August Already!

I just looked at my blog and was surprised that I have not written anything in it in a month although it has been busy. The kids started coming in on July 15th. Jamie, Andrew and Corbin came in first. The next day Corine, Taylor, Michael and Alyssa came and the next day Marchelle and Jacob came in. The following week, Jamie's girlfriend Catherine arrived.

It was a hectic 10 days but I wouldn't give them up for a minute and can't wait till next summer when we do it all over again. I hope Marchelle and Corine will want to come back with the kids. Hopefully next year Jodi, Rich, Chase, Jeana, Chris and Gabe will join us. Jamie Jr. expressed that this was his best vacation in a long time. Everyone felt at "home" and relaxed and we never felt like we had to go and do something.

Of course we did do a couple of things, e.g., I had scheduled a pottery party at Created By Us. All the kids got to pick an item to paint. A week later I was able to pick the stuff up. It all turned out really cute. The next day we went to Niagara Falls. None of the grandkids had ever been there before. They loved it. We went on Maid of the Mist and did the Caves of the Winds and we had a riot.

The rest of the time we stayed close to home and the kids swam and played. I've had boughten several things to keep the kids busy with and they loved them all. The pool is always the big hit. We had a fire every night.

I couldn't have asked for a better 10 days!

July...Already

Happy 4th of July! Summer is flying by fast, as always. I wish the winter went by as fast. I love to go out on the deck in the early morning with a cup of coffee and listen to the quiet of the morning, the birds chirping and watching the squirrels, chipmunks, birds and an occassional bunny in our little nature center. It's so peaceful and relaxing.

We're having an awning installed on the back of the garage soon. It will be almost the entire length of the garage (16') and will extend out 10.5' which will cover half the deck. It will be great to sit out there when the sun is blasting all day and when it rains, we'll still be able to sit out and enjoy the deck. I can't wait for it get done - what a great addition it will make.

Family will be here soon! Jamie Jr & kids arrive on the 15th, Corine & kids on the 16th, Marchelle & Jacob on the 17th and Bob & Shirley on the 18th. We're looking forward to seeing everyone. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post!

Enjoy your weekend!

Gabe

Christopher Gabriel "Gabe" Melendrez was born to proud parents Jeana and Chris on 6/20 at around 1030 pm. He's 7 pounds 1 ounce and 19" long. I can't wait to see pictures of him and go and visit in August which now seems like an eternity away!!

Little Graduates

Michael and Corbin,

Mimi and Papa are SO proud of you!!!

New pics

Well, I don't have much to say lately. Life is busy and summer is trying to get here. It's been a little cool but as with Rochester...one extreme to another. It's 63 now and by Friday it's supposed to be 95. Rain is in the forecast for everyday till next Monday! Hope you enjoy these pics...they crack me up!!!

We'll start with Chase...

And then Jacob...

Recent pics of the kids

Marchelle and Corine came home a couple of weeks ago for two days. It was busy and I only took a couple of pics but here they are (and I added one that Jodi sent of Chase).

I'm back!

Greetings everyone! I'm back!!! Shutdown is over after 20 days. We had a new plant record although we were going for the national record of 17 days. Well, there's always 2009. I am still getting used to working in the day but I think I'll manage. I had such a good group of people to work with - I think that's what made it all possible.

It's Outage Time

Well today is the first day of the outage. My hours are 6p-6a. I knew it was going to be a tough transition so I made a plan. Go to bed early on Saturday night and wake up on Sunday at 2am then go back to sleep from 9 or 10am to 3pm. I went up around 930 and slept to 11. Laid in bed with my eyes closed for two hours and then had to get up. So I guess that plan didn't work to well. But I'm pretty sure I'll sleep good tomorrow when I get home!!

Hope everyone has a good three weeks. Talk to you as soon as it's over.

Chunk-A-Monk

Can you say Wow? How cute is Chase! He's two and half months and weighs almost 17 pounds! What a six pack on our little man!

LeeLee

She cracks me up. Corine said that on the way to pre-school (picture day), she got sick in the car. Corine had to change her to her extra clothes. I don't know what she had on before but I think this is so cute.

Bubba

Corine sent this picture today of Michael. Isn't he too cute? He graduates from pre-school May 22nd. Brings back memories! The kids are getting too big, too fast!

Refueling Outage

Our refueling outage at Ginna begins on April 20th. This year I will be working nights - something I haven't done in a long time. The job I will be doing this year only has myself and another woman so we'll be working 12 hour shifts (last year we had 4 of us doing the job). She has a younger child at home so I volunteered for nights. We are going for a record 17 days to be shutdown.

The kitchen is coming along...

Here's a few pics of the kitchen. Flooring is being ordered on Monday so in a couple of weeks it will be done! It's still funny to me that we chose yellow since the living room is yellow too, although they are different yellows. But we're happy with it - always looks like the sun is shining inside our home. The pictures really don't do it justice. Hopefully within a month everything will be done.

Happy 30th Jamie!

Jamie is the last of the three 30th birthdays this year (3/25). It's still hard for me to believe that 30 years have gone by so quickly!

Happy Birthday Phyllis

Happy Birthday Phyllis (3/21). Phyllis retired from Ginna Station a year and a half ago. She's been a great friend to me over the years at Ginna and we continue to get together every couple of months for dinner. We have "our" table at Applebee's that we always sit at :)

Happy 25th Jeana

I'm a little behind in my birthday wishes so Happy 25th Jeana (3/20)! It's hard to believe our baby is 25!! This picture is a couple of years old but it's a cute picture of her!

Mike's 50th

On Saturday, we went to the Seneca Niagara Casino for a surprise 50th birthday for "Meleca". Over the years it seems his last name became his first name. We had a great time and I give his wife alot of credit for pulling this whole thing off which she setup just two weeks ago. He was so surprised! There were 20 couples that went. When Jamie and I were getting on the elevator to go to our room, Jamie saw Mike and Darlene coming our way. She happened to see us and got Mike interested in something else while we got on the elevator. What a close call! I didn't gamble much - I'm not really a gambler but I had fun walking around just watching people lose way more money that I did. I lost $40 and that was enough for me!! Jamie lost $20. Here's a couple of pics...the first one is when Mike and Darlene got off the elevator and Mike saw us all standing at the bar...can you say surprise??

Chase

Here's some pictures of Chase from our recent trip to Florida. What a cutie he is!

Happy Anniversary

Happy 7th Anniversary Corine and Mike (2/16). Jamie and I were in Maryland for the weekend and I didn't get this up before I left. This picture was taken a couple of months ago when they went to Vegas to accept an award for Mike's race car. What a great looking couple!!

Happy Anniversary

Congratulations to Bob and Shirley on their 30th Anniversary. What a great looking couple.