Christmas Socks

Several years ago, I bought Christmas socks for everyone in my family. For the next few years, I reminded them that everybody but me had Christmas socks. So finally, last year I got a pair of socks from everybody! The picture shows the few pairs that aren't currently in the laundry basket, because I've been wearing them!

Wedding, and Flooding, and Baseball, oh my!

We're back home after a trip to the St. Louis area for my nephew Tom's wedding. We detoured through and around flooded areas of Minnesota and Iowa on the way down, but still managed to arrive in time for the rehearsal dinner. We had a beautiful (but warm) day for the outdoor wedding, even if things got a late start when the photographer got lost on the way to the park. The hi-lite of this Cardinals-themed event, however, was the special appearance by Fredbird (the Cardinals mascot) at the reception. We were proud to be the strange relatives in the Cardinals T-shirts when he showed up. It was also wonderful to have all of my siblings together for the first time in a long time, plus seven of the nine nieces and nephews from the younger generation. And one grand-nephew (boy does that make me sound old!).

Mike's family also lives in the area, so we watched nephew Zachary's baseball game, and took a trip to nearby wineries for a relaxing afternoon with the in-laws before once again turning northward. The homebound trip took us through flooded areas in Missouri, where the water was still rising, and in Iowa, where the water had now receded. We arrived home safely to find one fallen tree in the back yard, but last year's waterproofing and the new sump pump have proven their worth in this wet, stormy, spring.