Friday Update

Rain, rain , go away. I am tired of all this rain. We have the garden plants and need a nice day in order to plant them. It looks like we will have water in the basement yet again this weekend. I have been working lots of OT this week, so there is not much else to write about today. Have a good Friday and try to stay dry.

Monday Update

Thomas and Team Depot helped clean up after the Sunday storm in Dunkerton yesterday. He says they pretty much picked up what was left of a whole house. Once again, we are very proud of him. Yesterday morning I cleaned up the branches and sticks in our front yard from the storm we had in Marion on Sunday night. I also started to prepare the garden for planting. This year we plan to have cucumbers, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans, assorted tomatoes and green peppers. Last night we had a BBQ. Wanda and Mark came along with Wanda's mom, brother and sister. Johnny, Jamie and Justin also showed up. After Johnny, Jamie and Justin left we went inside and looked at graduation pictures and then played Apples to Apples. It was a lot of fun.

Oh no, Thomas has finally graduated!!!

It's official and he has the diploma to prove it.

Our beautiful Raven has graduated too!!

Way to go Thomas! We are so proud and wish you luck in your teaching career.

Love, Mom and Dad

Wartburg to host 156th Commencement

WAVERLY, Iowa — More than 300 May and August graduates will participate in Wartburg College’s 156th Spring Commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 25.

Commencement will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Hoover Field House and Track of Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center. The event is free and open to the community. A reception for graduates and their families and friends will follow.

The academic procession, led by faculty marshals Dr. Fred Ribich, professor of psychology and director of institutional research, and Dr. Ann Henninger, professor of biology and chair of the Biology Department, will begin the ceremony. International students bearing the flags of their countries, emeriti faculty, current faculty members, the graduating class and platform party will join the procession. The Wartburg College Concert Bands will provide music throughout the ceremony.

A member of the graduating class will speak. President Dr. Jack R. Ohle will also speak about his years at the college, marking his final Wartburg commencement address. He has accepted the position of president at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.

During the ceremony, the college will confer honorary doctorate degrees on Dr. Gerald Kleinfeld and Dr. Richard L. Wahl and honor high school teachers Ryan Cooley and Jessica Jones.

Congratulations Diedre!! I knew they would choose you!

Looks like someone likes thier birthday gift.

Here are my beautiful flowers. Thank you Diedre and Wanda!

Monday Update

Today's the day! See everyone later. Very exciting.

50 Stunning Photos

Friday Update

It has been a busy week. Worked OT every day. This weekend I have to mow the yard as usual. I also have to search for a birthday gift for Mark, make sure Chloe's room gets emptied out and cleaned and possibly paint it. Although we my not paint until after Tommy's graduation. I also need to start prepping the garden for planting. Although, Matt borrowed some of our tools for his Eagle Scout project, so I'm not sure how much I will be able to do this weekend.

It sounds like Diedre's interview went well. The hardest part will be the waiting. I wish her luck.

Wednesday Update

I am so excited for Thomas and Diedre, this is such a wonderful time in life for them. Good luck Diedre with your interview on Thursday. I know you will do very well!

Tuesday Update

It has been very busy lately. Work is picking up again. And it doesn't help that our order management system has been breaking every morning since last Thursday.

I mowed the yard on Saturday. Just as I was getting done in the yard, my Dad and Ilse stopped by. They brought me a nice rubber plant for Mother's day. After they left I went to Menards for bug and weed killer and a Mother's Day gift for Ilse (never found the gift), to Hy Vee for a few things and stopped for McD fries to go with supper. While I was at Menards Doug called to say he was having a bad day because he had just blown the speakers on the stereo for the TV in the day-kitchen. It was getting late and by the time I got home Thomas was here. We ate supper and then he went with me to Walmart. We went to get water and a Mother's day gift for Ilse. We still did not find a gift for Ilse, but Thomas got me a nice plant pot for the new rubber plant. This was my Mother's Day gift from him. We also found aPhilips DVD home theater system for Doug. It is an early birthday.Father's day gift for him.

Sunday Thomas got up early to go to breakfast with Diedre's family. While he was gone I made potato salad for our BBQ. When he got home we went to Gordmans and finally found a tacky roaster thingy for Ilse's gift. We came home and had lunch and then went to give the gift to Ilse. She loved it of course. She also had to show me her new toilet with the butterfly seat. We visited for a while and before leaving she gave Thomas his birthday card and a graduation card. She made me read them both before she brought them out to give to him. I think she could not wait, but she kept saying I think he needs the money.

For the Mother's Day BBQ we had brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, chips, potato salad, cole slaw (Wanda) and lemonade (Diedre). Wanda also brought a cheese cake assortment. Wanda's mother was here visiting for Amber's graduation, so we got to meet her. It was a great Mother's day, although Chloe was not here.

Things younger than John McCain

Tuesday Update

Not much to report today. Sunday turned out great for an unofficial Soup Sunday. We were just BBQing and if anyone wanted to show up they could. So who shows up? Mary and Jordan. We hadn't seen them in some time. It was a small group, Mary, Jordan, Mark, Wanda, Chloe (after 7), myself and Doug.

Is seems that Diedre has some great possibilities in her future. Good luck Diedre!!

Saturday Update

We have decided the friendship bread is better when made with vanilla pudding instead of chocolate. I got tired of making it every ten days and threw out the rest of my last batch though. I just looked it up online and found a starter recipe. And now after it is too late I found out Diedre was right, you can freeze in one cup measurements.

Our last child is leaving the nest. Chloe has been packing her things all week into boxes. This does not make Mao very happy and he lets us know it every once in a while. She is taking a load of her things up to Cedar Falls today. We have been helping her get ready for living on her own. Last week we gave her two laundry baskets, two bath sheet towels, kitchen utensils, wooden spoons, a lemon shaped cutting board and a cupcake tin. She can't leave home without a cupcake tin to make her famous colorful cupcakes. Today we will be buying a full size bed for her room. She will not have room for a queen size, which is what she has now. Since we will not be getting her a pillow top, Chloe and I went to Walmart last night to pick out a mattress pad. We choose a Dream Puff (down alternative filled) Pad. It is like the one we have on our bed. She is very happy with it. And since Chloe loves to live on cereal, I had her pick out a super size bag of MOM cereal. She choose Berry Colossal Crunch.

Thomas has been busy getting ready to move in with Diedre. In a few short weeks he will be moving out of his apartment at Wartburg for the last time. Has it been four years already!! Yesterday he purchased and assembled a desk for his computer. It is a good thing that their apartment has a large bedroom, so they can fit in two desks.

Today is Afton's 1st birthday party. Jessica requested we make BBQ sauce for the pulled pork. So, of course we did. We will probably be too busy to make it the the party though. Mark and Wanda are working on putting new carpet on their basement stairs. We offered to help because of all the help they have given us. They thought it would be too crowded in the stairs for all of us. So, we are treating them to supper tonight instead. Not sure if we will be taking them KFC or ordering pizza.

Congratulations Thomas!! I am so excited for you.

Love,
Mom

Wednesday Update

Not much going on here. Chloe had a good interview at the coffee shop in Cedar Falls. She said they already started checking references. I have been busy at work getting caught up from my days off. This evening Thomas and Diedre are going to visit Eldora. I'm sure Diedre will like it there. I wish them luck. It's getting late and I have to leave for work now. It looks like it will be a nice day.

Sunday Update

It has been a nice vacation, despite all the mopping in the basement. It is alway nice to have Thomas home for a visit. We watched a lot of Trailer Park Boys together. I am so excited for Thomas. He had a job offer from South Hardin Community Schools in Eldora, he turned it down and now they are still trying to get him to accept. They are looking into getting money for Diedre to get certified in the Gifted and Talented Program "GAP". If both Thomas and Diedre can find a job in the area, Thomas will take the job. Eldora looks like a very nice community to live in. I hope it all works out for them both.

Wednesday Update

Yesterday was very busy at work. I stayed until 5:45 to try and get caught up before my vacation. On my way home Diedre called and said, "Have you seen your son yet?" I said, "No, I'm on my way home. Why?" She said, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad." So of course all the way home I wondered what they were up to. When I got home I rushed into the house and Thomas said, "Diedre thinks she worried you." I said, "What is Diedre up to?" He went into the dining room and brought out this beautiful Bromeliad plant. She got it for me because I had taken care of her plants all these months. I miss her plants.



This is a Bromeliad. Not the one Diedre gave me though. I need to take a picture of it. Once I do, I will post a picture of the real one.