~~ODNEAL FAMILY BLOG~~Port of Readlyn, Iowa

I didn't snap very many photos because Ashley's Aunt Ann was taking a ton of pictures and is going to give us a CD of all of them. Just took a few to share! The big day is finally here tomorrow. I guess I'd better be done telling Ashley to RUN!!!!!!

This is a picture of Tyler I snapped last night after we got home from the rehearsal and dinner. Does he look really tired? No, well he skipped detassling today because he was sooooooo tired, but I believe he's sitting in Kyle's room playing PS3 in this picture. Hmmmmmm....anyways, he actually said he took today off so he could hang out with his brother Cole all day long. Well, the young "kids" all went out to the bar afterwards and I'm thinking he might be waiting quite a while for Cole to even get out of bed today to "hang out"! Everyone have a great weekend!

These are just a few pictures that I snapped of some flowers around the house. Helen gave them to me to transplant and I wasn't even sure what they were or how they would look. I think next year they will be even better. I didn't know if the first year they would even bloom. I just love having all my flowers blooming outside. It is sad when they start dying because then we know fall isn't far off! I'm not ready at all for summer to be gone.

Can't believe that you are 18 years old today. In less than a month we will be moving you into your dorm at Iowa, and I'm betting that I will be a bawling mess that day. Anyone have some valium or something they can give me? Just kidding. I will really miss my Kyle-the one that sits in the kitchen and chats with me for no reason at all except for my enjoyment I think. And teases me when I say something stupid, but doesn't make me actually feel "stupid" when he sets me straight. Anyway, I could go on and on. I hope you have a great birthday and weekend, and enjoy yourself golfing at your Bro's bachelor outing. Hope you don't have to babysit any of the "big boys" and can enjoy out golfing them! Or at least trying to. You are a special guy and I am very proud to be your Mom. Happy Birthday!

Well I have to say for this kid being the wild one growing up I am impressed that they are golfing for the bachelor party. Good choice Ransom! Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the best men are 14 & 18 could it? Anyways Cole, hope you have a very fun, (but not too much fun!) memorable bachelor party. Because remember you only do this once in a lifetime!!!!

Yep, once again Bruce and I are heading to the river for the weekend (last time before the big wedding day) and I might even get to see my "river boyfriend" Kevin (see photo) and play some Catch Phrase. He cheats and still can't win most of the time though! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I plan on doing a lot of relaxing since next week will be a little hectic! Much less for me though than for the "wedding planner" I am sure. Have a good one!

Yeah I know everyone seems to have a different name for this ugly big "dog fish" that Bruce caught last weekend right off the dock by our boat. And everyone calls the "sunfish" something different, too. Anyways, it always amazes me that some fish are so disgusting to look at and then some are almost (you notice I said ALMOST) too pretty to eat!!!!! No, we don't eat the ugly "dogfish"! But the pan fish are sure yummy.

Apparently last weekend I only wanted to take pictures of Bruce's back or something. Here he is fighting with his little buddy Jake, and then I took one of his back while driving the houseboat. And of course he has sunscreen on so maybe I was trying to do a "safe sun" ad for my dermatologist or something. Yeah, right! Whatever!

Snapped this picture of an eagle while on a houseboat ride on Sunday. It came out pretty good but I wish I'd of had my big camera and I could have zoomed in a lot better. They are so beautiful and we are seeing a lot of them this year. I think they are definitely back at the river!

Aren't Bruce and Louie sporting some awesome hats? Thank God they didn't keep them on for very long, but they sure looked like dorks. Only those two would stop and pose for me to take a picture of them! Just look past them at the beautiful scenery behind them! You can't ever say that we don't make our own fun at the river. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

This was the scene last Friday night and Saturday morning at the marina. We have had so many hatches this year it is unreal. I remember in previous years only having a couple of weekends when they were bad. But everyone had their boats and the docks cleaned up pretty early. The bottom middle picture is on Louie & Helen's boat. There was a pile of them behind a cooler! Hopefully we are done with these for the season! Update*****Since there are some readers of this that do not have any idea what a "fish fly" is..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly

Wasn't sure if I would post these pictures or not, but brought a blank cd (Kyle told me the pictures Bruce uploaded were on it!) so feel like I should be posting something. Anyways, I got my hair trimmed last Thursday and my awesome hairstylist decided to do an updo quick and see if I liked it so I could decide before the wedding how I want her to do my hair. So I got a "yes" from Bruce and the boys so I think it will definitely be an updo for the wedding. I think I look younger with it except for the double chin I seem to have going on in the one picture! Oh well. I'll blame it on the angle I was turning my head because certainly I couldn't possibly have a double chin going on!!

So the weekend is once again here and we are heading to the river to do some more of this stuff hopefully! Look at those studs in the boat! Everyone have a great weekend!

When we went with Kyle to U of Iowa for orientation this chapel was right by the Union where everything was held so we had to check it out. It was really neat inside and the wood on the pews was gorgeous. Someone had apparently gotten married in it the weekend before we were there as there were leftover programs at the back. It was just a neat place along the river on campus!

Yes I had to take some pictures of my 33, yes 33 tomato plants in my garden this year. I only started out buying like 16 from the FFA but then a friend gave me some extras and I just couldn't waste them! I weeded the garden the other night and tried to get pictures but even these don't show how big they really are getting. I have to search to find the peppers and other stuff in there. So posting these for my brother Bart since him and Rick always compete for the best gardens and vegetables!!!!

Here are some pictures that I took from the balcony of the party we went to up at the river on 6-27-09. The view from the bluff is awesome. And then of course some pictures of silliness and fun as always. I'll post pics from this last weekend tonight or tomorrow. Had a great weekend as usual!

Yep don't Bruce and I look cool? Yeah right! I seem to look like a beaver for some reason. This picture was taken last Saturday afternoon in Jr & Joey's houseboat before we went to a party on the bluff. It was a good time and I will post pictures from that after the weekend. We are at the river (of course!) celebrating the 4th of July. Hope all my blog followers and those who stumble upon it have a great weekend and 4th! Catch some fireworks if you can!

Last Friday I went to a Pampered Chef bridal shower for Ashley. I only got a few pictures because my camera died right after I got the one of her with her eyes closed holding her bacherlorette t-shirt! Sorry Ashley! She stopped by Wednesday night and said that she got a ton of nice stuff and got to choose a lot of free stuff for the size of her party. The shower was a good time and it was nice to meet the rest of Ashley's family that is around here. Only a month until the big day! I cannot believe it.

Yep, Kyle shaved Ty's head last night and I guess we weren't thinking about Cole & Ashley's wedding being only less than a month away! Oh well, I think it looks good and it will feel a lot better for him when detassling starts!