If you have family, you're rich.

     Do you remember the TV show M*A*S*H?   On that show the character, Colonel Potter, said:  "I don't care how poor a man is, if he has family, he's rich."  Colonel Potter was a wise man, and we are very, very rich.
     The week before last we flew to Wisconsin to spend 3 days in a Door County cabin with our children and grandchildren.  It was absolutely wonderful.  My husband taught the grandchildren how not to catch fish, but they had fun casting.  They especially liked being on the water, learning to row a rowboat, and playing games of horseshoes.  A state park and Lake Michigan were nearby for hiking, swimming, and burying people in the sand on the beach.  A campfire and marshmallow-roast at night were fun, as well as standing at the end of the dock to view the night-time sky.  What more can anyone ask of a vacation? That plus being thankful for Dean's regaining his health.
     We will have to do this again soon.  It is so rare that all eight of us can be together at once since we live in different parts of the country.  We are everlastingly grateful to our kids for setting it all up. 
    

Our beautiful family.

                                        

Dean and I.

Celebrating my birthday with cake and a game of Apples to Apples.

Stars and a tree in the Wisconsin night.

"Like branches on a tree, our lives may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one." 
                                                    author unknown

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
                                                    Jane Howard