Memories of Millie

Millie Hammond Rains Schoen

1919-2016

My mother was loved by so many and an inspiration to everyone who knew her.  None of us was surprised when she became the oldest woman to ever get a scuba license in Hawaii at 72.  She still swam 20 or more laps in the pool until she was 94.  

My family gathered yesterday to remember Millie.  The two remaining members of her generation, my Uncle Spud, and my Uncle Marvin, came along with several cousins, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren to celebrate her life with us.

My cousins, Jessie May, Susie, and Theresa, got to meet my great grand nephew, the cute red haired baby, Jackson

Baby Sammy taking a nap holding firmly onto Grandma Tina's locket.

Hard to think of my son, Tony, as a grandpa, but he's a good one!

My sister's grandson, Joey, on the left, my grandson, Jesse, on the right.  Another generation bonding.

Dan and Amy getting baby time with grand nephew, Sammy.

Enjoying catching up!

Sierra and Chris and baby Jackson going for a ride

Tina, Sara, and Dan

Cousin Ross and Uncle Spud

Brittany and Carla

Kim and Teri
I'll post more cousin pictures on my Cousins Blog

First Annual Halloween Hunt in the Maze

When the grandkids come to visit, we usually spend a lot of time outside - mostly in or around the lake.  However, our brief summer has left us and we had the whole crew coming for a visit on Saturday. We wondered how to entertain 15 children for an entire cloudy cool day in September.  


Ron came up with the idea of doing a treasure hunt in the woods.  Since we won't be here for Halloween, we used Halloween candy for part of the loot we hid.  We have 25 acres of woods where we have a natural maze on about 15 acres and a stand of overgrown Christmas trees on the rest.

The kids range in age from 1 to 14

Ron and I spent the morning wrapping candy, coins, a few dollar bills, and assorted trinkets in tin foil and hiding them in the woods.

We split up into several groups and headed into the woods at different spots, and everyone found treasures.

Back at the house, we counted our loot and compared findings and did some horse trading.

Everyone had a great time and we decided we would have to do this every year before we head out in the fall.

For the rest of the day, we ate, celebrated Lily's 3rd birthday, played games and made forts.

Cousins under the table in their improvised fort.

So a good time can be had even on a bad weather day!