Great Family Picnic!

Family Picnic 2015 was a rousing success. Held at the headquarters of Family Reunion 2007 in White Sulphur Springs, the event attracted 57 members of the family. We visited, played, swam, dined, and celebrated Mom's 91st birthday. In this photo, while Connie cuts the cake, Mom admonishes some of the great-grandchildren about proper attire for a birthday party. Kudos to Tom for organizing the picnic. Now the baton passes to Mary. A couple of my children have wondered when the baton passes to the next generation. As Bri put it, "You can oversee our efforts and make sure we get it right before you die." Blunt, but true. So, when do we start working down the line of Mom's grandkids?

Happy Anniversary, Matt & Kelly

Happy 11th anniversary to these two lovebirds! The love that was kindled at Notre Dame is burning as strong as ever today. I've been thinking about them a lot lately as I'm finally understanding what I couldn't grasp over a decade ago. When Matt fell in love with Kelly, he didn't have as much time for his littlest sister, much to my disappointment. I could never understand why he would choose to spend time with her over his own family. How could you love someone THAT much? Well, now I completely understand and I am so happy they have found each other. They are an amazing couple and super-hero parents. I love you both and I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!!

Happy Birthday, Meg!!

Happy birthday to this sweet young woman!  We really enjoyed celebrating with you tonight, Megs!  The kids out did themselves with the decorations!!  We hope you had a fun day!  Having your desk decorated and cake at work always helps!!  You have grown into a beautiful 32 year old woman!!  Love you!

Family Picnic, Family Pictures

I am so excited that we are going to be able to make it to the family picnic this year!! Since I will have all of my camera equipment for Kit's wedding the same weekend, I thought I would offer to take any individual family pictures for people that want to have them taken on Sunday. Just thought I would give a little heads up in case anyone wants to do a little outfit coordination for their families. :) We did this for all of my siblings a couple years ago and it went pretty quickly and they turned out great. No need to let me know in advance just show up ready and we can do some shooting! Can't wait to see all of you!

At the Ranch

Ann and I arrived today at the Moore Ranch outside Two Dot, where we're spending a few days in the Cosgriffe House, courtesy of Kathleen, Susan, and Colleen. Recent rain has helped keep the countryside rather lush for August. We're looking forward to exploring the neighborhood from Martinsdale to Harlowton.

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Joey and Erin!!

Two years ago we welcomed this beautiful young woman in to our family with open arms!  Almost 8 months ago they blessed us with our 8th grandchild!  Happy anniversary to a wonderful couple and cute little family!!  "May your mornings bring you joy, and your evenings bring peace!  May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase! "  A little Irish anniversary blessing!  We send all of our love to you both today!!  

Summer Fun!!

We had a blast with these two little guys up at Grampa Bingo's!  Marc had to work in Libby for a couple of days so we tagged along.  They rode the ATV with Grampa Bingo both days; went to the green dumpsters in his pickup truck; played in the sandbox he filled with sand; fished with Grampa Marc (got skunked on the lake but Tyson caught two off the dock); played in the Troy park under the spraying daisy; learned to skip rocks down by the river.  We also had to shop at the drugstore, grocery store and have a "coffee" drink!  They were real troopers and slept late on Thursday morning!!  They helped grill hot dogs outside for dinner and went out to dinner twice and lunch once and were perfect!  Love traveling with them.  Hope to do it again.  Now looking forward to getting together with all the Buyskes on both sides (minus Joey, Erin and Henry) for Jo's memorial.  

Mom's "new" ring!

In going through some of Mom's jewelry with Meg the other day we came across some really nice looking pieces.  When we packed everything, it was the scoop and bag method and we didn't look at anything that closely.  We found what I thought was Mom's wedding rings (she says no) and her mother's ring.  She wanted to wear the mother's ring but it was too big.  In talking to Johnny and Ann about it at lunch on Saturday, Johnny called a friend of his that is a jeweler and made arrangements to have it sized on Sunday.  After Nick's commissioning (which was awesome, by the way!!) we went to Tim's place of business and showed him the ring.  After checking it he said it was really worn out.  Two stones were being held in by two prongs, the stones were worn down.  He could rebuild it or just size it.  We went for the just size it.  Well being the amazing guy he is, he resized it and somehow brought pieces of gold up and made prongs to hold the stones in.  He cleaned it all up and it looks brand new!!  What a sweetheart of a guy.  He even came in on Sunday to do it.  She is so happy to have it again!  And while we waited for the ring Marc and I found an antique hutch that we bought so that we can finally get all of our good dishes and glasses out of storage and start using them again!!  Here is a picture that Tim took while we were waiting for the ring.  Marc was wandering!!  Make sure and admire her ring when you see her!

Oh, and Mom has on one of the three new shirts that we bought during the weekend.  It was fun to have her hang out with us!!