Looks like Maddie has to make a choice for lunch. Fish or donut!!

I am here with Maddie, Tricia and Chris in Seattle. She is such a delight, my own little sunshine. All is going well, Chris is recouperating after his surgery. (Nothing major.) So I am enjoying his company also. Tricia is always very sweet to me and we spend her days off together.

When I arrived Madeleine had a cold. Her first cold and was not feeling well. I told her that she had to get rid of that nasty cold. She did.-- Now I have it. But at least as a grown up I am able to take something for it.

Happy Birthday, Missy!

I hope your special day is as fun and beautiful as you are and have always been. Thanks for coming to the wedding this past Sept. It was so good to see you and meet your son, Charlie! You are a delight!

This lovely sight is part of the reason I have not been posting lately. I guess old man winter was thinking "better late than never" because he came to visit twice in a matter of weeks to wreck havoc on this part of the midwest. Mike and I were stuck in Cedar Rapids one weekend because the streets were ice here in Cedar Falls. I went to Cedar Rapids to get Mike from the airport there, and it started to ice. The second night in the hotel was without power. A very interesting situation, but I am sorry to say that it was not the first time Mike and I had spent time in a hotel without electricity. But it was the coldest. What a mess!! Then the following week, we were hit with a second storm of ice and snow. The picture you see here was taken several days after that storm. We had inches of ice on the drive for days. This past week I went to Coffeyville, Kansas with Mike for a few days and when we returned all this snow was gone. But this is still Iowa, so, is winter really gone or just hiding?

PS HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY, EVERYONE!!!

Hi Gilbert, Happy Birthday!
You are a brave man, marring into this crazy family. You are a gem, and we all love you.
Hope your day is great. How many birthdays have you had?