Harding Visit

When we were in Arkansas we were able to make a drive up to Searcy and spend a little time on the Harding University campus. I think it had been about 10 years since we'd been on campus, and things have really changed. It was fun walking around and seeing many of the new and remodeled buildings.

(Click here for a nice concise history of Harding, although it omits the pre-cursor days when Armstrong led a college in Cordell, OK.)

One of the neatest things is how they have maintained the main lawn open space that stretches north from the Administration Building. The pic below was taken in 1961, and is pretty much how I remembered it looking. Below that are some shots from last week. The main difference we noticed was how many more trees, many of whom were planted during our era, are now giants. Much more landscaping than in the old days.

They've maintained the Admin Building, and inside it is really nice... much different than in the 60's and 70's.

The Lily Pool in front of Admin has been re-done. Nice touch.

Some of that mature landscaping I mentioned.

VJ in front of her old dorm, Cathcart. It still looks pretty much the same, although the magnolia tree is bigger. My guess is that the insides are upgraded somewhat. It didn't even have AC in the days.

It was fun to be on campus again. Things have really grown, and all the new changes are "first class," much different than the frugal early days of George Benson. Obviously the donor base is both larger and more flush than in the past. My nephew, Ryan, will be a freshman there this fall. Forty years after I walked into Armstrong Hall to begin 4 years that have helped shape my life, he will do the same. Good luck, Ryan, and God bless!!

The Locket

Last week before Virginia and I flew home, Mom brought in a locket that Dad had given her early in their marriage. She had misplaced it at one point and found it again. It was easy to see that it is special to her.

(Click photo to enlarge)

Claire Clip

A while back I posted a clip of Claire's unusual crawl. At a little over 11 months she is (and has been) flirting with walking, but she has yet to really launch out on her own. My guess is that because her unorthodox crawl is so effective and so easily allows her to pull up to a standing position or just return to a sitting position, she feels no great need to do the walking adventure. The clip below shows our attempt to encourage her; however, she was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open and fell asleep in someone's arms about two minutes after we shot this. Enjoy!

The Party - Some Extras

We did some hanging out at Mom's on Sunday evening and early Monday before Jeremy and Amber and Jen, Fok and the kids all headed out. Of course, these two pics of Claire are two of my favorites.






One of our family traditions going way back is Mom fixing a bacon and egg breakfast featuring her famous whole wheat muffins. We all love them, and they're relatively easy to fox... at least for her to fix. Sooo... she simply would not hear of us all being in Cabot without fixin' breakfast, and she did it twice. At least she let some of the rest of us help a little. :-)

Not sure if the shot below is Claire simply stuffing a little more muffin in her mouth or if she's blowing a kiss. Guess I'll have to ask Amber for sure... and just assume she's blowing a kiss in the mean time. After all, today is her mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Jen!!

The Party - A Family Affair

One of the fun bonuses of Mom's birthday party was just getting family together. When we live as far from each other as we do and with every one's schedules, it was quite a feat getting the kids, grand kids, and great grand kids all to Cabot. In addition, two cousins made the drive to be with us: Karen and Larry Estes from Oklahoma, and Lehman and Pam Woods, all the way from Virginia Beach. It was really special to get to share both the party and extra time with them, and Mom was especially thrilled that they were able to come.

All in the family...

Ruby Fern and the cousins. Lehman and Pam are next to Mom; Karen and Larry are next to them.

(L-R) - Kent, Rick, RFJ, Karen, Lehman

Grandmama and the grand kids.

... and with Kaleb and Claire, the great grand kids.

The Party - Celebrating the Birthday Girl

We lived in Cabot for a total of 15 years. Mom has lived there 29 years. Hard to imagine!! Lots Cabot church members and former members came by and enjoyed the party. Of course, we knew many, but there were also many folks who have come to Cabot since left in 1990. Hopefully the photos will give you a feel for the truly festive atmosphere it was.

Ruby Fern, the birthday girl. Wilma Hoffman gave her the red hat just for the fun of it, and Mom was a really good sport.

Holding court with some old Cabot friends.

Cabot folks enjoying the gathering.

Roki and Heather with Claire. Roki is a natural... Claire took a good nap in her arms.

Graham and Jeremy... buddies from the old days!

Kent talking with Dale Warren.

Susan and Jackie Binderim.

Karen (my cousin) and Larry Estes came from Oklahoma for the party.

We shared lots of experiences with Gordon and Cynthia during our Cabot years.

And our kids shared about as many with Autumn and Graham. Autumn and Jennifer are now both college profs (Autumn, chemistry at ACU; Jen, math at U of Idaho). Jeremy and Graham are both in the business world.

The Party - Getting It All Ready

Now that we're back home, I'll have a chance to post some pics from the big 90th Birthday Celebration for Mom... Ruby Fern. There were a lot of people who all pitched in and turned the Cabot Church Family Center into a wonderful and almost elegant party venue. Susan, Virginia and Amber spent almost all of Friday shopping, organizing and preparing food. Jeremy and Kent and Ryan also did plenty of prep work. I understand Kent is quite a fruit skewer. Jen's family and Russ didn't arrive until late Friday, but they pitched in as well on Saturday... in fact, it was a real team effort to show our love and respect for Mom/Grandmama.

However, it couldn't have happened the way it did without help from Cabot friends, especially Louise Williams, Brenda Fielder, and Pat Lane. What creative and hardworking ladies! And Pat... oh my... the queen of party catering. Thank you so much to all three of you from all of us!

These first three pics give you an idea of how well the family center dresses up.

This table was later filled with yummy food.

Claire and her daddy doing their part.

Jen and Russ checking out some of the photo books.

Jeremy and Amber working back to back in the kitchen.

Some of those yummy fresh fruit skewers.

Claire took to Louise almost from the first.

Pat slowed down just long enough for a quick shot with J&A.

Below are shots of a couple of photo boards. Trust me, some of those pics are older than most of us reading this blog.

And, with all the prep one, Jen quizzes Jeremy about his I-Phone.

Wonder if she'll get one??

Turn Out the Lights...

Back in the day, Don Meridith used to colorfully declare the obvious outcome of a Monday Night Football game by singing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over." Well, last Saturday we had one big shindig at the Cabot Church Family Center for Mom's 90th. By the end of the day both she and all the rest of us (after lots of prep and even more heat and humidity) were all more than ready to turn out the lights and maybe even take a nap. Lots of people came by to wish her well. Pat Lane, Brenda Fielder, Louise Williams, several family members, and others put in many man hours to make it all happen. The food was delicious... the conversations were wonderful... Mom got to visit with many folks... Virginia's video was a huge hit... we all had fun.

Everyone except VJ and I headed home or to their next stop either Sunday or Monday. We fly back to Oakland tomorrow. It's been a really fun visit. I'll post pictures soon.

Almost Arkansas Bound

We'll soon be heading to Cabot, Arkansas for a family reunion and to celebrate Mom's 90th birthday. That's right - 90!! Nearly anyone who meets her does a double take when they hear her age because she looks and acts like someone many years younger. Hope I've gotten some of those genes. :-)

The video project is nearly complete; we've been in communication with our kids as well as Kent and Susan. We've even heard from some cousins who plan to come.

Jen, Fok and the kids will drive from Idaho, leaving Wednesday and arriving Friday night. Kent, Susan and Ryan will drive into Cabot Thursday evening sometime, coming from CO. Jeremy, Amber, VJ and I will land courtesy of SW Airlines late Thursday night. Others will arrive Friday or early Saturday.

It will undoubtedly be a really fun and hectic weekend, and we're all looking forward to it. What a special occasion for all of us to get together! If you can't be there in person, toss back a glass of tea and join in the celebration wherever you are!

Kaleb's Visit

With the heat, Ruth's invitation to bring Kaleb by to swim Monday was especially appreciated. Here are a few shots of the boy cooling off.

And, one of a big hug for Papa!

It was well over 100 again today, but not quite as hot as yesterday. At least it's a dry heat. :-)

Heat Wave

As I write this at 7:30 in the evening it's 98 outside. The high today was 108 (or so, depending on which source you look at). Tomorrow is supposed to be 110, Thursday 107, and Friday a mere 98. I'd say this is officially a heat wave.

Even in SF it was up in the upper 80s today. In a day or two when the sea breeze starts up, we'll see some of those drastic temp differences between here and SF.

Today and tomorrow have been declared Spare the Air Days. That means we all try to live in such a way as to create less smog... bike or BART or work from home... less AC and other energy consuming habits... and so forth. One surprising thing is that the smoke from the fires to the north and east of us has not been as bad as I'd thought it would be when the wind shifted. Oh, it's bad enough, just not as bad as earlier.

And... I got Kaleb to the airport early, and he had an uneventful flight home to be greeted by his family. Visit was short but good!

Catching Up

Well, I haven't posted since June 27, so it's time to catch up on the mundane goings on around here.

The last couple of Sundays we focused on expressing our hearts in corporate, some of the ways God uses those expressions, and allowing people share how worshiping with their church family impacts them... two really good Sundays.

Likewise, our time shift (9:30 worship assembly followed by 11:15 classes) seems to have contributed to both a renewed energy in worship and a marked increased in class attendance. God is good!!

The 4th was pretty quiet around our house. Erin crock potted a big pork roast and made pulled bbq for us to eat. VJ and I didn't go anywhere... just enjoyed time around the house.

Kaleb flew in Saturday for a stopover on his way home following a month-long visit with Kapil. All evidence indicates they had a really good time. He flies home tomorrow, so it's a short stay, but we really love having him here, even briefly. He is just a great kid... and perhaps the best grandson there is. :-) We have a really early start, so I better get him started toward bed. After a month away, I think he'll have lots of hugs (and probably a slobbery kiss from his sister) awaiting him at the airport.