And another graduation celebration

Finally had the latest grandchild graduation party this weekend.

We had 3 in the family, as I mentioned before so had to stagger them so all the family could attend.

Thomas the guest of honor.
Graduation and 18th birthday.

 Spread out on the beautiful lawn.

The sun was a welcome blessing after the cool days of blackberry winter.

 Plenty of room for volleyball

 A father and son ping-pong challenge.

Another grandson limbering up for the upcoming football season and a few swimmers.

 Granddaughter, daughter, daughter and family friend.

 I went snooping on the back forty for a sight of some deer as shadows began to form.

 A beautiful day filled with good food, fun and family and friends.

Linking up HERE with Grandma's Briefs.

SS, Going for the gold

Sepia Saturday

Using Alan's theme for sports since the Olympics are going on and since swimming is my favorite I found this on Wikipedia.

 I am just guessing the four people in the background are time keeper and/or judges.

Swimming in 1920 at Antwerp

The swimming events were held in a hastily constructed pool in the middle of Antwerp. The water was noted to be very dark and very cold. In addition, the weather throughout the Games was cool and damp and the swimmers scrambled to warm up after every race.
The men were led by a star from Stockholm, Duke Kahanamoku, the famous Hawaiian swimmer who made his international début at the 1912 Olympics, and a star from Paris, Norman Ross, who had won five of six individual gold medals at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games in Paris. Duke won two gold medals and Ross three, leaving only the backstroke and breaststroke events for others to win. Ethelda Bleibtrey led the women by winning gold medals in all three of the freestyle events on the program for women at Antwerp.

Ethelda Bleibtrey,  (born Feb. 27, 1902, Waterford, N.Y., U.S.—died May 6, 1978, West Palm Beach, Fla.), American swimmer who overcame a crippling illness to win three gold medals at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp.
Bleibtrey began swimming as therapy to counteract the effects of polio. Because she swam without stockings in 1919, she was given a summons for “nude swimming”; the subsequent public support for Bleibtrey led to the abandonment of stockings as a conventional element in women’s swimwear. By the 1920 Olympics she held the world record in the backstroke. Since the Olympics had no backstroke event for women, she entered the only three races open to women that year. Despite having to compete under difficult conditions in a tidal estuary, she set a world record for the 100-metre freestyle race in the third heat, then set a new world record of 1 min 13.6 sec in the final race. She set another world record (4 min 34 sec) in the 300-metre freestyle. Her third gold medal came in the 4 × 100-metre relay, which the U.S. team won in 5 min 11.6 sec.
Bleibtrey won every national American swimming championship from 50 yards to long distance (three miles) and never lost a race during her amateur career. In 1922 she turned professional. She was credited with rescuing a woman and her two sons in Narragansett Bay, R.I., in 1925. Three years later she was arrested for swimming in the Central Park reservoir while demonstrating for more public swimming facilities in New York City. She spent much of her life teaching swimming to handicapped children.

Hope everyone is enjoying the games as we are.

Nothing like it.

Go here for more Sepia Saturday 

For the man who has everything and Mother's Day cookout and swim.

I know I am a little behind the times but when I saw this I had a good laugh.

 A really big man's flip flop?

A really big man's beer bottle opener.

Love it and love him.
Dear SIL

Fruit and desert bar at our Mother's day cookout and swim.

 Cheese, dips and crackers bar.

When our daughter asked me what I would like for mother's day cookout I knew what I had been yearning for.

Brats with peppers and onions. 
We had to have something the men could cook since most of the ladies were mothers.
Our SIL's mom agreed on the Brats too.

And these are my favorites.

And just to top it off

 My favorite sour drink.

Hooking up with Share the Joy and Tea Talk with Ruth.

Our daughter and SIL hosted the Mother's Day celebration for both sides of their family.
All siblings and grands on both sides and both Moms and Dads were there.

It brings me great joy for our families to be friends.

It sprinkled rain for awhile but the pool water was warm and some of the daring grands hit the pool for swimming.
As long as there was no lightening it is permitted.

Tea Talk with Ruth


Having....Lemon Zinger in my favorite china cup. I like this tea it needs no sweetener and has the lemon zing.

Feeling........very good. Had an upper gastric upset earlier this week and it knocked me back for a few days. No it was not following the menu mentioned in this post but 2 weeks later.
I felt like I had food poison on Sunday but had eaten at home all week-end.
Just one of those things.

Thinking..........I am looking forward to the retreat I am involved in this week-end for the terminally and chronically ill patients. I miss nursing and this will give me a chance to use my favorite part of  nursing, TLC.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."

Jane Howard

Go here for Share the Joy with Meri and friends

Go here for Tea Talk with Ruth and friends.