Relationships That Matter Most....

Pat and I have been involved with the process of creation.........4 times! Each birth has it's own story. Each one a mixture of our DNA.

Each one raised by us from helpless infant through their developmental years to adulthood.

With each we have developed a special bond that continues to grow. We love each dearly and love to be in contact with them and their families. They represent our closest ties.

We stay in constant contact. This weekend I hung out with Wes at Friday night's football game, talked with Mel about Sam's new developing Paris Bike Company, hung out with Seth at Heather's Nursing graduation party and ran with Meg in a 5 K race.

Besides these 4 and their families, there is another "next layer" of family and friends with whom we eat, talk, share and generally do life ....some by internet or phone etc. Some are so close that we communicate our greatest blessings, accompolishments, sadest moments, failures and deepest fears.

Friends....those to whom we have been introduced through life experiences such as school, career, church etc.
Friends of friends...friends of family......our "network" so to speak!

There is one connection however, more intimate and important than all of these. The ONE who.....like our 4....was there at birth......through our "develpomental years".....and who is closer than all. We are closer than family or any "internet connection." One who like this morning, I can wake up with conversing. One who is ever present and knows us intimately........even closer than the one with whom I have awakened for 41 years.........who knows my every thought......who is in fact.....just a prayer away.

He's as complex as DNA, an atom or the universe.......but as simple as a prayer to get to know. I urge you to connect.

Another 5 K Under Our Belt

Saturday Meg, Heather and I went to Hebron for the first annual Arts and Music 5 K. We started in the pack..............Heather kicked ahead early on.......

........Meg and I hung together behind this Father/Daughter team. Eventually......I drew a mental line in the sand and determined to pass them with about a quarter mile to the end.....It felt good and my time was 2 minutes faster than my last 5 K.......

Heather was the medal winner this time by being 2nd in her age division. Megan was third....(out of 3 : )

Where do you think these professional looking buckeye necklaces came from????

.....Why the looks of excitement??? Because one of these buckeye/bead necklaces is going to our friend Shane Adkins who we hope to convert from his current paradigm of Michigan State fan (He actually PLAYED for Michigan State so this Paradigm shift is tough for him!) to a Buckeye fan.....like the rest of us!!

A Saturday Buckeye Necklace Party

We spent time Saturday making buckeye necklaces. I drilled the holes in the buckeyes.................

......while the girls strung the beads........

Not a Great Picture....

.....but I had to share it.... I took the granddaughters by the bald eagle's nest and as soon as we got there we saw a very interesting sight. Out from the trees from the nest flew what I thought were the two balds chasing each other through the sky. The girls got to see it and checked out the aerial display while I grabbed my camera and took a couple of shots. When I enlarged this shot....turns out it was one of the eagles chasing a red tailed hawk away from it's nest.....who was no doubt trying to prey on the eagle's young! Years ago I saw a red tailed hawk take off from my back porch, swoop down and pick up one of my neighbor's beagle puppies and carry it about 10 feet off the ground before realizing it probably was a bigger bite than he could carry. He dopped the pup as my neighbor yelled and swore at it!

hurricane Ike Reaches Pleasant Chapel Rd....

.........OK......so........not as bad as Galveston but Sunday night Ohio had 70 mile per hour sustained winds complete with hundreds of thousands with out power because of fallen trees and downed power lines. The Botanical Gardens took a hit as you can see.........

........next door neighbors Megan, Hailey and Alyssa to the rescue............

..........even the froggies took a hit!

..........and the clean up took all day. But "two are better than one...." and the whole thing became an opportunity for us to connect with the most important thing to us on this planet.......OUR FAMILY.........

So with all the effects of the storm there was only one thing to do.....

.......gather the granddaughters......who didn't have school because of electrical outages into the truck to go check out the damage and go gather buckeyes and apples.......

........so off to the day's adventure we went...........

Stddens Bridge Was Closed

.....for the third straight day........

.......with tree and limbs and wires all entangled.....

The day together started......

..........with brunch at Wendys........

.....a stop by the basket.......

.........where the girls were fascinated by a video showing how the 7 story basket was built......and the shovel that turned the first dirt for the project......

Gathering Buckeyes and Seth and Heathers

Seth and Heather had part of their buckeye tree blow down in the storm. That made for easy pickin of some buckeyes for Buckeye neclaces to help the OSU cause. A special necklace will be made for our friend Shane who we are trying to convert from his connection with Michigan State where he played, to the OSU team who so desperately needs all the friends they can get right now!

....Seth directs operations......

.....Adele displays the bounty.......

...........the kids are just........well........HAPPY....!!!!

Picking Apples....

Our neighbor has a huge apple tree with lots of apples for the picking. While the little ones picked up the drops Zoe plucks some from the upper reaches.

............some of the fun was just hanging out..........

...........enjoying the bounty TOGETHER.........

..........and then arriving back home to share the bounty and the EXCITEMENT with Meg and Grandma.......who promises an apple pie!

And so....the day ends.....

........with Seth, Heather, Wes, Cheryl, Zoe and Addy all coming by to use the showers and visit......but the highlight of the evening was the consumtion of this delicious apple pie.......the fruit of our apple picking labors!
THIS WAS A DAY FOR FAMILY!!