Mer and I have known our pastor and his family for a long time (me since about 1993 and Mer since the 80s). We are very fond of them, and Ken and Janet honored us by inviting us to the thirtieth birthday celebration of their daughter Christa. It was a surprise, and was being held at Texas Roadhouse in Allaince, about an hour from our house. Last Monday was the big day, so we headed back to our old stomping grounds (we lived in the next town over for six years).

Mer and I got there first, and we were followed by Joel and Lindsay, a couple from church. Christa and her family showed up soon after, and Christa was quite surprised. There were Ken and Janet, their three daughters, a son-in-law, one grandson, Joel and Lindsay, and Mer and I. That is a big enough party that we could not all interact; Mer and I were seated in talking distance from Ken, Christa and her husband, and Valerie and her baby. Valerie is quite young (around twenty-five), and she has four small ones at home. I have not had a ton of chances to interact with her, and she impressed me with her wit and levelheaded ways. Mer and I and Val talked a lot over the evening. Ken and Christa and her husband joined in some, and it was a festive evening. We were invited to go over to Joel and Lindsay’s place for games and ice cream, but it was 7:00, and we had an hour drive home. Mind you, that did not stop me from swinging by the Alliance Handel’s for ice cream on the way home (our opinion – the ice cream was good, but not as rich as that at “our” Handel’s here in Cuyahoga Falls).