Davenport Basement 3 Years Ago

 I have retired!! April 1, 2026 was my last day at Scott Community College.  I have been so busy since that day but now I can finally sit down and start blogging again.    I headed down to Athens to visit Maggie, Chase, and Finnan for a couple of weeks.  Once I got back I practically moved in with Molly and Adrien in Cedar Rapids because they were having their unfinished basement made into a finished basement.  They wanted me there while the construction was happening and to make sure the cats didn't escape.

While thinking about blogging about that experience, I realized I never wrote about our basement.  That has been finished for three years now!

Overall, we are pretty happy with the outcome.  We had a toilet and a sink in the basement but with only three walls.  Anyone could walk right in on you.  The floor was concrete and the cats used this bathroom as well. This was also our storage area.

We were eager to get this started because we were having the whole family for Christmas and we didn't want the basement torn up for the Holidays.

They dug a hole to make sure the plumbing was correct before putting in the new toilet.

We also had a new storage area built.

We were going to put the floor in but luckily, our contractor convinced us not to and that they would do it.

As you can see in the above photos, there were a  lot of piles of things  that had to be moved around to get the floor in.  Mike was out of town and when I found out the guys wouldn't move this pile and that I would have to, I made a pile for a garage sale.  I couldn't believe how much we had accumulated while living here.  My very first blog talked about how we sold everything we owned except what would fit in a 20 foot UHaul truck.  We quickly filled up this house and it was time to sell things we really didn't need.

And when Chase proposed to Maggie three, almost four years ago, a huge amount of stuff was in the background.

We were very excited to have this project done!

Next story will be about Molly and Adrien's basement.

Total Eclipse of the Haute

I wanted to write about this a year ago, when it actually happened.  

If you ever have a chance to experience a total eclipse, you should do whatever it takes to experience it. I remember years ago when a total eclipse was hitting the West Coast and I watched it on T.V.  I had goose bumps just watching it, and I wasn't even there!

Molly called me one day and said that in 2024, the total eclipse was hitting the midwest, more to the east of us and wondered if we should pursue it.  I said of course!  She did all of the planning. Molly found that Terre Haute was only four hours away and we would have 3 minutes of totality.  We planned our  trip. We would leave the day before and stay in a motel. Molly purchased the special glasses for us.

We knew we had to check out of the motel before the eclipse so we had to figure out where we were going to hang out.  There was a very small mall behind us with a very large parking lot.  We decided that was our place.  We had a lot of waiting after we checked out so we went shopping in the mall and then had lunch out of the back of my car.

We did a lot of neck bending while waiting for totality. 

Right before it happened, all of the business and street lights came on all around us.  We could feel the temperature drop and there wasn't any traffic on the interstate behind us, except for a truck now and then.  It felt like night was approaching even though it was 3pm. The night bugs were making their sounds.

Then it happened,  total eclipse of the sun. You could hear what seemed like the whole town yell in excitement. We all had chills and goose bumps and didn't want it to end.  Photos do not show the correct totality, but we tried. If you look at the reflection below the sun that the camera made, you can see it.

Three minutes later, it was over.  We hopped in the car and headed home.

On the way home, Molly kept us updated on the Moon moving away.

It was totality worth it!

Molly and Adrien Got Married!

 My last blog was about Maggie and Chase getting married.  Three months later, almost to the day, Molly and Adrien got married on June 22, 2024.  

Molly envisioned a small garden wedding within trees and flowers. We looked for an outdoor area that would include everything she wanted and found Vander Veer park. Molly booked the rose garden for June 8th.  She then started looking for a photographer but couldn't find one for that date so she changed the wedding to June 22 to work with the photographer's schedule.  It turned out to be a perfect day.  Adrien's family lives in France and it was sad they were not able to make it in June, but we are looking forward to and are very excited they will be coming later in the year for the reception we have planned for the couple.

Molly found her dress at the second bridal store we went to. She tried on many but not a lot. She knew what she wanted. She later bought lace and I made straps for the dress.

I gave Molly my grandmother's diamond my mom had given me. Molly designed the setting and found a jeweler to make it.

Molly decided to buy wood flowers. I didn't know what she was talking about when she told me but they turned out beautiful!  We dyed them the colors she picked for the special day and had a lot of fun doing so.  

We then made the bouquet, corsages, and boutonnieres.  They turned out beautiful!

The special day finally arrived.

We started the day with breakfast and then Molly, Maggie, and I headed out to have our hair and makeup done.  My friend Tami owns Merle Norman and we had asked her if she would do our makeup. Her daughter does hair so it worked out perfectly! Tami did my makeup for my wedding over 40 years ago!!

A customer came into the store and asked if someone was getting married. When we said yes, she had advice for the bride, always give him a hug in the morning and a hug at night.  When she said this I thought of the photo I took before we left the house for the day. 

We then went to the Current Hotel in downtown Davenport to have lunch and to get ready while the guys stayed home to get ready.

                    

It was a windy day.

There was a total of eleven people including the bride and groom so it was very intimate.  Molly's grandma Janelle, finally made it to a grandchild's wedding.  We worried about her driving to Davenport so her sister Sharon brought her.

Molly asked her cousin Brice to be the officiant.  He was happy to!

This is a photo of two nervous guys as they wait for the ceremony to begin.

Molly said that when she walked down the aisle........

She saw this........

And yes, I am trying not to cry.

We didn't get a photo of the ring bearer, baby Finnan, handing them the rings but Molly said it was really cute. He grabbed the rings as if to hand to them, like he knew what he was supposed to do!  

It was a beautiful ceremony.

After the short ceremony, it was time for photos. The following photo is of everyone that was there.

Brice Petsel, his fiancee Lauryn, Sharon Kell, Janelle Sproston, Michael Sproston, Elizabeth Sproston, Molly Sproston, Adrien Johnson, Maggie Sproston with baby Finnan Brown, and Chase Brown.

We went back to our house to eat cake and drink champagne while we waited for the catered food to arrive.

The owner of the Olive Tree was very excited to walk into the house to find a bride and groom.  He was honored to be asked to be in a photo with them.

One happy family!!

And some more photos.