Packing the Hawaii suitcases.

The picture tonight is one I took of our great nieces and nephews at the celebration of Gene’s life. The girl on the front right is married to the guy behind her. The blond right next to her is married to the guy right behind her. The blond and the guy on the back right are the ones who married into the family, but they fit so well. Emily is the girl wearing the black belt; she is married, but her husband couldn’t make it from Nigeria. She and her husband have been working in Nigeria for the last two and a half years; they’ll come home in July. I would love to tell you about all these ‘kids.’ We are so proud of all of them, but it would be too much information and too confusing on this blog. Just take a look at them and see what a fun group we got to enjoy for the weekend. The three guys on the left are brothers; the youngest of the guys, Samuel, is the tallest and is probably pushing 6’6”. Notice he’s standing on the step below the other guys and he’s still as tall as they are. His older brother appears to be the tallest and he’s 6’4”. Their sister, Molly, is standing on the top step and she’s the youngest of this group; I think she’s 15. I think they’re such a gorgeous group; I know them and their hearts speak love. Hugs from this group sure sent us home feeling great. The couple on the end have Gene’s only great grandchildren and our great, great niece and nephew. That sure sounds old, but what blessings all these are to us! Thank you, God!

Today was a big day. A long time friend from over 25 years ago was in Hobart today doing a program for the kids at the library. We went to see his program and then had lunch with him, so that was a real treat. I also sang at a devotional at the nursing home this morning. We started the day right with breakfast at the Kozy Diner with David and Dorothy.

After all our visiting I did 3 loads of laundry, then put the Hawaii suitcases in the floor in our bedroom and started loading them. We’ll be wearing non-Hawaii clothes from now until we leave. I want to have those suitcases ready except for toiletries by Friday. This weekend we’ll probably go to Oklahoma City to watch Bruce play in a baseball tournament. We’re going to miss a lot of baseball while we’re in Hawaii, so we’ll do this weekend if we can.