Ronan's arrival!

Ronan, Jocelyn, Tom and Jericho arrived last Thursday about 12:30 a.m., having driven non-stop from Charlottesville, Virginia. It wouldn't have been a difficult drive had the last 160 miles not been done in a driving rainstorm. But they arrived safely and I knew they were coming, so I camped out in the recliner and cat-napped so I could get a hug from my grandson as soon as they got here. At 14 1/2 months, he is a little wary of strangers, but it doesn't take him long to warm up. He is such a cutie, as I'm sure all grandparents feel about their grandbabies, so I am no exception in that department. He isn't quite walking, but "cruises" around tables and furniture, so you have to keep a constant eye on him. I had to go out and buy foam "corners" for the one coffee table in the living room as the corners are extemely sharp. We also took one of those "noodles" for swimming pools and slit it lengthwise down one side. We slipped that over the front edge of the table and that made a nice tight fit on the table and protected him from getting hurt.

Ronan particularly likes Neal, our handicapped Scottie, who he calls "ki" shorty for kitty. We keep telling him dog, but I think because of Neal's white fur, he thinks kitty. He has now started to call him "daw. ." short for dog. Neal is a rescue, surrendered because he supposedly bit a child. Neal cannot escape situations due to his disability, so we watch him carefully with the baby, but he has done nothing but show a little curiosity about Ronan. We don't let Ronan crawl on him or anything, but it is cute to see the two interact. Neal likes people and is socialable, preferring the company of his humans rather than the other dogs.

Thursday evening I went with the kids to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Francis in Niles, Michigan. Terry stayed home with the dogs. Jerry suffers from separation anxiety, so someone has to stay with him all the time. Uncle Bill was glad to see the kids and to see Ronan for the first time. Uncle Bill is recovering from lung cancer and the latest report is that the cancer is gone. Truly an answer to prayer. He has suffered some strokes and so his speech is a little difficult for him, but we have no trouble understanding him.

Saturday evening we had all my family in. . . or as many as could make it. Jocelyn's cousins came: Staci and family (they have Collin, the preemie baby I wrote about earlier and Breanna), Michelle and family with their 2 girls, Al (Carie's husband--she had to work) with their 3 boys, Kellie and her friend Ryan. Then my sister Nita and hubby, Nancy (sister-in-law) and hubby Tom, and my Mom and Dad. Whew! We had grilled chicken, brats, pigs-in-blankets for the kids, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans, rolls, quinoa salad, fresh fruit with dip, veggies with dip and cake. Everything was wheat/gluten/soy free because of Jocelyn's allergies. That way we could pass babies around without worrying about any allergic reactions.

We had worked hard the week before and got the basement family room all cleaned up and cleaned out so the kids would have a place to play. Boy am I glad we did. They had a lot of fun. The dogs survived and all is well.

Jocelyn, Tom and Ronan left Sunday for the Indiana Dunes National Seashore. We are keeping Jerry with us as they cannot take him out on the beach. He is sticking to me like glue. . . and I do mean glue. I have to be careful walking because he has to be touching me. Bailey is not sure he likes that, so I have two dogs on me. . . one on each side. Jerry brought his bed with him but has yet to sleep in it. Neal likes it and makes sure he is the first to the bedroom at night so he can get to it first. Last night Bailey wanted his turn and Neal was not yielding, so Bailey joined him in the bed, which made Neal extremely nervous. We got a picture of them as Bailey was exiting. Bailey only left because he doesn't like his picture taken, not because he was yielding. It was quite funny. We still put our boyz in their pen with their beds and let Jerry have his, although so far he has opted to sleep next to our bed.

We have had a few minor disagreements, primarily between Bailey and Jerry, but nothing major and things are going quite smoothly. The kids are due back tomorrow sometime, then they will be heading back to Virginia.

The last shot is Ronan in his new Bass Pro Shop camp chair which we got him.

Till next time. . .

Dale