Spring 2009

 

   Boy, I’m really running behind. It’s that time of year when all kinds of things start happening and I’ve been putting the “blog” on the back burner. Some of this news will go back a ways……

We spent Super Bowl Sunday afternoon at Ken’s. (For those who don’t know, Ken is a very good friend of the family, ….a long story). Most of us were cheering for the losing team but there was lots of great food and good company. Here we all were waiting for the first 3D commercial.  Alex is getting fitted so he can view the pet commercials.

            

We celebrated Pat & Lana’s anniversary on March 1st. Usually we all meet at a restaurant, have dinner, visit a while and go home. Not for “Pat”, ……Oh no, we had to go to their house, eat all kinds of calorie laden food, then “play cards” None of the rest of us siblings wanted to, but we did anyhow so Pat wouldn’t pout. Seriously we had a great time, had a lot of laughs, and had some great food.  Here is a pic of the crew at Pat & Lana’s home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashli had her Kindergarten class play. She was a show stopper with her beauty and talent. Here are a couple of pictures. In case there is any doubt, she is a lamb.

                      

Maddy is an occasional visitor when she’s not in school. Here she is on a Saturday afternoon watching a movie and eating a PB&J sandwich on Grandma & Grandpa’s couch.

Easter has rolled around again. We had our annual Easter egg hunt in honor of Mom and Dad. Had a good turnout and a beautiful day! It’s great to get the family together on this day. Here are a few shots of the Easter Bunny and his adoring fans.

We spent Easter Sunday at Jay & Karen’s. (Helen’s brother and Sister in law). Had the usual great meal and visit.

Oldie……The “oldie” for this blog is Pat on his trike.

Will try to do better keeping up with the blogs. Lots of stuff going on in the spring. Rainy day today. Helen and Sarah are gone to Kara’s shower. I’m supposed to be cleaning the garage. Better get going.

             Jerry

Winter 2008/2009

What a winter it’s been. Record cold temperatures and plenty of snow. Helen has been getting her fill of snow shoveling. At times I have to help her as I don’t want her to hurt herself and not be able to work. If that happened, I’d have to work. Life is so complicated. 

                                  

 

Bridget came to visit Sarah for a weekend. Bridget lived in Sarah’s suite at her EIU dorm.

                                            

Oldie….

Here’s a picture taken at Grandpa & Grandpa Murphy’s. 

I think from the right is Me, Jan, John, and Kathy. Correct me if I’m wrong.

                                  

Trip to Mexico……

We “siblings”  and our spouses took a 4 night, 5 day trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico this month. We all had a great time. The temperature on the Thursday night when we left was –20 degrees. When we landed in Mexico the temp was in the low 80’s. Here’s  two of many, many pictures that we took.   

                                  

Above is the “crew”. From bottom left….Pat & Lana, Charlie & Pam, Les & Beth, John & Ginger, Myself & Helen.

   We bought an acrylic painting from this fellow who had deformed arms and hands. he held his paint brush with his teeth. When we were looking over his paintings, he’d reach out and grab one with his toes and pass it to us.

  

This little boy was hanging around an outdoor market while his mother was selling to the tourists…..

 

Here are a few more pictures of the area where we stayed…..

Christmas Holiday Season

It's hard to believe that we're through the Christmas holiday season again. The kids came over to celebrate on Christmas Eve. Helen said that the bedroom, (where I put the new fireplace), had to be finished. We contracted Michele to do the wallpaper border.









Kringle was all "pumped" for Christmas. He had some of the packages under the tree staked out as a rest area.
















We had our family dinner on Christmas Eve. Attending were....Mary & Ashli. Michele, Ryan, her boyfriend Cody, Paige and Matthew. Mike, Nicole, Mikayla, and Maddy. Sarah and her boyfriend Justin. Randy, Kathy, and Noah. Helen had to work until 3:00 pm which left me as cook. Sarah and Justin peeled the potatoes for me. We all ate too much and had a good time. Randy and Kathy had quite a drive in questionable weather, but we're glad they could make it.





Here is a picture of the family opening some gifts after dinner....



Below is some of the grandchildren on the stairs......









This isn't exactly Hugh Hefner, but I am wearing a new and badly needed robe that I got from Helen.









Here are Sarah and Justin opening gifts on christmas Eve.....










Helen, myself, the Children and the Grandchildren spent New Year's Eve at Mike and Nicole's house. Mike & Nicole's family got the ever popular Wii for Christmas. Here's three future stars...








Maddy......












Sadie is one of Mike & Nicole's two little dogs. She endured all the people disrupting her home and just relaxed on the floor.

Ashli celebrated her 6th birthday at the Pizza

Hut

Thanksgiving Holiday

 

                                                                      The Cats

There are two members of the family that you haven't been introduced to. Katze and Kringle. Katze is German for "Cat". We brought Kringle home around Christmas time. They pretty much do what they want around here. 

                     Katze                                                                                                                    Kringle

 

      They play together pretty well when they're in the mood. Kringle is a Tomcat and weights about 18 lbs. Katze is a female and weighs about half that. She can "hold her own" when she needs to.

Below to the left is one of my favorite pictures of the two of them. Katze had been here for awhile, Kringle was the new "Stranger". Kringle was pretty little, but in no way intimidated by Katze.

                                                                   

Above to the right is the two of them today. They're "pals" at times. Here they are watching birds out the window.

                             Murphy Family Day at John & Ginger's

  We had our annual "Murphy" holiday get together at John & Ginger's. Ginger prepared a delicious turkey and everyone else brought pot luck. Had too much to eat and everyone had a great time. Here are a few pictures ........

                                      

 

                                            Annual Christmas Walk    

Princeton held their annual Christmas walk last weekend. Most of the shops are open on Sunday to kick off the holiday shopping season. Many businesses have cookies and punch. It's a tradition that Dad and the three daughters "do the walk". Helen usually has to work. Such was the case this year.

On the left is a picture of the four of us taken at Citizens Bank where Beth works. Pretty good looking bunch, huh? Center is Sarah and Justin posing at the bank entry...

                           Above right,.....Me, goofing around, trying to impress the daughters. (Didn't work)

                                         Thanksgiving at Jay & Karen's

We spent Thanksgiving day with Jay, (Helen's brother), and Karen in Buffalo Grove. Karen prepared a fantastic meal as she always does. The pictures below are of Jay, Karen, and their three daughters,....Jana, Krista, and Kara. Also guests for dinner were Kara's fiance, Joe, along with his parents, Joe Sr. and Susan.

                                   

We were all full but still had room for desert                    Had to plan some dumb card game after we ate.

                                                                                                                 I wanted to take a nap.

                                 

         Jay, Karen, and the girls.                                                                     Kara and Joe

 

 

Hope that you all have a great upcoming holiday season!

 

                          

                    Jerry