George's family visit

We had a wonderful, if short, visit with George, Beth, Gabriel, and Elijah this week, two days after they visited John and JT. It started out with a tractor ride for Gabe. He was pretty excited to be able to steer the tractor and make the bucket go up and down! The next day was so much colder, and Gabe had a bad cold, so we had to find entertainment inside for the day. We did make a trip to Farm King for seeds--and a hat for Beth! How could I have missed getting a photo of that!?! We had dinner at Napoli's Pizza!! Yum! The same Greek family has been running this since the boys were little. We had short visits with the Great Grandma's and Great Aunt Judy, also.
Gabe also got to help Grandpa prepare some peat pots for early seed germination.
The impending snow storm forced George's family to leave early. We did get some snow on top of the sleet but between here and Chicago the weather got really nasty after they had left so we're glad they had a safe trip home.
We appreciate all the chances we can get to be together with family!!
In other news this week, Elizabeth has received a Rhodes Dunlap second year award and scholarship from the Honors Dept. That will add to the Alexander Kern scholarship she got word of last week. She spent the entire weekend getting her WSI certification--to be able to teach swim classes as well as lifeguard. She hopes to earn some money that way this summer as the internship is volunteer work.

JT's week

It was wonderful to have John J and John T here for a week!! JT got to play in the sunshine in a big yard that allowed him to move around by himself a good deal. He played with the Tonka trucks, on the swing, on the little tractor.
New things were sitting on the big tractor, bubble wands, all the finches at my feeder..
We read a lot of books and watched a little TV--classic videos like Peter Pan and The Jungle Book, as well as his Thomas the Train and Muppets.
He ate a lot while he was here and I think he grew some! :-) He loved the church luncheon and breakfast and really enjoyed looking at the river from Big Muddy's. He expressed a lot of appreciation for the movie posters in the 50's style diner, too!
And of course he had the time with his cousins, aunt, uncles, great grands...He talked about Gabe every day he was here, looking for him for a couple of days after they left, and looked at the family photos on my tables, pointing everyone out. I gave one to him to take home as he looked at it a few times a day. His word for Elizabeth is something like "ahbeecth". That's always a hard one! :-)
The photos we took at the library were special because Elizabeth helped with the painting of the murals.
JT really enjoyed the company of another two year old boy he met at the playground. He learned to bounce on the swinging bridge on the play equipment by following this boy's lead.
We sure will miss him and would so dearly love to be able to see more of him. I have spent three weeks with him since January and I will have to see him again soon!
We look forward so much to a visit from George, Beth, Gabe, and JT later this week. I am dreaming of visits to the Chicago zoo and the beloved fountain with all the little ones!!!!!!!!!
So, I'll add some photos to the slide show from Elizabeth's trip to AZ during this week. She and Brent went with Charles and Dawn to an air show in Phoenix. She got her final paperwork done for her internship this summer and she met the people in whose home she'll be staying.

Week of March 9

When Charles flew out the last of February we never thought he'd have to fly back out in less than 2 weeks for Grandpa Weyer's funeral.
Grandpa was a remarkable man. He accomplished so much and started with so little. He was a Mason, a Shriner, a Boy Scout district commisioner, a Kentucky Colonel (as designated by Governor Louie B. Nunn of the Commonwealth of KY), a dedicated volunteer responsible for the start of several museum displays at Midwest Old Threshers. He built plants across the country for DuPont and developed many things still used in construction. He was an electrician for decades.
He and Grandma Weyer were married just over 67 years ago in The Little Brown Church in the Vale. An early photo of them is in the slide show. The church alter is at Sperry UMC, where the funeral was held.
The director of Midwest Old Threshers spoke at the funeral. He said that he learned soon after getting to know Grandpa that if he was scheduled to meet with him he'd better allow for some extra time, because Grandpa was passionate about his knowledge and interests and loved to speak about his projects in detail! And he ended by saying that he hoped that up in Heaven Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison had scheduled a little extra time for meeting Grandpa also!
We enjoyed all being together (except Dawn, who is a new manager at Turner Labs) even though the reason was a sad one. I'm so glad we got the photo of Grandma Weyer with the four great-grandsons, Nathan, Gabriel, John Thomas, and Elijah.
John J and JT have done a lot of yard work. Last night they and Grandpa hung the baby swing in the big oak tree. JT loved it after he got used to it. It seems as though you're going to fly out over the hill when you go up it that swing! John J has also been working hard on his car. We ate out tonight at the 50's style Maid Rite diner and then went to Kohl's for some new duds for JT.
I'm really missing Elizabeth and guess I will be all summer.....She will be getting a great deal of experience, though, with her internship! We're so proud of her for receiving the 4K Kern scholarship, a college of liberal arts scholarship.

Charles visits Kalona

It's been a long week so far! But, I want to backtrack and add some photos from last weekend when we went to Kalona and Iowa City with Charles. We went to the Amish run Stringtown Grocery for some Amish baked goods and staples and then to the cheese house for cheeses and meats (unfortunately Charles forgot to pack his purchases so I guess we HAVE to eat them!!). I love to drive past the Amish farmhouses and see the horses and buggys.
Then we went on to Iowa City, picked up Elizabeth and went to the mall. She found a pair of great high heels for $19 (which had been $110--my kind of sale!!)! We went out to eat, shopped for some groceries for her, and headed home. We paid a visit to Aunt Judy in the evening. And we stopped on the way to Kalona for Charles to see my mom. A busy and fun day!