Y'all Come Back Now, Hear?

This week was a fast one. After arriving back home from visiting my parents down south, I got the abode ready for friends coming in for Mrs. International. It was so great to spend an evening with Some great ladies I have had to honor of getting to know over the last few years along with some long time friends. Girl power for sure with a favorite side of Tim Kretschmann.
1)Gerri Walczak and Michelle Allen-Parker
2)Post-show debriefing and catching up.

Baby Bellamaya

We been busy adding "babies" to our family. First, is two year old Bellamaya. She's extremely fast and got the bullet during her recent breeze for the fastest time out of 2-dozen horses. She's a big girl who really likes to eat and gains weight without a problem. She fits in perfectly!

Volapalooza

I was honored to serve as the MC for the very first Volapalooza held at the College of DuPage. Months of planning and organizing went into celebrating the joy of giving and the spirit of volunteerism. Giving DuPage, Community Memorial Foundation and the DuPage Foundation Foundation along with wonderful sponsors like Harris Bank awarded generous grants to some of DuPage County's non-profit organizations which are lifelines to so many in need of assistance. Micheal Jordan's mom, Deloris Jordan, spoke about the James R. Jordan Foundation and how they are helping needy schools improve and teaching families to become proactive with education. Wheaton’s own Dick and Florence Nogaj are authors of, “Don’t Retire, Get Inspired: One Couple’s Extraordinary Journey to Make a Difference.” And a "vocal," point of the evening was The West Towns Chorus.They are such sweet gentlemen and some have been with the singing barber shop style group for almost 40 years! Congratulations to the award winners as well as all those giving of themselves to help others.
1)Rehearsals
2)Florence Nogaj
3)The West Towns Chorus

Happy Fourth of July!

It is our family tradition to celebrate our country's birthday with the annual village parade. Hundreds of children lined up and walked or rode through the streets to the baseball fields where they had races and moon walks. Johnny won 1st place and Ali was 2nd in their age groups. And of course at night we took in some amazing fireworks. I love that our children are old enough now to really appreciate the fourth. Hope your holiday weekend was fun and safe!