I posted last Saturday that we brought our Birmingham grandchildren to Huntsville the day after Christmas for a short visit. We met Jenny in Locust Fork (Alabama), which is about two-thirds of the way to Birmingham, and returned her kids on Monday. Before leaving the house, I set up the tripod and snapped this picture. Jackson (12) is almost as tall as Nancy. Of course, Nancy was wearing 1-inch heels and Jackson was in his bare feet. The one wearing a 40-year-old red dress that first belonged to our daughter Melissa is Margaret (5). Our "Malcolm in the Middle" guy is John Michael (9).

We had a lot of fun for those 4 days. Jackson brought his Street Hawk remote control flying car to test out on our flat driveway. After a day or two he was flying that thing all around the neighborhood. Margaret decorated that same driveway with her very special drawings using colored chalk. John Michael spent his time bouncing his basketball and encouraging his brother to fly the Street Hawk further and further away.

We found out last week that my sister Barbara, who lives in Tunisia, is visiting her three daughters that live in the States. Her daughters live in Dubai, New York, Texas, and California. Right now she's staying with Anissa who lives near San Francisco. So we set up a Skype and got to visit with Barb, Anissa, Michel, and their kids Lili and Luca. And our grandkids got to meet their second cousins. That was interesting.

Since Monday we watched a lot of football and stuck pretty close to the house. We have a couple New Year's resolutions that don't mean much to anybody else and also wouldn't surprise anybody. As soon as the weather clears up it'll be time to take down the Christmas decorations on the front porch. However, we do want to take a moment to wish every one a happy and healthy New Year.

PS: I just noticed on my cell that EVERY location where I monitor the weather (because we have been known to drive to those places), from Arizona to Alabama to Pennsylvania and Michigan, has some kind to bad weather advisory. It's pouring down rain here causing a flood watch. Well, at least it isn't snow.