Halloween ....

Our neighborhood would be termed pretty safe, I'm sure. So, we usually see many families with their children making their way through the various streets. Some homeowners decorate almost as much as they do for Christmas. It was interesting that one lady gave out boxes of raisins. She wondered whether our grandsons (RJ and Tyler) would like raisins and both assured her they did. I think she was quite happy when she heard Tyler say before they even got out of her yard, "Mom, would you open the box of raisins for me." He had a huge bag of candy but was anxious to eat the raisins!

So ... of course, here are some photos. By the way, Ava was a carrot for Halloween. You will see on the top of her hat some greenery. Her shirt states, "The IS my costume!"

She was starting to scratch her face some so had to wear some little mittens to keep it from happening again.

Making lots of memories ....

We just got back (Tim, Sandi, Tyler and me) from a trip to Indiana and back through Atlanta. I'm probably repeating myself -- but, what is new .. and no comments from my dear brothers!! Sandi had taken some pictures along the way and I asked her to send me some of those -- the fall colors were great and they had lots of fun hiking in McCormick's Creek State Park and visiting the Children's Museum and Connor's Prairie Village. (If you are in the Indianapolis area, these are great places to add to your itinerary!) Three of Rachel's children went with Tyler to the Children's Museum and had a great time as well. Tim's nephew, Nick, went with them another day so Tyler was quite excited by the entire trip!

Now that I have rambled, I will add a few photos ... oh, by the way, the first photo is of Tyler who thoroughly enjoyed pushing my wheelchair!! He and Kamen are really going to miss it when I am finally completely out of it! I'm almost there!!

Amazing how babies change in a day ....

Ava June's godmother, Kim Shavers, posted several photos on her 'facebook' account so I grabbed a couple to share here ...

Meeting Ava June Lantz for the first time!!

Sandi, Shonna and I headed up to the hospital this morning to meet Ava June Lantz for the first time. Tyler was with us, too, and he was quite impressed with his new second cousin! She is quite the little sweetie and a cuddler already! Of course I like that!! So, thought I'd share a few photos rather than giving a play-by-play of the visit:

The Waiting Room -- Sandi, Tyler and Shonna -- the night was getting long!!

This morning -- Roxanne spent the night on that couch!

Kasi with Shonna -- she was beginning to feel much better!

The view from Kasi's room!

A proud mother with a sweet little girl!

And a proud great-grandmother (makes me sound old!)

She already cuddles!

Meeting great-aunt Sandi

And Tyler was quite fascinated!

Such a sweetie already!

"I think I'd just like to sleep!"

She has long fingers -- her daddy is 6'5" tall!

She latched onto my finger and didn't want to let go!!

"I already like my bed" -- well, not her bed exactly, but you get the picture!

..and great-aunt Shonna

Ava June makes her appearance!! A long day!!

It has been a long day especially for Kasi. Roxanne woke me at 1:00am to say they were headed to the hospital. Kasi's contractions were regular at 5 minutes apart and they were lasting over a minute -- so, they were off. The day seemed to drag on and finally, we thought things were going to happen around 7pm. However, it appeared the baby was in distress so an emergency c-section was performed. Ava is healthy -- 7 lb. 13 oz. and 21 inches long! Kasi is in a lot of pain tonight following the surgery so we will wait until morning to see her. She needed the rest tonight for sure!! But, Chris took a couple photos .. Ava actually looks a lot like Roxanne did when she was a newborn!!

Will I feel any older??

Well, Kasi heads to the hospital at 6am in the morning -- as of now, labor will be induced. So, it is very possible by the end of the day, I will be a great-grandmother. Will I feel any older?? I'm not sure -- I guess I will find out!!

Here is a photo of Kasi and Dylan taken last Saturday at Osceola Homecoming.

More family fotos ...

It's amazing what you can do driving down the highway -- rather, riding down the highway. I'm sure you would think that I was absolutely nuts if I was working on my computer as I drove. However, I'm pretty sure there are folks like that out there somewhere. (Crazy!!)

Tim, Sandi, Tyler and I are on the last leg of our 10 day road trip. What a trip it has been! We've had some awesome times and some travel challenges I wouldn't want to repeat!! Like sitting on I-65 in Kentucky somewhere for well over an hour. We were a little frustrated until we learned that 4 people had died in an accident not far in front of us. Helicopters were taking injured to the hospital. Perhaps the stop at a rest area not long before kept us from being in the middle of it -- a God thing for sure. Right before that happened, traffic came to a crawl and we saw a pickup in the middle lane on its side -- it had come from the other direction. It didn't appear that anyone was hurt although no emergency vehicles had arrived.

We decided to venture off the highway in Murfreesboro, TN in search of a Long John Silver's. After asking directions twice and being told first that it was 'one mile' up the road and then asking again (it's at the next light), we headed back to I-65. Ha!! Friday night rush hour in mall territory -- this small (relatively speaking) town has exploded and everyone decided to go to the mall on Friday night! 30 minutes to get back to I-65. A few miles later and we were at a standstill again!! This time by construction!! A trip that should have taken a max of 9 hours (stretching it) took 12 hours!!!

So far, we are doing well -- we are nearing Lake City, Florida so home is somewhere in sight in the next few hours!

Thought I'd add some photos of the Bedford get-together on Thursday evening. A bunch invaded Mom Bedford's home -- she said it was the largest group she had had in quite a while. She escaped from us for a couple hours when she went to revival at her church. She left instructions that everyone should be there when she returned -- except for my brother, Mark, and his wife, Shelley, everyone hung around. So, here are some photos of the fun ...

In photo below: Linda (Bob's sister), Betty's (another of Bob's sisters) husband, Gene, Mom Bedford and Tom, Linda's husband.

Below, my brother, Mark, and his wife, Shelley

Gene, Tom, Katie (Bob's niece, Jayme's, daughter, 12)

Bob's sister, Jayme, and her husand, Kevin.

Bob's sister, Linda. I was sitting with my back to her and aimed the camera back over my head!

And did it again with Betty ...

The one below was taken by my camera phone of Jayme and Katie ...