A FAMILY WEEKEND AND CELEBRATION

It was so good to see our kids (we missed the Jay Shay fam)! A great time was had by all. On Friday after the kids arrived we went and celebrated Beau and Jen's engagement and Jess, Jen's sister's birthday. Jen's Mom Mary Jo and brother Josh along with Carly, Matt McGinn and Kevin Schroeder joined us. It was crazy to say the least.

Then on Saturday Jen, Jess and Mary Jo went and got their hair done while John, Zach, Beau and I met up with Teddy Grothe who had ran a 10K race that morning, for lunch. Then I joined up with the girls and we went for pedi's and mani's, I love being pampered. That night we went out again (I just cannot keep up with these young people any longer, THEY WEAR ME OUT!!!). We got to see Brooke, Teddy's fiancee and her beautiful ring. There was a lot of bling bling around there, I tell you what. Talk of upcoming weddings was the conversation of the night. And Jen's best friend KB was there who is getting married this July and Jen is the Maid of Honor. It was so much fun hearing these young people planning their futures.

On Sunday we said our good-byes to Beau and Jen as they had a wedding of a high school classmate of Jen's who Beau played against at Rocky (Brad Novak). Then John, Zach and I just hung out the rest of day. Did a little shopping , a lot of sleeping, watched the NBA finals and went to bed AGAIN!!!

Monday the three us went for breakfast and then dropped Zach off at the airport and headed for Geneseo to John's boss's son's high school Open House and then home. WHEW!! A very busy weekend but would not have changed any of it for the world.

It was great to see you guys and we love you all!

The happy couple.

The "Ring"

All dressed up

Happy times

The Youngbloods and Shays

The cousins having a good time

The Shays minus a few

Carly and Aunt Lori

A shot gone bad!! Oops!

Dee Irons and Jessica Youngblood ~ good friends

Jennifer's family


Beau and Matt McGinn enjoying time together

Beau and future Mother-in-law Mary Jo

Matt & Jess gettin cozy

Matt was spreading the love

Taking the time for a moment together

John, Jess and Zach

A happy group

Doin a little dancin

Whatever! ;o)

Getting pampered

Cute

The girls

Jen, KB & Jess

Just chillin with Car

McGinn and Teddy Grothe

Matt and Jess going to a wedding

Sisters

Bookends

CHICAGO HERE WE COME

Tomorrow is the day we get to see Zach, Beau & Jen. We will get to see the engagement ring for the first time. I am sooooooooo excited. I hope the weather is half way decent. I will be sure to get lots of pictures. You know me the camera queen. Stay tuned...

5-15-2009 A DAY TO REMEBER!!!

Today was such a special day, Beau Shay asked Jen Youngblood to marry him. He proposed at a restaurant at Rockefeller Center (a favorite spot of theirs). She was totally caught off guard. "When he pulled out the ring box my heart was in my throat" quoted Jen. People in the restaurant clapped and congratulated them. It must have been quite a sight to see. We are so proud of our romantic. We love you both and wish you many, many years of happiness.

A PRECIOUS MOTHER'S DAY

Mother's Day was very special being able to spend it with my Mom, my Mother-in-law and my sister. We had a cookout at Debbie's and the food was fabulous. Everyone pitched in and I must say we were at the top of our game! :o) Debbie made the best lemon-strawberry dessert, yummy. Here are some pics of the day:

Debbie, Mom and myself

Debbie, Mom & Jim

John, Mom & me

John and Mom Shay

John, Mom and me

Mom and her beloved dog Boop, who now lives with Debbie

A 69er's GET TOGETHER

Saturday May 9th our high school class did a Guest Bartending gig at Budde's on Main Street. This was to raise money for our class reunion. We raised a good amount of money and as usual a good time was had by all.

Kathy (Harpole) Kopsack, Sue (Haynes) Tolle and myself

John, Tom Cerkez and Mary Eyre-Cerkez

Jimmy Johnson bartending

John and Pat (Indelicato) Lansing

John and Dick Stine

Jimmy Johnson, Steve Ehrenhardt and Robbie Stevens

STRAWBERRY SIGHTING

No I am not talking about those delectable little red berries we love this time of year, I am talking former New York Met player Darryl Strawberry. Yes, my youngest son has ALWAYS been a huge fan (I guess because Strawberry was such a great role model) none the less Beau has always liked him. Darryl recently wrote a book and had a book signing in New Jersey so of course Beau and Jen went. Beau wore the authentic Strawberry jersey his roommates went to together and got him for his birthday. Here are some pics from the day: :)

Darryl signing Beau's jersey


Darryl signing a book

Just Darryl

Beau, Jen and Darryl

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

We are going to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend to see Beau and Jen who will be there for a wedding, so when they are that close we can't resist. Zach is also flying in, so that will be great to see him as well. It will be Jen's sister Jess's birthday so we will be celebrating that which should be loads of fun with all the young folks. And of course Jen's Mom will be there as well. So I am counting down the days until the 22nd.

DATE WEEKEND

John and I had a date on Sat. we went to Peoria shopping for golf shoes. We found some we liked, mine our FootJoys, white trimmed in pink and his are Callaways, saddle shoes with both black and brown. I then bought a new blouse for myself, earrings and a necklace. John bought a couple pairs of pants for work and some cologne. He then proceeded to buy me a DOONEY AND BOURKE as an early Mother's Day present. S W E E T!!!!! We then went and had our favorite coconut shrimp at Joe's Crab Shack and then on to the gambling boat to make a deposit. It was a great and fun day to spend with the hubby.

Then this morning he called me from a COACH outlet so he bought me a new COACH, I can't wait to see it. I think I will keep the man.