DesRochers Family Reunion - July 28, 2007

Here we are. The DesRochers kin and the people that love us! Nearly sixty of this widely scattered family gathered together from places far and near to reunite, reconnect and remember. This reunion found four generations of us in one place; from the octogenarian to the weeks old infant. Wouldn't Grandpa and Grandma "D" have been amazed at this gathering of their many offspring!

Could it really have been 40 years???

We attended my 40th class reunion in Evansville this summer and renewed many acquaintances and high school friendships. For once, Alice (Oregon) and Diana (California) and I were all at the same reunion! I am thankful to the faithful organizers that put this on every five years; the constants of our now middle-aged ranks who still remember everyone's name and face: Bo and Kenlyn, Nancy, Karbet, Steve...

Here we are, still smiling after all those years. Many are retired, but many have reinvented themselves and have launched businesses and new careers. Most of us straddle a similar place, stationed between the needs of our aging parents and the needs of our adult children; but glowingly in love with our grandchildren.
It was fun.

DesRochers Family Reunion...

Images from the DesRochers Family Reunion
July 27-29, 2007
North Prairie, Wisconsin!

A year's gone by
How time has flown
We can't believe
How Owen's grown
He is such a joy
and so much fun
Oh my! Our Baby's
Turning One.
(adapted from Hallmark card)

A busy little boy...

Josiah liked Uncle Phil's big blue truck! (There is just something about little boys and their trucks!)

By the way, Uncle Phil really likes it too.









Josiah played the piano for us....
and he showed us how he plays ball.
He certainly has a happy smile that he is very willing to share!














Taz liked going for walks with Josiah...
and he was a good little dog for him!
(...Taz sure got worn out and fell asleep as soon as Josiah left!)













All of us, including Lori, decided that he is a really cool kid, and so
we hope Josiah will come and visit us again soon.

Two and a half hours later...

It was worth it after all!
Thanks, Mom, for not letting me quit when I wanted to!

Thanks to my many faithful supporters!
(...some of whom were willing to sit for two hours
while 1400 names were read,
only one of whom they knew!)

Special guests came to our house on Saturday to celebrate the graduation and to enjoy the lovely
Saturday weather.

Nothing quite like a spring afternoon on the porch!

Commencement...

Five years ago I began a journey.

One week ago I completed my last final exam.
On Monday I stood before my professors to present my action research project.

Today we celebrate the completion of my Masters degree!

I am thankful for supportive family and friends and colleagues who have all helped along the way. I praise the Lord for this privilege and opportunity. God has been so good to me!

Motherhood...

"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world." --Kate Douglas Wiggin

"A boy's best friend is his mother." --Joseph Stefano

"Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. " --Marcy DeMaree

"Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while.....but our hearts forever." --Author Unknown

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children." -- Alex Haley

"Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice." --Author Unknown
"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process." --John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us when adversity takes the place of prosperity when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." --Washington Irving

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." --Victor Hugo "Over the years I have learned that motherhood is much like an austere religious order, the joining of which obligates one to relinquish all claims to personal possessions." --Nancy Stahl

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."

-- Lin Yutang

"The phrase 'working mother' is redundant." --Jane Sellman

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." --Theodore Hesburgh
"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." --Maya Angelou
"Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all." --Oliver Wendell Holmes (1775-1817)

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. that's his." --Oscar Wilde

Happy Mother's Day to the beautiful mothers (and grandmothers) in my family!

Sixty Reasons Why...

... he means so much to me!



He's caring.
He's considerate.
He's clever.
He's creative, convivial and kind.
He's positive,
proud,
patriotic
and a man of prayer.

He's generous, devoted,
respectful, enthusiastic,
energetic,
and loving...
He is wise and wonderful.
He's handsome,
happy,
healthy,
thoughtful and careful.

He's a giver,
a tenor,
a lover,
exhorter,
provider,
protector and problem-solver!

He's musical, he's ethical, he's wonderful.
(Did I say that already?)

He is supportive.
He is understanding.
He is industrious.

And he
cooks for me,
and he makes my tea.
And he starts my yoga tape for me!

He's my plumber,
my mechanic,
my electrician and mason.
He's my roofer, finisher, gardener, and landscaper.
He is my installer and appliance repairman.

He's my rosemaler,
woodworker,
calligrapher,
dog trainer,
tincture-maker,
fire-builder,
and doggie trainer.

He has character.
He loves the Lord.
He is a great Dad.
He is a doting Grandpa.

He is the best.
He wants the best.
He always tries to do better!

...and he is my friend.