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A Joyful, Jumbled July
August 2, 2013
Well, as expected July was pretty full! How was your month? The weather has been GORGEOUS! Man, after a couple years of miserable summers this one has turned out to be one of the coolest ever! Thank you, Lord!
Anyway, welcome back to Niednageland and I hope you enjoy your stay! I'll get on with the pictures now as time is limited. A few of you have suggested having comment boxes for every picture so you can leave comments on the ones you like. I'm working on it. Not sure it's possible but I'm working on it!
You'll understand this month's music selection when you get halfway through the blog.
:-)
All right, here we go! The video blog will be posted in a day or two.
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Video Blog - July, 2013
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Welcome back to the Ozarks, Nathan! It was time for Nate's bi-annual
visit to Locksley Manor, and we had a most joyous time together yet again.
Breakfast at Rockbridge! This is like the only semi-cultured place within 30 minutes of where we live.
Good buddies. Willy loves his Uncle Nafan.
Outside in front of the waterfall. What a beautiful day.
Yes, time for another pontoon trip! Also time again to get out our cheesy colorful noodles and float! We had Justin and Jared Voeller up from Texas joining us too.
Kalea takes the plunge!
She just smiles and stares like that the whole time. That's ESTJ efficiency for you.
One of those really politically incorrect photographs. A wig-wearing Michael Thomas sternly tells his intimidated boy Henry to go slaughter some wooden red coats. Anyway, we're in St. Louis celebraing the 4th of the July with the Thomases and Zs (and some other families)!
Hello Thomas family! And there's their newest edition, Cedric, chubby cheeks and all.
The color-coordinated Niednagel family. We're so patriotic.
Awww ...
Philip gets in a quick yoga session.
I sneak this paparazzi picture from the bushes.
Seems like every time Nathan comes out I take one of these vertical resume-like photos. "Hi, I'm Nathan Daher, and I'll be a valuable asset to your company."
The adrenaline! Launching bean-bags at the red coats! So this is what it felt like in the 1700s!
Take great care not to shoot the women and children!!!
Don't know who this guy is but thanks for helping Will!
Melissa takes aim.
Seriously Nate, if you could just master that position ... that'd be one sweet dance move.
We sit down to hear a few people speak.
Michael Thomas, aka Thomas Jefferson, reads the Declaration of Independence.
Matthew Thomas reads something I can't remember.
As does Mr. Z (doesn't he look so vintage?).
Introverts need a loud speaker.
The epic Thomas minute men. Yes, they can be ready within minutes for dinner.
Pa leads the youngsters on a patriotic march.
Marian doesn't like facial hair on guys. Mental note to all you would-be suitors.
My girls.
Hannah looks so celestial. If only her thoughts could be written on this blog.
The ladies of Shallot lie amidst the soft carpet of grass.
As do I with Lady Marian.
Ok one more photo. That's enough.
Photo bomb.
Awesome picture, Nathan. I love it!
One more. And no it's not just to show off my way-cool watch.
All right, so that night we took the metro to downtown St. Louis to watch the fireworks, with some of us dressed up in colonial outfits. All I can say is ... we stuck out like ... what's more than a sore thumb? Like a sore entire body. So anyway, besides fearing for our lives it was pretty fun!
Fireworks were grand. The shooting nearby was also pretty grand (I'm not kidding).
All right! It's the next day and we're at the children's museum for Micaiah's birthday (leave it to Micaiah to pick this place)! Don't be fooled by the wimpy name, though. This place was crazy-go-nuts! Tunnels, slides, and various other contorted mechanisms to twist your body through! Rebekah looks a little concerned in this pic. "Nobody told me there would be kids here."
Micaiah watches me with infantile jealousy. "How the nohj did you get in there!? No fair!"
Will and I descend this random two-story slide.
Look! It's Hannah amidst colorful balls! Such fun we are having together this day!
They individually disinfect all these, right?
I had to remind Melanie a few times to calm down.
Nathan appears to have pulled a muscle in his back, Matthew looks like he wants to kill someone, and all I can see of Marscel is his purple shoe sticking in the air.
The coloring on this photo makes it look like a cartoon. I honestly felt like I was in one.
Little Philip holds on to Rebekah's back for dear life.
So remind me, why are we up here?
If you think I threw a tantrum you should have seen some of the other brats.
I mean, look at that. Isn't this place crazy?
If you're claustrophobic, or have a fear of heights, this place is for you!
A hamster-like turning wheel! Now this is random fun!
Left-brainers are always the first to go down.
Taking a picture of ourselves in the mirror.
What a day! Wrist band unity! Yeah!
So following an afternoon of complete ADHD craziness, we head over to Forest Park to enjoy a meal and a movie together. Every July the park hosts movie nights outside on Fridays. Tonight they would be playing Casablanca, so we dressed up in 40s outfits!
Hello, Mrs. Kathleen and Mr. Matthew.
My lady love ascends the steps. They had all these trucks from restaurants parked outside, and you could order from whichever one you wanted. Way too cool.
I just love taking pictures with you, hon. :-)
Nathan was looking downright darn snazzy that evening.
The obnoxious thing was that he knew it.
Opposite Brain Types. Guess which one is the extravert.
The weather was GORGEOUS (most of July was unseasonably cool).
My mafia brothers and I
discuss who to knock off next.
Pure classy.
El Cinco Blanco reunites.
Our latest album hit #4 in Japan.
"So at the golf course I says to Jackie, 'I brought two pairs of pants in case I get a hole in one!'"
"Hello miss. Looking mighty fine this day."
My wife finally has someone to dress alike.
You have nice outfits, gorgeous settings, great weather, and a camera ... let's just say I had to sift through a lot of pictures.
One more.
I lied. Another one.
Hannah and Meliss.
Bekah and Meliss.
How cool is this? They blew up a huge inflatable screen to watch the movie on. I had never seen Casablanca, and really enjoyed it . Can't believe how many famous lines come from this movie! "Here's lookin' at you, kid." What a wonderful time. Thank you Z family!
Hi, Johanna Voeller! Johanna, Danielle's sister, came up from Texas and stayed with Jer and Danni for a week. She and mom got all the kids together for an art project. Fun times!
That's cute. That's just really cute.
lol, so we had a dry spell for about 3 weeks. Then ... IT POURED. Like, REALLY POURED! Thank you, Lord!
Friends, I think this is the most dramatically epic picture of myself that has ever appeared on the blog. Wow.
Man, so where do I even begin? The 19th of July sadly saw Grandma Connie pass away, who we featured in last month's entry. And so, on a moment's notice, my wife got a plane ticket and flew BACK to Massachusetts (with Marian) to attend her funeral, along with her siblings and cousins. It was so hard to see her go again, but it was a worthy cause and she had a very meaningful time. Here's all the Thomases with Uncle Johnny and cousins David and Lauren Balutis.
Connie's four children at her funeral ... John, Monica, Rita, and Ron. They came to celebrate her life and not mourn for their loss.
Lady Marian falls asleep on Lady Lauren.
Monica and Colleen, the two ESFPs, reunite. :-)
The boys and other men carry her casket to the hearse.
When they got to the cemetery it began to pour. Matthew was honored to play his bagpipe for her, which she requested before her death.
Saying their goodbyes.
"It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of every man, and the living take it to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:2
She lived 90 years exactly.
The girls could really pass for triplets.
The Michael Thomas family again. They rented a car and drove all the way to New England.
All the grand kids. I'm seeing a lot of black hair going on.
And everyone.
Hello, Flynn family!
Mandy and Meliss.
A little PF Changs take-out! Man I really missed out.
I picked up my wife from the airport that Wednesday evening and took her to Houlihan's.
My darling! How I missed that face!
All righty, that's it! Thanks for stopping by! Again, I'll try to figure out how to allow comments for every picture, but for now don't forget to leave one below! Yeah! I'm watching you! Ta ta!
