Happy 90th Birthday

This sweet lady turns 90 on Monday, March 16th.  We were all in town to share in the celebration of my grandmother, Virginette Barnes.  The celebration began with 4:30pm mass at St. Joe's Catholic Church and a special birthday wish from the priest and congregation.

 After church, it was out to Springbrook Country Club for drinks, dinner and cake.  Before heading inside, there was a photographer to take family photos.  Here is Grandma with all 7 of her children and some of their spouses.

 Mya, Aidan and Cooper, 3 of the great grandchildren

 I was so glad Taylor made the trip with me and I know it meant a lot to my grandma to have her there.

 We really enjoyed our time with Bethany this weekend too and can't wait to return in July for her wedding.

 Uncle Bill and Anna joined us for some drinks before dinner

 Mya and Aidan enjoying drinks of their own

 Uncle Mike and Aunt Cindy did a beautiful job arranging the dinner.  There were loose photos all over the dinner tables and this lovely table had a photo tree of grandma's life and treasures from so many wonderful moments in her life.

 She really enjoyed them and shared some fun stories with my cousin Alan and Uncle Greg.

 Alan and Brooke's son Cooper is such a cutie and has grown so much since we saw him almost 2 years ago!

 Dinner was delicious…salmon, chicken and pork tenderloin with potatoes, rolls and veggies.  It was great night for visiting with all of our Iowa family. My cousin Melissa flew in from Florida.  She is here with her mom Cindy and my other Aunt Sheri.

Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike drove in from Omaha, Nebraska.

 Barnes Foodland bakery made grandma this gorgeous cake

 and we all sang to wish her a happy 90th!

 4 generations!  Grandma was pretty wiped out after a long day so my dad took her home after she posed for a few more photos.

Several of us continued the party at Jorgie's.  Taylor sure wished she was 21, but she loved that she got to hang out with all of the adults.  

My cousin Matt (just got engaged last weekend) and my Uncle Brian who flew in from Colorado.  Taylor and I lasted until about 12:30am before calling it quits, but had a great day with everyone.  We really felt like we got to spend some quality time with so many family members and are so happy we made the trip!

St. Patrick's Day…Quad Cities Style

 This morning was the annual Quad Cities St. Patrick's Day parade that runs from the Illinois side of the river to Davenport on the Iowa side of the river.  Aunt Sheri drove us down with Uncle Brian and my cousin Bethany.  The morning started off with green beer at Kilkelly's before the parade.

 Mother and Daughter (Bethany is getting married in July!)

The bar was packed with all shades of green!

 Grace Kinney was voted Irish Mother of the Year and was the Grand Marshall in the parade.  She is a mother of 15 kids and my Aunt Joyce (married my Uncle Pat) is one of the 15.

 Here was their family float, The Kinney Clan, as it drove by us.  We spotted my cousin Anna and she ran over to give us a hug before continuing on.

 We also stopped by the store to pick up a few copies of the Dewitt Observer.  Today's issue was a very special one for the Barnes family.  The front page article is about my 4 uncles selling Barnes Foodland after more than 65 years.  This is quite an emotional event in the family and quite a story for their community.

On page 12, there was also a sweet tribute to my grandma and her birthday celebration.  There sure is something to be said about small town living!

A Day of History and Family in Iowa

Taylor and I spent much of yesterday flying to Iowa for my Grandma Virg's 90th birthday celebration.  We had a layover in Dallas before landing in Moline, Ill.  We rented a car, drove across the Mississippi River into Iowa and had a nice chinese dinner with most of the family in Dewitt.

My cousin, Bethany, was nice enough to let us stay at her house and we had a fun night catching up before heading to bed.

I was up early and made a quick trip to Barnes Foodland.  My grandfather started the store in 1950 and ran it until his passing in 1979.  My uncles then took it over and sold it just last week to an investor. It was the family business for 65 years! Thankfully, the new owners are keeping the family name, keeping all of the current employees (including my Uncle Greg as Store Manager and my Uncle Pat) and keeping my favorite donut recipes!!

After breakfast, Taylor and I went over to Grandma's house.  There is still snow on the ground from a brutal winter, but we brought the So Cal sun with us for a beautiful weather weekend.

 At 90, Grandma spends quite a bit of time in this chair crocheting and watching basketball, but she still lives alone and gets around pretty well with her walker.  She still drives about 4 blocks each time she needs to get her hair done!

Before taking a tour by car, we went for a walk with my Mom around town.  We stopped by the house my grandma lived in prior to moving to her condo…such wonderful memories of holidays, fun with cousins and Uncle Brian in the basement (pool table, ping pong, arcade games), and catching lightning bugs on the back porch.

I knocked on the door to see if the new owners would let us take a peek, but no luck.

After lunch, my Dad and Grandma joined us for a car ride for a little history lesson.  We first stopped by the cemetery in Dewitt to see my Grandpa who passed of a heart attack in 1979.

 Then we drove to the neighboring town of Grand Mound to see the house where my Grandpa was raised

 and where my Grandma's parents lived.

This home was owned by Darlene and Lowell (Darlene was my Grandma's sister).

 We visited the Grand Mound cemetery.  I wanted to get photos of all of the grave stones so I can document family history.  Here are my Grandma's parents, Camiel and Lillian, and her sister Rosemary.

 Darlene and Lowell Rothbart

My Grandpa's parents, Clarence and Selma

 Clarence's parents, John and Mary

Once back at Grandma's, Taylor had fun going through old family albums and reading letters about the family's history.  Here is my Grandma and Grandpa with the 7 Barnes children.  There are 20 years between my mom and her youngest brother Brian.

I love this photo of my Great Grandma Lillian!

 We finished the night with a fun dinner at Greg and Sheri's.  They are the proud grandparents of 1 month old, Oliver.  We ate pizza and salad and shared stories for hours.

Taylor and I loved learning so much history and having so much family in the same room!

ARSENAL FC

 After months of discussion, 3 weeks of tryouts and a few more weeks of dual practices, Allison has decided to join a new soccer club, Arsenal FC.  She loved her goalkeeper spot with Hawks and all of the girls that she played with, but after a very rough season, it was obvious that her team would be splitting up. She is excited about her new coach Heidi, the level of play expected from this team and her opportunity to get some new goalkeeper training.  Tonight was the official player signing at the Embassy Suites hotel.

Prior to tonight's signing, we were told that Allison would be the back up keeper and would take a while to earn some play time on the field.  However, we learned at the signing that the previous keeper joined a new club and Allison is the only keeper (for now).  We aren't sure how it will all play out, but Allison is eager to learn and work hard to earn a spot on the field.

She is happy to be reunited with Hannah, Olivia, Isabella and Aubree from her U12 season and is thrilled that Reanna, Saige and Emily also made the move with her this season.  We have our fingers crossed that we made the right decision and this year will be a positive experience!

CIF Finalists

 The Wolfpack varsity basketball team has had quite a season.  On Tuesday night, we attended the semi-finals game with a packed gym at Great Oak.  Our Red Wave section was huge and the crowd was pumped!  The Wolfpack played an amazing game and won 96-68

 to advance to the CIF Championship game at Honda Center.

 Several rooter buses made the trip to Anaheim today and I took Taylor, Madison and Allison to watch as well.

 Great Oak faced a very strong Vista Christian.  They stayed pretty even for most of the first half, but Vista Christian took a strong lead in the 2nd and never let up.

It was a tough loss for Great Oak, but the season was far better than expected and the team has so much to be proud of.  Great job Wolfpack!