Amy graduated!!!

To the left is a picture of a small portion of Amy's support team as she has studied her way through college.

In the center is boyfriend Nate, peeking around her tassel. Nate is very outgoing and fun and we got to know him quite well in the few short days we were in New York.

And finally a picture of the happy grad/alumnus. So where does she go from here? With a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, History and Education, Amy plans to enter the University of Albany SUNY (same school as her undergrad work) and earn a Master's Degree in the accelerated Mental Health program which will entitle her to take a certification exam. After that she will be allowed to legally council others. She hopes to someday gain a PhD in her field.

Need we say we are proud of our third granddaughter? She graduated magna cum laude. Many cords and medallions draped her graduate's robe, signifying the National Honor Society of Phi Alpha Theta,; the Psychology National Honor Society and the Education International Honor society. Most important to Grandpa and me she'll always be the little red-headed live wire that we've loved since the first time we saw her in 1987.

We hugged all the Santellers good-bye yesterday and are now in attendance at an Exploritas (formerly Elderhostel) in Warwick, NY, studying the Steinway Piano, the Rockefellers and contemporary authors - very exciting.

Til later, love you all, Grandma for Grandpa and me

Anna had a birthday - #11!

For nearly a month now I've been trying to tell everyone about Anna's birthday party, but this !@#$%&*blogspot just won't cooperate. I want the world to know about this fun event so much that I'm going to tell the story anyway, even though I'm not allowed to arrange the pictures the way I want. You can see to the left that Anna managed those candles with no problem. Oh! How nice. The computer liked the picture so much, it put it in a second time. (Look below.) Now it won't let go of the duplicate.

This photo was suppose to be number three after you view the one below because it shows the anticipation of gifts arriving. Oh, well. The computer won again!

I just had to show this photo of Anna in a shawl knitted by a friend who is about the same age as Anna. They go to Home School Coop together. Anna has many talented friends.

Kindly Uncle Dave. He emailed Anna telling her he distinctly recalled that Aunt Deb received a live pony on her 11th birthday. It didn't work - Anna will have to wait a few years for that pleasure.

This was a special year for Anna. One of her activities has been to visit some Cincinnati archives to do historical research about her city. (Of course, she was accompanied by her father.)

Sorry about the bad blog service. Maybe they will improve the site when I'm not looking.

Love you all, Grandma for Grandpa and me

Happy Birthday, Justy

He managed to blow out all 12 candles and eat the cake, too (with the help of family and friends).
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Here are some random shots from his party. You can put your own captions on.






Love you all, Grandma for Grandpa and me

Let me tell you about our weekend in Cincinnati...

It all came about because Aunt Deb was presented, along with 175 other Hamilton County, Ohio authors, a Recognition Certificate by the Ohioana Library for living in Ohio and having a book published. Not nearly all the authors showed for the event, but enough to make it very, very interesting. (It's appropriate to announce that Aunt Deb's book has a total of 13 copies in the Cincinnati library and they are always checked out. Let's breathe a prayer that they will inspire someone to adopt a family-less child!)

The authors wrote about such varied subjects as quilting, historic Ohio, histories of lesser known organizations such as church parishes, illustrated books for children, the Ordovician Sea, sports, murder - there was even a young black woman, probably still in her 20s, who wrote her memoirs that included the murder of her father when she was 14 years of age. Oh, to have the time to read them all.

Every author will have his/her book deposited in the archives of the Ohioana Library in Columbus, Ohio, so the story of the adoption of Anna, A Dress for Anna, will live on. People can enjoy it and learn from it long after the author and her family are gone.

Need I say Grandpa and I are well-pleased with our daughter? Now, we know you've done things we'd like to hear about and maybe bloviate a little, too. So send your stories and pictures to me and we'll get them on the Gazette.

Love you all, Grandma for Grandpa and me

Better late than never...

...but better never late. My apologies for taking so long to write about the very first wedding of our grandchildren‘s generation, but, you know, our travels, Thanksgiving, Christmas, cataract surgery… Today is the day(!) for me to give you a few facts that perhaps didn't get to you already. I know most of you have seen the traditional wedding pictures on Facebook, but also know a few more will be welcome.
Heather and Cole are celebrating 3 months of marriage (wedding date October 24, 2010) after a picture-perfect wedding ceremony at historic Broadus Chapel on the campus of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary(SBTS) in Louisville, Kentucky.

After a honeymoon cruise to exotic places like Cozumel, Miami, Key West and other ports, Mr. and Mrs. Harper have settled (if you want to call it that!) once again on the SBTS campus where Heather is earning a bachelor’s in Christian Counseling at Boyce College, working in the college bookstore, keeping Cole company and tending the house. (A charming aside: Her boss told us she is his number one “boy;” meaning his best worker. Then he gave us a discount for the items we purchased. We like him!)
Cole is earning his Master of Divinity degree. Since he wants Heather to finish college before they leave SBTS, he is working in the school’s library/museum, so when he isn’t handling books, you might find him wrestling a mummy up a staircase or dealing with a tablet containing Hammurabi’s Code. He plans to become a youth pastor (college age) at a church or a university. Heather will undoubtedly find many ways to use the knowledge she has gleaned in her classes at SBTS, as they travel life's path together.
As if the wedding wasn’t exciting enough, it turns out Cole is an identical twin and his best man was a duplicate. Can you imagine the confusion involved in this situation? I'm happy I heard Heather say she can tell Cole from Caleb.

Now! Which one is the groom?














Heather and Cole showed up at the rehearsal dinner in rather unconventional wedding garb. Even their chairs were dressed for the occasion.









The wedding reception was held in what appeared to be an ante-bellum mansion. It was the end of a very beautiful day and the beginning of a lifetime of joy for Heather and Cole.















Congratulations and Happy three-month Anniversary to the Harpers. May God bless you as you work for Him.
Love you all, Grandma for Grandpa and me