MOMENTOUS MOMENT IN MAY

On May 29th Kathy and John were married in a beautiful setting in Sedona, Arizona, among the red rocks with a mountain stream in the background.  Family and friends joined them afterwards at a restaurant for dinner and the "Cutting of the Wedding Cake" ceremony. (See the two photos below.)  Andy took over a hundred other photos of the wedding and the dinner.  Those photos can be viewed at...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=ahiatt&target=ALBUM&id=5341524272012911777&authkey=Gv1sRgCJTMuZXvnqOlFQ&invite=CLnVpys&feat=email

(You can also view the ceremony on the video clip below.)

KATHY AND JOHN GET MARRIED

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

All mothers were little girls once.  All mothers were teenagers once.  All mothers were young, eager brides once.  And, of course, all mothers had a baby to cuddle and nurture once (or twice, or more times).

Each human being has only one birth mother.  If we are blessed, we keep that birth mother for a lifetime--a lifetime of memories

The video below is a montage of my mother's life from 1911 to 2001.  She saw this on her 90th birthday (before macular degeneration took her eyesight from her).  In April of this year she celebrated her 98th birthday (see earlier post below).  Her husband, Lowell, passed away in 2005.

This posting is in honor of you, Mother.

Ruth Kelly Haggard (my mother) Through the Years

Caitlyn awake!

The three pictures below show my three grandsons, Travis, Jared, and Sammy in the bottom picture.  In the middle picture is Grandma Trunnell (fixing refreshments) and Grandpa Trunnell (on the far end of the kitchen) with Aaron (proud papa in bare feet) talking to my son Darrell (leaning against counter).  The top picture shows my daughter-in-law Tracy with the new mother and baby.

The pictures above show the assorted relatives that gathered  April 11th to meet the new baby...

My Reward for Living This Long...

The pictures of me above were taken before I started this blog; but I think they are very appropriate as a posting for my 77th Birthday (May 2, 2009).  Little Caitlyn Trunnell was born to my granddaughter Christy on March 12.  On April 11th we were able to travel a hundred miles south to the Phoenix area, where she and her husband had brought the new arrival from California to meet his parents--plus numerous other relatives from the area around Phoenix.  Caitlyn is my first direct-line great grandchild (daughter of my daughter's daughter).  So being able to hold that precious little bundle is reward enough for living this long!

Today is May Day.  This is also the last day of my 77th year here on this planet!  Tomorrow I turn officially 77.   I guess I look my age.  My official photo at the top of this blog was taken almost a year ago; but the photo on my anniversary post was taken on April 27 of this year.  It really doesn't matter how old or young one looks--only how old one feels.  How old I feel varies from day to day; but most of the time I think of myself as forty something.  Sometimes I act as though I'm twenty something--until my arthritis reminds me of reality!  Sometime in the near future I think I'll post a list of things I have learned in my lifetime--particularly those things that I hope my children and grandchildren don't have to learn the hard way.  In the meantime I need to finish some chores outside while the weather is so perfect for working outdoors!

Springtime in Arizona

Anniversary Rose Bush

We're sometimes asked how we manage to stay happy and stay together so long when we both were divorced from our first mates.  The following is a set of "rules" we agreed upon while we were still "just friends;" and they have served us well:

~~Never part from each other without kissing each other “goodbye,” and greet each  other with a smile and a kiss--because God brought you back together again.  (This applies even if you’re just going out to the store and back again.)

~~Never complain about each other’s messes!  If they really bother you, give each other a place to put his/her stuff. 

~~If you have a disagreement (and it’s not worth a divorce), let him/her have his/her way and say that you reserve the right to say “I told you so!” (but never say it.)  Each person has the right to be “right” only 3 times a month.  After that, shut up and smile!  The next month starts over.

~~Talk to each other about your expectations (i.e,. who takes out the trash, does the gardening, cleans the house, puts dirty laundry in the hamper, etc., etc.  Whoever criticizes the way the other does a routine task gets to take over the task permanently.

~~Money.  Keep separate bank accounts.  This is a must!  You then agree on who pays what.

~~When you’re unhappy or dissatisfied with little idiosyncrasies of the other, don’t be afraid to say so.  Chances are that the other wasn’t aware of this.

~~Say “Please” and “Thank you” even for the smallest of favors you do for each other--even for what you expect such as taking out the trash or cooking dinner.  Say “I love you today” five days a week--leave two days for guessing.

~~You should each take time to pursue your own interests and hobbies.  Don’t spend all your efforts trying to please each other.  Give each other time freedom.

~~Take time to be together exploring activities you enjoy doing together.  Take a least one vacation week together that doesn’t include visiting family.

SMILE A LOT!

37th ANNIVERSARY FOR GRANDMA & GRANDPA

Speech that earned a 100% for Jeannine

Birthday girl and the cake she shared with speech students

Since my wife and I enjoy the blogs of several of our grandchildren, I decided to set up one for Grandma and Grandpa to put out there for any of them that want to keep up with the "old folks." Unfortunately, I am the only one that even does email.  Grandma has learned to print out sudoku puzzles and to pull up the websites of the grandchildren to explore all the latest news and photos.  Beyond that, playing solitaire is her main interaction with our older PC.  I use my new Mac for everything else--mainly finances and general research and current events.

I just returned from New Mexico, where I visited my 98-year-old mother on her birthday.  My neice (and her granddaughter) gave a speech at the local community college regarding her grandmother.  I captured the whole 4-minute event on video disc for posterity and for her to share with other relatives.  I tried to email it back to her yesterday, but my server rejected it because it was over 34 MB in size.  Then I remembered that I had seen several video clips on the aforementioned blog sites.  So here are several of the digital photos plus the video of the speech...