Thanks Everybody!

Thanks for the stuffed Holstein cow Heather and John! I'm sure our grandsons will love it! Thanks too, for the cute card. I'm sure they will like that, too, but only with supervision (it moos!). As you can see, I have survived turning 51 - didn't hurt a bit! We are on chore detail today, but I have my most-favorite morning in tomorrow!
I have to thank Connie for lunch on Friday, and a cute card with a toe-ring inside. I'm wearing it in the picture (the toe ring, not the card!), you just can't see my feet. Helps keep me young-at-heart!
Thanks Mary for the nice card, too. I didn't get over to pick any beans while you were gone, but thanks for the offer....
Mara got the jump on everybody this morning, by posting Birthday Wishes for me on their blog at 1:12 am! Can't imagine what she was doing up at that time - yes, I can - studying! In a week or so she will officially be a second year med student - way to go, Mara!! Mike will also be jumping back into classes this week. I also got a phone message from Mara while we were milking in the evening - thanks for the beautiful song!
We spoke with the world-travellers last night. Josh, Debora and Thomas got home yesterday and will be trying to get back on schedule today. Tomorrow Debora will be taking her Citizenship Test - best of luck to her!!! She will then know more than the average US citizen about our country, I'm ashamed to say. We also talked with them this afternoon - they sounded much more rested up today! Thanks for the cute song, Josh - I'll have to think up a good one for you!
Check out Sally and Scott's blog for some really cute pictures of Sam! He is such a ham!! That picture sporting his new front tooth is adorning our computer background. I got to talk with the Aho family this afternoon, too. I think the message on my cell phone was a duet - love it!
I am hoping for another chance to get some pictures of our boys together before the Bacons move to Germany!
This noon we are going to my folks' for dinner, and hope to get over to see Uncle Laverne while we are down that direction. Connie has also invited us over this forenoon to meet their friends from Minneapolis, who just happen to be Bacons, too. Sounds like a fun day between chore-times! It was nice to meet Jack and Chris Bacon at Connie and Mike's. He has done a lot of genealogical research, but we didn't know enough of our own background to see where/if we tie in with his. A site to check out is RootsWeb.com where you can see what other people have researched. Some is free access. Great dinner at my folks - Dad fixed fish - yum!! We had a really nice sit-and-visit time with them, then headed for Wild Rose. Uncle Laverne looked great! He has such a positive attitude. He credited it to the pain meds, but also said that he felt Saturday was a turning point for him. A postive attitude can sure go a long way... We will try to get to see him as often as we can. His room is pretty much bare-bones, but that may be easier for them to keep cleaner (I don't think sterile is something they know about) for him. I had to go and hunt up a fly-swatter for him, as there was a couple pestering him and he kept swatting at them with his bandaged hands! I had to go out and buy one, and Dan was able to dispatch a couple of them. When we were getting ready to leave, his nephew Ben(?) Eastling stopped in with some fresh-picked blackberries. They looked delicious! We were glad we stopped over. If you have the chance, go see him - he really enjoys visiting!