Ben this month

38 weeks


39 weeks - "Go for the Gold at the Steer Show" ... RTJ&B won the "Most Spirited" award for their entry in the decorated parade at the Afternoon of Fun for Kids at the annual Avon Fat Steer Show - BIG FUN!!!

40 weeks - this is one of our favorite faces -- OOH! We thought the older three were animated, but Ben takes the cake! He's even figured out how to whistle! He can't quite get it every time, but it cracks him up when he does. Sometimes, he'll even cap it off with a big "WHOA!" too funny...

More on Ben

34 weeks - a fun weekend was had with Mama, Gary & my nephew Bailey....Tom & Jac 6; Bay 8; Rob 10; Ben 34 weeks





35 weeks - B's got a funny hat!

36 weeks - LOVE my tractor & wagon & especially HAY BALES



37 weeks - heading to Epa's funeral. Not our idea of an ideal vacation, but Ben was great comic releif...even when the van broke down yet again...

Catching up on Boo...

At last count here, Ben was 28 weeks. Obviously, I got behind this summer. Life as I knew it ended when my brother died. I am slowly getting accustomed to this new normal....I don't always like it, but I'm working on it. Regardless of all the loss we've experienced this summer, we are still a very blessed family. Here's the weekly updates on Mr. B!



29 weeks - also happened to be the last day of school!!



30 weeks

31 weeks - also Father's Day weekend





32 weeks .. the kids were waiting in line for lunch at church for our 4th of July celebration the last weekend in June...


33 weeks - waiting for fireworks with Papa & Linda on a very chilly 4th of July

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Thought I'd add some pictures to go along with the summer recap Chris provided...

Starting at the top...fun at Boo Park - we went to the park the day after my brother's funeral. We all needed a fun getaway & an energy release. Too bad it was so hot!

Kids with all the g's...Our trip south for my grandpa's funeral was extended a day due to another van breakdown. Dad & Linda came down for a cookout & again, another fun night with Bailey. We finally got a picture with the kids & all the grandparents. Still hoping to someday get one with all of these guys & Logan, too.

Summer - BUSY

Well, the summer has been extremely busy at the Janssen house. I find the date of the last post staring me in the face and realize it's been a long busy summer. I'll try and do just a quick recap, to bring everyone up to speed and then hopefully things will slow down enough this fall to stay on top of posts here.

Summer Baseball - Tom and Jac finished off another successful year of "T-Ball". They enjoyed it all and it was wonderful to watch them develop their skills. They are already looking forward to next year. Robert had a season of making progress as well. At the beginning of the season he struggled a little at the plate, but managed to maintain a high batting average through the beginning of the summer. Then the coaches came up with the idea of having Robert bunt. He quickly became the bunting specialist on the team and actually got very good at it. I missed a few games but heard all the stories of the "perfect" bunts, and then got to witness them towards the end of the season. He really became good at what he was asked to do and we were so proud of him.

Job Transition - I've been making the transition into my new Principal position and have it's actually been pretty smooth. The people I work with are so wonderful in helping me learn the "ropes" of my new job. It's been a wonderful (and learning) experience so far, and I'm thinking that things will just continue to get better.

Losses - The biggest story of the summer has been in losses to the family. Most people that read these words are probably already aware of the situations, but we'll give a brief overcap anyway. We started off June with a phone call in the early morning hours that Jo's brother had been involved in a swimming pool accident and was being life flighted to St. Louis. Unfortunately he did not pull through, and we've had to adjust to life without "Uncle Buddy". It was such a shock to everyone involved and adjustment has been difficult. However, I think it did actually make the other loss of the summer a little easier for the kids anyway. When Jo's grandpa passed away the end of July, it was still a great loss, but I think at least the kids handled it a little better than they would have as they knew the "routine" so to speak after going through it with Alvie. There were still a lot of emotions, but as far as the routine, they knew what was happening.

Scout Camp - The boys again attended Cub Scout Day Camp (Robert for the last time) and loved it. Thomas managed to get awarded the "Camp Archer" of the week for having the highest archery score all week and then went on to get the Marksman award for his den (group of kids his age). Way to go Thomas! Thomas also survived staying overnight with the "big boys" since I was staying with Robert. We camped out in the tent and all went well.

Fat Steer Show - The last hurah of summer as usual was the Avon Fat Steer Show. The first night of scrambles was great as Thomas and Jaclyn both caught a chicken and Robert did manage to get a pig in his heat. It was a tough struggle, but he got it accomplished. Jaclyn managed to win the girls division of her age group in the peddal tractor pull. Robert became the first annual winner of the Photography Sweepstakes award by achieving the highest point total with 5 or more entries. The show also went very smooth (which was a blessing with Chris as Vice President of the Businessmen's Association that puts on the show).

That has pretty much been our summer in a nutshell. Due to the circumstances we've got to see a lot of folks we don't normally see very often and that has been a blessing through the tragedies. We've also got to spend time with those we do normally see (living at the ball park together). Overall it's been an extrememly busy summer, and tragic summer, but also filled with highlights.