Now that you’re all familiar with Will – it’s time to meet his younger brother Weston.  Weston is being called into service as the lead BAGSFOW Ringbearer. His new cousin, Andrew, is the Assistant Ringbearer.

Weston’s best at making sure that Will doesn’t get too cocky  about his prodigious brain power – since Weston also tests at the top of the charts.  I can only imagine what these two are going to do with all that mental ammunition!

Stay posted for more info on what Weston’s up to this summer!

The BAGSFOW best man is my friend Tim. Tim and I met in high school and have kept in close touch all these years. For the last 30 years Tim has had the unique opportunity of being an orchestral guitarist for the world-famous Cincinnati Pops Symphony Orchestra.  Tim is an integral part of the Ohio music scene and maintains a busy schedule scoring and performing music.

Lily was performing as a jazz singer in Dayton when she met Tim.  Music is just one of their many common interests.  Having Tim and Lily around the karaoke machine will help turn BAGSFOW into a world-class musical event!

This is the fifth post in a series of notable events for people appearing at BAGSFOW – if you have an announcement – let us know!

This is Andrew (age 2), my grand-nephew (one of many).  He is Michael (my nephew, Gina’s son) and Michelle’s (Matron of Honor and my good friend) first child.  He is showing me a cool rock he found.  Andrew loves to read and do stuff outside.  Bugs, rocks, running, and (recently) swimming are all things that he enjoys.

This is Andrew now (4) and his new baby sister, Alyssa.  Alyssa was born as Brian and I were having a transcendental moment, bike riding down Mt. Haleakala.  It appears that Alyssa mostly wiggles a lot and looks cute in between napping, eating and diaper changes. In reality, her brain is working non-stop on mastering language, social skills, motor skills and how to get what you need.  It’s a very tiring job and so you can see why she might sleep more than we do.

Speaking of sleep…

Here are A & A’s sleep-deprived parents: Michelle and Michael.  On top of raising the kiddees together, Michael is a master gardener and runs his own landscaping company in Southern California.  Two years ago, he spent one vacation up at my house, putting in an extensive drip system for my massive garden.

One year they spent their Christmas break with me.    And they also were visiting me that fateful summer, when I went out on my first date with Brian.  Afterwards, Michelle told me that she knew something was special about that date.  It was written all over my face.  Michelle is a highly regarded elementary school teacher.  Her students love their Mrs. Sherman and while she enjoys them as well, right now she is loving the summer break! M & M also enjoy hiking, barbequing, crafts, camping and church.

The Shermans have the honor (responsibility, unfortunate luck) of being the only Quiring nephews/nieces at BAGSFOW.  This hasn’t made them extra popular with my many other nephews/nieces but c’mon people!  I have a BIG family.  I’ve promised them that they will likely leave with good blackmail pictures as a reward. Michael’s mother and stepdad will be here too (Gina and Curt).

Another important event linking us together is that Brian proposed to me on their wedding anniversary…  What will come next?

This is the fourth post in a series of notable events for people appearing at BAGSFOW – if you have an announcement – let us know!  Click the family category to see all the posts!

Hi everyone – meet Will.  Will is my nephew, and is my sister Melissa’s oldest son.

Aside from his youthful good looks Will has one other major characteristic – he is really smart. The tests prove it, and he freely admits it.

You might think you’re smart – but you’re not – at least compared to Will.

I encountered Will’s mental acuity when he  almost beat me at checkers last Christmas – the game was a draw.  From the stunned expression on his face I could almost hear his brain  repeating “this does not compute”. It’s unlikely he’ll let that happen again.

At BAGSFOW, when Will’s not dominating at the gaming table or performing other feats of cerebral dexterity he will play a very important role managing the technical aspects of the event.

At right we see Will performing a bit of nuclear fusion in his spare time.  Now if he can only invent a way to clean his bedroom!

This is the third post in a series of notable events for people appearing at BAGSFOW – if you have an announcement – let us know!

When we originally registered BAGSFOW.com we didn’t realize how versatile the name would be.

BAGSFOW is honored to be the unofficial non-corporate sponsor for Bob and Gayle Born’s (one of my big sisters)  trip to Russia. Their trek takes them on a tour of Orthodox churches, museums and historical sites throughout Russia.  They say they’ve been walking up to six miles a day (at that rate it will only take them 3 years to cross the entire country).

We’re looking forward to being regaled around the campfire with tales from their journey – and I know they’ll be glad to be back in the USA eating some fine southern Ohio cooking!  However it’s not all cabbage and Borst in Russia…this is where they ate in Saint Petersburg. 

On the 4th of July, they were at Red Square.  Pretty spectacular!  All the way USA, comrades!

This is the second post in a series of notable events for people appearing at BAGSFOW – if you have an announcement – let us know!

Madeleine Rose Hale, Brian’s daughter,  graduated this summer from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Gender and Women’s Studies – which she plans to parlay into a law degree.

This August Madeleine heads to the Netherlands for a 6 month post-graduate program at Utrecht University.

This is the first in a series of notable events for people appearing at BAGSFOW – if you have an announcement – let us know!

Why is this here?  Just a little peek into what I’ve been doing in between all of the planning and shopping and doing for BAGSFOW…

Premium quality Hale Hay.  I’m pretty proud of this stuff.  56 bales this cutting.  All grass hay.  Had to turn customers away.  One lady bought it all since she said her horses and goats just loved it!

This is last year’s harvest – thanks for posing Michelle, Andrew and Michael.  They look hot, don’t they?

This is what sometimes lands nearby.  One time it had a small wedding party inside. Fun!