Croup DeVille

Our little Owen gave us quite the scare this weekend. (Well, me at least!) He had to be taken to the doctor because he was having difficulty breathing. He was diagnosed with Croup and given meds to help open his airway. This was the first time our little O-O refused to smile in his whole life. The little look of horror on his face was so sad. I hope that he is back to 100% by his birthday on the 25th. Both sets of grand-parents will be here to celebrate with us!

Heritage Hill Visual Tour

Many of you know that I LOVE Heritage Hill in Grand Rapids. My dream home would be something from the Edwardian age- preferably Mission style or Prairie style. Heritage Hill has its down side as well, but overall it is quite inspiring and lovely. Here is a nice photo essay to help you appreciate the area of town which I love.

Twenty-seven? That CANNOT be right? Is it?

Happy birthday to a wonderful woman. Lydia turns 27 years old today and we wish her many more. Lydia is the one that keeps this family grounded and sane. She is a loving wife and mother who has sacrificed SO MUCH so that she can be the best wife and mother to me and to Anna and Owen. We love and thank her today for her sacrificial love towards us.

Microsoft Works Suite 2006

A collage of cuties!

Owen, looking a little "bright." He is my little sunshine.

Anna's pretty new shirt. Yeah for Rainbow Brite!

Don't be critical. I do not claim to be a "fertographer" (that's for you Nate and others in Corry, PA...wink,wink). I just wanted to try out my new program and see what I could do. I bet Nathan will be able to come up with some pretty cool stuff! This is unlike me, but I'd have to say, these kids are pretty cute. Let's quote Opa Jim, "Two wrongs can make a right." :)

Fiesta Tea Party

Here are some more pictures of Anna and her Fiesta tea party. She invites her three Cabbage Patch dolls to join her. She says that she loves 'Anna's tea parties'.

The Weekend Away

Anna and I left Lydia and Owen this weekend so that we could attend my cousin Stephanie's wedding. We had a really nice time, although we were very happy to come home so that we could have our family together again.

Lydia and Owen gave Anna a gift so that she would be occupied while on the plane. She played some while on the plane, but thought that the best part was describing everything that was on 'Anna's airplane'.

She also brought some pretzels to eat while on the plane. She loved the tray and thought that moving it up and down then latching it over and over was a great thrill. The man in front of her was asleep, so I am sure that he would not have been pleased if he were awake!

When we got to Oma and Opa's we swam, ran in the yard, weeded some for Oma and had a great time. We got to meet the new dog of the neighbor's. Wrigley is a Royal Standard Poodle. He is so cool. Anna wants one but I told her we would have to wait for Sedgwick to go to the taxidermist first.
At the wedding my brother's daughter was the flower girl. She did pretty well. She looked super cute too. It is hard to believe that a couple of fat ol' brothers can have such cute kids!
Anna danced at the reception. She was the life of the party. She must get that dancing ability from her mother because I certainly do not have it!
I will post one of the wedding party as soon as my cousin Erin emails them to me.

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Steven Birn!

I was unable to take pictures due to Nathan taking my camera. (Yes, this is Lydia posting.)

Owen and I had a very nice time at the wedding of Steve and Janna. Congratulations! Janna was a very beautiful bride. It was refreshing to hear the vows that I made 4 years ago with Nathan. Thank you Owen for behaving yourself. Paige and I spiked his hair for you Nate!

Hopefully someone will email some pictures so that Nathan can see what he missed. Then, I can verbalize the event, and Nathan can blog it. He has an incredible blogging (writing) talent that I lack. So, he can make an exciting post out of it. I will probably leave out the part where I eat about 15 pounds of chocolate at the reception.....yummmmmmm.

(Waiting for a blog post on Steph's wedding. I bet she, too, was beautiful.)

Anyways, we are very happy for this new couple! Woot! Woot! (that reminds me of Janna)

Shake it like it's hot!

My first day away from Lydia and Owen. It was hard last night without Lydia. Anna cried a little for Owen and Mama, but overall she did great!
We went out for breakfast this morning at Perkins. Anna ate nothing but was offended that her grandfather ate the sausage off of her plate.

After breakfast we went to a few antique stores that are here. Corry has some really nice ones. I bought a Fiesta mixing bowl from the late 1930s that was pretty nice. We then went to the 'Whistle Stop Antique Mall'. The owners were bustling around and trying to put out new mechandise. There was a late 1920s tin train that I had my eye on but it was way too much for my budget. But I did get a find. There was a forest green Fiesta salt and pepper shaker set that was from the early 1950s. Forest Green is one of those hard to find fiesta colors that people do not know too much about unless they are collectors. It was not marked so I asked the guy that putting new merchandise out how much it was.

What is the date? he asked. I was not sure where he was going. It is the 26th so... (I knew where he was going- I thought he was going to say $26 which I would have easily paid.) He said $2.60!!! I bought it before anyone could argue about the price. We also got a few Hardy Boys books and a 1930s Fisher Price counting pull toy. Very nice!

When I got back to my parents I went to Medium Green online which is a Fiesta collectors resource. They price my new salt and pepper shakers at $45 EACH. That is $90 worth of Fiesta for $2.60.

I love Corry PA!

Owen and the Jetplane

Owen is becoming such a little card. He has been showing us that he is moving out of infancy into toddlerhood. It is amazing to watch the little guy grow and to begin to develop a personality. His sense of humor seems to be great.
I am going to miss him this weekend as Anna and I fly to Pennsylvania for my cousin's wedding. Of course, I will miss Lydia as well!

Baby George

Here is Mrs. Pickering 3 hours after the delivery of Baby George Brice. Marion looked great after having worked from 8:00 PM until 2:30 PM the next day. (Wow.) Here is the new auntie. Loretta is Marion's younger sister who is quite amazed that this little thing was inside of her sister.
Anna thinks that this is too weird. "George the monkey?" No Anna. This is Miss Moes and Mr. Justin's baby George.
He is very cute.

Brookfield Zoo

Here are some pictures from the Brookfield zoo. With all of the excitement around new baby, two weddings, and great gardening weather (yeah I planted the Sum and Substance from Horrock's) it has been difficult to blog. Here are some, we hope that you enjoy:

Shhh...It Is Still A Secret In Blogdom

This just in:
Anna is preparing Earl Grey for her new friend.

GEORGE BRICE PICKERING
Born: May 23, 2006
Time: 2:26 PM
Weight: 9 pounds 5 ounces
Length: 20 inches

Congratulations to Justin and Marion Pickering!(As well as the new Opa Ray Lanning and Oma Linda Lanning.)

What Goes on in Chicago Does Not Stay in Chicago

We had a really nice visit with Lydia's parents. Upon arrival at Ashbrook we were able to see the diligent work of the Mexican landscapers who were completing their annuals for the season. The entrance to Ashbrook is always so beautiful- like a garden in itself.
We pulled up to the Malysa's house and were warmly welcomed by Irma who was putting the finishing touches on the day's gardening. She had filled the yard waste bag and confidently placed it at the side of the road without a tag. She informed us that she and the man who picks up the yard waste "had an agreement". A few hours later we dragged the untagged brown bag back into the garage- I guess that the agreement did not hold for this week.
Opa Lawrence was happy to see Owen. Owen was quite content with biting his nose, pinching his face, and loving him in his own pre-toddler boy way.
Oma was happy to see her little Anna as well. Oma has been teaching her all of the fine skills that are required to be a Malysa lady. Anna loves her Oma very much.
Owen was quite impressed with Tante Heidi as well as Peaches the bird that they have owned for 15 years. Peaches says "Hi pretty" to which everyone replies, "Hi pretty." At Owen's age Anna was terrified of Peaches.
Irma made a fine European Goulosh. Not that noodley-beany-meaty-tomato pastey thing that we Americans are used to; but a fine array of beef with egg noodles and potatoes. It is garlic and onion filled goodness. Owen ate SO MUCH of it!

Owen also got to learn what Malysa women do- they clean EVERYTHING! Owen's face was cleaned with Cetaphil and warm water- a bucket full.
We thought that it was going to rain so we did not go to the zoo that day. We went to a park and enjoyed a nice walk around a scenic pond. We fed the ducks and geese, dodged their waste, and saw many baby ducks and goslings.

We also played on the swings. This is a great picture of all of the Malysa's and the grandchildren on the swings together.

We had a really great time together. You will see how our trip to Brookfield went later. Good times.

Down the road in my permagrin

As we made our way towards Chicago the excitment was more than we could handle. I had an uber-excited grin the entire ride while the children slept soundly in their law enforced harnesses.



We had a great time and there are more pictures to come. There may even be a gnome story in here for those of you who are into that sort of thing.

Chi Town

We are going to be spending a few days away from Grand Rapids. With the close of the semester a quick get-away is in order. We are going to stay with Lydia's parents in Indianhead Park, IL which is a Chicago suburb.

We are planning on going to either the Brookfield Zoo or the Shedd Aquarium If it rains we will be at the Shedd.

We will have a post to let you all know what a great time it was. We cannot wait to see the family. It is has been too long with all of our busy schedules.

Owen, eat food.

Anna is doing a great job in filling the 'bossy older sister' role. It is amazing that you do not even have to teach her how to boss around her younger brother- it comes so naturally! Some of this natural bossiness can be used for her advantage though. She can be very helpful with Owen.
Notice Owen's shirt- it is not going too well; but it is a good start. With lots of love and some discipline she is going to develop into a great, big sister!

Chasing Vermeer

Today I started my summer reading. I began with Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. I also finished it.

LOVED IT!

We Are Back

I know that it has been like eating broccoli for Life On Union Avenue to be closed, but we are back! We will keep you updated with stories from our lives, tidbits of information, and especially pictures for the Omas and Opas to see.
The semester ended officially this date at 12:57 Post Meridian when I hit send on the Yahoo! account to zip my final three projects over to the seminary.

It is sort of anti-climactic, since Wednesday was the day that I had to preach for the seminary. I hope to spend time in the garden this summer, as well as reading, and some travel. I look forward to the 2+ months off.

Welcome Back!

May 12th is the close of the semester. I will begin posting again that evening. The children are well as are we. Thanks for your prayers and concerns as the semester crashes to a close! I hope to enjoy the Springtime and a nice barbecue on that day.