SPRING PARTIES 2014

       Yes, I’ll still in the US but I did make my flight reservations this week. I depart for Tanzania May 27^th, the day after Memorial Day. Boy, there has been lots of fun stuff going on the last few weeks. My son Kyle married his childhood sweetheart, Chrystal Martens, on March 1. They flew back to Houston for the wedding from their new home in Atlanta. The weather was absolutely beautiful (80F) all week-end and the venue was excellent, since it was on the water at a small family yacht club just 30 minutes from my old Friendswood home. Six of us came in from Kansas City. I drove with my brother-in-law, Phillip, who was the preacher of yet another family wedding. My sister Janice could not make the trip due to her recent back surgery. But my sister Peggy and her husband were there along with their daughter, Marisa, and niece, Natalie. The wedding was wonderful and the food was great all week-end. Phillip’s son, James, and his family also drove in from Austin along with many old family friends.  Everyone was amazed at Kyle and Chrystal’s beautiful son, Ryan, and how much he has grown these last 5 months.

      This week-end was Phillip’s 66^th birthday (Mar 14), so lots of family and friends came in from out-of-state in addition to many local family. Nephew Braden and Shaina are expecting their first child any day now, so they were not able to make it.  But my son Adam and his family drove if from Houston. Adam was able to spend a few hours with Braden playing Frisbee golf Sat. morning. James and his family drove in from Austin. Phillips brother, Joe, drove in from Florida and nephew Paul and his family drove from Denver. So we had lots of small children and that made for a wonderful week-end. Of course the beautiful weather and the St Patrick’s Day week-end made it a cause for additional partying on Saturday. We started with the annual Snake Parade in North KC. Then we all gathered at Eddie’s lovely country home near the airport for a fun day of food, drink, kites, croquet and two more birthday parties. One of them was a surprise party for my granddaughter, Audrey, who just turned 9. It was especially fun to see all the kids enjoying themselves in the tree house and all around the wooded property. Eddie even had a children’s parade by pulling the kids behind his rider mower. The two 8 month olds rode in their own red-rider wagon. The food was wonderful with Irish stew and corn-beef and cabbage to start things off.

     We had a little accident at my house the night before which dampened things a little bit. Phillip’s old friend David Rothgeb was staying in my upstairs bedroom and fell down the stairs early Saturday morning. The X ray confirmed that he broke his left forearm. What a shame. This is the second time one of my guests has had a similar accident, so I have a serious design problem yet to be resolved. It was very embarrassing. When my nieces live in my house they have slept there for years without this problem, but I guess they don’t need to pee at night.

       A few days ago I got the sad news that my old friend in England, Susan Seed, passed away suddenly last Sunday. I got an email from her daughter, Jane, who was just 3 years old when I lived with the family in 1973/ 74 while I was working for British Nuclear Fuels. I have visited the Seeds several times over the last 40 years and watched their children and grandchildren grow up. It’d been fun to read her beautiful granddaughter’s postings on Face book now that she’s in college. Suzie was still in her 60’s, so what a shock for that family.

      On a more pleasant note, I’ve really been enjoying my weekly “sits” with the  Mystic’s contemplative group in Westport. It is an amazing group and I will really miss them when I return to my mission in TZ. I have made several good friends and the Johnson brothers have asked me to join them on a short trip to some of the National Parks in Utah. I’ve wanted to make that trip for many years, so I’ll try to squeeze that in in late April, God willing.  One thing that may affect that trip is my brother Jim’s health. He has been doing very well on dialysis these last 2 months. He is even driving himself to and from the three sessions each week. But his hemoglobin is still low due to a bone marrow problem (MDS). He had to have another transfusion this week so we pray that this is not a sign of more frequent transfusions in the near future. We have a big 70^th birthday party planned for Memorial Day week-end and I depart the next day for Africa.  Both of my son’s and their families hope to be here for that week-end.

       This is exciting times (March Madness) for college basketball, which I normally don’t get to see. I’m also enjoying the start of the pro Golf season on TV and Spring Training for baseball season. Spring seems just around the corner but we woke up to another inch of snow this morning after wonderful warm weather these last few days. We need to replace the leaking pool liner in my back yard pool in the next few weeks and may even add a pool heater if the family decides it is affordable. It would double the swimming season.