Sunday, June 24, 2012

Open House a Success!

Matthew's Graduation Open House had some beautiful weather and where friends gathered to celebrate.  Mitch surprised Matthew with a phone call Friday night saying he was going to make it to his party!  That made his day..he wasn't supposed to come home until Monday, but worked it out so he could be here.  He is an awesome friend.  Mary and I worked hard on making mini chicken crescents and most of the decorations. The video Mary made about Matthew was well done and enjoyed by all.  Wish you could see it.  So, now that all of the graduation festivities are over, we can focus on the rest of the summer:
  • Mary's trip to South Africa in just a few weeks.  
  • Our planned garage sale to benefit Matthew's tuition for OU.
  • Church softball
  • Moving our kids...Sarah to Toledo, OH, Matthew to Norman, OK and Mary back to Ann Arbor.  
  • Learning to be a happy empty-nester.
Sarah is working today..Mary is working today and I am working tonight.  I was on call, but have already been called in for the beginning of the shift. Mary is hoping to get off early so she can spend more time with Brandon on his 21st birthday (today).  Matthew is home keeping busy in his room and will be going to a white caps baseball game with his buddies tomorrow. That will be lots of fun. We will be glad to have Sarah home for our make up softball game on Tuesday.  Mitch and Shoeny, another player that has gone off to college, will be here to play with us too!  Should be a great game! Jeff is off to the Michigan District conference this week, so he will miss the game.

Suppose I should get some sleep.  Have a great day!


Gracie

Lots more pictures on the photo album.
http://wilhelmjg.shutterfly.com/

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day

Well, after many good intentions, I did not keep up the blog as I wanted around Matthew's graduation.  There was just too much stuff going on and things to plan for, especially while working and sleeping in the midst of it all.  So my apologies.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
Today we honor our fathers.  I couldn't be more blessed.  Jeff and I were both blessed with wonderful christian fathers.  I miss my dad and wished we could have had more time together and I know how proud he would be of all of his grandchildren.  His influence on my life will never die and I am proud to have been his daughter on this earth.

Sarah, Mary and Matthew are just as blessed to have Jeff as their father.  We have shared many wonderful times together and look forward to what is in store in the next chapter of parenting for us! I have been going through old photo albums and can only smile and chuckle and I page down memory lane as our life as young parents.  Time flies and now we continue to grow and mature according to God's great plan for us.

GRADUATION CONCLUSION
Two weeks ago Matthew graduated from high school.  We were so happy that his grandparents and godparents were here to celebrate. We enjoyed meals together, got free donuts at Krispy Kreme on international donut day (bought some too), and even had the chance to celebrate my birthday!  Graduation service was very nice with a reception to follow.  The weather was very nice for the commencement exercises and the speaker did a fine job.  Matthew was a good sport and let us take pictures.  He just wanted to go home.  It was sad that my mom's foot became so swollen and painful that she could not walk on it or attend the event, but we are glad that GHS had a live feed on the computer so she was able to watch from our home! She is doing better and we are certainly glad about that.  Be sure to check out the family photos.

BIRTHDAY
Jeff and the kids took me out to dinner at "On the Border" and then a White Caps baseball game. We had so much fun.  The 'Caps won and we enjoyed the fireworks show afterward.  Mary made delicious cupcakes too!  We were also gearing up for VBS.  Lots of last minute planning along with a full weekend of working nights.  Mary and I did a lot of sorting of household goods to sell at our planned garage sale.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
After that last 12 hour night shift Sunday night, I drove straight to VBS and was up until 3 pm.  It didn't seem too bad while I was up, but catching up on all the sleep took a few days.  Lots of naps.  In any case, SKY Vacation Bible School was a success and 70 children, crew leaders, station leaders and parents enjoyed the activities.  We were able to collect over $110 dollars for Lutheran Malaria Initiative to send mosquito nets to Africa in helps of preventing the transmission of this disease with just a single bite.  I think the kids really enjoyed the science station, rather than doing a craft.

EMPTY NESTER IN TRAINING
Last night I had a taste of empty nesting.  It was just me and Sammy at home.  Jeff was at work preparing for today's services and the kids were all out of the house.  Sure was quiet.  The movie "The Blind Side" was on and at the end she takes Michael to college.  It made me think of taking Matthew to OU in just a few months.  It won't be easy leaving my baby so far away from home.  So I combat that with the fact I know all my kids are thriving and shining. OU will be a great experience for Matt. I won't have so much laundry to do either!  LOL.  Will I remember how to cook for just two??

Well, I had better go.  Off to our late summer service (we have two this year) and then Sarah will come home later this afternoon to celebrate Father's Day!  Hooray!

Gracie

Friday, June 1, 2012

Baccalaureate and Baptism Birthday

Mary's Baptism Birthday was a nice one.  We had a nice day together, made a cake, chicken crescents and then at the delicious Devil's Food Cake after we watched a picture show of Japan.  Sarah took so many beautiful pictures!

Baccalaureate Service took place after the Chicken Crescent dinner and before the picture show.  It was a nice service with a student led praise team.  It was pretty quick too, 30 minutes!  We were happy that Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelm could be there with us.


I worked very hard at communicating with and making sure our softball team had enough players tonight while we were at Baccalaureate.  I received a phone call from our score keeper that the other team claimed I called their coach and "cancelled the game".  That never happened.  Why would everyone be there if I had called??? Something else for me to follow up on and resolve.

My pink eye is resolving, but my allergies are terrible.  The weather is cooler here with occasional rain.  It is supposed to be a little warmer and sunny on Sunday for graduation.  Let's hope the forecast only changes for the better!

Looking forward to my Mom, Dave and Leslie's arrival tomorrow evening.  The time will go fast as always but we will have fun together never the less.

Better finish folding the laundry.

Gracie