PHOTO page…

Jen & Ellie Meet John & Sandy
April 5th, 2010
*****

On Monday, April 5th, 2010 my daughter Jennifer and granddaughter Ellie Hope had the opportunity to  meet John & Sandy for the first time.  We had made arrangements to meet at the OX YOKE restaurant in the Amana’s in Iowa.  The problem was, unknown to me, there were TWO Ox Yoke restaurant’s that were 10 miles apart from each other.  As we had arrived a little early I had told my family that John is ALWAYS a little early as well and I was surprised that he had not arrived before we did.  We ordered our soda’s and sat patiently until just after the time that we had arranged to meet.  As we were discussing whether or not give John a call on my phone our waitress, apparently overhearing our concern, said ‘oh, there are TWO restaurant locations’…… nice :)  I gave John a call, apologizing for my oversight and asked them to meet us at the location just off of I-80 which they did about 15 minutes later.

We had a great dinner and time together.  John & Sandy had a cabbage patch doll to give Ellie for a gift and after about 20 minutes John was able to remove the packaging (tape, twist ties, etc.).  You would not think that it was necessary to secure a little doll so tightly in a box.  None-the-less, John managed to remove the doll and hand it off to Ellie.

Joe, Belinda, Wyatt & Isaac Meet John & Sandy
May 1st, 2010
*****

Now almost 9 months later, on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 John & Sandy had the opportunity to meet Joe’s wife Belinda and their two sons Wyatt & Isaac. I think that the pictures on this page tell the story.  John & Sandy brought Wyatt an Iowa Hawkeye soccer ball as a gift and John taught Wyatt how to ‘explode it’ after the fist bump.  I am not sure that Wyatt understood the concept, but it made for a great photo opportunity.  Now when Wyatt walks by the picture of John & me that is sitting on an easel in the kitchen he can be heard saying  ‘John’, so John definitely made an impression on him.  I am sure that John’s large frame will not be something that is easy to forget.  We had a wonderful lunch together and then it was outside to play with Wyatt.  It was a beautiful 70 degree day with full sun.  Becky had purchased a ‘stomp rocket’ and a toddler sized baseball bat & ball that provided an afternoon full of entertainment for everyone.