39 Years Ago.....

Jul 20, 1969: Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon.

I was 14 years old and on vacation in Carter Caves, Kentucky. My parents, my cousin, myself and another family we were with watched it on a black and white TV in the motel room.

Why would we take time out of our vacation to watch this on TV?

Neil was from our hometown, Wapakoneta. Actually, my parents knew both Neil and his parents. His parents lived right around the corner from us (I could see their house from my bedroom window which today is my office/scraproom). My grandparents were very good friends of Neil's parents. And, in high school, my Dad had dated his sister a few times.

It was also a pretty big accomplishment at that time and who knew where it would lead.

Now that is one childhood vacation I'll never forget.

When I started digi-scrapping, one of the first layouts I made was this.



And, yes that is a true autograph on that picture. The picture was given to my parents by Neil when he was home for the homecoming celebration in September, 1969. It still hangs proudly in our family room.

An exciting moment in history and a proud memory for my town. Wonder what the 40th anniversary will bring next year?

Friendship....

I've been doing a lot of digital scrapbooking lately and have found several websites that have daily challenges. One site, GottaPixel has a lyric challenge once a month. In May, it was for the lyrics of a song called One Friend by Dan Seals. As I read the lyrics I thought of one person and knew I had to do a layout in honor of our friendship.

We've been friends an awful long time. I don't remember a time without her in my life. We may not see each other very often since our lives are so very different.... she's got an almost teenager and I have no kids. But, I know I can count on her if needed. She and her husband were my saviors during the ice storm in January 2005.

This week is her birthday. So, my friend, hope your birthday is a happy one and know that I will always love you.

Here's the layout in your honor!

Independence Day

Besides being a national holiday and a day off work, in my small town it is also the day of the St. Joseph Festival. #58. That's more years than I've been around. The festival is held at the county fairgrounds which just happens to be south of my house by a couple of miles at the most. In fact, my driveway is in an almost direct line with the infield of the race track.

When we moved into this house in the mid-60's, the trees between our house and the fairgrounds were not that tall. We could sit on our front porch and see the fireworks that went high in the sky. Over 40 years later, I still do this. Even though the trees have gotten taller, I can see the fireworks from my driveway.

Tonight I sat at the edge of the garage with my camera on a tripod to see if I could get any decent pics. Got to love digital.... can take as many pics as I want and it doesn't matter if there are bad ones. I don't have to get them printed to know!

Here's just a few that I thought didn't turn out too bad.











Grand finale....


I wasn't alone tonight either. My neighbors to the east were in their driveway also watching the fireworks. They had the family picnic at their house this year.

Hope your July 4th was a good one!