My ---th Birthday

Yup, my 29.99999999th birthday, as I choose to call it, came and went on August 25th. Three days before my birthday, I was COMPLETELY surprised by a luau party thrown in my honor by my sisters (with a little help from Dru). All three of them did a fantastic job of keeping it a surprise - I had NO CLUE what was happening - as far as I knew I was meeting my sister and niece for a nice Sunday afternoon picnic and swim at Lucky Peak State Park. However, when we pulled up to the place we were to meet them, I began recognizing people who were NOT supposed to be there. I turned to Dru and asked, befuddled, "what the heck is this, Dru?? What the heck is this?!?!" He laughed and told me to get out of the car, which I was embarrassed to do as I hadn't taken a shower and had a bathing suit on underneath my grubby clothes. But I got out of the car and was greeted with a loud shouted "Surprise!" Surprise indeed!

The scene that we pulled up to


My birthday banner (the sign mistakenly has a 3-0 on it instead of 29.99999999)


The guilty instigators - Julia and Chelsea


Our family


Fin thought the surprise on Mommy was great


I mingled with guests for awhile - here with my nurse, Christie, from work and her mom - I was delighted they could come!


Of course Fin enjoyed being with Poppy

Even my 91-year-old grandmother showed up for the festivities!

Then it was time to eat - there was a snow-cone appetizer before dinner

And the boys (Ben and Dru) barbecued delicious marinated chicken and pineapple

Here I am with my plateful of Hawaiian goodies

After we ate, we played games - horseshoes, croquet, and volleyball

The master player

No, wait, here's the master player

A pic of the winning shot - or so I hoped; Julia actually beat me - barely

Then...my favorite part...CAKE!! Julia made this incredible Hawaiian cake

The detail was stunning - check out those palm trees and hibiscus flowers

She even hand-sewed together mini leis and fashioned tiny flip-flops out of icing!!!

A shot of me with my cake

And with the decorator

And with the planning committee

And my dearest hubby

And the whole fam

Fin loved eating the cake

I mean really loved it (you'd know how he feels if you tasted my sister's cake)

Then it was more fun and hanging out. Here's Gretchen Hawaiian style - "hangin' loose"

Gretchen and Callia in their Hawaiian gear

Poppy playing with the grandkids (of course)

And one final shot of me with my delightful sisters, who threw me a wonderful party. As a gift, my mom got me a bottle of wine called "Middle Sister" - classic. That pretty much says it all. Thank you, Jules and Chelsea!!!!

Movin' and Shakin'

Our little Finny isn't so little any more. At his one year check-up, he was 32 inches tall - in the 90th% for his height (up from 25% - unbelievable). His weight was in the 40th% and his head was 95th% (oh yeah, I always knew he had a big ol' noggin!) He's had quite the summer, doing all kinds of new activities. Here's a snapshot of some of his summer activities and acquired skills.

He has figured out how to open all kinds of things. He loves getting the lids off of things he can eat.


And he's developed quite the sweet tooth. Here he is with a classic strawberry milkshake mustache - I think he would be a good candidate for the "Got Milk?" commercials.


Our little buckaroo has also been to TWO rodeos this summer. Most recently, we went to the Caldwell Night Rodeo with our friend Anna. Here's Finny in his cowboy boots and jeans, enjoying the action.


He loved people watching

There was quite a crowd there - Fin couldn't decide between people-watching and watching the events

He was a happy camper for the entire rodeo

He would clap to the music and cheer when everyone else was cheering

This is the only shot I got of the events - here are the cowboys headed down the arena for team calf roping

Fin also switched to his big boy foward-facing car seat! He LOVES being able to see out the windows and I love being able to check on him in the rearview mirror.

Finny also took his first trip to the zoo. Zoo Boise is a nice little zoo; it was sweltering hot the day we went, but we still had fun.

We saw lots of animals - some of them Fin wasn't too sure about - check out his apprehensive face here....cute.

The tigers were out, which was neat

And this was a giant tortoise that I thought was a statue - nope, he moved.

They had a little petting zoo - here were some hungry goats

Fin was terrified and clung to my hip the whole time

Getting braver...

Now he's at least waving at them

Ah, his favorite part of any day...SNACK TIME

Then it was off to see the giraffes - we got pretty good views of them

Fin liked the fact that they were pretty far away

He was so exhausted that he conked out immediately on the car ride home

And when we got him home and into bed, this is how we found him when we went to check on him. Tired little bug!

Fin's also got the art of walking down. At first, he only walked well with a musical walking machine that our friends Rick, Lorena and Hannah got him for his 1st B-day - he got exceptionally good at walking with it, dancing at the same time, and navigating corners. Here's a little video.

Then he wanted to walk on his own. At first, it was a very awkward walk with his hands held straight up in the air. Dru called him "Franken-Fin" because it looked so much like Frankenstein. Here's a video of that.

Then he got to a point where he could walk and drink from his cup at the same time.


Then things got really impressive - he has a plastic recorder that he's figured out how to play, and here he's playing it AND walking at the same time. Boo-ya!


And now, he's running. Here's a very cute video of him playing with Dru - he loves to be chased and Dru is happy to oblige.

Lois Jean Smedshammer

Dru's mom, Lois Smedshammer, passed away last week, June 26th, after a severe battle with Parkinson's Disease. By all accounts, she was a funny, generous, witty, kind, talented woman. I had the privelage of meeting her 2 years ago; at the time her disease had already progressed, but she had a few good moments with me - she told me she was so glad Dru had met and married me and how much her sons meant to her. She also made me laugh with her mischeviousness and her love of ice cream. Fortunately, Dru had flown out to North Dakota for a visit 3 weeks before she passed away - a blessed time for him.

Our whole family was able to fly to North Dakota for the funeral. All 3 of Dru's brothers and their families were able to be there as well, which was wonderful. The first day there, we all met for lunch and then spent the afternoon looking through pictures and sharing memories.

At lunch - from bottom L to R - Bucky, Matthew, Rose, Fin, Isaac, Jacob


And the other table. From L to R - Darris, Mars, Kerry, Dru


Auntie Rose and Fin - the first time he got to meet her!


The four brothers - Darris and Kerry in back, Bucky and Dru in front

And the four grandsons - Fin, Jacob, Matthew, and Isaac

The service itself was lovely. Dru grew up attending a small Lutheran church, and one of the pastors who had influenced Dru quite powerfully as a young man, Dan Faust, performed the service. Afterward, the church had a very nice lunch during which I got to meet several of Dru's old high school buddies. Then, there was a nice graveside service, during which Lois was buried next to her late husband, Burton. Dru said she always looked forward to the day she would be reunited with her husband. Both Lois and Burton are with the Lord now, which we are so grateful for.

The four brothers at the graveside

Our family

Us with Dan Faust, the pastor who performed the services

We stayed with Dru's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Harlan, an absolutely delightful, generous couple who have opened thier home and hearts to us. We asked them if they would step in as Fin and the new baby's surrogate paternal grandparents, as both Lois and Burton are gone. They were happy to do so.

Fin with "grandpa" Harlan and "grandma" Sharon

Playing with grandpa on their front lawn

Grandma feeding our little bird ice cream...yum!

More!

In this video, grandma Sharon is still feeding Fin ice cream. His reactions are priceless.


And, Fin took his first steps while in North Dakota!!! On our last night at Sharon and Harlan's, he was entertaining us with his shenanigans - he was dancing and taking some steps. In this video, you can see him do both!