Such excitement ..

First, it's my brother's birthday today .. Tim, that is. He is all of 2-1/2 years younger than I am and I am told I was not a happy camper to say the least when he arrived! It seemed I enjoyed getting all the attention -- both as first born in our family and first grandchild on my mother's side. But, somehow, I managed to accept him as a little brother who grew up to be taller than me! Today, I get to spend a lot of time with him and his family in Atlanta and that is a special treat. I even have my own room there!! My home away from home!! Then, this evening, I received a call that Rachel's son, Seth Mark, 8 years old, had broken two bones in his arm. He was playing football with himself (picture that -- of course, he was throwing the ball in the air and jumped off the couch and landed right on that arm / wrist!! Ouch!!!) So, here he is .. in the hospital!! He is home now but off to see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow!

Rudy meets Rudy!!

Our grandson, Rudy (Ruettiger) was named after "Rudy" of Notre Dame fame ... a movie was made about him in the 90's. Teri, Jeff and their kids spent Sunday night in South Bend ... not knowing that THE Rudy was staying in the same hotel. Of course, after getting to meet him, pictures were taken! The Rudy was speaking at a benefit for a boy with cancer. He was only to be there for a few hours so they felt quite honored to have met him.

Five parts do not necessarily make a whole -- at least, not today. We were missing our brother, Tim. But, we did have a great time and probably overwhelmed the staff at Glenn Oaks Health Campus where my dad calls home. The last Sunday of the month, the staff invites families of residents to have dinner 'on them'. It's a great meal but when a family of 15 arrive, it sent staff scrambling to try to accommodate us! They did it graciously -- maybe that's because my dad has poured himself into ministry there over the last year or so.

I did have my camera handy of course! My mother must have chuckled today or given her typical whimsical smirk when someone said, "Oh, you are taking over for Mother who always had her camera with her." To which someone else responded, "Oh, are you cutting off people's heads, too?"

My dad got to attend church for the second week in a row and while he didn't feel real good, we were all glad he was there with us! He even sang during the afternoon service there at Glenn Oaks. It was the Sunday for Spiceland Church of the Nazarene (where my brother-in-law, Allen Southerland, pastors) to hold the service. My dad raised his voice in song -- "Great is Thy Faithfulness"!!

Back to the photos -- Joel is the one who never acts too crazy for the 'crazy photo' which is a staple in our family! You can't leave a family celebration without it!! But, somehow he makes up for it in the serious photos -- you can see the 'bunny ears' extending upward from Rachel's head! He thought that was quite the humorous accomplishment when I called to tell him I had just discovered that! Quite pleased with himself to say the least!!!

So ... it was a great day -- from my family back to Bob's sister's home to visit with her, her husband, Gene, and friend, Rose Blackburn! They had a Sunday School party at Rose's home until about 1am this morning ... don't they know when you get older you are supposed to go to bed a little earlier??? Probably not -- they are retired and can do whatever they'd like to do.

Tomorrow evening, it's back to Betty's home for dinner ... she's a good cook so I always look forward to going there!!

So ... enjoy the photos ... well, maybe ...

Count the colors!!

Okay -- so I got 26 ... I was pretty proud of myself until I saw how many there really were!!

26