their anniversary

My aunt and uncle, my godparents, live in the beautiful hills of western Wisconsin.

It's always beautiful there.  A summer day like this one?  Yes.

A day in the fall?  Stunning.

Winter?  Yeah, breathtaking.

Those are my kids, trooped down the cornfield to show the grandkids some cows.

They liked them.  The cows obligingly moo-ed and let the kids scratch their foreheads.

Dan says when he puts the kid up on his shoulders he messes with his bald spot.  Kids are so kind.  They also play with the fat on the back of my arms.  Anyway, I suggested he kiss his dad's head, and he did, which was pretty cute.

 The tire swing was a huge hit.

  And this sandbox under the willow tree was too.

A long time ago, about the time their oldest child was born, they lived in an old farmhouse with big sunny windows and also an outhouse.    What I remember about this is that you'd have to put a coat on to go potty, and then my dad would walk us out there and he smoked then.

People smoked a lot back in the day.  Anyway, he could light a match on the walls inside the outhouse.  (It was lined with tar paper.)

Well, they haven't had that in a long time.  You gotta have a lighter.  Plus nobody smokes really anymore.

They are still the same wonderful aunt and uncle they've been my whole life with a herd of grandkids who are great and facebook helps all us cousins keep in touch.

(I love facebook for reasons like that.)

 Their grandson gave guests a ride back and forth from the cars to the house, and kid rides in between.

Dan and John with my mother:

 And we had this fine photo of my girls in a row.  I showed it to Joe and said, "All your sisters in law, look.  You are a lucky man."

He nodded, "True."

I added, "Some days."

We laughed.  Oh yeah, Joe can piss off a sister in law like nobody's business.  That's why that video of Beyoncé's sister taking a swing at JZ had me laughing my head off.  (What did he SAY to her?)  You know there's a story there.

Here they are, newlyweds:

 And a few years later:

And now it's now, and life is awful good.

Best wishes, you guys.

Happy Anniversary, and love always,  Val and EVERYBODY