Grandad returns from Ireland tomorrow. I’m driving down to the airport to pick up the 4 Irish golfers. He was able to play two warm up rounds of golf before he left, and he felt fine. That was 4 and 5 five days after heart surgery to install a second stent. His second game was against (with?) Danny. They had a nice outing and Danny claims to only have lost three balls. Grandad reported: “I like Danny. He’s a good guy. Of course I liked him before I played golf with him…”

Spotted Bob on line just moments before Taylor Hicks was announced the 2006 American Idol winner. Sitting in the basement with Kathy, Kelly, Claire and the dogs. It was really a pretty good 2 hour show.

Gramalie and Grandad had us over for Easter lunch and what turned into a series of contests. Gramalie’s lunch was delicious with the oldest and youngest eating on the porch and all the middle-agers eating in the dining room.

Grandad, Danny, and Nicole helped hide all of the Easter Eggs for the annual hunt. This would be Kelly’s last try at winning a silver dollar (she won one in the early years) since she is going to be in high school next Easter. Kelly and Claire were given a 10 egg limit each. Claire ran around with great speed, strategically shaking the eggs in search of the illusive Silver Dollar. Fiona ended up finding the silver dollar, but she seemed more interested in the chocolate that came with it. Grant quickly hid the silver dollar in his truck just to make sure Uncle Jeb did not steal it to give to Claire. Not sure why this family believes in conspiracy theories.

It was an unusually warm Easter day, so we spent most of the time outside. Grant, Kelly, and Danny had a berry tossing contest. Claire, Kelly, Danny, Fiona, and Jami all participated in a run-around-the-house contest, Grandad and myself being dual timers.

Ted, Kelly, Michael, and Claire were seen playing baseball (see photo). Danny, Claire, and Kelly had a “hang from the tree” contest.

Susan rested her voice after having to sing through three services in the morning. Jeb and Kathy mostly took pictures, which can be seen at: http://stonegate.fiveforks.com/gallery/Easter-2006. The Lakeland gang were surely missed. We could have used the competition.

Jeb and Kathy

Getting through Dad’s heart crisis was the event of our quarter. Everyone pitched in to keep Dad company through visits and calls. Carol gets special thanks for possibly saving Dad’s life. Mom gets special thanks for being with him through it all.

Nicole and the band, Psychic Hearts, are ramping up for a new album release with lots of practice, recording, and promotional tours. They just finished a 10 day tour that took them to Augusta, Louisiana, and the South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin. They say they took in more cash than they put in the gas tank. And even more exciting, Nicole only has two more car payments.

Danny is studying hard at Spring Hill. The four of us went down to visit for Family Weekend and enjoyed dining with Danny and touring the campus. He has picked up a part time job on campus three nights a week and when showing us where he worked, we ran into the president, Father Lucey. Danny did a good job introducing his sisters and mom and dad. We told Father Lucey about Danny’s great, great Uncle O’Leary (whom I clarified used to have Father Lucey’s job) and told him about Aunt Margie’s portrait of him that she was planning to donate.

Kelly is finishing up her last year in middle school. We got a welcome package from Brookwood High School for her, which was a bit shocking. She is currently playing soccer, but plans on running cross country in high school. She likes to run. We are quite proud of her for having volunteered as an assistant teacher in Sunday school. She has been very disciplined about rolling out of bed early Sunday mornings to help out.

Claire is finishing up elementry school and heading for middle school. Our last child leaving elementry school. I’m sure tears will flow at graduation. Claire is also playing soccer on a very competitive team. There is not a single weak player on the team, and the they play very well together with passes and trick moves. A new level for her. She came home covered with mud after her first game, and quite happy about it.

Kathy continues in her new job of selling Ugly Houses and Jeb continues in his old job of selling pretty checks. Both of us are putting in a lot of extra hours with the church because of RCIA, but we have both enjoyed (re)learning a lot about Catholicism with the candidates we are sponsoring. We highly recommend everyone go to church each week and listen for a call for volunteers. It sure can be rewarding, but you have to be around to hear the call.