Celebrating Shelley's Birthday

Shelley's birthday is always a a special occasion to celebrate at our house. This year, her birthday (October 18) fell on Sunday and she spent the weekend with us. Shelley and Sophie are great buddies and Sophie loves it when Shelley is here and will hardly ever leave her side--they even sleep together. This visit was no exception.

On Sunday, long-time friends, Bill and Kay Clary from Champaign, were spending time at Lake of Egypt and joined us for a late afternoon dinner to celebrate Shelley's birthday. Among other things, a special gift for Shelley this year revolved around a new, personalized recipe box filled with lots of recipes collected from family and friends that Shelley can enjoy fixing for years to come.

For dinner, Bill and Fred grilled pork tenderloin and Shelley made a special Halloween pudding dessert. Of course, there was also birthday cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday, Shelley.

Getting a New Roof - Pound, pound, pound go the hammers.

Pound, pound, pound! This was the music from above that we listened to most of the month of October as it was finally our turn to get our new roof. We had been waiting since the big storm back in May. And of course, about the time the roofers got to our house to get started, so did the rains start. So, our roof was decked out in a multitude of colorful tarps while the roofers had to wait out the rains. Then another delay when they discovered flashing was needed for the new skylights that were replacing the old ones...so another two week wait for that to be ordered and delivered. As the month ended, we were still waiting for the last part of the roof to be finished. However, the wait has been worth it as the new shingles look very nice and match the siding perfectly. Now to get the gutters replaced, the fence put back up, and the drive fixed and we will be back to where we were the beginning of last May...minus dozens of trees that is.

Wedding Bells in Chicago

While October is one of my favorite times of year, this year it was also one of the busiest. Between doctor and dental appointments, we also had a full calendar of family activities and events.

The weekend of October 10th was the wedding of John and Claire Moehle in Elk Grove Village, IL. We began our journey upstate on Thursday prior to the wedding by going through Olney and spending the day with Dad Moehle. It rained hard, from the time we left Carbondale until the next morning when we left Olney for Champaign. We arrived in Champaign in time for lunch and picked up cousin, Joanne, to grab a bite to eat together at Panara's...dashing through the rain of course. Afterwards, we headed north to Chicago arriving there about 5:30 p.m. Shortly after we unpacked the car and got settled in our room at the Arlington Heights Marriott Courtyard Inn, we looked out the window to see a beautiful sunset and blue skies...the rain had suddenly stopped and the skies cleared in less than 30 minutes...after having driven two days in a continual downpour.

Later that evening, we met cousins Walter and Joan Moehle and Dan and Cindy Moehle, for dinner. Fred drove us to a local Mall to check out the dining fare there, only to return to a New Orleans Seafood house, Pappadeaux, located just a short distance from where were staying. We all had a sumptuous meal and enjoyed visiting in the cajun atmosphere reminisce of the deep south.
The next morning we gathered at the Avalon Banquets Hall for cocktails and Hor d'oeuvres prior to John and Claire's wedding. It was an enjoyable time visiting with lots of Moehle's as the family gathered and Uncle Bob and Aunt Eleanor arrived from Rockford for their son's nupitals. Claire was a beautiful bride as she and John exchanged their vows in the elegant setting. Following their vows, a delicious lunch was served while singer Sam Magdal provided his beautiful medley of music entitled, "Swing with Sinatra."

Congratulations Claire and John, we wish you many years of happiness together.

Later, Aunt Eleanor rode back to Rockford with us and Uncle Bob rode with Joan and Walter. We enjoyed our ride back to Rockford while getting to continue to visit with Aunt Eleanor. We all got to check out Aunt Eleanor's pretty new apartment at the Wesley Willows Assisted Living complex, which she had done a wonderful job of decorating in the short time she had been there.
We then decided to go out for a bite to eat at Rockford's quaint Olympic Tavern where we filled up on lots of good soup and sandwiches. Needless to say, by the time we arrived back at the Rockford Holiday Inn we were ready to turn in.

The next morning, we headed to Washington, IL. for a visit with Uncle Mel Moehle and then made the drive back to Carbondale that afternoon. Arrived back around 5 p.m. and enjoyed a quick meal at the new Stadium Grill before heading home for the evening.

SIU Homecoming 2009

As part of the Saluki Way building program on the SIUC campus, 2009 is the last season SIU will play football at McAndrew Stadium. The 2010 season will be played at the new stadium being built adjacent to the Arena. And the final homecoming played at 'The Mac' was a fitting end to the grand ole stadium, with a win!

The following slideshow are some scenes captured by Jim Martin, SIU Alumnus and Emeritus Staff member, of SIUC's Homecoming festivities.