Happy Birthday, Michael!

Today is Michael's 19th birthday, although I guess in Iraq his birthday is already over.

Here are a few pictures that I think really show the difference two years has made. My little boy is all grown up... sniff, sniff.

Thanks to Pvt. Swim, who I "borrowed" some of the pictures from.

Happy Birthday, Michael! We love you and miss you.

More fireworks video

Mom was talking to one of the men who puts on Newman's fireworks show and mentioned to him that I had some video clips of this year's display. He wanted to see them since he never actually gets to watch the fireworks (too busy making sure we don't burn the park down). Since I've never figured out how to do anything with my camera videos except post them here, that's what I'm going to do. There's not a lot, but here's what I have:



So, Mr. D.K., this post is for you. Thanks for the great fireworks every year. It is one of the highlights of our family's summer!

July 5th fireworks

On the fifth, we joined my family in Newman to watch the fireworks there. Newman usually has its fireworks display during the festival, but they were postponed due to the flooding we had in June.



We have a tradition of having a pizza picnic in the park a couple of hours before the fireworks start. That way we get our favorite spot.

My cousin Tammy brought these three-foot sparklers from Texas. Everything's bigger in Texas.

I may be prejudiced, but I think my hometown puts on one of the best fireworks shows around. It's not too short, not too long, there's no crowds, and it is an impressive display. Here is a sample of what we enjoyed:

The grand finale.

July 4th fireworks

On the Fourth, we celebrated with some dear friends who have some property on the Twin Lakes in Paris. The kids enjoyed playing with their friends, and then we watched fireworks from their dock. It was very nice.

I took these pictures with the fireworks setting on my camera. The girls are blurry, but I thought the effect of the sparklers was really cool.

Ellie on the dock waiting to watch the fireworks.

Her overprotective mother wanted her to wear a life jacket.

Oooooh. Aaaaaah.

Rainbow

Last week, we had the most amazing rainbow in the sky just before the sun went down. It was a complete arch, and so vibrant. We all dropped what we were doing to go outside and watch it until the sun set and it faded away. Gorgeous.

Speaking (or writing) of smelly things...

A couple of weeks ago, my sister-in-law, who works at Eastern Illinios University, calls me and says, "I don't know if you've heard about this, but the greenhouse here has a plant called a corpse plant, and it's getting ready to bloom. When it blooms, it's supposed to smell like a decaying body. They're really rare. I don't know why, but I just thought that sounded like something you guys might like to see..."

Well, YEAH!

So two Sundays ago, we loaded up after church and went to Charleston to see the Titan Arum, better known as the "corpse plant."

We missed the full bloom, which occured through the evening on Saturday. From what I understand, it was pretty stinky. People reported smelling it blocks away. On Sunday, you could still smell it, but it was much milder. The scent was like hamburger that has gone really bad.

The greenhouse had an impressive collection of plants other than the Titan Arum, although it was clearly the focus of the day. Mackenzie was fascinated by the Venus Flytraps and Pitcher Plants. She wants one of her own to grow.

Feed me, Seymore!

51 Chevy

Dan is one step closer to realizing a long time dream of restoring his great-grandfather's '51 Chevy pick up truck. He recently had it moved from the barn where it has been stored for over thirty years, to a storage shed here in town. Let the tinkering begin!

Well, it might need a little more than tinkering. Many, many mice have called this truck home in the last thirty years. When Dan opened this door, let me tell you a powerful stink wafted out. Be thankful that technology doesn't yet allow smells to be transmitted over the internet. This was foul.

Dan has talked about fixing up this truck for as long as I have known him. I knew he really liked me when he took me to see it. There's a lot to be done, but it will be a labor of love.