Auntie Ann RIP - and more things going out of the house

Saturday we had the sad task of going to a funeral.  My father's older sister, Ann Luckow, passed away.  She always called my dad her "Baby Brother"  that is very hard to comprehend when I was a kid--  that my dad was a baby brother to someone?   My Auntie Ann was a unique person, and I really enjoyed the times we spent at their house.  She has five loving daughters who were all there at the funeral.  Though it was a sad occasion to gather and reconnect, it was good to hear the stories and laugh at the old photos of family through the years.

What I remember most was that she was a wonderful Avon lady, and always had a big bag of makeup, perfume samples, lipsticks and those ever-famous Avon cologne decanters!   My middle name was named after my Auntie Ann.  This is how I will always remember her.....

After the funeral, some of us gathered at the local bowling alley for a little luncheon and visiting among the family.  Auntie Ann was an avid bowler, so it seemed very fitting to have a gathering in their banquet room.   Some of these relatives I have not seen for 35+ years!  It was good to share and laugh a bit, and we all exchanged emails and facebook friend notices.  What a way to keep in touch now!  Technology, the ties that bind families together?


The weather was horribly hot again in Wisconsin, so when we got home from Michigan on Saturday night, we found it much easier to sleep out in the motorhome in the driveway with the AC on.  Sure beats the heat and humidity in the third floor loft bedroom of the house!

This morning we woke up early, and I whipped up some tuna noodle salad and some fruit salad before it got too hot.  That way it could chill in the fridge before lunch.  Our son Dan, his wife Heather, and our grandchildren Allegra and Mason came to haul home a load of stuff!!!!    And have lunch too, of course.   We made up sub sandwiches and all the fixens, along with the salads and a big ole watermelon for desert.

We grandparents got in our cuddles and hugs, and I fed Mason his bottle while Allegra kept us entertained. Granfaddah Pfun got both of these wiggly little stinkers on his lap for a quick second so I could snap a pic.  Allegra moves so fast, and little Mason who isn't even 4 months old yet, is rolling over the floor and trying to push himself along on his belly!

While we were playing with the grandtots, we had Heather and Dan going over piles of stuff on the kitchen counter and in a stack in the livingroom.  They were not allowed to leave until they filled up at least two baskets of items to take off our hands!  Plus they loaded up Great Grandma Wandry's table and chairs, our garden park bench, and a handcrafted side table that Steve had built.  They looked like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the road!  LOL

It was good to see all that stuff go, and the house is sounding more and more empty.  It ECHOES inside already...  

Now for each of the daughters Erin and Heather to come and get their loads out this week.  There shouldn't be much of anything left!!!!    15 more days till we are HOUSELESS!