Aunt Grace has been asking for more pictures of Phoebe. These are a week old now, so she has probably changed a bunch!

Bathtime!

And here is Grace's own handsome Mr. Silas-

On the day that Phoebe came  home from the hospital- Calvin had an announcement of his own when he got home from school- he lost his first tooth!

School pictures! Lost tooth! Grandma's Captain Obvious question!

Moses waited for Calvin's bus by getting some batting practice in

Cousin Inspection!

Phoebe was checked out by her cousins, and met with their approval

Silas doesn't have the remotest idea of what is going on.

 

Only girl cousin Emerald smooches on Phoebe. Aunt Grace supervises all the love

 

Calvin tells Phoebe all the relative's names she needs to keep track of- a daunting task!

 

Moses, who is getting to be experienced in this department gives his approval.

Phoebe opened her eyes!!! First time we had seen her peepers.

 

"I think I will just go back to sleep now, thanks!"

This morning, a new person arrived into our world and our family. Joyously, we have a new granddaughter, Phoebe Mae Range. She arrived in the wee hours, weighing nine pounds, 4 oz, 21 1/2 inches long. 

 

 Mae was the middle name of my great-grandmother Hattie Mae (Miller) Brady, then it was handed down to the oldest girls of the following generations:  Maxine Mae (Brady) Proudfit, Marlene Mae (Proudfit) Bown, LuAnn Mae (Bown) Woody, Wendy Mae (Woody) Range and now little Phoebe. 

 

As many of us could, went to the hospital this am at 8 am for the big announcement-

I have a movie of the announcement- but I can't figure out how to insert videos in  xanga's new system. You can see it if you click at the upper left corner "your site" there is a pull down menu- videos is one of the selections- that should take you there.

Here is the the first picture- I will add more later. I just wanted to get this out asap

Phoebe Mae Range

Daddy and his baby girl!

We couldn't get over how much hair she has. Wendy was calling it "heartburn hair"

The boys Range and Phoebe.

Uncle Sam gives his blessing.

Juicy!

Grandpa Woody feels so happy and blessed!

A little profile- she is so very, very new!

 

Grandma Range with her GRANDDAUGHTER!!!!!!  A first for her- she is going to have fun!

Peanut gallery getting our first look at Phoebe.

 

 

 

 

This morning we finished our "Intentional Fitness Boot Camp". This morning we were tested on how many push-ups and sit-ups we could do, then we ran/walked a mile. It was a four-week session. I was only there for seven out of the 12 sessions, because of wedding preparation and the trip to Chicago. And I will admit this- the first one I could have gone to I missed because I overslept- something having to do with wedding exhaustion, and not setting the alarm properly (excuses!!!). The sessions I took part in met from 5:30-6:30 am. Which I really do love- the morning part, but not necessarily the exercising part. 

Here is the handy dandy certificate I got this am.

I have to make a decision on whether I will sign up for the next session. Which will be easier to make once the ibuprofen kicks in!

 

Tom and I went to Chicago this past weekend for our Birthday (mine-8/31), Birthday (Tom's-9/21) and our anniversary (9/24). It had been recommended to Tom that the double-decker tour bus of downtown Chicago was worthwhile- and we will vouch for that! They have different routes to pick from. You can sign up for a one-day to three-day tour. It is a "hop-on, hop off" arrangement, with the 16 stop one-day tour we took. You could get off at any of the stops, then when you were done there, you could get on another bus to finish the tour. We opted for just one stop at the Navy Pier.

I failed to get a picture of the bus we were on, so I borrowed this one from the internet to illustrate what the bus looks like. Of course we opted to sit on top. We boarded at the very first stop on the tour at Millennium Park, which is worth a lot of time looking around at in itself.

 

Oh- backtrack just a bit- I am having trouble getting the pictures posted in order with xanga's "new and improved" layout. This is on the way into downtown, and I snapped this for all our beloved Morton family people. There was also a Morton Salt building downtown, but I wasn't quick on the draw enough to get a picture of that.

 

A lot of the following I ID'd so I would remember what they were. No babies, weddings, or family events in this post. 

The Aqua Building- really interesting architecture. The engineering for this building was all done on computer, which greatly helped, since there are so many curves throughout the structure.  (sorry pictures are dark- it was just about to rain at this point on the tour). The curves are a tribute to the water nearby in Lake Michigan.

 

If you are needing to find housing downtown, I am sure they would fix you right up.

The Trump Building. I believe that this building was overseen by the first guy who won "The Apprentice". I think I watched a few episodes of that, but have lost interest since in the show.

The tour guide told us that there were only a few, maybe three hours of sunlight that this "canyon" saw during sunny days. I am supposed to know what building that is directly ahead, but already I have forgotten.

This reminded me of Tom's parents, John and Sue Woody. They were good customers of Dick Blick in Kansas City.

The Chicago School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Downtown is a cultural mecca.

 

As I was just sayin'...

 

Haven't heard of him, but I imagine he is an expert in his craft.

 

The Chicago Art Institute and some German tourists. Tom and I went to the Art Institute  in January of 2001, I believe, to see the Van Gough traveling exhibit, in which we got to see the original "Starry Night" painting. And.... the real "American Gothic" picture.  I collect or have collected, (I have eased waaaay back on that), American Gothic items. The sillier, the better.

It started raining on us. No problem- the tour guide handed out plastic rain ponchos, which helped up to the point where it began to POUR. We went "downstairs" on the bus to finish our trip to Navy Pier.

Whoops- a little out of order, or maybe I was shooting in the rain. The Field Museum. Worth a whole day in itself.

The Shedd Aquarium (wonder how I remembered the name of this building) Tom, Verity and I went there not too long ago. Again- a day trip in itself.

Navy Pier- shops and restaurants near the street, then you walk and walk and walk and walk until you get to the end.

Tom towering over the downtown foggy skyline.

I have a good video, but don't know how to load it in this new xanga format. Will have to put it in later when I get that figured out. (found out the video is too long, so won't be able to upload it- sorry)

"Where ya from??"  "Brighton, Illinois!"

There was a little amusement park up here at Navy Pier. We were going to ride the Ferris Wheel, but since it was threatening to storm, they had it closed down. There was also a mini-golf and some other fun stuff. We usually go and play mini-golf one time when we are on these trips, but didn't get a round in this time.

 

Inside Navy Pier- the famous Chicago hot dog store had this notice.

The exterior of Navy Pier. Tom and I had lunch at Bubba Gumps- no pictures of that.

Just like our paper, The Southwestern Journal- we just have a tad less circulation, hahaaaa

The Wrigley Building. Our tour guide explained that the Wrigley's hadn't intended to get into the gum business. They began by putting sticks of gum on their cleaning products, so the moms would buy them for their children, and the gum took off, and now you know the rest of the story.

What we saw looking forward. This tour guide had a rich, radio voice and was dramatic,  yet entertaining.

The only building downtown that survived the Great Chicago Fire.

Old and new- the John Hancock Building and the Water Tower

The following was in the "posh section" of downtown.

Neiman-Marc(us). 

This actually was in the restaurant section, it is out of order- now back to posh-

Back to restaurant- This is Portillo's- a Chicago mainstay restaurant. They are a chain, specializing in Italian beef and hot dogs. They have other dishes, as well. We ate at two of their chain stores out in the 'burbs. I am a fan of their chopped salad, as well as the Italian beef.

This reminds me of California and the Shearers who took us to Rain Forest at least twice.

The Sears Tower, which is no longer the Sears Tower, since somebody else bought it, but I don't know the name of it. Up, up, up at the waaaaay top, you can see the all-glass observation pop-outs. I understand that you feel like you are just in mid-air, since the floor and walls are clear.

A partial shot of the Calder sculpture. I didn't get a shot of the Picasso.

One of the landmarks of downtown. Helps you remember what city you are in as well.

The "corn cob" buildings. Have NO  idea why they call it that.

Merchandise Mart. Makes us think of "The Fugitive" movie, which we really like.

One of many bridges over the Chicago River. I think they said these are moveable? Will have to google that.

Nice spot of color on a gray day.

And our most favorite Chicago sight of all- our son, Sam! He has been training to be a Kmart manager for the last several weeks. We met him at Portillo's fairly close to where he was training. We are really excited that he will be completing his training in the St. Louis area, beginning today- yay!!

Okay folks- that's all!

That's what was going on around here last week. Not much, huh? Tuesday the 31st was my birthday. Tom celebrated by prepping for his colonoscopy which was Wednesday. He got an all-clear on that test. We had Candace and Chad's wedding rehearsal on Thursday evening, with a wonderful meal supplied by Chad's folks afterward, with some preliminary set up for the reception. Friday morning bright and early we got the reception set up with the amazing help of Prince Road ladies and Chad's family. Friday morning also saw me running over to Heather (Thompson) Lockhart's place of business to get my hair done all purty. Friday afternoon I piddled around the house, started packing for Iowa, then took off for the wedding- which was really, really pretty. It was at a little park overlooking the Mississippi River. Those of you from Iowa can probably look close at any pictures with the river in it and recognize some of the rain you had not long ago. It takes awhile to get down to us.

The reception was great! The Prince Road Catering Company provided the best food, Abby and Co. provided amazing cakes, and the clean-up crew made things relatively painless when it came to "breaking camp" and hauling off the aftermath. I am afraid to try to give credit for each task to each person- I would forget someone, and I don't want to do that. It was "all hands on deck"-everyone stepped up and was amazing.

Pictures? Do I have pictures?  Nope- not much. My hands and brain were occupied with the tasks associated with being the Mother of the Bride. If you are on facebook, there are several on Grace Morton's page and Yvonna Hartman's.

I had to go find the camera for this- The girls ready for their night out. L-R: Julia Whitney, Verity Woody, Candace Stutz, Tiffany Tutterow, Megan Mueller.

Sam, with the Mississippi behind him. Sam will be starting as manager of the Corinth, Mississippi Kmart store in a few weeks.

Awwwwwwwwww. I think they like each other!

 

Okay- on to Iowa- the annual Pleasant Hill Labor Day meeting! We left 8-ish Saturday morning. I snapped these early Sunday morning as proof that we were there-

Our comfy, comfy digs at Mom and Dad's.

The farmhouse where Mom and Dad live in the warm months. I believe Gma and Gpa Proudfit bought this farm in 1943.

If I am correct, (*I am not*- see comment below) Dad got this from Rich Hawley- it is in Mom and Dad's front yard.

This license plate has been on Grandpa's garage ever since I can remember- oh, I just saw that it is a 1969 plate. The "91" stands for Warren County- there are 99 counties in Iowa. The "1909" is the year Grandpa Proudfit was born.

 

Tom update: I already reported on his "all clear" colonoscopy. He had a PET scan day before yesterday (Wednesday, Sept.8). I don' think we have gotten the results of that yet- probably next time he sees his doctor. He is still doing every other week chemo treatments- about three or four hours of infusion. He had one this past Tuesday. He is able to transport himself to and from those himself. We don't know how long those are going to continue. At first, we thought it was going to be six months. They did drop one of the "ingredients" because it was causing nerve damage. He is presently taking something to help with the neuropathy that was caused by that- he has some pain and numbness in his hands and feet- the medicine is supposed to be helping with that, but it is taking awhile. He now has straight hair instead of curly. I say that it has been "chemically straightened". But... he has hair! So that's a good thing! He feels pretty good most of the time, he takes naps some days when he can. But on the whole, he has been doing really well, thanks to all the effective prayers!

 

 

They all wanted to sit on the same side of the table. We had to do some persuading to get some volunteers to sit on the other side.

 

 

 

On Saturday, August 14, 2010, we went up to Des Moines to see some stuff.

First was the beatiful botanical garden. It wasn't crowded at all- most folks were probably off to see the fair.

 

Can you hear me now? Verity uses her DSi to snap oodles of pictures, while Tom takes the handy cell phone tour.

Geodesic dome!

an orchid, which reminded us of some fine Chicago folks.

In one section, master gardeners had created exhibits honoring literary works.

The Jungle Book!

 

 

Surfs Up! 

Tropical Beauty

Koi who were not coy.

Educational benefit of the botanical center.

The river walk along the Des Moines- which was really floody!

 A little east in the midwest.

Martha would like this- these 12 columns had the Chinese year animals on them.

The Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens- Robert Ray was the governor of Iowa when I was a kid.

The pedestrian/bike bridge.

 

Nice Design!

The Iowa State Capitol Building.

Tom had no reservations about standing next to these signs.

Looking up at the interior of the dome.

Iowa did their bit for the Civil War.

Yep. Bill Pitt is right.

A display of the model U.S.S. Iowa battleship

 

 

Verity suggested Tom look as if he is attacking the ship. Pretty scary.

The big, beautiful, five-story library- check it out!

Evidently, from the information the tour guide shared with us, this is where Katie Couric reports from when the Iowa primary is underway every four years.

Reading is an Iowa Basic Skill.

Des Moines Science Center- and the Foucalt pendulum. Very restful to watch while we waited for....

The Imax theater to begin. Nothing too scientific- Toy Story III.

And there's Woody!

I think I have all the pictures and videos loaded now from our Iowa trip. I was and am interrupted by a bout of bronchitis, so I will be tweaking and improving this post in the days to come. Thought I would at least get a start. There are a LOT of pictures and videos to share. I work all day today and tomorrow, so that will slow down progress as well as not feeling too great.

But first of all...we are getting ready for Chad and Candace's formal ceremony and reception. A couple weeks ago we found out what the guys were assigned to wear, so we took off for Kohl's and found a navy sports blazer for Tom. The hat is his idea, and is not part of the wedding attire.

"Dapper Dan is My MAIN Man" (our kids will get this phrase).

The Iowa State Fair is the BEST State Fair- no doubt about it!
(I will caption these pictures later- just going to slap them down now)
 

Improvisational drumming at the Riley Theater

A gymnastic tap-dancer at the Riley Theater. We were seated waaaay back. The guy vaguely reminded us of  Clint.

We couldn't decide if this was a total robot, or if he had someone inside helping out.

 That's all for now- more later, LOTS more.

Verity got a hold of my camera for most of the rest at the fair

Here's a couple of critters at the fair.