Garage Sale Week - 2016

It was a busy, busy week!!!  I went to water aerobics, Bible Study and worked at the office at church on Monday for 1/2 a day.

It was the Fall City-Wide Garage Sale week, so Debbie Sieger and I worked on Wednesday and Thursday to get her garages ready for the big sale!!!!!

Late Thursday morning, I drove to Overland Park - did a little shopping - and picked up both kiddos at their respective schools before the 3 of went back to their house to see their Momma after she had just arrived home from a short work trip to California.  Hugs all around before we took Amanda to a restaurant/bar for Chad's happy hour going away party from Sprint.  Peyton, Garrison and I then went to Burger King (their choice) for fine dining and play for dinner.

After we got back to their house, Peyton and I worked on her spelling words for the test on Friday while Garrison played with his building blocks - then they had their showers and were ready for bed when Amanda and Chad arrived back home.  I came back to Clinton that night so I would be ready for the first day of our sale on Friday.

We had a lot of customers on Friday and sold a lot of merchandise/treasures!!!!  It was so hot and humid - heat index in the upper 90's which made it miserable, but we made it - swollen hands and feet aside.

At 3 p.m., Ron and I drove to Belton to meet Chad and Garrison for the exchange of Garrison to spend the weekend with us!!!!  He was excited about being in Clinton by himself and getting to sell lemonade and cookies at the garage sale on Saturday.  We ate dinner at Freddy's then drove home.  He slept with me (of course) and was so cute!!!!  He snuggled up to me several times during the night which was just precious.  When they both sleep with me, his Sissy sleeps in the middle next to me, so it was something new for him.

I got up early Saturday morning to take the signs to post for the sale.  Ron brought Garrison, the lemonade stand and Garrison a little before 8 a.m. and left him there to begin his sales while he went to Methodist Men Breakfast at Golden Corral.  Sales were a bit slow at first, but they picked up throughout the day.  Ron came back around 9 a.m., but Garrison wanted to stay "and make more money, Grammy".  He visited with Debbie and the customers, petted Sara Sue, visited with Maysie (the big dog in the pen) and had a blast.  He was sooooooo cute.  I offered several times throughout the day for him to go home with Grandpa to play, but he wanted to stay, and stayed until the bitter end - even through clean up!!!!  He had such  good time and made $35!!!!  People were very sweet to him and generous.  We saved Peyton cookies and lemonade, per her request.  I think she had fun being an only child with her parents, shopping for and buying a new SUV for Mom!!!!

After an hour or so of playing and cleaning up, the 3 of us went to Davis R-12 School for their fried chicken dinner fundraiser.  Garrison thought it was cool that Grandpa went to school there and liked his graduation picture on the wall of the school.  We had a good evening - he took a shower and got ready for bed - and went to sleep very quickly, again sleeping with me and enjoying every minute of having all the attention!!!!

Sunday morning we all went to church.  Garrison was good and had fun at the dedication of the "Ark" play area which was new at our church in the yard.  We met the rest of the Todds at Dickey's BBQ for lunch since we were taking Garrison home and enjoyed a ride in Amanda's new midnight blue Audi Q5 - it was a smooth ride and very pretty.

Sunday evening we met with our Supper Club and had an enjoyable time at Pizza Glen for dinner and then at the Wallaces for ice cream and cookies.  A fun time visiting with old friends.

Lots of wonderful family memories this week!!!!  We are blessed.

Week of September 12-18, 2016

Another fun and busy week.  On a sad note, September 15 would have been Daddy's 88th birthday - miss you every day Daddy and hope you and Mom are having a wonderful Fall in Heaven.

On Tuesday, I went to lunch with my "old" Beta Sigma Phi Sorority girls at Applebee's.  Lots of laughs and good food.  Before lunch, I went back to water aerobics for the first time in 3 months and did fine - knee held up well.

On Thursday, I again went to water aerobics and then to Lincoln with Debbie Sieger to restock her booth at an antique mall, followed by pumpkin shopping and lunch at Donna's Drive In.  Gotta love a tenderloin and onion rings in the middle of the week!  Ron played golf with a customer - hot day, but he had a good time.

Congratulations to Chad who has accepted a new job with Cargil as a financial analyst.  We are very proud of him - he starts September 30 - last day with Sprint September 22.

On Friday, Debbie Sieger and I went to Appleton City for their city-wide garage sales and had a great time - we came home with some new treasures.  At 3 p.m., Ron and I headed to Overland Park.  We met Amanda/family at The Blue Moose for a quick dinner before we all went to the Blue Valley Northwest Football where Peyton was doing her Junior Cheerleading.  We were so proud of her and happy to be there to share in the experience with her and the family.  Garrison had a great time at the game too.  Ron and I went back to the Todds' house after halftime, but the Todds stayed for the whole game, then Peyton brought Claire (a friend) home with her for a sleepover - too fun.

Saturday morning Amanda bought us all donuts before Claire went home.  Amanda and I took Peyton to Tini Tainers Dance Class and then we went to Kohl's to shop with our 30% off coupon!!!  We all went to Garrison's soccer match and then to lunch at Coach's  A fun day.

On Sunday after church, we went on a boat ride and out to lunch with our friends, Roger and Virgie Cook.  Had a fun time - peaceful on the lake.  Amanda, Chad, Peyton and Garrison went to a Todd family wedding Saturday night and to the Royals game on Sunday.  A busy weekend with lots of family memories.  We are blessed.

Middle of September 2016

Wednesday, September 7, I drove to OP and picked up the kids from school.  Peyton was excited to be picked up as a walker, and Garrison was happy to be picked up early!  They chose to go to Burger King for dinner (big surprise) where they played on the play equipment inside and ate Junior Whopper dinners and caramel and chocolate sundaes!  We didn't get to stay as long as we usually do because Peyton needed to get home for Amanda to take her to church to her Family Formation Meeting.  Garrison took a shower while they were gone - she took hers when she got home, then it was time for bed.  Peyton came to bed with me during the night when she heard storms - poor little girl is terrified of thunderstorms!  I was glad to have the company.  The reason I stayed all night was that Amanda and Chad both had commitments before 7 a.m., so Grammy got to take Garrison to school much later than he usually goes.  The plan was to take Peyton too, but she decided at the last minute to have Mom take her to Y-Care so she could play with her friends before school.  On Thursday, I did some shopping and some things around the Todds until Garrison had eaten his lunch at school - then I picked him up to come back to Clinton with me for the night!  We had a blast driving home together.  I heard numerous stories about dinosaurs, about humans being on one side of coins and eagles being on the other side sometimes, and so on.  When we arrived in Clinton, he helped me bake a cake for Grandpa to take to the bank the next day - especially with the sprinkles.  He had a TV dinner of chicken and noodles, applesauce and strawberries and loved it.

I had told Garrison that I had to go to P.E.O. Thursday night (the reason we came back to Clinton) because I was the president, and he and Grandpa would be hanging out together while I was gone.  When Ron got home from work, Garrison ran to the back door and said, "Grandpa, Grammy has to go to P.E.O. because she is the Mayor".  Too funny.  They had a great time while I was gone, and he was sound asleep in our bed when I got home.  He was happy to get to sleep with me by himself.  He hasn't had many opportunities to be home with us and enjoyed being an "only" grandchild for a day!

Garrison and I headed back to OP Friday morning.  I dropped him off at school, and then Amanda and I had a mother/daughter shopping and lunch day.  We went to Olive Garden for lunch - a belated birthday present to me from Amanda - which was yummy and fun.  We shopped for a while, then we went to Cottonwood Point Elementary to count and enter into the computer the donations for the upcoming Fun Run Fundraiser.  It was nice to meet some of Amanda's mom friends and to pick up Peyton early at school.  We then picked up Garrison.  Amanda took Peyton to Tiny Tainers Dance, and brought home Taco Bell for our dinner afterwards.  Peyton started out sleeping with me, as it was already thundering when we went to bed.

Chad drove to Clinton after work on Friday and met Ron at the CHS Football game - they won!  They played together in the Boy Scout Golf Tournament on Saturday, where Chad bought Peyton as a surprise a Whit Merryfield Jersey (her favorite Royals player) in a silent auction - autographed!  She will be thrilled.

Saturday morning, we divided and conquered again.  Amanda took Peyton to a cheerleading clinic at Cottonwood Point.  I took Garrison to soccer and had fun being his "parent" for the day, being out on the field with him during practice time.  He was such a good boy.  Amanda and Peyton arrived at the soccer field before the match started, and we all had a good time in the beautiful, cool weather.  We went to McDonald's - Garrison's choice - for a quick lunch before I drove back to Clinton.

Ron and I went to the wedding of Andy Cummings and Breanne Brunick at the Methodist Church with the reception at the Benson Center and had a good time sitting with friends, Debbie and Dennis Sieger.

On Sunday, we went to church - I played the gathering music - then we went to the Windsor Christian Church where our friend, David Mills, preaches, for their fish fry fundraiser.  We saw several former church family members fron the Clinton Christian Church there and enjoyed visiting.  Sunday afternoon was rest time!!!

It was a memorable, blessed week.

43rd Anniversary and Labor Day Weekend 2016

We celebrated our 43rd Wedding Anniversary this year with lunch out at ElCamino Real - one of our favorites.  The rest of the day was uneventful, however, we feel blessed to have had 43 years together and still going strong.

On Saturday, we drove to The Lake of the Ozarks to Blue Anchor Bay to visit Mark and Mary - celebrating summer birthdays and both of our anniversaries - theirs was 38 years this year on August 26.  It was a beautiful day for a drive, and we had a great time spending the day with them munching on delicious snacks of spinach dip - Mary always make me my favorite (thanks) - Mark's favorite cheese ball with dried beef which was yummy too, veggies, etc.  Then we had a delicious lunch of lasagna, fresh fruit salad, jalapeño not bread and blackberry cobbler and ice cream - yummo.  The guys took and nap while Mary and I continued visiting, then after more fellowship, we drove home.

On Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we went to church followed by a trip to Kauffman Stadium in KC for the KC Royals vs. Detroit Lions baseball game with Dennis and Debbie Sieger.  The game was a lot of fun, even though the Royals were not winners.  After the game, we went to Hyvee for bargains and then to Freddy's in Belton for supper before coming home.

Amanda took Peyton and Garrison to the KC Zoo on Sunday - a couple of pictures of them enjoying the day with super heroes!!!!

A great week - we are blessed!