Phone call ... deep breathing ... won't hang up ....

This actually happened today!! My phone rings ... I hear deep breathing ... "Hello? Hello!!" No response except for a muted voice ....

I say, "Hello? Anybody there??"

Nothing but more deep breathing!

I call into the phone .... "Hello!!!"

Nothing ... the minutes pass -- it's now been about 4-1/2 minutes ... still more deep breathing ...

Who could it be???

Who else???? Rudy!!! My 8 month old grandson who loves to play with his mommy's phone. He very nicely dialed his Nana!! It didn't matter how much I suggested that he hand the phone over to Mommy ... nope, he was not done with that breathing into the phone!

I finally decided just to hang up the phone (after making all kinds of noises to get Mom to hear me which didn't work) and evidently it disconnected the phone enough that Mom was able to answer it ... "Uh, has Rudy had your phone in the last few minutes?"

"Yes, I'm at a baby shower so I let him play with it."

"Well .... he just called me! Glad it's on a Saturday when you have free minutes on your cell phone." I thought about reminding her that if he starts racking up the minutes now, what will he do when he is a teenager. Somehow, I don't think she'd take me too seriously!

Special friendships -- Special beginnings!

On Thursday evening, Sandi, Tim, Tyler and I visited with our friends, Brett & Julie Bolin, who were visiting from Louisiana. Tyler and Cade (left in the photo) seemed to forge an instant bond although that may be that they have been friends since Cade's birth. Yes, they live in Louisiana although Brett was raised right here in St. Pete. And this is Cade's birthplace! And we were so honored to have had a part in that whole process!!

The story? I'll try to make it short although it may not ... so I won't be offended if I lose you along the way!

In November 2002, Brett's grandfather passed away so Brett and Julie came to St. Pete for the funeral. While we had not known Brett long, Bob has known Julie's family for almost as long as he can remember. Bob's dad pastored on the Louisiana Conference of the Free Methodist Church when Bob was very young. What a neat experience it was when Bob served as superintendent in that area -- to renew all those old acquaintances. While we do not travel to Louisiana as often now, we get to see Brett and Julie whenever they come into town to visit his parents and their close friend, Virgie Gibson (who also attends our church!)

(Julie's mother, Elaine)

Anyway .. back to the November 2002. I called Julie and asked if I could take her to lunch. I took her by the church first and she told me that she really wasn't feeling good so could I take her back to Brett's parents which I did. The next day, I received a call from Julie's parents, Hershal and Elaine Paul. Elaine was calling to let me know that Julie was in the hospital .. and they had a new grandson born by emergency C-Section about 2 months early!! (Julie's story of the ambulance ride and the birth is an entire blog in itself and has us all in stitches -- even though she was the one suffering from stitches!! All I can share is that they literally barely got her into the hospital before Cade was trying to get out!!)

Since we have three guest bedrooms and baths, our immediate response to Hershal and Elaine's call was -- come on down! We have room for you to stay!! (Brett's parents did not have the adequate space for all of them.) So, within a day, Hershal and Elaine arrived. Little did they know, they would be staying for longer than just a couple days. Elaine would be with us for almost three weeks! And we were sooo blessed! (Elaine wrote a poem for us -- of course, I couldn't find it today!!)

Of course, things were a little scary with Cade being so very small and premature. And since Julie was trying to recuperate from a C-section, that made it even more difficult. In retrospect, we can all smile at some of the stuff. Brett drove a truck so the ride down to All Children's Hospital was not very smooth for someone who just had surgery. So, Julie always had a pillow on hand as they made their way down there. And they wanted to be there as long as they could.

(Julie, Cade, Shonna, RJ)

Since we had so much space, we invited Julie and Brett to also come and make themselves at home -- our home became their 'home away from home' and again, how blessed we were!! Hershal headed back home and Elaine made herself at home. (And we are so glad she did -- she can cook Gumbo and anything else you can think of ... wow!! We again were blessed!!)

I don't think Julie and Brett would mind me sharing this ... the Ronald McDonald House had offered the use of their facility so that they could be near Cade. While we are right here in St. Pete (Seminole but it is 'attached' to St. Pete), it would take them about 25 minutes to get to the hospital. They visited the house and while the accommodations seemed to be very acceptable, there were also several expectations which were somewhat challenging for them. (I won't go into those here.)

(Brett, Julie, Emma -- Jan. 3, 2008)

I'll never forget one evening and we talked about it on Thursday evening ... Julie was very emotional. She had such mixed emotions about going down to stay at the "House" and yet wanted to be sensitive to Brett ... thinking that this is what he felt they should do. Brett was very quiet so I knew he was troubled as well. I talked to him ... he really didn't want to go to the "House" but wanted to be sensitive to Julie's feelings. Oh, wow!! Okay, let's sit down and figure this out ... why don't you continue to stay here?? It's okay ... you both really want that but are trying to be so kind to the other one. Well ... you guess it! Both of their spirits lifted within about a minute -- when Brett picked up Kamen and through him in the air, I was pretty sure he was quite excited that they were staying! And we were thrilled -- since we knew that our home would be the very first home Cade would come home to.

Cade was here for a few days before they headed back to Louisiana. He was on a monitor so if he missed a breath (or moved the wrong way), a piercing shriek was heard throughout our house. Actually, I decided I really wished our girls would have had that -- it would have saved me the hundreds of trips to their cribs to make sure they were still breathing!!

(Sandi occupying Emma!)

When I saw Cade with Tyler, I couldn't believe it. Here was a preemie baby ... almost as tall as Tyler (who is 7 years old!) and weighing about 70 pounds! Who would have thought ... since then, Julie and Brett have been blessed with another child, Emma, who is a sweetheart and I think can hold her own with her big brother!!

So ... what special friendships that were forged years ago ... well over 50 years ago ... and our grandchildren are continuing that tradition!!

May we please play ... like NOW?

I've shared before about my brother's dog, Keelan. (I'm never quite sure how to spell his name but this is how it sounds!) Sure enough, when I arrived in Atlanta last weekend, he was there to greet me! I was trying to talk to Tim but Keelan wasn't going to even let me through to get to the living room from the kitchen. His tail was going and he was trying to jump up to get my attention. I guess he thought I needed a conversation with someone really intelligent on New Year's Eve because as we were all sitting there watching a football game (fun!), Keelan came up and sat in front of me. When I didn't respond as quickly as I should, he began a conversation -- he growls out what sounds like words. Doesn't bark -- just growls and dances around the floor until you somehow figure out what it is he is trying to say -- from, "I need to go outside" to "Can you pet me NOW?" to "Let's play!!" Obviously, in the second photo, he really wanted to play. The thing is about this toy -- Keelan is quite powerful so once I get ahold of one end, I better hang on for dear life or he'll drag me across the room! I know -- hard to believe, right??!! LOL!!

Why do we affect people this way?

Who is ... we? And who exactly is "us"? Our family? And, if so, who is our 'family'? Is it the Bedford family -- extended? Or perhaps the Boynton family?

I think it is all of the above and I do not have enough room to post the photos to prove it. All I know is that photos can never be taken without a yell of, "We gotta do a CRAZY photo!" It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing!! At Shonna's wedding, the photographer who was a good friend of ours, thought we were all crazy when we told him we wanted a crazy photo!! And I am sure that my mother was laughing in heaven when, at the dinner following her funeral, we had another CRAZY photo -- yes, in honor of our mother and grandmother!! She knew it went with the territory!

So, on Wednesday evening, when Sandi and I headed down to the Port Charlotte, FL, area to see Jene' and a young man she wanted us to meet, it was a 'given' that along with the regular photos we wanted to take -- there had to be one CRAZY one! Of course! So, whatever the future holds, Roger found out that to be part of this family, you must be willing to act the part. And exactly what does that mean? Why, posing for the craziest photos ... and the crazier the better!

I rest my case!!

Okay, it's COLD!!!!!

It's the coldest it has been here in four years!!! Yikes!! Maybe it is because my niece, Jene', is visiting from Indiana. It seems that anyone visiting from the north somehow packs the cold weather in his/her suitcase!! She is leaving to go home today and I think she has decided to let the cold air visit for a few more days! But, I think we'd like to put it on the plane with her!!

Sandi and I drove down to Port Charlotte (FL) to meet her last night. She's a special gal -- sort of like one of my grandchildren. I don't think I'm THAT old!! (Then again ...)

Okay, here's what's happening here right now -- at 8am!!

Temperature: 31°F -1°C

Feels Like: 19°F

Conditions: Fair
Winds: NNE 17 MPH NNE 27 KPH
Relative Humidity: 49%
Barometer: 30.62 Rising
Visibility: 10.00 Miles 16.09 Kilometers

Family fotos!!

Our four girls were together on Friday along with all their children. (Tim was there as well.) Of course, it was an awesome photo op so thought I'd share a few photos here.

Photo on right: Marley (Teri's), Kasi (Roxanne's), Regan & Bailey (Teri's)

Above: Tyler (Sandi's), RJ (Shonna's), Kamen (Roxanne's), Rudy (Teri's)

RJ, Shonna, Regan, Teri, Rudy, Sandi, Tyler, Roxanne, Kamen, Bailey, Kasi, Marley