Birthday surprise!!

What a birthday I had this week! It was Tuesday, I was all dressed to go with Bill, Jane and Anne to eat lunch and then it happened...... the elaborate scheme that had been going on for weeks, began to take place. Bill picked me up, forgot to do something at his house that he had to stop by to do, asked me to step inside to get out of the heat, then opened the front door for me and I saw........... family and friends waiting for me, singing "Happy Birthday"! When the big 8 0 comes around, I can`t think of a better way to spend it than with all the special people on your life. I saw friends that I had not seen in a while. Shirley came from Texas, through Atlanta with Cindy. Linda came from North Carolina. It was a great day that I am still re-living each day. Bill and Jennifer`s house looked beautiful. The flowers were beautiful and the food, delicious! What a special day.
The girls got their picture with Jewell Falkner, who was their kindergarten teacher a few years back! Special memories for sure!!

More lunches out

Seems like we spend a good amount of time eating out these days. It is always fun to meet the kids or grandkids for lunch when they call us. Zack and Tom had taken Papa to lunch so I met Jane and Heston for a quick lunch at Zoe`s. Heston enjoys going as long as he can get a grilled cheese sandwich or cheese quesadilla! That was yesterday, today, we met Jane and Lara after her therapy for lunch at Zaxby`s. We are all enjoying having Lara around this summer. Her therapy is going along well, her stitches are out and she is driving again so her life is good!!
We went to Rebecca`s Uncle Scott`s funeral this morning. It was very sad but lots of good memories that they shared at the service. He had a heart attack and fell down the stairs at his house. He was only 49. I had just seen him and talked to him at Heston`s birthday party a few weeks ago. He was sweet to talk to Papa on the couch for a while then he found me to compliment me on my cucumber sandwiches that I took.
He sure will be missed by his family.
Our sweet yard guy, Mark, lost his 27 year old brother this week. It has been a hard week for both of these families. It makes us all aware of how blessed we are to have our loved ones with us!
Jane had Heston for two days this week, plenty of time for new pictures to share.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Fun Friday!!

We had a packed full day today with the children. We picked up Lindsey at 7:15 to go meet Jane at Panera`s down 280. We got bagels to go and coffe for Tom and me. We drove to Sterett, about 20 minutes down the road, to go blueberry picking with Jane and Lindsey. They go every year and we were invited to go this year so I said yes, we would like to go. It was the day before the farm officially opens for the season but the man said we could stay and enjoy picking the first blueberries of the season. The bushes were loaded. We got about three buckets between us. Lindsey and I both got bitten by ants! After we finished, we came back and got Lara to therapy for her knee, then after she was finished we went to CiCi`s for pizza. We got to rest a bit this afternoon then we met up with Anne and Zack for dinner. They were keeping Adelyn for the night so we got to visit with her some during dinner. It was a great day for us. Baseball tomorrow if the rain doesn`t get us!

Lunch with the cousins

Yesterday I had the most wonderful lunch at Bright Star in Bessemer with Marygene and Bennie. Marygene, Bennie`s first husband, Albert, and my Bill were all first cousins. Over the years, we had many family reunions with the cousins and their families. We watched as the children grew, married and had children of their own. Well, now, Bennie and I are actually great grandmothers! Where did the time go?!! It was so nice to get to visit with them over lunch. Hope it won`t be that long before we do it again.
This weekend, Bill and Reed`s traveling baseball team, the Vandals, are having a tournament in Alabaster. I am excited to be able to be at one of their games since it will be so close to us. It is hard to get to those away games! After supper on Saturday, I have a treat, for sure. Lara is going to come spend the night with us so I can go to my Sunday School and church on Sunday morning. She has been going to Sunday night church for the summer and wanted to come stay with Papa so I could get out. I haven`t been with my Sunday School ladies for a long time and I am looking forward to seeing everyone. Thanks, Lara and good luck Vandals!!