The Price of Freedom!

I made this "Price of Freedom" sampler some years ago. Its words summarize the meaning of the day: "The Price of Freedom Is Eternal Vigilance." We are very grateful for those who put their lives on the line to secure the many freedoms that we enjoy today in our country. And, may God continue to bless America!

Our family has had a really nice day. Melany, Wade, and Erin came to have lunch with all of us and to spend the afternoon here. All three families pitched in with food. Nathan grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we had all the trimmings. We ate over at Nathan and Kathy's on their covered back porch...good thing that it was covered, as part way through the meal we had a rain shower. Woody had gone to get the watermelon and had to come back under an umbrella. After lunch the children played, Melany and Wade gardened for Woody and me...weeding, planting a couple of baby Crepe Myrtle trees, filling the bird feeder, etc., and Woody rested. After the yardwork, we started drifting back into our house. For a while the children were all at Kathy and Nathan's with Erin overseeing and the adults were at our house enjoying the quiet. This respite only lasted a short time, as the children very soon started arriving a couple at a time! Games and puzzles became the focus of the rest of the afternoon...Chinese Checkers, Chutes and Ladders, Cat and Mouse Trails puzzle, brain teaser puzzles, and the BIGGEST challenge of the day: Gordian's Knot Puzzle...Graham had started working on this some days ago and he brought it out to see if his daddy could get it apart. Nathan finally got one of the pieces off and then worked and worked to get the rest off and just couldn't...he handed it to Graham and about 15 seconds later all the pieces were apart! We are all hoping that Alex is having a great time at Space Camp...he was our missing person at today's family gathering! Elijah enjoyed the food at his first Memorial Day picnic...Goosey (Woody) was his official feeder at the picnic (in other words...Woody sat closest to Elijah!).

Woody got up early and walked his 12-mile route...to the movie theater and back. He said that he was glad to rest when he got back home. After lunch, he did get to hurting pretty badly when he came home to rest from the festivities. He ended up taking some pain medication which made him sleep rather soundly while yardwork was being done...and he continued to snooze for a while after we came back inside...our talking didn't seem to bother him. Again, his pain isn't all over...just mainly in the scapular area...a very hard place to not put pressure...sometimes it is just about impossible for him to find a comfortable position to sit or lie down.

We are supposed to hear from NIH tomorrow to find out if we will be going back to Bethesda, MD next week.