Our friend died last year. Our friend had a big heart and he had a bigger dream. His name was Ed Mansfield and he loved Emmett and the kids in Emmett. Over by the river, near the mill, was this piece of land that use to be a cattle lot and than was nothing but an Island surrounded on four sides by water. Ed dreamed of taking that piece of land and developing it into something that the citizens of Emmett could use. Before I moved away he had begun his dream and was raising money and starting to develope it. Today Keegan and I visited it and I marveled at what it has become. There is a great walking path, baseball fields, soccer fields, a terrific skateboard area, a basketball court. There is a pond for fishing, a marsh area for birds, and it is totally surrounded by the river, there are now two access roads. The man may be gone but his dream is alive and well..what a wonderful legacy to leave for Carol and their children.
Yes, our friend is gone but he will never be forgotten.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
My Emmett Vacation
WOW! It is Tuesday evening already....It has been unbelievable so far. Keegan has been a real treat, he is always busy and learning and doing. Sunday after we left his parents at the airport we went to the end of the runway and watched the planes take off and land. Later we went to Rick and Mindys' and had dinner and hung out. We took our time driving back to his house and than sat outside and played with his dog Lucky. Just as we finished his bath and was thinking about going to bed his uncle Scott and aunt Laura show up so we sit and visited.
Monday was a beautiful day and we took a walk around the block, played in the water from peoples irrigation and just hung out. It is incrediable to watch him as he discovers new things. "Bug" is what you hear a lot of when we are outside, the water running down the side of the road is to be spashed in and when it falls down into the grate he must walk on it, feel it and sit on the grate. His mommie probably isn't gonna be happy when he tries playing in the water with her, but oh well, grandmas do things moms don't. He will walk, excuse me run, the complete block and want to go for more. His mom and dad arrived in Austrilia without anything but a small delay. It took a long time for them to get to the hotel and it was like 8pm our time (1pm their time) when they called. We couldn't get the web cam to work right, we could see them but they couldn't see us. Jackie, Phils mom was here trying to help me figure out how I had managed to "break" the TV, so we all got to talk to them from down under. I ended up calling Dish and having them help me refigure the remote.
Today, Tuesday, was cold and windy so we didn't do any walking instead we went to the cementary, drove around town, and went to Roe Anns for lunch. That night we went with Poppa Ken to the nursing home and listened to his gospel band play. Keegan sat on Poppas lap and played the guitar and made friends with the residents. Just as he were getting into the bath his aunt Vonnie and two cousins showed up so it was more hanging out. I like to open the windows and keep the houe pretty cool, this morning when he got up he told me it was "cold" and proceeded to close the windows and went and got his blanket. When I have my tea he tells me that it is "hot" and then tells me to blow on it so he can have a drink. Tomorrow we don't have any plans for the day time, we're having dinner with Scott and the kids, would like to look Tim up and than we will see. Stay tune I will add things as they happen.
Ok I'm back and my week is over but what a week. Wed. we went to "Gardian Angels" and I purchased flowers to plant in my yard and bought a couple of planters. While we were there Keegan started throwing rock and so he got into trouble and had to ride on the wagon. He was yelling his head off and I asked him if he was mad and he replied.."mad tell dad!" I told him to go right ahead and tell his dad. Later Scott had us over and did a bar b que and he spent the couple hours we were there running after Norm the cat. He is fasinated with their fish tank, it is hugh and has big fish in it. Back home, bath time, reading and off to bed.
Keegan woke up about 1:30am crying and I tried to get him to lay down with me but he is too much of a flopper and I was afraid for him so I sat up with him until like 2:30 am when he said "night night" and I put him down and he went to sleep. He didn't wake up until like 8am and than grandma Jackie and Poppa Ed came and got him and Lucky. I cleaned up and went home, later Jackie told me that he wanted to know where I was when they came back to the house.
I am SO glad to have had this oppitunity to spend time with him and miss him bunches, but I know him mommy and daddy miss him more and can hardly wait to see him.Everyday we talked to them on the computer and he was glad to see them but did not interact with them like they would have liked. Even so he will be glad to have his family home.
Monday was a beautiful day and we took a walk around the block, played in the water from peoples irrigation and just hung out. It is incrediable to watch him as he discovers new things. "Bug" is what you hear a lot of when we are outside, the water running down the side of the road is to be spashed in and when it falls down into the grate he must walk on it, feel it and sit on the grate. His mommie probably isn't gonna be happy when he tries playing in the water with her, but oh well, grandmas do things moms don't. He will walk, excuse me run, the complete block and want to go for more. His mom and dad arrived in Austrilia without anything but a small delay. It took a long time for them to get to the hotel and it was like 8pm our time (1pm their time) when they called. We couldn't get the web cam to work right, we could see them but they couldn't see us. Jackie, Phils mom was here trying to help me figure out how I had managed to "break" the TV, so we all got to talk to them from down under. I ended up calling Dish and having them help me refigure the remote.
Today, Tuesday, was cold and windy so we didn't do any walking instead we went to the cementary, drove around town, and went to Roe Anns for lunch. That night we went with Poppa Ken to the nursing home and listened to his gospel band play. Keegan sat on Poppas lap and played the guitar and made friends with the residents. Just as he were getting into the bath his aunt Vonnie and two cousins showed up so it was more hanging out. I like to open the windows and keep the houe pretty cool, this morning when he got up he told me it was "cold" and proceeded to close the windows and went and got his blanket. When I have my tea he tells me that it is "hot" and then tells me to blow on it so he can have a drink. Tomorrow we don't have any plans for the day time, we're having dinner with Scott and the kids, would like to look Tim up and than we will see. Stay tune I will add things as they happen.
Ok I'm back and my week is over but what a week. Wed. we went to "Gardian Angels" and I purchased flowers to plant in my yard and bought a couple of planters. While we were there Keegan started throwing rock and so he got into trouble and had to ride on the wagon. He was yelling his head off and I asked him if he was mad and he replied.."mad tell dad!" I told him to go right ahead and tell his dad. Later Scott had us over and did a bar b que and he spent the couple hours we were there running after Norm the cat. He is fasinated with their fish tank, it is hugh and has big fish in it. Back home, bath time, reading and off to bed.
Keegan woke up about 1:30am crying and I tried to get him to lay down with me but he is too much of a flopper and I was afraid for him so I sat up with him until like 2:30 am when he said "night night" and I put him down and he went to sleep. He didn't wake up until like 8am and than grandma Jackie and Poppa Ed came and got him and Lucky. I cleaned up and went home, later Jackie told me that he wanted to know where I was when they came back to the house.
I am SO glad to have had this oppitunity to spend time with him and miss him bunches, but I know him mommy and daddy miss him more and can hardly wait to see him.Everyday we talked to them on the computer and he was glad to see them but did not interact with them like they would have liked. Even so he will be glad to have his family home.
Friday, May 8, 2009
May 7th 2009
Yesterday my son , Rick turned 37 ,so tonight I threw him a "not a birthday party." What was to have been him and his family turned out to be his sister and his step siter and her husband and his family. I cooked fried chicken, mashed potatos, gravy, veg and home made apple pie. Turned out pretty good and the visit was great. After dinner we all gathered in the front and played with Tristan,Keegan , Martha and Olivia. Martha had her skateboard and before the night was over we had the boys flying across the driveway on their bellies on that board. At one point Tristan was leaning on the board and Keegan came up, gave it a shove, laying down at the same time and off he went. That boy will keep him mom and dad young keeping up with him. He and Tristan are great buddies and sometimes not so friendly but they learn from each other and will be good friends as they grow. It looks like they will get to go to the same school and that is very exciting. Take a look at my dare devil boys....isn't God good with the blessings he gives to us?
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