Dinner at Spring Run

On April 27, 2012, our youngest daughter, Suzy, attended an engineering convention at the Lancaster Convention Center yesterday and today, and came to visit with us today about 3 PM. We had a good chance to discuss what is going on in their lives and those of Andy and Meghan. Monday is Meghan’s last day of her first of two years of graduate school at Penn, and Andy takes his next exam in actuarial studies in late May. They are looking forward to several weeks in Japan this summer and a week at the beach with Suzy and Fran.

Nancy and Gary Bennett joined us at 5 PM for their usual Friday evening visit, and we learned that May 10th is Ellie’s last exam at Georgetown Law Center. On May 14th she will begin twelve weeks of work at Cleery, Gottlieg, Senner, and Hamilton in Washington, DC., except that from June 8 to July 7 she will be in Brussles, Belgium. Gary had a good time last weekend helping Geoff work on some grading and drainage problems in Abington.

We had a fun dinner together at Spring Run at 6 PM. What could be better than enjoying a visit with grown children?

Henry floats

Rachel Lassman brought Henry and Dillon to Willow Valley for lunch and an afternoon in the pool on this Easter Monday. We are so glad the great-grand children enjoy our pool as much as I do.
Henry is five, and attends Pre-Kindergarten this year, while Dillon is three and is in his first year of Pre-School, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. They shared their mother’s attention very comfortably, and each played quietly while she was occupied with the other. Rachel is a very good mother, and we are delighted whenever we can spend time with them.

Conversation before dinner

All of Nancy Bennett’s family came home to celebrate Gary’s 65th birthday and Easter Sunday. We had fifteen people, with three boys aged three, four, and five, and four dogs, including Willie, who sometimes thinks he is a boy, too. Michael and Rachel kept Henry, Jack, and Dillon busy upstairs while Elly and Gary prepared the delicious meal.
Matt Best joined us from NYC, and we had time to hear about Elly’s exciting plans for the summer. On May 14 she starts twelve weeks of work with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, and Hamilton LLP, including four weeks in June in Brussels, Belgium. In the fall she will be in London for the first semester of her third year of Georgetown University Law Center, and after graduation in May 2013 will start full time at Cleery.

Jaime and Amy are expecting their new baby on August 29, 2012, and will probably not be here again until after that big event. Geoff and Amanda are planning their wedding for September 1, 2013, in Abington, and both had much to share about their jobs. Al and I returned to Willow Valley about 5 PM, aglow with satisfaction about the Grand Day, and pleased with how much everyone seems to enjoy each others company.

Jaime performs his magic

Jaime Lassman turned seven years of age the month I bought my first computer, an Apple Macintosh, in December 1984. He now earns his living as the technology and curriculum expert at The Lexington School in Kentucky, and is the one I turn to whenever I have a problem. My current problem is that Apple is discontinuing MobileMe the end of June, so I needed a new e-mail address and a new host for my website. Today Jaime performed his magic, and I now have a jebest6@gmail.com account and am in the process of getting http://jebest.com as the website.

While all this was going on Amy and Jack were swimming and playing under the watchful eyes of Gary Bennett and Al at the North pool. Jack is a four year old, bright-eyed bundle of energy, curious about everything, and a joy to watch. He is due to become a big brother the end of August, and we could not be happier. We all spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on the news since Christmas when we saw them last. We will see them of Sunday when we go to Nancy and Gary’s home for Easter dinner.

Sunday Dinner

Palm Sunday was a beautiful spring day, and became even better when Anna and Mike Himes’ family arrived after Sunday School for what has become a traditional visit. Ryan has graduated from a hot dog to fried shrimp for Sunday dinner. Leela no longer needs my hand to walk around the wall in the courtyard while her parents finish a more leisurely dinner inside.

Swimming for two hours is still important, and the time I spend talking with Anna during that time is priceless. Leela and Ryan have a special relationship, and he even lets her comb his hair. Molly has a pet cat that seems almost real, and the girls play all kinds of imaginative little games. Snack time with root beer is part of the routine, and three little bags of pretzels and Cheerios must be prepared for the ride home. They were looking forward to supper at a Taco Bell to celebrate Ryan’s making the baseball team he wanted to join.

Al and I really appreciate a day like this because it gives us so great an opportunity to watch their beautiful family in action as they grow and develop. .