Cousins Meet Charlotte

How exciting to see!

All the cousins got to meet Charlotte today!

I am sure that Kari or Michelle will

send me pictures - I was too busy watching!

Karsten was first - he came in and

touched her hand and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

He held her very tightly - didn't want to drop her I am sure!

Sydney came in next and got to hold her too.

She was talking and I didn't catch what she said.

Then Michelle told me -

Sydney introduced herself and then said and

that is my little sister Kaitlyn. How cute!

Kaitlyn was excited too - even at 8 months she

knows it is a new baby! At least she knows

it is something new to grab at!

We know that the 5 of them will continue to

grow and love each other!

Uncle Steve came in also - he LOVES

these little kiddies! He plays with each of

them at their level - and is not

afraid to hold a new baby!

God is so good!

Charlotte goes home!

Baby Charlotte went for her first car ride today -

she got to go home with Mommy, Daddy & Big Sister Megan!

Here is a picture as she waited patiently for all the paperwork

to be completed!

She stretched out so her little feet were peeking out of the dress!

The tiny little socks that were purchased were way too big!
She thought the paperwork was taking too long -
so she took a little siesta!

Sydney, Karsten & Kaitlyn are looking

forward to meeting their new little cousin!

We know Megan will enjoy showing her off!

Meet Charlotte

Here are some pictures of

Charlotte Nichole Barch

yep, I had the middle name misspelled earlier!

Megan & Grandpa getting ready to go see Charlotte.

Megan brought Charlotte a little present and

was surprised to find that Charlotte had

already been shopping and had a gift for Megan too!

They will be great friends and sisters!

Charlotte looking around

Not the "greatest" picture, but trying to show her light brown hair!

Kari with daughters Megan & Charlotte

Kari & Rich with Megan and Charlotte

She is here!

Charlotte Nichole

born 7/28/08

4:31 p.m.

6 pounds 6 ounces

20 inches

Proud parents are Kari & Rich

Excited Big Sister is Megan

Will post pictures after I see her!

Thank you God for our newest angel!

Been busy!

Busy, busy, busy!

Like all of you!

Russ and I along with Aunt Retha, Uncle Joe,

Pam, Mark, Kathy, Darrell and

Kim and Dave

attended a Muscular Dystrophy dinner party on

Saturday night. We are a sponsor for

this particular dinner for each of the three

years it has been in existence.

The guest of honor, Jessica Laughhunn,

has muscular dystrophy. You will never see

a more beautiful young woman - so full

of energy and laughter! And rolling around on her

scooter like a crazy woman! She even led a

congo line! We pray they find

a cure for this dreadful disease soon!

I thought I would be the "leader" for a moment

on Saturday evening. The bidding opened for a pool table

so I figured I would be the opener. Hey, it was for a

good cause and someone else would outbid me anyway.

The opening bid was $500 and up went my hand.

And then....no one else bid!!

We have a pool table - and a basement so full that we

cannot even get near it - we sure didn't need 2!!

Finally I went out on the floor saying I was really

just kidding and my husband would kill me if someone

else didn't get busy bidding. Unfortunately the

guy leading the bidding misunderstood my intentions - and

canceled my bid and began the bidding again. This time he

dropped the price - and someone bought a beautiful

pool table for $400 or $450!! Now I

feel guilty - I should pay the difference between that

bid and what I originally bid. Some folks there said I

should just forget it - after all we do donate a lot for the evening

and also for all the silent auction things and for all the raffles and for

all the prizes that we donated also. Still feeling a

little guilty - and learned the lesson not to bid

unless it is something I do plan to get!

Megan is here with us tonight - her mommy and daddy will

have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning to get

labor officially started! She is already almost

half way to the "pushing" anyway!

We are excited to meet our newest granddaughter

will be posting tomorrow with some pictures and

hopefully a name! The name list still

has many possibilities on it!

For anyone who "knows" CWC - Donna Hall was injured

playing softball on Saturday - has a concussion I understand.

Prayers go to her for a quick recovery!

Make a difference in someone's life!

Almost Time....

Unless Baby Barch decides to arrive sooner -

we will meet her Monday!

We are so excited to see the little Princess

that God is sending our way!

That will give us 5 grandchildren UNDER 3 years of age!

We can say that until mid-August when Megan will

turn 3 and then mid-September when Sydney turns 3.

Exciting times for the Patterson's!!

Please be praying for an easy delivery for mom and baby

and good health for both of them!

Note to self....

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS

wear your glasses when chosing

a couple of bottles of hair color out

of the linen closet!

I usually mix 2 colors -

this time it was 2 of the same.

Which meant I had to follow it with the 1

that is different to try to take the "edge" off

the darker color.

Oh well, hair color is usually fixable!

(It is really not bad - I just prefer to do slower

color changes!)

Lots of visiting!

Last Friday around midnight my sister and her hubby arrived for a little visit.

We had so much planned to do - and actually did all of it!

On Saturday we went to see the Tigers play at

Comerica Park. We got rained on and then we sizzled with

the heat! And in the end, the Tigers lost to Minnesota.

Afterwards we went to eat at a great Italian restaurant,

DiFratelli's here in Shelby Township.

Sunday we went to Greenfield Village. Always a fun place to visit.

But again, it was very warm - and I managed to get a sunburn.

Sunday evening we all gathered here for a balloon memorial

in honor of my dad and mom. Fun to see the

balloons flying up into the sky!

Monday we went to the Chrysler Museum in Rochester. Gerry is a

real gear-head so he loved seeing all the cars. Saw a

1984 Chrysler Minivan - the first one off the line. We had

one too! Apparently Lee Iacocca got right into this one

and got locked inside! After that they had to manually

check the automatic door locks to be sure they worked properly!

Tuesday we went to Frankenmuth for a great chicken dinner. We

drove there on all side roads - you see a lot of small towns that way!

Wednesday we stopped by Kari's to say goodbye and then had lunch

on the St. Clair river. Beautiful lakeside scenes!

Then it was off to the Flint airport. They arrived at the airport

at 5:00 pm and had a 5:45 flight out - cutting that one close!

They already had boarding passes and seat assignments - just

had to check their baggage. We always go early to get

exit aisle seating - we have long legs and get claustrophobic in the

regular seats! After leaving the airport we got in the

middle of a nice summer storm - lots of rain, wind and hail!

I am sure we have a few dents and dings from that!

Good to visit with Dee and Gerry and hope they come back again soon!

Next time we will head for the Mackinaw Bridge and some UP sites!

8 years ago yesterday...I met my chiropractor!

On July 2, 2000 I found myself in a real mess -

unable to stand up without a lot of pain.

I had spent about 45 minutes bent over trying

to start a lawn mower (trying to be helpful!).

Funny thing is this lawn mower always starts very easy

but I had no idea that the gas was shut off and so no

way would that lawn mower start!

The next day, July 3, I had Kari drive up and get me the phone

number of the chiropractor near our house.

They were so very nice and said to come right in.

I got to meet Dr. Arnold, his wife Kristin and

assistant Louise that day.

After an exam, x-rays and an adjustment

Duane told me that he would be golfing in

the morning on July 4 but he would call me and

wanted me to come in for another adjustment.

Can you imagine someone coming in on a holiday

to help you out???

Dr. Greg has now joined Dr. Duane Arnold.




Office Manager Trisha






Assistant Kate (who is also a
personal trainer at Level Fitness - 25 & Van Dyke)







and last but not least,
Emily, a Certified Massage Therapist.


Can't say enough good things about
Washington Family Chiropractic.
Always professional,
Always friendly,
Always ready to help patients learn
to be more healthy!

And in case you are wondering -
no, I never tried to start that lawn mower again!

CWC Block Party

Kim and I took Karsten and Megan to CWC today

for their block party. Kids had such a nice time!

Lots of inflatibles and table games too!

Not great pictures - camera batteries were

on their last leg and picture taking was slow while

kids jump so fast! ;-)

And what a good sport Pastor Sherri was in the dunk tank!

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy 33rd Birthday to our son-in-law Dave!

We celebrated Dave's birthday this past Sunday -

along with Father's Day -

but wanted to take a minute to let him

know how much we love him and appreciate

him too! Dave not only is married to

our daughter, Kim, but is grandson, Karsten's

Daddy. Dave also works with us at

Contractors Connection! Dave is a big

motorcycle enthusiast too!

Hope you enjoyed your dinner out and cupcakes with Karsten!

Some Tiger Game pics

Here we are at Comerica Park to watch the Tigers play!

And play they did - we won!

This picture was taken almost as we came through the gates -

Sydney did not like Paws at all!

A picture of Grandmama with Sydney and Kaitlyn -

looking so cute in their Tiger clothes!

This was Kaitlyn's first Tiger game -

and she picked a hot one!

We had great seats (maybe 4 rows up from the field next

to the Tiger dugout by 3rd base) but the

sun was way too hot and sunny for little

Kaitlyn's fair skin!

Notice the red cheeks on Grandmama - looks like she was not

handling it either!

We took the girls up by the baseball Ferris wheel in the

picnic area - we could watch the game in the shade!

We had a great time - Thank you Michelle & Mark!

Happy Father's Day!

We had such a great day today -

starting with taking Megan to church with us!

She enjoyed being with the other kids in Sunday

School. Kari worked from 7 am to 11:30 am today

and Rich was tied up so they came to spend the night with us.

After church all the kids and grandkids came over for a

barbeque. Betty always sends us $$ at Christmas

(she is so sweet to do this! - but not necessary!)

so we always plan to do something together with the money.

A big steak barbeque seemed to be a great idea!

Yummy steaks, baked potato, corn on the cob, salad

fruit tray and ice cream cake from DQ!

Makes me want to eat again just to writing this!

The grandkids enjoyed giving their daddy's big flying discs

with their hand prints on the back. They

get so excited making things for their parents!

They even made one with everyone's hand prints for

Uncle Steve - they all LOVE Uncle Steve!

They also enjoyed some time playing in the sprinker!

Always love to get wet!

Will hopefully get some pictures posted when our

"photographer" Michelle sends them!

Happy Father's Day everyone!

Looking forward

We are looking forward to a nice weekend!

Will begin on Saturday with a quick visit to Randazzo's to

pick up a few things for a barbeque on Sunday

and then will be heading out to the Tiger game on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday evening Kari and Megan will come to spend the

night - Richard will be out of the country again on

business and Kari will be working early on Sunday morning.

Hooray - Megan will get to go to church with us!

Then the whole crew will be over to celebrate

June birthdays (there are 4!) and Father's Day.

We will grill and play in the backyard!

We have bubble guns for the 3 little one to enjoy too.

Will have some pictures by Sunday evening!

And the verdict is....

Guilty on 5 counts

Not guilty on 2 counts

Russ is very glad that this experience is over -

and hopes not to get to do it again anytime soon!

Make a difference in someone's life -

sounds like Russ and the rest of the jury just made

a difference in this guy's life.

Maybe 10 to 20 years of difference.

Unfortunately this will clean up an area of illegal drugs/guns only

until someone new comes in to "set up store".

Jury Duty...Again

Not for me - for Russ!

He has served his "days in waiting" for jury selection

a few times before. Once he served on a jury

for a murder trial. How his name keeps coming

up - who knows!

Not the best time for him to serve - this is his very busy time

at work plus he has people off on vacation too.

So today he got to do the "waiting" thing again. By late afternoon

he thought he had wasted a day but it was almost over.

Almost....and then he was chosen to sit on

a jury for a trial that will begin tomorrow.

Hopefully it will be a quick one!

I was called to do the "waiting" thing once - 28 years ago!

I called before going to ask them if they had a room

for me to nurse in since I had a newborn.

They told me not to worry they

would call me back another time. By the time Oakland County

called me back I was living in Macomb County

and so was listed as unable to serve.

Selfishly I can say I am so glad they called him and not me!

Happy Birthday to me - Yesterday!

Yes, yesterday was my birthday - the 57th one to be exact!

We do our June birthdays along with

Father's Day for our big celebrations.

But for the past few days I had so many phone calls,

cards in the mail and on email,

and visitors too!

Went to lunch and a little shopping with

Kari and Megan and then

Karsten and Kim came by after work.

Russ and I went out to dinner in the evening.

And then the highlight to the day -

I took the grill apart to get all the grease

out so it would not catch fire for the

barbeque for Sunday!

Nothing more humbling than cleaning a greasy grill!

;-) ;-)

Actually have to say that yesterday was my second

hardest birthday -

the first being the one right after my mom died

and the second yesterday being the first one after losing my dad.

Sharing the day with the ones that "birthed you" is something

special - and that won't be happening anymore.

Ohhhh, didn't mean for this to sound sad!

But, remembering those special times makes me even more

determined to always celebrate the day I birthed

my kids - what special days those were!

Someone told me once that they don't celebrate

their kids birthdays any more - after all they

are over 18 and not children anymore.

Bah, Humbug - God changed my life

forever on April 12, February 20, April 27 and June 3

and I plan to celebrate those gifts as long as

God gives me breath!

And thanks to so many of you who sent birthday thoughts, prayers and wishes!

Surprise 30th Birthday for Rich

This will be a birthday that Rich will not forget! He went out shooting clay targets with some friends and when he came into

the club house afterwards there we all were to greet him with Happy Birthdays!

Rich is not big on surprises and couldn't believe that this happened to him - but he was a good sport! We enjoyed a great lunch at Hunter's Creek Hunt Club (where Rich is a member) - pheasant ala king (wow was that good!), fresh lake perch and prime rib. And then a yummy cake from Blooming Bakery.

Rich's dad, Robert, decided to take the little ones out onto the dock to fish. Megan got to reel the first one in - and even tried to hold the fish! Karsten had a turn and kept yelling Wow!! Then it was Parker's turn. These kiddies had a great time out there! Megan came back with a little "fish" on her dress, Karsten found a puddle to stomp in and Parker too had fish and mud on him.

We again had hot, muggy weather - perfect for a storm to form. And like the past few days a storm did form! We had all gone home by then (hit very quickly at Michelle's where we were - we actually went to the basement!) but Kari & Rich were still at the club. Boats were washed out into the lake, awning over the patio was brought down along with many trees. Yikes!

Like I said - it will be a birthday he doesn't forget!

Happy Birthday Rich!!

Happy Birthday Kari!

Happy Birthday Kari!

It has been so exciting to watch you the past few

years - you are a great mom, wife, sister & daughter!

We have always had the family chatter about

how perfect Kari was - and as a little one

we sure didn't have to do much correcting.

Steve likes to remind us that we just didn't

see everything that was going on - and

I am finding he may have been right!

So today is for Steve -

Kari admitted eating the arms off your GI Joes!!

We had no idea!! She is sure that maybe you

pulled the heads off her Barbies first - but

she said she did actually swallow those arms

so you couldn't get them back!

EWWWWWW!!!

But the good thing is - no matter what

you did, or what you do ---

our love for you is forever!

Today Kari will go for another ultra sound to

take a peek at her second daughter.

First child, middle child, last child -

I know you have already found that

it does not matter - you love them

all the same!

Happy Birthday - we love you!

Where to start....

This has been a crazy week with the grandchildren

and sickness! All four of them have had colds and/or

ear infections and/or allergy symptoms and/or a virus. Poor things!

We found that Sydney's body thinks her virus is

an allergen and so has been having allergic reactions to that!

Megan had nice cold symptoms on Saturday - coughing,

sneezing and running nose. We decided to take her to a restaurant

for dinner up in St. Clair. Bad idea she thought - and cried and

screamed until we agreed with her. We did finally get out to

dinner - at KFC and she thought that was a great idea! ;-)

Today Sydney was actually inadvertantly given something

that she is very allergic to - milk. She did not get more

than 1/2 teaspoon and that was all it took. Her body

immediately realized it was a poison to her and she began

to throw up. Lots! Michelle had to administer the

epi-pen and then they all headed off to the hospital.

Scarry!!! But in the end no other treatment was needed

since her body did such a good job of ridding itself of the milk.

Michelle and Mark are more careful with these allergies

than anyone I have ever seen. God certainly

had His protective arms around them today and they were able

to do what had to be done and get her to the hospital.

Sydney did tell us that Mommy had poked her and she didn't

like it. Tonight as Michelle put her to bed Sydney told her

that she was scared today at the hospital.

The Patterson Clan has never been faced with so many

"bumps in life"

as we have in the past year!

Believe me - you don't want me spelling out all the stuff

but I do have to say that God has been there for us

through every step of the way!

He is Good!