Mom has worked very diligently to move Angela's remains to Marshfield. Finally after about ten months of effort Mom picked up her casket in Minneapolis on Thursday. We hope to dedicate her final resting place here in Marshfield tomorrow afternoon. It will surely bring a peace to Mom and me.
Logan's huge excitement this week was the Central Wisconsin Fair. His favorite hen won first place in her class. When Logan and I walked into the chicken area there must have been 100 or more pens. At first Logan thought his hen took third place. When he realized it took first place you can only imagine how happy he was. He did not leave the area for 45 minutes as he kept coming back to look at his hen and the blue ribbon. I sent a text picture to many of you. I hope you enjoyed it. As an added piece of joy Logan earned his second class rank in Scouts. He is anxious to complete his first class soon. He is only two requirements away.
Emily started her senior year this last week. She is taking 5 AP classes. She seems to be ready for the challenge of this year while at the same time she is looking at colleges. She has enjoyed driving my car some days to school and likes the added freedom of not having to wait on a ride or to beg a ride from a friend.
Lanette started this week at Marshfield High School. She is enjoying her classes which includes a gym class and choir class (personally arranged by Mom). She is reading a book sent by the Wisconsin State Library for the Blind. That is a big deal since Lanette gets very attached to books and does not want to send them back. She is learning however that being willing to send the books back permits her to read some other books she really wants to read. I think it is going to work out well.
Mom has enjoyed a few get-aways with the start of school. One was the trip to Minneapolis to pick up Angela's casket. The other was a lunch at a favorite restaurant on Friday with Grant and me. She is anxiously shopping now for Julie and Stacie in a effort to try and make their lives special. She is very excitedly looking forward to the coming of two new grandchildren and our hope that our three grandsons will arrange in the States soon. Of course, she always is excited to have news about our two lovely granddaughters in Colorado.
I have enjoyed my week with challenges at work. I really do love nephrology and new cases are a lot of fun. I have wonderful patients that bring a smile to my face. One little boy is nearly two years old. He received a kidney transplant in January from his dad. He has curley hair and a funny little smile. Right now we are dealing with a nasty viral infection in him but despite that he just comes into my office and makes me grin. This virus is dangerous because it has the potential to create malignancy. He is showing signs of clearing the virus and with that clearance the risk of cancer wanes. This week I was able to buy a new bike. It is great. I love to ride it. I will send a picture soon.
Grant's News
Grant worked a lot at the restaurant this week, thanks to other folks being gone for school, Labor day weekend, and the fair. Although the long hours and closing shifts wear him out, he is thankful that he is starting to be seen as an important part of the team at the restaurant. As a result of the cooler weather, Grant's pumpkin patch is progressing rapidly. He has 15+ pumpkin out there and they are quickly turning orange. The pumpkin vines have grown into a thicket that runs along the side of the house, so Grant is going to have to dig through the tall grass to find all the pumpkins. He is very excited for the fall season and especially that now it is only about a month until he will be going to see Stacie and Kevin in Albuquerque.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week Kevin and Stacie fell into their "fall semester groove." The week was spent commuting to work and school, working hard, catching up on homework, and spending evenings reading. On Tuesday, Stacie was happy to convince Kevin to take her to the bookstore so she could purchase the rest of the Hunger Games series. On Thursday, they experienced a big downpour of rain. While waiting to cross the street to get to the bus stop, Stacie was able to pull Kevin away from the curb just in time as a bus passed and shot a high wall of water across anyone standing close enough.
On Friday they went out to dinner together and then enjoyed walking around Barnes and Noble. Kevin found a book that he has been searching for called "The Lost Books of the Odyssey" and Stacie was excited to purchase "The Monster at the End of This Book" for their baby. On Saturday they started off their day by searching the many different Goodwills to find some new pants for Kevin. They ended up doing a full loop of the city and then found themselves at the mall near their house. They decided to eat lunch at Fuddruckers, a hamburger restaurant with a dangerous name. They really enjoyed the food and the chance to stop by the nearby pet store to see the dogs and cats. When they came home they were surprised to have received two packages at once. They were very thankful to Mom for sending some gifts and to Chandra for sending some Canadian hot chocolate, among other things.
Thank you to our sweet mothers and soon-to-be our baby's grandmas!
News of the Lane's of Virginia
This week, as Dad mentioned in a previous email, Jeff passed a ginormous test!!! About 60% percent of test-takers for this exam fail, so he did very well. We were very proud of his efforts!
On Thursday, was the long awaited moment to find out if we would be seeing trucks, dinos or footballs verses barbies, makeup and cuppy cakes. If you have not heard-the trucks, dinos and footballs will be lying in wait for our upcoming years.We are excited for the boy, but unsure what to call him since all the favorite names have been taken yet I am sure we will prevail. We have attached some pictures if you did not get to see them. I think the baby looks like Jeff- beware one of the pictures is really scary as the baby moved and it does not have all that cute baby fat yet on its bones. :) In the mood for Halloween???
After our doctors appointment on Thursday we went to IHOP to celebrate with friends.
Friday, Jeff worked late and then we enjoyed the first football game of the season.
Saturday, I took a sewing class, which led to Jeff and I buying some fabric for a double sided quilt and a night outfit for our future son. Julie then spent most of the day working on the quilt while Jeff enjoyed some football! See pictures of her work so far!
Julie
The Haws Family of Colorado
This week has been very busy for us. On Tuesday Haley had back to school night and we were able to see some of the things that she has been doing in school. On Thursday Kayla had her back to school night at her new school. The classrooms seem a little bigger but the building that they are in does not have an air conditioner so it makes the room extremely hot. Luckily Kayla goes in the mornings so it is a little cooler. On Friday we went to my friend’s house for her daughters first birthday. I was shocked because Haley at some cantaloupe there and actually liked it. Cantaloupe is another thing that I can now put on the grocery list of what Haley will eat! On Saturday we went to Haley’s best friend Sydney’s 6th birthday. The girls had a lot of fun playing with Sydney and the others. I on the other hand had a good time associating with the other adults although her mother is from Germany so everyone that was there beside me and two others were speaking German. I forgot to mention that Haley has had two spelling tests in school and has gotten 100% on both! Andy again is doing well and just trying to stay busy. I have his new address and again if you are planning on sending him anything please remember that he is not able to bring anything back due to the lack of space in his bags that he needs to bring home with him.
SSG HAWS, ANDREW
USCENTCOM-CCJ4
USFOR-A, RD
APO, AE 09365
Updates from Jeff and Family
I had the pleasure of talking with Jeff today. He enjoyed his birthday. One of the presents was paying for Matthew and him to go to Valley Forge and take a bike tour. They are planning their trip now. I hope they will enjoy it. Matthew has become a wonderful friend and co-worker to Jeff. It is fun to see them together. Between the two younger Haws boys they have given Uncle Steven a lot of new energy and I sense the business is blossoming. That is an unusual thing in this day and age of economic uncertainty. But considering the uncertainty that probably helps push clients Steven's way.
Renata has been ill with a respiratory condition such as asthma. I hope that it will settle down as they relocate to the US. I suspect it may do much better. All the rest of the family is doing well. We sure hope that they will be here by Christmas!!!
That would be SIX AP classes. not five.
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