Farm Visit, Bike Fall - 108/365

Today, Nana and Papa wanted to take Reagan down to the farm for a little visit before they head off to Myrtle. Reagan enjoys going down and showing off her toys and visiting with Zeke.

Before heading to the farm, they made a pit stop at Bob Evan's for Reagan's Piggy Pancake. She loves those pancakes! It's so funny!

They had a good visit with great grandma and granddad.

Jim and I just did some stuff around the house and enjoyed some lazy time. It was nice.

This evening, we took Reagan out to ride her bike. She took a turn too fast and toppled over. She was ok, except for a little skinned knee. She cried and cried. This was the first time she fell off. We made her get back on it and ride it home. She did it, but she cried the whole way home. You didn't know weather to laugh (since you knew she was ok) or feel really bad.

After that, she decided she wanted to just play chalk.

It was a nice evening despite the spill.

Piggy pancake

Grandad, Zeke and Reagan

Reagan and great grandma

Showing her skinned knee

Christmas Continues & January Birthdays - 4/365

We were off to the farm today to have our Christmas celebration. We were going to do it earlier in the month, but everyone had the funk, so we postponed until today. 

Nana and Papa got cavatelli, meatballs, sausage, salad and rolls from LaRocca's in Poland for our meal. It was SO GOOD!

Reagan got a lot of great presents. She was so excited! 

We did our traditional $20 boy/girl gift exchange. Jim got some cool tote bags and I got a Bob Evan's gift card and chocolate! 

We also celebrated all the January birthday's and Nana's from December today, too! We have four January birthdays on that side of the family! I got a bird house, candle and a Target gift card! I was pumped! LOVE Target!

We had a fun afternoon visiting with everyone!

Papa helping Reagan open presents

 Sitting with great grandma Downard

 Posing with the tree Belinda made

 Heading out to shop with Nana's purse!

 The cake!

Granny Visit & Cavs Game - 277/365

This evening, Reagan was going to have a PJ party at Nana and Papa's. 

They are leaving for Myrtle Beach in a few days, so they wanted to get some Reagan cuddles in. 

They first went down to the rehab facility where Great Grandma Downard is staying for awhile. Grandma Downard loves to see Reagan. It just brightens her day. They had a great visit down there. Reagan sat with her and did a few little dances, too! Grandma was thrilled. 

After their visit, they went and had dinner at Tippy. Reagan loves to eat Papa's cheese bowl from his salad. He's never allowed to get anything else to eat, because she always wants that cheese bowl! LOL! 

While they were having their fun, Jim and I headed up to Cleveland to catch the Cavs first preseason game. They were playing Maccabi Tel Aviv. Jim loves to go and check out the international games. It's a fun chance to see teams you would never see otherwise. Tel Aviv dis have a ton of fans there, too!

It was also a great chance to see Lebron James, back in his CAVS uniform! Woohoo! Yes, you are For6ivin! LOL!

The Cavs ended up defeating Tel Aviv 107-80. It was great!

The first pic is Reagan and Papa.

Next, Reagan and her Great Grandma Downard. 

Jim and I at the game. 

   
Tel Aviv fans!

Godzilla and Grandma - 137/365

Today was a busy day for everyone. 

Jim started his day in Salem for a Rotary Seminar at 7am. He's really gearing up for his presidency. He's nervous, but excited, too! He will do great! He said his meeting was good and uneventful.

After his meeting, he met his mom and dad to see Godzilla in Austintown. They had been really wanting to go, so they finally made it there today. They all really liked it! Jim said there were a couple parts that were hilarious because they were beyond your usual "farfetchedness"  for a movie. LOL! 

After the movie, they stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for some lunch!

 While they were doing that, Nana, Papa, Reagan and I took a ride down to Grandad Downard's house for a little visit. They just love seeing Reagan and watching her play. We had a nice visit and Reagan loved seeing Zeke, of course! She even made them cupcakes from her world famous cupcake game! They loved them!

The first picture is of Reagan and Grandma Downard.

Next, Greg and Nikki at Godzilla

Finally, Jim's meeting...

 

Grandma Visit & MOPS - 112/365

Today, Nana and Reagan were going to spend the day together, since Nana will be heading to the beach soon. Nana doesn't like when she doesn't get to see Reagan. LOL! 

They started at Bob Evan's for breakfast. Then, took a ride down to Salem to visit Great Grandma Downard in Rehab. Grandma is doing well and was SO EXCITED to see Reagan! It made her day! 

After that, they came back to Boardman and ran a few errands with a stop at Menchies...Reagan's FAVORITE! This evening, they had dinner at Nana and Papa's and Reagan and Papa played the world famous cupcake game! They had a great time.

This evening, Jim and Brinkley went for a walk, and I headed off to my MOPS meeting. Tonight, the mentor mom's were putting on a dinner party for us. Our dues were waved and no one had to bring food. They set round tables with table clothes, centerpieces and even got us little lotions as favors. It was so nice. They had cucumber sandwiches, fresh blueberry and apple cinnamon bread, pasta salad, pinwheels, nuts mix and brownies and graham cracker marshmallows for dessert! YUM!

We didn't have to sit at our assigned tables, so it was fun to be able to talk with other mom's you don't see very much! I got to sit with Paula, Jonai, Deanna and Marissa which was so nice and got to meet three new mom's, too. It was fun!

Next, the darling centerpiece from MOPS. 

 

62 Years - 209/365

Pretty laid back day today.

 We went down to grandma and grandad Downard's this afternoon. They were celebrating their 62nd wedding anniversary, so everyone went down to have a little picnic! 

62 years! How wonderful is that? They are still happy, too! What an amazing accomplishment in this day in age! Hopefully someday, Jimmy and I will see our 62nd wedding anniversary! I'll be 90 and he'll be 92! We can do it! 

My mom and dad brought a Subway sandwich tray along with fruit, pasta and potato salad. We also had a yummy cake and Handels ice cream! 

 We were also celebrating Aunt Barb, Aunt Jean and Jim's birthday's, too, busy party! 

Reagan loved chasing around Zeke as usual and giving him lots of lovin'. She also loved walking around delivering pretzels and giving hugs to everyone! That pretty much kept her busy the whole time. 

At one point, she asked for the chalk. Aunt Barb had given her chalk for Easter when we were down there. They had gone out and drew on the sidewalk that day. Well, yesterday she remembered that and was so bummed there was no chalk! Poor thing....

When we got home from the picnic, I cut the grass and did a little weeding and trimmed the bushes. While I did that, Jim, Reagan and Brinkley went for a walk at the farm. After all that, we played with chalk on the driveway, since she didn't get to play with it earlier. I asked Reagan to lay down on the driveway so I could trace her. After she saw her super cool chalk person, she wanted everyone to do it! We have the whole family out on the driveway! Looks like a CSI episode out there....LOL! 

The photo of the day is grandma and grandad...Happy 62nd Anniversary!

The next is our chalk family...

 

Buffett Day - 199/365

It was Buffet day today!

We did our walk right at 8:00 and we about died. It was another hot, hot, hot one. After the walk, Nana took Reagan and Brinkley back to her house for the day, and a slumber party. Jim got home from work around 4:00 and we were off to the show. 

We always pack a cooler and get sub sandwiches for our tailgate. We got right in and set up our camp. As we were sitting there, we started hearing claps of thunder. We checked the radar and it was barely a green blob, so we just kept sitting. After 10 minutes or so, we started hearing drops of rain on the trees. We packed it up quickly and sure enough it started pouring. The hatch on the Saturn opens straight up, so we just stood under there. It only rained for 15 minutes or so, and quit just in time to walk in. It was beautiful the rest of the night but HOT! 

I have to say, Jimmy Buffett's crowd is getting old. I guess we're getting old...LOL! Every year, it's starting to be more and more laid back. It's nice. He came out around 8:15 and played until 10:00. It was great! He just released a new CD (is that what you call it, still?) recently and played a lot from there. He still did all the classics, too though! He's just a hoot! He loves messing with the crowd. 

It was PACKED!! There wasn't a spot to be had in that place ANYWHERE! 

One fascinating thing to watch, is the crowd during "Fins". We were up towards the front, so it was awesome to turn around and watch the sea of people all waving their "fins" in unison. It was amazing! He really does have a cult following.

 Jim and I always say we want to try to see him every year, because you never know when he will want to call it quits. He is 60 some years old now! It was funny though, because he must have said three times last night, "Retire from this job, Ha ha ha! For what!?" Hopefully he means it and we get many more years of Buffett fun! 

 We left two songs early and got right out of the parking lot with no problems, it was great! We were home by 11:15. 

While we were "Wasting away again in Margaritaville," Reagan, Nana and Papa went down to visit great grandma & grandad Downard. They had a real nice visit and stopped for dinner at the Shale on the way home. Reagan and Brinkley just love their slumber parties at Nana and Papa's! 

 Thanks for keeping them, Nana & Papa! 

The photo of the day is us at Buffett!

 Then a collage of the stage...

Finally, Reagan and great grandma Downard...

 

Calm Day - 138/365

Today, was not nearly as exciting as yesterday, thank goodness! 

My mind still spends most of it's time thinking about Jack. I continue to pray he's OK.

This afternoon, I got to photograph a little boy for his first birthday pictures! I took some Valentine's pictures of him, that came out adorable, so I was excited to see him again. The shoot went relatively well. Mobile, one-year-old's, aren't about pictures, but we got some good ones! 

Raymond and Jennifer stopped over and brought Reagan a little miner's hat with a light on top. It's hot pink and totally adorable! She loves it! They also gave her a tiny cow necklace, which she was also crazy about! She still loves all things farm. She didn't want to take it off for her bath! 

 After we visited with them for awhile, Jim had to head off to the Boardman Rotary District Conference in Alliance. They ended up winning three of six awards, including the Rotary District Award, for the Boardman Rotary Oktoberfest! What a wonderful accomplishment for a wonderful club. Jim is so proud to be apart of it!

While he was at the conference, Nana, Papa, Reagan and I, went down to visit grandma and grandma Downard. Aunt Barb was there for a visit, too! We hadn't gotten to see grandma Downard for Mother's Day, since we were on our way home from the beach. I had made a photobook, with pictures of Reagan for her, so we got to give her the book. She loved it! Reagan hopped up in her lap and helped her leaf through it. It was cute! Aunt Barb, got Reagan some sidewalk chalk, so her and aunt Barb went out on the sidewalk and made some drawings while the rest of us chit chatted. 

We also go to see, up close for the first time since the nice weather came, one of the trees from Ruthie's memorial service. When my grandma Zabel passed away, we didn't have traditional calling hours or anything. We held a memorial dinner with family and close friends a couple weeks later. We passed out pine tree seedlings for everyone to plant in memory of Ruthie. My grandpa Downard had two and planted them in his backyard. They are doing so good and are really growing like crazy! We had Reagan go over and stand next to one! It was as tall as her now! It's amazing! 

When we left there, we stopped for dinner at the Shale! What a fabulous restaurant!

The photo of the day is Reagan and Grandma Downard enjoying her new photobook....

Had to add Reagan and the Ruthie tree....