Thanksgiving Break--the first half

We had fun at the annual Noah's Ark Thanksgiving party, and then the Sunday after that we went to Albany for a few days to be with Mom and Dad. Will also came over on Monday night which was great fun! The weather was weirdly warm and the kids even took a swim in their pool--brrrr! We had a good time visiting and on Wednesday we took the annual trip out to the Busy Elves Tree Farm to help Mom and Dad pick out their tree. We always enjoy this venture, and this year was no exception. We did wish it could've been a tad cooler, but it was still lovely. We stayed through Wednesday and then headed home for the Rogowski Thanksgiving festivities. 

Rogowski Thanksgiving 2011

We had a nice visit with all of the Rogowski family this Thanksgiving. The Destradas, Hollands, Rogowskis as well as Grandma, Terry (one of Grandma's twins), and Jason's mom and sister, Barbara & Dawn. It was a great, full day. We appreciated Theresa and Jason's hospitality to all of us for three full days of fellowship. We are glad that Ethan, Theresa's youngest, seems to finally be on his way to getting better after a scary night on Friday. He recently had his tonsils removed, and he was vomiting up lots of blood and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Fortunately he was able to go right into surgery and have something sutured to stop the bleeding. It was an exhausting night for his momma and daddy and I know several others waited up late for them until they got home. We were extremely relieved to finally get a text that they were on their way home in the wee hours of the morning. Throughout the last several days we played games, watched a ridiculous amount of football :) and ate lots of good food. We are thankful for our family. Lord, bless us all in this coming year and may we be a blessing to You, too.

Abby Visits Albany Oct 2011

We were so excited that Abby and her precious little Georgia could come for a weekend visit to Albany! Aunt Betsy, Uncle Keith, Kaylyn and JD were able to come Saturday and Sunday, and we had so many fun laughs all together! Will came over for Friday night and Saturday. CB and Brad and the boys were able to be there through the weekend, too! We were missing Stan, AndyIII and AndyIV and Titus, but it was still a very fun weekend. Mom was a beautiful hostess--as usual. She knows how to make people feel so loved, cared for and welcomed into her home. Just wish the weekend could've lasted a little longer. Big thanks to sweet Uncle Andy who kept the boys while Abby came to GA!! You rock!

Halloween 2011

This year Olivia was a black cat and Benjamin was a pirate (thanks to a cool hand-me-down from the Destradas!). We went to a festival in town and then we met up with the Destradas and Mary and Stan in their neighborhood where we went trick-or-treating together. The weather was really nice, but the sand gnats were vicious, of course! There was quite a bit of candy filling our buckets and bags by the end of the night, and we had a fun time walking the neighborhood together. Mary and Theresa took turns wheeling Stan sr. around in a wheel chair. He is still recovering from surgery, but we were glad he could come along for the ride. There was one funny moment when Mary took her hands off of the wheelchair handles for a second, and Stan sr. almost wound up in a ditch. We all giggled pretty good over that! We got home and thus began the task of shrinking the candy pile and making most of it mysteriously disappear (in the circular file, as they say!) :). Fun times!

More for me than for y'all

So I think I'm a pretty cheesey writer, but I enjoy making the attempt--thus the title of this post. I'm pretty sure this writing thing is more for me than for you, but maybe you'll find some joy in these messes of words I am calling poems/lyrics. So here we go with another one I'm working on. Hope it doesn't offend anyone. I have just been struck lately thinking about saints in the church who have stayed and stayed. They've remained faithful through thick and thin. I admire these people greatly as I am learning that while there were aspects of moving from church to church as a PK that were challenging, there are challenges also with staying where the Lord has planted you. I've recently been so saddened to hear about some family members of mine who have poured themselves out in a lifetime of ministry to a church and it now looks as if, through some painful circumstances, the Lord might be leading them out to a different place. This family has been such a witness to me throughout my life. They've loved their church passionately. They've given all they have and more to the Kingdom work the Lord had for them there. While they've experienced many joyous moments there, they have also had many, many difficult times. They've dealt with oddballs in the church, weak leadership, and just down-right frustrating folks. But because they believed in the notion that there is no such thing as a perfect church--only a perfect Savior, they've remained where they felt the Lord wanted them to remain. From the outside looking in, it seems as if there were many times when they could've justified throwing their hands up and saying, "I'm outta here! I've had it!" But they remained submitted to the Lord's will for their family. He may or may not be transplanting them into a new body of believers, but what a testimony they've been to me and so many as they have loved their church, served Christ there wholeheartedly--recognizing that they bring their own imperfections to that Holy Spirit hospital we call the Church. I have to believe that their dedication and desire to lift Jesus higher despite the enemy's attempts to confound is a spiritual discipline that can bring the angels in heaven to their feet singing songs of praise to Jesus who has given them the fortitude they've needed to stay. I love them and am so grateful for them. For the lives of service and love they've shown to me and so many. I wish I were a better writer, because their lives are worthy of greater excellence in writing than what I can create. Here are some thoughts I've been mulling over in the last few days as I have been praying for them in this challenging time.

"The Perfect Church"
v1
They'd been serving in that church for nearly thirty years.
They'd had a lot of joy,
but they'd shed their share of tears.
Pastors came and went
Friends came and went too.
The devil hard at work
tried to split the church in two.
There were days, weeks and months
when they felt their hearts would break.
And showing up Sunday mornings
was sometimes a tough step to take.

(chorus-1stX)
But there's no such thing as a perfect church
There's no house of worship where the devil doesn't lurk.
The church is full of broken hearts
but jump on in and give it your part.
So give up the hunt
You'll never be pleased.
Perfect only comes
when we're all on our knees.

v2
Miss Alice had been there for nearly 50 years
she didn't stick around 'cause of how things made her feel.
Her time, her talents, her gifts--she'd made a promise.
And she never once thought
of stepping away from us.
Church was a place to worship and love
Baking cakes, training acolytes
serving her Father above.
Glamorous and exhilarating?
Not all the time.
But Kingdom work had its way of satisfying
No, things didn't always go as she thought might be best
Knowin' His hands were on her life
gave her heart joy and rest.

(chorus-2ndX)

Cause there's no such thing as a perfect church

There's no house of worship where the devil doesn't lurk.

The church is full of broken hearts

but jump on in and give it your part.

So give up the hunt

You'll never be pleased.

Perfect only comes

when we're all on our knees.

(bridge)
Bring all your hurts
He wants them to be His.
A place to find freedom
that's what the true church is.
There might be disappointments
There might be pain.
We're all just sinners
who need grace the same.

(chorus-3rd&finalX)
Cause there's no such thing as a perfect church
There's no house of worship where the devil doesn't lurk.
The church is full of broken hearts
but jump on in and give it your part.
So give up the hunt
You'll never be pleased.
Perfect only comes
when we're all on our knees.

(tag)
So come on, church

let's get on our knees.

Been doin' some writing

     My sweet husband said to me out of the blue recently, "Why don't you work on some song-writing? You're a good writer and I bet you could find some joy in the process."
     I don't know if I can fully express what these few words from my precious husband's lips meant to me.  I felt inspired and uplifted immediately. What a blessing to have a spouse and friend who knows me, my passions, my abilities and interests, and he believes in me. Thank you, Lord, for this gift. May I be just as supportive and encouraging to him in all his interests and pursuits.
     So anyway, I pulled out one of my many partially filled journals and began scribbling. This is the result of some scribbling and a little bit of editing. I feel like it's still got some edges to be softened (maybe a lot), but I have, just as Stan knew so well, truly enjoyed the creative process. I think this song would definitely be in the slightly country genre. As I've been editing it, I've been toying with the melody, but that still feels like a long way off. Just writing the lyrics was fun. To my writing friends/family, I welcome your constructive criticism--things that are working or not working as much, etc. Without further ado,

"Don't Let Me Slip Away"

Thirteen years might sound unlucky

but the Lord knows they don’t believe in luck

He was workin’ two jobs goin’ day and night

She was home with the kids, but somethin’ didn’t feel right

Life’s pace was fast, the days became a blur

He sometimes felt lucky to steal a kiss from her

But one night in the darkness

she cried to him,

Don’t let me slip away,

don’t let our love grow cold and gray

life has pushed our hearts apart

so press my heart against your heart

and say, “Honey, I’ll never let you slip away.”

Sixteen years old, he thought he was a man

just lost and confused, cared nothin’ ‘bout his family’s plans

didn’t care a bit ‘bout what The Lord had to say

figured he’d just try things his own way

thought he knew what was right and best

inside he was just a boy scared to death

though he pushed them all away

they knew what he really wanted to say was,

Don’t let me slip away

don’t let your love for me grow cold and gray

I’ve pushed our lives apart

but press my heart against your heart

and say, “Son, we won’t ever let you slip away.”

She’d been raised in the church all of her life

gave her life to Jesus at the age of five

years and years of walkin’ with her Savior everyday

she never thought she could fall away.

but the world pressed in hard and tragically

She woke beside her husband the day she turned 63

reaching for his hand to greet him with the sun

she found he’d gone to be with Jesus before the day had begun

what will she do?

who’ll hold her in her pain?

then she heard her Savior saying,

I won’t let you slip away!

My love for you never grows cold or gray.

When life’s pain pushes us apart

press your heart against my heart

and I’ll say, “Dear child, I’ll never let you slip away.

I’ll never let you slip away.”

Birthday Fun

Well, my Mom came to visit for my birthday! Doesn't get much better than that! Love it when my mom comes--for sooo many reasons. I love that we always get some little project or to-do item done when she comes, I love that she plays with the kids like she's still 35 years old (which I turned on Oct 3rd!), I love that she listens to me so lovingly and responds in grace, and I love that she never leaves without helping me gain a new/better perspective about things I'm facing. I value her friendship, her prayers over me and my family that are passionate, her dramatic, emotional response to injustice, her dedication to serving her Savior through the church and community, her great desire to be used up for Kingdom purposes, the way she never stops parenting all of us kids and prays for wisdom to do so....I value you, Mom! Right now, she and Dad are at a very, very busy point in their ministry, and it is challenging for her to find time to leave town. So when she is able to steal herself away and find herself on my doorstep, I am ecstatic! Monday night we ate at Ops and then came home and Stan and Mom had cake and ice cream for me. Mom and Dad gave me a generous amount of mad money and then also gave me a Fontanini manger scene lighted grotto. I look forward to building my collection! Stan and the kids had given me an iPod touch earlier as an early gift, and on Monday they gave me a wonderful little travel case for it. We were able to hop over to the Jekyll Island Hotel's Grand Dining Room for lunch on Tuesday, and we had Benjamin as our tag-a-long. We weren't certain how he'd do, but praise the Lord, he was wonderful! We enjoyed a scrumptious lunch in that beautifully appointed room and had a funny experience of over-hearing several little old ladies at a table near by talking fairly mild church gossip about St. Simons UMC. :) I hope that if there are little old ladies having lunch together in Albany that they are saying wonderful, sweet things about my parents! Then after lunch (and I'm sorry the pictures aren't better!) we zoomed home just in time to meet Olivia at the bus stop. Wednesday was a shopping day. My sweet Mom and Dad-in-law gave me a Belk gift certificate and Mom and Dad also gave me mad-money, so we went and spent every bit (except for .07 cents!). I saved $308. :) Not bad! We had a dinner picnic at the riverfront park, and the weather was sublime. Then Mom came with us to our Wednesday night church activities. What a fun thing to have her there to see what we've been pouring our hearts into week after week. She was sweetly encouraging through it all. She helped me look at paint colors at Lowe's on Thursday morning before she left. I took home a couple of samples to try on the walls. This is something I've been meaning to do for months, so I appreciate her pushing me to do it! Maybe in November we'll find some time to do this big project! All in all it was great having her here, and I had such a nice birthday! I'm so grateful for my loving family who made it a special week! I also meant to mention in my post about our trip to Charleston that Karen made me a delicious cake for my birthday! I don't remember the name of it, but I remember she said she has friends who call it "Waffle Cake", because it tastes wonderfully rich and sweet like waffles! It was delicious, Karen! Thanks for making it for us to enjoy!

A Weekend With The Hollands

We enjoyed a visit to Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC this past weekend to see Karen and Nick and their kids, Caroline and Nicholas. We traveled up after school on Thursday. Carrie Beth met us at the interstate exit near Rincon and took Posy for us for the weekend which was a tremendous help. We got to the Hollands' wonderful, lovely new home later that night, and we stayed busy the next couple of days with plenty of  cousin-time fun. Caroline and Olivia kept us entertained with creative plays they wrote and performed together. Nicholas and Benjamin did plenty of Star Wars roll-playing and Wii playing, too, much to Benjamin's delight! We were able to see their schools, shop at a neat farmer's market type of store, have yogurt at Menchies after Aunt Karen's yummy dinner on Friday night, and before we left on Saturday we were able to go to a CSU football game and see the Buccaneers play and see Nick's marching band perform in the stands and on the field for the homecoming game. It was nice to be able to catch up with them all and we were grateful to have the opportunity to have a good visit with one another on a weekend with such glorious weather!  A big thank you to the Holland family for having us in your home! We were also pleased to meet the Holland family members, Lexi and Otis, their dogs. They are such funny characters! :) We'll see you at Thanksgiving, Hollands!

Benjamin's 1st Day Back to Noah's Ark, etc.

Benjamin started back to school the Wednesday after Labor Day, and we can hardly believe this is his last  year in preschool! Noah's Ark has been a tremendous blessing to our family for the last 5 years. We will be sad to say goodbye to those precious teachers and the wonderfully simplistic day-to-day schedule that comes with three days of preschool. Before we know it, they'll both be huddled around the table at the end of a school day getting their homework done so they can hurry off and play. 

We usually encourage Benjamin to wear his Noah's Ark T-shirt on the first day of school as many kids choose to do this, too. Benjamin wasn't really excited about wearing his this year for some reason, and Olivia quickly disappeared and came back out into the kitchen wearing one of her old Noah's Ark T-shirts! She said, "Look Benjamin! We can be twins!" He quickly scrambled to get his shirt on! It was a very sweet moment. I was proud of Olivia for being a sweet big sis! You moms know that those moments are precious! He had a great first day and his first few weeks have been wonderful. The big praise is that he seems to have made some improvements in his behavior. Benjamin became intimate friends with the timeout chair last year, and I think he has had to sit in it a little this year, but not nearly as frequently, fortunately! He reminds me on our drive to school each morning, "Momma, aren't you gonna give me the talk about my 'havior?" :) And yes, I do give him the same little pep talk every day! I love that he knows to expect it. Right now we're really working hard to learn how to treat our new puppy, Posy, appropriately. He tends to get overly aggressive with her and then it's just a slippery slope to nowhere good. We are trusting he'll learn good habits with her eventually. Lord help us to help him learn! So here are some pictures from that first day and then some pictures of Olivia from another school day afternoon. They're both growing up so quickly!

Labor Day Weekend sans kiddos

Well, my very kind parents took our kids Friday and Saturday night so Stan and I could enjoy a weekend to ourselves. It was a very good and sweet time together. I took a few pictures when we ate lunch on Saturday and then some pictures of the outcome of all our teamwork in the garden. I'm attempting a fall garden this year. I've been told this is a great time to plant in this area, so I am hopeful that is accurate info. I've planted lots of lettuces, carrots, some beans, grape tomatoes, spinach, and flowers. We'll see what comes. I am trying a new planting strategy with deeper beds with walking trenches in between--hopefully allowing for some better root growth in the loose soil that is mounded up. Posy was quite excited after I had tilled the garden up and was raking out the weeds. She hopped in and rolled, jumped, dug and generally acted like she was at a bouncy house place. It was hysterical. We did have to get a little wire fence to try to discourage her from hopping into the garden. She easily cleared the fence and hopped right back in, so we'll have to train her, but she's seems to already be getting the idea that she's to stay out. Sunday after church Stan and I drove over to Albany and stayed the night with Mom and Dad and the kids. It was a bit dreary and rainy, but we were still able to enjoy some pool time. The kids even dragged poor Posy in one time, and she was none to happy about it! We had some fun time at the mall on Monday and a yummy cookout, thanks to Cocky's grill skills (Bison burgers! yumma!) We headed home late Monday afternoon full of gratitude for this wonderful weekend. We'll be home next weekend, then the weekend of the 17th (Will's birthday btw) we'll be at White Bluff UMC (the Atkinson's church) leading a choir day camp with CB's children's choir--very exciting stuff! Then we'll be home the weekend of the 24th, and then we'll head out of town again for the final weekend of September to see the Holland family in their new home town in SC! We're looking forward to seeing them and enjoying a visit with one another. September is a full and busy month, but we feel blessed and excited just thinking about all that lies ahead of us.

Tonight Stan begins facilitating a study at church. We're going to study Lee Strobel's latest book The Case for the Creator. I'm looking forward to it, but as he has been preparing for this study and he's talking to me about the questions we're going to discuss, I can tell it is going to keep my brain feeling quite challenged. Should be a good time! There are 15 folks signed up to participate in this study! How wonderful! I know people are intrigued by the study, but I have to brag on my husband and little and say I feel like the healthy turn-out is in part an expression of how people love and respect him in our church. Pray that the Lord will use this for the good in our lives and in the lives of those participating. Blessings on you, dear ones!

Our Budding Brass Player

This was just such a sweet captured moment as Stan was helping Benjamin hoist his heavy trombone and make an effort to produce a sound. Benjamin was very proud as some very interesting splatty noises burst forth from the horn. Who knows? Maybe he'll follow in his daddy's footsteps and be a low brass guy. We are grateful that our kids love music. It's such an awesome gift from the Lord! These two guys have my heart. Precious moment.

Crooked River with the Rogowskis and Destradas

This past Saturday afternoon/evening Mary and Stan were RV camping at Crooked River and invited us all to come eat dinner with them. It was a bit of a sweat-fest, but we had some good food and managed to not melt with the help of some water guns that Mary had brought for the kids (much to Olivia's joy!). I took the kids to a playground down from their campsite. It was close to the river front and so we enjoyed a little bit more of a breeze down there which was nice. The kids played for a while on the playground and then we walked up to the river front and I tried to take some pictures. It was so idealic. If I were a photographer, I probably could've caught some better pics! :) The kids were patient with me while I attempted to get some pretty ones. Camping in August isn't for the faint of heart! Mary and Stan are my camping heros!!

Children's Choir Day Camp

We were so excited to have 27 kids participate in our first back to school children's choir day camp. We were there from 9-2, and we divided them into two groups. The older groups learned three songs: "Hey Man" (a Seeds Family Worship song that we sang with Stan on guitar and me and a few kids on drums), an arrangement of "In My Life, Lord Be Glorified" (we had three different groups, one playing hand chimes, one playing orph instruments, and one playing handbells--so pretty!) and then one other song that we just had piano accompaniment with called "I Will Praise You, O Lord With All My Heart". The younger group did two songs: one was a Steve Green song from his "Hide 'em In Your Heart" album for kids and the other was from the new curriculum for this year for children's choir. I'm sorry I can't remember their song titles, but it was very sweet. They used ribbons and simple handbells, too. We are praying that the Lord will use this ministry to build up strong holds against the devil! It is humbling and incredibly rewarding to help lead these groups. I'm looking forward to starting our official year of choir tonight at our first Wednesday night rehearsal!

We got a puppy!

Well folks, we did it! We got ourselves a little puppy dog! Olivia had been wearing us down for a couple of years, and we finally caved under the pressure! :) Posy is our new little papillon mix we found at the Humane Society. We had been praying and searching for a few weeks when on whim we visited our local Humane Society. Low and behold, Posy was there waiting just for us! We felt like the Lord had worked it out for us and for her. She's four months old and weighs about 5lbs. She's feisty and fun to play with, but she is definitely testing our patience in regards to the house training efforts. She's doing pretty well, but we seem to have one accident a day. Some times we might go without any accidents, but that's a rarity. She was spayed last Tuesday, and this Friday she'll have her stitches removed. We are crate training her which has gone really well, praise the Lord. I am not a huge animal lover. Please don't hold that against me. I think they are amazing creations, but the messes, the smells, the expense, etc...those are all the little mental hurdles I have to just get over. Posy's cuteness helps make it all easier that's for sure! I am glad we have her. The kids are madly in love, and she has a special place in Stan's heart, too, it seems. :) So here are some of the pictures from our first few days with her. We've now had her for a couple weeks, and while there have been some frustrating aspects of adding a baby to the family, it has mostly been a joy and delight.

Olivia's First Day of 2nd Grade!

I know many of you have seen this on facebook already, but here is our big 2nd grader! She has seemed to have a wonderful start to the school year, and we are very grateful for that. She is missing several of her closest buds who wound up in another class, but she's been so brave and has kept a positive attitude about it. She just keeps telling me, "Mom, I still get to play with them on the playground!" I think I was more concerned about it than she was! Benjamin will start back to Noah's Ark in a couple weeks, so you'll see his "first day" pics later on.

3rd and final Album from the Adams Family Reunion July 2011

OK, so here it ends! Carrie Beth left with her boys and we were all blubbering. When sisters and moms have to say goodbye, it's always painful. We have a tradition of running along the hedge near the road and yelling and blowing kisses to people as they leave. I can say from experience that it makes me cry when I am the running waver and when I'm the one departing. How grateful I am for these precious ones who love me no matter what, who give me grace when I screw up, who lovingly pass along wisdom, tenderly listen to me, who take an interest in the details of my life, who sometimes speak tough words I need to hear, who pray fervently for me and my family, who see me at my low points, high points, and silly-absurd-corny points and accept me. I am rich.
The ice cream truck was a fun little serendipitous moment. Benjamin and I were on the front porch by ourselves and we heard the music. Benjamin said, "What's that?" I said, "It sounds like the icecream truck." Benjamin said, "What do you mean 'ice cream truck'?" I realized he'd never had this very suburban, American experience! I said, "Well, this guy drives a truck around neighborhoods, plays music loudly so kids will hear, and then we meet him at the curb and buy an icecream, and there's all different kinds!" As I spoke and described it, Benjamin's face looked like it might peel off his head, he was smiling bigger and bigger the whole time. :) He said, "You gotta be kiddin' me?!?" I said, laughing, "No! I'm not!" I told him I needed to go get my money, and the pictures below tell the rest of the story. Fun, innocent, sweet days!
Mom and Dad were amazing hosts to us all this summer. I would be remiss if I didn't brag on them a little bit. They love us, but I know we certainly can put a hurtin' on the power bill, water bill and grocery bill when all of us pile in. Not to mention to general craziness that ensues once we all arrive. Daddy sweetly took time off and was a full-time Cocky. He kept the kids laughing, and we "big kids" got to sit at his feet several mornings at breakfast as he shared about things the Lord is teaching him. He did dishes more often than he should've, and he often kept the laundry moving. Nonny worked so hard the whole time we were there--cooking, cleaning, cooking, cleaning, playing, being a full-time Nonny, and both she and Dad were so sweet to listen, love, and serve with such reckless abandon. Lord, give us all hearts like theirs--generous, hospitable hearts.

2nd Album from Adams Family Reunion July 2011

OK, so maybe some of these didn't need to make the slideshow, but I'm weary, so I'm not probably being as selective as I should. Here's the 2nd installment as promised. There is indeed a 3rd to come! A lot of these pics are from our 2nd annual family day at Lake Blackshear. We always have a blast out on the lake! Abby was such a trooper and boldly took her newborn out on the boat with all of us crazy folk, and Georgia was just as sweet and cooperative as could be, praise the Lord!

Adams Family Reunion July 2011

There's so much I could say about our time together in Albany this summer. It was fun! It was wild! It was hysterical! It was exhausting! It was enlightening! It was refreshing! It was at times poignant and precious! Here is the first of what may be three slide shows. I'm working on getting all of the pictures loaded. This is just such a time consuming task--loading them all, making comments on each picture, etc. I'll get it done eventually, but here is the first one. These pics show: lots of Georgia Kay Miller, the latest and greatest installment in our family! David's 9th bday, Mom and Dad's 40th anniversary dinner and the fun little dramatic presentation we gave them including the kiddos after we got home that night (we kids each wrote poems about each of their appointments they've had since they married and began their ministry--corny, sweet, funny, touching, and did I mention corny??), ladies day out to a precious tea room and some other random pics. Like I said, there's more to come!

Murrays Come to GA for a Visit

This summer Stan's Grandma and Aunt June and Uncle Bob (Aunt June is Grandma's sister) along with Bob and June's daughter's Julie and Loretta all came for a visit to Georgia. The Sunday afternoon that we were supposed to go visit with everyone before they left wound up being the day after I was plastered with a nasty, horrible, no-good case of vertigo. Truly, it was absolutely terrible. It was worse than having the stomach flu. So, sadly, I didn't get to go with Stan and the kids when they spent some time over at Mary and Stan's visiting with the family who had come. Stan really enjoyed catching up with everyone. I had instructed him to take some pictures for me since I couldn't go, but he admitted he really forgot to take pictures 'till the end, so there aren't many here to see, but he got a few goods ones. These are some really sweet folks, and I hope that the next time they're in town I will be able to see them all. Fortunately Grandma was there for the week following, so we went by and visited her another night that week as you can see in the other pictures below. She's doing well and we're so glad she's very happy in the retirement community where she lives. Her hearing aids seemed to be working really well which is a bonus! :)