Happy Father's Day!

We have enjoyed some pleasant weather although the summer heat is trying to break through. Overall it has been very enjoyable to be outside and I envy the farmers I see plowing tobacco or cutting hay.

SCOPE, BUT NO STINT. I guess my report on Mom’s heart procedure a week ago Friday is a little overdue, however, it was pretty low risk. She was back home that night and went to church on Sunday. They went prepared to place a stint but wound up just looking around and making the decision to treat with medicine. Of three arteries around her heart they checked one was completely blocked but the blockage must have happened slowly enough that her body had time to respond by growing a new artery and essentially doing it’s own bypass. The other two arteries were 60-70% blocked but the blockages were “speed bumped” in such that using a stint was not possible. So, we’re just going to let the medicine do its job and give her mouth the summer to continue healing.

NEW SMART PHONE. My wife has now caught up with the modern era. She’s bought an iPhone and she loves it! She found herself having to communicate through text messages more and more and the phone she had was becoming inadequate for the job. The inconvenience finally outweighed the cost for her and we went to the store and moved her to an iPhone. The feature she loves most is dictating her text messages. I’m giving her a year to become a geek like the rest of us.

VOLLEYBALL. Vicki has been playing on the church volleyball team every Monday night for the last couple of months and she has thoroughly enjoyed it. They’ve played in a small league at the YMCA in Springfield. Their last game was Monday night and they ended the season with a tournament, which they won!

When Vicki told me about winning the championship she went on the say, “Who cares if there were only three teams in the league.” One of the teams was from NorthCrest Medical Center and the other was fielded with girls who all have scholarships to play college volleyball.

GLASSES. Vicki took Nate to the eye doctor the other day. We had suspected his vision was bad and this confirmed it. His glasses came in Wednesday and he now see life in much sharper focus. Those of us who have poor vision know exactly what he’s talking about, and I smile to myself when he talks about being able to see the leaves on the trees or read signs at a distance.

CAMP STORYBOOK. Jenna work in Camp Storybook at her school all last week. This was put on by the Beta Club as a fund raiser for an upcoming trip to New York City. The camp ran in the mornings and Jenna helped out in the crafts. She said the who thing was similar to a Vacation Bible School but without teaching Bible stories. The trip to New York is scheduled for January. Vicki and Jenna have both signed up to go.

CATCHING UP. It used to be that our children, spaced roughly 2½ years apart, were perfectly stair stepped in height. This is no longer the case as Ben is about to overtake Jenna. He is now 5’8” and only lacks ¾” catching up, though it’s hard to see that when they’re standing side by side.

Nate is 5’2” which is a respectable height for a 10 year old. He wishes he were taller but we remind him that he’s still 30 months younger than Ben and will catch up in due time. Sometimes it’s hard being the youngest.

CELEBRATING DAD’S DAY. I’ve had a nice Father’s Day weekend. We went out to see Man of Steel Friday afternoon. It was a good movie, but intense. We stopped for frozen yogurt on the way home. Saturday evening we grilled steaks and took them over to Mom’s for supper. This evening we returned to Mom’s with chicken lasagna.

Joe