Our Son Mike --- and a Dog Gone Nice Day

It's hard to believe that it's been ten years already since our son Mike has passed away.  Sometimes it seems like yesterday, or last week, or last month.  There will always be a gaping hole where there should be one more family, one more pile of grandkids, one more person to keep track of.  We have to hang onto the good memories and smile at the stuff we recall.  His humor, his willingness to work, his love of sports, and most of all his wonderful unique character.   We miss you Mike.

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My oh my, after having the house closed up for these last two weeks... with horrible heat and humidity.... it was SO nice to open all the windows and let in the fresh air today!  

Imagine our surprise when we looked out in the front yard... our neighbor's house had been FLOCKED!!! Pink Flamingos everywhere!

It's a cute fundraiser for the 

church youth group. 

I also harvested the first ripe tomatoes from my row of 'mater plants.  I put in 6 different varieties this year. Some are early some are late.  I ate two of these just as a snack!  Yummmmmmm

Today I was energized to get things done, with the fresh air coming in. We were supposed to get some rain storms, but they passed over and out to Lake Winnebago.  I happily sat up in my sewing room for a while this afternoon, working on a quilt. Fresh air breezing in the open windows, and listening to birds and the wind chimes. It was such a pleasant day.  I sewed and ironed and cut and pieced.  I have 30 of these star blocks done now in blues and yellows.

I have all the blocks now bordered with "sashing" and "cornerstones"  and making them soon into a full quilt.  So far they are all sewn into strips. Maybe tomorrow I can get them into one solid piece. (called a quilt top)   Here the strips are just draped over a rod in order of how they will get sewn together.

With my new Handi Quilter frame, I can make the entire quilt process myself with the batting and backing and swirly quilting stitches.  That is the fun creative part!  The sewing machine gets pushed around the frame where the quilt is held taunt.  As I move it around, it makes stitches wherever I go! LOL   (I wish it were that easy....) 

Later in the day, BOTH of those danged doggers decided it was time for a NAP!  It's funny how they can beg and whine to be pulled by us up onto the bed in the morning for a little cuddle time.  But when it's the middle of the day, they can both easily JUMP up on the bed themselves and wait for me to come and take a nap! 

It's a pretty high bed! 

If they insist that it's naptime

I must comply, right? 

It was so pleasant this evening after Steve got home. He took care of a few things in the garage and then I cooked a nice hot meal for a change.  We actually had spaghetti, garlic bread and salads for dinner.  The temps dipped down in the 60's and we even put on sweatshirts to take a walk!  What a change from high 80's and humidity in the 70% range for the last two weeks.  

Yup, those dog gone good doggers wanted to take a W-A-L-K.... off we went for the evening with two swishy butts leading the way.  All in all, it was a dog gone good day. 

In Memory of our son, Mike on this day

We feel today we should do a post separately about our son, Mike, 

who would have been 27 years old today.  

He died unexpectedly one afternoon, of unknown causes, and we all miss him terribly.  

  

A tree was planted in his honor by his grandparents, Paul and Maryanne Pfundtner.

His uncles and our family contributed to a brass plaque in memorial honor of Mike.  

It is placed near the 1st base at the ball diamond at his high school in Luxemberg, WI

Here are a few family shots through the years.... 

Dan and Mike were very close in age and the best of buddies

And, yes, they loved each other

Being a sports nut, all his life, he rose to great heights

Steve, Dan and Michael joined up with Karen, Erin and Heather to be a family in 1997

The boys were both Steve's "Best Men"

And he tried his best to be serious, but always ready to burst out in laughter

He was one cool dude in school

And he still believed in Santa after all these years....  (rubbing his eyes in wonder?)

The boys and their dad played many, many games of cribbage

And our Xmas eve card playing till the wee hours in the morning was a family tradition

We love you. 

We miss you, Mike