Merry Christmas to all and to all...

It was very special seeing the kids in PA for an early Christmas but as we near Christmas Eve, it is bittersweet as the tradition that we were able to expierence for so many years here at 417 south princeton will not be this year. We are happy for our health, our kids success and of course the grandkids. The midwest has been ravaged by extreme wind chills and more snow. I have used the snowblower twice TODAY and it is still snowing! The old homestead will be very quiet this year as we head to Janesville to see Aaron and family for Christmas eve and Christmas night. Then we will head to Lake Geneva to spend a couple nights at the Grand Geneva Resort with Tom and Kathy before coming home next Sunday! I will try to get some pictures of the snow for my siblings who reside in the south and get them posted..
Love to All and may God Bless us all during this wonderful season..

Early Christmas in PA...

Marilee and I flew out to Cleveland the weekend of Aaron's Birthday and rented a car and drove to State College to see the kids for an early Christmas. The drive out was quite spectacular as the snow / frost was sticking to everything. It was if someone (actually God was that someone) had painted the landscape to a beautiful white / gray scene you would typically find in a gallery. (no pictures ;-(..)We got to the condo about 500 ish and had a great evening getting re-acquainted with the grandkids. They were so anxoius to open gifts but we promised them that we would do that Saturday night. Saturday morning Marilee treated the ladies to a nail salon treatment and they all got their nails done (again - no pictures..) We spent the afternoon in the town of Bellfonte expierencing EXTREME cold weather as Amy and Marilee went to see several Victorian homes decorated for the holidays. Adam and I kept the kids busy and then met the ladies for dinner, a nice Italian dinner in a pretty neat little town.. I would reccomend the dinner and the town again in warmer weather, it would be a good motorcycle destination. The kids were great that night (after the Creamery on PSU campus - a can't miss ice cream stop) when opening presents which is where most of the pictures are from. Sunday I went to church with Amy and we had just a great relaxing time finished off by a fabulous dinner prepared by our gracious host and hostess. We talked 2010 reunion and many other things getting caught up on plans for 2009 and beyond. As Amy always says, they love company!

Panache - A Flamboyance of Style

Well- this weekend was Marilee's official "Open House" for her Boutique. Monday I helped at a local Country Club ( Butterfield in Oak Brook) for the clubs Christmas Party, the members come and eat and shop the vendors merchandise. We were stuck in a corner but we ended up with a pretty good start to the week. Fri / Sat / Sun, Marilee had her Open House in her current location on Ardmore Ave and it was a fabulous success! She will lock down the new lease and we'll be moving her around the corner, next to the wine store (could be a problem there!)right around the first of the year. I made the sign! We have a short week this week, heading to PA on Friday morning to spend the weekend with the Nittany Lion Family (Rose Bowl bound, I might add) We come back on Monday the 15th.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well its been a while since I posted anything.. My boys and their families were together in State College this last weekend and Aaron and family are making the long trek home in what may turn out to be the Midwest first major snowstorm. The temps have stayed above freezing and hope they do until they reach Janesville.
We spent a wonderful weekend with family beginning the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Ron, Diana, Marilee and I went to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas show, followed up by a Thanksgiving feast at brother Chuck's house. His wife Karen made "Mom" Kings rolls and even sent some home with us! A very nice day with family and wonderful food and deserts. Friday was a very unique day as my sister in law Diana wanted to do something related to the region, so we did what we do best - EAT! We went to Jean & Judes in River Grove, IL. ALl they serve is hot dogs, fries and tamales.. and ketchup is not on the menu. We couldnt have picked a better day, the parking lot was full, creating the "gotta have this hotdog' expierence. We decided to go lightly and then drove over to see my old house in Elmwood Park and then proceeded to "johnny's" for Italian Beef and a Combo! We did enjoy a healthy meal at home that evening and can only hope that Diana and Ron enjoyed their stay as much as we enjoyed having them. I hope this finds you all safely home, (or soon to be) thankful for all we have, and you all enjoy the upcoming holiday season.
Love to all
Bill

A

With many hands,rakes, tarps, a tractor and a chain saw we accomplished more than Fran could have imagined! Thanks to Gary King for driving the tractor all day and Helen & Bonnie and all the chef's for the great food. IT WAS COLD but very HOT by the fire..Rob and Robbie handled the chain saw duties and kept everyone going. I was at the back end of the mower, mulching leaves for Fran and Dorothy's flower beds. We never did light the small fire pit but it was fun to see everyone who was able to make it..

Out with the Old, In with the New

OK - here they are - from the old to the new with a few pcs yet to fill in - we present to you - Marilee's Craigslist Kitchen. We waited to post these because Gary and Rhonda were here this weekend to celebrate our 11th Wedding anniversary and since Gary helped us the first night we saw it, we wanted to surprise them! After my first posting Chuck said we must certainly have pictures of the old kitchen and sure enough we found some. From the day we looked at the kitchen, to when it was operational again was approx 35 days.. we still have some loose ends to complete and we had to order some trim that has yet to arrive.. We love it!! Hope to have the trim complete by Thanksgiving but not sure that will happen.

Testing Slide Show

test #1 - slide show - I am in State College PA, visiting Adam after a great fall festival #2 at the farm with the multitudes of helping hands. The pics from Saturday turned out great and a wonderful time was had by all. Posting of the pics will have to wait until I get home as I forgot the USB cord ;-( Hope all those traveling home from the farm had safe travels! More next weekend..

417 South Princeton

Thanks to Todd (and the Michigan economy, for bringing him here..) We have done some modifications to the house! We had Todd wrap all the windows with 1 X 5 and then cover that with aluminum. (see back of the house pictures) We then bought some vinyl siding that looks like cedar shakes and had him do the front and the front of the garage. We like our new look! It is nice having Todd in the area and he was able to do this quickly due to his schedule...

Our Halloween Pumpkin

OK - here is another teaser for the new kitchen -- Grace, Sara and I created the pumpkin a

couple of weeks before Halloween. I should have taken pictures on Halloween, it was pretty rotted out (and scary looking) by the time we got to display it. The cabinet has a mate in the other corner of that end of the kitchen..

My sister Dorothy asked if the "roosters" were homeless, well, we are not quite sure what we will do with them...

Get out and Vote, and more

Today is my brother Chucks B-day, followed by my sister Dorothy's next week - Happy B- day to you both! I am terrible about cards and all but called Chuck tonight to wish him a Happy 50+!
We are indeed getting older, but life is getting better!

Tomorrow is a big day in our country as we vote in the next president of the United States. If you havent already voted, get out and vote for the party that you feel will uphold the sanctity of our Constitution and know that they believe in lesser goverment control of our lives and lower taxes. The next president will most likley nominate a Supreme Justice or two... but we get to decide who we pull the lever for on Tuesday. Its great to live in America and be able to do the things we do so freely. I am thankful for those who serve and protect us so we have these rights of freedom.

I am off to Minn again this week, then off to the "farm" next weekend to see some siblings, rake some leaves and burn some wood. No new pictures of the kitchen just yet. We spent part of the weekend in Janesville with Aaron and family. Very nice weekend and it just makes me miss the other son and his family more!

Cold Weather has arrived

Cold weather hit the midwest yesterday and today with flurries and high winds the last two days. I am off to Milw early tomorrow morning and then off to Minn on Wed / Fri afternoon to introduce my new DM to the staff and crew in Maple Grove. This weekend I still managed to get the hood vent in over the stove yesterday and the outside vent on and caulked. We also hung the ceiling fan and got the electrical covers on, so things are shaping up. I am working on a slide show to post, so it might be a while before I post more pictures. Marilee is working on another option for her boutique. We will have another meeting with the "other option" tomorrow night when I get back from Milw and she may be moving her business before Thanksgiving! Marilee's new business logo attached -- all for now!!

TGIF 10/2408

Glad this week is over.. My boss and his boss were in town and we had customer visits in Chicago, East Peoria IL and Milw WI - 700 miles from Tuesday AM until Thursday PM.. Good to be home today. The picture posted is from last weekend when Grace, Owen, Aaron and Sara were here to visit. Sara actually wrote us a rap song to go with the picture -- pretty funny!! I am not sure that Sara should give up her day job though!

LITTLE "O' AND THE BIG SHOW'S LATEST RELEASE HAS TOPPED THE CHARTS!!!"YO! YO! MY NAME IS "O" AND IM HERE TO SAY, I WANNA BE A RAPPER IN A REALLY BAD WAY! HERE WITH MY CHAIN DON'T YOU WANNA JOIN MY GANG? CAUSE THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB IS THE KICK AND IM IT! PEACE OUT HOMMIES!"WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY BIG MAMA KING(is that how you spell hommies?)

Have a great weekend..

Kitchen 08 #2

In less than 35 days we are back in operation.. Craigslist.com is a wonderful thing! Marilee found this kitchen when looking for a display for her new boutique / salon ( more on that later) The best part is that all I had to do was tear out the old kitchen and replace a couple of windows. Its wierd having workers in your house when you have always done the work yourself! The second best part was that all we had to pay is $1500 for them to uninstall the kitchen, load it up and haul it to Villa Park AND re install the kitchen, including the marble countertops! I will post more pictures later and some of you will get to see it in person in November! Now, it didnt all fit.. we have two cabinets in the garage that we didnt have room for, and some trim pcs to fill in.. but it is in working order now!! This is a view of our eat in area - note that we changed from wood to tile floor and these were two other cabinets we didnt think we were going to be able to use.

Starting something new

To All - since my daugher-in laws have posted blogs about my grandkids and my "older" brother have done the same, blogging.. I decided to give this a shot! We just re habbed our kitchen and I thought it would be a good place to start.. Not sure how much time I will have for this, but we'll see. I sure enjoy the kids updates!

First Picture -- still looking for a picture of what it looked like B4 this one...

more to follow