Happy Birthday Chris

We visited Chris Fuhs and family for his birthday on Saturday. It was great to see them, even though I didn't take many pictures.

Happy 60th, Kathy

It was my great pleasure to visit my sister Kathy in Davenport, Iowa to wish help celebrate her 60th birthday.  Cassandra, Kathy's daughter, planned a wonderful surprise that was staged in the Gold Room of the Hotel Blackhawk.  The setting was gorgeous and the gathering was full.  Many of Kathy's co-workers and other local friends attended.  There were also several out-of-town relatives that traveled to join in on the fun.  Phil Husby came from Alba-barbeque, I came from Ft Lauderdale, Scotty and Gary came from Indiana, Paul and Linda came from Des Moines, Sherrie Trahms came from Mankato, Lisa and Tyler and their little girl, Doug and his children and grandchild, etc were also there.  A couple from the Bladensburg church near Ottumwa was also there. (They shared the interesting fact that our father, Paul, had married them in 1966 and had warned them that they were so young that their marriage might not last.)

Coolest Birthday Present Ever...

My daughter Belle wanted to get something for me on my birthday that I would really like.  I told her that I would really like something that she made herself, so she drew this wonderful picture.  I am so proud of her and grateful for the picture.  Even though my birthday is long past, I still want to remember this in the future so I'm posting it now.

Imagine My Embarrassment..

Dear Dad, 

I had tried to write a letter to you on your birthday, but I found it too hard to see through the tears.  It's a couple of weeks later, now, and I thought I would share some stories with you that I know you would appreciate.

When Audrey opened the special ZIGGY calendar that I got her for Christmas (it's a tradition to get her a ZIGGY wall calendar each year, something from her childhood that she likes, but it has gotten harder to find them over the years) she was a little surprised to notice that the cover picture for the new calendar was remarkably similar to the cover picture of the calendar from last year.  In fact, it was identical.  How strange, I thought, that the calendar people would make such a mistake.  Even weirder that they would make the unthinkable mistake of printing the wrong year on the cover, too.  Her new 2012 calendar had 2011 in big numbers on the lower left hand corner of the cover -- how bizarre!  Wait -- you mean that I bought a 2011 calendar for a Christmas present in December 2011 and paid extra to have it expressed shipped so that it would arrive on time?!

Audrey and I went to a performance of the Capitol Steps at the Broward County Performing Arts Center.  We had been looking forward to the show since Christmas, when she had given the tickets to me for a present.  We paid for parking and worked our way to the front door where an usher looked at our tickets and directed us to a particular entrance.  There, another usher scrutinized our tickets and showed us to yet another entrance.  At that point the usher read our tickets and removed the end-stub from them, motioning us toward a doorway.  More ushers, more ticket showing, more directions, right to our very seats R 111 & 112.  I joked to Audrey that they seemed a little over-attentive.  It was not long, however, before I was in a conversation with a lovely couple that were looking for seats R 110 & 111.  Simultaneously, Audrey was talking to a couple that were looking for seats R 112 & 113.  Weird, we thought.  I finally offered to let one of them sit in my lap for the performance when someone pointed out that the date on our tickets was different from theirs.....it was a Friday night, and our tickets were for Saturday.  Audrey and I, and 37 ushers, had all not noticed that we were there on the wrong night!!

Courtney and her roommates were excited about the prospect of taking a meditation class in their second semester at BYU.  They had been looking at classes together and pondering the scheduling possibilities for weeks.  Meditation excited them, because of the obvious possibility that they could simply sit and not do anything for the class.  It wasn't until actually reading the course description and curriculum that they came to realize that the class was not mediTation, but was mediation.  Funny how your mind can play tricks on you....

I follow routines to protect myself from myself.  As an example, every time I get out of my car my keys go into my right front pocket so that I am certain that I don't lock them inside, and if I need to leave the car running I always roll down my window.  So when I got gas I followed my routine: keys, wallet, swipe card, enter zip code, place nozzle, no smoking....  but then I deviated.  My truck was so dirty and I was not in a hurry, so I washed the windows.  In fact, I took extra long to wash the windows and made them pretty dang     clean.  But I had taken so long that by the time a turned my attention back to the pump, it had turned off.  It had not just clicked off, I had taken so long that it had completely turned off:  there was no topping-off, there was no receipt option, it was just dead.  So I replace the nozzle and went inside and got my receipt.  Reading the receipt I realized that I had purchased over 24 gallons of gas for my 21.2 gallon gas tank.  I instantly realized that the gas-station was ripping me off, as I had seen a 60 Minute expose' on just such dishonest gas stations (15 years ago).  I looked for the 800 # on the pump to call for consumer protection, and not seeing it took pictures of the specific identification plates on that pump.  Driving away angry, I fumed over my next steps -- write a letter, call the local news station.....  I got back into my truck after a short errand, and was floored when I looked at the gas gauge that showed empty!!!!  How could that be?  Did I manage to somehow pump the fuel into a different compartment??!!  I KNOW all that gas wasn't on the ground..........  and then I realized what you all already know -- I had never turned the pump on in the first place.  I had forgotten to select the grade of gasoline to be pumped and had gone straight to washing the windows.  Imagine my private embarrassment......

I called Tim and told him that I would be coming to Davenport around the weekend of Feb 19th, the one year anniversary of your funeral.  I was extra excited because I was going to be there in time for Sister's  birthday on the 17th.  No, her birthday is the 4th, he said.  No, it's the 17th, I said -- it's right here in my contact information about her.  "Hey Kathy, this is a dumb question, but is your birthday the 17th?" I asked her in a later phone call.  She responded with a good-natured, kind-hearted, ever-patient, maybe-I-should-be-offended-but-I'm-just-so-used-to-it chuckle "No, Feb 7th."  Imagine my embarrassment...........

So, Dad, I know that you CAN imagine my embarrassment in all these situations, and I can hear your kind and gentle laughter joining mine as a laugh at myself.   I can also hear you saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your daughter, my sister, Kathy.  

As for me, embarrassed or not, I wish for you, Kathy, a very happy birthday.  They made little girls right, 38 years ago, when you were born.  In you, my big sister, is the best of the best of us, as I am always reminded of the many virtues of Grandma Agnes when I am around you.  Or to paraphrase you, "I may be a mangy brother, but I loves ya!"

And by the way, thanks so much for teaching me how to be a baby when you were my 6 year old sister!  You're the best, Kath!  Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy Day Between Birthdays, Dad

In my family we often celebrated my father's birthday (Jan 22nd) and mine (Jan 24th) on the day in-between, the 23rd.  For me, especially as a young boy, it meant that we had a special connection.  I always had a  tendency to identify with my dad, and the co-celebration only made it stronger.  Over the years our mutual acknowledgement of birthdays became more and more lax, and we often would exchange birthday cards weeks or months late.

This is the first birthday since he has left us.  I miss calling and talking with him about kids, psychology, politics, the weather, home repairs, etc.  I miss that we would say "happy birthday!" to each other in a couple of weeks from now, when our schedules allowed that we connect.  

Happy birthday, Dad.  I miss you.

Can you guess the reason for the party?

Click the picture above to see more from the party.

Happy Birthday Courtney

Courtney is celebrating her birthday in New York City with friends from school while she attends a journalism seminar.  We miss seeing her on her birthday, but this is the beginning of the end of our life together, cuz she is 18 and is going off to BYU next fall.  Happy Birthday, Courtney....we love you!

Birthdays, Past and Future

For as far back as I can remember I have felt a special connection with my father because our birthdays are just two days apart.  As our birthdays approach once again, I look back with fondness at the 45 years that have passed since the image above. 

Happy birthday, Dad.  It has been great to sit next to you all these years.

Our Children As Food

If Walker was a food, he would probably be a hot dog. As a grown man, now married and a father, he might disagree. He might argue that his mission experiences and his wonderful wife have improved his dietary habits so much that he is now a non-fat, whole-grain, organically-grown vegetable or grain of some sort (like cauliflower, maybe, or brown rice). But I still insist that he would be a hot dog. As a child, starting at a very young age, he would want hot dogs for meals. By age three or four he often carried a frozen hot dog, wrapped in a napkin, to gnaw on. Fuel stops during road trips were typically meal sources for Walker, as he delighted in gas station hot dogs. We figured that he had probably eaten his body weight in hot dogs by the time he started school. Furthermore, Hot-Dog kind of fits Walker's personality. He loves to be first. He is an academic standout somewhat due to genetics, partly due to scholastic opportunities, and largely due to his own personal desire to out-perform his competitors. He is humble and appropriate, but a show-off to be sure. Yes, there is a very strong case to be made for Walker being a Hot-Dog.

Belle would be ham. She eats ham samiches in her school lunches, daily, and her favorite hoagie is a ham on white bread, with nothing else -- no lettuce, no mustard, no tomato, no mayonnaise, no pickles, no ketchup, no flavor -- just ham and bread. Her samich is the easiest to make at Subway, but often takes the longest to convince the worker to construct such a barren variety of their offerings. And just like Walker, Belle's food choice is also an indication of her personality. She LOVES to have her picture taken, to perform dances or songs or piano music for a livingroom audience, and to tell a whopper of a story amongst her friends. She has been known to lead the after-school bus crowd in the singing of church songs that they had never heard before. Nobody that knows Belle would disagree that she is a Ham.

Courtney, on the other hand, eschews ham, hot dogs, bacon, hamburgers, roast, ribs, etc. I cannot recall the last time that Courtney has eaten any red meat, although her aversion seems to have started with an episode of sibling-teasing wherein her older brother was kinda graphic about the origin of bacon and her response was immediate and enduring. (It is difficult to know if the strong response was inspired by a revulsion for the meat or the brother.)

No, Courtney is not a meat of any kind. Courtney is the bread that surrounds, supports, and contains the meats and cheeses and sauces that go into a good samich. She loves to eat rolls and bread and bagels. And just as the bread is not the headliner of a samich (it's called a hot-dog or a ham samich, not a bread samich with a piece of meat), Courtney is wonderfully adept at supporting and loving those around her. She is an un-heralded source of emotional comfort and absolute responsibility in our family. She is an ever-reliable babysitter and companion to her demanding little sister. She is an uncomplaining and low-maintenance off-spring that learned how to cook for herself at an early age. She is an always-popular friend at school and church and goes out of her way to make would-be outsiders feel included.

Courtney is the middle of our three children. If Walker is an over-achiever and Belle is the center-of-attention, Courtney is the un-sung wonderfully normal, healthy, happy, beautiful, sweet, and generous child that is the bread to our family samich. We parents are so blessed to have Courtney in our family, and whether they appreciate it yet or not, her siblings are blessed more than they can know to have her as a sister.

Happy Birthday, Courtney. Thank you for being in our family.

Apparently Weight Loss is Easy Starting at Age 50!

Smart people have said, "Examining initially the gross changes which occur in the brain with ageing, it can be observed that the normal volume and weight of the adult brain begins to decrease from about 50 years of age."

So there you go. After today I am going to start losing weight without even trying. By next year at this time you won't be able to call me a FAT-head anymore.

My birthday plan was to open some cards and presents, take a picture of the beautiful cake that Audrey baked (with Belle's help), and then eat the cake. DOH! I guess SEQUENCING is affected when brain mass starts to decrease, because I ate the cake before taking a picture.

I actually had a very nice get-together with special friends on Saturday at our favorite little pizza-place. My friends gave me a very funny card and then had the restaurant staff try to embarrass me. Fortunately, needless embarrassment is also one of the things that decreases along with brain mass.

Belle is Nine Years Old

So she had a party with some of her good friends. They ate pizza and cake.

They "hung out" with each other and made silly faces.

And they also laughed and giggled -- just a little bit.

Happy Birthday, Audrey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Audrey has never looked her age, and that has is even more true now than ever. And since I am her partner, I will not disclose her age. But she is as old as there are exclamation points in the title of this post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUDREY! May your life be ever-filled with joy, because your husband and children love you with all their hearts.

Addy's Birthday and Family Get-Together

While visiting up in the DC area, Belle, Courtney, and I were able to go to a family birthday party (something we don't often get to do). Addy turned 3 years old! Congratulations, Addy! Lani, Mauricio, and the boys also came down from Lancaster and Doug's folks were there too (I don't have any pics of them, sorry!). The kids had a great time playing together and Monty loved to run and play with them too. Lani made a beautiful barbie cake that we hated to cut but I am sure glad we did, cuz it was delicious. Two big accomplishments for me were I got Addy to acknowledge my existence enough to let me play cash register with her briefly and Avery let me feed her without Momma being in the room. It was also great seeing the boys. They are always so sweet!


Addy -- The Birthday Girl (I love Alexander's expression!!!)

Grandma, Lani, and Avery waiting patiently for the presents to be unwrapped.


Avery completely happy under the wrapping. Addy getting ready to blow out candles.

The gang getting lunch together. Mauricio concentrating and Audrey smiling goofily.

Proud dad taking pictures of birthday girl. Lani intently listening (sorry for the cleavage shot--it was Courtney).

The cousins had a very fun time playing, chatting, and hanging out together.

The kids waiting for the cake. Sisters--Audrey, Lyndsey, Lani (just missing Ash).

Courtney is almost as tall as Lani. Addy had a great basement to play in.

Addy with her new scooter. Momma and Baby.

Doug and Lynner.

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

Courtney's surprise birthday party was a couple of weeks ago. On Tuesday night, the actual day of her birth, we had just a small family moment of Courtney recognition. In the picture below is Courtney talking to her Grandma Gurr on the phone. Courtney loves her cell phone.

She also loves cake. She had two big requests for her 16th birthday. She wanted to have a surprise party and she wanted red velvet cake.

Since it was her birthday she got to choose to have her favorite meal prepared. In all the world of food to request, she asked for scones. Audrey makes wonderful scones (above). And the red velvet cake turned out to be quite yummy (below).

And then she talked her mother into piercing her ear. Yep, she held an ice cube on her ear lobe for about twenty minutes and Audrey pushed an earring right through her tender little flesh -- and she didn't even cry! That is quite a feat for Courtney, 'cuz she is genuinely sensitive and fairly expressive. But hey, she is sixteen years old now. Maybe big girls don't cry so much.

She received some nice cards and gifts. The final birthday present is that she is skipping school on Friday and Dad is taking her on an all-day shopping spree to buy clothes, or whatever.

SURPRISE!!!

For her sixteenth birthday, Courtney wanted a surprise party. So we invited a bunch of her friends to the beach and celebrated a few weeks early. Here a some pictures of the weekend.

To see more pictures of Courtney's party posted on Facebook, click here.