Happy Birthday!!

Last Friday we drove to Lafayette to surprise our grandchildren. Two of them, Steven (Feb. 22) and Ashlee (Feb. 23) were to have birthdays; and mine was that same Friday.

Michelle had them out to Subway for supper, so we used our key and slipped into the house, keeping all the lights off. I got my camera ready to take a picture as they came in the door, but, as you can see, I didn't position myself very well. My dear wife's arm sort of blocked the view.

However, when I enlarged the photo on the camera screen and focused on Kelcee (left), it was obvious that we had caught her by surprise! Indeed, later I asked her, "Did we surprise you or scare you?" She looked at me with her serious eyes and very deliberately said, "You scared me!."

The scare didn't last too long, though, and the next day Ashlee (left) and Kelcee shared a blanket with Grandma as they waited for birthday gifts to be produced.

Steven, wearing a Cubs shirt that he got for Christmas, was rather expansive as he showed us the 2-way radio set he got for his birthday -- so expansive that the radios got clear out of the picture. He's more important than they are, though, and one has to say that he's definitely a bundle of energy. If I just had a third of what he has . . . . . . .

Happy birthday, Steven and Ashlee.