Amy had been shopping at a little boutique clothing store on Madison a while back. The owner asked her to model some of their clothes at a fashion show and last night was the night. We drove downtown and went to a bar called Plush. There were four models and the bar itself was the "walk".
It's hard to believe that Mom has been gone for almost three years. So much has happened in that time that I wish she could have been here for. New great grandkids, Lori and Keir finding a house out here... The picture is the one we had on the altar at her memorial service. Her favorite color was red.
We sure do miss her. This is the piece we had in the church bulletin when she passed away (written by my daughter Amy).
Nadine was born in Miller, Missouri as a twin. Her twin died before her second birthday as did an older sister; thus Nadine ended up as the second oldest in a family that included 2 brothers and 4 sisters. They all attended a one room school house, and Nadine would eagerly study by the light of a kerosene lamp. She loved school and loved learning. By 6th grade she knew she wanted to become a teacher and was determined to get the education that would allow her to pursue her dream. She was the only member of her family to attend college, and graduated from Southwest Missouri State Teachers College. Deciding to go even further, to get a Master’s Degree, she left small town life and courageously boarded a bus for Chicago, where she enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston. To put herself through school, she got a job waitressing at Hill’s Tea Room. It was here that she met her soul mate, Arthur Hill, the man she would be married to for next 42 years. They were married on Valentine’s Day in 1942, and a few months later he was sent overseas to serve in World War II, where he remained for the next three years. She wrote to him every day and got jobs teaching in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and then back to Chicago. After the war, they were finally able to start their family and had three sons, Art Jr., Ron and Rich. They bought their first house in Fernwood, and then a second in Morgan Park where they lived for 14 years. Nadine started teaching again once her three boys started school and taught at Thornton Community College for 17 years before she and Art moved to beautiful Encinitas California in 1974. Still, she continued to teach, even taking computer classes so she could teach others how to use them. Her sons and their families loved to come visit “Grandma and Grandpa” every year. Her beloved Art passed away in 1984 and Nadine moved back to Chicago in 1990 where she would spend the next 14 years as an integral part of the lives of her three sons, daughters-in-law, Jill, Carol and Debbie, 10 grandchildren, Amy, Lori, Julie, Heidi, Kelly, Abby, Daniel, Deanna, Christy, Marissa, and her 5 great-grandchildren, Olivia, Mary, Patrick, Kyle and Lindsey.
And here is the link to the memorial pages we put up Tribute to Nadine Hill Happy Birthday Mom!
The weather was perfect today. We went to Sunday School and then church. I had to take pictures of the third graders getting their bibles. There seem to be about twice as many kids in church as there were a few years ago. That's a great trend. The church rose garden yielded this beauty today.
In the afternoon we bought some mums for the front porch and in front of the garage. Jill planted those while I cleaned up the pond and watered the plants in the backyard. Then we sat on the deck for a while before coming in to watch the Bears beat the Chiefs.
We are amazed at how well that red hibiscus bush is doing this late. The peach one is doing okay too but the red one is really pumping out the blossoms.
We decided to drive up to Lake Geneva today. We took Route 12 all the way instead of going on the expressways. Stopped for breakfast at an IHOP in Des Plaines and then drove on up. It was cool - in the fifties when we got there and 61 by the time we left. Nice day though with blue skies and sunshine. It was pretty busy but we found a place to park right away. Had a late lunch at Popeye's with a window table so we could look out over the lake.
Well, after almost seven years at Microsoft I finally ended up with an actual office. Jill and the kids were coming out that way so I suggested they stop by as none of them has been to where I work.
We all had lunch at Kona Grill outside and Scarlett was up at the table with the rest of them for the very first time
That evening I was back at the Kona Grill having dinner with my new Central Architecture Leadership Team.
So yesterday was a pretty good day.
It's been a great year for the yard and pond and all plants and flowers. With the cicadas, then the itch mites and a lot of construction around here we haven't been able to spend as much time in the yard as we would have liked though.
There is a lot of nostalgia stuff floating around - most of it not all that good. This site has a pretty good round up of stuff from the sixties. Turn your sound on.
http://moreoldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm
We had Kyle and Braden Thursday through Sunday. On Thursday Lori was out at the house with Lindsey and Scarlett. So, busy would be an understatement.
Friday night we went to dinner with the boys at Antonino's and then walked over to Stone Avenue Station to watch them auction off the little decorated elephants that had been placed around town.
When the bidding on one of them went over $9000 we headed for home.
Saturday we packed up the boys and drove two cars down to Dan and Amy's so we could stay overnight there. The weather was very nice so we got out to the playground, had breakfast outside at Hash Brown on Sunday and went to one of Kyle's favorite places - the fountain by Barbara's Bookstore. It was a great weekend and we had a wonderful time with the boys.
The other big news from the weekend is that Keir and Lori made an offer on a house in La Grange Park. They haven't come to terms yet but we think they will and naturally we are thrilled.
We met Keir and Lori and Dan and Amy and the grandkids up there today. It was a warm and very sunny day so hard to get good pictures. We had a good time walking around. The place has a bingo card for kids - whenever they spot something pictured on the bingo card they get to place sticker on that space. Kyle, Lindsey and Braden all seemed to enjoy the model railroad display.
Lots of gorgeous flowers and a glorious day
We watched Lindsey and Scarlett Saturday and Sunday so Keir and Lori could look at houses. Saturday they found two they like in Elmhurst and Sunday they found two they like in La Grange and La Grange Park.
Saturday we took the kids to Palmers for supper. We had planned to eat on the patio but found that it was too sunny so we ate inside.
Sunday Lindsey and I ran some errands and she wanted another look at all the little elephants on La Grange Road. 
Jill had to help out with a wedding so I had both girls for a little while in the afternoon. Naturally Scarlett woke up just as Lindsey was going down for a nap.
We had a good time; we love those kids so much. Lindsey's language skills are amazing. She can carry on a regular conversation.
Rich and I went to see the Bears play Cleveland. Great seats in the Cadillac Club. Beautiful day. Not a good game. They pulled the starters after the first series - 5 minutes into the first quarter. The second half was the 4th string QB - don't even know his name. The Bears lost to Cleveland, a really bad team. It's a nice evening but Rich warned that the 4th pre-seaon game is the worst one to attend. They don't want to get any of the starters injured.
Sunday was a beautiful day. We drove down to Lori and Keir's 
place and walked over to Jonquil Park for the Whole Foods Flavor Fest. They have a whole bunch of booths giving out samples of foods, energy drinks, snacks, cookies, you name it. You can eat your way through the place of put them in a bag and take them home. Fun couple of hours on a great day.
Went to a Sox game with our friends Roger and Sue. Beautiful day for a game. Fantastic seats. We had a great time even though the White Sox were just awful.
Yesterday was a wild weather day. O'Hare set a new record for the most rain on this date, something like 2.38 inches. But the winds and thunder and lightning were the hallmarks of this gigantic storm. It came in two waves, one about 3-4 o'clock and again after 6. Downtown and the Northern suburbs seemed to get the worst of it - trees down, lots of flooding. There were even tornado warnings for downtown (and lots of other places). At least 1/4 million people without power, lots of flooded or blocked streets. The Eden's expressway was closed due to flooding for at least 4 hours.
On the way back from Saugatuck we stopped for coffee in St. Joseph and ran across all of these little cars.
More at St. Joseph cars
We headed for Saugatuck Saturday morning to meet Keir and Lori. They're spending a week up there; we just went up for a couple of days. Got up there by noon Michigan time and met them all for lunch at the Mermaid Bar and Grill on the water. We had a Bed and Breakfast that was very close to downtown so we parked our car there and walked to the water. We had a first floor room (behind the flag in the picture below).
It started raining around 4:00 and pretty much rained the whole time we were there. We went to Keir and Lori's place for a while and then all went to
dinner at Phil's in downtown Saugatuck. We went across the street to Kilwin's for some ice cream and then went back to their condo for a while.
Slept in the next morning and had breakfast at the B&B and then headed for the kids' place. Still raining so we went down to the gazebo by the water so Lindsey could feed the ducks and run around the gazebo for a while.
We decided to drive up to Holland to the Dutch Village. 
It was still raining the whole time but we went in a few places and had a nice lunch at the Hungry Dutchman. Lindsey got to feed some baby goats with a milk bottle and rode the carousel. After lunch we headed back to the condo and played Mexican Train while Lindsey and Scarlett took naps.
Jill and I had dinner at The Butler on the water and then went
back to babysit while Keir and Lori went to dinner at the Blue Moon in Douglas.
Monday morning we all met for breakfast and walked around the town a bit - still raining.
A week after meeting up with Flickr friends from Germany we met up with Kevin and Barb from Toronto. Had a great lunch at the Park Grill in Millennium Park - Chicago and then walked around Millennium Park a bit. Next we gave them a whirlwind auto tour of some of the Chicago highlights so they can plan their vacation week in Chicago.
Must be the right combination of rain and temperature.
Last year the two hibiscus trees kind of petered out. This year they are both doing great
The pond itself is clear and has lots of flowers and the plants around the edge are all thriving
The storm a week or so ago broke a big branch on the tree right by the pond. The tree guys came out today and cut it down. They took a much bigger piece down than I would have thought.
Wow, he died 23 years ago yesterday. How I wish he had lived another 10 or 15 years. Of course he'd still be gone today but we would have been able to share so much more with him.
It was the saddest time of my life. I had a much harder time getting through it than I thought I would. I still think of him often and how I would like to be able to talk to him. He was 73 when he died so my image of him is fixed at an age only 12 years older than I am now. The older I get the more I appreciate what a good Dad he was.
Humid, hot, rainy. No fun to even be outside. Looks like it may even be worse on the east coast. Lots of severe rain and wind but we haven't had many problems. Lost a big branch off a tree over the pond; I hate to see that.
Jill made a couple of centerpieces for a friend's daughter's shower. I thought they turn out spectacularly.
Friday night Rich (brother) and Debbie picked us up and drove out to Ron(brother) and Carol's for dinner. We've been alternating houses and I think next time is our turn. We sat out on their deck for a while and then moved inside for dinner. Had a nice visit and got home a little after midnight.
Saturday morning I was up early to go out and get some pictures of some houses that I'm supposed to shoot for a landscaping company. Finally got some clouds to dampen the harsh hot sun.
By 10:30 Keir and Lori had arrived at our house to drop of Lindsey and Scarlett for the weekend. They needed to move a bunch of stuff and do other things to get their house ready to show.
We had a great time with the kids. Lindsey didn't give us one bit of trouble, smiles and laughs all around. Scarlett was good too once we figured out that one of the bottles didn't work right. Sunday Lindsey and I went out to run some errands and we had a good time.
Sunday night we went up to Wildfire in Schaumburg to meet a couple that was vacationing from Germany. The wife, Christiane is one of my Flickr friends and had written to arrange to meet. We had a wonderful 3 hour dinner. They are a fascinating couple with 5 years experience in California behind them. We thoroughly enjoyed talking to them and hope to see them again either in Chicago or Germany.
Art, Jill, Christiane, Michael
