Hello Everyone! Greetings from Oregon and Washington. We are enjoying some great weather - free of tornadoes, thunderstorms and humidity! Ahhh...to be home again in the northwest. Lol!

Tasting Gooseberries for the first time! Now you see me smiling....

I had a wonderful visit! Thanks to everyone who rolled out the red carpet for me. Rose, Sue, Shirley, Margaret, Norm, Joe, Lisa, David, Lydia, Stephanie, Chris, Shelly and all the Larimore clan. (I hope I'm not forgetting anyone!) Even Jalen and Brayden helped me feel at home. I wanted to thank Aunt Rose especially for giving me such a generous opportunity to move freely about Missouri in her comfy car. I hate to admit how many miles I put on that vehicle, but having the benefit of her loaning it to me and helping me with my air fare made the price of gas affordable! I bought a map on my first morning there at the news stand in Clayton at Aunt Rose's recommendation and a coffee at Starbucks and was on my way! I feel like a true world traveler - savvy, experienced and now can say, "I'm from Missouri - Show Me!" (Not everyone can make that claim!)

I finally got my pictures and videos downloaded to the computer and will post a few of them. I enjoyed every minute of my trip! The highlight for me, honestly, was meeting and starting to get reacquainted with my cousins. I LOVED spending time with Sabrina and am still heartsick about the change of plans that made me cancel our lunch date! (Sorry Sabrina!) I got initiated by Randy by falling for one of his gags - I should have known. I caught a glimpse of Stephanie, Dan and Catrina at Nathan's wedding and regret that two weeks didn't afford me enough time to get caught up. I did have a nice phone conversation with Stephanie the day before the wedding and missed a phone to Catrina because time ran out...(Drat! I hated missing that, too!) I brought my Draw Four game to play with Catrina, but it didn't happen. I enjoyed meeting Robbie's sons and was savoring how they love their Peepa and Meema. Blessings to Nathan and Nichole as they start their life together.

The Bride - Nichole.

My few days at the Abbotts were so nice. I felt like I was at home at my folk's house. We went up to Winfield one day and then on up to the Mississippi river. It was interesting to me because I had never been to the Mississippi before but also since my job is a run-of-the-river operation, I was impressed to see the Corps of Engineers and the military, (Marines?) among volunteers working together to mitigate the flooding.

Uncle Norman's garden is impressive and I had quite a bit of work to do in mine since I got home. Thankfully, brother Glenn came by to help "fix" the sprinkler system while I was away. It wasn't really broken - it was working just the way I programmed it to. Too bad I didn't mean for it to run constantly - just once a day. Monica kept the lawn mowed and held down the fort so I came home to a pleasant homecoming. I have been pruning my tomatoes like Uncle Norm showed me, but mine are just now blooming so I won't see any tomatoes for a while.

At the edge of the Mighty Mississip!

I hated to say good-bye to the Abbotts on Father's Day, but was also looking forward to a few days at the lake with Aunt Sue and our much anticipated Turnbo Tour hosted by dear Uncle Joe! For those of you who might not know, we had this trip planned for last summer and were looking forward to having my Dad and Uncle Joe give the tour. Can you imagine how valuable and memorable that would have been? As it turned out plans changed and so this year was especially meaningful to me. Thank you Uncle Joe for being such a fun and gracious tour guide. I couldn't have loved anything more than spending that time with you all!

Uncle Norman and three sisters at the Lake of the Ozarks!

I learned about Marshfield, Route 66, "Dragging the Gut", Grammie's shop, Aunt Louise's house.(uh oh, now I'm forgetting - was it Louise who lived at the little white house where the four darling boys greeted us in their anti-chigger footwear?) I got to see the Cannin' Factory and the Springhouse firsthand. We hiked through briers and brush along with my Mom and Aunt Sue and picked ticks off each other and waded in Turnbo Creek by the falls. When the time came for us to head back into Marshfield, I couldn't have been more disappointed for our day to end. I had my Mom and Aunt Sue and Aunt Vivian, (Mom's sister) to keep me from feeling blue, but it makes me cry just thinking about it as I write this now. I am indebted to you!

At Grammie's house in Marshfield! (AKA draggin' the gut with Uncle Joe!)

Lisa was profound in her assessment of what things might have been if our Grandad hadn't have died so early. All the family were tough and none afraid of hard work. The land there is beautiful and rich - the heritage we hold is richer still. Aunt Rose reflected that our lives are held by a thread. I agree and would add that the thread that is woven through each our lives and holds us together is strong and valuable - I don't want to take it for granted.

Mom, Uncle Joe, Aunt Sue, Lisa, Lydia and David at the Marshfield Cemetery.

I then spent several days in Conway with my Mom, Aunt Vivian and cousins! We attended church at the Washington Christian Church where Uncle Oral is buried. Aunt Viv said she has been attending that church for over 50 years! I got to tour a dairy farm and meet almost all of my cousins on my Mom's side. The "girls' have an annual garage sale which is a good excuse to sit in lawn chairs and drink iced tea and visit all day long. They didn't have much traffic so exchanged "stuff" with each other. I came away with some of my cousin Terrie's bracelets. Nice. Aunt Viv is an avid Cardinals fan so several afternoons/evenings were spent paying attention to the game. We ate at the Rocking Chair which was good food and met after church on Sunday at my cousin Beverly's home for a big meal.

We visited the graveyards where my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle are buried and drove around the gorgeous countryside capturing the vision of times long ago when my mother was a girl growing up. We traveled Route 66 which used to be the main drag and is now the back road to Wal-Mart. I enjoyed the fire flies and the southern cooking and easy pace of a little town. I slept great each night and the heart of the land and the family there has enriched my life. Thanks Mom for sharing your "home" with me.

I guess I should cut my travelogue off right about here in lieu of boring you all to death! There is more I'd like to say about the warmth of all I met and how meaninful it was to me to be a part of your lives for a few days. I look forward to having some of you visit us up here. We have skiing, snowboarding, the ocean, the mountains, the desert, the Columbia River Gorge, Seattle, The San Juan islands, Canada - and yes, coffee and granola!! Who wouldn't want to come for a visit? The company of folks is also of the highest quality! Please, think about letting us return the favor!

See ya!

Brother Joe sent me this e-mail with sad news of the death of Mary's sister:

Lisa, Lydia and Mary went to Conway to see Mary's sister, Louise on Wed. Louise passed away Saturday. Also Harriet Lafoe Natale came by our house on Wed. She seems to be doing very well with the recent knee replacements.

Lisa and Lydia left for Costa Rica Thurs. Morning. They were instructed to be at the airport two hours early, which they were. Then they put them on an earlier flight out of Springfield so the time at the Springfield airport was brief but the layover in DFW was longer, as their outbound flight out of DFW stayed the same.

Glad you got back home OK. Hello To Rosey Po and all.

Bro Joe

Dave & I have listed one of our sail boats for sale on Craigslist (Similar to e-bay)

More later.

Bro Joe

==========
We are sorry to hear of this loss.

I'm here at Barnes-Jewish waiting for them to start my IVIG. As Goldman says, this place is a hurry up and wait time. It's 11:30 and Rose and I hurried to get here at 8:30. They'll do the IVIG and I'll go home tomorrow.

Shelly and I went down to the lake house last week Tuesday. My computer wasn't working so I was all week without it. The boat is finally fixed. That hillbilly who has had it twice now brought it back last Tuesday and now says he wants more money. I'm just going to let Doug talk with him. Shelly and I went to the license bureau to get the current sticker for the waverunner. The license bureau sent us to the court house and then we had to go back again to the license bureau. After all this running back and forth, no one rode the waverunner all weekend!

Shelly had to leave on Thursday. Maddog came over. Goldman drove down. Doug and Suzanne and the kids got there in time for Suzanne to make a big pot of spaghetti for dinner. Fireworks started popping that night but it wasn't the big night.

The Fourth of July was a real occasion!! The Nichols (Julie, John, Eric and Ryan) came for dinner but took their boat and put it in a safe place before the show started. Maddog made pork tenderloin for dinner which may become a regular on our lake menu. Neighbors all chipped in before the guys went firework shopping. Our necks hurt from looking up before the display ended. We all thought dark would never come but when it did come it lasted quite a while.

Saturday wasn't anticlimatic like we thought it might be. Tony and Melanie came in that morning on their Harley. (Tony is Maddog's stepbrother and Mel worked with Suzanne at Rawlings.) Doug fried crappie in a Denny tradition. We had mountains of food and Doug was so busy frying that he didn't get to start catching fish to put in the freezer for the next fry. We had potato skins, fries, little weiners wrapped in bacon, and by then I was too full to eat anything else. Well, I did eat several onion rings.

Traffic was miserable on the trip home Sunday. I rode with Goldman and we never did see any accidents - just volume. I have more news but will post this and more later.

Mark at his 50th birthday party. Shirley and Rose are in the background.

Had those great updates from Kansas and from Portland. I love Sandi's referring to us as 'Aunt Camp'. We love having campers at our aunt camps and look forward to more attendees.

Mark, Brick's son, celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday. Karen surprised him with a luau at Babler Park on Saturday afternoon. He said he knew something was up but had no idea what was coming off. Karen sent me pictures and I'll get them posted as soon as Rose has time.

It was girls' weekend down at the lake. I didn't go cause I wasn't feeling too good and it was the first one in lots of years that I missed. I think there were more than ten girls were there. They wanted a weekend without kids hanging on them all the time. The guys had a BBQ at Doug's on Saturday night and Goldman said that there were ten kids in the hot tub at one time.

I had my regular appointment today with my favorite neurologist, Dr. Hogan. He's the one who was born in the same hospital in Springfield that I was only some 18 years later It's the hospital where Joe now volunteers. Dr. Hogan didn't change any of my medication and seemed pleased with my progress. His only suggestion was that I should maybe get more exercise. I needn't go back to see him until October.

Shelly and I are off to the lake tomorrow evening to get ready for the big fireworks. Scott and the boys aren't coming because of baseball practices and an all-star game. I told Scott that I'd be really upset if they didn't come AND they got rained out over there. He replied, "We will too, mom."

Sandi sent this lovely e-mail to Sue. We thought we would share it:

From: safelli@hotmail.com
To: marthaboaz@aol.com
Sent: 6/29/2008 1:44:56 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: RE: Hello


Hi Aunt Sue!!

I am just getting awakened from my graveyard stupor and trying to catch up on everything. (I got off yesterday morning) I got home about midnight our time on Tuesday and then worked the next three nights TRYING to sell power. There are so many fires in California that the transmission lines are down everywhere and it's hot down there so they need power from us. Re-routing power through Idaho>Nevada>California over-loaded the lines there so we were getting "loop flow" back across the lines into the northwest causing other issues and making sales that direction impossible. Very stressful and very busy! In the meantime, the water up here is running high so we are having to spill it over the dams instead of generating so we are losing money. Other generators in the NW were calling to offer to pay me $50/MW to take power in! Crazy! (Sigh!) Anyway, I'm off today and can relax at home a bit. (What did the fish say when it ran into the concrete wall? "Dam!" That's how I felt this last week at work!)

We have hot weather here - up to 100 degrees. I had to put my window air conditioner in yesterday because it was 82 degrees in the house downstairs and probably 10 degrees higher upstairs! I hope you are at the lake enjoying the wonderful weather there and staying cool.

What did the doctor say after your appointment on Wednesday? Are you feeling better? No lyme disease, I hope! Yesterday was Dad's birthday and Tammy was out working in her yard. She said that she was putting up lattice and instead of strapping it together as most anyone else would, she was reinforcing it with screws to make it hold for the next century - in honor of Dad. Cute, huh? I regret not talking to Mom yesterday so I'm hoping some of my siblings did. I hope it wasn't a hard day for her. Today is tougher for me since I was half asleep all day yesterday! Dad would have been 80! I miss him.

My garden is taking off and so are the weeds. I have a busy day today so it will have to wait until tomorrow to get all the weeding done. I also need to talk to Doug about getting some stain for my fence and re-staining the deck. I came home to Carpenter Ants and had to have the exterminator come on Wednesday. Goodness - there are so many responsibilities when you are housekeeping!

I had such a nice time seeing you all. It was nice to hang out with you and spend some real time getting to see everyone. Thanks again for your hospitality and or entertaining me! I had a very nice time. Next year - I will recruit others to come. We may do Aunt Camp in Missouri!

Enjoy your day and say hello to everyone for me. I will try to post pics and an update to the blog soon!
Love you,
Sandi

Here are some pics of our recent trip to see Aunt Sue. It was good meeting Doug, Suzanne, Lukas and Josie, whom we've heard her talk about quite often. Ellie really enjoyed the kids, especially Jalen, and of course the swimming pool. The waverunner was another favorite for Ellie - we even got to go a little faster than idle speed this year. She didn't quite care for the lake but John got in with her for about 10 minutes. Last year she loved sitting with Aunt Sue and enjoyed listening to her sing, tell stories, and put her to sleep for naps. This year, I guess Ellie is too big for all that stuff - she tried to run with the big kids but she is not quite old enough yet. John, as always, enjoyed taking the kids for rides and just lounging around. (Something he doesn't get to do often enough). Ellie had so much fun that she slept most of the way to KC. We drove directly to our softball game and one it in the 10th inning. It was a great weekend.

Joe sent a short update on his girls. Beth is getting her MBA on July 25. Lydia and Lisa leave for Costa Rica on July 3. That was the extent of his bragging. I sat in front seat the day of our Turnbo Tour and also don't hear well so I'm having to drag any further information out of Joe. He's online but not answering my IM's. I think Lisa and Lydia will be going to Costa Rico for their tenth year.

Brayden and Jalen are home with their Dad now and Scott says they have hardly talked about us. Every day is a new world. Tomorrow is Brayden's baseball award banquet. Of course he gets an award. One of them had practice at 8 this morning and the other one has it at 8 tomorrow. Jalen has his All Star Game on the 4th of July so they can't come to the lake for the weekend. Doug always has a big fireworks display and it's become an annual event. Jalen has even made a seating chart for the adults. It's the dads who should get the awards for their devotion to the game of baseball along with the kids..

It's girls' weekend at the lake and I don't feel just good so didn't go. I am sure I would have cramped their style. They promised a group framed picture to hang in the stairwell. Rose and Shirley and I are going to a luau tomorrow evening. We have decided to go disguised as three old ladies somewhere in our sixties.

Rose has gone to a retreat this afternoon somewhere in Illinois. Shirley and I are watching the White Sox beat the Cubs.

Jana and Sandi, the blog is ready for updates and pictures. Today Margaret and Norm were getting the camper to take down to the Valley. Sounds like she's getting around pretty well.

We need updates from everyone!!!!

Mom's boys were never vulgar - just crude funny and/or crude sometimes. They had a lot of unusuual expressions and if you will forward them or post any you remember we'll preserve them in the blog. A couple we still use around here are - when something is VERY green it's green as goose s--t in May or - when something is VERY shiny it's shiny as a diamond in a goat's arse! Sandi had a new one of Bernie's the other day - something difficult as socks on a rooster! Has anyone ever seen any of these three things?? Not me but I can always imagine what they imply.

Scott's boys won't say 'bad' words and can't be coerced into repeating one. Brayden, Sandi and I were watching Shrek 2 the other day and someone in the movie said 'jackass'. I played deaf and said "Brayden, what did he say?' Brayden replied "Granny, I can't tell you". "Why not?" "It's a bad word". "What bad word?" "I can't tell you". "How am I going to find out?" "You say all the bad words you know and when you get to that one I'll tell you to stop". Sandi immediately said "It was jackass". She said to me "I didn't want him to learn any new ones." Do you think I'm known for my foul mouth?

Rose did the last post for me and got some of the days mixed up but she tried and types a lot faster than I do. The ants at our house crawl faster than I can type. I came back from the lake on about the 18th with Margaret and Norman and Rose picked me up at their house. We had to share Sandi for a few days with the Larimores. Rose and I then went over half way to Louisville to pick up Jalen and Brayden. The boys and I then went down to the lake with Doug, Suzanne, Josie, and Lukas.

Some of our Kansas relatives met us there. John, Jana, and Ellie arrived soon after we did and 'a good time was had by all'. They got sorta acquainted with Doug and Suzanne and found they had several things in common. Doug caught a 'mess' of crappie while John rode the waverunner. We're going to have a fish fry on Fourth of July Weekend. The kids swam and played Jalen rode with John til he was tired of riding. The two little boys stayed up later than the men next door who had a guys weekend.

Most of the other crowd had their annual float trip and wiffle ball tournament. Doug and Suzanne were sure they had a better weekend with a comfortable bed and a bathroom. The others wouldn't admit it. Scott first told me there had been no wiffle ball tournament but I found out later that he just didn't want to tell me he had lost.

Goldman took the boys to meet Scott yesterday evening. Sandi left for Portland last night. It is sure quiet around here. When I talked to Scott later and bragged about how good they had been while they were here he said they weren't being so good since they got home. Maybe we were too permissive????

We've got lots of pictures if people will post them.

Wednesday after another eventful stay at the lake. Maddog and I were sitting on the deck Friday afternoon when Ray and Trish came by for a beer and visit. They had just left when a boatload pulled up to the swimdock. Some of the guys were buddies of Scott's and hadn't been there since Kids Week 1995. With Scott's guidance from the cellphone they were able to find us without much trouble.

Maddog went back over to his dad's Sunday to celebrate Father's Day and Chris and Shelly spent the day at the lake. Chris messed with my computer while Shelly alternated between sunbathing and working around the house. He claimed he did a lot to my computer but what Shelly did was much more noticeable to me. Thanks to both of you.

Sandi had spent the weekend with the Abbotts and had gone to Nathan and Nicole's wedding on Saturday night. I've heard it was a gala affair and hope one of our contributors will post pictures and details on this blog. Congratulations to the bride and groom.

Chris and Shelly left Sunday night and Sandi arrived. She and I got up early Monday morning and 'headed for Turnbo'. We stopped in Conway for Maudie. Her sister, Vivian, wouldn't join us though we tried every which way to coerce her. We met Joe, Lisa, Lydia and David in Marshfield at an upscale 'Miss Muzzy's'. Dave was our driver. Lydia is 16 now and has her license but didn't want to drive. Pete, I told her that you taught me to drive when I was 16 and not only did I learn to drive then but I also learned some new words.

Dave took us first to 'drag the gut' i.e. circle the square. Some of the buildings are still standing but some are just empty lots. The Cotton Shoppe is just an empty lot. Did I mispell it right? We then drove around town a bit. The cemetery is very well kept and we lingered here for a bit. The old house in town is pretty pitiful looking and smaller than I recollect.

Now, on to Turnbo Joe had gotten permission from the current owner (Frank Andreatta) for us to go down the lane to where the house used to be. There were horses in pasture there so we had to watch our step. We were watching for snakes anyway so had no trouble. The two silos were still there. The cellar was visible but no one was brave enough to go inside. There was a hole that Joe and Margaret said was the well. When Joe wins the lottery he's going to excavate down there because he's sure there's something worthwhile down there. Joe held my arm and helped me get through all the rubble and brush but warned me that if he saw a snake I was on my own. Dave helped me back to the car and they traipsed around in the brush for another hour. I waited where it was cool and there were no chiggers or ticks.

We got back in the car and David took us to Shockey Ford. Lydia took her shoes off and went wading in the cool water. I'm know the rest of us wanted to. I think we used to swim here as kids. It was such a wonderful day I think we all hated to see it end.

Sandi and I took Maudie back to Conway and had dinner with her and Vivian before we headed back for the lake. We thought Tuesday was going to be a boring day but we convinced Margaret and Norm that a trip to the lake was in order and they hopped in the truck and joined us. Margaret isn't exactly hopping but is walking now and getting around pretty well. Sandi went back down to Conway and got Maudie and we had another wonderful day.

This is the picture I mentioned earlier that Mike M. sent me. Margaret says this is me in the middle, the other girl is Rose and the man is an old boyfriend of mine that we called Cotton. Chris says we look like we may have been dressed up for Mardi Gras. Actually, we were quite in style back then. I think we were in a small town where Uncle Curt and Aunt Virginia lived at the time called Olive. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mike. I do remember that the town was very small. I don't know why it was called Olive and I don't remember why we called the boyfriend 'Cotton'. Maybe it was his hair.

It was a beautiful day at the lake. Chris and Shelly arrived last night and I've had people in and out for two days.

Haven't heard how the wedding went yet but they had perfect weather for an outside ceremony. Sandi will be here tomorrow and it looks like our Turnbo tour is on for Monday. Will update more later.

Two photos of Uncle Curt (Mother's brother) and one of Mike, Curt's son. Thanks for the photos, Mike.

Joe, Lisa, and Lydia met Mike M. over in KC Kansas last Monday at some fancy restaurant (fancy, per Mike) and had a wonderful visit. They had a scuffle over the check and Joe won. Joe, I hope you had Pete's credit card. Mike sent me a picture that was taken in the early 60's that Margaret, Rose and I all claim to be "the pretty one". I'll have Rose post it on this blog to see if anyone else has an opinion on who's who.

Sandi LL got here Wednesday evebing. Rose, Shirley, and I got to keep her just until Thursday morning then Shirley had to go to Chicago. Rose had clients and a webcam class. Maddog and I came back down to the lake. SO the Abbotts get her for a few days. She's going to stay with them and go to Nathan and Nicole's wedding on Saturday and then come down here to the lake to spend some time with me. Two weeks just isn't enough time for all the time we want with her. Maudie is in Conway with her sister Vivian. She wasn't feeling very well yesterday but I haven't heard today.

One thing that Sandi and I had wanted to do while she's here was go to Marshfield and do the Turnbo tour with Joe. Joe's sister-in-law, Louise, is in the hospital in Springfield and is very ill. An email from Joe this morning said she's 'holding her own' but if you can't do the tour this year we'll understand and give you a raincheck.

A raincheck is certainly in order. We had a downpour and thunderstorm this morning and it's still raining this afternoon. Maddog and I had a wonderful dinner at my favorite restaurant last night. It's Brayden's favorite restaurant. We were going out for dinner New Year's Eve and this is where he wanted to come. He didn't know and didn't care it was 170 miles away. Maddog had to pick his dad up in Jeff City from a hospice where he's been adapting to his second prosthesis. His dad lives down here.

Chris and Shelly are coming down tonight. I hope the weather clears up so we can enjoy some sunshine. Donald, I've been watching for you at the US Open. Did you have a red shirt on?

It's Sunday and a beautiful day at the lake. Goldman and I got here on Thursday and have spent as much time as possible just lazing on the deck. We did spend quite a bit of time on Friday working on his book. He's writing and I'm editing. He spent a lot of time yesterday waximg and shining up the Acura. Maddog got here yesterday evening just in time to have dinner with us. He had been to his grandmother's 93rd birthday party in St. Louis. I regret that I didn't have a camera. He looked spiffy. The weather has been beautiful except for some occasional thunderstorms. We have to go home for a few days tomorrow and really hate to leave.

Pete called with his Saturday morning call yesterday. He said it was cold in Idaho and some of the freeways had been closed because of the blowing winds. He said the farmers are really suffering with the weather of gas and the weather. Pete, we bought Idaho Russet potatoes and tipped the boy a quarter as you've always advised us to do when we grocery shopped.

Donald called on Friday. They had a wonderful trip to Italy. His favorite part of Italy was Venice but he would like to go back when the roads were't flooded. They had an audience with the pope. I think he said there were only 30,000 other people there at the blessing. He's going to California in a couple weeks to see the US Open. I told him I'd watch for him on TV.

Joe is wondering if any of you remember the name(s) of Granddad's sister(s) who 1. was a Penecostal preacher 2. didn't trust banks and kept her money in her purse and 3. raised billy goats. He hopes to be having lunch with Mike Madden and is going to ask Mike if Uncle Curt wouldn't let the Aunt keep the goats on his property because the property wasn't fenced for goats. Pete says goats can climb and have to have special fencing. I want to know why a person would keep goats AND how big was that purse.

Sandi will be here on Wednesday and I'm so looking forward to her visit.

I have such great neighbors here at the lake. They came over this morning with a huge pot, big bag of potting soil and plants that they planted for me. Friday they brought me a bottle of wine they want me to try. I can't do much in return but my boys are helpful over there when needed. I'm the only original owner in the subdivision.

Schools out! Today was Goldman's last day of school, and he and I will head down to the lake first thing in the morning. He's going to work on his book and I'm going to edit his book. He and I are going to spend as much time as possible at the lake this summer. I look forward to lots of sunshine,lots of company, and lots of editing.

Pete didn't get a rhubarb pie for their anniversary but he got a lemon cake like the one Janet made me at Sabrina's for my 60th birthday. She said he ate most of it himself. I'm jealous. Pete, I remember I had to share.

Sandi arrives from Portland next Wednesday night at 8:30. Rose and I will be at the airport to pick her up. She will be here until the 23rd, but already I don't think that's long enough. Tentatively, I thought she and I might go down to the lake on Thursday for a couple days. Then on Saturday the 14th Nathan, Stephanie and Dan's son, and Nicole are getting married at the Schmitt house, and the Abbott clan is planning on her being there. From then I'll just wait and see what happens. Sandi wants to visit her Larimore relatives in Conway, MO. She has a friend in Ozark she wants to see. I would like it if we could get together with brother Joe and do the Turnbo tour one day. I will try not to monopolize her company. Maudie is going to be down in the Conway area some of the time, but she won't have time to come to St. Louis. We'll miss you, Maudie.

Last Friday the GMAC office in St. Louis closed its doors. My friend Liz had to transfer to an office in Chicago or loose her 28 years seniority. GMAC and I go back a long way. From Spokane to St. Louis. Found my first husband at GMAC. Worked at three different locations in the St. Louis branch.

I talked to Joe on IM (instant messaging) yesterday, and he told me that he and Lisa and Lydia and maybe Dave are having lunch with Mike Madden near Kansas City. Lisa sees an eye doctor in Kansas City and Joe goes with her. Their lunch may have been today. I'll update that later.

Margaret said she got rid of her hospital bed on Monday, and it was good riddance. She said it was pukey ugly. She wasn't sure how to spell it - puky or pukey - but said it was ugly.

Rose and another colleague are teaching an online/webcam class this term. This will be the third one they've taught, and each one gets more sign-ups. They had some technical difficulties at first but seem to have gotten all the kinks ironed out. I took the first two and I'm sure I was the teacher's pet though I didn't deserve to be.

Sue received the following e-mail, and we thought it worth posting:


From: JO from MO
To: MarthaBoaz
Sent: 5/28/2008 2:15:57 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Decoration Day


Yes, we made the tour, Welch, Marshfield, Turnbo creek (two locations) and returned via Fordland Cemetery.
(Miss Mussy's was substituted for Danzies ( something like that) on spur to Hwy. 44.)
Dave was out driver, Lisa, Beth, Lydia (land Pepper) were the passengers.

Have fun with the boy and also have a safe trip to-from meeting Scott.

Bro Joe

-------------

Well, not many folk know it is called "Decoration Day" anymore. And Miss Mussy's is really "Miss Muzzy's", a favorite haunt when we were kids. Buy why do they call it the "spur?"

I'll try to catch some of the happenings that I've missed here lately (as we say down home). First, today is Pete and Janet's 51st wedding anniversary! Congratulations on the occasion. Pete got her flowers. It took him 51 years to get romantic. Janet was going to bake him a rhubarb pie. They were going out to dinner with the kids and grandkids this evening except for Kelly who lives too far away. Have a wonderful time.

Last Sunday (May 25) was Sabrina and Shirley's birthdays. Neither wanted me to post their age so I am obliging. Just say they're both over 21.

Margaret went back to the doctor last week because she was having some swelling and pain in her broken ankle area. The physical therapist sent her. The doctor sent her for some more tests (an ultrasound) because he was afraid there was a blood clot forming. The tests didn't show a blood clot so he put her on some antibiotics and sent her home. She is still having a lot of pain but the swelling is some better. The surgeon will see her again next week. She is scheduled for physical therapy again on Tuesday.

We had the boys until Thursday when we met Scott at the 130 mile marker over in Illinois to drop them off. They kept us busy. We had 4 kids at the lake this weekend (Jalen, Brayden, Lukas, and Josie). Except for Josie I think none of them could remember to shut the door when they went in or out. This included some of the big kids. I don't know how many times I yelled "Shut the door" or "Dry your feet". Doug is thinking about putting a screen door with a spring that shuts the door by itself to save my voice,.

Goldman is out of school on Wednesday, the 4th until the 11th. He and I will head down to the lake as soon as he gets out is finished next Wednesday. Sandi will arrive from Portland on the 11th and there's lots of things she wants to do. Maudie is coming too but hasn't firmed up her plans yet.

Joe and his kids made the rounds on Memorial Day. Muzzy's was closed so they couldn't have lunch there. I'll have Rose post his email.

Here are some photos, and, as you can well see, they are in no particular order. [My camera and my computer think for themselves, and none too well.] Some are of Jalen and Brayden (those up in the air), one is of Yvonne (Shirley's niece) and her baby Savannah, Mark and Karen, and another is of Shirley and her sister Loretta on the beach in Panama City Beach.

Yesterday Sue and I took Jalen and Brayden to a mall where they had this great trampoline. We watched some Big Kids for a while who did nothing but bounce up and down. Soon our boys wanted to try it. Brayden went first--after considerable negotiations with his brother. He immediately began doing flips, some single, some double. Soon Jalen was suited up on the second apparatus, and he too started showing us some stuff. Several people gathered around to watch. As you can see, I think, both boys were high in the air but well strapped for safety and maximum showing off. Sue and I had the most fun, however.

It's been a while since my last update but we've had some very nice entries meanwhile. Right now Brayden and Jalen are here with us so I may have to make this a two part update.

Last weekend (the 17th) was Erica's (Marge and Norm's granddaughter) graduation party. Margaret was able to go for a while. Goldman took me to the lake for the annual property owner's association meeting and we stopped by the Abbotts on the way home on Sunday. Though the party was on Saturday Margaret was still glowing on Sunday. She and Norman are both so proud of her, rightfully so. Sandi, Norman's garden looked really good. I don't know much about gardens except what he tells me now and feeds me later in the season. We ordered a Domino's pizza which didn't compare with some of Margaret's homecooking.

This was the first big weekend at the lake. Suzanne, Lukas, Josie and I left as soon as Lukas got out of school on Friday. Doug and Goldman left as soon as Goldman got out of school. Scott and the boys had a much longer drive and were last to arrive. They got there around 11, I think. Maddog was there and had things ready and waiting for us.

Saturday morning arrived and so did rain. Doug went to Jeff City and bought a tarp cover that fits over the big outside table. As soon as the guys got it set up, the rain stopped! The weather was fairly nice until Sunday night when we had a torrential rainfall. The new tarp collapsed. The neighbor's waverunner was tied to an anchor and came loose and ended up in the middle of the lake. Maddog and the neighbor got on our waverunner and rescued it. Doug wasn't sure what he could do with fixing the tarp. We all slept through the rain and wind no one heard the tarp fall.

The 4 kids played, swam in the lake, swam in the pool, played video games, fished and watched cartoons. Some of them rode the waverunner and the spinner behind it and would have ridden more if the old guys would have gone with them. Doug cleaned a mess of crappie. I've been there over 20 years and have never known the Conservation Agency to come around but they pulled their boat up to our dock, checked Doug's fishing license and measured his fish. He was legal but we were on the deck wondering when we saw them stop if his fish were the right length.

More later.

Hi Family!! It's your long lost relative from the North checking in. It has been xxxx amount of months since my last entry and I have a long list of events to try to detail for you. We have been keeping ourselves busy and now with the spring upon us that is taking me more and more outside. Well, in the winter it was skiing on great snowy days and hiking in the Columbia River Gorge on nicer days, I guess now it's staying home and getting my chores done! I still try to compete with Uncle Norman on getting my vegetable garden going, (btw - he's not competing with me - I am so impressed by his green thumb that I'm just trying to keep up!!)

I worked outside yesterday from 8 a.m. until 4:22, ( yes, I looked at the clock when I got back in the house!) and was one tired gardener! Last year I skipped putting in a garden and even though I rototilled it last fall the crab grass took over! I had even rototilled in my strawberry patch and was expecting to have to replant new berry plants, but - to my surprise - this spring produced a new crop of strawberries intertwined in a thriving crop of crab grass!! I had to surgically remove the crab grass runners from the strawberry plants' roots, re-till and re-plant the strawberries!! Goodness what a chore. It's beautiful now with over 60 everbearing strawberry plants that are starting to set on. My friend Marilyn who is an avid gardener came over to help for a couple of hours. It was nice to have the company and made the time go by quicker.

Glenn called and dropped in just as I was putting dinner on the barbie! It was so nice to have someone to share dinner in the backyard with. We had grilled tuna and veggies and a big salad and sat on the patio enjoying the evening. It wasn't 15 minutes after he left that a beautiful and impressive thunderstorm hit at sunset. I made a cup of decaf in the french press and sat on the front porch watching the light show. It was a great end to a great day!

We are all waiting to hear how Mom's trip to Alaska went. The timing of her departure corresponded with Mother's Day. She and a friend from church drove over from Spokane to Seattle (about 5 hours drive) on Saturday before Mother's Day and so Cyndi, Kyle, Jake, Tammy, and I drove up to spend the day with her at Doug and Cecile's home north of Seattle. Doug has been their chauffeur first to catch the train in Edmonds (also north of Seattle), where they caught the train on Monday the 12th to Victoria, BC. He will pick them up tonight at Sea-Tac airport at 8:30. We can't wait to hear how marvelous Mom's adventure was!! They caught the ship in Victoria and headed north to Alaska! They had several jaunts to take on the way and their last leg was across land to catch a flight home from either Juno or Fairbanks. I don't remember exactly, but we'll get the scoop when we hear from her. I think they will make the drive back to Spokane on Memorial Day. I don't think any of us have talked to Mom since she left two weeks ago. We were afraid of the expense to call her cell phone while she was in Canada, so we all just left her alone. (Do you think she planned it that way? Hmmm...the trouble some people need to go to in order to have some peace and quiet!! Honestly! LOL)

I don't think I can catch you all up on the last few months since I wrote, so I'll just highlight some of the things that I remember:

• January - Glenn's birthday - Monica (Peggy's youngest) moved in with me.
• February - Kyle Langston turned 18! Kaye-Kaye's birthday. Nate (Kaye's oldest) and his wife Danielle celebrated their 3rd(?) wedding anniversary. Monica went snowboarding for the first time!
• March - Tammy and Cyndi both celebrated their birthdays. Kyle and Jake came down for a snowboarding trip to Mt. Hood. We joined some friends there and had a blast night skiing. Ski Bowl is the largest night skiing resort ever invented, (like in the world or something, really!). The snow was great! Tyson called me from Florida while I was on the chair lift. It was perfect that I could get cell phone reception up there. He was so jealous of the great snow and playful time on the mountain! I hope he plans to come home soon. I told him the mountain missed him.
• April - Cecile's and Dave's birthdays. The Langstons came down for a ski trip for Dave's birthday (Cyndi's husband), but the weather turned and so we hiked instead. We pulled together a birthday party in the backyard. The weather was so nice we barbequed and played bocci ball! What a contrast to just two weeks before when we were skiing!! That's the NW for you. We had Doug and Cecile down too for part of their spring break vacation time. (Cecile teaches high school French in Everett, WA). They hadn't kept up with American Idol so we had to play the past episodes to get them up to speed. Congrats on David Cook from MO being the winner!!
• May - Anna's birthday. Kyle Lanston's Eagle Scout Court of Honor in Olympia. Mom, Anna and Dan made a whirlwind trip of the event. Glenn and Matt, (Steve's youngest) and I all traversed up from Portland. Tammy and Dick were in Whistler, Canada and jumped in the car that morning to make it by the 3:00 event time. Doug and Cecile made it down from Bothell, (their home north of Seattle). The event took place at Camp Thunderbird, the Boy
  Scout camp where Kyle was a camp counselor for three summers. The event was attended by some dignitaries like the Mayor of Lacey, the Port of Olympia Commissioner, the City Manager of Yakima lots of friends and family about 100 or so attendees. (download the pics with this link: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/kS9Zk3fA ) Kyle and his friend Mike shared the event. They were in the same troop for many years and helped each other along the way. Dave, (Kyle's Dad) was honored by both of the boys with a Mentor pin for being a help and an inspiration to them both as they were growing up in Scounting. Kyle's Eagle project was to plan a restoration of Woodland Creek and the rebuilding of a footbridge on the property of St. Martin's Abbey. Kyle coordinated with, the Port of Olympia, the Abbey and St. Martin's University to fund, design, and restore the property. Very impressive!!
• June - lots of birthdays!! Steve's three boys, Dad's anniversary and his 80th birthday! Tammy's (masters) and Kyle's (high school) graduation! Mom and I will travel to Missouri!! (More to come later on this. )

We are so looking forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks! I will try to post some pics when I next update. Welcome home Auntie M! We are so glad to see you on the mend. Hope all are well and we are keeping you in our prayers!!

Much love,

The 2Ls

Just a quick update from Kansas....

Tricia Felin's graduation was this last weekend. I'm so proud she graduated from my Alma Mater - Kansas State University!!! The ceremony was at 830am and it was indeed an early morning. We had a reception afterwards and then Tricia and her boyfriend Walter had to take naps while everyone headed back home. Here are some pictures of the day - Ryan and Ellie were looking so cute!
Tricia is going to stay in Manhattan for the summer and stay at my friend's house while she is away for work. Her Bachelor's degree is in Kinesiology and she is going to apply for nursing schools around the area and then move wherever she gets accepted. Her boyfriend, Walter works in Wichita so he is of course hoping that she moves closer to him.
We are headed to help her move this weekend and get settled in. She will continue to work at Meadowlark Retirement Home in Manhattan until she gets accepted to a new school. I don't think I could go to as much school as what she has planned. We are all so very proud of her.

Brother Joe sent me this very interesting e-mail:

"Sally Jackson, Cedar Vale, KS, who attended the family reunion last year at Sue's Lake house came by Monday. She said to tell everyone "Hello". She had visited over the weekend with Aunt Virginia MADDEN, (Widow of Curt MADDEN and mother of Mike, Brian and Sean MADDEN) Sally also visited with one of Sally's sons, in Ozark. Sally has been researching her family trees for several years and is no doubt the most knowledgeable person on the MADDEN lineage. Her side of the MADDEN clan is from Denzil, one of about nine of granddad Harve's siblings. Like other researchers, she seems to be baffled by the conflicting and sometimes non-existing information available. She takes lots of pictures and stresses the fact some small item may someday unlock the mystery! She eagerly listened to the input from Sean!

We first went to Eastlawn Cemetery, in Springfield, MO where a Josephine MADDEN BEYER is buried. Our grandfather David Harve MADDEN had a sister named Josephine, but we have doubts this is the one?
because - Granddad Harve's death certificate gives his date of birth as 4-10-1878, Birthplace Missouri.
- Josephine's death certificate gives her date of birth as Oct. 28, 1877 , Birthplace, Ollany, (sic) IL
father and mothers names unknown.
- Josephine's records, from the funeral home, show her birthplace as Olney, IL.
Mother Ellen MADDEN, b IL father MADDEN. b IL and little other information. It shows three
daughters and one son. He is buried in this plot with a military tombstone
NOTE: The military method and the generally accepted genealogy method of dating is date- month, usually
abbreviated to three letters, and year (four letters) e,g, 28 Oct 1877

We next visited Greenlawn North Cemetery, in Springfield, MO where Curt MADDEN, Carrie MADDEN SMITH, (granddads baby sister, we think) Also next to Carrie is her (and Granddad's) nephew, Vernon (no tombstone on Vernon's grave) are all buried. The two burial plots are a good distance apart.
Next stop, Fair Grove, MO and the remains of the Fair Grove canning factory, where Mom and Dad met. Sean (Monday evening) said he himself remembered when the building burned and he pedaled on his bike to watch the fire department work. Sean also said his dad told of their stopping by the factory and warming their hands, en route to school. On to the "Knob" the hill farm about 1/2 mile south where Sean later told us his Dad, Curt was born. Mom told stories of her and Aunt Mit playing there. Uncle Kent one time mentioned a field where his dad had raised corn, now overgrown with timber. Kent also mentioned a neighbor telling about watching Civil War troops marching by (toward or from?) Springfield.

We continued on the outskirts of Fair Grove where the Cedar Bluff Cemetery is located and our mom's brother Kenneth MADDEN and wife Paula are buried.

Next we drove by the farm northwest of Fair Grove where Granddad farmed for many years and was living there when our grandmother Maggie passed away. The concrete silo is gone but the huge barn is still standing and looks to be in good repair. The house has been replaced. Sally remembered visiting here when she was very small. She and Rose Felin-Holt were both born in l942

Next stop, Marshfield, MO cemetery where our Mom and Dad and other family members are buried. Our dad reportedly purchased this lot with his WWI bonus. Our late brother Bernie once mentioned our Granddad LAFOE was in charge of building the rock fence at the entrance.We also drove by the house granddad Harve was living in at the time of his death. Sally also remembered visiting with him at this residence.

On to the Fordlalnd, MO Cemetery where Granddad Harve and Grandmother MAGGIE plus our Aunt Mildred MADDEN LONG are buried. Also several of our grandmother's family in an adjacent plot. These grandparents were married in Fordland, MO, in 1903.

The day concluded with dinner with Sean MADDEN. He added a good bit of family history including a trip his dad told him about when Kent and Curt went to Kansas City by train, when small boys, and visited with an aunt and uncle.We speculate this was Aunt Lilly and Uncle Nick ANGELOS. Sean said his mom's home, in Springfield, is only a few blocks from a relative his dad told him about and Sean had forgotten the details.
I have since e-mailed Sean the address, (one block east and one block north of his mom's house.) Walt and Molly MILLER were there names and Molly was Grandmother MADDEN's sister. This is where Sue quickly inspected Uncle Walter's gall stones she was holding in her hands, circa 1950, as she reported in an earlier entry into the blog.

With the information on the KELLEY-KELLY-MADDEN feud, which was news to Sally, maybe this small bit of information, at the right time and place, with the right researcher, will be the key. Thanks to Wanda aka Cuz, Pete and Sean for providing this and other information.

In closing, some of the items genealogy researchers stress include 1) No item is too small to mention 2) The youngest living member of a family is the best source of information 3) Daughters usually keep more abreast of these items. "

Thank you, Joe. We truly appreciate the work you are doing on the family geneology. And I will never forget Uncle Walter--or at least his gall stones!

Lots of updates this week. Donald called yesterday. He and Vita had been in Plattsburg last weekend for a grandsons' First Communion. He's afraid some of his grandsons are taking to religion and religion school like my boys did. That is - reluctantly. When Scott and Chris used to go to Uncle Pete's in the summer one would always ask before they left "Do they go to church?"

Donald had recently been back to Puerto Rico but every place that was there when he was stationed there had either fallen down or was condemned. He said most of the places should have been condemned back then. He and Vita leave tomorrow (I think) for Italy. They're going to visit some of Vita's ancestral sites. Donald or Vita, we would like some pictures when you get back.

Tomorrow is also Tricia Felin (Bob's grandaughter and Bobby's daughter)'s graduation from Kansas State. I'm not sure what her plans are from there but I hope to learn more soon. Her sister Jana has promised to update the blog about the occasion and to post pictures.

I'm trying to get in touch with Bob's daughter, Debbie, to set up a weekend get together at the lake. Debby, my phone here is 314-452-3685 and at the lake is 573-365-2106. I've been trying your number with no luck.

Sandi LL, we still don't have an update on your mom's travels. Someone else in Washington couldfill us in. Kay-Kay, we never hear much from Arizona.

Goldman and I are leaving for the lake as soon as he gets out of school today. Maddog is there already. He's finishing staining the deck. Hopefully, we'll have nice weather. We're going to stop by Marge and Norm's on the way home Sunday. Their grandaughter Erica's graduation party is tomorrow night but Margaret can't make it so maybe a visit from me and Goldman will cheer her up.

That was me making the entry yesterday - unless people think Rose has two secret children she talked with on Mather's Day.

I had an email from Mike with Aunt Virginia's mailing address.

Virginia Madden
Butterfield Residential Care
Room D104
Bolivar, MO 65613
Phone 417-777-8327

Hr said again she loves company and mail.

His daughter, Lauren, is 19 and graduated early from high school and is currently a sophmore at a local college. She is interested in food science and wants to be a winemaker. She plans to attend UC Davis where the Mondavi Oenology school is. Which came first, Mike, her ambition or the vineyard?

Haven't had any ants crawling across my computer yet. They may be still sleeping.

Got home safely Sunday in time to hear from both of my sons for Mothers' Day. Goldman had to be home early to go to his sisters' house for a family celebration of the event. Weather at the lake wasn't too good but I just enjoyed looking at the guys' handiwork. Leslie did most of the cooking and we've added a new item to our menu - Pulled Pork. Goldman usually makes his grandmother's brisket so Suzanne inquired if this was a Jewish recipe!

Mike Madden sent this update on Aunt Virginia. She is in an assisted living facility in Bolivar. He says she has a nice apartment and good food. Her phone number is 417-777-8327. She enjoys visitors and phone calls. She has written down lots of geneology info and shared much of it with Joe. Mike and Sean took her to Mike's vinyard for Mother's Day. She probably watched them work.

Goldman and I are going to the lake again this weekend. Maddog is there finishing the staining on the deck. We'll get ready for the Memorial Day weekend coming up early this year.

I talked to Margaret this morning. She is ready to start therapy. They got the lift fix on the back deck so it's much easier for her to get in and out of the house.

Sandi FeLLin will arrive on the 12th of next month and stay until the 23rd. We haven't made any definite plans yet on what we'll be doing. I know she wants to visit her Larimore relatives, too. Sandi, update the blog on your mother's travels. She's cruising somewhere along the coast of Alaska right now.

Just a couple more things I wanted to add. Mike Madden sent me a website for the Marshfield Mail. There may be some more Greenwood items to be found here. The website is www.zwire.com/site/tab4.cfm?brd=2841

Goldman and I are going down to the lake as soon as he gets out of school today. Leslie and that King boy are meeting us there and Leslie plans to do all the cooking. I think Maddog is already there. Sam aka that King boy loves to fish so I hope the fish are biting. Goldman has never met Sam though he's met Leslie on several occasions as has Maddog. We're all leaving early Sunday morning for various Mother's Day celebrations. Chris and Shelly are having a brunch for the occasion.

I'm eager to see again all the work the guys have done down there. I've only been for part of one day since they finished.