Carries Graduation

The third of the big three events (Riley being born, Stacys wedding and Carries graduation) happened last weekend. Carrie received her Masters in Psychology. This picture was taken after the ceremony which was in the Civic Opera House in Chicago (nice setting). It also inspired a sisterly hug with Christy. Congratulations to Carrie

Stacys Wedding

Stacy and Brett took the big step on May 21. The wedding couldn't have been nicer, and Kirk did a nice job officiating. The first picture was taken at the rehearsal dinner the night before. For those needing a refresher, the back row is Brett, Stacy, Jessica and Kirk. The front row is Carrie, Christy, and the star of the show Riley.

Lombard and Lilacia Park

Violets and lilies of the valley were planted in the yard at 1040. Every Mother's Day my dad would wake me up very early so we could go out in the yard and pick bouquets of flowers. Mom would laugh and say it looked like funeral parlor and she was not dead yet, but seacretly she loved having flowers in the house.

Masses of tulips were planted at Lilacia Park in all thier varieties. My dad would check out the newest varieties and buy some when they dug up the beds after the leaves had browned. Parrot tulips were some of his favorites, but he also loved the ones that were two toned.

This is a sensation lilac. I saw it in the yard of one of my student's and new it would be perfect in our yard when we landscaped the back yard. The two or three weeks of bloom each May is well worth the space. The flowers are so full.

Phil's sister, Marla, did not know what a French lilac looked like so I took this picture to show how full the blossoms were. We have two bushes of them at the east corners of our house.

This purple lilac is actually a deeper purple than the picture shows. It started out being a pink one until we transplanted it. It reminds me of the deep purple lilac bush we had outside my bedroom window when I was growing up. I loved the fragrance that would come in my window.

Lilacs remind me of Lombard and Lilacia Park. Every May we would go through the park at least once or twice when the lilacs were in bloom. I loved the smell and all the variety of colors and shapes. The tulips were planted so carefully to make huge masses of color. The spring flowers in my yard bring back wonderful memories of quieter times.

More Pictures of Riley

Here are a few more pictures of Riley that Kirk took in the hospital. They were both released from the hospital on Tuesday (happy birthday Jess!). There are a some more pictures on Kirks Facebook page

New Addition

Here is the first picture of Riley Grace Tate, born at 9:29PM on Sunday Feb 27. She came in at 22 inches and was 6 lbs 14 oz. Everyone is doing fine and we are all thrilled with the good news.

Some Christmas Pictures

I found these while I was going through some pictures and since its almost Christmas, I thought it was a good time to post them. My mother didn't throw out things so these were some pre-Neal Christmas cards. I think everyone should especially notice the curly hair on Kurt in the one picture. The other picture was taken in my parents dining room in Hinsdale. There was no date on it but it looks like early 1960's. Merry Christmas and a good 2011 to all.

Picture of the "mom to be"

As we were going through our "box of remembrance" I came to some pictures of Jessica with her mom, grandmother and great-grandmother. With all the excitement of a new generation, they seemed appropriate to post. Mary Ann always used to say how beautiful all her grandchildren were. You can just see the love...