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!