What An Honor

We were in Los Angeles last weekend to attend Uncle Tom's funeral and shiva. I'll keep the details private, but we were glad to be there and spend time with family and friends.

And the traveling didn't stop there for Papa. He returned from LA on Sunday late afternoon, then turned around and headed off to Washington, D.C., early Tuesday morning. Why? The Honor Flight.

During the last few years a non-profit organization was created to raise money and organize same-day trips to D.C. for World War II veterans. They are escorted there, visit the WWII memorial among other things, and escorted back.

I stayed home Tuesday night to watch Simon, but mommy, grandma Janet, GG, great-uncle Scott, great-aunt Kate, cousin Brian, Kate's mom, Ginny; Kate's brother, John; his wife, Kathy; and their daughter, Ellen, welcomed home papa as he landed at Midway.











Now to Simon. For some reason I started calling this toy the lawn mower, despite the fact that it's far from anything that cuts grass. But as you can see he's a natural.

Uncle Tom

We were profoundly saddened earlier this week to learn of the passing of Rachel's great-uncle, Thomas Edward Bosley.

I lived in NYC from 5/15/02 - 5/29/03, and during the fall and winter Uncle Tom was performing on Broadway in Cabaret. Rachel and I were long-distance at the time, and during one of her visits we were invited to have lunch with Uncle Tom at the 21 Club.

He mentioned that it was a coat and tie kind of place, so I had to scramble to buy a new dress shirt as I didn't have a good one at the time. Rachel and I went to a local store and picked one up promptly.

Uncle Tom ordered steak tartar, and I am not sure I had seen anyone order that before or since. I remember the lunch bill being over $200, which was almost more than I was worth at the time.

I only got to be with him a few times, but he was always very nice, extremely generous, and it was obvious he loved his family very much. He, his wife, Patty, and his daughter, Amy, attended our wedding in Lake Tahoe, and it was such a joy to have them there.

Here's a photo from our lunch at the 21 Club in early January, 2003. I had glasses and hair, which means it was a long time ago!

The Phone Felt Bad, So...

I want to make sure not to leave out my Blackberry camera because it has feelings, too.

This was before Tom's wedding.



Regan and Dave's wedding cake.



Yesterday we were in Milwaukee and in the afternoon stopped by to visit great-grandma Ilse.



This afternoon the family took a hike in the Wadsworth Savannah preserve, and Simon was so excited that he took a nap.

Videos

I have been having trouble uploading videos lately, but I think I fixed it.











Wait, this blog ain't just about videos. These photos were taken earlier last week (I forgot to upload them on the last post).

I wore this on Monday night in honor of Randy Moss returning to the Vikings, but we still lost to the Jets :(.



These were taken on our front step Thursday night.

Weddings Galore

Before we get to all that, look at this face.



It was such a gorgeous day Saturday that we took Simon to the park in Wadsworth.















Got him started early!



On Saturday night at 7:30 we arrived in Niles for the wedding reception of one of the nurses from Lutheran General.

Then it was off to Deerfield for Regan and Dave's wedding. Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Cohen!



How about these hot docs: Dr. Kristie Bennett, mommy, Dr. Regan Valfer, Dr. Dana Russo, Dr. Sogol Jahedi.







Oh wait, there's more. We arrived home at 1am Sunday morning, and five hours later I headed to O'Hare to fly to Portland. My oldest friend, Tom Bivens, married Susan Stein.

Moss Magic

What a pleasant shock to hear the news the other night that Randy Moss is headed back to the Vikings! Guess I have to dust off the purple #84 jersey I have in the closet and wear it Monday night.

On to the pics and videos. These were taken as I was heading out of Woodstock on Sunday on River Rd.







We couldn't leave Simon out of this posting. These were taken 9/28 in the evening before bedtime.

Bon Voyage

The Lavens of Wadsworth wanted to wish Daniel Laven safe travels to Sweden today. Maria and the kids are already there, and we know they are looking forward to his arrival. Scandinavia here we come!

Vermont

I am having a terrific time thus far. Here's a photo outside of where we had lunch today.