memorial day for dad

Hi, everybody,

Earlier on this beautiful, sunny Memorial Day, Larry, Zach, Abby, and I went to visit Dad's gravesite at the Cemetery of the Alleghenies. We placed some red, white, and blue flowers in a vase next to his gravestone, and said a prayer for him together. We miss you, Dad! Pray for us!
In case you haven't heard, Veronica and Josh found out that they are having a little boy in October! They are naming him Sean Christian as of now. Caleb will surely love being a big brother! He's growing up so fast, 13 months old now, running around and laughing at everything. We bought a baby swing to put up at our house for him, and are looking forward to summer swimming, etc. with him.
Less than two weeks till school is over and we travel to Dallas for Luke's wedding! Looking forward to seeing Rainy, Ralph and Kate, and Julia there! God bless and Happy beginning of summer! Love, Sue and Larry

Crunchy Granola

Hello, all! You all have seen Mom's Henry...Here are a few pics of my Henry, aka H1. We went on a backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon recently. It was so awesome, I highly recommend it to anyone. You all could do it, honest. It wasn't that bad hiking out, only 4 hours. Henry carried most of the weight without complaining. Cause that's just the kind of guy he is...I thought I'd do something different and date someone nice. We didn't mean to dress alike, honest. The kids leave for Poland in a few weeks, they are excited. They had a band concert recently, it was really cute. I wish I could have made a video for you all to enjoy, but my camera is busted. I can hear the collective sigh of disappointment across the country. Paul plays the baritone (1st year) and Emma plays clarinet (3rd year). Mom and the Hankster were in attendance. I planted a veggie garden this year and so far it has yielded one incredibly delicious tomato. Thank you Paul, for the gardening tips. I think I will get a few more tomatoes and some eggplant out of it before everything shrivels up and dies in the heat. See some of you at Luke's wedding, see the rest of you later!

Love,

Rainy

sssuuuummmeeerrrrrr

hello family! i had a few minutes, and havent been on here in a while, so i thought i would say hi to all 9284691283 of you who i miss so much. I am officially done my second year of law school, and am 2/3 a lawyer! exams lasted 3 weeks, and i had a total of five 4-hour finals. BRUTAL. but, its done, i survived, and cant wait for vacations! I started working at my firm for the summer this monday, too. its a large firm in Wayne, PA, only about 20 minutes from my house. so the commute isnt too bad at all! i like it alot so far, but it is definitely different from anything that i have done. They're really cool people, and a pretty laid back place - so i like to think i fit in nicely. haha
and, since I will finally have some money from this summer, I am looking for a place to move out to! (your welcome mom and dad) they are actually really sad, and they will miss my beauty and wit around the house alot. I am very excited to get a place of my own tho. Keelan is graduating this weekend and we are thinking about getting a place together. i have already started looking, so keep your fingers crossed for us!
in other news, jerry the dog lost his lil manhood last week. after crazy finals time was over, steve and i decided that it was time to take the poor guy to get fixed. i was so sad and worried for him when i dropped him off for the procedure, and even more nervous when i went to pick him up cause i didnt wanna see him all dopey and hurting. however, the little maniac was running and jumping and playing (even with his conehead on) about an hour after we got home. the vet told us to drug him and keep him subdued so he wouldnt bust his stitches, and beleive me, we tried, but he was in no pain and tearing around the house that very day. he is back to normal now (minus some lil "berries") and has gotten really big. hes pretty much the best!
i must go pack for the trip to PSU tomorrow, so i will end my boring post now. on a final note -- 3-1. lets not count those flyboys from philly out so quickly...i got a feeling.....believe....

Hope you're feeling great grandma! congrats to luke and ashley, and kathy and woody! i am sorry i missed/will miss your big days!
maybe, juuuust maaaaaybe, i will be able to make it to jack and kim's??? whens the daaaaaate?
love and miss you all! hope everything is well, and we can all get together soon! ciao

Happy Mothers Day

Just a quick note to wish all of the Mom's a very happy Mother's Day!!I hope that you all know how much you are appreciated and loved!! God's blessings to you all.

Happy 1st Birthday, Caleb!

Wow, that year went by quickly! Caleb had a blast on his birthday. He didn't fuss once for a solid six hours! Four of his friends came, all under 3 years old. Veronica's mom, dad, and sister drove in from Philly, and couldn't even stay for 24 hours, but wouldn't have missed it for the world! Great Grandma and Grandpa Rowader, Aunt Abby and Uncle Ben were there, and of course Nana and Papa. God bless our little Caleb!

recooping

Most of you already know but for those who don't, I managed to survive the hip revision and if I hadn't fallen out of bed in Pgh before the surgery would be having minimal pain. (That bed is uncommonly high. . .) I thought i was in AZ and threw my legs over the bed to go to the bathroom at 2 am and launched myself onto the floor on my butt. Pain shot up my back from my tailbone and I sat there and prayed I didn't break anything. I was alone in the house the first night back. I thought I had fallen and couldn't get up. But I managed to get up somehow. My back hurts more than the hip! I did not tell the surgeon about my fall for fear he would postpone the surgery. Nothing is ever easy.

Hank stayed at the hospital throughout my surgery until I was in my room then went back to the apt for a bit to take the doggies out. He was there every day with doggie breaks. The food was horrible and my stomach took fits so I was glad they kicked me out so soon.

Well, I got my lost height back! No more built up shoe!!! Now I start physical therapy on Thurs and there will be more pain. Good pain. Pain is good when it accomplishes something. Scottsdale therapy center is wonderful and did a great job strengthening my leg before surgery.

Hank has been doing everything around the apt and the girls are taking turns bringing us dinner. I am walking around with a walker and will get outside today to try walking more. I had the surgery on Tuesday and came home on Friday. Zoom!

Hank's Yorkie Mattie and Mollie are getting along great. They ignore each other. Hank is the dog walker, feeder, toy thrower. The minute I sit down Mattie is in my lap. I think she likes me.

The hardest thing right now is getting these @#$%&! compression stockings on. I can't bend over, cross my legs, etc, so I have to have Hank help me put them on. They are TOUGH! I remember these from the other 3 surgeries and Dad's surgeries. Someone needs to invent something better.

I was in the hospital and missed Caleb's birthday and Liam's birthday. Late cards are in the mail. Sorry sweethearts but I think I had a good excuse. My mind was on a thousand things before the surgery and . . . oops! Lots of birthdays in April. Elizabeth had a disco party on Saturday for her birthday (the 30th).

Ok, so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Thank you Larry for sending the handicap card! It really comes in handy and I can't believe I forgot it. Yes, I can. Thank you also for the lovely pictures. Especially that gorgeous one of Dianne's grasped butt. The one of Hank and me is really nice and has been sent on to lots of people wondering what this mystery man looks like.

Lots of excitement building for Luke's wedding and I sure wish I could be there. I am so glad that so many are going.

It's May already! Yikes. Almost. . . two more days.

Time for breakfast. love and hugs to all. . . . mom, grandma, G-Ma, great-grandma

Wedding, etc.

Hey Everyone!

We have gotten some replies on the wedding invites, and I am so glad some of you will be able to make it to Dallas!

For those of you who are coming, I did want to pass around again our wedding website. We did a block reservation of hotel space in the area for a very good price as far as hotels go. The group reservation expires on May 8, so I am sending this around now so no one misses out. The contact info for the hotels is under "Details for Guests"...

The link also has all the information about registries, things to do in Dallas, etc.: http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=9542220743822218

I hope everyone is doing well! Congrats to Cathy and Woody!
God bless!
Luke

Guess what we found

We found another 'hair flip' pic from our wedding

Congrats to Kathy and Woody!

Just posting a few pictures for those of you who couldn't come to the wedding. The wedding itself was lovely with beautiful singing provided by Julia and Woody's daughter, Katie. Everyone had a great time at the reception. Kathy and Woody did three different styles of dancing for their first dance, swing, waltz, and another one I'm not sure of. The younger girls, Taylor, Mallory, Brittany, Alexa, Chelsea, etc. danced up a storm! Dianne and John and table entertained themselves by trying to blow giant bubbles with the glass candle covers. The concensus was that the food was the best wedding reception food ever. Wish everyone could have been there!

Here's Something About Mary ;)

It's a busy year for Mary. She went to Montreal recently and came in third in the singing competition (she and her choir did, anyway).

Last week was her Junior Prom. She had a blast with her friends and her new boyfriend Eric, also a junior at Cathedral High. (Pics above)

Next, is her Confirmation on May 5th.