finally...an update

Ok, Mende, here is the update you scolded me about! We celebrated Leena's birthday on 7/18 at Famous Daves. Leena got to pick the restaurant. We met Lacy and Mat in St. Joe as we had Leena all last week. I included pics of the celebration and of Leena at the park. We enjoyed her so much and miss her already. She cried when we had to say goodbye and Grammie cried inside. Phil took the week off to spend time with Leena and had a blast. He is the greatest grandpa anyone could have. He bought a trail-a-bike that attaches to his bike so he and Leena could ride in the Hopkins Picnic Bike Ride. Tanner joined them. She learned to ride her bike w/o training wheels just before she came to our house. Phil and the kids went swimming a lot. We stayed at a cabin at Mozingo as Phil won a free night from the city. We had a lot of fun! I didn't get to be there as much as I had to work. The fun filled 24 hrs involved fishing, swimming, grilling out, and making s'mores. Mom, Dad, and Carson came to eat with us. The picture of Mat is...ummmmm...wierd...so I put it in twice! Just so you all will know what we live with!

Can you believe Leena will be 6 on 7/20? It doesn't seem possible that Leena, Bryli, and Riley will all be 6 soon! Mom was right, time flies even faster when you get older...even the ripe old age of "29".

Lacy will graduate in August. What a long road, but she made it. We are proud of her! The doctor told her she was going to have a girl but I want to wait to see what the next ultrasound reads. She wasn't very far along...they have been known to be wrong.

Davin is settled back in KC. We miss him. He is working at a pizza place and getting all lined up to attend UMKC. He is thinking about law...who knows! He got a 4.0 last semester at NWMSU! Proud of him, too!

Seth is working at Hy-Vee still and will be a senior this year! He isn't sure what he wants to do after graduating. He has toyed with the military but not for sure. Whatever he decides, we'll support him!

Tanner is going to be in 8th grade...the last year at Maryville Middle School. He and Collin are business partners in mowing lawns. They also still have their paper routes.

Collin will move on to 7th grade. He has been busy staying with Lacy and Davin this summer. We had Alex for a few days which was fun. He is such a ham!

Well...hope this helps, Mende, with the boredom of the birds!

Love you all!

Carla

Wildlife at MERIL

I have bird feeders outside my office window. Lately I have had visitors...cardinals, yellow finch, and finch with red/brown. We also had a baby bunny. I love watching them...yeah, I do work too!

Collin's birthday piks

My baby is now a teenager! I guess this means I really am 29 for sixteen years! Collin had some friends over and Tanner was here. Collin put the cake on his face as I told him that he did this when he turned 1.

Just Because...

Tanner gave me the lilacs for Mother's Day. Seth gave me a dozen pink roses but sadly, I didn't get a picture of them as they didn't last long. Collin made me breakfast in bed. Lacy and her family called me as well as Davin.

Ok, I have to brag on my husband. God was truly saving the best till last! He had flowers delivered to me...just because! What did I do to deserve this man? He is the best friend I have ever had. I thought I would share photos of the flowers with you.

Rules of Life

I thought this was interesting and very true. Bill Gates gave this speech at a graduation:
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Pics from Mat and Lacy's St. Louis reception

Lacy's wedding dress. The moment you see your daughter in her wedding gown contains so many emotions. I was so proud of her and so very happy for her. She has found her knight in shining armour. We love Mat so much.

Ava, Tim and Mende (Staten) Kemper's daughter had a blast with Leena at the reception. It was so cute when Ava decided she would try the cake before anyone else!

The St. Louis cake.

Random pics

This is 253's sidekick! Leena wanted to try on Grandpa's helmet. For those of you who don't know, 253 is Phil's call number.
Gee...aint I cute? What an angel!


These were taken at Lacy and Mat's reception in St. Louis



Grandma and Grandpa visited Leena's school. Great Grandma Donna went also. We posed with Leena and a doll she likes to play with.