Busy January weekend

Gary, Cricket and I went to Birmingham for Grandma's (Evelyn Kiker) 75 birthday. Sherry, Gary's younger sister put together a nice surprise gathering of about thirty five family and friends! We had rigatoni and lasagna, a great salad, ( I only put it together ) and toasted garlic bread ( I only watched it cook ). There were familiar faces, the Opelika cousins, friends that we see at Christmas, and then there was Howard Butler. Mr. Butler took Gary's father in when he was a child after his family had given him up. He was a coal miner back in the days before respirators were used in the mines. As Gary put it, " as they came out of the mine the were "covered in black dust". Mr. Butler is now eighty nine and still wearing his signature "Liberty" blue jean overalls. He was in a wheelchair but was very alert and enjoyed the day. I just love getting together with the family and hearing their stories of survival. We spent several hours with little John Franklin who is now nine months old. He is teething and fussy at times, but still so precious. We had a great time visiting with Joey and Ashleigh.
Cricket traveled well but came home exhausted.