Great America, August 30, 2007

Gotcha Day #3, August 30, 2007

Gotcha Day #3, August 30, 2007

Three years ago, Justin came to be part of our family.

Click on the collage and it will enlarge.

Gotcha Day #3

Remembering Gotcha Day

Click on the collage and it will enlarge.

Abbey and Justin playing

3 years ago, this little boy was placed in our family. He has been a joy and a blessing to each of us. How one little boy could bring such pleasure and joy is amazing. God's Grace is amazing. Anyway, I'm hoping you can see all the laughing, chasing and giggling that is going on between Abbey and Justin.

Click on the collage and it will enlarge.

Look what Daniel came home with...

One of Daniel's costomers gave this to Daniel, it had never been used, it had been used as a prop for a photographer's studio. Daniel bought a new battery and had to do some minor repairs, but it works great. Justin was a little hesitant of it at first, but it didn't take long for him to want to ride it alone. It can hold him and Wendy. After they were driving around, we realized real quick he'll need a helmet.

Jamestown 400, day 6, June 15, 2007

Do you wonder what they are pointing at...?






Another slide show of Jamestown.
June 15, day 6, which started at Fort Pocahontas near Williamsburg, VA, the grounds and home of the descendants of President John Tyler. A children's parade started the celebration, fifes and drums, military arms and reenactments, speakers and the laying of the Jamestown Children's Monument. Later through the evening more speakers plus the "Liberty Day" reenactment of the Second Virginia Convention. Food, books and balloon rides. A long but exciting day. The slide show is about 3 or 4 min. long.

Jamestown 400, day 5, June 14, 2007

Day 5 started with a "mini tour" with Dr. Paul Jehle and tour of Jamestown Island. Then we moved on to Jamestown Settlement, later we purchased hats in Williamsburg and fancied them up a bit, while Justin took a swim in the hotel pool. Later that evening there was a re-enactor who portrayed Patrick Henry and Gary DeMar spoke at the Marriott for Vision Forum.


Strand Family waiting for Dr. Jehle to begin.



Jessica E. listening to Mr. Jehle.



Statue of Capt. John Smith



Mr. Jehle telling the story of Capt. John Smith fighting the "David and Goliath" battle with the Muslim "Goliaths" and how all the ladies screamed. We'd heard it prior to this, but his rendition was great.


Inside the church at Jamestown Island.


Lauren S. looking things over inside the church.




One of the early towers dated 400 years ago.




The Wendy and Raeanne Show....

at Jamestown Settlement.










Lori V., Anna V., and Megan C.







Joanna E., Raeanne C. and Wendy



Jessica E. and Abbey







Back at the pool.






Roger E., Joanna E., Abbey and Wendy just relaxing and watching Justin swim.

Megan, Joanna, Wendy and Abbey







Turning an $18 hat into a $45+ hat. The girls purchased a plain hat, then added all the ribbon and detail, Abbey finished hers and it looked quite lovely.

Silly faces on the Jamestown trip

The Strand household must have some good laughs. :)

Stuart

Erik

Good to be home.

Justin, Wendy and Dee have been traveling away from home since the last few days of July, but are home. Though it was good to visit and travel, it is so good to be home. Bob and Abbey did some traveling also, making two trips to WV in two weeks time, Daniel making one trip.



So our August has been quite busy, to say the least. While we were away, Abbey canned tomatoes (which she says it is quite a boring job all by yourself), took care of the household, began sewing a kilt, helped Rachel I. finish her 1860's dress, finished another sewing project (OK, Abbey said I could say it was a corset. She was experimenting with a pattern, making an extra one for others to borrow) completed a catering order, etc. Daniel was busy as always rescueing ladies in distress (clogged sinks or worse!), and Bob's work is always hectic. Wendy, Justin and Dee traveled first to WV for a family reunion on Dee's mom's side, the Presley reunion. Then visited with Dee's Granny in southern WV, then traveled and stayed with Dee's mom and dad in SC. { we were forced to lay on the beach several mornings :) }, Wendy golfed a couple times, etc. We then all packed up and headed to WV again for first a memorial service for Dee's great-uncle and then a family reunion on Dee's, dad's, mother's side. Daniel, Bob and Abbey had joined us in WV. We then packed up and headed to the Chicago area for more visits with MaMa and PaPa and next week-end Julie's wedding, (Dee's brother, Rich's step daughter.) Whew!! Lots going on, but good to be home.

The bad and the good of being in the south.

The bad and the good of being in the south....

if you click on the middle picture you can see that the temperature is reading 110 degrees.

$2.45 was the lowest we saw. It is over $3 most of the time in the Chicago area.

Egg toss, balloon toss

Another couple slide shows, these are only a min. or two long. I love the faces and the intensity of the games. Some of the pictures are great, that's why I had to include so many of them. (we take way too many pictures). Top one is at the Yen's house on the fourth of July, the 2ND one was done in our back yard.

I've got the slide show set on fast, so hopefully it doesn't make you ill. Again, click on the x in the left hand corner of the box. This should take you to Slide. If you want it to run slower or you want to look more closely, choose the gallery option, once you are in Slide. If you'd like a certain picture, e-mail me and I'll try to send it to you.

Scenes from Colonial Williamsburg, day 4, June 13, 2006

Scenes from Colonial Williamsburg,

June 13, 2006

Day 4

"To Have and to Hold" drama at the Marriott.

Plus sweet fellowship at our hotel after a long day.

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**Click on the left-side x in the large box above and on the box following, for part 2**

This should take you to "Slide", hopefully it works and there is not too much "garbage" along the side.

The first one is about 5 min. long and the 2nd one a little more than a minute. Once you are in Slide you are able to choose the gallary option if you'd like to see pictures individually. If you want any of the pictures, e-mail me and I'll try to send them to you. Sorry I'm a little heavy on pics of Ab. and Wen. :)

Regarding Slide: Please let me know if something is inappropriate or just plain not working.

Scenes from Colonial Williamsburg, part 2

Abbey is 21!!

Happy Birthdy to our Abbey. She turned 21 on Monday. We were unable to get a picture up and wish her a happy day on her actual birthday. Sunday we all (not Daniel he was in IL) had lunch with MaMa and PaPa at Pipestem Resort in WV, she then flew back to Chicago with her dad. I think she and her dad enjoyed the alone time and traveling together. Monday, on her birthday, she was able to have birthday dinner with her dad, brother, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Dedee, Andrew & a friend along with Kyle, plus Grandpa Jack and Lynn.

We love you Abbey, what a blessing you are.
(From Mom: we all miss you being with us, see you soon.)
Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Ricky!

Last week, Justin's friend Ricky C. turned three, yeah Ricky!

We've been away from high speed internet, so this is the first I can get to the blog. Mostly Abbey or Dee do the blogging. Dee, Wendy and Justin are at MaMa and PaPa's in SC. Abbey, Bob and Daniel are at home. Abbey is busy keeping everyone clean and fed and taking care of Isabel, plus has a couple other projects she is working on.

(Dee): I'm trying to get pictures loaded onto the blog, but dealing with pictures on the laptop and blogging on another computer, (my mom's), then trying to get the pictures to my mom's computer. So it is a little more work and the pictures load slower. I'm trying to figure out how to load a slideshow onto the blog, but haven't quite figured that out yet.

So as I'm working back and forth between computers, somehow Justin has loaded a picture of Dawn B. and her dog as my mom's wallpaper/desktop on her computer. I'm not sure how he did it and I'll have to figure out how to get it off. Though we think Dawn is great and the dog cute, my mom doesn't know her at all. :)!

Happy Birthday Ricky. We love you.