vailian

One of the first events was a swimming pool birthday party for my nephew William. John and L and their cousin Sophie were happy to join in the pool fun.



This is Eric, who is an engineer in Minneapolis. We call him The Guru because he is very very wise.



Vince and his wife Anne were our gracious hosts. They put up with an awful lot while we were there.



And here is Sarah, who flew in specially from Hawaii. Hard to believe she will turn 50 in a few weeks.



Cecily, Sarah's Big Sister, lives in Seattle, and was a calming influence on us all.



This is Ned, who lives in Washington, DC and is a senior producer at NPR. He is my baby brother. So if he is Senior, what does that make me, ferchrissake?



..and here is the birthday girl with her cake. She is a remarkable woman-- brought up 6 kids under really difficult conditions, taught generations of kids in California and North Dakota, and continues even now to teach university students who are training to be teachers. She plays a mean piano (she did a solo for us on Wednesday night) and is an inspiration to us all... (example: because she doesn't speak german, she communicated with my daughter-- who has been living in Barcelona the last few years-- in Spanish that she had learned in high school over 60 years ago)