One Week Down

Well, it's almost been one week since Jeff left for military duty. I one more week, I will have already picked him up at the airport and we hopefully be home!

The rest of our week has been very busy. Mary has been preparing for her cello wedding gigs the for the next 2 Saturdays. She has also put a lot of time into getting ready for the pageant. She changed the song she will play on her cello for the talent portion. Her best friend has been calling each day with updates on his adventure. I worked on Wed and Friday. Both days were good days with my patient. Matt came to work with me today to do some babysitting and cleaning. He got paid well. My clients family hopes to move in the next few weeks. Matt has been challenging everyone to Stratego. He has won a lot, but I can say I won a game a few days ago. Sarah went to visit a friend for a little while today and had a nice time. She even made muffins to take along! Sarah, Mary and I went to a stampin up party last night and had a nice time and didn't buy as much as I wanted to, I had self discipline! YAY!

Tomorrow we are going to clean a little and find something fun to do too. I am sure we will come up with some ideas. If not, we can always play stratego!

Have a great weekend!

Grace

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Feeling Better..So Here is the Latest!

Softball: We ended up playing 2 games on Saturday. We lost both. It was supposed to be a single elimination set up, but the other losing team wanted to play again. So I left it up to the team and we played with the players that could stay. I played R field and got a nice sunburn on my calves! Sarah pitched two whole games! The umpire was crazy and called flat pitches on Sarah, but not for the other team, the umpire even said to our team at one point. "OK, you guys can start hitting any time now!" I felt like giving him a piece of my mind, but I bit my tongue. The score was not that bad, I think both games had a spread of about 7 runs. I was happy with my team. We will have our first softball picnic in a few weeks.

Back to work: I had a pretty good first evening back to work. I was tired, sore and burned, but I still gave excellent patient care. I work Wednesday and Friday and this week. Should be a good week.

Church: Service went well. Matthew did the projection for the service and did a great job. He really liked that job a lot. As usual, we went out for lunch afterward. Pizza Hut was crowded, so Wendy's got our business.

Off to Military Duty: I took Jeff to the airport in the late afternoon. He arrived safely at his new base, Shaw AFB, SC. He had to buy new uniforms yesterday as they are phasing out the ones he has. He said the base is much smaller than the one in AZ, but it is nice and his new job will be challenging. I think he will be involved in weather regarding the middle east. He won't be home until August 7th.

Back to School I took the kids shopping for school/clothes yesterday. We got a lot accomplished. Sarah finally found some clothes that fit in Greenville! Matt still needs shoes, Sarah will need laundry and toiletries for college and Mary says she is all set! Yay!

Doctor Visits I had an appointment with my doctor/surgeon this morning. I continue to struggle with symptoms I had before surgery. Since everything checks out at this doctor, I will need some more diagnostic tests and follow-up with a new specialist. Sarah has her swallow study on Thursday to see the extent of her reflux associated with her Connective Tissue disorder. Mary twisted her ankle at the bon voyage party Friday night. She came home with a very puffy R ankle. Our in house athletic trainer assessed the injury and wrapped it up for her. It was awesome to watch Sarah at work and knowing so much already. She loves what she does. I did the nursing things with meds and comfort measures. Mary is doing well and has no problems with her ankle anymore!

Miss Danish Mary has completed all of her paperwork and requirements for the pageant. Next week she begins the rehearsals and dance practices. Mary has also been working on her esaays for college applications and even met with her English teacher to help edit them to make them even better! Her friend Brandon has been keeping in touch with her during his big adventure. It is nice to hear of his journey. She misses having him here in Michigan.

Poor Squirrel The mailman pointed out a squirrel in our yard that lost the use of his back legs. It was very sad. The mailman gave him some nuts and water, but the little rascal left and scrambled to the other side of the street. We watched as he tried to climb the tree over and over, but never getting very far before falling down. The kids and I wanted to help it some how, but a police man came and told us not to watch. He killed it with shovel and put it in a garbage bag. I know he had to put out of his misery, but I was sad with his choice of euthanasia.

Salutation That is all for now! I will try to be quicker on the updates.

Gloria's Daughter,

Grace

More Pictures Posted!

Click on the Wilhelm Family Photos!

Home!

The night before our last leg of driving home turned ugly for me. I had an upset stomach that led to being sick by daybreak. I felt sick all the way home, trying to sleep as much as possible. Everyone else is fine! Hope those little darling girls are ok! I am feeling better, but am going to take it easy for a few days.

We arrived home on Wednesday in time for Mary to go with Brandon to his gig at an anniversary party. She said he performed wonderfully and got paid more than promised! He sang Everybody Loves Somebody, Mac the Knife, In the Wee Hours of the Morning and You Make Me Feel So Young! I wish I had been well, I would have gone to the restaurant and ate dinner to listen to him sing! Mary is going to spend the day with him today, as he and his 2 best friends leave on their BIG Road Trip Saturday for 2 weeks!

Sarah is working today! She got a babysitting job for the whole day. Matt and I will hold down the fort. I have plenty to do at home. I pulled together enough people to play in the tournament tomorrow. The team is excited about playing another game. We will miss several of our key players though~

Lastly, things seem to breaking around the house. Our ceiling fan/light in the den is broken. Then last night the modem died. Luckily for us, Jeff stayed up and fixed up a new one (He didn't get a lot of sleep). He has lots to do! Wedding rehearsal on Saturday, Church and then he leaves for SC for Air Force duty until the 7th of August. He'll be home at lunch to go get a haircut. I hope nothing else breaks while he is gone. Oh, I forgot to mention that Matt found the deep feezer off yesterday. It wasn't off too long as the meat was all still solid, but the ice cream was soup. Not too much of a mess either!

That is all!

Grace

Day 8: Our Visit to Adam and Jill's

After 9 more hours of driving, we arrived to Adam and Jill's. They were outside playing with the girls! Ellie loved to have Matt push her on her swing! As you can see Ellie is quite the singer and sang several songs for us! She has wonderful pitch for a 2 year old! Claire is very cute and a very good baby. We all had a chance to hold and love her. We always have a fun time together with all of them! We ate some Papa John's pizza as a late dinner. Time past quickly and we were off to our hotel to rest up for the rest of the ride home. Thanks for a fun evening Adam and Jill!

Day 7: Driving, Driving and More Driving!

We had a wonderful time with Kathy. Got up and had breakfast and visited a little before we left around 1030ish. I forgot my purse just a few blocks away and we had to turn around to retrieve them. It wasn't until over 30 minutes later that Kathy called to tell us she found Mary's laptop. We were too far to turn around at that point, so Kathy is going to ship it to us. Thanks a million!

The girls were looking for some Texas postcards, so we stopped a place called Mary's Chocolate in Greenville TX! We got some chocolate, but no postcards. Luckily we found some at the truck stop a few miles down the freeway. Lunch was at a taco bell without sufficient A/C, but the service and food were good. Postcards were mailed and we were off for more driving. I drove for about 3hours much of it through heavy rains. Jeff kept his eye to the sky for any possible funnels. Mary took over after me, and drove a good while until we started looking for dinner. Sarah and Matt really wanted Chik Fil A, so we drove around town looking for one. We finally found one a few more exits down and had a chicken dinner.

In the meantime, Sarah talked to Jake to find out our softball results. We lost our last game. Still I know that a 7-3 record is great. Way to go team!!!! I got a call from the league manager that our team is eligible for the tournament this weekend. One of the teams ahead of us doesn't want to participate, so we have been asked to. Guess I will need to contact all the players to see who can play.

Matthew drove the last leg of this journey to get some night hours logged. He did well and now were are safe at our hotel in Jackson TN. We leave early tomorrow for Ohio. we can't wait to finaly see Claire our new cousin and her family!

Will post pictures just as soon as Sarah gets them to me. Thanks for your patience!

Grace

Day 4- Day 6: Norman and Dallas, well Plano

Friday morning we got up and then we had lunch with Jeff's ROTC commander. Panera Bread has a nice sandwich, but it is quite expensive. It was nice talking and visiting with Ralph and Jan. Ralph and Jeff talked about their stuff and Jan and I talked about Nursing, as we are both RN's. We left Norman around 2 pm and then began travelling south. Jeff did most of the driving as there was construction and he wanted to take us to a drive through wilderness.

We had a lot of fun at Arbuckle Wilderness. The animals come up and run along side the car. Mary was dropping food out the back window and Sarah was taking wonderful pictures from the front seat. There were a few close calls with the animals trying to stick their head in our windows, especially the llama! Sarah will be posting some pictures soon.

It has been a lot of fun visiting with Kathy, Lee and the kids. They are so adorable and have had the kids playing and swimming. Lee took Jeff and Matt to the gym to work out Friday night. Saturday we did a lot of swimming, where most of us received some type of sunburn. Greg, Lisa and the girls came just before 12 noon and joined in all the fun. Matthew probably has the most sunburn. After the weekend, I think Jeff is more sunburned than me! Wow!

Lee made delicious hot dogs and burgers on the grill and Kathy had fruit and chips to go along with it. We celebrated Joshua's first birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Hammons were here to celebrate too! Last night most of us went to see the Harry Potter movie. I thought it was pretty good. Hannah sang in church this morning as a part of VBS week. She did a great job! After church we had a tasty italian lunch nearby with 16 people.

The kids went swimming or watched movies, some of us went to Kohl's and then we took family pictures before Lee had to leave for the airport and Greg and Lisa and family started the 5 hour drive home. We got to babysit Joshua and Hannah while Kathy took Lee to the airport. Zachary spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa. We had light dinner where Mary tried her first sushi. One was enough for today, but she may try it again. Jeff ate some too. I know better. I just don't like it.

Tonight ended with an evening swim party. Those of us still in Plano had lots of fun playing in the pool, ball games, raft games and of course Marco Polo! It was nice to have the pool light on and just laugh and have a good time.

Tomorrow we will drive most of the day and arrive in Tennessee. I am glad that Mary and Matthew like to drive, then I won't have to drive as much. We plan to be in Columbus on Tuesday evening to visit Adam, Jill, Ellie and Claire.

Reporting Sunday night,

Grace

Day 3: University Oklahoma!

Amazingly enough we got to OU on time. The admissions recruiter was very enthusiastic and I thought gave very good information. Sometimes those info sessions get long and boring. It was quite hot during our campus tour. Good thing they gave everyone a cold bottle of water! Mary liked the campus and dorms too. She really liked the reading room in library. Unfortunately, Sarah slipped on the stairs coming out and fell hard on her bottom. She has a nice bruise because of it. Sarah kept going with a smile! Mary also met with the music department, theater department and the education department. Theater was defintely the best! The guide/recruiter was so nice and gave us a really good tour. There are lots of good pictures on the photo album. They are opening a play tonight of Henry the IV by Shakespeare. Since we would be gone, we were invited to the dress reahearsal last night. It was really good and a lot of fun. We stayed to watch the formation of the curtain call too. Mary really has a passion for theater and would really like to major in that area, but is unsure of potential employability. The meeting with the eduacation department was ok, but Mary was not impressed with the education lady. OU is #2 on the college interest list, right after the University of Michigan.

Our meals here have been tasty. We had lunch at a Campus Corner pizza place, then had dinner at one our favorites from years ago, the Interurban. I had my favorite, the Ranch Burger. It was obvious that our waiter made a special concession to make 3 Cherry Cokes for Sarah (cherry coke is not on the menu). Eating in OK wouldn't be complete without some ice cream from Braums! Mmmm.

Jeff and I were able to visit with some friends too. We saw Pastor and Mariane Klumpp before they move down to Texas to be near their kids. It was a nice visit. Jeff also visited the new National Weather Center. It is really nice. We wanted to get a tour, but you have to book them 2 weeks in advance! We tried to see some of his old profs, but they were gone on vacation, we missed one his old classmates by just a few minutes.

Can you tell we had a good time? Yes we survived the intense afternoon heat, recovered a forgotten phone (mine), saw a lot of campus, and experienced a late night Oklahoma thunderstorm!

Today we are going to meet with Jeff's ROTC commander for lunch and then off to Arbuckle Wilderness, a drive through animal safari. Tonight we will arrive at Kathy's house for the weekend. We are all anxious to see family!

Grace

Day 2: St Louis, MO- Norman, OK

We had a lot of fun on our driving tour of "Our St Louis". We drove by the kids school, Sarah's ice rink and then we stopped at our first Mt Calvary Lutheran. We saw Pastor Z and Matthew had many memories from preschool. Our journey continued as we drove toward the seminary. Lunch was at one of our favorites, Duffy's restaurant. They have great burgers! We drove around the seminary including our apartment. We made sure we saw Forest Park, the Zoo and of course as planned, frozen yogurt at Ted Drewes. We didn't leave St Louis till nearly 2pm!

Everyone in the family took turns driving. I started out after the ice cream and drove a few hours. Matthew drove next with Dad riding shotgun through some heavy traffic with lots of trucks. He did pretty well! Mary drove next for about 4 hours! She had some heavy traffic too and stopped near Tulsa where we ate at On The Border, it was pretty good. Sarah returned her salad as it wasn't the house salad she had thought it was. She added another soft taco instead. Well the waitress noticed that she pulled off the tomatoes and brought the next one minus tomato! What a waitress. Sarah drove the next leg. It seems that everytime she drives, there is a curve ball. As we left the parking lot of the restaurant, Sarah said looks like we need gas. We drove another 10-15 minutes on E looking for a gas station in an unfamiliar city. Finally we found some gas and we were on our way to Norman. Jeff drove the city tour and the last leg to the hotel.

We need to get up early and leave for OU by 0830, so I am getting up around 7 am. We hope that it won't be soo hot that we can't enjoy the campus to the fullest! We'll let you know.


Grace

Day One: Illinois/St. Louis

We left before 9 in the morning and had an early lunch at Culver's. Mary drove next for 3 hours around Chicago and then south into rural Illinois. Then Matthew took over and drove into Springfield, IL to see Lincoln's house. Matthew had a challenging workout out at the wheel especially turning into the narrow parking lot from the left lane of a one way street.

We enjoyed the Lincoln house and I got our token magnet for the fridge. You can see lots of pictures on the Wilhelm Family Photo Album. Sarah is the official camera person and she is uploading the pictures for me on shutterfly. There are also pictures of our friends in St Charles. Barbara has been a good friend of mine since we lived in Atlanta and we both have girls the same age. It was a lot of seeing them again and eating dinner at Steak n Shake. We had to eat quick because the All Star Game was going to start!

What a fun night and a great game. Barb has DVR and we could watch awesome plays over and over, or play back for a questionable call and check the umpires. Of course the highlight of the game was when Sarah's Tiger, Curtis Granderson, hit a triple to help the AL win the game. It was great to spend time with good friends and catch up family news. We had such a wonderful time! Thanks Barb!!

Jeff Matt and Mary went swimming this morning and now we are going to check out of here and get something to eat maybe see a favorite St Louis site and then get some Ted Drewes. Then we are off for 8 hours of driving until we arrive in Norman Oklahoma. Mary has a college visit there tomorrow. I think I am most excited about the visit. She is ready to go to the University of Michigan. But it is worth visiting and seeing a great campus. I am sure Jeff will be happy to show us his alma mater.

Better Run! See you OK!

Gracie

How Do We Always Get Behind?

Well, we wanted to leave in less than 6 hours, and here I am blogging. I had to let everyone know that our softball team won tonight with a big score of 25-10. Sarah pitched another whole game and got a triple her last at bat. Woohoo! Jeff stepped in and played 2nd base and is our switch hitter. Matthew isn't happy with his performance, but he had good hits, the other team just caught them. Our team is very cohesive and play well together. I couldn't be more proud of them. Our shortstop will be managing/coaching the game next week in our absence. Sarah avoided any injury tonight, but one of our players got hit in the head by an overthrow to first base. knocked his glasses clean off! He seems to be ok, will have a bruise for sure. Mom knows to watch for any signs of head injury.

I have had a sore throat and headache for nearly 48 hours. Needless to say, I didn't feel much like packing. I feel a better tonight after the game. Jeff always says that exercise is good for you! I even ran the bases for myself tonight.

Mary spent most of her day getting all her Miss Danish papers in order. Her salute page, that will go in the program is being sponsored by a couple from our church! She is close to reaching her goal for the Children's Miracle Network. She was very happy that her friend Brandon got home tonight and came over to spend time together before we leave in the morning. I am sure that there will be plenty of texts going from OK and TX back to MI!

Well, I have my clothes packed, the goodies for the car packed and the DVD player and movies packed. Just need to organize my purse and papers and then get a shower and rest for tomorrow, wait today!

Sarah is taking her laptop, so I will be able to blog on the road! Next stop St. Louis!

~Gracie

Whoops! Almost forgot! Mary got her AP Test results. She got a 4 on both Advanced Placement English and Literature. She will get college credit for English her freshman year! Hurray!

Two Days and Counting!

Just two days until our family vacation! I feel like I should be doing something to prepare right now, but Mary is doing the family laundry to earn money for driving money. I have dog care/mail collection and grass/garden set up and Jeff made the itinerary. We have called family and friends ahead of time. So I guess we just need to purchase needed items and car snacks and pack.

Church was good today. Lots of good songs. Lord of the Dance is one of our favorites. Jeff's sermon had a theme about dance. It was very good as well. Good attendance. The wedding was very nice and we had a nice time at the reception. The weather has been very nice. I hope it like this tomorrow night for the church softball game. It will be our last one of the season, unless we make the playoffs, which isn't likely right now. There are several teams with better records than our 6-2! There is one more game next week, but we will be heading home from Texas that evening.

Sarah is doing ok. She still have the discomfort around her R ear. The bruising is going through the regular resoling color themes. Daily pictures are found on the family photo album. I have started with a sore throat and some stuffiness. I really don't want to be sick with a cold this week :(.

Deadlines for Mary's Miss Danish are coming up fast especially since we will be on vacation. If you'd like to see her Miss America page her is the link: www.missamerica4kids.org/m.aspx. She has a sponsor for her Program page. Thanks to all who have supported her already!

That is all for today. I am relying that someone will bring the laptop on vacation so I can continue to blog while we are away.

Gracie

A Quick Note

Well, I worked almost 12 hours this afternoon and evening. I am off until after vacation. I do need to work on my days for next month though, so I have work when I get back. This morning Jeff, Mary, Matt and I went downtown to have a Danish breakfast. It was very good. I really like the little doughnut things. Many of our neighbors and friends were there too.

Sarah was back at the doctor today. Her R ear/Jaw area is still causing her discomfort. The PA that saw her ordered stronger anti-inflammatory and ordered a CT for Monday should it still be hurting. As you can see she is pretty bruised. When she goes to the store she says people look at her with a look that asks, what happened to you? Most probably think she got beat up! If you know Sarah you can expect some type of injury.

I passed on the torch of Sunday School superintendent yesterday. I hope that the binder I passed on will be easy to understand. Mary is going to team teach grades 3,4,5. I will be teaching too. Not sure if there will be a chime team this fall as I want to have at least 7 players before we start practice. Orchestra and Kids choir will continue as long as we have ~5 members. The more the better!

Tomorrow is a wedding that our family will attend I love weddings! I can just sit back and relax. Jeff can too! The grooms grandpa is a pastor.

I'd better get cleaned up and go to bed~!

Night

Grace

It's Finally Home!!

After a week of headaches for us and the car mechanics, the van is fixed and at home. Yay! The kids are especially happy. Now when dad and mom are at work, they can still get around. It is good to know that it is working well for our upcoming vacation next week.

Sarah is still very sore. Her jaw joint hurts quite a bit. I am sure that it got jarred really well, since the ball hit her on the left side of the chin/mouth. Her chin is still pretty swollen and bruised. The laceration is healing quite nicely so far. When asked if it is worth playing ball and risk injury, she says, Yes!

I am working about 25 hours this week. Just tomorrow afternoon shift left before our vacation. I have been quite busy at work lately, which is good since time goes by faster. My little girl is growing up and is beautiful and lots of fun. But like a toddler, is getting into everything, what good news!

The weather is beautiful...blue sky and warm temperatures. I hope it stays nice for the weekend. There is a wedding at our church for a very nice couple. We all will be attending.

The family went to McDonald's for lunch today. I came outside and found Mary and Matthew at a picnic table and it reminded me of when they were little.. Aren't they cute?

I guess that is all..

Gracie

A Fun Game and Another Win!

The big news from the ball game is that Sarah got nailed in the face with a ball. She missed the throw and takes full responsibility for the injury. It did bruise almost instantly and her lip has a good laceration. Of course she finished the inning and played the rest of the game as much as possible. I took her to the ER tonight just to be safe and there are no fractures! Her laceration could have had a stitch or two, but the doctor said it would heal fine without it. That is all Sarah needed to hear. So no stitches either! Can you see the bruise on her chin?



The whole team played well tonight. We scored lots of runs. Matthew batted 1000 tonight! I got on base all but once and I think Sarah and Jeff were on most of the time. Sarah pitched until she got hurt and then Jeff took over and did a great job as well. Good fielding and good sportsmanship on both teams! What fun we had!


Earlier today I was in Grand Rapids for a medical appointment and decided to go use my Kohl's money afterward. They had awesome sales and I got some tops and new earrings. Lunch was good and then I got some paperwork and laundry done before the game.


I'd better cut this short! I have to be at work in four hours and I really need a shower!


Good Night!

Grace

What a Night!

I worked most of the morning on Sunday School records and paperwork. I had a volunteer to take over as superintendent, so I want to give her a very organized and workable book. I guess I should order the curriculum, so we get the right amount next month.

We left for Craig's Cruisers, a place for pizza, games, go karts, mini-golf and such and enjoyed ourselves. Our mini golf game was pretty good for most of us, and the go karts are fun even if you daughter and her girlfriend bumps into you. I got lapped by everyone, but that what happens to safe drivers on a race track! By 8:30pm we were on our way to downtown Grand Rapids for the fireworks. We sat on some rocks along the shore of the Grand River. The fireworks were very good, lasted about 20 minutes. We had nice weather for the event as well.

Church went well. I taught kids church and ran out of time. We learned about Solomon's temple. The kids came down after church to finish their projects. I also had a softball meeting. The league is requiring signatures from the team stating they know the rules. There has been a lot of nit-picking and some poor sportsmanship. It is getting a little crazy. Supposed to have all the signatures by today, which is really crazy since several of my players are gone this weekend. I hope we don't have to forfeit a game! That would really be nuts!

Well, got to run, playing for chapel at the nursing homes and then we are going to a welcome home party for a family friend that just got home from boot camp. Have a great day!


Grace

Happy Birthday America!

It is a cloudy morning and Jeff is out jogging. The kids are sleeping and of course, I am blogging. We had a nice cookout last night for the family. Burgers, watermelon, potato salad and then soft serve ice cream at McDonalds. We played a game of running bases (aka pickle) in the side yard, and had lots of fun. Matthew absolutely loved it! I remember playing that with Dave and Dan for hours. Mary spent the day with her best friend, Brandon.

Speaking of Mary, she has most her paperwork done for the Miss Danish Festival and is working on her cello solo for her talent. Her platform is keeping the Arts in Schools. She is a little nervous, but is also excited.

Matthew's driving continues to get better. He suggested going to Craigs Cruisers today for family fun, so we plan to go this afternoon. There is pizza/pasta buffet, go karts, games, mini golf and laser tag. We hope to see some fireworks too. Hopefully it doesn't rain!

Sarah was very happy last evening when one of her best buddies from Hope called. She sure loves Hope and the people that go there! She can't wait to go back. The summer job never materialized. Not many are hiring and those that do hire friends or popular people. I am thinking I should quit my job and then refile FAFSA. We might get more aid!

Our van was in the shop all day yesterday and got a new alternator and battery. Unfortunately the battery light still goes on even with the new parts. We took it home for the weekend and need to return it on Monday for diagnostics.

That is all the news for now.

Grace

What A Difference A Day Makes

I was going to blog Wednesday night, but couldn't think of anything to report. I guess I could have told you that I had a good day at work or that I acutally made dinner last night, but those are just regular daily routines. I bought a new Wii game that we have played a lot lately, a Disney Trivia of sorts. Sarah especially likes it, she wins! I still have fun anyway.

But today (7/2), well I have some unbelievable news! Mary has decided to compete in the Miss Danish Festival Pageant. She thought that she missed the deadline, but they called today and said she could still apply. Since this morning she has accomplished much of the paperwork that is required to participate. Should she win, she would advance to Miss Michigan! How crazy is that? Jeff and I support her, and think as she does, that this would be a great opportunity and experience. Some of you may have already received an email from her. I guess this was kind of a Mary day, she received her driver's license in the mail and got a new hair cut this morning. She wanted some more layers and got a little more that she bargained for. It still looks nice and the length in general is about the same.

Yesterday, we weren't sure of our travel plans. Today we have an itinerary! St. Louis, MO-Norman, OK-Dallas, TX- Memphis, TN-Columbus, OH. All in about 10 days! Good thing we have 5 drivers in the family. We were thinking of what we could do tomorrow as a family, maybe go somewhere for fun. Well, the van is going to the auto clinic in the AM for a new alternator/battery and then Jeff has a private memorial service in the late afternoon. We hope to go see some fireworks on Saturday. Sunday I have kids church and Jeff and I will be doing chapel for the assisted living/nursing homes here in town.

Sarah has been applying for scholarships online and has pretty much decided that there is no job for her in Greenville, especially since she will be leaving for college in 7 weeks and 2 of those are on vacation. She'd really like to get to a Tigers game before heading back to Holland. Matthew just wants to drive, drive anywhere! He'd like to see transformers too, but his sisters saw it with their friends separately and I really don't want to see it at all. Guess he will have to wait or find a friend to see it with.

Guess that is about it. Have a great weekend!

Grace