Baby, You're a Firework

The 'official' lake fireworks were Saturday night. We have been told they always delay it a week because the people that do the fireworks at the lake are the same ones that do the big show in downtown Indy. It may just be an urban lake legend, but that's our story and we're stickin' to it. :)

On the boat for the fireworks:
Jennifer and Bryan...

Chellsey, Courtney, and Adam...

Kristin and Shylah...

Kristin and Kyle (wake up, Kyle!)...

Jonathan and David (smile, Jon!)...

David and Shylah...

Jim and Susan.

And now for a few fireworks shots.

The finale...

It was a nice night on the lake, and it's always fun to see all the boat lights twinkling as we head back to our own docks.
Happy (belated) Birthday, America!

And if you've ever wondered what happens when you let your big kids borrow your car with your camera in it, now you know. Such a surprise when I uploaded the memory card. :)

Nice selfie, Jon.

Of course, Shylah must have been the one taking most of the the pictures since she isn't IN any of them. :)

Silly boys. They should have known they would make an appearance right here on StewMama Says. Hey Jon, your shorts are showing.

This airplane was flying around over Camp Atterbury.

So Jon, were you standing in the ditch? Oh, boys...

Five Years on a Friday #2

Summer seems to be flying by... we're already halfway through July!
(Just an little impromptu poem for a Friday morning.)

To go along with the poem, I'll share some fun photos and random thoughts from the last couple of weeks. We'll call it Fascinating Friday. You be the judge.

After Jennifer's baby shower, we celebrated Shylah's birthday at one of our favorite places, El Reparo. She wore the sombrero and ate the fried ice cream. Great picture! Especially the 'Haleigh eyes.' :)

You might remember Big Jon's version of the 'Haleigh eyes.' Silly, yet similar... hmmmm.....

In June, son Andrew attended the Beef Leaders Institute in Saint Joseph, Missouri, hosted by the American Angus Association. While Jim was watching TV last weekend, he saw a report about the conference, with a photo of the participants. Hey, there's Andrew! (The red arrow didn't actually appear on the TV screen. Lol.)

Also last weekend, we made a trip to another favorite place, Big Woods. I'm proud that I can order (and drink) my own beer now. Never too old to learn. My beer of choice is the Yellow Dwarf Wheat.

We shared an appetizer for our meal, so that we could enjoy a delicious and beautiful dessert. Chocolate peanut butter brownie.

My mom had a birthday this week too. Here she is with my dad and Matthew.

Darci made her a beautiful plate of cookies with a turtle theme. She did not share. Do you blame her?

I went to Jennifer's after jury duty yesterday. She and Bryan have been busy with a few finishing touches in Baby Davis' room. It looks so cute. Won't be long now.

This barn is coming down soon, which makes me sad.

This is Mini, one of our two golden retrievers. When we had them shaved a few weeks ago, we discovered that she was very thin under all that hair. Turns out her kidneys are failing, so she's on a special diet. No more treats and table scraps from the kind ladies in the office. We were at the vet today for a blood test to see how she's doing. It's tough to get old. Sweet girl.

And finally, a very Happy Anniversary to Andrew and Darci. They are the second couple in our family to be celebrating five years on a Friday. 2008 was a good year for weddings!

Their fine looking wedding party.

Happy Anniversary, Andrew and Darci!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Happy 29th birthday to our son Andrew!

I thought I would share one of my favorite photos of him. Just look at that (toothless) smile while cuddling his brand new baby brother, Adam.

And today, cuddling three kids of his own. I'm proud of the man he is, and so blessed to be his mom.

Happy Birthday, Andrew! I love you!

Boats, Burgers, and Bluffing

We had a quiet July 4th at the lake, which started out with a boat ride with our neighbors on Wednesday evening. When we returned to our house, Dave, Jamalyn and the kids had arrived to spend a couple days with us.

 Nathan and Jim were up early, doing some bonding with their electronic devices.

Jim fixed a delicious breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and a scrambled egg or two.

There were golf plans for the men in the afternoon, so we got some tubing in before they left. Margaret loves tubing!

She and her daddy were hanging on and enjoying the ride.

Until we started in to the turn at the end of the lake, and off they went! Up went the flag and we circled back to get them.

And she was still smiling.

She wanted to finish the ride, this time with her mommy. Smiling.

And not smiling. :)

Well, Margaret was still smiling.

Gumbo with the wind in his ears.

Nathan keeping a close eye on the tubers.

Jon met them for golf, and came back to the house for supper. He grilled some mighty fine burgers for us.

Which was a precursor to the real reason for his visit. This game. It's called You're Bluffing, and he learned it when he was a counselor at church camp with Dave. Each night, after the campers were asleep, they would deal the cards and play 'til the wee hours of the morning. Jon reported that it was the  best. game. ever. Trouble is, that it's out of print. Not available. And Dave and Jamalyn's game got misplaced. Until now. It recently resurfaced at their house, and Jon was excited to be reunited with the old game. Dave gave excellent instruction on the rules of the game for Jim and me, who had never played, and to refresh the memories of Jamalyn and Jon. I can't believe I didn't get any photos of our game, but it required my undivided attention. It was highly competitive (shocking, I know), and the eventual winner was the one to whom Jon had suggested as having odds of 25-1. Is there a trophy for the first YB lakehouse winner?

But before the card game, there was an evening boat ride...

 scattered fireworks,

and maybe the most beautiful sky-over-lake view ever.

Happy Birthday America!