Time to change the batteries!

On Thursday evening we were in bed and just falling into a deep sleep when our smoke detector sirens started going off. Luckily nothing was on fire. It was sort of weird. First the one in my office went off on the main floor of our house. Then the one in Dennis's office went off on the second floor. And finally the one in our 3rd bedroom went off. They would go off for about 20 seconds, stop, and then start up again after 5 minutes. We ended up going to my in-laws house at about 11:30pm to borrow some 9 volt batteries. They all went off one last time and that was about it for the night. We still aren't sure if it was even caused by the batteries, but as a friendly reminder, it is always good to change your smoke detector batteries anyway. So if no one else has reminded you, consider this your official notice. (Also, keep some 9 volts on hand in case the batteries do run out - that repetitive chirping sound can be really annoying especially when you are trying to sleep!)

A lesson learned

If you are ever typing a long email, or a long blog post, or doing anything that consumes a large amount of time online, I recommend either typing it as a Word document first and then copying and pasting it into the body of your email/blog or using a laptop.

Tonight I was typing a lengthy but very important email. I was about an hour into it and probably 7/8 of the way done when all of the power went out. Since I was typing just in an email program, I lost it all. The power came back on within 5 seconds, but my hour of time was totally wasted.

Oh well. Thanks again ComEd.

Welcome Baby Brewer - It's A Boy!!!

Last Christmas my cousin Jim and his wife Julie announced that they were pregnant with the first baby in our generation in the Brewer family. We were all very excited for them. To make the wait more exciting, Jim and Julie decided not to learn the sex of the baby until it was born. This past Sunday we went to Julie's baby shower. Luckily she got everything she needed, because just 3 days later (and ahead of schedule) Julie delivered a healthy baby boy. Jeffrey David was born on Wednesday 7/11/2007 at 6:30am weighing in at 6 pounds 8 oz and 20 inches long.

Whether the baby turned out to be a boy or girl, Grandpa Brewer was determined the baby would have it's own set of clubs!

Jim, Julie, and Jeffrey - welcome baby Jeffrey! We can't wait to meet you!

What a cutie!!!

The proud Grandma Brewer with Baby Jeff

And Grandpa Brewer holding the bundle of joy!

D turns 30

On June 30th, my husband turned 30 years old. Here are some pictures from the day....

First thing in the morning, he opened his presents from me, Russ, Bam, and Belle - we got him a humidor and an assortment of cigars - he was sure happy!

It looks like both of these boys could use a haircut!

D smokes a cigar while we wait for the party to start.

Just in case someone didn't know where the party was...

So we still have a lot of cake leftover - even with 40 guests - it was good though!

Den with his friend Steve.

Mark, Christen, Julie, and Den

Matt & Tracy (who celebrated their anniversary the next day), Jen, Nathan, Rachele, and Nic. It got down to about 55 degrees that night, so we had to bring the party inside.

Adam with one of the many bottle rockets - doing a little dance....

Thanks so much to all of our friends who came out to help us celebrate Den's 30th birthday.... Linda, Greg, Shelley, Scott, Tyler, Nathan, Tony, Ray, Sue, Jen, Nathan, Nic, Rachele, Lisa, Rod, Matt, Tracy, Lisa, Christen, Mark, Adam, Logan, Fred, Sheryl, Steve, Angela, Dave, Dave, Ryan, Stephanie, Sean, and Karen

Storm's -a-brewin'

It barely rained this day, but the wind sure did pick up, and as usual - we lost power for a few hours. As my dream of becoming a storm chaser flounders further behind me, I thought I might catch a few action shots as the front showed up. (and yes, when "Twister" came out back in the day, I pictured myself as Helen Hunt, chasing tornados and watching cows flying around. I later simmered down and thought I'd become a meteorologist, and well - now I'm a recruiter - funny how things work out.)

The Golden Retriever Party

My friend Kristin lives in Savannah with her husband Brandon and their dog Hunter. They came back to IL last week to spend some time with family and friends. Hunter has many brothers and sisters (and a mom) that live in IL. They all got together for a Sunday afternoon while the humans enjoyed a nice barbeque. Here is a picture of all 7 Golden Retrievers who were at the party! (Left to right - Molly, Hunter, Bailey, Shelby, Divet, Payton and Tucker) OK - so I can't remember ALL of their names, but I came close! Luckily Kristin helped me out!

Happy Birthday Tony!

On June 23rd our nephew Tony turned 3 years old. Here are a few pictures from the birthday celebration.

Tony's Mom bought him his own Mustang!

Here he is taking a drive through the neighborhood!

Tony and his Mommy

And some birthday cake!

Father's Day

So I am a little late in posting. Here are some pictures from Father's day 2007. Dad, Diana, Lisa, and Grandma B spent the day here. Lisa gave dad a very humorous inside joke kind of gift. You can judge from his reaction that he thought it was pretty funny. Den and I got White Sox tickets for us all to go to the game on the 18th. They played the Marlins and luckily the Sox pulled it off and won 10-6. It was quite an exciting game....if only they could keep it up.