Happy Birthday Kelly!

Happy birthday to this beautiful wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, just all around wonderful person!!  Kelly is celebrating her 38th year of life and her almost 14th year of being a blessing to this family!!  This is from your ever so thankful husband via his even more thankful parents!!!  We love you Kelly!!

Is this just the cutest family ever!!!

Busy December for the Wingys

2017 has been a crazy year for the Wingy clan; and December was no different.  Sam graduated from MSU on Dec. 16 after being pinned as a nurse on the 15th.  So all of us except Nick and including  Connie, gathered in Billings and Bozeman to celebrate this accomplishment.  Miranda did the pinning honors at the nurses' ceremony.  It was pretty cool since Sam was the last person introduced and his ROTC accomplishments were mentioned as well.  So awesome for Sam!

Saturday morning was graduation in the field house.  Around 800 graduated and about 150 were nursing students.  I didn't get any pics of Sam in cap and gown😢   Later that afternoon he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the army.  4 cadets received their commission so it was a pretty short ceremony.  We drove back to Billings after that on really crappy roads.  

We spent the remainder of the weekend in Billings.  Miranda hosted all of us at her place.  It was a bit crowded but so fun to all be together.

The next weekend was Christmas!  Nick flew in on Wed. to join Christina and Patricia at our house.  We had everyone but Jake and Dee for Christmas.  So fun to have all the grandkids!  

 Sam is studying for his nursing boards then heads to San Antonio for a few months.  After that he goes wherever the army sends him.  

All of us are doing well and anticipating baby Oregon Wingy in Feb. and baby Butte Wingy in May!  Nick will finish in Alabama in June and they will move back to Helena.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2018.  Love you all!

Sibling Christmas Lunch

We have continued the tradition started I don't even know how many years ago!  We gathered in Great Falls on December 9th for the annual Moore sibling Christmas lunch.  We met at The Amigo and had a great lunch.  All six of us were there with Marc, Annie and Jim W joining as the "out-laws".  From there we drove to the cemetery (with a stop at the liquor store to get Baileys for Jimmy).  We hung a wreath between Mom and Dad's graves.  I had brought a half gallon of egg nog and brandy to commemorate  Dad's neighborhood Christmas open house gatherings!  I had a bag with all the necessities and we stood around and told memories for over an hour and finished the egg nog and almost all of the Baileys.  From there we moved on to Connie's house where we visited before going to  . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . BORRIES!  All but Mary were there since she was having a staff party at her house!  We had so much fun!  God has blest us as a family to have each other during this holiday season.  We miss Mom and Dad but we are so lucky that we have each other!  Merry Christmas to all!

A birthday note ...

It is the birthday of Charlotte Constance Coleman Moore, born November 22, 1900, somewhere in Iowa.  At a young age, she moved with her parents, Charlie and Josie, to Judith Gap, Montana.  She completed local schools, then attended Billings Polytechnical School. 

She was an accomplished musician and taught piano for several years in Harlowton.  I have a recital program from the 1930s; one of her students was Jeanne Poirier.  In 1949, she traveled to Florence, Italy, for advanced piano studies.

Her father was the person who started calling her "Biddy."  Somehow it stuck, at least for our family.  She was a kind and loving grandmother.  She passed away in 1976.

Greece and Ghana Trip

Hello Moores,

Dee and I just got back from a 2 and a half week trip. We were in Greece for a week and then Ghana for a week with a stopover in London for a couple days. We got to walk around Athens for a day and see the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora. Then we went to Santorini which is a small island in the Aegean where we spent the rest of our time. It was perfect timing as the tourist season was just ending and there were no crowds at all. From what we heard it is insane in the summertime. We got lucky with the weather too.

In London we met up with a couple of Dee's cousins and saw a show at the Shakespeare Globe Theater. Good times. the next day we met up with one of our colleagues from residency who lives in Cambridge for Guy Fawkes Day. He was caught trying to blow up Parliament back in the day. There was a good ol' American carnival and fair food, a bon fire and fireworks. The actually used to burn scarecrow-type figures that were supposed to represent Guy, but nowadays it's just palates.

We then made our way to Ghana. The company we work for is called Sanford. They are based of of Sioux Falls, SD. We are actually under their World Clinic arm her in K Falls but their main focus with this is Ghana. They have over twenty clinics there and we were going over to do some training on newborn resuscitation and care with 12 midwives there. The training lasted a very long 3 and a half days but was very fun and rewardng. After that we visited a couple of the outlying clinics. The docs there saw about 60 patients a day! Incredible numbers. The people in Ghana are very welcoming and cheerful. It was an amazing experience and we will likely be going back at some point.

All-in-all a busy, chaotic, and fun-filled trip. We finally made it home Sunday after about 40 hours of travel. It surely is nice to be home.

Love everyone and wish we could make it back for Thanksgiving. Alas, Dee is on call but we'll be thinking of everyone and counting our blessings, including this family, on Turkey Day.

Happy 40th, Mike!

Happy 40th birthday to Mike! Or, as he is referring to it, "$39.99+tax". It's been a busy year for this new dad, but as with everything else, he's taken it all in with an absurd amount of patience and a smile on his face. I hope you enjoy your day, big brother!

Love you!

Molly

Oh My Gosh!

I just went to 2005 and read our posts!  What fun!  Everyone was putting up Christmas lists and talking!  We have to get back on the band wagon here, folks!!

Boise Bash

We celebrated the first Boise Bash over MEA break - October 20th-22nd!  What a great time we had and what an awesome host Jimmy was.  We played games; drank some beer/wine; had some very enjoyable meals with lots of good conversation; oh, and went through many, many, MANY pictures!!  We stayed up way too late but enjoyed each other's company immensely.  We have started another Moore tradition - the annual Boise Bash!  Love this family!

OOPS!!  The one of Bo got in by mistake but isn't he a doll!!

I NEED YOUR HELP!

Dear Family: 

I have a special request. I'm facing some cynical teenagers (ha!) in my classroom where "nothing we do here will matter" so I'm challenging them to find one path in life where they won't use critical thinking and problem solving skills. To help win the argument, I need proof. That's where you all come in!  

If you could please take 2-3 minutes to answer one or all three of the following questions then message it to me or post it in comments or email me that would be AWESOME! (I'm wanting to focus more on the academics, but interpersonal stuff works, too.) Good? Good. Here you go:

- What is one thing you wish you had done differently in high school?

- What is one thing you are SO GLAD you did in high school?

- Where is one area of your life you use your English skills (reading, writing, comprehension, understanding difficult texts, etc)?

If you can include your current occupation, that would help as well. I'm looking for all walks of life - white collar, blue collar, no collar.

12 Years and Counting!

(From the family picnic in 2005)

As I was checking the blog the other day, I thought to myself, "What was the first post on here?" So I scrolled through the archives and found that this blog officially launched on October 4, 2005. We've been keeping this thing going for 12 YEARS! What started out as a place to post Christmas lists has turned into a beautiful archive of our family for the past 12 years. Who knew? I have thoroughly enjoyed going through old posts and seeing how much this family has grown, changed, and matured. Yet through it all, we've continued to be the same loving, supportive group. It just makes me feel eternally blessed.

A few things I enjoyed seeing - Abe's posts about Chicago since now I know what he was talking about! John asking for books in the Game of Thrones series years before it became the huge phenomenon it is now. Jen giving out the first birthday shout-out to Mike, on his 28th birthday (he'll be 40 in a few weeks). The first birth announcement - Will Buyske. Grandma's quote about giving Christmas gifts, ""I think there's a little kid in each of us that likes to open presents. I do." And Grandma's first post on the blog: John is trying to educate me - tough job - so now we're trying it out!

I haven't gotten that far through the archives, and while I know you're not supposed to live in the past, it sure is nice sometimes to briefly revisit it. I hope you are all healthy and happy. Thank you for sharing your lives.

Love you!

Molly

Flashback Photo

It has been pretty quiet on this blog, so I'll post this.  All the Buck Moore and John Moore kids, plus Mom.  The occasion was Buck's memorial in April 2013.

Sad news ...

When Abe was in Law School at Notre Dame, he lived in a house with two other law students – Andy Mayle from Ohio and Tony Mendoza from Texas.  The intern firm of "Mayle Mendoza & Moore" engaged in a lot of shenanigans and had a good time.  Tony also stood as a groomsman at Abe & Desirée's wedding.

I learned from Abe today that Tony Mendoza suddenly passed away yesterday in his office in Texas.  It's a sad loss for his law school partners – and close friends.

Abe says Tony visited him in Chicago just last weekend, along with Jody, Abe's high-school friend and former resident of our home.  Jody and Tony had something in common – just the right kind of crazy to make them a lot of fun.

Ann and I extend our sympathies to Abe, to Tony's family, and to Andy.  RIP Doza.

Somerville Update!

Hello my wonderful family! I hope everyone's summer went well and that you are ready for fall. Bozeman has already had snow! A little too early for me, but with all the fires and smoke, I can't really complain. Apparently I didn't do a good job of updating the family on our move, as a few people at Jen's wedding asked if we were still in Chicago, so here's a quick recap of the last 6 months or so.

In mid-December, Shane and I (along with the generous help of Shane's Dad and my mom) packed up a moving truck and our car, in the freezing cold, and drove back to Montana. We spent the first 4 months out at Shane's sister's house. They had an apartment above their garage that we were able to stay in while we figured out what our next step was. I finished up work with my Chicago job at the end of February and jumped right in to working at MSU in the athletics department. I work on travel reports for all the teams (except football) and try to keep the basketball and volleyball coaches in line. I am currently working on moving into an office manager position.

Shane started working part-time as a reference and programs librarian at the public library in January. Then he added another job and spent a few months working part-time organizing the archived records at BioScience. Just a couple weeks ago he accepted a full-time position as an admissions evaluator at MSU and is so excitged to be back on campus and accepting students into MSU. Plus, I love that he is just a short walk from me!

We plan on attending football and volleyball games this fall and hopefully meeting up with Tom and Jeanine and Shannon and Birch at the home games. We love being back in Montana and being so close to family. We really missed that in Chicago. Granted, there are a few things about the Windy City we miss, mainly Dunkin' Donuts, but it was a sacrifice worth making. :)

Hopefully the family Thanksgiving works out and we'll be able to see a lot of you then. We sure love you all!

Love,
Molly

He Will Be Missed

On August 17th and 18th the Morris and Moore clans got together to honor Bill.  The vigil was Friday night and many got up and spoke about Bill - his craziness, his good heart, his love of Connie, his love of golf, and many more attributes!  We all gathered at Connie's for a lasagna dinner which was a blast.  Those Morris people really know how to party.  They were serving up Dirty Girls like crazy!  Friday we gathered at the church for Mass and a final farewell.  Fr. Jim, a friend and golfing buddy of Connie and Bill's, gave the eulogy and it was special.  Connie bought two spots in the Columbarium at Holy Spirit out in the courtyard.  She joined the parish and is now part of a BIG family!  Fr. Dick Schlosser was the officiant of the service and it was great to have him be a part of it.  He is retired now after many years with the parish.  He officiated at Mom's funeral and it was nice to have him as part of Bill's.  Later that afternoon we all gathered at Mary and Jim's for dinner with some of the same and some different folks from the Morris family.  They generously bought dinner and of course we bought the booze!!  A good time was had by all.  Saturday morning those of us still around (13 in all) met for breakfast and had a great time.  We love you, Billy, and we will miss you!!

Total Eclipse

Ann and I went to Dubois ID for the eclipse.  We had a great time!  Met some nice folks from Bozeman (formerly Conrad) who were our camping neighbors in the city park.  Here's Ann trying on a viewer for size, courtesy of our neighbor (a shop teacher).  The eclipse was a marvelous spectacle, a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The Big Weekend

Seems mighty quiet on the blog after last weekend – rehearsal dinner and party, wedding and reception, family picnic.  Good golly, you'd think y'all didn't have any fun.  Well, I did.  And I hope you did, too.  Here are some randomly chosen photos ...

More treehouse trivia

After I left San Diego, Abe built support for the rope ladder. (It was hard to climb, as it swung under the deck.)  Then he enlisted help (I hope) to apply stain / sealant to most surfaces.  The result looks good.  He also installed a roof cap, which you can't see in this photo.

Backyard Project

Tom stopped by while driving from California to Montana and helped with a backyard project.  Not quite as impressive as John and Abe's tree house but it will at least get my garbage cans out of my garage.

The TreeHouse

Abe and I worked from Jun 28 – July 3 to build a treehouse in Desiree's folks' yard near San Diego.  Here are some photos of the daily progress ...

End of Day 1 -- supplies

End of Day 2 -- some framing and part of deck


End of Day 3 -- more framing and start of rafters


 End of Day 4 -- rafters done and start of siding

End of Day 5 -- siding and railing completed

 Day 6 -- toasting the completed project