. . . eighty•two . . .

. . . well . . . 

. . . as {bad} luck 

{and even worse health} 

would have it . . .

. . . my dad spent his valentine's birthday 

in the hospital . . .

. . . again . . .

. . . but, our prayers are being answered . . . 

. . . and he is feeling/looking SO much better 

than at this time last week . . .

. . . believe me! . . .

. . . permission was granted to 

celebrate in the hospital cafeteria . . .

. . . which closes at 7 p.m. . . .

. . . and children under the age of twelve are allowed . . . 

. . . i would be personally in favor of 

some kind of immunity . . . 

. . . you know ~ protection from breaking an arm 

when you are 80+ years old . . .

. . . which is {sadly} exactly what happened 

four weeks ago today . . .

. . . it is nothing short of miraculous that 

my siblings and i were 

all in the same place at the same time . . .

. . . because as soon as one brother 

finally moved back to arizona 

{following many years away} . . .

. . . another promptly moved out of state . . .

. . . such poor planning . . .

{hospital lighting/cheap camera flash = not so flattering}

. . . thanks for coming, daren . . .

. . . so that baby jack 

{not daren's baby} . . .

. . . could meet baby ava 

{daren's baby} . . .

. . . and baby elliott . . .

{i'm upset about no photos of baby tagg or baby tyler}

. . . addi and halleigh were 

proud to present 

their handmade birthday cards . . .

. . . and birthday hugs to grandpa great . . .

. . . uncles . . .

. . . aunts . . .

. . . and longtime . . .

. . . friends were on hand . . .

. . . to mark the start of year number eighty•three . . .

. . . happy, happy birthday, dad . . .

. . . love you lots . . .

. . . giving credit where credit is due . . .

. . . thanks, heather, for getting us all together . . .

{and just for fun at our house, 

we're sporting a nasty case of MRSA ~ 

bill's version of job's boils, apparently}