Family, family, and more family

Earlier I posted about Ben and the work we got done while he was here...all that was in preparation for what we, on the Henning side of the family, call "the cousins reunion". Parts of the house that needed painted, got painted, along with shutters, trim, etc. Everything else got swept, washed, weeded, wiped down, shined up or trimmed back. All set for company. But before the Hennings arrived we had a quick visit from some of the Bruces: Oom and Pop, Kath and Audrey, Jerry, Lu and Rebecca, and the afore mentioned Ben (who isn't a Bruce, rather, he's the son of Kath's good Parisian friends Linda and Eric.) It was an enjoyable opportunity to see Ben one last time before he flew home to France, and a good time to have the far away contingent of my family come to our house.

Rebecca learning to swim
Rebecca totally tuckered






And a week later, when the other relatives arrived, there was all kinds of fun. Eating and tractor rides, eating and swimming, eating and games, eating and a birthday party...which included...eating...


















Happy 2nd Birthday to Matthew!





Our reunion was only two days before Jill's birthday, but she didn't get any attention at all. I guess it really is all about the kids! I hope she didn't mind too much.

Happy Belated Birthday, Jill!

Happy 4th of July

Along with celebrating our country's independence my family celebrates my sister's birthday. The story I recall hearing is that mom and dad were getting ready for a 4th of July picnic when -- Independence Day turned into labor day for mom, and then turned into a birthday for my sister Kathy.

To add to the fun, Kathy grew up and married a guy who has the same birthday. He's a native of France so the day doesn't have the same significance to him. But he's a good sport, and when they are in the states for his birthday, Bernard enjoys the fireworks and hoopla as much as the rest of us.

Speaking of hoopla -- Tom and I aren't hooping it up this year. I'm on the couch blogging, waiting for the TV version of fireworks. Tom is out on the tractor mowing in the tree field, but he'll surely be back soon, it's getting dark. Today he painted another side of the house while I painted shutters. My work was shorter than his so I had time to watch a friend's 4 squirts (ages 4-9) while she and a friend got a load of firewood not too far from our house. I volunteered to watch them...in the pool. So Barb and Doug are sweating it out cutting and loading wood, Tom's on a ladder painting for hours on end, and I'm in the pool playing with 4 little kids. Yeah, I know, it was big of me. After that we mowed lawn and weeded flower beds.

We turned our Independence Day into labor day. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tom worked harder than I did, but I think he enjoyed it too. It's weird though, having no family around on a holiday. I wonder if this is something I'm going to have to get used to? We're moving David to Connecticut next week. He's actually on his round-about way already. Me? I'm feeling it already.

Oop, here's Tom... and the Macy's 4th of July fireworks show is on TV -- They're astounding! Gotta go watch. Happy Independence Day!!!

Rain, Rain

They say the monsoons will be over soon. Today is the funniest day ever. The weather man said it would be cloudy but no more rain. Well we had a downpour this morning, then sun -- beautiful bright happy sunshine -- then rain which stopped shortly, and then, there was the sun again -- briefly. Mist, rain, sun, rain, clouds, mist, sun. It's raining again, but I'm not fretting, we'll see the sun momentarily. Of course it will only last momentarily too. It's a perfect day for a nap! Good idea? Oh yeah.

"...for (your Father in heaven) makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matt. 5:45

The verses before and after are the real message of this scripture which I, admittedly, ripped out of context. Something about loving your enemies, and what good is it really if you only love those who love you?. In light of that I'm not saying I'm good and just or evil and unjust. I'm just saying...it's raining here...on me.

He's Off!

BYE-BYE HENNINGS

Not our Davey boy, our Benji boy. Okay, so he's not ours. But for 2 weeks he's been ours and I kinda got attached to the kid. Maybe it's because he's like the perfect kid, the perfect house guest, and good fun company! Always a smile or a chuckle or a grin. Always a helping hand or offer to assist. Yeah, I know, it (he) doesn't seem real. But I think he is. He sure seems to be the real deal. (If you've seen the movie The Stepford Wives -- he wasn't like that. Those poor women lived a fake robotic, yet perfect, existence.)

All that to say, 16 year old Ben is a terrific kid.

But I had to pass him off to his next host family. He'll spend a couple of weeks with my brother's family. They have a boy Ben's age, so no doubt his time there will be even more fun than it was here. I say that because I really believe he had a good time here. Or was that just part of his "great house guest" quality?

HELLO BRUCES