Dad's and Mother's 68th Wedding Anniversary

Today is my parents' 68th wedding anniversary.

Lynn organized a fantastic dinner party with her daughter, Chef Anna, making us a fantastic meal.

It was really snazzy ... with fancy dishes, a spectacular centerpiece and dozens of pictures from the last 68 years.

  It was a huge success.

Happy 68th Anniversary to my wonderful parents.

Leonard Cohen says it best:

George loves Apples .....

George loves Apples.

All kinds of Apples.

He even wears Apple clothes.

Ruth Gardner turns 87

Along with her new friends at the Aldersgate Village Memory Care Unit ... 

on January 12th we helped Oma celebrate her 87th birthday with a yummy double chocolate birthday cake

and colorful fun presents.

Happy 87th Birthday to Oma.

Christmas 2015

This year we took Christmas to our parents. We had a nice Christmas Eve dinner at Aldersgate with Oma and friends

followed by a Christmas Day blow-out at the Gs' house.

That evening Jake treated all of us to a first class Christmas Dinner of Steak Oscar ... now known as Jake Oscar. It was exceptional. Photos followed.

While I was able to get the traditional cousin photo,

but somehow, despite spending days together, I missed getting a family group shot of Samantha, Jake and kids.

Somebody else took this photo ... to the tune of

"It Must Have Been The Mistletoe"

Merry Christmas 2015.

Sewer line for Christmas

After babying our decrepit sewer line for years, it finally shot craps. (Aren't I a funny guy?) The project involved digging a 100 foot trench (6 to 9 feet deep) from the house to the alley and burying a new line. No big deal.

 Maybe a yard in the spring. In the meantime .... flush.

TEDx Topeka

TEDx Topeka.

Tonight we attended TEDx Topeka where we were captivated by 8 fascinating and stimulating presentations by Topeka people. It was a total blast.

Topics included:
"The Power of Humility in the Age of the Selfie"

"Growing Solutions to Feed the World"
"Taxation Myths and Realities"

"Neuro Linguistics Programing: The Female Mindset Redefined"

"Transgender in Kansas"

Topeka is cooler than I thought.

International Desserts

Today we hosted AFS foreign exchange high school students for a Holiday Party featuring International Desserts. They each bring a dessert from their home country

and tell of a holiday custom and how their family celebrates it. 

These kids are great. 

Only 9 students this year. But everyone of them is a winner.

Oh yes ... Verena, the Mueldener's exchange student from 2002-2003, was back for a visit. She is very accomplished and super sophisticated.

It is really fun watching these kids grow up. Most of them do it sooooo very well.

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving continues to evolve as the most eclectic Crow Holiday of the year. This year it included Bev and her family as well as Lynn and two of her sweet daughters. Although it might appear to be a Christmas photo, here is a Thanksgiving Lunch photo of our fun and diverse group.

I like to think that the very first Thanksgiving Dinner ... shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians in 1621 ... was equally fun and diverse.

We also got to visit Oma and give her a Thanksgiving Day hug. Although she is more "fuzzy headed" every day, she is thriving in her home at Aldersgate's Village.

Happy Thanksgiving 2015.

The World of Crow is 10 years old

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of The World of Crow.

Not counting this one, there are 425 posts. The first post can be found here.

Maybe they'll get more interesting someday. Unlikely, but maybe.

Halloween Weekend - 2015

Halloween weekend ... now more than 2 weeks ago ... was a blast and a half. It all started when Mark (and his friend David) drove in from Minneapolis on October 29th to celebrate his 61st birthday at Aldersgate Village with Oma and Carolyn.

A day later,  Samantha, Jake, George and Aria flew in from California. The next day, Philipp and Nica flew in from Boulder. 

Granny and Granddad joined us for Halloween ... where Cookie Monster got treats from his Great-Granny

 and checked his email while talking to Elmo.

He pulled the old folks around the neighborhood 

so he could take in all the sights.

The weekend brought together lots of fun people. Hugs and smiles were shared.

Unfortunately, Helen and I were both haunted by a Halloween late night flu bug. Fortunately, we didn't infect anybody else. Overall, it was a scary fun Halloween Weekend.