I'm Late, I'm Late, for a VERY IMPORTANT DATE!!!!

I am so late in wishing my Zachary a Happy,

Happy 8th Birthday in Grammy's blog. Zachy was

8 on May 23rd. Grammy and Grandpa were up in Reno

having a very good time and Grammy forgot to get Zach's birthday wishes written up before we left. This
picture is of Zachy at his class play, doesn't he look

grown up? This year he is in Rincon Valley Little League in the Peanut league and he really has enjoyed it. He's a little sad about it right now because yesterday was his last game. So I guess, if Summer ever comes to Santa Rosa, he'll be happy to switch to swimming when-ever he can. Zach is a smart, funny, sometimes intense

boy who can keep up with his older brothers. He's taking karate and loves video games. So, a late, Happy ~ Happy ~ Birthday to our Zach-A-Rach-A!!!

We've been busy, last weekend we went up to Redding for the weekend. Our great-nephew Jeremy just graduated from high school. Jeremy has made what I think is a bold decision, he has joined the Air Force and will be leaving for basic training on August 15th. I've always wondered how and why young people join military service and I don't really know Jeremy's reasons but Thank God! the people that join, do so. They are keeping us and a lot of other people safe because men and women have chosen the military as a career path. I personally don't think they are treated with the respect they deserve - both while they are in and then discharged from their service - but that's something I won't get into. But while thinking of Jeremy going into the service - I think "he's so young", "he's not very big", "I'll worry about him". That made me think of Memorial Day and how we take time to remember what our military past and present do for us throughout history. That made me think of the brave men in my family that went off to participate in "The Big One - WWII". So I have pictures to share of my Dad and my Uncles (everyone except for my Uncle Clarence and his son Jimmy, my cousin, who who were both in the Navy, although Jimmy of course, was not in WWII. But I did think of one other uncle who was, my Dad's other brother, my Uncle Kelly who was in the Army and survived an awful march (I want to say through Africa but that doesn't sound right, what would they have to do with WWII?).

This is my Uncle Connie and across from him is his brother, my Dad. Uncle Connie actually was not in WWII he served in the Army after the war was over. My Dad, served aboard ships in the Merchant Marines. Oh, the stories he could tell!!! We grew up hearing the ones that were okay for 4 girls and 7 grandkids to hear!

This is my Uncle Frankie and his twin sister, my Mom (who was not in the war but I couldn't find a picture of Uncle Frankie by himself). Next to them is their little brother, my Uncle Babe. Talk about being too young, look at his baby face! I think he was maybe 18 when he went to war. Uncle Frankie and Uncle Babe also served in the Merchant Marines. So I guess Jeremy is following in an age old tradition - leaving home to see the world! We wish all the best for him and will keep track of him via Facebook. And thus my little tribute to service people, Thank you for keeping us safe!

We are finally enjoying some rainless (is that a word?) weather. The sun kinda creeps through a hazy sky somewhere around noon and it's predicted to be mid 70's for the next 10 days. I'm totally okay with mid 70's (I'm not a fan of extreme heat) but I think my plants would like it a little warmer. They have been water logged. I do have some pictures but trying to put pictures in at this point is really a pain. So next time pictures of my water logged yard and a great picture of my friends I used to work with at Cook Middle School.

Today, we went out to watch our oldest grandson Matt play in a playoff game for his team. It was warm and I sat out in the sun (bad idea when you have white, white skin - but I did put on sunscreen) and his team lost. They have another game next Wednesday, so hopefully they win that game. They will be in a Tournament of Champions later in the month but Matt has been spoiled, they went 16-2 this year so a loss at this stage of the game was hard for him.

I will close for now but just wanted to say I've read some really good books lately - 1) the girl she used to be by David Cristofano 2) The Beach Trees by Karen White 3) Crooked letter, Crooked letter by Tom Franklin. I LOVE to read. Unfortunately, when I read, I do NOTHING else, if I can get away with it.

Let me also just say, thank you for reading my blog. I think there's only about 9 of you, but I really appreciate you taking the time to read it.

My thought to leave you with this time is: Give someone a compliment, say Thank You when maybe you wouldn't ordinarily do so, it takes so little to make someone's day better!!!

Until next time . . .