Christmas Day

We got to sleep in until 7:30 am...how did that happen?

Allison, Elena and Allison were on the bottom step ready for action.
We always have our kids line up on the stairs and wait until they hear the ho-ho-ho to come downstairs.
We had the traditional waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.
Sydney got her presents delivered in her new sled. It has a handle so that it can be pulled.
I made superhero capes for all the grandsons. Here is Sammy in his.
Ben can fly high with his Super B cape.

Here is James as Super J. We played lots of Scrabble, Taboo, and Banagrams, and had a wonderful time being together.

Christmas Eve

We were so blessed to have our entire family together for the holiday. We traveled to Shauna and Dan's for Christmas Eve.

We had our family talent show, with Riley, Dallin, Allie, Spencer, Suzy, and Den, all playing the keyboard. Dan and James did a magic act, and I told a story. Dan and Shauna were the game show hosts for the latest version of Headrick trivia. Which Den and I barely won...the one stumper question was who was Wendy's sophomore date to homecoming? (Willie Contantino) We had lots of fun and laughs and played Rock Band. The highlight was acting out the nativity. Sydney was an angel, but would not keep her halo on.
Benjamin made an appearance as Frosty the Snowman--how cute is that?
He was happy to take that suit off!


We celebrated Spencer's 27th birthday on the 23rd. He spent the last week in D.C. doing an externship for the Navy. He also got snowed in and had to take the bus back to Cleveland.

Countdown to Christmas

The library is all decorated and so is the house...now I am just waiting for the kids to start showing up. We are excited to have 13 coming to our house for the big day. I have been busy baking and sewing and Den has been busy eating!

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. We had Suzy, Spencer and Sydney down for quick visit. Shauna and family came out for dinner on Wednesday evening. James was not his usual self and and we knew he was not feeling well, so they left early. Turns out he had a high fever and they took him to the doctor on Thanksgiving Day!
I brined my turkey for the first time. We were not sure that it was that much better than before and it was quite a production, so I will probably just go back to the normal way of preparation.
Den, Spencer, and Suzy had a ping-pong competition going on in the basement. Spencer seems to be the only one who can beat Den on a regular basis. He was also the winner of our Scrabble game, and you know how much that disappoints me.
Sydney was such a sweetheart and let us hold and cuddle her. She would not, however, wear her Thanksgiving headband!

Library Art

Another beautiful bulletin board, designed by me!!!

Here are me, my boss Loren, and Mr. Drew from Indian Run Elementary. He had his art students create scarecrows and then we displayed them in the children's area of the library.

Alpacafest

We took two of our animals to the annual alpaca show at the state fairgrounds. We took, Chieftain, our herdsire, just to market him for breedings. He already has 17 blue ribbons, so what's the point. Den was trying to think of putting something in our stall that would attract everyone's attention. He had this cut-out of a tough guy in our barn. It was left over from a trade show he went to when he worked for Novell. He had me draw a tattoo on his arm that said, "I love Chieftain." You can see it better if you click on the picture to enlarge it. We had lots of comments, people thought it was pretty funny. Did it help us sell breedings--that remains to be seen.
Den showed Tranquility a yearling female. She was in a huge class and did not place at all. We are breeding her to Chieftain, so hopefully, his genetics will create an awesome cria. We are glad to be home. We spent 8 hours there on Saturday...well I should say Den spent 8 hours. I went over to the Gusty's to watch the football game, which I am happy to say was fabulous. Go Bucks!

Dangerous Decorating

I have been bothering Den for four years to help me paint my two story entryway. It was a very daunting task, but at a weak moment, he finally gave in.
He had second thoughts when he was up on the ladder, but needless to say, he braved the heights and complete the task. Up around the front window was the worse, because he had to have the ladder at a steep angle because of the stairs.
This picture doesn't really show it, but it used to be white and is now a soft beige. There were are couple of areas where the tape us pealing up. When the house was first built and cracks developed above the doors, they just patched them, but never painted. I also painted the loft and hallway the same color. It looks great, but we are hoping never to have to do it again!

Fall is Here!

The leaves are right at their peak this week. We have had a few days of beautiful Indian summer weather.
Our alpacas love the colder weather. Sometimes they sleep out in the pasture all night, and when we come out in the morning, there is frost on their fur. Just goes to show you how warm their coats must be.
Get a load of this monster. Not only is he trying to better himself by reading...but he must be getting old if he needs reading glasses!

Benjamin's Blessing

Benjamin Andrew Gusty was blessed today in the Riverside Ward. We drove into Columbus and Suzy and Spencer came down from Cleveland. He is certainly growing quickly and Shauna said that he is around 12 lbs now.
Sydney really loved playing with her cousin James. She turns one on Nov. 4th.
Dan gave a beautiful blessing and we are so thankful to have Benjamin in our family. We went over to their house after and had lunch. There were probably 25 people there!

Quick Trip Down to Marietta

Wendy has been wanting me to come down and help her for weeks, but I didn't make it down until her morning sickness was over! That's right, she is due with #6 at the beginning of March. Because she was sick, she is convinced that she is having a girl--the top name in contention...Gretel. They like to have an L in all their names, so let's think of some that don't come from "The Sound of Music."
I was so sad, that I forgot my camera. It would have been useful in documenting Elayna's new bangs, that she cut herself. I straightened them up, but tried to match the uncut side with the cut side and the result was a stylish mullet. They are having family pictures soon, so Wendy is on the lookout for a large headband.
I am overwhelmed for Wendy and her schedule. She is homeschooling the 3 oldest and still teaching aerobics a couple of times a week. Her laundry is like Mt. Everest!!!
They have chickens and I didn't realize how delicious fresh eggs are, and how yellow, too! The kids all have farm chores and Dallin herds the escaping goats with his bb gun!
We had a picnic by the Ohio river and attended a community theatre performance of "Oliver." It was pretty good, some excellent voices and Dallin really liked the gunshot at the end.
I had a fun time and as always miss my grandkids!

Happy Birthday, Den!!!!

Today is Den's birthday and while he would have loved a cheesecake, he got what his family calls graham cracker pie. We made a mad dash to run some errands in Columbus and stopped by Shauna's for a visit.
They had just returned from the pediatrician. BJ got a clean bill of health and James told me all the things the doctor had said. He's covering his ears, because he says "Cheese" so loud that it hurts them! He didn't have his special shoe on and seems to be recovering from his foot injury quickly. BJ is up to 9lbs. 8 oz.
Here is a picture of the little cria we had last week. It was so cute to see them sitting together, that I snapped this shot. His mother seems to be getting the hang of things, and he is gaining weight slowly but surely. We named the light colored girl, Misty and the little boy is Skye. We have another one due next week!

What a crazy week!!!

So since my last post, Benjamin developed a fever and respiratory infection and was transferred to the the NICU. Shauna was released on Monday, and she and Dan took turns staying at the hospital with him. Dan's Mom, Pat stayed with James and brought him back and fourth to the hospital. BJ finally got to go home yesterday, and is doing very well.
I went over after work yesterday to cook dinner. After we ate, Dan and his Dad took James to the park. They came home about an hour later and James was screaming. (It's now 8:30) He had hurt his ankle and it was swelling rapidly. Dan took him to the emergency room at Children's hospital and the wait was 3 hours. Plus, there were some seriously sick kids in the waiting area and Dan knew that they would be low priority. So, he loaded James back in the car (poor kid) and they went the Dublin Children's hospital and finally were seen at about 10:45. It turns out that he has a broken bone in his foot. I don't know all the details right now.
Meanwhile...we had another baby alpaca. He was born to a first time Mom, who doesn't want to let him nurse. IYIYIYIYI!!!
Here's the big boy on his first day home. He doesn't have much hair, but it appears to be blonde.

It's a boy!!!!!!

Only 4 days overdue, Benjamin Andrew Gusty enters the world at a strong and healthy 9lbs 2oz. At 20 inches long, he now holds the record for the biggest grandbaby. Go Shauna!There was an extra baby hat, so I put it on James. He has patiently been waiting for "brother" to make his appearance.
Dan called at 2:30am to say they were at the hospital. This time, I slowly walked to the phone, unlike when James was born. ( I got up so quickly, I fainted onto the kitchen floor)
Den holds his 4th grandson. He was born at 7:58 this morning, at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
This makes grandchild #8 for us! But, not for long, because maybe someone else in the family is expecting....more details later.

A NEW BABY!!!!

Now before you get excited....we had an alpaca baby....not a new grandson and Shauna is still pregnant, much to her dismay. Our female alpaca, Alex was 6 days overdue and we were freaking out. When Den brought up another female to breed with Chieftain, Alex was near them and she cushed. (sat down) This is a surefire sign that an alpaca is not pregnant. Den was so upset, that I had him hold Alex, while I checked her out. I could feel a hoof, or something hard through the skin, so we knew that she really was pregnant. Fast forward 3 hours later and I look out the kitchen window. I said to Den, "Didn't you put that animal and her baby in the back pasture after the breeding? He said, "Yes." Then it dawned on both of us. Alex had her baby and they were out in the pasture.It's a girl. She weighed 17.5 lbs. The first few hours are critical, as the cria needs to nurse to get the antibodies from her mom.
She's a little wobbly, but very active. Now the big question is....is Clarice really pregnant? (The brown one) She is due tomorrow....or not.

Girls Night Out!

We had a lovely evening at the Cap City Diner, to celebrate Shauna's impending delivery of Benjamen Gusty, due August 25th.

Shauna and her good friends, Stephanie and Katie.

Melissa, Tori and Anne.

Shauna and Johna and Jeanie. She grew up with them in Cortland, Ohio. They both have new babies at home.


Me, Jean and Pat.

When we got back to Shauna's, James was modeling his new Buckeye football suit. A gift from "brother!"





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Shauna's 28th Birthday!

Shauna, Dan, James, Pat and Jim came over for a birthday celebration. This looks like a good seat! It was one of the hottest days of the year.

James picked some zinnias for his mom. Shauna is due in 2 weeks and her feet were extremely swollen. Good thing it is summer, because the only shoes she can wear are flip flops.

Her choice is the Texas sheet cake, because she is my chocolate lover. James was hoping to eat all of the MM's. I have to say that I have gotten very lazy with my cake decorating.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

It was a beautiful evening for sky watching. We went out at 9:30 to watch the international space station fly across the sky. It appeared right on schedule, but was so small, I couldn't get a picture. It moved very quickly.

Den tries unsuccessfully to track it with his spotting scope, but it was easily seen with the naked eye.

PARADE OF HOMES 2009

Shauna, Dan, James and I attended the parade of homes last Friday. We love checking out all the latest decor and landscaping. Shauna is due in a month and paused to rest on one of the patios. We were all feeling the many flights of stairs that we had to climb.
This was my favorite house. Dan and James loved the one with the downstairs media center, featuring a floor to ceiling screen and comfy theater seating.
Taking it easy in one of the beautiful backyards. This was the only pool, but they all featured the built-in outdoor kitchen.
This was Shauna's favorite house, complete with 8 rockers on the porch! We weren't all that impressed with the decor this year, but there were lots of architectural details. Most of them featured some kind of homework, family management center, which was different from previous years. The house that won all the honors was one of our least favorites--it had flooring from an old barn hayloft. It might have been green, but it was also ugly.