Father's Day 2007

What a wonderful day we enjoyed as a family. We gathered in Dallas for lunch and to wish my Dad a "Happy Father's Day" It was fun to have Melinda here, too. (She took the pictures!)


Brian, Kirsten & children

Nathan, Pam & children

The Hayes family had arrived from Russia but had gone to San Antonio for the weekend.

Melinda, Christine and Brooklyn with Mom & Dad

We got together as much as we could while both Melinda and the Hayes were here and wished for Dave, Cody and Drew. There is always lots of laughter when the Anderson big kids get together and you can imagine the excitement with 14 children from age 1 to 13 running around.

Brian, Christine, Melinda & Nathan

Sisters and "Best Friends"

Kirsten, Christine, Melinda & Pam

Mom & Dad Greene

The very night I returned from Arizona, Paul and I were wakened with a phone call from my mother telling us that Dad had fallen and thought he had broken his arm. He was right . . . the fall broke his left arm and it took an emergency crew to lift him and take him to the hospital. He spent about 5 days in the hospital and then almost 3 weeks in a nursing facility following that. He has not recovered from the trauma to his body since the fall and has increasingly been losing strength. He is now back with Mom at White Rock Court where they moved in March and Hospice is now involved in helping us care for him. He is not improving and seems only to be losing ground. Our goal is to keep him comfortable (and he loves it when Paul brings Duffy for a visit). There are good days and bad days and Mom is doing the best she can and trying not to be discouraged. We are daily looking to the Lord for strength and encouragement. We know that Dad's time is in God's hands . . . we are trusting Him!

The Chapmans in Arizona

It is now June . . . where does the time go??? The week after Easter, I went to Arizona to stay with Drew and Austin while Dave and Melinda went on a vacation to Costa Rica. "Babysitting" the Chapman boys sure has changed over the years. I kept them fed and in clean clothes and we did manage a little conversation in between school, work, and their various church and other activities. They live very busy lives! I also got to take care of their two golden retrievers, Payton and Reggie. It was the easiest "babysitting" job I have ever had :-). These Chapman boys have grown up overnight . . . Paul and I are so proud of them and the fine young men they are growing up to be.
Dave and Melinda had a great time in Costa Rica and made it home with lots of fun pictures and stories of their time there . . . hiking through rain forests, near a volcano, enjoying the ocean and all the wild life.

School is over now for the Chapmans and Cody is back home and working as a summer intern for a medical engineering co.. Austin is getting ready to go to a LaCrosse camp and Drew is going on a missions trip to Poland.

He is Risen!

I have used words like "Anderson Antics" and "Anderson Family Fun". . . because we do have fun when we are together and there are plenty of "antics". . . but . . . we share sad times as well. Last November, our grandniece, Lindsey Boehm passed away suddenly. She was 5 years old and even though she was born with a heart defect . . . she seemed to be doing well and it was expected that when she was older, her heart defect could be fixed with surgery. Her death took everyone by surprise. That same month, my brother Mike Greene was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which had metastasized to his liver. He underwent some surgery, blood transfusions and chemotherapy in an attempt to reverse the cancer . . . but God chose to take him home on January 21st. Mike was at peace with God and he died surrounded by his family (including me and my other brother, Tim) as we were singing " Safe In The Arms of Jesus". He and Lindsey are together in Glory. Today is Easter Sunday and we are again reminded that Jesus Christ defeated death and our hope is in Him. We know that we too, will one day be with Christ and Mike and Lindsey. "He is risen . . . He is risen indeed!"

Family Dinner

Here they are . . . Nathan and Pam!

The Big Egg Hunt

Joshua is ready to find all those eggs!

Max's bucket is full & running over!

"Look Grandma"

Happy Birthday Abigail

Happy 1st Birthday Abby!

Daddy says "blow Abby"

Abby loves her new baby doll.

The Anderson Family

I am discovering that one of the most fun aspects of creating this blog is that I am hearing from friends I haven't talked to, seen or heard from in quite a while. I love it!

Some of you have asked me to identify who is who. I will do a better job of that in the future postings . . . I am still learning!

In the meantime, I have a few pictures of my family to identify each of them . . . although I couldn't find a recent photo of Pam or Nathan . . . I will have my camera ready when we are together for Easter .

This is a picture of Paul and me (although, ahem, my hair is a little darker now :-), with our newest grandchild, Abigail - #17 and our sweet "Duffy".


The Chapmans live in Arizona. Dave and Melinda have three boys: Cody is a Jr. in college in CA majoring in Physics (and baseball :-), Drew is a Jr. in High School and the family musician, and Austin is 14 and a LaCrosse player.

More Family Pictures

Brian and Kirsten live in Texas and have 4 children: Emily - 10, Alex - 8, Cassidy - 6, and Zachary - 3.

Steve and Christine Hayes live in Russia and have 4 daughters: Madison - turning 11 in one week, Cady - 8, Aubrie - 6, and Brooklyn Mildred Jean (named after her great grandmother, Mildred Jean Greene :-) is 2

You can read more about their family at: http://hayeshere.blogspot.com

Nathan and Pam also live in Texas and have 6 children: Isaac - 13, Timmy - 12, Jordan - 10, Max - 7, Joshua - 3 and Abigail who is turning 1 in a few weeks.

"Surprise"

Recently, we decided to pull a little surprise on Brian. Brian turns 40 on April 13th. When Melinda turned 40, we all decided to surprise her and drove to AZ where her sister and brothers (in disguise) followed her in a store while acting strange. It was videotaped by Steve. It was obvious she noticed these strange people but didn't recognize them and in fact thought they were stalking her. Was she surprised to find out who they were! So . . . in turn . . . Melinda and Dave disguised themselves as senior citizens and were seated in the dining room of the retirement center where Mom and Dad are now living and Paul and Brian just "happened" to stop by with a plant for the folks when they were on their way to Mom and Dad's house to move some furniture. Ruth was also there and when all were in place, she moved to the piano and began playing "Happy Birthday", the entire dining room joined in and Brian was looking around to see whose Birthday it was. Imagine his surprise when these children came down the stairs with signs and balloons and then a "little old lady" came and kissed him on the cheek and put a cap on his head. We got him!! Happy Birthday Brian.

Joshua, Alex, Max and Zachary

Austin and Cassidy

Isaac, Cassidy, Austin and Drew

"Old Man Brian", Emily and Timmy

"Old Man Brian" and his young bride

Brian and Melinda

Guess Who?

A glimpse into the future?