Tennessee

For those of you who aren't my Facebook friend I need to catch you up on the Gauthier happenings. This was the year for the Voth family reunion my moms side. My mom is 3rd oldest of 15 children. We have this reunion every 3 years in various locations. This year we traveled 1589 total miles to Fall Creek Falls, Tennessee. We started our journey on Friday evening when everyone got off work. We left Lawrence about 5:00 and drove to Paducah, Kentucky arriving there about 12:30AM. The next morning we headed to Chattanooga to see Darrell and Claudia Moore. Darrell is my 2nd cousin on the Johnson side. We had a wonderful visit with them. They took us out on there motor boat to show us around their beautiful lake. That evening we walked the river walk and had pizza. Then the next morning we went to an aquarium which was wonderful. Sunday after the aquarium we drove about an hour to Fall Creek Falls where the family reunion was. There are 140 people on this side of my family. There were 70 of us there. This is the first time a sibling of my moms wasn't there. And there were 2 that couldn't make the trip. An aunt from Virginia who is battling cancer and an uncle from Kansas who can no longer drive because of his eye sight and they just couldn't make the trip. This place was in the middle of nowhere. You hit the entrance of the state park and it took another half hour of winding roads to get to the Inn. And there was no cell service at all. It was a beautiful area with the mountains, waterfalls and the lake. We went on this hike to go see a waterfall. There was a swinging bridge, and 2 wooden bridges, rocks and a path that kept going up. Well about half way you get to an area that you can drive to and then hike down to the falls. Rachel was DONE at the half way mark. So we didn't make it all the way down to the bottom of the falls. I should say Rachel, Lindsay, dad and I didn't make it. All of Davids family, my mom and Bob went to the bottom. Bob was amazed how well my mom did at almost 76 years old. I will say she was pooped when she got back to the top. That evening we had a cookout with just my family and my uncle Myron. We had Bob's burgers and they were wonderful. The next day we rented a canoe and a paddle boat and paddled around the lake a bit and then Rachel went swimming in the pool while Bob and Lindsay rested. That evening we had a nice dinner with all the family. We left there Wednesday morning and drove 11.5 hours to get home. It was a very fun and relaxing vacation.

Worlds of Fun

Here are just a few of my pictures from WOF. I didn't take a lot of pictures and those of you who are my Facebook friends can see them all. We did have a great time with all our family and friends. I guess the only friend was Phil because I consider Amanda family already. Bob cooked all the meals the only thing I did was make a dirt cake. So life was in the kitchen was good for me. Kenzie and Ethan are just so sweet and cute. i just love them to pieces. Oh and their mom and dad aren't too bad either. I do feel bad I didn't get any pictures of Don, Nancy, Jeff, Jodi and John. And the 1 picture of Jessica is pretty lame. Maybe next time. I wish Nancy had a blog so we could see the pictures she took. Sammie made her first Rip Cord jump or dive whatever it is this weekend. I think she almost broke Phil's arm holding on so tight. I do think everyone had a good time even though it was soooooo hot and we were there for 7 hours.

I did run into some old friends from home that now live in Chanute KS. Jerry and Anna Houston. They brought their great nieces there. I sat and talked to Jerry for a bit while Anna was taking the girls around on the rides. For those of you who don't know Jerry, he is blind. So he was sitting in the shade on a ledge just listening to the sounds around him. He was very happy I spotted him and came over to visit with him.

Prayer requests

Today Bob's brother, Uncle Rod is having surgery on his heart. I'm not sure of all the details so I am not going to write why. I don't want to put anything incorrect about what they are doing. Anyway keep him in your prayers. Also my aunt Ruth had surgery a couple of weeks ago for cancer. She had a very rough week last week. Things were starting to look a bit better on Saturday but she has a very long road ahead of her. 6 weeks for recovery then chemo and radiation. So keep her in your prayers as well.

State Swimming and Track

We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Wichita for the State swimming and track meet. I only mention swimming and track because that is all Rachel did. There is actually weight lifting, tennis and cycling too. Actually we have a weight lifter that is unbelievable. He squats, dead lifts and bench presses all 550 pounds and more. He is extremely strong.

Day 1. On Friday we spent 4-5 hours at the pool. Rachel swam the 10m and 20m and got a gold and a bronze medal. We had about 20 total swimmers in our group. From swimming we head to the track for a cookout and opening ceremonies. Opening ceremonies was OK. They had a group of girls from KC that preformed on the trampoline. They were good but went on, and on and on. A drum line from Derby Kansas that was the best I have seen. They were really good. A singer who was ok but glad she only sang 3 songs. Then the fireworks. They were just awesome. They blocked off 21st street(for those of you who know Wichita) by the track and off they went. One right after the other. I thought last year was the best fireworks show I had ever seen but this was just as good if not better. It was a great ending for a long and hot day. I should mention we started this day meeting the bus in Lawrence at 7:00. So we were pretty tired when we hit the beds Friday night about 10:30ish.

Day 2 Saturday. We had to be up at 6 am showered, dressed, breakfast and on the bus by 7:30. Saturday morning events started at 8:00 and lasted all day long. Rachels first event was the 50m run. She took 4th place. From there we had the standing long jump and she got a bronze medal. Next up was the 100m dash and she took 7th place. (running is not her strongest event). She runs really hard just not very fast. Last was the tennis ball throw. She was so tired at this point she didn't even try. It was almost like just dropping the ball instead of throwing it. She got a 5th place ribbon. Part of the problem was there was so much staging and waiting to do the event and then staging and waiting for the award that everything was just one right after the next and she didn't have time for lunch. It was about 1 before she was able to eat. So about 1 and her events are done for the day and off to play in the olympic village. Lots of games with a punch card to turn in for prizes. This is the highlight for all the athletes and it was cooler with some wind where this was set up. She didn't get her card all punched off before it was time to load the bus so she saved it to finish on Sunday. We loaded the bus and headed back to the hotel leaving behind the walkers to finish up their events on Saturday. I was so thankful to go back early as we all got our showers done and Rachel and I took a nap! I am not a nap person but I took about a 2 hour one Saturday. Saturday evening brought the banquet and dance. This was in a hanger at Beech aircraft plant almost across from our hotel. The food was awful. The meat was like that pressed turkey. Most people didn't eat the turkey. The dance started and we(Coaches and parents) headed outside where there was a nice cool breeze. Inside it was hot, hot, hot! Our head coach pulled all our athletes outside and asked if they would like to go to McDonalds for ice cream instead of staying for the dance. I don't think anyone was opposed! So we loaded up and headed to McDonalds then back to the hotel for bed!

Day3. Sunday started about an hour later than Saturday which we were all very thankful. But we were checking out of the hotel today so we had to get packed back up and everything loaded on the bus again. Thank goodness most of the athletes have done this many, many times so they know the routine. At the track it is only track events, no field. Rachel only has a relay and it got scratched because 2 of girls from her team weren't there. She was disappointed but survived. She headed to the olympic village to finish up the punches on her game card. Finally 50 punches complete. The young girl helping with Rachels last game asked her if she wanted to start another card. I was standing behind Rachel shaking my head NO! Thankfully Rachel told her no. I don't think she realized she could keep playing. The more punches the bigger the prize. Anyway we came home with a real baseball (I don't know why she picked this) and some silly necklace that has already broken. All of our teams events are complete and we are heading for home. Arriving at home around 5:30 Sunday evening. We had a really great weekend with no rain and lots of wind! Thank goodness for the wind or we all would have baked. Temps were in the 90's. Lots of sunscreen and no major sunburns in our family!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my dads birthday! Happy Birthday dad! I love you.

My Baby's all grown up!

Above is Rachel and Lindsay before the dance and below is Rachel at the recognition.

This week was the last days of Jr. High. Rachel had 9th grade formal and then the next morning was 9th grade recognition. I don't know if it is her growing up or me getting old that bothers me most?

Catchn' Up too

The youngest of the 14 grandkids. He will be 6 this August. I thought this was such a cute picture of him shooting corncobs with his crossbow.

So Erin got us all caught up to date so I thought I better as well.

Today is Rachels last day of Jr. High. She is terribly sad to be leaving her teacher of 3 years making it hard to be excited that she will be going to high school next year. She really wants to be excited and then remembers Angela won't be there. So it is bitter sweet for her. Tomorrow morning will be 9th grade recognition and then she will be done! She starts summer school on June 16 - July 15 and will go to the high school for that. Her teacher in high school is wonderful. Anyway I think so. Rachel and her have butt heads already and the teacher has won everytime! She starts summer camp on June 1st and will go everyday 1/2 days and play, play, play! Swimming twice a week and all kinds of fun things. We have only track and swimming left for Special Olympics and the state meet will be in Wichita on June 5-7. SO takes a break through the summer and will start again with soccer after school starts again in August. So she has a pretty full summer.

Lindsay just completed her first year of college and did pretty well. We are very proud of her and all her hard work. She starts working at the same summer camp Rachel goes to but I think she will be working with the 5-12 year olds. We are very thankful to have an IN because summer jobs are pretty slim around here. Rachels teacher now is a lead teacher at the summer camp and asked Lindsay to work Fridays last year which led to everyday this year. She also volunteers for SO and will be going to Wichita too. It is quite an event and Lindsay will be very busy. She was asked by a friends mother to sing in a church choir last Christmas for a contata. She accepted and has continued to sing with them. This July 5th they will be singing a patriotic contata but with just 12 selected people. I'm looking forward to hearing them sing! She missing singing and is thinking of taking a choir class at JCCC this next year.

Bob is still at Allen Press and is staying very busy there. I am still at my awful job working the awful hours but am grateful I have a job even if it is awful. I did have a job interview last week and will here something this coming week but am not getting my hopes up as I'm sure 200 people applied besides me. I'm just happy I had an interview. I too am going to Wichita with Lindsay and Rachel for SO.

This past weekend we spent at my parents house with all my family. My brother from Michigan and his family were home. All 22 of us were together most of the time. I have added some pictures of the birds at my parents house. Right now the yellow finches are just beautiful. And there are lots of them. We had a wonderful visit with everyone and the time just went by so fast. It was sad to have to leave to come back home.

This summer is pretty full anyway through June. We have a free weekend coming up and then back to ElDorado for the Johnson picnic, then Father's day then our Gauthier nieces and nephews will be coming here to got to Worlds of Fun in KC. We are looking forward to this weekend as it is always lots of fun and we don't get to see these guys very often.

This year is the Voth family reunion. It happens every 3 years and will be in July in the Smokey mountains of Tennessee. We are hoping to go but if I get this new job we probably won't get to.

I think this wraps it up for us.

Rachel turned 16

I just can't hardly believe it, but Rachel turned 16 this week. Where has the time gone?

Old Friends

I got to see a very old friend today. When she introduced me to her husband she told him I was the first friend she had in ElDorado. They were our backdoor neighbors. Today her daughter ran in the KU relays so I went to the stadium to watch Molly run and visit with Sonja. I am so glad I went as I havent seen her in many years. We just sort of found each other on Facebook. It was fun today catching up with each other. Oh and Molly took 4th in the 1600 and had a best time.

Past due

I know I have been slipping on my blog. I still get on and read everyone else's blogs but don't take the time to sit down and write on mine.

I'll try to catch you all up on the Gauthiers.

Lindsay is still in school at JCCC. No longer has a boyfriend. He broke up with her but she was happy it happened as she didn't want to hurt his feeling because he is a nice guy. She is volunteering for Special Olympics and is singing in a church choir, so she is staying pretty busy. She already has a summer job lined up. She will be working for the city of Lawrence at the summer camp Rachel attends. Lindsay will probably be working with the younger kids and not Rachels group. It is just 1/2 days but 5 days a week.

Rachel will be starting high school next year so she has been visiting LHS every Tuesday for about 3 hours. They are trying to make the transition easier for her. I think she will be just fine and the change will be great for her.
She just finished basketball and cheerleading. Her teams got silver medals at the Metro meet. The cheerleaders got a gold at state and her basketball team got a bronze at state. Lindsay and I both went out with the team to Hays and we all had a great trip. SO took and week off and today we are starting swimming and track. So any of you who are in the ElDorado/Wichita area you can see her in action on the track and in the pool the weekend of 5th, 6th and 7th of June. This is when the state swimming and track meet is at WSU.

Bob is Bob and nothing really new with him. Work is still the same and seems to be going just fine. He has been calling in this past week for jury duty but so far hasn't had to report. He has 1 more week and he is really hoping he doesn't have to go.

Me, well I am very thankful I have a job to go to everyday. I still don't like my hours but we all have adjusted and the kids love dads cooking. OK Lindsay really likes dads cooking and Rachel, just sometimes. I on the other hand love not having to cook. But if I could get different hours I would be happy to take back the cooking duties or at least share them. I love going with Rachel to Special Olympics and seeing all the joy the athletes get when participating. I also love Kansas Jayhawk basketball and am sad it is over for the year.

Megan and the girls spent a couple of days with us this past weekend and we loved every second they were here. We welcome any visitors to stop by. We are hoping for some visitors from ElDorado when Worlds of Fun opens again.

The Boys

This is the first good picture of the boys together. They really look a lot alike. And they are doing much better around each other.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Saturday is all day in KC for the Special Olympics metro cheerleading and basketball tournament. They have new uniforms for basketball and cheer so the team is pretty excited. I will take my camera and get some shots of Rachel in action. Sunday I have to work 4 hours. It's the busy season right now so they have manditory OT starting this weekend through next weekend.

Everyone have a great weekend!

I get on line about twice a week to check the happenings and the obits (I know it sounds morbid)in my hometown of ElDorado, Kansas. Although I don't know very many people there anymore we still have several family members and a few close friends that still are living in the area. When I got on this morning right on the front page was our beautiful niece and great niece enjoying Valentines day.

Lindsay's new hair

Lindsay finally got rid of the awful curls she had. Her new cut and color are very nice and I like it much better. I think she does too. She had a slight tint of red added and it makes it darker to match her eye brows better. She was born with black hair and black eye brows. The hair fell out and came in a lot lighter but her eye brows are still very dark. Here are just a few pictures I took of her and Rachel. Grandma Gauthier, Rachel is wearing another outfit she bought from Christmas money.

We had 3 days of wonderful weather. 50 and 60 degrees. I am so ready for Spring time. I have never liked winter and the older I get I dislike it even more.

Our new cat Cubby has adjusted very nicely now. Jake and Cubby can now walk past each other without one of them hissing. They aren't really friends but they at least tolerate each other now. Cubby has grown so much I sometimes can't tell them apart. Jake's white spot on the front is bigger than Cubby's but when you are looking at the side or back who knows which cat it is.

Happy Kansas Day

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged. I am getting as bad as EMILY! I still get on and read all the other blogs. Today is a normal day of going to work so I have a little time this morning to do this. Some you you may not know but we have a new addition to our family. His name is Cubby. Grandma Gauthier named him that because he looked like a little cub when he was a KITTEN. Yes we have another cat. He actually looks like Jake and many time I can't tell them a part. He was Grandma and Grandpa Gauthier's cat so some of you may know him already. He is Lindsay's cat now. He loves her and her room is his room now. At Christmas when we were at G and G's house Cubby snuggled right up to Lindsay. Of course she melted as Jake hisses at her when she walks by him. G and G were trying to get us to take him home then but we didn't have anyway of getting him back with us at that time. Well Bob and Lindsay made a quick trip down to ElDorado and picked him up. He was totally freaked at first. He has adjusted now and doesn't seem to mind not going outside anymore. Oh and Jake has adjusted too. Cubby being young and wanting to play and Jake being old and not wanting to play sometimes creates a bit of a cat fight but never lasts long. Oh and he has got a few swipes at the bird too(he is declawed). He runs around the cage chasing the bird. Silly cat. The picture is from the first day Cubby was here. Bob has Jake and Lindsay has Cubby.

Rachel has started basketball and cheer for Special Olympics so she is staying busy. Lindsay is helping with basketball. We have a meet in KC in Feb. and the state meet is in March. I am in hopes of going out to Hayes for the state meet this year. Rachel is wearing one of her new outfits she bought with her Christmas money.

Lindsay started her second semester of college and seems to like it ok. I think she likes the semester better than the 1st. Again her classes are Monday, Wednesday and Friday getting Tuesday and Thursday off. She loves this set up. She still ride the K-10 connecter bus that goes from Lawrence to the school so she doesn't have to drive.

Bob and I are both good and seems like all we do is work! OK I have now caught you all up with the happening here in Lawrence. I will try to do better with my posting.

Happy New Year 2009

I just want to wish everyone a very happy New Year. I just have this gut feeling it is going to be a great year. Last year, losing my job was so stressful. Now that I have a new job and I still like it I just think it is going to be a good year.
We had a great Christmas and New Year's Eve. We spent Christmas at home for the first time. The kids got up on their own and then we opened our presents. Then it was just a lazy day all day long. The next day we went to ElDorado and saw both sets of Grandparents and I had my yearly lunch with my best friends from high school. We keep in contact via e-mail, Facebook but I only see them once a year. When we do go to ElDorado it is usually for a family gathering or something like that and is so hectic it is just hard to see them them too. New years I worked until 8:00 and worked New Years day so I was in bed and asleep by 11:00. Bob stayed up with the TV on and welcomed the new year. He has had a very bad cold with a terrible cough. He is much better now and is back to his OLD ornery self. He still has a bit of a cough but has his voice back now.
Rachel started Special Olympics up again yesterday. Cheerleading and basketball both started so she is going to be a busy girl for awhile. Lindsay is helping so she is going to busy too. School starts back for Rachel this Tuesday and I do think she is ready to get back. Lindsay doesn't start until the following week and she is not looking forward to starting again.
I am going to take Rachel shopping this afternoon. She wants to buy a new dress with her Christmas money. I will try to post pictures if we find something.