New on the Homefront

First, wanted to say that my husband, Bob, is now RETIRED!! After 37 years with Ford Motor Company, he has taken the buy out package and is going to stay home and gets things in order in the house, take care of PAPERS/FILING all over the house, then start painting! We have been in this house for 14 years and it's time to start paying attention to it. It will (I hope) be nice to have him at home and take some of the stress off of both of us having to figure out how to get Matt here and there and who is going to stay home from work so that we can let the cable people in, or the phone company, or whomever!!! I think this is going to be a good thing.

On another note, we've had a couple deaths that have hit close to home. First, my sister-in-law, Julie's, father passed away. He was such a good guy and he will be missed. He stayed with my brother and his family during the summertime and then lived with his son and daughter-in-law in the winters. I remember him BEST for his great stuffed cabbages, nobody will EVER be able to come close to his - and also his love of the dogs! and the kids!!

Last Sunday (February 25th) my Aunt Kate passed away in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was my mother's older sister and my mother's best freind. She had 9 children (6 boys, 3 girls). Her youngest was hit by a car and killed when he was 4 years old. We were visiting at the time for his oldest brothers wedding. I will never forget that. Another one of her son's passed away a few years ago, I think he was working in Texas when he died - and her husband, my Uncle Les passed away of lung cancer a few years ago too. http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=GB000086644100

My Aunt Kate will always be remembered for her great sense of humor, her love of children, her stories, and her great home-cooked meals! I was blessed that I was able to visit with her in the last couple years on our trips out West and was able to get a lot of photographs of her which will always mean a lot to me. Talk about a lady with a big heart, that was my aunt.

Kathy, Ron and Patty drove to Council Bluffs for the funeral. A blizzard came through and stranded them for a couple days (they were suppose to be back on the road for home on Friday morning - but I BELIEVE they got out of there last night (Saturday night). Haven't talk to them yet, but hopefully they had a safe trip home and Pat will make a flight from Detroit to Boston today.

I've added a photo of some of us "kids" with Aunt Kate taken I think in the summer of 2005? I was also there last summer (2006), but I thought this photo was a good one to add.