Tom & Brenda's Family Journal

Anna, our 6 year old grand-daughter, loves to take pictures and does a great job. She has a great eye and sets up the photo very carefully. She took this shot of Madelynn and I and I love it. Last week we had the grandkids for an afternoon. Tommy & Sherry were very involved at their church with the funeral for Nick Roush, a young man from their church who was killed in Afghanistan. So we picked up the grandkids after they had spent the morning swimming with their cousins. We took them to Gun Lake and they played in the water and sand with some 'cousins' down there. So this is what it looked like in our van on the way back to their house. I'd say it was a successful day. We also took Tom's mom with us and everyone seemed to have a good time. Yesterday was quite an exciting event here at the Soo. My sister, Kathy, organized a Sault Triathlon. We held it at a local township facility that had a covered picnic area. It was a rainy, windy and cold day as you ca...

We are back at the Cabin for an end of summer time. This picture below was taken in 1954 here at the cabin. I'm on the left, my sister Kathy is in the high chair and my grandma, Ma Erickson is on the right. So you can see, I have quite a history at this place. My grandparents build the cabin around 1950-the same year I was born. It has been a family favorite spot since then. The following pictures were taken earlier in August when Tom was hard at work on the septic system. He was able to repair the existing drain field and so we didn't have to install an entirely new system which we feared was going to happen. The day started with Tom digging to open up the septic tank so we could get it cleaned out. What the problem was much worse than that. Our neighbor, Paul, was an expert who guided us through the whole process. Here the man delivering the sand weighs in on the project giving Tom his opinion on how to proceed. Tom sought lots of advice for both this summer and next w...

Here are some pictures from my trip to Michigan International Speedway today. This first one is a driver giving autographs before qualifying for the Nationwide race. I don't know who it is. Anyone able to identify him? He was very cordial and nice. This is Justin Lofton, the driver I interviewed yesterday, walking with his publicist. Yes, he has a publicist for his first Nationwide race. Here is the crew getting Justin's car up to the line for qualifying. He qualified well and ended up 16th in the race. Great finish for his first race in Nationwide. I took a walk through the fan campgrounds. There are no words to describe what I saw. Just look at the pictures. I had a hot pass which meant I had full access to the garages. This is Michael Waltrip's spot with his crew chief in the wheelchair. You had to be really careful because the cars don't look out for you. Here Kevin Harvick and I got real close. The next two pictures were taken from the roof of the tower w...

Today I attended the NASCAR race festivities at Michigan International Speedway which is south of Jackson. I was there representing InsiderRacingNews.com whom I write a weekly column for. There was no racing today-just press conferences, practice and Cup qualifying. My pictures aren't in any particular order. It was a very warm day at the track and I spend most of today learning my way around the media center and the garages. The picture below is Mark Martin pulling out of his garage during practice. Kasey Kahne's crew was changing his engine here. I attended several press conferences. Here Tony Stewart is answering questions. Stewart is #1 in the points race and was very relaxed while answering questions. I also attended press conferences of Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman & Carl Edwards. Here is the infield and the Media Center is the brown building straight ahead. Nothing fancy but worked well for a cool place to sit and collect my tho...

We did so many fun things when our kids and grandkids were here this summer. Tom and Sherry and the kids left last Monday and I've had time to rest up from all the fun times. Here's a few pictures of our activities. Cupcakes are my new hobby and I got the new Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. Jay wanted to try the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes so we made them together. They were very tasty and a hit with the family. Our neighbor offered us the use of their paddle boat so it took quite a group to get it down to the water. It was fun but it was a little hard to paddle so the adults had to do it. Sherry got quite a workout. One evening we went to my parent's for dinner. My mother's gardens are lovely. I don't know how she gets such good results but I know she must have a secret ingredient. As always, Mom cooked a fantastic meal and that included ice cream pies which we all loved. The kids all got money from Grandpa for helping with the work around the cabin and ...