HE JOINS THE "44 CLUB" (on Thursday, July 12th)

We had a kick-ass birthday party for Tony at the Chrome Horse on 07/07/07. Here are a couple photos of Tony having wayyyy too much fun.

(For a hint as to how much fun he had....it is 12:53 p.m. and he is still in bed...holding his head and moaning.)

Scroll down for more birthday photos!

TONY AND OUR

FRIEND, DENISE

TONY AND OUR

FRIENDS, DEB AND

VICKI

TONY AND OUR FRIEND, SHANNON

THEY TOOK THE

LONG WAY

AROUND...

After a tour around Anamosa and a call to Mom Bungum, John and Becky finally found the Chrome Horse. He even got the memo.

WHODA THUNK IT?

Colleen and her hubby, Denny, came for the birthday festivities!

MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE!

Darcie gave Tony a Mexican Hooker right in front of his fiancee. Some friend she is.

"HONEY, I LOVE

YOU SOOO MUCH."

It's amazing how much they love you when they're drunk.

IT WON'T BE LONG

NOW...

Carron,

As they say in the military, we are getting very short. My replacement will be here in just a few days and then the end will be in sight. I have a lot to do before we go, but get it done or not, we are out of here in just a few weeks. Can't wait to see everyone next month.

Take care.

Scott Weber

TYPICAL SMALL TOWN PARADE

Ely had the typical small town 4th of July parade. Lots of fire trucks, kiddie cars, veterans, flags, and tons and tons of horse poo-poo! I know y'all have pictures of your holiday. Send and share!!!

A GOOD COUPLE DAYS FOR TONY

Tony got an early birthday gift from the future in-laws AND he won the cool glider/rocking chair in a raffle at the Ely Firemen's Breakfast that he, Ellyn, and the boyfriend, Josh, are sitting on. Lucky bastard. He should have bought me a lottery ticket. I want to retire, too.

BIRTHDAY

SHINDIG

FOR TONY

On Saturday, July 7, we are having a little birthday gathering for Tony at the Chrome Horse in Cedar Rapids. Come share some birthday cheer with us!!! The festivities will begin around 6:30 p.m.

We would love to see you all!

~ HAPPY 4th OF JULY ~

I BEAT HIM

Really. I did.

Bahahaha!!

Too much heat and too many beverages make me delirious.

SHE TOLD US TO BE NICE

After a hot 27 holes of golf, we enter the club house for a cold beverage. Hmmm, wouldn't a keg be nice right now? I digress. On the TV above the bar, CNN is airing the story about Scooter Libby's sentence being commuted. And, who should walk in?? LIBBY!!!! Coincidence? I think not.

After several futile attempts to dodge my camera, she agreed to have her picture taken as long as we didn't mention her stint in rehab (didn't work), her recent firing, and the whole jail debacle. Poor thing's a wreck.

JUST KIDDING, PEOPLE!

Libby is doing well, she is as beautiful as ever, and she has the cutest daughter on the planet!

GUESS WHO ELSE WE SAW?

(Here's a hint...) It's Kegs!

KENT'S DADDY

Father's Day - the late edition! Tony and I just keep running into people wherever we go...this time it was the Reynolds padre.

HOW SMART ARE WE??

A Think Test

^Click on the above link^

POWER OF OBSERVATIONS

The following 25 questions are about things we see everyday or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? This is harder than you think!

KENNY'S A HOTTIE!!

The Kenny Chesney concert was AWESOME! One of Lance's friends got
tickets for his wife for her birthday. Their seats were farther
back, so the guys let Kandi and I have the close seats....What a
blast!
Here are also two links to two little videos I took with my
camera....
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/msmrtn/?action=view&current=MOV02260-1.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/msmrtn/?action=view&current=MOV02294.flv
I would go back in a heartbeat!
Deb

MESSAGE FROM ERNIE

Carron,

Yeah, I'm still alive and kicking. I now have one year under my belt as a Social Studies Teacher and I love it. It was always a passion of mine ( history, government, cultures, etc. etc.) and now I get to teach it. I'm spending my summer doing odd jobs for my wife's business (Interior Design) like painting, wallpapering, simple carpentry, and the like, but I'm looking for other part time work just to stay busy. The old house we live in (130 years old) always has a project to work on so I'm never out of work, it's just that I don't get paid to do it.

My oldest son is home from Temple University for the summer and he and my youngest
both work at a discount grocery store trying to save money for cars.

I'll becoming out that way in July and I'm going to try to swing by Anamosa if I can. Two other families and us are going to Branson, MO for ten days. It wasn't my first pick for a vacation spot but one of the families has a time share we're using so we couldn't beat the price. I'll contact you if we're able to get there.

I promise I'll send some photos as soon as I get some decent ones to send. I'm sure you're interested to see how I've changed. I know sometimes it has been hard for me to recognize some school mates at first when you've posted their photos.

Tell all you see I said hello. Til next time, take care.
Ernie

NEW CLASSMATE E-MAIL ADDRESS

I have a new classmate e-mail address for everyone. Let's welcome Jeff and Chris (Catlett) Tjaden into the fold. Their address is:

JJTJADEN@aol.com

HONOR CAMPER

Tom won the title of "Honor Camper, 1982"

No more explanation needed.

(OK, just check out the tan lines. If you click on the picture, you'll get a bigger version. It's even better then!!)

IT'S FATHER'S DAY

We are sitting out at Fawn Creek Country Club with my mom and dad and who should walk in, but Scott Petersen and his dad!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, I had my camera, so I had them pose for a photo of father and son on Father's Day!! I had to include a pic of my poppa, too!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

WHAT A WEIRD NIGHT

It started as a trip to Target for Father's Day cards. Just after we pulled into the parking lot, some maniac doing 70 m.p.h. down Edgewood Road plowed into two cars right in front of us before ditching his van into an embankment off of Highway 30. After talking to witnesses, cops, and stopping at IHOP for dinner, we decide to hunt down the elusive Kathy and Rick, who we had not seen in forever!!! Oddly enough, trying to find their house, we ended up on Darcie's street and called her from her driveway. Apparently, Darcie was getting her hair pulled, so we drove around until we got our bearings straight and found the Kirk residence. After a wonderful, two-hour, unannounced visit, we decided to head home. Passing Kernals' Stadium, which is right up the street from Rick and Kathy's house, a stray firework from the game finale, shot across the road right in front of us and into a parked car. Having dodged death twice in one night, we decided to go drink and thank God we were alive!!!

Here's a picture of the disgustingly photogenic Kathy and Tony from tonight!!!!

BACK IN THE SANDBOX

Hi, Tony and Carron,

Great to hear from you. I made it back safe and sound. I have been back just over 2 weeks now and the time is not moving fast enough. We have about 6 weeks left. I figure the month of June will crawl as we are very anxious to get going. July will be better as we have mandatory briefings, customs inspections, and the training of our replacements.

I oversee three warehouses and each will have a new Officer coming in to take charge. That will keep me busy towards the middle of July. And after that, it will be time to come home. This time it will be for good. I am getting too old to play army. Also this heat is really a drain. It was 110 yesterday and windy. The wind is like standing in front of a hot blow dryer. It just doesn't let up.

I had a great time at home. It was almost like a dream and it went way too quickly. You really have no true idea of what you have in your life until you either lose it or are away from it for a long period of time. I am looking forward to seeing everyone in August. I will be coming back to Anamosa on the 24th. I am going to stop in Cedar Rapids and see my old Co-workers at United Fire and Casualty on that Friday and then get fitted for a tux. My brother is getting married in September. Carol and I are looking forward to seeing everyone.

Take care and we'll see you in a couple of months.

Scott (Weber)

THE KITTY LOVES CHEESE

So, Ellyn finds this little, teeny, tiny kitten at her dad's house last night and brings it home. It is just toooooo cute to ignore. He/she/it (we don't know yet) loves cheese. Here he/she/it is crawling up my leg trying to get some.

KATHY'S BACK IN CYBERSPACE

HI GIRLFRIEND!!!!!

I'm finally back in cyberspace...ha! So VERY challenged I am with these machines. Had to catch up on the blog. Sorry no pics from us...I told you I was challenged...still not updated enough to do pics in cyberspace :-) Great to see all of the ones on the blog-what a riot!

Seems like forever sinced I've talked with you.
Are your Mom and Dad doing o.k.? Tell 'em I said "hey"

Rick and I are constantly on the run...what's new? I don't know how you guys do it with kids?! Being the organized bastard that you are, there really shouldn't be any question LOL;-)

Our email will change eventually too. Mcleodusa is now ImOn so I will let you know.
Just wanted to send a quick note to let you know we're still around.
Big hello to Tony
Kathy

THE CAT IN THE HAT

Hey Carron -
Sorry for the lack of news...it's been a crazy summer so far.
I write this from Macon, GA. I am traveling a significant portion of the time for work, and when I'm home we're running to one baseball game or another. My older son plays for Iowa City High, my stepson plays for CR Washington, and my youngest son is on a competitive 11-and-under team as well. Big fun! Good thing I love the sport. Off to a meeting...
Steve (Dorman)

GOOD TO HEAR FROM DAVE GEORGE

Hey Carron - thanks for checking in. Things are good here. Sam and Lauren are making the jump to middle and high school in the same year, so this fall should be very interesting. Also, Lauren just celebrated her 14th birthday and I'm not ready to have a teen girl in the house. I know how I was at that age and I'm hoping she doesn't follow suit!

I was in England for work about 2 weeks ago. I work for a division of Honeywell. In the past two years, we purchased a company in Poole, England, on the south coast. I have 4 people that work for me there and I get there 3-4x per year in addition to weekly conference calls. The interesting thing about the Poole area is palm trees. It is far enough north that it can get cold, though without the snow we get here. And, because it's on the south coast of the country and on the gulf stream, coconuts actually float from the Caribbean to there and have rooted over time.

At present, we are planning on a trip to Anamosa over the weekend prior the July 4th. The 4th being on a Wednesday kinds of screws up the week, but I'll take Monday and Tuesday off to make it a 5-day weekend. The folks were actually here for Lauren's 8th grade graduation last weekend.

Again, thanks for checking on me. See or hear from you soon.

P.S. I have a thought for you. Have you heard or visited Facebook.com? It's a site like MySpace but geared to the over 18 year old crowd. Another group I'm in has started a group on Facebook. Individual set up their own page with details, photos, etc and we link together as a group. We could have a Anamosa Class of 81. There are already Anamosa people on Facebook - you can search by key words. Most are recent grads it looks like. Anyway, it might be a neat way to stay connected or to gear up for the 30th reunion. Just a thought.

See ya.
Dave (George)

CALL ME NEXT TIME!!!

Carron,
I'm fine, but feel free to make up stories about me, probably more interesting than my actual life!
I always think on my way to Iowa . . . I'll just give Carron a call, but I always seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere!
My nephew graduated from Traynor High School ( by Council Bluffs) and I picked up my folks on my way by. We had a nice time chatting on the way (and my husband had to handle ALL the kid organizing, although that is easier now we have another driver. It used to make me mad, I'd go out of town and all the neighbors would take pity on him).
We are going out to Council Bluffs to celebrate my mom and dad's 55th anniversary around the 4th of July, when is a mystery. Megan and Alayna march with the band at the
Knowles parade (not a Big parade, the town only has 10 houses, 1 church, 1
bar, and 1 bank, and there had better not be a fire because most of the
parade would leave) and Ellyn is on the 4-H float. Then Megan has a summer
job, so we have to figure out when she can be gone. Fortunately, my part-time job is very flexible (but has a good title, Deputy Clerk) so we don't have to work to much around it. I'm sure you know how it is with teenagers. Did you have one graduate this year? I've lost track.
I'll try and keep in touch better
Cheerio,
Marilyn Halley (Russell)
P.S. I like the blog site

NOTE AND PHOTOS FROM DIANE

Graduation is over - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We even dodged the big storm that night! Things are MUCH better now!!
I am gearing up for a big visit from Bing and Betty and Janet and John. They are coming up for Father's Day weekend. I am looking forward to it!! We just did some new landscaping in our front yard and Bing is itching to see it! HA!
I can now read the blog from school, just can't see the pictures. I chuckled at all your attic "findings!!"
I am meeting with a photographer today regarding Ryan's senior photos. I can't believe it???
Must flee back to work.
This is my front yard. I have carpal tunnel from painting that damn fence!! HA!!!
Will chat with ya later!
DI

STORIES IN THE ATTIC

So, I really didn't do "nothing" while on vacation. Tony and I worked hard getting his house ready to sell and then we came back to my house and tried to make room for all his stuff. That entailed cleaning out my attic. Y'all won't BELIEVE what I found up there....in random order.

*pictures of Mike Coons' wedding (I was the cake cutter.)

*a pair of jeans from the last day of junior high signed by everyone (can't fit my big toe in them sons a bitches now)

*all my France pictures and my diary from our trip (apparently too much beer in the vending machines, because some stories in the diary are sketchy...)

*my high school memory book with detailed descriptions of senior prom (dinner and dance at the Roosevelt, back to Jack Simmons' to party, hunger pangs at 2:30 a.m., to Country Kitchen at 3:00 a.m. and home by 5:00 a.m.), the last day of school (party at Reynold's) and graduation night (party at Weber's)

*my senior year schedule (why do I NOT remember taking "Mass Media"?)

*my sophomore-year bowling plaque when I made the "All-State Tournament Team"

*all my report cards (I got all A's in 7th grade Geography - Bahahahahaha!!)

*a box full of my graduation cards with notations of each gift received (Hatcher's mom and dad gave me a make-up bag that I still use to this day - see photo)

*my ID bracelet from Diane given to me for my confirmation ("Carron" on the front and "11-30-1977" on the back)

*pictures of all the slumber parties with Chris C., Erin, Brenda, Diane, Mary Jane (it sure looks like we all got off the floor)

*the picture of a shirtless Hatcher sleeping in a lawn chair, mouth wide open, somewhere along the trail of the Bungum family vacation, circa July 1982.

After about four hours of reminiscing, 120-degree heat, and two 40-lb. garbage bags later (and lots of questions and eye-rolling from Tony), we finally got the attic cleaned out.

PHOTOS OF THE HARMS/SNIDER FAMILY

Carron, sorry I haven't written in a long time. We have been pretty busy. Ashley's team won districts last weekend. This Saturday they will be playing in regionals. Hopefully they win. Ashley graduated May 25th. Mom and Dad came to Michigan to see her graduate. Thought I would send a few pictures. Talk to you soon. Take care.
Love. Lisa

MORE LISA HARMS PHOTOS

NASCAR ON ICE

Hey Carron –

Sorry that we didn't get to see you last weekend. Everything was very hectic and we were on an extremely tight schedule and didn’t go by Ely or Anamosa. I hope that your daughter did well in her softball tournament on Saturday. It was great talking to you and, yes, it was quite a while that we talked!

Yes, our oldest daughter (Liz) is doing pretty well at the moment and is now living at the US Olympic Training Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Petit Center). Liz had been a competitive figure skater for eight years prior to moving to Belgium and had to stop competing due to the lack of quality coaching (can you name one Belgian figure skater….I didn’t think so).

So when we hit Colorado Springs last summer, Liz immediately wanted to get back on the ice and was approached last September while skating at the World Arena by two women from the US Women’s Speed Skating Team (training here in Colorado Springs). Well, after a couple thousand dollars for equipment, Liz started training and quickly adapted to going 30 mph in a circle sort of playing NASCAR on ice with four other women at a time! She was extremely lucky that she could get one-on-one training here from September 2006 – May 2007 from two Olympians that competed in the last three winter Olympics.

She progressed quickly and based on her performance in March during the US Silver Skates competition in St Louis (3 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze) she was accepted on the US Women’s Short Track Developmental Team. While it’s a long way between now and 2010 Winter Games for her, she’s giving it her best shot and Rhonda and I continue to do all that we can to give her this chance. She is currently being coached by the same coach that trained Apolo Anton Ohno (Gold Medalist & Dancing with the Stars winner) for the last seven years, so she can’t get better coaching anywhere. The US Speed Skating Team just moved its headquarters from Colorado Springs to Salt Lake City; but many of the skaters didn’t want to train at Salt Lake, so they moved to one of the alternate training venues (Salt Lake, Milwaukee, & Lake Placid). It appears that many of the top US skaters ended up following the coaches that went to Milwaukee so it was very fortunate that Liz was accepted into that program.

Again, we aren’t ordering tickets yet for the 2010 games, as we are currently working on sponsorship to help out. The season starts in August and, hopefully, if she has a good year, she will get some level of US sponsorship; however, until she earns it, mom & dad have to cover everything (training, room, board, travel expenses, etc.)! I’m just happy that it appears that I will not deploy to the desert until June 2008 so that I can at least be here to watch her this year!

I’m really looking forward to Ragbrai and reconnecting with some of our classmates! It should be a blast!

Take care and hope to see you and Tony soon. Remember, you guys can always run out here for a long weekend if you get the chance, it sure is nice right now!

Mike (Hauser)

GOOFY PICS FROM HATCHER

These two cracked us up the most.

(I have been on vacation for the past week and a half. Apparently, y'all have been, too. I have nothing to report because I have done nothing. And, I mean nothing.)

And, the newsroom goes silent...
The smiley face is a nice touch.