Seth is now a Marine Corps Veteran! Russell's Party weekend at our house! My time at the beach with sister and family !

 Well it's been awhile and time to catch up on a few things. I'm going to work backwards on this one. 

Monday July 17th was grandson Seth's last day in his Marine Corps uniform. Hard to believe he's been in 4 years now. He and Holly are moving back up to the Sacramento area (Holly has been there since May working) and we shall see what wonderful future holds for those two! Thank you for serving Seth, we are so proud of you! 💗

Seth, on his last day

Back to civilian attire holding his DD-214

Eric (his dad) actually went down to Oceanside on Saturday to help with last minute things that needed to be done. Some of Seth's buddies got together at Belching Beaver Brewery for a good bye gathering. 

The guys signed the flag, I'm excited to see it! 

Seth's truck going out of Camp Pendleton for the last time 

Gotta love those bragging rights!

Looks like an amazing lunch for the two of them!

                                                                      Seth and friends

Thursday the 13th was our youngest son Russell's 45th birthday. He decided a few months ago that he wanted to bring some of his friends for the weekend out to our house. We had quite the crew turn out that afternoon. A few more trickled in on Friday and Melissa on Saturday. We actually had room between our RVs and house to accommodate everyone. Jesse slept on the couch, but he was ok with that :) 

It was hot! I warned Russell who warned them, but they still wanted to come. The stock tank got used a few of those days! Thursday night was enchiladas, coleslaw and rice for dinner along with cake and 2 cheesecakes that Allissa made for him. It was a late night by the time we all headed for bed. 

Russell and Allissa (Jacob's sweetie)

Friday morning Russell wanted egg sandwiches so the griddle really helped on that and again on Sunday before everyone left! Allissa made a delicious huge, delicious fruit salad that was  perfect for these hot days! 

We enjoyed mimosas a few mornings too! 

Gotta love this griddle! Some breakfast cooking 

Friday night was Papa burgers and another late night happened. It was too hot so the ATVs were never taken out, except Aaron and Kenna went out for a bit. 

John, Lori, Allissa, Russell..hiding under the shade of the 
ez up

8 adults in the stock tank..not bad! 
Lori, Melissa, Michael, Ken, Russell, Allissa, Andrea and John 

Just kicking back..Jesse, Melissa, Diane

Saturday morning several headed to the gun range for shooting time. They were gone a long time and I have no idea how they stood the heat. 

Lori, Allissa, Russell

Ken shooting and John 

Once they came back they had biscuits and gravy along with eggs. Then they got ready and headed out to Frey's Distillery in Fallon, close to an hour away. They enjoyed that tour and came back with a few bottles.  

Then into the stock tank for several people. I was glad to see it got used! 

John and his ladies...Andrea (John's wife) John, Melissa 
and Melissa (Mel)

Saturday evening we headed to Karen's as she wanted to cook ribs for everyone! A lot of ribs!  They were so delicious. I took a couple of side dishes and she had corn on the cob too. 

Allissa, Lori and Diane

Aaron and Kenna

Allissa and me

After dinner a little music and dancing. A little alcohol was consumed there too. LOL. A good time was had by all! 

Sunday morning after having breakfast every one left on their own schedule except Aaron and Kenna who stayed until Monday morning. 

Aaron and Kenna leaving Monday morning 

After that we just chilled most of the day in the air conditioning. These 100+ days are no fun. 

We are thankful Russell, Lori and friends wanted to come out to celebrate his birthday.  I think we should celebrate in June or October for better weather! LOL. 

July 7th I headed to CA and Dillons Beach to spend a few days with my sister Linda and her family. Jesse came along too. Linda rents a house every year and I'm always invited to join in.  We met at Crooked Goat Brewing in Petaluma for lunch. Then on to the house. We enjoyed the afternoon and I brought stuff for tacos for dinner. Figured that'd be easy on a travel day for everyone.

Saturday nearing noon we headed for Bodega Bay and lunch (I forget the name) it was delicious. Of course before that we checked out the Tides Restaurant and looked at the water of the bay. We took a little drive to the town of Bodega where the old movie "The Birds" was filmed. Had to stop for a picture there! 

Linda, Cassidy, Chelsea, Dusty and Owen 

Jesse and Owen

Owen got some new basketball cards from his dad and 
Jesse! 

Happy 5th birthday Cassidy! Where does the time go?!

Once it was time for dinner, Dusty and Chelsea brought out their pizza oven and homemade pizzas were made! YUMMY! 

Toppings for the pizzas!

Ken and I used to go to the Tides many years ago when we would go canoeing with his old boss and friends. We had a lot less $$ then but we could afford it, not now!! 

Sunday Dusty wanted to journey to Sebastapol, CA. Beautiful drive and then we ended up at Hop Monk Tavern Brewery. A few appetizers were bought along with a beer and a glass of wine (guess who had that?) LOL. Owen had a kids meal that he enjoyed. 

When we got back to the house we got ready to head for the beach. Kids really enjoyed themselves. 

Going on dinner time Bobby and Dusty barbecued delicious tri tip! Another yummy meal! 

Monday morning was time to head home. It's close to 6 hours for me, I think I was home nearing 1500 hrs. Thank you again Linda! 💖

Tuesday was a Dr appt for me and then a trip to Gardnerville for groceries for Russell's birthday. Ken had made a Total Wine run while I was gone so it was all pretty easy. 

A great month July is! So here I am trying to get caught up, the thermometer says 100 degrees at 1248! What better place to be than in the a/c? Maybe the stock tank later LOL. 

Night in the Country is happening this weekend in our little town. Three thousand people normally grows to over 30,000! We will be staying home, unless we brave a drive by the fairgrounds to see all the people hanging out! They've started coming in force today as the first of 3 nights entertainment starts tomorrow! 

Have a great evening! Heading for Karen's later for dinner! 

 

4th of July...problems with posting..

Last Saturday we had some company come to visit for a few days.  Ken's sister Diane and her son Jesse arrived.  We had some good visiting and on Sunday grandson Mason joined the party

Before we knew it 4th of July came upon us. We went over to John and Karen's about 1300 for their annual party which is always fun. Yes, it was hot and we were all sprayed up with OFF as the mosquitos are so bad this year. The news are saying it's due to so much run off from all the snow. I don't know, but they need to go away. 

We've been keeping ourselves busy trying to get ready for next week when Russell, Lori and friends will be coming out for a few days to celebrate his 45th birthday! We are looking forward to it! 

Tomorrow I'm leaving for the weekend and heading for the beach with my sister Linda and her family.  She rents a house at Dillon's Beach every year and opens the invite to me. This year it was close, as I wanted to be ready for Russell, but it's looking good. 58 degrees there tomorrow compare to close to 100 here..so looking forward to it! 

Well, for some reason my computer is rejecting pictures...so I'm done! I will see what I can fix this weekend! Have a good one! Hopefully I can get some posted soon...UHHH>>

Father's day at Sand Mountain, Family visits! A surprise purchase. :) A great week!

 We had a great Father's Day weekend at Sand Mountain. Took the Can AM out for a bit, watched the crowd go up and down the mountain, just what we wanted. All the boys called Ken on Sunday. Got messages from some of the girls in our lives too! 💗

Four special guys in my life...Ken, Eric, Mason and Koa 💙

Monday, after getting ready we headed home. Nice that it's only about an hour and half from us. While we were driving Ken looked out the side view mirror and noticed that something was flapping in the wind. Oh oh. Once we got to Yerington he pulled over and found some of the siding on Nellie had tore off, not good! She is a 1989, runs like a top but this could be expensive if it's even fixable. So she may be parked as a guest room now. We only paid $1500.00 for her, so can't justify a lot of expense. We shall see. 

Champagne Sunday at Sand Mountain..my glass says it all!

Tuesday I told Ken we needed to go grocery shopping as Mason and his friend Koa were coming on Wednesday for a few days.  Eric was off too, so he was coming on Thursday bringing his Can Am.  

We left a sizable donation at Walmart and while driving home we stopped at Carson Trailers. Looked at a 16x7 cargo trailer and decided to buy it. It'll be white with two windows and a screen door. Made by Wells Cargo and very nicely done! We went with the 16x6 1/2 foot height. Hoping for it to be built in about 6 weeks! This definitely will help with the move we hope to be doing soon for one of our sons and then in a few years another! 😁 In between we hope to do a little work to it and be able to use it for the Can Am fun 😀

An example of ours, only white

Around 1400 on Wednesday Mason and Koa arrived and then they went out on the Can Am and later on the atvs. Dinner was hot links, potato salad and macaroni salad. Delicious and easy. LOL.

Eric brought Ken his Father Day gifts..just perfect! Thank
you Eric and Christina! 

Eric got here Thursday afternoon and we enjoyed visiting. The boys took that side by side out for awhile. Enchiladas and cole slaw for dinner. We visited with John and Karen at their house later. 

Friday we all went out for a ride to some of the back country. We actually found a concrete building we've never seen before so that was great. It's so beautiful back there and so many roads to be taken.  Cheese burgers and tater tots for dinner. A nice fire and conversation on the back patio.

Mason, Koa and Ken..you can't tell but of course they're 
standing near an edge! 

Would love to know the story of this concrete building in the
middle of nowhere, NV! 

My sandwich board out at Sand Mountain

Saturday Ken and Eric went out in his side x side for a ride before Eric had to head home. Biscuits and gravy for breakfast along with eggs. 😊 I mentioned it to Eric the night before and the boys said that's what they were going to ask me to make, so worked out well.  Eric left nearing noon. 

Eric  let Ken drive his hot rod Can AM!

Ken and I went for a ride with the boys to "observation point". Not my favorite ride, don't like edges LOL. 

Got a nice surprise when Adam said he was coming on his way home from the Grand Tetons. Really special having all these boys together. 😍

Saturday night Karen barbecued ribs for all of us. Macaroni and cheese and I brought a caesar salad. All tasted yummy! 

Sunday morning was chocolate chip pancakes done on the outside griddle, with bacon. The boys rode off and on through out the day. Makes it nice having BLM at the end of our road. 

3 of my guys..Adam, Mason and Ken 💙

Mason and Koa getting ready to go for the last ride, before 
Eric had to load her up! 

Ken barbecued pork chops and I made veggies on the griddle along with mashed potatoes. :) 

Monday morning was sausage and egg mc muffins on the outside griddle (HOW I LOVE THAT THING).  The boys came out with me and it was just a nice morning before everyone left for home. 

Once they left Ken and I headed for Carson City to drop off the deposit for the new trailer.  Then on to Total Wine and Linner. A good day. 

Breakfast started on the outdoor griddle..so much better 
than cooking this and more inside! 

Love that we had 5 days with Mason and Koa. A great few days with Eric and Adam. We really enjoy  having family visit when they can! Ken's sister Diane and our nephew Jesse will be here Sunday evening and then later in the month Lori, Russell and friends will be visiting for Russell's 45th birthday!💙 

Sure hope these darn mosquitos are gone by them. They are making our lives miserable! We've never had such a problem in the ten + years we've lived here! 

Just a couple of pictures from Adam's trip to Grand Tetons.

Adam on the right working the El Dorado County Fair 💖




Here are the boys getting ready to say Good Bye 

Ken just got home from helping John with something, so it's time for Happy Hour! Have a great evening! 🍷🍺

Sand Mountain Bound! Quick trip to Antelope and just looking :)

 Hello! Just a quick catch up as we've got places to go! LOL. Tomorrow morning we'll head for Sand Mountain NV to do some CanAm riding and people watching! 😊 Actually it's a good excuse to get Ken away from the work around here and have a little fun, bonus, I get to have fun too! 😊

It's just a short trip and we'll be back on Monday. Sand Mountain is only about an hour and a half from here. Being Father's Day weekend, there should be quite the crowd there. 

Russell called Wednesday night and asked if they could borrow our Jeep Patriot for a while. Aaron got T Boned out in Roseville and heard this morning they totaled his car. 😞 It was a really nice Kia. This morning a little after 0600 Ken headed out in the Tundra and I followed in the Patriot. A quick one day turnaround to drop off the car. We got home around 1500. 

Aaron's Senior Trip to Disneyland
and that's not Kenna, even though
at first sight we thought it was..

What a great group of kids! 

Ken finished his part of getting the motorhome ready (Nellie) and I finished up my part. WE're ready to roll in the am. 

Yesterday Ken had a lung test so we were in Carson City. Once the test was done (he did well) we decided to stop by Custom Trucks and take a look at a pop up camper. We thought it'd be nice for when we're pulling our car hauler full of stuff. More to the story, but not sharing yet. 

Well, they sure aren't like they used to be, small and compact. Nope, pretty darn elegant inside and the price reflects that! More than we paid for the mansion. It was fun looking, but we both agreed we'd never get our $$'s worth. On to another plan! 

This unit had a small bathroom with a shower, which is the 
unit I would have wanted, but not for near $30,000! 😱

Have a great night, it's Happy Hour time! 🍺🍸

2 Graduations and 2 Grad parties! Fun times in California!

 Wednesday night we stayed in Carson City after Ken's lung appointment. Figured why go home just to come back the same way in the morning.  

Thursday morning we headed out for Antelope CA to attend our grandson Aaron's high school graduation from Woodcreek High School. We all left Russell's house about 1700 so we could stand in line until 1800 when the gates opened. Turns out there were 541 graduates with each graduate getting 10 tickets. 4 tickets for the field and 6 for the bleachers. Probably ended up nearing 5000 people! 

The proud parents and their graduate 💙
Russell, Lori and Aaron 

After graduation we went back to Russell's house where we were staying for the weekend. A little celebratory drinks were shared and then off to bed. Russell had to work on Friday. 

Friday we met Lori and friends, Dee and Katie who were in town visiting from Florida. We met at Buck in Sadies in Roseville for a few drinks and conversation and a great lunch. 

Lori, Katie, Dee and Ken 💗
I was there obviously, but every picture I have 
closed eyes...so nope!

Once that was done we found our way up the hill to Eric and Christina's before heading to Golden Sierra High School for Mason's graduation. What a difference from the night before. Golden Sierra graduated 62! No tickets needed for that one LOL. Nice ceremony as well. Once it was over we headed back down the hill as it was getting pretty dark. We knew we'd be seeing more of that branch of the Kay family on Saturday. 😊

The proud parents and their graduate💙
Eric, Christina and Mason

Friday night we enjoyed being on the patio with more friends until almost 0100. A good time, probably too good of time was had by all! 

Saturday we headed back up to Eric's for Mason's grad party. Lots of family attended. Good food, great people! What more could you want?! 💙

Our oldest son Bryan with Allissa, Jacob's sweetie 💙
He completed her outfit with his hat 😀

Twins in overalls! 

My sister Linda and her granddaughter Cassidy💙

Saturday night continued at Russell's.  

Sunday morning we had another party to attend where we saw a lot of the same people we saw Saturday with a few others we hadn't seen in a long time. 😊 This party was held at Old Town Pizza in Roseville, Ca. Again, great food and great people 💙 Once the party was over some of us moved from the party room to the restaurant area where we got a table to finish our drinks.  Then it was decided some were heading to Russell's for a not late night as he and Lori and most of the others had to work on Monday. Well, another late night LOL. 

Jennifer and Dave, who we haven't seen in years. Gabby 
and Ken and her hubby George on the other side. 

Aaron and his sweetie Kenna 💖

Melissa, John, Russell, Andrea, Natalie (another grad this year)
Mason, Christina, Lori and Allissa

Diane, Jesse, Eric Bobby, Dusty and Owen 

My sister Linda with our son, Eric
Guess I missed a pic of my other sister Wendy..

Monday, after saying good bye to Russell as he left for work I made and left a few breakfast sandwiches for Aaron when he woke up it was time for us to head home. 

We stopped in Auburn at our go to place Edelweiss Restaurant and had a late breakfast. We got home around 1500 or so. 

It was a wonderful 4 nights and we are so blessed and happy we got to see all 5 of our grandsons graduate high school over the years. Now on to their futures which I'm sure will be great. Proud grandparents here! 💙💙

Time to sign off, we've got a thunder and lightening storm starting to happen! Rain to follow I'm sure! 😊 Have a wonderful evening.