Reunion 12

A weekend of connecting with family when our

Mieska family gathered with mom for 2 days

at Great Aunt Sue's, who puts the great

in Great Aunt.  All my kids and grandkids

in one place....sweet!

Welcome, Baby Ethan

As Jesse returns to work this week, my daycare routine

starts to include little Ethan Gregory...

Welcome, little one....

 Big Brother Andrew and I will take good care of you.

oh...yes, he did

We took off for a few days on our Ultra Classic bike and

headed to Galena, IL...rolling hills, pretty little towns,

wide open spaces...and a break.  On our way home

we stopped in LaCrosse at the Harley dealer (I thought

to ask directions to our hotel) and Greg bought himself

a Father's Day gift.  While I didn't actually buy him the

gift, my gift to him was give my approval.

Happy Father's Day, Greg!  He loves it!

A couple of firsts...

 Jesse and I paid a visit to Jesse's cousin, Beth and

her new baby this week.  Maverick Barrett Park

was born on May 30 and was welcomed home

by his mommy, daddy and big brother Brody.

Above is a picture of the little brothers....Ethan and Mav
(what a difference 2 months make!)

Below are their big brothers...Brody and Andrew

 Ethan and Jesse had an outing on their own this week

when they visited Greg and I at our camper.

God Bless Ethan Gregory

Saturday was Ethan's Baptism Day so family gathered

at a nearby Lutheran Church to witness his baptism.

Godfathers Josh (Ben's brother) and Scott (Jesse's brother)

were given the honor of standing for him.  It was a lovely

ceremony as little Ethan accepted the Lutheran faith.

Then we all gathered for pictures and later food and

fellowship at Ben & Jesse's.  As you can see from

pictures, it was a beautiful June day.  Ethan's cousins,

aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and even greats

joined in the celebration of this child of God.

What's on my mind?

A couple of things on my mind this week...
Maybe I'm spending too much time on the road these days but I've been thinking I need to come up with a message board for my car.  Here are some of the messages I'd like to "share" with my fellow drivers:

•   Hey...it's raining/foggy/dark.  Turn on your lights!
•   I like a good mystery...but please signal so I know what you're doing
•   Get Off My Bumper!  I can't go any faster than the car ahead of me!
•   I like to leave a little space between me and the 18=wheeler in front of me so please don't cut in front of  me!   
• Get off your phone and pay attention!  You are scaring me!
• Got any you'd like to add?  I need to get started on the prototype.                                                                                                                                                  

This opinion will put me in the minority I'm sure...I'm fairly conservative with my money.  ( I have some blouses old enough to vote!) and I'm not a super fan but I have to say that I'm glad the State of Minnesota/city of Mpls are going to build a new Vikings stadium.  I know that most people like to grouse about paying to build a playground for millionaires but I feel like there's a whole lot more to this thing than that.  It will create jobs.  It will create excitement.  It will generate pride.  It will bring people to Mn and they will spend money.  I think about kids in purple jerseys and families that get together to watch the home town team play on those Sundays in the fall.  It adds to the sense of community.  To say nothing of all the tax revenue that the state will get from players, coaches, vendors, bars, restaurants, t-shirt shops and so on.  I am no expert on the stadium issue.  I don't really care to understand all the ins and outs of the proposed budgets. And yes, the cost is enormous. But when you think of the world class venue that will be created, the events that it could accommodate, the opportunities it will bring....I can't help but take pride in being a small part of it.  I know that a lot of people disagree with this view, but isn't this how the Twins stadium started?


I hope we never take for granted that all these great grandchildren in the Mieska family (going on 19...congrats to Beth and Barry who had a healthy boy yesterday) are healthy.  Every one of these "little ones" (including 13 year old Matthew) is a miracle.  How blessed are we?

Weekend at Bernies....er..Briggs (& Everleigh)'s

 So...Ami and Scott took a much-needed weekend away to

watch the Twins play in Milwaukee and asked me to

take care of Briggs and Everleigh...wow...Fri morning

to Sunday afternoon...how did we do?   What did we do?

Of course, sometimes..what happens with Grandma

stays with Grandma :) but here are some

highlights...  We played outside in the swing...

 Everleigh helped me water the flowers.

 I bought this Thomas the Train toy for Briggs

at a garage sale (it even whistles!) but you

can see that Everleigh has taken it over.

 We visited "Androos" and Ethan...love how

Briggs reached over to tough Ethan's hand...

 We spent part of Saturday at GA Sue's lake place

with ever-vigilant Ben watching the action at the pool...

 While Baby Ethan looks on with his "froggie" outfit

 Briggs' new favorite thing to do (Thanks Uncle Ben!)

 We threw stones in the water.  Ben makes watching

2 two-year-olds look easy, but trust me...it's not!

 It was W.I.N.D.Y. but GG and Ethan bonded.

 Andrew enjoyed his first ever ice cream cone (love this pic)

 Ev tended GAS's "garden".

 Back home on Sunday...just relaxin'

Briggs shows off his 2 lower teeth.

All in all, things went very well.  We played. We rested.

We went on a couple of adventures.  We read stories.

We cleaned up toys.  

And we were all very glad to see mommy and

daddy return!

Would I do it again?  in a heart beat.