Happy Father's Day to our Dear Dad!

He's dapper, he's dashing

he's smart and he's fun

We all love him dearly

Because he's the one

Who loved us, taught us

and kept us out of the food

late in the evenings he was the

change jingling dude

The years have gone by

we've all flown the nest

Now when we look back

We know we had the best

There are plenty of dads

On the face of this earth

But six lucky kids

Won the lottery at birth

We're proud of you dad

You're the top of the heap

When we say you inspire us

It isn't a leap

Enjoy this Father's Day

and know this is true

from the East and the West

Your children love you!

Here is Kristi's birthday cake ... as you can see its a beautiful Angelfood cake with candles blazing and look at the toppings; strawberries, blue berries, raspberries and all the whipped cream you could want - what a feast! I always had to settle for strawberries when I had a birthday but of course I was just the dad and certainly not one of the favored kids.


Not sure if her wish will come true because she missed one ... blow Kris, BLOW!


This is the kind of picture you get when you hold the camera at arms length ... but happy were we!

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday Kristie........

In celebration of you being in AZ on your birthday, I picked out the picture of the dancing peppers, you break out in dance more then almost anyone I know.

Clay's Graduation

It was an honor to be in the audience and hear the name "Clay Douglas Anderson" as our tall, handsome and good son walked across the stage of Constitution Hall on June 12, 2009 to receive his high school diploma.

Proud mama and papa. How on earth did we make a kid so tall ....?
You'd think by the fourth kid to graduate in downtown DC I'd be smart enough to wear flats.

Here come the graduates ... nearly 400 students in the Watkins Mill Class of 09. Six million dollars in scholarships. Six young men and women who are going into the service. Our boy is one.

Dad and Clay getting their metro tickets for the ride to DC.

Jon and Clay have one of the most amazing friendships I've ever seen. Seeing the two of them laughing and having fun together is a common sight. Jon is really going to miss Clay .. we all are. At the same time we are so proud of him and send him out into the world knowing he is flawless :-)

Clay leaves for Parris Island tonight ... semper fi Tig. We love you. We'll see you at USMC Graduation in September - get down there and earn your title, I know you have it in you.

Allie and the Angry Alien by Emma

Emma wrote this great story and I thought you all might like to read it. Okay so you can't read the scanned story but I am transcribing it below exactly as written so as not to ruin the original charm.

Allie and the Angray Alien by Emma Ward

Allie Winter is very happy. Today had been the last day of school. She was so happy that she did a handstand. Suddenly she thoght she saw something move in the bushes. She looked at them for a moment until she decided she had imagined it.

Suddenly something jumped out. She sreamed and ran down the road. Looking back she saw that it was .......a dog. She laughed as she stoped and turned around. She said to the dog you scared me. She started to walk home again. The dog followed her! Go home. She said. Woof the dog said. Suddnly she saw movement in the bushes. Did you bring your dog friends. She asked the dog. An alien jumped out of the bushes! She yelled and tried to run but the alien grabbed her and jumped on her and started clawing her back. She elbowed him throwing him off and dazzing him. She took her showlace and tied him to a lamp post.

Because of this he could no longer hurt her.Let me go. I came in peace. i'll let you go when you tell me why you hurt me she said. I am in no rush she added. Okay I will tell you. First of all my name is Bobbie not Alien. Okay she said but why did you hurt me. Don't interrupt Bobbie said. I am from Mars. I came from space. My U.F.O. crashed on this strange planet. What do you call this place? Earth she said. They had a long talk.

Until finally Bobbie said I will tell you why I hurt you. Do you know who that dog belongs to? No. She is my dog and I am very scared of her getting lost. Her name Is Snowball. Thank you for finding her.

As a reward you can have one of her pupies. She has pupies? Yes, I will bring them in a week and as promised bobie appeared in a week with the cutest puppy in the world.

Playin’ at the park

We went down to the elementary school playground last night after gorging ourselves on lasagna and Strawberry Pie.  I definitely needed a walk.  The kids rode their bikes down while us oldies walked.  The air conditioning has come back on in Washington (ie the weather has cooled down to normal temps) so it is great to be outside.

Here is a picture of the kids playing a game.  The point of the game is to hold back as many kids as you can.  Katie plays this at recess and claims she can hold back 5 kids!

Photos of AZ

I got in last night and after I got settled Dad and I went for a walk in the neighborhood. The temperature is actually quite nice.

This morning when I woke up I lost Mom and Dad ... sorry. Just kidding =) Mom and Dad went to church this morning. I asked Mom if people were surprised to see Dad and she said, "no, people know that Dad comes right back to church after surgery."

I was surprised by how much is still in bloom. Most of it is non-native but it is still lovely. I was also glad to see that the Ficus trees recovered well from last winter's frost. I didn't take any pictures but they look really pretty.

The Golfer

Dad and I went to the course this AM and played skins on the putting green. Dad won me handily. Dang him! Even with a bad heart I can't best him!

dad

Dad has had an irregular heartbeat for at least three days. The upper chamber of his heart is "fluttering" instead of pumping strongly. The doctor has incr on eased one of his meds and put him on coumidin. We have to go back Friday for another ekg--we see the surgeon in the morning. He says he feels better tonight. Keep him in your prayers.

Some more photos from my garden

I think that Peonies have the most fantastic bloom!

Dad is doing good. I had him put his heart pillow in the photo it is the only way you can tell he had the surgery. He is getting around the house, and can walk about a block outside. He has gone on a few short car rides even made it to the first hour of church yesterday. If you are coming bring any books you think Dad might like. He is reading a high speed, I told him today he would have to read the JCPenney catalogue next.


This looked like what the Easter bunny must bring in AZ.

I also included some photos of the cactus in bloom. Kind of fun to see I have always been here in the winter before.

I am going home tomorrow, Charlie will be here to blog on tonight.