Another night with the girlz......

It's not all fun and games at Grandma's. Last week Hailie, Brandie, Grace, and Emily got as dressed up as they could for the cold weather and helped to shovel Aunt Jamie's driveway. They didn't like it at first but then they found out it wasn't so bad. Especially since they got to play on a huge snow mountain across the street. (And fall off of, and get covered in snow from.) Of course that called for some Swiss Miss cocoa at home and some sizzlin' karaoke to keep things warmed up. HMMM, from this picture it looks like Em is doing all the work! Really, there was so much hardened snow and ice chunks, we had to take a hoe to it. The girls did not know what a real hoe was, I am not kidding! And Fritz had to go and shovel some more the next day because not even the energy of four young girls harnessed to shovels could remove all the snow.

She's HOW old?

Here is Hailie at her 14th birthday party. Sure seems unbelievable to me that she is already 14! I remember when she didn't even know how to open a present, and now she is taking gift cards to the mall and doing her own shopping! As you can see, she is a lovely young lady who does very well in school and who has a fun, affectionate, and sweet personality. Well, most of the time anyway, you can't expect a teen to keep an even keel all the time! Also in the pictures, her cousin Ashley Veen, who is a real cousin to Hailie, from the Veen side, granddaughter of Rita and the late John Veen. The cute redhead is Molly, who has more energy than that roadrunner on that one cartoon where the wolf always tries to catch him...you know the one....don't make me dig in my memory...anyway, it was a nice party with both sides of Hailie's family there to wish her well and celebrate another year!

Chantze's 12th Present Receiving Day

Notice the birthday cake is a pie (cheesecake, to be exact!) and there are 12 candles on it! The preferred activity for this party was to watch Chantze play his new video game, and to try to pry his white-knuckled death grip hands from the controller. In the picture, you can see Hailie, Emily, Grace, Fisher, and Hunter's hair, but only Chantze's shoulder. Elia was somewhere scrambling around on the bed, too. It was another snowy night, but another fine party, and this is one more chance to wish Chantze a very good year, and many more from his bizarro Grandma Vee.

Laura's Birthday Shots

Here are a couple shots of Laura I really like. It was her birthday, and Jamie, Val, and I took her out to a place with live music. Little sister Jamie made sure the shots were flowing, and Laura was glowing! It was very enjoyable, especially because I was the designated driver and didn't have to drink any nasty Yagerbombs, or however you spell them. Anyway, Laura doesn't look her age, which I always forget how old she is, because to me she is ageless.

By the way, be looking for more birthday shots as there have been several the past two months, I am a little behind in posting. Okay, I'm a big behind. You get the picture.

A New Beginning and an Unexpected Loss

From left to right:
Walter Larson and wife Katie
Jim Larson and new wife Joanne
Ethel Horton, my Grandma

I am sure many of you will be surprised at how young my Mom was when she married Jim. I was 18 and living in California, so I was not able to attend the wedding and reception. It was the last family event my Grandma Horton attended. She wasn't feeling well at the reception. Shortly afterward, she was admitted to the hospital with a leaking aneurysm, and then passed away. I didn't know when I left for California that I would never see my Grandma again. The day I got married, she had me go into the bathroom with her. I thought that was odd. Then she gave me $20. and told me to save it in case I needed it for emergencies. She hinted that I wasn't to tell my new husband about it. I guess she knew I was headed for a rocky road, bless her heart. So I never saw her after that. She didn't get to see or know about my firstborn. She was a very good person and a good Grandma. I still miss her.

Yes, Mom wore a wig, I am not sure why. But I can tell you that she and Jim made quite a striking pair. When I was at Connie Geistel's wedding reception, Mom and Jim walked in wearing very nice outfits they had worn on a date. They were there to pick me up. Well, everyone's head turned. They all thought Mom and Jim were movie stars or celebrities. It was pretty neat to be able to say, "Oh, no, that's just my Mom and stepdad."

The GIRLZ

It was a typical Wednesday when I pick up Grace, Emily, and sometimes Brandie, and we spend the evening doing whatever. This week, Hailie and Molly came, too, and Jamie came to dinner. We watched video of when Hailie was about 3, and then practiced line dancing. We also made brownies and ate them. It was fun! It got mildly wild, but I think we all slept good that night.

The Good Old Days Ain't Over

I was looking at some older pictures and ran across this one. This was my birthday, say maybe 5 or so years ago.....anyway, when you look at the faces, you realize the old gang is still together. Matter of fact, we were together last night at Old World doing karaoke! Ken and LuWanna didn't make it, we hadn't even met Margie yet, and there are two people in the picture that aren't friends anymore. But hey, ain't we got fun!?

WARNING: These posts not suitable for easily disturbed readers.

AND REMEMBER, YOU CAN CLICK TO ENLARGE!

The New Year's Eve bash had a Mexican flavor, with many great south of the border favorites. Most did not imbibe, but all toasted the new year when the ball dropped in Times Square. As this and the following entry show, there was more to the night than great food, great people, music, and lots of laughter. Also present were Laura and Chris, who came later after Jack's closed, and Ken and Luwanna. Man Candy Chris never showed up at all as he was on duty at the Country Club.

Weirdest New Year Ever

Mike and Margie threw a fine New Year's Ever party for the family and friends. Music and conversation were stimulating and fun. Then Mike dragged out the Eyeclops. A 200X magnification device you hook up to your tv. After examining and exclaiming over salt, sugar, carpet fibers, etc, Wayne decided to explore a crevice in the skin of his cheek that he claims has been there since birth. This is what he found. Some laughed, some stared, some gagged, others averted their eyes, but no one could remain unaffected by the sight of heretofore unforeseen inner body dross. Me, I was fascinated. What finally got me, worse even than a magnification of Mike's post-surgical toe gore, was when Wayne scratched off a scab under 200X magnification and the resulting crater filled with pink fluid. In the middle of my hysterical laughter I gagged. (Note the diabolical and yet proud grin on his face. )

Hubba Hubba

This is in Tulsa, May 1975.

It's a 1952 Ford truck.

The summer was hot, the Mine Shaft was jumpin', and the young guys were tunin' up their rides to cruise the strip.

If I have to tell you who this is, you don't need to know.

OMG! Who's the blonde?

Ray walked with this mystery blonde at graduation. Who was that fluffy-haired, shy, young beauty? I know some of you know. Hell, you probably all know! Okay, so you know. But it's a cool find, huh?

Remember This?

This was taken at Uncle Evart and Aunt Beatrice's house in Pentwater sometime in early 1980. My guess is that Mom and Jim were up visiting, and/or it was pig roast time, probably August. I don't remember having a mullet but I do remember smoking. The kids are so darn cute! What a fine little family we were back then. Still are, of course, but my! How we have grown!

We're Talking Turkey

We had a great Thanksgiving. Everyone brought delicious home-made food that filled the counters and then some. This turkey was plucked clean not too long after dinner. It is so good to have family and to have an abundance. I will be working on that abundance in hopes of fitting into a nice dress for Chris and Laura's wedding.

Letting the Adults Out to Play

If you guessed Anna Nichole Smith, you are correct! Click to enlarge and you'll get the picture.

Okay, so it's the weekend after Halloween and we decided to get together and have a little costume party of the adults only kind. As you can see, Barb and Scott went for the punk look, at least I think that was a costume. Chris and Laura did a priest and Catholic school girl duo. They got some dirty looks at the convenience store they stopped at, I heard.

Ray and Cindy came as a colorful matched pair of piratey people, stunning our other guests by being the only ones to fit into store-bought costumes this year!

Ken, our favorite biker, showed up with ELVIS! Wow! I don't know where he dug him up, but other than being a little hoarse, "Elvis" was in great shape!

Ummm.....I'm not supposed to tell, about the ghoulish thing that showed up with a cardboard coffin full of edible body parts. Let's just say Val had the night off, and leave it at that!

We played a game called "What's My Line." If you click on the pictures of the game, you may be able to read the tags on the player's backs. We had a gynecologist, a proctologist, a pimp, ho, gigolo, and of course, a colostomy bag salesman. If they didn't guess their "line" they had to pay a penalty.

These are the people who didn't guess their lines. We opened the window, turned the speaker to the front yard, and the losers had to hoof it around the yard doing the bunny hop! Other than getting a little sidetracked by an overzealous and confused leader, they were good sports and embarassed themselves very well.

Little Miss Jamie was Anna Nichole Smith, and the more fuzzy navels I drank, the more she looked like the real thing. Especially when she danced and waved her body around. I myself dressed in a dress that made my butt look big. Really, really, big. I shook it and wiggled it all night long to the music, and at about midnight, it started to fall off. When Fritz got home (in spite of heroic efforts he could not get the night off) I let him see it, then shucked it off and threw it in the closet. Mike and Margie attended a special barbershop show prior to coming, so they didn't wear a costume, but they definitely had their party clothes on! OH, by the way, we all had a really great time! Lots of laughs, and it was great for all of us to get together and see each other again.

Pumpkin Pudding

Picture #1 shows the great pumpkins carved by the Wilson -Baldus family. Chris's tall pumpkin hovers over Brandie and Grace's on the left. Laura's graceful design is on the top step with Emily's bride of Frankenstein creation below. This is when they were freshly carved.

Picture #2 shows what happened a week later. Chris's grinning pumpkin collapsed and drooled pumpkin juice. The others softened and slowly melted down so that the scary faces looked even more insane. It was cool!

Candy Quest in Grand Haven

This year Laura and Chris invited us to spend Halloween at their house. As you can see, the kids once again outdid themselves with their costumes. From left to right, Emily as a medievel princess, Brandie as a red devil, Grace as a punk witch, her friend Molly as a medievel witch, and Chantze as a weird monster. In front, Brooke and Paige have adorable princess costumes. The candy haul was pretty good this year. I heard more than one kid felt a little too-much-candy nausea this year. Downstairs in Grace's bedroom, the big girls sort their booty.

The weather held out, there was only one sprinkle just before we went out. It couldn't have been a nicer Halloween. When we got done with our long walk, Laura and Chris provided plenty of snacks, including apple cider, donuts, crackers and cheese, and cookies.

Birthday Squishees and Wedgies

What does a birthday have to do with squishees and wedgies? Well, when two special little girls like Brooke and Paige celebrate their upcoming 7th birthday, the happy happy joy joy is hard to control! Although I must say Aunt Jamie did her part to foment chaos. There are more cute pictures but Blogger only let me upload these few. So, there is Emily getting a wedgie. Ray and kids squished by Jamie and her minions. Dancing to sparkler lights out on the concrete driveway pad on a very warm October 6 night.
The macarena, the Casper slide, and some great freefrom stuff. Limbo and pin the tail on the donkey rounded out the games. Cindy and Ray made some great decorations and served some very good party food, including a pasta salad that was a standout. The cake was lovely, and Brooke and Paige couldn't get enough of opening presents and playing with them. May all their birthday wishes come true!

Birthday Dinner at Finley's

This is Valerie on September 16, 2007, her birthday! Jamie, Fritz, Laura, and I celebrated with her at Finley's where they not only serve good food, they take a ten spot off the bill if you go on on your birthday! A good time was had by all.