I know, I know, I haven't kept up with the blog during the summer.  We have been pretty busy being retired.  I now know what that means.  I used to be tired and now I am re-tired.  Anyway, I will try to give everyone who checks on us a rundown of the summer.

Mother's day was at Gloria's house and Lela was honored. It was a fun day as Jeff and I BBQed and Honored the mothers.

After that it was Austin's Sixteenth Birthday on May 16, also the following weekend with Granny Sharon.  Austin's "first ride" arrived, a high mileage, 1998 Pontiac Sunfire.

Now it is May 17.  Shelby graduates from the Eight Grade.  Pam turns 40 on the same day.  There was a nice reception at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

The next day we traveled with Silver Star to Pin Oak Park in Villa Ridge for an Airstream Rally.

 Lela and I were in charge (for the past year) of raising money for our charity, which is the Wounded Warrior Project.  We collected change jars and held a silent auction.  I think the final total we raised was right at $1300.00.  All in all it was thought to be a very good result.

May 22 - Austin had a "gig" with his band "Anti-prophet" at a bar in St. Louis called FUBAR. Grandma and I attended.  It was quite an experience as Austin's music is basically of the "Punk" genre.

You can see that May was a pretty busy month.  After Austin's 2nd birthday party, we headed for The Woodlands, Texas.  Drew was graduating from High school.  We stayed with Noel for the time we were there.  We didn't take The Silver Star.

We attended a grad party for Drew's girlfriend at the Woodlands Country Club on Friday Evening. It was very nice and we got to meet some of her family and friends.  Then it was off to Lake Conroe on June 1 for the weekend and Drew's grad party.  It was well attended by his family, friends and most of the wrestling team. Many of the revelers stayed overnight all weekend.  It was great fun.  

Drew will be going to school at Sam Houston State for his Freshman year, and Natalie will be at Arkansas.

June 4 was graduation day.  It was very well done at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion an outdoor amphitheater in The Woodlands.

 

June 16 we celebrated Father's day.  G'pa got a T-shirt.

The rest of June and most of July were taken up with trying to downsize our "stuff" and repair the house to put it in condition to list it for sale.  We have a plan to sell here and move to O'fallon to be closer to the children.  Pray for us!

Aunt Olive was in town the third week of June. Lela had lunch at Miss Amiee B's in St. Charles with Aunt Olive (now 82) and Lela's cousin Margaret.

On July 23 we traveled to Traverse City Michigan to visit with Orlin and Gloria Benedict.  Orlin was Hillard's Co-Pilot on the B-24 ("Ten Shillin Annie") during WW II.  He is now 89 years old.  We wanted to see him and learn what we could about Hillard and the crew.  Orlin is the only surviving crew member.

Hillard (left) and Orlin Circa 1944

On July 28th Jeff had a birthday.

We helped Judy (Johnmeyer) Stahlman celebrate her birthday at her home in St. Clair.  Her mother Virginia (96 years) was on hand.

Into August now and Lela's

 and Genevieve's Birthdays. 

Again at Gloria's house, which has become the meeting place as she is still in school and her schedule is such that it is better to schedule the family stuff at her house.

Last week from August 14 to 18 Lela and I spent our 22nd anniversary at an Airstream Rally at Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton, Illinois.  We were co-hosts with Ray and Joanne Kolley, Suzy Shepard and Darrell & Sharon Waters.

On the first night Suzy Shepard's brother, who is known nationally for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, entertained us with his presentation.

We toured the small town of Elsah nearby

 and Principia College on the bluffs above the river,

and had dinner at the Grafton Winery.

On Saturday, our 22nd anniversary, we took the same trail hike from Pere Marquette that we took on our honeymoon 22 years ago.  It seemed a little steeper now, but we made it to the top of Eagle Peak.

Then we went to dinner at the Historic Whittmond Hotel in Brussels, Illinois, built in 1847. 

We were surrounded by antiques and had a great time poking around the antiques and at the family style meal. 
We had our picture taken in front of an old wedding picture.

Then it was back across the ferry to the campgrounds and the evening bonfire.
In the morning the club had breakfast together and a devotional before being dismissed and heading home.

All in all it was a great weekend.

Now it is back home to continue getting the house ready to list for sale.  I'll try to do better with the updates in the future.