September 7, 2009: CNO at Janet and Jim's House. We got to enjoy the new screened porch. Janet made a lovely dinner including grilled salmon and chicken.

Photos

September 6 2009: SHARON & ARTHUR'S GARDEN PARTY. Celebrating their home and garden, Sharon and Arthur hosted a wonderful end of summer party …

August 21-23; Chicago. We went to Chicago to visit some of the sights and visit with Dale and Tina in Highland. Dale and I played golf at Tuckaway G.C. and Palmira (from the Blues) G.C. which was a lot of fun. Great weekend visiting with special friends.

Photos …

July 18, 2009 -- Our couples group got together at our house to recreate an Austrian wine-drinking "Heuriger" complete with an official "Buschen." The display of the green bush of a pine tree is a sign that the Heuriger is open. Ron & Julie made a meat & onion struddel, the Janets teamed …

July 2 to July 6, 2009: FLORIDA - JANOME. Janet taught at the National Janome Convention in Orlando. I went along for a little R & R and a chance to visit my Florida relatives.

Photos

* Uncle Jeff WWII Remembrance 64,872KB
* Uncle Jeff WWII Remembrance 88,460KB
* Uncle Jeff WWII Remembrance …

Mystic, Connecticut; June 13th, 2009 -- JOHN I. CARIJA LIFE CELEBRATION.

Family and friends came from near and far to pay tribute to the life and times of a remarkable man, or as John, Jr. so aptly called his father -- a "Gentleman Engineer." Of course it was also an emotionally charged …

Sunday, June 7th - Charles' 31st Birthday Celebration.
Because of all the comings and goings of everyone, we couldn't get together to celebrate Charles' birthday until now.

But a birthday celebration is great no matter when they occur. We traveled to Bloomington and once again Tessa made a superb dinner, vegetarian …

May 27th to June 3rd, 2009 - Boyz Week Out; Utah & Las Vegas.

We were able to make it back to southern Utah to explore some new territory. Of course Arthur had already seen most of the areas we visited. But it was still a great time to be visiting these …

SUNDAY; MAY 24, 2009: Battle Ground & Prophetstown State Park & Eastburn Farm

Janet just finished reading "Panther in the Sky" by James Alexander Thom which is an excellent novel about the life of Tecumseh and the Battle of Tippecanoe. So on the way to the farm we made a stop in …

May 17, 2009 CNO - Black & White Party

We had a Couples Dinner minus Ron & Julie. Unfortunately Ron suffered a mild stroke in the morning while cutting grass and had to be rushed to the hospital. Sharon and Arthur offered to pinch-hit as hosts which was very thoughtful.

We are all …

March 10th - 19th, 2009: Budapest, Vienna & Prague -- We traveled to Eastern Europe with Arthur and Sharon to visit three of the most beautiful cities in the world. And to say the least, we had a wonderful time. All three cities had been high on Janet's "Must See" list.

These cities …

March 7, 2009: Dennis, Kayla and Sam came down from Marquette so Sam could visit Depauw Univ. Also happened to be my birthday so that was fun also. Derrick and Jim were also able to join us for dinner. And Charles and Tessa came up, too. It was sure great …

March 5, 2009: Jim and Janet hosted a Couples Night Out dinner with a Norwegian theme. Ron and Janet both have roots there and Janet had been wanting to have this for quite some time. They had made a potato crepe that we added butter, sugar and cinnamon to. Or …

February 19 to 23, 2009: Las Vegas Golf Trip. Dale and I met up in Las Vegas for golf and fun. This was my first time there and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. We were joined by two friends of Dale's, Frank and Reggie. And as Dale had …

Saturday; January 31, 2009: We traveled to Bloomington for the opening of a Quilt exhibit at the Mathers Museum. This is the very talented group that Janet is a member of. Of course, we also took time to visit with Charles and Tessa at their home. They are hard at …

January 20, 2009: On the day of Barrack Obama's inauguration, here is what we happened to see outside our window.

Photos

December 31, 2008: Happy New Year 2009! At the CNO Christmas Party, we decided to get together one last time in 2008 for an impromptu New Year's Eve celebration. We made it a Peru themed party, because I had just finished the Peru trip show. Arthur made great Pisco Sours …

December 24th & 25th: Once again, Christmas has come and gone. How sad. What's really sad is sister Joyce went and broke her right femur 2 1/2 weeks ago by falling on a patch of ice in her driveway. But amazingly, she got released from rehab last Friday. They had …

December 20, 2008: As I looked around the room, I wondered how Janet and I were so fortunate to have such a special group of good friends to share life with. I know in China, eight is considered a very lucky number and I'm beginning think this may be true …

Brett's House - Before

Photos

November 27, 2008: We gathered at Chris & Chrissy's house for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Lorri brought Tory and Sarah, which was a pleasant surprise. Tory in on active duty in the Navy in Gulfport, Mississippi and they got a weeks leave. So they drove up to be with family and …