OUR PHOTO ALBUM

For whatever reason, I am no longer able to edit the original photo album pictures.  I figured the easiest way around this problem was just to create another photo album!!!  I will add pictures to THIS album now, so you'll have to come here to take a look!  New pictures were added 5/14/01!  Be sure to check them out at the end!!!!!!!

I have been made acutely aware of the fact that there are no photos of MY family on this website.  (GWU, hey, Martha) That's because my parents and brother live 200 miles away and we haven't been all together for quite some time!  So, in the interests of justice, I decided to use one of the best "old" pictures I have of all of us.  Of course we all looked our best at mine and Greg's wedding. (The photo is only 10 years old, but we all still look the same! -- geez, time flies) For the record, I have to tell you that my mother MADE my wedding gown.  Thanks Toots!

From the left, there is my brother, Johnny (the one who brought me and Greg together (albeit unintentionally), (again, GWU, Martha), my mother, Joyce, my sister (and bestest friend in the whole wide world) Martha, ME, my other sister (and best friend), Linda, and of course, my father, John.  So, here you have it.  That's my side.  Unfortunately, I don't have any current OR older pictures of the family with their current spouses, so this will have to make do.

It was a bit nippy out, but it's never too cold to play with the little ones!  Abby is the apple of her father's eye and she knows it!  All she has to do is say pleaaaaasssse, and she gets what she wants!!!

Through the magic of the internet, and the BMT e-mail list we belong to, Greg has made a new friend!  This is a picture of Tim and his family.  Tim is the second one on the right.  At the time this picture was taken, Tim did not have any hair due to the rigors of chemotherapy.  His whole family wore baseball caps as a sign of solidarity for Tim!  Tim is currently awaiting a bone marrow transplant, not having found a donor yet.  There has been one drive to get people to sign up and he hopes to have more.  Please keep Tim and his family in your prayers!!!!

We were looking for some action shots of Aaron and the neighbor kids playing basketball.  Aaron is the smallest (and youngest) boy there, looking up at the basketball that appears to be sitting on the backboard!  Unfortunately, it went over the backboard, instead of into the basket!  Bummer . . .

Our future hockey star!  All she needs now are some skates!!!!

Well, here he is folks!  We FINALLY got a picture of Greg's dad, Red, sitting nice and comfy in his favorite chair!

And here's Greg with his Dad.  Greg's dad's nickname for him when he was younger was "Bones" because he was so skinny (he ran track in high school and was the quarterback for the Bay View Redcats way back when.  I guess prednisone has taken care of the weight problem!

This photo is of our son, Aaron (on the left) with his cousin, Zach (my sister Linda's oldest).  They are playing Pokemon on their Gameboys at Greg's parent's house.

Now that we have been given a new transplant date, Greg is in a frenzy trying to get things done around the house.  We've been here for a little over a year, but never got the basement shelving in.  We have quite a few boxes down there that need to be organized.  Once we get all the shelves done, organizing should be a snap!  (yea, RIGHT!)  <grins>

Here's Abby playing outside.  Don't ask why she's playing in the gutter, we're not quite sure -- we just thought it was cute!

Here's Abby playing basketball with her boyfriend!  Abby is totally in love with "Optional Helper" Chris!  Even calls him her "boyfriend!"  Gotta admit, he's a great guy -- even changed her poopy diaper when Greg's counts were low and I was at work, and he wipes runny noses, too!  He's really wonderful with her.  Always plays with her, gives her hugs, etc.  No wonder she likes him!   Gotta say, he's been a great neighbor for the short time we've been living here.  Everyone needs an "optional helper" in their life!!!  Thanks, Chris!

Greg (on left) with Chris.  The day started out in the high 50's, but as soon as the sun went down, it quickly got COLD!

Here's Greg and one of his buddy's from work, Bill.

Aaron's birthday isn't until April 12, but we decided to celebrate it early, seeing as Greg will be transplanted that day.  Happy 9th Birthday, Aaron!  Wow, that looks like a lot more than 9 candles!

Here's Greg doing what he does best -- horsing around with the kids!

Baseball season is once again upon us.  Here's a couple of photos of Aaron whacking the ball at one of his first games.  Way to go, Aaron!  That official looking guy behind the plate is actually "Optional Helper" Chris!  I can't remember if Aaron's team won this game or not, but they are doing great at this point!  Way to go, kids!

This photo was taken on April 29, 2000.  This is the first time the kids have seen Greg (other than on video) since April 6.  They have repeatedly been warned re the Hickman, so they are actually somewhat reserved in this photo!  It was nice to have Greg home, even if only for a couple of hours.  The kids really needed to be able to see their dad and try to understand why he was gone for so long.  I'm not sure that they do, but they were certainly happy to have him home again!

Here we have our neighbors, Annie and Dick taking care of our garden.  Annie is actually just making sure that Dick rototills ir correctly!  <hee, hee>  The amazing thing about this is that they are both 70 years old!  Thanks to them, we will have fresh green peppers, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, pickles, onions, lettuce, carrots, peas, corn, cabbage, spices, radishes, etc., etc., etc., from our garden!  If they hadn't tilled it, there was no way I would have planted it, as that is usually Greg's job.  I did manage to plant the whole garden (and mixed in flowers as well) in one day, inbetween the rains!  Certainly gave me a nice tan -- and a sore back!  LOL.  It will be worth it in the long run, though!

I can't resist taking pictures of the kids when they're wiped out from a full day!  This was taken on Easter Sunday, after visiting Grandma and Grandpa's, and then going over to Greg's friends house, Bill and Luanne, so I could visit with Greg for a little while.  Geez, what do you suppose Bill and Luanne did to these kids?!?  I've offered to leave them there for a week at a time, but they just won't take me up on the offer!  LOL

Our little Abby has been suffering from some chest congestion, fevers and coughing, so she had to wear a mask around Greg.  We don't have any child-size masks, so instead of this just hooking around her ears, it is actually twist-tied in back!  She was a trooper through it, and didn't really mind wearing it.  She was so cute when this picture was taken.  She didn't understand that I couldn't see most of her face, and when I held the camera up, she was saying "CHEESE," and I'm sure had a HUGE grin under that mask!  Way too cute!

Fast forward a year here and this is Abby at her finest! (5/12/01) She's actually mad at US because she has to go change her pants because she wet them!  How's that for attitude!  Just goes to show you how she earned her nickname of "Crabby Abby"!!!

We decided to check out the local animal shelters when it came time to get another dog.  The Kenosha shelter had our Maddie.  (Her name at the time was Eden).  She was originally a stray from a shelter in Chicago.  She was then transferred to Kenosha as the Chicago shelter was full.  She had only been there five days when we found her.  We adopted her and she has wormed her way into our hearts BIG TIME!  Maddie's a beautiful German Shepherd, approx. 1 year old.  She has already learned her name, and has decided that Abby's climbing all over her and yanking on her tail isn't so bad!  This photo was taken on the day we brought her home in March, 2001.

Maddie's a lot bigger than Cory was.  Even though she's only 60 pounds (she needs to gain weight), she is MUCh taller. For now, we have to put everything on the counters away at night because she gets at it all at night!  I never know what I'm going to wake up to being chewed up in the morning!  Because she has such problems with separation anxiety, she has to go into a kennel in the dinette when we're gone.  She's getting used to that, though, and goes in there quite willingly.  Hopefully, that won't last too long.  She just needs to realize that we're always going to come back home for her!  Maddie's been a wonderful addition to our family and is truly loved by all!  I'm not even minding cleaning up all the dog hair!