Peace

Here I am on the sofa, listening to a rare gentle rain, with the faint sound of an asthmatic cat wheezing through a mid-morning nap. What a wonderful start to the day.

Time to crack open a history book and dig in.

Texas Gains A Star...

This morning we said, "See you later" to Rachel. She and Sarah have packed up and they are moving down to San Antonio, where Rachel will begin college this fall.

We have been blessed with having Rachel be a part of our family for the last three years. As we move into this new chapter of our lives, we do so with a boatload of wonderful memories from our time together. There was the solo in front of everyone in Chapel after having the chaplain mention her by name. There were all the great plays, and songs in the musicals that were executed so effortlessly. What a star. There was the time she stopped Erik from frying pancakes with vinegar -- what a great laugh.

This isn't "good-bye", this is a definite, "We will see you later." Thank you very much for all the love you shared with our family. We will definitely miss you. Take care, good luck, we are with you.

No Trouble in Paradise

Last week my lovely sister, Gaylord, was married to the wonderful, Jon Young, in Bermuda. The weather was great, the wedding went smoothly, the parties were memorable, and the snorkeling was other worldly.


Gaylord hams it up during the rehearsal on Friday night.




Here Winston, Gaylord, and I are trying to figure out how to walk Gaylord down the isle. I believe I am suggesting that we drag her down the isle. Wow, this was great fun.




This is Erik at dinner. He is having a "chocolate monkey" during dinner. This is one of many drinks that seemed to go Erik's way that evening. Eventually he earned the name, "Mattress Man" from the bartender (I wasn't there, but this is according to the legend). You can tell Erik is on his way as he is already a bit out of focus here.

Here we are walking to lunch on Saturday. The weather was rainy and wet for the first part of the day, but thankfully it cleared up for a great wedding ceremony during the evening.





This is the island where we found the best snorkeling. Parrot fish, silver fish with black spots near the tail and bumble-bee striped fish were easily found in these waters. On Sunday or Monday, one of Gaylord's friends cut his foot badly snorkeling in this area.

I understand this involved a trip to the local hospital. The ironic part is this person is one of the most nervous snorkelers and he writes a blog from the perspective of a shark. Too funny.