Carter Philip's Birth Announcement

I can't stop looking at this beautiful birth announcement that arrived in our mailbox this week.  My cousin, Kathy, and her husband, Greg have been blessed with another grandson.  Seeing Carter lying in that softly-lined basket melts my heart.          

Carter's big brother, Tyler, is obviously tickled pink to be a part of this important announcement.

When I thought I'd seen as much cuteness as I could handle for one day, I turned the card over and found this precious photo.  I fear I'll wear the announcement out as I view both sides, over and over again.

Congratulations to Leah and Jayson, Carter and Tyler's awesome parents!    

Happy 90th Birthday, Uncle Allen

We surprised Allen this afternoon with a family gathering in honor of his 90th birthday.

Allen's face lit up at the sight of all of us.

Here we have Jenny (Allen and Babe's granddaughter), the birthday boy and Aunt Dorothy (better known to many of us as Aunt Babe).

Greg and Kathy (Allen and Babe's daughter) hammed it up with this cute pose.

I got this cute photo of Dawn and Dick (Babe and Allen's son).   

Jenny, her husband, Mike and Brie (Jenny's stepdaughter) make an awesome trio.

Ron (Allen and Babe's nephew) and Dee sat at the same table as Lon and I so we talked with them quite a bit.

Greg and Dick (Allen's brother) shooting the breeze.

Bonnie and Bob (also a nephew) were also happy to be a part of the celebration.

John (also a nephew) rode to Janesville with Lon and I since Phyllis was out of town for the weekend.

Jenny is showing Aunt Babe photos on her phone.  She had a great picture of herself in her Halloween getup.

Uncle Allen is a great guy.  I thank Kathy for planning and organizing this birthday celebration for him and for inviting us.

Hey, Dick.  I like this picture of you.  

Since Leah isn't here, I took extra pictures of Jenny.  She's a doll, isn't she?  By the way, Leah is beautiful as well.

Uncle Allen and Aunt Babe, two very special people.

Big Hill Park Sights in October

A New, Old Van

Lon's work van conked out.  This is the replacement.  It's new for him although it's actually quite old.  White is out and red is in.  Lon is happy with his 1996 Ford with only 29,000 miles on it.

Brittany & Miles

Meet my niece, Brittany, and her son, Miles.  Aren't they both cute!   

Jared's 47-Inch Muskie

This is my son, Jared, and the 47-inch muskie he caught yesterday.  He was fishing alone so he did it all.  He was using a 9 foot muskie pole.  He managed the pole and netted the fish as well.

A couple of guys in a nearby boat came over and took this picture.  When Jared released his catch, it swam away easily, another good thing.

An Albino?

We noticed this very light colored bird in our backyard on Sunday.

We'd never seen a bird of this color before.

I wish I'd gotten a better picture than these.  All we can guess is that it's an albino.  It looks very much like a sparrow in shape and size.