Monday, September 28, 2009

Grandpa

My grandfather (my mom's dad) recently passed away. We drove to Clovis last weekend for the funeral. I'm glad we were able to go and be with the family. It was a beautiful service. There was a church service first and then we all drove to the cemetery. He was given military honors, my grandma was presented with a flag and a bugler played Taps. There was also a bagpipe player which I just loved. We will miss him so much but I know he is in a better place. Here is a copy of his obituary and some photos I took over the weekend.

James R. "Jim" McClain, age 84, of Clovis, NM, went to be with his heavenly Father Monday, September 28, 2009, at his home in Clovis. Jim was born July 13, 1925 in Allen, NE, to James and Thelma McClain. He married Lorraine Weingartner October 27, 1951, in Sioux City, IA. Jim received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska, served in the US Army during WWII and moved to Clovis in 1963. Jim was a supervisor for Swift Meat Packing for 27 years and then worked in Civil Engineering in CAFB for 10 years. Jim was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Life Member Clovis-Portales Elks Lodge, VFW Post 3280 and was an avid golfer. He enjoyed pheasant hunting in Nebraska, bowling and watching sports. Jim was a devout Christian, husband, dad and grandfather. Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Lorraine; one son, James D. (Elise) McClain, Ft. Worth, TX; three daughters, Gayle Hanks, Clovis, NM, Diane (Roger) Mariani, Taos, NM, and Joann (Fred) Kennedy, Prescott, AZ; nine grandchildren, Zachary McClain, Brian (Jessica) Honeycutt, Erin Honeycutt, Kerrie (Brian) Shelton, Jason Kennedy, Jordan Kennedy, Jessica (Mark) Mariani-Boriskin, Sydna (Shane) Mariani-Alexander, and Kelley Mariani; three great-grandchildren, Danica Honeycutt, Julia Honeycutt and Brody Boriskin. He was preceded by his parents; one brother, Arthur Wayne McClain, and infant daughter, Patricia. Services will be held Friday October 2, 2009, 11:00 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church with Pastor Bonita Knox officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens. Pallbearers will be Kelly McClain, Brian Honeycutt, Roger Mariani, Jason Kennedy, Jordan Kennedy and Fred Kennedy.

James R. McClain

My uncle Jim, mom, aunt Jo, grandma and aunt Gayle.

All the cousins.

Brian and Gayle.

Jim and Brian

The Kennedy's.

Kel, Syd, me, dad, mom Mark and Brody.

Abbey's 30th Birthday

This weekend was Abbey's 30th birthday. On Saturday they had a party at their house. I made cupcakes and brownie balls with Brody's help. We drove down to San Marcos around 4pm on Saturday. They made burgers and fries. Everything was made from scratch including the buns and fries and everything was delicious! We ended up staying pretty late, Brody was really good. He ended up falling asleep on the couch and just slept until we picked him up to put him in the car. We had a really good time. It was so good to hang out with Matt and Abbey and to see all of our friends. Happy birthday Abbey, hope you had a great weekend!

Brody helping me make cupcakes, he was pointing to which spot he wanted me to fill.

His first taste of cake batter, he looks so guilty.

Me and Abbey.

Brody giving me his goofy smile.

Matt and Christa.

Maddie, Savannah, Abbey and Robin.

Brody trying to do more goofy smiles but it just looks more like a mean face :)

The Kraatz family.

Mark, Matt and Abbey.

Monday, September 21, 2009

New Computer

So like I mentioned in the previous post, our old computer finally died. We have had it for almost 8 years so we weren't that surprised. Mark had bought me a external hard drive to back up all of my files in May and unfortunately I was lazy and never did it. But everything turned out ok, Shara has a friend that works on computers and he was able to come over and remove our hard drive and get everything off of it. We were able to recover everything, yay!! I was so happy. Then our new computer finally got here. We got it all set up and I just love it. I'm still figuring out how to work certain things but luckily for us we have a bunch a friends that own Macs and everyone has been really helpful. So a HUGE thank you to Judy and Joel for the amazing gift. We love it and are already putting it to good use.

It has a wireless keyboard, mouse and printer and a 24" monitor, I just love it!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend at home. We had some catching up to do with the yard work and cleaning since we had been gone so much during August. Sunday we went to the Mac store and picked out a new computer. Our desktop recently died and Mark's parents generously offered to buy us a new one. I'm so excited for it to get here. I'm also anxious to see if we can recover the pictures and other files from our old computer. I never backed up so we could lose everything. I would be devastated if that happened. On Monday we decided to BBQ. Tim and Shara came over along with Darrin and his family. We had burgers and dogs. Mark made the BEST burgers. I want another one just thinking about it. The kids played in the kiddie pool and the boys watched college football. We also got our ring game installed. My parents had this really fun ring toss game that they had played in the Caribbean. They had an extra one and gave it to us. It's the simplest game but it's so much fun. The only thing I didn't do was take pictures. On Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment. They aren't very exciting at this point. They check your weight, your blood pressure and have you pee in a cup. They listened to the baby's heartbeat, it was 156. The doctor said everything looked good. We scheduled our next appointment for October 14th. We will find out the sex of the baby at this appointment. I'm disappointed we have to wait so long. I'm so anxious to find out if it's a boy or a girl. Nothing else too exciting is going on. Mark is in LA this weekend visiting our friend Justin, one of our good friends from college. Other than that it should be a quiet month which I'm actually really looking forward to.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Joel's birthday

Last weekend we made a trip out to California for Joel's 65th birthday. We flew in on Friday evening. We made it just in time for Bernd and Thea's joint birthday party. Judy, Brody, my mom and I all left early and the boys stayed for scotch and cigars. Saturday we got up and helped set up for the party. It was a luau theme so everyone had on their best Hawaiian gear. The party was a lot of fun. There was swimming (Mark was a trooper and was in with all of the kids for 2 hours!), a live band and really yummy Hawaiian food. Sunday the guys all played golf and the girls cleaned up and swam with Brody. Oh and while Brody and Judy napped my mom and I got to have a lunch date. We went to my favorite restaurant, Va de Vi. I don't remember the last time just my mom and I got to have lunch. It was really nice and one of my favorite parts of the trip. That night Ang and DJ came for dinner, they weren't able to make the party so I was really glad we got to see them. Monday was a day of errands. I was able to get my hair done and then we all went to the office to get our teeth cleaned. That night was Joel's actual birthday. Bernd, Thea and Kim all came over. We did a combination of Chinese food and sushi (I had a craving). Then Tuesday we flew home. It was a quick trip but we had a really good time and loved getting to spend time with all the family. Especially since I won't be traveling anytime soon. Here are some of the pics from our trip.

Brody was not cooperating.

Naked Brody jumping to daddy in the pool.

Waiting for the party to start.

First picture of the baby bump.

Me and my mom.

Me and Mark.

Our beautiful moms.

Dad, me and mom.

Joel and his boys.

The Boriskin's including Bode.

Happy Birthday Joel we love you!