Dear Kids,
          We’ve been inundated with birds! There are hundreds of robins and mountain bluebirds around our house. And lots of lgb’s, too. (Little gray birds.) They crash into our windows on a regular basis. Oreo hears the thunk, stretches, and saunters out to pick up his lunch. Meanwhile, the magpies have moved farther up the mountain. 
          We were glad to see several of you at Grandpa’s birthday party Friday night. I was sorry your kids weren’t invited, but it was nice to be able to visit everybody in a calm atmosphere. There was a great video that Nancy put together with the pictures that Andy and Renae scanned. Bonnie said they’ll show it again at Grandpa’s funeral. On one hand, we don’t want him die any time soon, but on the other hand, he’s anxious to be with Grandma. In fact, at his birthday party, when we were singing "Happy Birthday to You," I held back from singing "and many more . . . "
          The log posts at the entryway of our driveway fell down. Actually, they fell down when we gently pushed them, because they were both tipping badly. They could have fallen on a grandchild, or they could have been lying in our path on a Sunday morning when we were anxious to get to church. So we pushed them over, and Dad has been cutting them into firewood. We’re trying to decide on a new entryway. If any of you have any ideas, let us know.
          Our new house? We’re practically there! Everything has been done now except the garage doors, and maybe that won’t be much longer. When we drove past last week and I saw that they had finally hauled away the debris across the street, and leveled out the last two dirt hills, I knew they were serious about finishing. So maybe we’ll be able to start moving soon.
          Life is good! Love, Mom