Our Autumn Weekend

"Let's get together this fall and do something to see the leaves," I suggested to Evelyn's brother and wife, Ken and Susan Aulen.
They called several weeks ago with an idea I hadn't anticipated. "Let's ride the Loveland Bike Trail." We agreed that this weekend would be the time.
Ken and Susan got here about 5:00 Friday. Wendy Wagoner had been here much of the afternoon, doing some work, using our copier, and visiting with  Evelyn. Evelyn decided to fix white chicken chili for dinner; Wendy had requested she make it at least one time before Wendy goes to Tanzania in January, and Friday night seemed like the right time.
It was a wonderful dinner. The soup is a favorite; we had plenty of good relishes to accompany it. And I stopped by Graeter's to pick up a dutch apple pie and cinnamon ice cream for dessert.
Wendy (and Milo!) left about 7:30, but we enjoyed staying up and catching up with Ken and Susan.
The next morning Evelyn had pumpkin muffins, apple butter, fruit, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. We needed to eat hearty before our big day of exercise!
We got to the bike rental shop in Loveland after 10:30, and we were on our way after 11:00. Ken and
 Susan brought their bikes, and Evelyn and I rented ours.

It was a gray, chilly day. But the showers of the early morning had stopped by the time we were on the trail. But a breeze plus the wind chill of just riding the bikes made Evelyn wish she'd worn gloves and me happy I'd brought my ear  protection.
We rode 8.7 miles from Loveland to Milford, with a stop to rest our our legs and catch our breath (and eat granola bars and water) on the way. But even with the stop, we got there in about 90 minutes.

We rode and walked our bikes into Historic Milford (I didn't know there was a historic Milford!), and ate lunch at Padrinos on Main Street. Evelyn and I split a small pizza and a salad, and it was very good!
As it turns out, historic Milford has several little shops like you find in Waynesville or Lebanon, and we wandered through a few of them before taking out for the ride back to Loveland.
We had hoped the afternoon would get warmer, but it seemed to be getting chillier. We rode back with a couple of rest stops this time and made it to Loveland before 4:00—just before the rains came. We rode through steady rain in the car on the way home.

The trees are beautiful this year, but, oddly, not as pretty along the bike trail as some places in the neighborhoods we drive through every day.

We had about an hour to warm up and clean up before leaving for dinner. I had made reservations at Tellers in Hyde Park. It's a nice place, and we had a gift certificate and Groupon to use there. This was the perfect opportunity to enjoy a special dinner at a favorite place.
Evelyn and Susan had the salmon. Ken had the trout and shrimp. And I gave up the chance to eat healthy by ordering the pork shank. Oh, it was good--juicy, falling off the bone. Each couple shared a coffee creme brulee for dessert. We were full and happy.
We came home and visited for a couple of hours before giving up for the day.
At 6:30 Sunday morning, one of our smoke alarms started chirping, and we fumbled half asleep to try to figure out why, since Evelyn had replaced all the batteries in all the smoke alarms not long ago. I got the bright idea to push the "Test/Alarm" button on the errant device, which set of sirens, and a digital voice "Evacuate. Evacuate!" through every smoke alarm in the house (some time ago we upgraded to a system that connects all the alarms.) I was mortified, and  Evelyn went downstairs, where Ken and Susan had been sleeping, to tell them they did not need to evacuate!
I had planned to sleep till 7:00, but at 6:45 I gave up and headed to the bathroom to shave.
Sunday we enjoyed worship at 9:00 at Mason. Trevor DeVage's sermon was the wrap-up for our "I'm a Church Member." It was a nice challenge. "If you're a growing church member, you're a dying church member." Three attributes of a growing church member: He's serving, giving, and going. (I think I need to rethink all three in my life!)
I had received a gift card to Mimi's from the folks in my office for Boss's Day, so we used it to treat Ken and Susan to breakfast after church. They were on their way not too long after lunch, and Evelyn an I settled into an afternoon of errands: grocery, lawn mowing and other yard errands, checkbook updating, and assorted online visiting and task-completing.
We ate popcorn and leftover pie and ice cream for dinner while we watched 60 Minutes, Madame Secretary, and the episode of NCIS we had recorded last Monday.
It was a very pleasant autumn weekend. The weather was beautiful Friday and Sunday (not so much when we were out IN it all day Saturday!) . I'm guessing we won't have many more pretty weekends yet this year.

Back again . . .

I remember several years ago when I decided to visit the dentist after at least a couple of years not having regular checkups. "I'll come see him again if he promises not to holler at me," I remember telling my wife.
I did go back, no one hollered at me, my twice yearly checkup routine has been restored, and I haven't lost any teeth.
I feel sort of the same way about this diary. I'll start writing it again if no one hollers at me for skipping more than a month of posting. And if anyone will read it again. (I've always said I don't care if anyone reads it, but deep down, I like it when people comment.)
The only way to start over is just to jump in, without guilt for events not recorded or pictures not posted. I may be able to do some make-up, but I'm not going to take on that burden.
I will look back at least one weekend, though, to record that Evelyn's brother and his wife, Ken and Susan Aulen, came to visit last weekend. We had a great time. The Reds were in town, and we went to the game Friday night. Got there early enough to show Aulens the new park on the riverfront before the game. Ate supper in our seats at the game, and enjoyed a beautiful evening. The Reds lost, but it was still a great evening to be there, especially with Friday night fireworks and a first—the Cincinnati Pops was there to accompany the fireworks live! The fireworks were remarkably synchronized with the music, and our cheap seats were perfect to see them. It was fun!
Saturday we had a long time of chatting and coffee drinking at breakfast. Evelyn made a favorite we haven't enjoyed for a long time, Breakfast Dutch Babies. We went shopping in the afternoon and grabbed lunch at the food court at Kenwood Mall.
We went to Raja India for supper and then on to Mason Middle School where Mason Community Players were staging The King and I. My work colleague, Elise Kaplan, had the role of Anna, and I was eager to see her perform.
She has a beautiful voice, and we enjoyed the whole performance. I'm so glad we got to see it.

The sets and costumes were beautiful too.

Sunday we went to the 9:00 service and then on to Mimi's for brunch. Ken and Susan visited awhile longer after we got home, and then we relaxed (and I did a bit of work) in the afternoon and evening.
This weekend has been very good so far. Last night we grabbed supper at Chili's and then drove across the street to shop for an automatic dishwasher at Sears. When we moved into this house more than 11 years ago, Joy Norwood, our realtor, took one look at the dishwasher in the house and said, "You'll be getting rid of that."
Well, we haven't gotten rid of it, but now it's time. It's corroded in the bottom, and we suspect some small leaks. We found an excellent mid-priced model on sale, with a promotional discount on delivery and installation. The new one will be humming along (and I do hope humming instead of the roaring of our current model) Thursday evening.
This morning Evelyn went with me to the West Chester Farmer's Market, and we enjoyed some of our purchases for supper tonight--corn on the cob, lettuce greens with vinaigrette, fresh tomato, and breaded, fried zucchini. It was great.

Soon we'll adjourn to the family room to watch a live stream of the symphony's Lumenocity performance. We weren't lucky enough to get tickets for musical laser show, but at least we're not fighting the crowds to see it in person.

Fresh Flowers and Good Friends on a Snowy, Cold Day

Pictures of the Day:
Isn't it nice what $3.99 at Kroger's will get you when you'd like a breath of fresh for your dining room table when you're having friends for supper?
Terry and Shirley Wuske came tonight and helped us eat some of the wonderful treats in the carton of Omaha Steaks goodies Ken and Susan sent us for Christmas (they've been in the freezer since then). (The steaks, I mean. Not Ken and Susan.)

Quote of the Day:
I couldn't stop till I got all the way to the bottom.
—Shirley Wuske, describing her attempt at skiing, with a remark that made us think of so many other situations in life!

It's a New Year

Evelyn spent most of the day de-Christmasing the place after Jen and Matt and the kids left around 10:00 a.m. I paid bills and got the checkbook up-to-date while giving an assist here and there to Evelyn who was rearranging some of the winter-not-Christmas snowmen and other decorations. I made us big salads for lunch, and we walked after 2:00. With a temperature close to 50 degrees outside, I decided it was the perfect afternoon to take down the lights outside. It took me longer than I planned, due largely to an extension cord wrapped and tangled all around itself in the garage. It took me at least 15 minutes, maybe 30, to get it into a manageable coil that would fit on the shelf in the garage.
All the lights and extension cords and portable outlets are put away in the basement. The only thing that remains is the Christmas tree inside, which I'll tackle probably Saturday morning.
They're predicting a couple inches of snow, at least, for the morning and cold temperatures all weekend. So I'm glad I got the outside stuff done today.
It was the second holiday in a week I've spent the whole day without leaving the house. Really, t's a nice way to have a holiday.
For dinner we cooked a couple of steaks from Omaha Steaks the Aulens had sent us for Christmas. They were really good, and there are more in the freezer!

Miles and Nina posed on the streetcar
in the Cincinnati section of Museum Center. 

Today's picture was taken yesterday. We spent the afternoon at the Cincinnati Museum Center after a big pancake and bacon breakfast at home. The museum was open a little later. We left just before 6:00 and then headed to the Chinese buffet on Tylersville Road. The Johnson kids love going to a Chinese restaurant, and this one is pretty good. The place was packed, and we had a good dinner.
Then we headed home to play Apples to Apples before retiring to the family room to watch Argo on DVD (Jen had brought it with them). Evelyn made two huge bowls of popcorn for us to munch while we watched. The kids hadn't seen the movie, and I was glad to see it a 2nd time (the first time was a year ago at the movie theater). Then we tuned into NBC and watched the ball drop and wished each other happy New Year together.

Returning From Montana

I wrote this from the middle seat of our flight from Bozeman, Montana, to Denver, and now that I’ve made the happy discovery of free Wi-Fi at DEN, I get to post it.

We’re returning home after a fine week visiting Ken and Susan Aulen (Evelyn’s brother) at their second home in Big Sky, Montana. The week has included

• ·      two hikes (the most difficult and the second most difficult I’ve ever taken);
• ·      two trips through Yellowstone National Forest;
• ·      picture-taking of multicolored mountain cliffs, pine-covered mountainsides, rushing mountain rivers with their spectacular waterfalls, unique mountain wildflowers, and magnificent mountain animals (bison, elk, a baldheaded eagle, and even a chipmunk);
• ·      great food at local restaurants and cooked at home by Evelyn and Ken and Susan;
• ·      learning a new game I want to get sometime before Christmas (“Wits and Wagers”); and
• ·      exploring two quaint Montana mountain towns (Cooke Cit, and Red Lodge).

Ken and Susan have a large and comfortable condo, which served as the base for our daytrips and one

overnight trip. They enjoyed showing us around the spacious ski resort at Big Sky where they live and work every winter. And we enjoyed the extended time with them—our longest time together since I can remember.

They are good and gracious people, and our week was punctuated by lots of laughter and long conversations about where life has taken us and what might be ahead.

Our flight today is part of the price we’re paying for this week discovering unique vistas and adventures unlike anything or anyplace we’ve experienced before. We travel Frontier from Bozeman to Denver and then wait three hours before boarding the longer flight from Denver to Cincinnati, scheduled to arrive at CVG after 11:30 p.m. One consolation: the arrival time will be only 9:30 on our bodies, which now are acclimated to Mountain Time. But Sunday morning will come soon, followed right away by a full work week.

We’ve never before taken three weeks-plus of traveling vacation time in one year. (We cruised around Italy and Greece early in June.) My vacation days are all spent, except for one or two at Thanksgiving and three or four at Christmas. But we have lots of memories (and pictures—I WILL post a bunch on Facebook!) in exchange for what we’ve spent, and I’m very grateful for it all.

Montana Vistas

Saturday we flew to Bozeman, Montana, for a week's visit with Ken and Susan Aulen (Evelyn's brother) at their condo adjacent to the Big Sky ski resort. What beautiful country this is, and what wonderful tour hosts Ken and Susan are. 

Sunday we visited Yellowstone National Park, enjoying several scenic stops and seeing the most famous tourist site, Old Faithful. Actually, we hiked a half mile to an observation point above the geyser, for a view not many enjoy. Then, after hiking back down, walking over to the Yellowstone Lodge (fantastic rustic interior) and enjoying moose tracks ice cream, we walked back to Old Faithful and saw her erupt from our seat with the other tourists at ground level.

The park is full of geysers and other unusual geologic phenomena, including “Paint Pots,” which I don’t understand and can’t explain!

A highlight was hiking along the Yellowstone River, viewing two huge waterfalls, and standing stunned at the canyon walls on either side of the river, dubbed (for good reason) as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Dinner was at Bullwinkle’s in West Yellowstone.

Yesterday we hiked to Lava Lake, “one of the most popular trails” in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, and probably the most difficult hike I’ve ever completed. Rated “moderately difficult,” the hike is an almost constant ascent of 1600 feet across three miles of boulder-strewn, sometimes boulder-covered dirt trail.

We were shaded by a forest of 12-story-tall lodge pole pines, accompanied by the melody of a river rushing down the mountain, often walking past hedges of some unnamed wild berries just now starting to ripen to a raspberry red.

We were rewarded at the top by access to Lava Lake, a shimmering blue beauty surrounded by pines and auto-sized boulders. We found several places to rest and soak up the serenity and enjoy our lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, chips, and peanut butter cookies. Protein bars and miniature Butterfingers gave us energy on the trail both climbing and descending the mountain.

My aching legs and hips were weak and rubbery by the time I had finished the hike back to the bottom. I was somewhat consoled this morning by the fact that the other three in our quartet were still speaking of their sore muscles.

Ken fixed shrimp on the grill, and we enjoyed dinner in Ken and Susan’s comfortable condo.

All these pictures and more are (or soon will be) in an album on my Facebook page.

New Wheels

I asked Evelyn's brother, Ken, to snap or picture Saturday beside the new (to us) used car we bought that morning. Ken has a friend in the Russell church who has a small used car lot in Ashland, KY, where they live. "I'll never buy another new car again," Ken said, because his friend, John McKinney, at River Cities Motors, buys reliable cars at excellent prices at the car auction and passes along the savings on good vehicles to his customers.
We think we got a good one, a 2012 Hyundai Sonata GLS with only 35,600 miles, 25,000 miles remaining of factory warranty and an excellent price.
I told John we might be sending some friends to Cincinnati his way. It would be worth the drive!
We drove to Ken and Susan's Friday night after my work. Got stuck in traffic behind a wreck on I-275, which added about 30 or more minutes to the trip. We drove through Wendy's for chicken nuggets and got to their house just after 8:30.  Susan had made a tasty dessert-bar-cake, sweet and tasty under mounds of wild blackberries they had just picked.
Susan made us a wonderful breakfast casserole the next morning, and then we went and visited the car dealership. It was great fun getting to know Ken's friend John.
We rested and visited in the afternoon before eating at a wonderful little Italian restaurant in a magnificent old building in downtown Ironton, Ohio. We left there about 7:30 and were home before 10:30.

Friday with Friends

Yesterday I said good-bye to one friend and spent good time together with a couple of others.
I sold our Camry to Jim Nieman who bought it for his son, Craig, to drive to college. The car has served us well for 169,964 miles, and I think it will make the perfect auto for Craig's needs the next 2 or 3 years.

 Evelyn and I will drive her Corolla to Louisville for the NACC, and then we hope to go to Ashland and buy a car from a dealer there recommended to us by Evelyn's brother, Ken. Hopefully, we'll be making a new fuel-injected friend in about a week!

Last night we met Milt and Maribeth Pippenger for dinner at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon. They've been camping there this weekend on their way to the NACC in Louisville. We spent the day with them on the Fourth, and they're visiting with Dale and Judy McCann today. We plan to meet 'em at church tomorrow and all share lunch together.
After dinner (a very fine dinner), we followed them to the campsite and sat in their roomy fifth-wheel motor home and visited till 10 o'clock. We decided Thursday that it's been about a year and half since I had seen them and even longer since the four of us had been together.
We first met Milt and Maribeth in 1976--39 years ago!--when we stayed in their home while interviewing for the Christian education minister position at First Christian Church in Longmont. We became close to them there in a Bible study/prayer group that was a great support as each of us comtemplated major career moves--Milt to a teaching position at San Jose Bible College and I to the editorship of The Lookout at Standard Publishing. It's a great treasure to have lifetime friends like these.

The Best Part of Christmas?

Don't you love Christmas gifts? Especially when they arrive in the mail in a BIG styrofoam box? And when you open 'em, they're full of FOOD?! Steaks and pork chops and twice-baked potatoes and stuffed sole (and, oh yeah, there were hamburgers and "gourmet franks" in there too!).

Evelyn's brother and his wife sent us these goodies for Christmas, and we're having fun deciding when to eat them.

Needless to say, this was the most exciting part of the day. But the rest of the day was fairly productive. My desk is straight, and I have a long list of decisions to make and plans to finalize with Paul Williams when he shows up in the office tomorrow.

I'm taking the magazine people out to lunch, along with Mark Haas and Jared Alexander and Matt Lockhart--it's a Christmas celebration. And like the best Christmas celebrations, it's going to involve wonderful food!

Robert and the Aulens

Enjoying a pleasant evening with Evelyn's brother, Ken Aulen, and his wife, Susan, and Robert Mwangala. As I mentioned yesterday, Robert is here as a part of his visit in the U.S. with friends and  supporters. Ken and Susan stopped by here on their way to their winter stay at the ski resort in Montana. They arrived about 6:00, and we went to P.F. Chang's for dinner. After visiting awhile in the living room in front of the fire, we retired to the kitchen to enjoy some of the fudge cake from Graeter's we had brought home last night for dessert.

Meetings and a House Guest

Spent the morning editing material for the February issue (not nearly done with it), ate lunch at my desk, and then drove over to Cinti Chr Univ for two meetings. Met at 2:00 with Steve Carr, Beth Rogers, and Chuck Abbott to talk about the school's desire to get out the message, "The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated." They have a clear vision of the school's direction and the message they want to convey to constituents and prospective students, and they think advertising with The Lookout and Christian Standard is a good way to help get the message out. I agree!
At 3:00 met with Rick Cherok about the Cane Ridge Tour he will lead Monday afternoon before the opening session of the NACC next summer. I'm going to help him with it by helping to publicize it and probably hosting the brief program we'll have there. It will be great to work with him.

Evelyn is watching a video of Robert's beautiful
little girl on his computer.

Then at 3:30 I met Robert Mwangala to drive him to our place to spend the night. We became acquainted with Robert when he was a student at the school several years ago. Evelyn had him in class, and we've been giving some support to the ministry he's established in his native Kenya since he returned home after graduation. He's back in the states for six weeks to attend ICOM, touch base with supporters, and contact potential new supporters.
Evelyn fixed her wonderful chicken and dressing casserole for dinner, and we enjoyed visiting with him and hearing about his work. He's going to spend the day here resting tomorrow while we're at work, and stay again tomorrow night. Ken and Susan (Evelyn's brother) are spending the night with us tomorrow on their way to their winter gig in Montana, and we're guessing they'll enjoy getting acquainted with Robert.

It Was a Wonderful Weekend

The smiles in these pictures are only a hint of the laughter that filled the weekend with Ken and Susan celebrating Susan's birthday. It began with a wonderful dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant in Huntington, WV. (Bankers from NY used to eat with the Ashland Oil executives there and say it compares with anything they find at home.) The manicotti and gnocchi and fettucini were wonderful!
Then Susan was squealing and giggling with delight when we turned into their driveway and the headlights caught Susan's sister, Jean Carol, plus Scott and Amber and Amber all sitting in a row waving at us. It was a surprise! Susan knew Jean Carol was coming, but not the kids. Big fun! We spent the rest of the evening laughing and talking and catching up.
All that continued the next morning as Susan put out a wonderful breakfast spread with a wonderful egg and sausage casserole plus pumpkin and zucchini bread, PLUS some saucer-sized glazed donuts that we had picked up at Keim's market on Route 32 on the way there. We were all thankful for the Amish Saturday morning!
We walked through sprinkles of rain to see Ken's latest project, an orchard bounded by a wooden and barbed wire fence worthy of a prison camp, but actually constructed to keep the deer out. We inspected poop piles inside the fence and wondered what creatures had breached the barrier looking for food and proving to us that they'd been there.
Soon we were helping put final touches on all the preparations for the 5:00 birthday party. The ladies prepared fruit and vegetable trays, and I took a mountain of wildflowers Ken had cut from the meadow and transformed them into four bouquets for the serving table and three of the tables where guests would eat on the deck.
We posed for pictures before Susan's family arrived from Irvine, and then more than a couple dozen of their friends came to enjoy the catered buffet, and a wonderful birthday cake with the best cream cheese icing you've ever tasted.

Susan is only 11 years old in dog years! (Sofi is their pet golden retriever.)

Then we adjourned to the family room to watch Susan open her gifts followed by a couple hours filled with the happy chatter and hearty laughter of folks who obviously knew each other well and have a great deal of affection for Ken and Susan.

We enjoyed more laughter with breakfast this morning before leaving for church at 9:30 and enjoying a wonderful time of singing with a good sermon based on the book of Isaiah. Evelyn, Amber, and Jean Carol posed for me after church before we headed home to enjoy wonderful leftovers from dinner the night before. 

We left about 2:30 and got home in plenty of time to unpack, relax a little and get ready for the week ahead. It was a wonderful weekend!

Happy birthday, Susan!

Evelyn made this pretty package for Susan's birthday party tomorrow.

Evelyn and I are off for Ashland, Kentucky, to visit with her brother and his wife, Susan, who is celebrating her 60th birthday. Well, I guess she's celebrating it. She should, because her husband and his sister and his sister's husband all passed this milestone some time ago. "Sixty sounds pretty young to me!" Evelyn said.
Happy birthday, Susan! Welcome to the club! Sixty is the new 50, you know, and you've got a lot of life left to live.
We're looking forward to a great time at their comfortable home. It's a party!

Our Sunday

Another beautiful day. Evelyn and I got up and walked about 7:15 before we got ready for church. It was almost chilly, but we were warm by the time we had finished. After church we ran an errand at Target and then ate lunch at McAllister's. I went to Kroger's after coming home and changing clothes. We discovered yesterday that a fraudulent company had sent me a "bill" for my Wall Street Journal subscription, and I paid it and the check has been cashed. We decided to close out the old checking account and open a new one, and I stopped by the Fifth-Third branch at Kroger's to drop off the signature card I had picked up yesterday and brought home to Evelyn. Now we have the hassle of changing the few automatic withdrawls and deposits we have each month.
After bringing home groceries, I spent much of the afternoon looking for art (stock photo) possibilities for the October Christian Standard. We'll have our second art meeting with Standard's creative services director tomorrow, and today's work helped me prepare for that meeting.
I gave up and took a nap in the middle of my photo searching and later went outside to enjoy the warm afternoon while I watered plants for a short while.

Evelyn got a call from our sister-in-law, Susan Aulen, late in the afternoon, and she talked with her and her brother for almost an hour. Before that she had spent an hour or two ironing after baking bread. Evelyn has her special recipe for bread, which she slices and toasts two slices every morning for breakfast.
We made our version of a margherita pizza with fresh tomatoes from our neighbor's garden and green onions (Evelyn's favorite) for supper. We had recorded the opening ceremony of the Olympics that happened while we were in Brazil. So we've been watching it in pieces this week, and we saw a batch of it tonight while we ate our pizza.

Friday of Wedding Week

Today was our wedding rehearsal, preceded by a stop at Memorial Hall to take plants and sound system and other goodies for decorations at the reception. It was blazing hot, and all of us were sweating at Memorial Hall, despite the presence of air conditioning, but that was a small negative in light of the perfect way the hall has turned out, under the able direction of Carol Ray with David, Jan Cummins, and Shannon Penrod adding their help, along with Wendy and Evelyn, of course.

The rehearsal was a relaxed and nostalgic and pleasant experience, led so well by Bobby Jackson who will perform the ceremony tomorrow. We shed tears at the magnificent processional played by Geoff  and Emily Plank. I was glad I got to hear Lisa sing, because I probably won't get to tomorrow (she sings before the bride and I enter). And the whole rehearsal was special because we got to be with Byron and Katie Cartwright.

Just as we arrived at CCU for the rehearsal dinner, the sky opened, and we had to hustle inside under umbrellas through the downpour. Later we learned that the storm at our house had caused one side of the pear tree in front of the house to split off. And when Matt got to Dan and Cindi Cooper's house to spend the night, he discovered that they're without power!

But the dinner was what Jennifer wanted, I think, a relaxed, fun time together, with lots of laughter and way more food than we could all eat.

Scott, Amber Lyn, and Amber Jo Aulen 

Ken and Susan Aulen and Lisa Sweeney-Taylor 

Wendy Wagoner, Jana and Greg Perry

Shower of Blessings

Ken and Susan came in yesterday evening so Susan could attend a wedding shower for Jennifer at Christ's Church at Mason today. Just as they arrived, our Internet went out, and I spent an hour on the phone with Cincinnati Bell trying to solve the problem before giving up and yielding to hunger pangs and going to dinner. Finally last night about 11:30, I checked one more time and the Internet popped on. I quickly posted yesterday's blog post, which I had written but not published before the Internet went down. Whew! I thought for a minute there I was going to miss my goal of one post per day.

Ken and I went to lunch with Sam Stone while Gwen joined 15 or 20 other ladies for Jennifer's shower. All reports afterwards were more than positive. Laughter, almost some tears, wonderful gifts, great visiting and catching up--just a foretaste of all the fun we'll have at Jennifer's wedding reception (which somebody reminded me today is NEXT MONTH!). 

"Maybe it's because it was yours," Evelyn said to Jennifer on the way home, "but I think that's the most fun I've had at a shower in a long time."

We piled the gifts on the dining room table so Jennifer could look at them again and show them to me. There's leftover carrot cake in the kitchen, and we're going to enjoy some soon!

Mary Lautzenheiser and Cindi Cooper planned and hosted the shower. What a nice thing they did!

Evelyn, Carol Ray, Joan Maxell, Susan Aulen, and Jennifer let me snap their picture as they arrived for the party.

Mary made the centerpiece, a tower of towels and cloths and other
kitchen necessities, all atop a nifty over-the-sink cutting board
and colander combination thingy.