What a great day!

First of all, we give thanks to all those who gave their lives serving our country and preserving our freedoms!

We had our usual Stringham Family Memorial Day picnic at our house. The weather really cooperated and it was just right -- not too hot and no rain!

The picnic

The trampoline is always a hit!

Davie loved Ernie and took it on the trampoline with him. This Ernie plays the guitar and sings when you push a certain button! Catie looking on!

Bubbles are always fun and they especially like it when they get to pour the solution themselves into smaller and more manageable containers.

Now this is interesting! Audrey lies on the trampoline, then Jason jumps really hard which makes Audrey bounce high and then he catches her!



And the littles ones love the sandbox!

Brian, Rebecca, Maria and James and all their family were able to attend! And we also had Jean and Neal Kidd (Jason Kidd's parents) celebrate with us. Jean and I managed to hide a few minutes in the trailer and just talk. Missed you J's!

Towards the end of the day, the older children talked me into playing a modified game of treasure hunt. I would hide an object (red ball) and then give clues until they could find it. For some reason they really love this simple game. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun, that we once left the backyard gate open and Jenna, Emily and Davie escaped and were found by some neighbors walking down our street in the middle of the road! Horrors! I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about that one. I think there were busy guardian angels at out house yesterday!

All in all it was a great day!

Memorial Day

I got this off the internet:

"Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country. "

"To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

I am embarassed to say that I had not heard of this resolution until yesterday!

Back from Pennsylvania

Well, we are back from our trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see Jason, Jenn, Jaylee and Jenni. We went with Jamie, Ryan and Emily, and James came later for his business trip. I love this part of our country. It has a lot of American history. The countryside has lots of Amish farms, rolling green hills, and a peacefulness about it. And we see lots of quaint little shops, Amish buggies, and antique stores. One of these times I may break down and buy one of the Amish quilts. They are exquisite, but very expensive!

We saw Amish farmers doing their field work with horses!





You see the Amish buggies frequently going down the roads and highways.

We had a wonderful time just being around the grandkids!

Ryan learned not to be afraid of dogs from Uncle Jason when he let Ryan feed Boop! After that Ryan was frequently looking for Boop just to play. When Boop wants a rest from all the activities he hides under a bed.

The cousins all became good friends! Jaylee's a natural at playing with and caring for younger children. I could always count on her to help me out when little ones got fussy traveling in the car.

Here's Jason cooking our Mother's Day dinner. The steaks were just perfect! All the guys cooked the dinner and cleaned up after. That alone made it special! But to top if off they had also cooked us breakfast! And to even top that off we all went to church together!

Our Mother's Day dinner. Notice the fine china? Well, it sure made for fast clean up!

Jenni and Ryan decorating our dessert.

Jason and Jenn's backyard is a mini playground and the kids had lots to do!

Jason teaching Ryan how to shoot a BB gun.

Ryan very proud of his shot!

Jaylee is getting very good at target practice!

No matter what we did, the favorite time of the day was when the dads came home from work!

We went to the Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania. What a fun place! The kids especially liked the little tour of how chocolate is made. The singing cows were a hit! We took that tour three times!

Doesn't this make your mouth water? We had way too much chocolate!!

One day we took a train ride on the worlds oldest short-line railroad in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. It's a great tourist attraction! The train is a beautifully restored, actual coal-burning locomotive! We got off at a picnic area for a short time, where we ate lunch and the kids got to play on old-fashioned merry-go-round, swings and teeter-totters!

The Liounis family (Jenn's family) are connoisseurs of fine food and know the best restaurants around. Here we are at Carrabbas Italian Grill in Lancaster. Emily especially enjoyed her spaghetti dinner!

We got to celebrate Jenni's 3rd birthday. She was so excited and revels in the attention. What a cutie! She's fun to watch. They kids got to hit a pinata. Ryan, although relectant at first, was the one to break it.

Our time there passed too quickly! We hated to leave, but we had one more stop to look forward to. We got to visit the Mall of America in Minneapolis during a 4 hour layover. It was huge! We only had time to visit the world's largest underground aquarium. It is fascinating! Emily loved it and kept looking for and asking for Nemo. Ryan, on the other hand, was a little nervous about the sharks, sting rays and other creatures swimming all around us and above us. He did, though, enjoy the the treasure playground.

All in all it was a great trip! We really appreciated Jason and Jenn's hospitality! They sure know how to make us feel welcome! We were very tired when we got home, but have the most wonderful memories!

P.S. Family members will probably see triplicates of this vacation since Jenn and Jamie may blog about it also!!

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

I heard this poem quoted on Music and the Spoken Word this morning. I'm always wishing I had a copy of what they said. So I found the poem on the internet and wanted to share with you all!

When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking."

Mary Rita Schilke Korzan

God's Hall of Fame

Happy Mother's Day to Mom!!

(Betty Jane Merrell Lee)

My mom as a baby

Mom singing with her sisters,

(L to R) Judy, Mom, Jessie and Nancy

(They were asked to sing at lots of events)

And as a great-grandmother

"Being a king, emperor, or president is mighty small potatoes compared to being a mother. Commanding an army is little more than sweeping a street compared with training a boy or girl. The mother of Moses did more for the world than all the kings that Egypt ever had. Oh, you wait until you reach the mountains of eternity, then read the mothers' names in
God's Hall of Fame"

Billy Sunday, American Athlete and Christian Evangelist


One of my favorite memories of my mom is her singing. She has a beautiful alto voice! When we were little, she would sing while we were traveling in the car. I think she started singing when the fighting and quarreling began. It helped calm us down. She knew so many songs and singing made the time pass quickly!! I can still remember many of those songs. In fact the other day I sang one of those songs, "Playmates, Come Out And Play With Me" , to my granddaughter, Jenna. She ask me to sing it to her about 5 times. (And usually she doesn't like me to sing!)