved to go out each day and pick a handful of peas to eat and share. After they left to go home, we harvested the rest. We got a good crop - and boy did they taste great.

******HAPPY 4TH OF JULY*****

Hope you're having a great 4th! We took the kids to the local parade this morning and plan on having a neighborhood BBQ later and then some fireworks. We miss not being together but hope you have a fun holiday too!