And Yet Another Update……..

Back in February I started another blog, The Faces of My Family, in order to document the genealogical research I have been doing.  I thought I could keep up with both blogs but once Faces debuted, The View Off My Deck was neglected.
Yesterday I received a comment on this blog from my genealogy friend Rootdigger teasing me about my update from January 2010!  It was just the nudge I needed to resurrect this blog!
Since I ended with an update from seven months ago, I guess I’ll start with one to get 2010 up to date!
After our wonderful New Year’s celebration with Bill and Jackie, we got back to the business of, well, being busy!
In January the Clay Boys Bowling Team competed and advanced through, sectionals and regionals and found themselves once again in semi-state competition.   The boys had to  compete that day without their anchor bowler and, although they bowled their hearts out, they weren’t able to make the cut that would send them back to state.  But never let it be said this team doesn’t know how to celebrate a season! 

The parents aren't too shabby at celebrating themselves!

In February I made my annual girl’s trip to LaPorte for a scrapbook weekend at Michelle’s Memory Loft.  Each year we return for a few days of no make-up, pajama wearing, chick flick viewing, food, laughter and fun (with a little bit of scrapbooking thrown in!)


April was a busy month.  We celebrated Easter at my Aunt’s with all the cousins present (except for Pat, Steph, Will and Ella who we miss terribly).

April also brought the Youth State Bowling Tournament in Indianapolis.  This was the last year that Ben, Richie and Daniel were  competing.  Andy is the lone team member who will still bowl in 2011 which made this state tournament bittersweet. 

Speaking of changes, after 12 years of playing baseball, Andy made the decision to hang up his cleats and pick up his golf bag.  In April he tried out for and made the Clay Boys Golf Team!  Since we live on the ninth hole of one of the golf courses we were able to jump our back fence and follow the team for a couple of matches this season.  It was quite a change from sitting in the baseball stands, one I really loved.  Can’t wait for next season!

May brought about two exciting events!  Mom, Aunt Connie and I made a research trip to Wabash, Indiana in search of an old abandoned graveyard containing some of our family members.  We spent two days tromping through cemeteries and asking locals if they had ever heard of America Cemetery and where it might be located.  On the second day we got lucky and were able to determine  the location.  I donned my hiking boots, cut through a  backyard and entered the forest where I was rewarded with the following sight! 

This is heaven to a genealogist’s eyes!  Lots of stories to tell about this trip.  Too much for this update but I’ll be going back in October to attempt to replace stones that have fallen over.  I can’t wait!
Also in May my nieces graduated from high school.  The cousins are stair stepped.  First there’s my niece Rachel (now an incoming Junior at Notre Dame), then Ben (an incoming Sophomore at Manchester), then my nieces Sarah and Dana (incoming Freshman at Purdue and Saint Mary’s) and then Andy (entering his senior year at Clay High School).  Their graduation was a celebration for the whole family.  Gosh, I love those girls so much!

In June, as a result of my other blog, I was able to connect with distant family members!  Mom and I traveled to Kokomo to meet Jean and DeeDee to get to know each other and compare our family research.  Do you know that feeling when you meet someone and you immediately feel comfortable with them?  That’s how it was for mom, DeeDee, Jean and I!  In fact, we have a research trip planned together for October!

The rest of June was spent in travel.  Andy made college visits to Manchester, Butler and Valparaiso.  He also made a solo trip back to Tampa to visit with friends we miss since our move  to South Bend in 2006.  I have, of course, no pictures of that trip.  That’s what you get when you send a 17 year old boy someplace by himself!
My final update is our yearly trip to the lake in July.  We have been making this trip since the boys were little and it is still the highlight of our summer.  They say  a picture is worth a thousand words.  So I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves.
 
That’s it!  A whirlwind tour of the first seven months of 2010!  Let’s hope I do a better job of staying up to date the last five!