The End

For this year. 

This has been a fun journey.

Some of the people I thought it would be hardest 

to write about turned out to be some of the easiest.

 I am a blessed woman.

 I may not have as much as some

 but I have more than many others.

And way more blessings than 

I could count.

Turkey Pie

Or, Gluten Gullet. 

Right before Mike and I decided to 

try to cut gluten out of our diet

I made this:

It was so good that I have to get this 

down for posterity. 

Or anyone else who might like a 

carbo-loaded piece of heaven.

I used a quiche pan but a deep pie plate would 

work easily as well.

I sprayed it with Pam and then mixed

up 2 cups Bisquick-like baking mix

with one cup water and "lined" the pan with it.

It is very wet so mostly I made a big well

in the middle of it.

Then I browned up some ground turkey with

onions and zucchini, but you could use

any veges you have on hand

(as well as left over turkey).

I mixed in some gravy and poured that

into my dough "well" and then 

a thin layer of cranberry sauce.

I topped all that with Stove Top stuffing that

I mixed according to the directions and put 

it in a 325 oven for about an hour. 

You want the crust to get cooked and nicely browned.

Soooo good!

Alexis

He's new here.

I think I kinda like him.

He can take a joke. 

That's important.

He loves my Bean. 

That's most important.

I think we will keep him.

Welcome to the madness, Calvin.

Big

I saved her for almost last. 

She had a whole month! 

What else could I possibly have to say?
So, I handed it over to Shanna :)

Whether you know her as 

Mary, Big, Miss Osborne, or Meme, 

her joyful spirit has no doubt crept into yours, 

surrounding it with warmth. 

From Meme, I’ve learned to 

dance with the dolly with the hole in her stocking, 

that you don’t put pennies in your ears, 

that the best soundtrack for a drive is 

whistling with an index finger tapping 

along on the steering wheel. 

From Meme, I’ve learned 

the smell of possibility from opening a fresh box of crayons, 

the importance of a Hallmark Gold Card, 

the love of all things soft, 

the words Mimsy and Hummel. 

From Meme, I’ve learned 

that you can fall asleep at any time in any place, 

that you must announce your choice for dessert 

(tiramisu at Francesca’s) 

to the hostess, busboy, and any server in sight 

lest they run out of it before your turn comes to order it, 

that sometimes your feet do not

 go the direction you tell them to.   

From Meme, I’ve learned 

to pick baby violets for the bud vase, 

to show love to others through cards and letters,

 to let your family adorn you with antlers, 

margarita sunglasses, 

Santa hats, 

and anything else they can find 

that would make them laugh and take pictures. 

From Meme, I’ve learned 

that “Amazing Grace” is on page 368 of the hymnal, 

that you can have dessert after breakfast, 

that you stick by each other no matter what.

I’ve not always made the best decisions 

(quarter-life crises are real, people), 

but Meme has never made me feel judged. 

Through the letters she has written me

 every week since 1997, 

she has proven to be the epitome of unconditional love. 

Don’t get me wrong: This is a woman with opinions, 

but she never lets them get in the way of 

showing God’s love to the least of these. 

I’ve been surrounded by her influence 

since before I was even born, 

and I’m beyond grateful that 

God put someone like her in my life. 

I don’t care what anyone else says, she’s my Meme.

I love her TONS.

Michelle

I'm a lucky woman.

I have heard some real horror stories about 

Daughter-In-Laws.

I don't have any.

Michelle is so considerate of Michael's family.

She is in charge of the social calendar 

and always seems to make 

herself, Michael and now Maddie

available for whatever shenanigans our family is up to.

Which included this one.

This involved changing en masse into PJs

in a teachers lounge and then going outside 

for photos all while a reception 

for Butler's new president was going on.

In this room. 

They left the room. 

We took it over.

We took Michelle over too :)

Maddie

It's amusing to me to even try to write

about Maddie.

Something happens when a grandchild

wriggles its way right into your heart.

Lory has a phrase:

when your heart beats outside of your body.

Yep.

That's it.

Nancy

She's pretty much where my family starts.

Nancy is Mike's sister and the person

who set us up on a blind date.

We don't get to see her much but when

we do, her exuberance is amazing.

She works like a maniac and loves 

with a passion.  

She is also who supplied us with this:

...once she moved away.

Shanna

 

 

Where to start?

Shanna was a bit disappointed 

with my post on Breese. 

She felt it should have been longer.

I explained to her that I have so much to say

about some of you that I just have to make it 

short and sweet.

Witness Honey's post.

Well, I've been given my marching orders.

Nothing less than 150 words.

(how many do I have now?)

!!!67!!

I get to count "I"s, right?

Where Mike is my heart, 

Shanna is my left lung.

We grew up together.

She was the recipient of all the parenting

mistakes I had in me.

But she still loves me.

She and I have no boundaries.

But she still loves me.

I can tell Shanna things I can't tell other people.
She "gets" me.
And she still loves me.

I love, love, love, love,
love, love, love, love, love, love,
love, love, love, love, love, love, love,
love, love, love her.

157.
My work here is done.

PS, pictures should count for something.

Conner and Leon

Dear boys.

They will go through their lives as one name. 

Either

"The Twins"

or

"Conner and Leon."

I think twindom might be a 

double edged sword.

You always have someone at you side.

But, 

you always have someone at you side.

One perk or curse they won't endure:

No one will ever mistake one for the other.

Dirk

 I love my Dirk.

 We hang together.

We cause some trouble together.

Dirk and I have traveled a bit together.

We've been to 

The Grand Canyon.

Germany, 

(Mike's aunt, Marlese, used to say Dirk could

 make going to the Post Office an adventure)

France,

(don't let him drive in France)

Disney World, 

England, 

Wales, 

and

Cape Cod.

I think that's most of it.

That's MY Dirk.

But the kids have an Uncle Dirk. 

He's an uncle who has had Big as an example

of how to love a niece or nephew.

Dirk hasn't had the luxury (?) of living close

to any of his, but he has managed to worm his way into

each of their hearts.

Dirk isn't a stranger to any of them.

Ask any one of the 8 

and I'm sure they can tell you some "Dirk" story.

I am equally sure each can tell you of a time of

support and encouragement they have had from Dirk.

I love my Dirk.

David

Mr. Banks

That's what we called him when he and Gaye were dating.

It's a long story.

LOL

Dave spent his entire career at the same bank.

I have had more jobs than I can count!

He has stick-to-it-tivness.

He and Gaye have been married for over 30 years.

Gaye had some pretty rough years in there.

He stuck by her.

I admire his 

stick-to-it-tivness. 

Oma and Opa

My off-the-top-of-my-head

ten

fun facts.

They raised the amazing Man I am 

blessed to be married to.

They had a hand in raising our two children

and I am beyond thrilled to say they

are impacting Maddie's life as well.

They became Shanna's grandparents when she was 4,

you would never know they hadn't been all along.

Opa would buy old electronics at garage sales

so Michael could take them apart. 

For fun.

Marlene would quite often mix up 

Michael's outfits that I sent for him.

When I do that to Maddie I just smile and consider 

it heritage.

Opa doesn't like to leave a good party. 

Marlene doesn't like to overstay her welcome.

It's fun to watch.

Marlene is the model of the mother-in-law 

I want to be.

They took my children to the zoo

so I didn't have to.

Opa took each of the kids driving on the tollway

and into Chicago when they were

learning to drive 

so Mike didn't have to.

Not only are they 

Great-Grandparents

(in every sense of the word)

they are 

my family.

Daniel

He's the brother my son never had.

But that's how our family rolls. 

We kind of blur lines, 

boundaries, 

relations.

Dan is at that age where you are finding

your way in the world.

I don't see lots of him but that

is how it should be.

He has a life.

But every now and then Michael will mention

some time spent with Dan

or some thing Dan has done to

help Michael and Michelle out

and my heart is warmed.

Ultimately, what I want as a parent, is to know

my kids have each other's backs.

I know Shanna and Michael have each other's.

But I also know, Michael and Daniel 

have each other too. 

I've Been Doing A Little Crafting

It's a good thing Maddie is a girl.

Patty

Doesn't she look like the sweetest bride ever?

She is just tiny, but a real power house.

She'd have to be to deal with my brother :)

Mark and Patty are loud.

A lot of yelling went on in that household.

You would think they were Italian, but

I guess a spunky little Irish gal can make 

a lot of noise too. 

I don't judge.

Three wonderful kids came out 

of that household.

I know we all have our own 

ideas of what we would like our

legacies to be. 

I feel that Patty's will be the

three loving children she raised.

And I think most of us would 

give our eye teeth for that. 

Mike

 He still makes me feel like this.

That is all.

Maggie

I have a surprising number

of pictures of the three older girls.

 Even though Maggie has never lived in Illinois.

 And none of us has lived in Rhode Island.

But somehow over the years we have managed to connect.

And I gotta say a big 

THANK YOU

to Facebook.

Thanks in large part to the ease Facebook 

makes keeping in touch I really feel 

that Maggie and I are an important

 part of each other's lives.

She is the mother of twins.

No small feat but from 

1200 miles away, she 

makes it look,

hmmmm, 

I won't say easy, but doable, 

even enjoyable!

Her mantra the whole first year was, 

"I'm new here."

LOL

Maggie is more than that, 

she's an artist, 

a lover of words, 

open minded, 

curious, 

big hearted, 

and beautiful.

I love Maggie.

A lot.

Michael

Michael was my little shadow.

I took him everywhere.

Any time I left a store the sales people

would shout, "goodbye, Michael."

Mostly because I spent most of my time calling to him.

Michael loved to talk to strangers.

I met a few good friends because of Michael.

He did a couple of trips with 

People to People.

Most noteworthy would be the Australia trip.

Most notorious would be the England/Ireland trip.

I can't help but smile when I think about 

the walk of shame upon picking him up early at O'Hare.

He's always been such a light in my heart.

And honestly, even when he has rarely gotten 

himself in trouble, it was never out of meanness.

Just a little overly exuberant.

It made perfect sense when upon graduating

 college he took a month and a Eurorail pass and explored .

All I asked him was, 

are you good with God?

He said yes and I sent him off with my blessings.

I only saw Michael laid low once.

He wanted to marry the love of his life,

Michelle, and their church elders were

putting stumbling blocks in their way.

Nothing made me more angry than to see my son

so disheartened. 

It didn't last long.

Michael persevered.

That picture up there was his kindergarten picture.

I was so angry with him that he didn't flash his 

heart melting smile.

So he struck the same pose the next year.

My heart melts.

Taryn

Mike and I have a soft spot in our

hearts for Taryn.

Always have and always will.

Mike and I met on a blind date.

Gaye was VERY pregnant with Taryn at the time.

I really wanted to have Gaye greet Mike at the

door just to see if he could take a joke.

As luck would have it, Gaye was not home

when Mike came to get me.

But Taryn became and remained

part of our story.

Leslie

I have a strong sense 

of joyfulness when I think of Leslie.

We see each other less than 

once a year but every time

I see her she is so sweet

and so welcoming

and just makes me feel special.

And look at that face!

Lory

There is the family God gives you,

and then there's the family you choose.

I'm pretty sure God gave me Lory.

We each have birth sisters.

And we each love those sisters to pieces.

But we also have each other.

We puzzle through God together.

We grow through God together.

We yell at God together.

We praise God together.

We also drink Margaritas together.

..because we never take ourselves too seriously....

Nelson

He goes with Maggie. 

He is an amazing photographer who has

an album titled, 

"Trespassing."

I want to trespass with Nelson.

Wait, that sound inappropriate.

I want to take pictures of graffiti on trains

and I think I need an experienced trespasser to 

get me into a train yard.

He is also one of the nicest people 

on earth.

Oh, and his name isn't 

Nelson.

It's Michael. 

But we have too many of those.

And he lets Gaye and me 

call him by his Facebook moniker.

I like that about him too.