Fall Fun at Cornbelly's

There is never a shortage of fun when we get together our family together.  This year Kambria was on the ball and began coordinating an outing at least a month in advance.  Thanks, Kambria!  With all that the festival had to offer, is was surprising at how fascinated the kids were with milking the fake cow! Even Kambria got in on the action.  There was a kid milking from both sides of the wooden cow and even Sammi grabbing an udder from behind.  She insisted I take her  photo but (in true Grandpa style) suggested I come a little closer to get a better shot.  I picked up on the mischievous tone in her voice and jumped away just before she squirt me with fake cow juice!  
Although we missed Isaac and Cameron, it was so fun to be with everyone else.  We feel so blessed to have them living close and making memories that our children will always remember.  Love you guys!

Grandpa Talking About Cars

Hey family,

After several attempts, I just can't upload this video of Grandpa talking about his old cars.  I think it's too long or something.  So I went through and transcribed it instead.  I thought it was enlightening and a fun conversation, so I wanted to share it with everyone.

Grandpa: Oh, if I could tell you one thing that I had plenty of, it would be cars.  I went from one car to another.  If I added up all the cars that I had, I would say at least 35.  And I remember the very first car I got was a 1934 Ford coupe with a rumble seat.  And I didn’t have a driver’s license.  I would ride around and always had a friend sitting next to me looking out for cops.  And if he spotted a cop, I would stop, turn around and go the other way. 

And I used to take my car to school; you weren’t allowed to do that so I’d park it a block away.  Then I got a Wizzer motor bike, and that thing was the funnest thing I ever had.  It was like a regular Schwinn bike with a motor inbetween…you could really take off.  And I’d take them to school because I just enjoyed it.

Adrienne: Where did you get all these cars from?  Would they be in good working condition?

Grandpa: Well, I worked at a gas station when I was 15 yrs old.  And I knew all about cars, so, you know, I would fix them.  When I was 16 yrs old, I had an old ‘32 dodge and the motor was knocking on it.  I remember taking that whole thing apart and rebuilding it.  In those days, the rod, instead of putting little caps in for bearings, you’d take the rod and pore it so the bearing is part of the radius.  And I remember the guy came and miked it up and took the rods and came back and I put the pins together and it ran like a charm.

Adrienne: Were the parts very expensive?  Because it seems like it’s so expensive to build or redo a car nowadays.

Grandpa: No, everything was cheap in those days.  Everything was cheap.  That first car I bought I paid 50 bucks for it.  Then I bought the family car that was a ‘35 plymouth and paid like 100-120 dollars for it.  I could still remember a car that I brother bought (I have 2 brothers: Isaac and Francis).  I remember he bought this beautiful model A Ford convertible sedan.  And he only paid 25 dollars for it.  And I can still remember in anticipation of his coming, listening for the engine.  You could hear it from a mile away, the clattering of it.  So whenever a model A came by, I thought it was my brother.  Yeah, everything was cheap in those days.  That’s why you see a lot of old houses with the beautiful orante wood.  They had carpenters then that were very affordable.  Everything was cheap.  Things have changed something unbelieveable.  Everybody had to work, and if you didn’t have any skills or anything like that, you’d work as a domestic.  There was always something to do.  You’d either wash clothes, or iron people clothes.  In those days, many people ironed clothes.  Now they have no- press material… wash ‘n wear.  That to me is a wonderful thing.  I’m all for wash ‘n wear.

Carley's First NY Trip!

Hey Family!  Carley and I went to NY last week to visit the farm, so I wanted to post my pics.  I got a great video of Grandpa talking about cars, but for some reason it's not working.  I'll try it in a separate post.  But here's some pics and a couple good stories:

 David's really into dinosaurs...he's got homemade costumes and a cool nest outside with eggs and everything!

Grandma's Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer...we determined that it's at least 60 years old.  Aunt Cindy was whipping up some egg whites for a lemon meringue pie and the motor slowed and slowed until it just stopped!  Once Grandpa heard that it died, he came right over with a couple tools of course.  He turned it on its side, took out a screw, broke up a toothpick into 3 or 4 pieces and shoved them in.  Voila!  It worked like new!  I was amazed!

 Grandpa showing Carley how a water well pump works

 A hawk in the tree up the road

 Aunt Cindy cooking up a Lebanese feast!

 Grandma, Cindy, Carley and I went to the Ice Cream Man place in Greenwich.  This is my 2nd time and I'm a huge fan.  My flavor was Danish Cream.  So yummy...nothing like vanilla.  It was heaven!

 I rode the scooter just from the barn to Aaron's house and back.  I wasn't feeling too adventurous, and it was a good thing because just as I was coming back, it kept stalling.  Ha!

 My handprint in the back porch 23 years later...I think.

I thought this was a pretty picture.  The magnolia tree out in the front bloomed beautifully a few weeks ago and then there was a huge frost that turned all the blossoms brown very soon after.  I found one lone magnolia on there still.

Here's a funny story: Grandpa sang more old songs than I could count while I was there.  It was awesome.  So this one night he was singing some song to Grandma and started rambling some line and then Grandma said "that's not the right song at all!" And she cracked up harder than I've ever seen in my life!  We all laughed pretty hard.  It was great!

We had so much fun and it was great to see my hometown and relive lots of memories.  I will always love upstate NY!  Thanks Gramps, Grandma and Cindy for everything!  And thanks especially to Uncle Aaron for waking up at 4 am to take us to the airport ;)  Love y'all!

Jammin'

more pics...

Easter Photos

Easter Dinner

We had a wonderful Lebanese dinner at Ed and Liesa's tonight and we were lucky enough to have almost everyone there! Adrienne brought dessert and we celebrated Kathryn and Kylen's birthdays, too. After talking to Grandma at the farm, we learned that she is not feeling well and would remind everyone to pray for her. I attached some of the entertainment of the night for you to enjoy!