Happy Birthday to Three

Yesterday the Jones clan met at the Ken Jones' house to celebrate Dianne, Ken and Keith's birthdays. We try to do this every year. Notice that I typed "Keith"- when in Jones' households, we always refer to Deke as "Keith" as that is his true middle name and the name that his family has called him since birth. It was altered during college/Air Force years. Don't even get me started about name changes etc. But just for clarification, we will refer to my husband as Keith for this blog.

As I was saying, we try to get together to celebrate these 3 birthdays at once as all occur within a nine-day period. So yesterday after church we all assembled for a brunch/birthday bash. It was doubly nice for Keith and me as we got to see Ken and Marian's gorgeous, newly remodeled kitchen for the first time. What follows is a photo gallery of our afternoon together.

L-r Cindy, Dianne, Marian, Gr Mary, Keith



Just in case you didn't get it the first time...



Ken kneading Marian's neck to relieve the pain of cooking (something she does very rarely)



My reaction to Ken's stronger-than-Starbuck's coffee

Max giving us his famous Purdue professor bandleader pose (Watch for Max at all Purdue home games leaning on the first tier railing as he awaits his cues to conduct the mighty Boilermaker band).

L-r (Keith's elbow) Max, Dianne and Gr Mary



The 3 birthday honorees

Obligatory blowing of the candles. Quick, can anyone tell me the flavor of the birthday cake?

Paintin' Nana

When we took home C-Bear this past weekend, we ended up painting the last room in the house that still needs painting- the master bathroom. Really it was just on a whim, but we got to work and got it done in short order. My job was to do all the trim so I put on Mark's old jeans and T-shirt and got to work. I trimmed and Mark rolled. Deke get out the digital to take some pics but we never got beyond my trim job. It might be because I am usually the photographer and since the photographer was busy with other things, she just didn't do a thorough job of photographing the progression. So....... maybe the Illinois family can complete this blog by showing you the finished product. The floor still has to be laid, so the final pics might be awhile in appearing, but one of these days you will see the gorgeous bathroom.

While in Illinois, Deke came down with a terrible case of the flu and spent a whole night and a day in bed. One time I came into his room to see if he wanted under his covers (as opposed to on top of them), when he replied, "Don't even touch me; I don't want to move." I really didn't think he should have made the trip home on Sunday, but he insisted, so I drove the 5-hour almost non-stop trip and arrived home only to tuck him into bed again. He finally returned to work on Wednesday. Believe me, you don't want what he had!

Sweatin' with C-Bear

I know this is getting to be somewhat of a broken record, but I have to make the most of the time I have! C-Bear leading her morning exercise class...

Now, get comfortable!




Stretch your neck




Stretch that neck the other direction




Touch your toes




Don't forget your tongue




Move those fingers




Come on, ramp it up!




What's the matter, are you a little baby?




Whew, it is getting a little hot





Now, lean to the right




Cool down




There, that's all there is to it!

I

A Visit with Grandma Mary

After church, we traveled to Frankfort to see Grandma Mary. At first C-Bear was not happy to meet someone new but it only took her a few minutes to warm up to her great-grandmother. Here they are together.

Little Miss Whirlwind

Well, our days are filled with activity around here nowadays. Little Miss Whirlwind keeps me hopping. These pictures give you an example of a typical day.

Learning to really like the "popper"




Miss coy




Hugging Rylie




Playing




OK, Mama Jo, go that direction




There! She finally got it




With the assisted living ladies playing Wii bowling



Watching an old movie with Mama Jo while eating a snack and dancing

Bye Bye

Precious Bundle

So much has been happening that I haven't taken the time to blog recently. So, happy New Year to all of you and I pray that the Lord blesses and keeps you in His care in 2011.

All last week I worked in the church office for one of the secretaries who was on vacation. This lady is the support secretary, which means she does all the bulletins, inserts, sermons, powerpoint slides etc. She does everything to support the pastors in the way of produced materials. There are many programs in which I am only a novice, so I find myself asking for help often. If it weren't for my husband on site, I would hate to see the incredibly messed up powerpoint slides on the big screens each week! Anyway, I made it through the week but everything else fell through the cracks around the house. I honestly don't know how women manage to work full-time while caring for the children and housework too.

During the week, Deke and I made numerous hospital visitations. Many nights we weren't home before 9 PM. One of those days, we visited two appendectomy patients; a 22 year old and a 3 year old who had their appendixes removed on the same day. I had never heard of a 3 year old having appendicitis! However, he came through the operation just fine and is running around the house this morning as if nothing happened.

Another very serious operation was performed on our wonderful friend, Opal. Opal lives in Delphi and married into the family on Dad's side; her husband and Dad were 1st cousins. She's 95. She is as sharp as a tack and still lives in her home. Last year she had a big set-back when she slipped on some ice/snow on her steps and did some damage to one of her shoulders and leg. She was a long time recovering from that accident but she bounced back as good as ever. Just before Christmas, she learned that she had cancer of the breast, so a radical mastectomy was scheduled just this past Thursday. When we visited her the day after the surgery, she said she felt like a truck had driven over her. And she was somewhat of a celebrity to the staff as they rarely see a patient of her age go through this procedure. But she is recovering at home now, and I have no doubt that she will once again bounce back as good as ever.

Then, Mark and Lori arrived on Friday night with a precious little bundle. Little C-Bear came and filled our house with little girl sounds and laughter. But the really great blessing is that Deke and I get to keep her for the next 10 days or so! Mark and Lori flew out to San Antonio this morning for Mark to receive Lasik eye surgery. He is excited and anxious and very eager to not wear glasses or contacts any longer. His surgery is Wednesday.

Yesterday we visited Mama Jo as I wasn't able to see her on Friday to take her for her hair appointment or do her laundry. Little C-Bear was the hit of the assisted living crowd! I've included some pictures of our visit as well as some candid shots around the house.

She came into the kitchen wearing these glasses



With Mama Jo







Getting ready for dinner with the residents



We replaced the Christmas tree with the poinsettia, which is still beautiful!



Here she is dancing with her boom box, hence the blurriness

A rare standstill!