As most everyone should know, I grew up in Ohio. We moved to Florida in 1987 after my dad lost his job with Goodrich. In a lot of ways, I have never forgiven my dad for making us move. He lives in Ohio so you can see that Florida was not all he thought it would be. Moving at the age of twelve was very hard for me. I still catch myself saying "back home" when referring to Ohio after all of these years. I realize to most people it couldn't possibly be all that great but it's where I grew up and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
When I was sick on Saturday and trying to pass time at the garage sale, I got on the laptop and finally found people I grew up with in Ohio on Facebook. I have had such a blast reconnecting with people from my childhood. Mogadore is a small town, always has been. I can remember staying out until the lightning bugs came out every night during the summer on Prospect Street.
Since technology in the 80s is not all it is today, I lost touch with a lot of my friends. I have always been a great pen pal but most people are not. Add to the fact that I remember pretty much everyone and everything, I always wonder what happened to some people from time to time. I've always wondered what happened to my old neighbor Jesse. Since it snows a lot in Ohio, I remember that we spent a lot of time at each other's houses over the years. I never managed to link up with him on my visits back to Ohio over the years. I asked some of the other neighbors about Jesse who told me he no longer lived in the house as his parents had divorced.
I linked up with Jesse's older brother on Facebook. Robbie had just moved to town from Colorado not long before we moved to Florida. I was surprised that he even remembered me. In asking about Jesse and everyone else, I was completely stunned to discover that Jesse passed away five years ago due to heart issues. Even though I haven't seen him in close to 20 years, I am so unbelievably sad. He and I were once like brother and sister. I'm just so shocked that he's gone.
My mom took the picture below one fall afternoon. My mom had seen deer out by the railroad tracks and wanted to go to try and take pictures of them. (Sorry, we were shooting pictures NOT guns guys!) We found no deer but she got this picture of us. I'm so glad she did because I think it's the only picture I still have of Jesse. I think I might be 10 years old in this picture. It's amazing how time flies by so quickly.
RIP Jesse, I can't believe you're gone.
Her dog, Domino aka Spazz, is really enjoying his bone from the meat dept at the local Bi-Lo.
We stopped at a place called Frugal MacDoogal's so I could nab some wine from the Biltmore Estate. I had to get my picture with Mr. MacDoogal. This place was pretty cool, all kinds of random beers and wines. I grabbed a 6 pack of exotic German Hefeweizen for when Jason gets here on Wednesday.
I am totally jet lagged and will most definitely crash early tonight! 
Roscoe hates it. Duke, of course, loves it and could care less about having it done.
Soph and Ceci were most excited about the pens we brought them back from Disney World.
I got to hold her first, she is so tiny.
The girls spent most of the day outside playing since it was so beautiful outside.
I took this picture from inside which is why it's grainy, it was through the screen. Everytime I got up, Starbuck moved. She was so sweet playing with the girls all day. If she got tired of running around, she sat at the bottom of the slide watching them. 
After baby G took a long nap, Uncle Jason had the honors of holding her.
We had a great time visiting with our THREE favorite girls and their fabulous parents. We already can't wait to see them again at Kimmie's shower next month! 
Vanilla pudding mix EVERYWHERE.
No idea what the allure was of the sandwich bags.
Chocolate pudding mix licked to the floor.
From this, I did discover that my peanut butter was out of date. 
They also ate all of my mint chips and pucked all over the carpet. I will be calling Coit in the very near future.
You showed us from the very start what a goofy dog you were as evidenced by your sleep position.
We knew you were smart when you started sleeping close to the toilet to keep cool during the summer. 
We would come out of the shower to find you asleep in our bed with Fonzie close by who still does not want to be touched by you. 
You drive us crazy but you have given us so much laughter and love. You love to hang your head out the window of the car. You used to dance like a monkey because you would get so excited when we fed you. We couldn't imagine our lives without you.....
Happy belated birthday Monkey Dog! 
Alexa played with Allyson and kept trying to give her hugs.
Jason and I went for a ride in the Gator to check on his duck blind and our calf. We got all the way down to the lower field and poor 12 year old Dutchess met us at the field as we were leaving. This is her place to sit on the Gator. That would be my foot.
Roscoe runs no less than 90 miles an hours when we do this. This is the view we have....
Here's our baby calf, he's getting pretty big already.
We went down to Carrie and Edgar's later on, Winnie was completely unaware of anything around her. She and Jos (Edgar's dad) were both snoring on the couch. 
Can you believe that Allyson is 7 months old now? Already sitting up. She's pulling herself up to stand by no crawling yet. 
Bryce loves riding his tricycle around Grandma's house. Alexa chases him the whole time until she gets a turn to ride.
Allyson actually liked me again yesterday so I got to spend lots of time holding her. She liked the strings on my sweatshirt. 
The elusive family photo op that happened on the first try....
