Flashback Friday

This weekend I head to Denver. John and Troy are moving to Minneapolis. Troy starts her job on Tuesday so I'll stay for a few weeks to be an extra set of hands for John, who's staying in Denver with the boys until the end of the month. Today's picture is from January 17, 2019. John and Troy (and Sirius) were heading out the door to move to Fort Collins and start their almost 7 year stay in Colorado. When the time comes for all of them to go to Minneapolis (in around a month), there are two little boys who will now go with them, and thankfully Sirius is still here too. 

Flashback Friday

Mary turns 33 tomorrow! Here she is at the about same age that Owen is now - 5 months old. She's already showing great taste in fashion - and shoes.

First Days of School and Last Days of Summer

First things first! In the past week, all the grandkids have had a first day of school. Last week, after being gone for the summer, she rejoined her friends at her Polish daycare.

Next up was Owen. On Monday he was excited to go to his very first day of daycare ever, on his mom's first day back at work after spending five months at home with him. 

Tummy time is great place to meet new friends. Owen wasted no time in meeting other babies at daycare.

Not to be outdone, Lloyd and Freddie headed back in style to the first day of their new daycare school year. They've both moved up to a new class. But there are changes ahead. By the first of October, these two will be on their way to Minneapolis and a brand new daycare. 

But wait! There's been more happening than just the first day of school. You've heard of plus ones? Well here we have a plus two. Owen took his mom and dad to his very first wedding. He wore a vintage 1989 outfit, compliments of his Uncle Peter.

It's 1989 vs. 2025. Who wore it best? (Answer: it's a tie!)

Owen also got to spend a week at the Maryland shore and experience his first time "in" the Atlantic Ocean. 

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Freddie wound down their summer by catching up on their reading.

Over in Warsaw, Chef Rosie celebrated being back home in her two kitchens. (She has a kitchen in her bedroom and she shares her parents' kitchen with them.) Her dad got her a made-in-Elkader apron.

A few days later, Coach Rosie went to a small town in Poland with her mom and dad and a contingent of their American friends for the Mölkky World Championships. They competed and I'm told had an absolute blast. Sounds like a great finale to the summer.
 

Flashback Friday

Peter, Jessa, and Rosie are in Gołotczyzna, Poland, with some of their friends from the States, to compete at the 2025 Mölkky World Championship. It seems like a good time share a picture from the time they played Mölkky on Peter and Jessa's wedding weekend in June of 2022.

Flashback Friday

In August of 2004, we were in Aurora, Illinois for my grandma's funeral. She died the month of her 91st birthday. This is the Poss group at the after-funeral lunch: my dad, me, Mary, my dad's cousin Sue and her husband Bob, my mom, my dad's cousin Jan, my grandma's sister Aunt Dot and her boyfriend Tony, Peter, Brad, John, my brother Steve, and my sister Kelle. Of the generations above mine, the only ones in this picture still alive are my dad's cousin Sue and her husband Bob. My sister Kathy wasn't there because her father-in-law was very sick and would pass away the next month.

 

Cuteness Corner

 Peter, Jessa, and Rosie spent their last week of summer vacation in Aruba. 

Rosie went from being afraid to go near our pool at the end of June, to this by the first of August.

When Rosie goes back to daycare next week, she'll have a long answer to the question of: what did you do on your summer vacation?

Meanwhile, Lloyd learned the joys of a Dairy Queen Blizzard while on their house hunting trip to Minneapolis.

Back at home he enjoyed a weekend outing to the zoo.

As you can see, Freddie is a baby on the move and he's going nowhere but up.

Although sometimes he's still carried by his dad.

Freddie cheered for his brother at a weekend bike race.

Owen modeled the new sweater knit for him by Priscilla Tolan.

Navy's his color, but he'll hold off on wearing the sweater for now and stick with a tank top while it's still hot summertime.

Owen went on his first vacation. It was a road trip to Pittsburgh.

And don't let that scowl fool you. This baby had a good time.

And with that I'm going to close out the cuteness corner. Owen says to everybody: remember to always stay cute, just like me and my cousins!

Elkader

The week before last we were in my mom's hometown of Elkader, Iowa for my Aunt Joyce's funeral. We got there a few days ahead of time and I spent my mornings walking all around this tiny town of 1,200 people. Above is the Catholic church that my mom grew up in, where my parents were married, and where we held the funeral.

The church is one of the iconic sights in towns, as is the Keystone Bridge. We stayed the river with a view of the bridge from the opposite side. However, I can't take credit for this pretty picture as my sister Kathy took it.

My mom grew up in an apartment downtown with her parents and 8 siblings. This is one of the downtown streets.

The white door is the door to the stairwell to my mom's 2-bedroom apartment that she lived in for all but a couple of years of her childhood, and that my grandparents lived in for all but a couple of years of their marriage until they died. In their adulthood, my mom and her siblings always took pictures on the stoop, so we did the same. Things have changed since my mom was a kid, when the downstairs business was a funeral home. Now there's a swanky coffee shop on one side and an Aveda salon on the other. It's still a farming town, but Elkader is in such a beautiful setting that the town has figured a way to attract tourists.

This is an example of the beautiful setting.

It was great to see family at the funeral. As much as I loved seeing everybody, I don't have to tell you that the best part was having Peter and John there.

Fifteen of my aunt's nieces and nephews were there. We missed just one cousin, who was home recovering from cancer treatment. It was really nice to catch up with everybody.

It was also really nice to see my siblings and their spouses.

Me and my siblings.

The boys with their Poss aunts and uncles.

It was sad to say goodbye to Aunt Joyce. In my family, she was the last of her generation. The funeral Mass was beautiful and a perfect way to say farewell.