The Love of Family flows Strong and Deep......

.....Leaving us memories to forever treasure and keep.

Dennis and the family arrived early on Saturday, July 24th for just a short visit. We packed so much into the next two days. Seeing the grandchildren about took our breath away...........they have grown so much since we last saw them. So handsome, and so beautiful!

Rich took the first opportunity he could to get the grandkids all to himself.

Here they are returning from a short ride with Pa Pa to pick up the mail. Not sure who's enjoying this more - the kids or Pa Pa??

After settling in - we did a quick lunch and then we all ended up watching the original Karate Kid movie. Both Dalton and Chauna have taken Karate - but they had never seen the original movie.

Miyagi say: "First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine." Here is Dalton-san and Chauna-san learning to fly!!! From this time on we were PaPa-sen and Gramma Do-sen.

After Karate - we moved on to pickleball. We had taught Dennis and Crystal and the kids to play during our last visit to Davenport, IA. It was time to see how much they remembered. Pa Pa loaded the kids in the golf cart and the rest of us rode to the courts at the Churchill Rec Center. It was HOT...............but we persevered!

Dalton - listening intently as Pa Pa reviews the rules of the game.

And Chauna does the same - and is anxious to get the game started.

It's Dalton and his Dad ready to take on their opponants................

And Miss Chauna serves to start the game....

Dalton watches closely as his Dad returns the ball..........

And Chauna returns the ball with her backhand shot. And who won? They all had a great time and played like champions. Dalton is a natural - he picked up the game quickly and he had some pretty awesome shots. Over the two days, Chauna was getting more and more good shots.

Next it was father against son. Denny challenged his dad to a singles game. And he really did score some points!

Great game guys. Not hard to tell they are father and son is it? Priceless............

And yes, I did get to play too. Chauna and I challenged Dalton and Pa Pa - a couple of games. And then Dennis and I took to the courts for a singles match. By the sixth point I was about DEAD!!!!

Meanwhile, the kids were goofing off with Mom on the sidelines!

And Rich catches me exhausted as Denny and I leave the court. He really is not that tall is he? Don't they say you get shorter as you age? Is it possible that I am really this old?

AND IT'S OFF TO THE POOL!!!

A quick change of clothes, rinse off in the shower and into the pool.

With the blistering temperatures, the water was far from refreshing!

But it felt great to get wet and goof off in the water for a while.

After a good while of frolicking the clouds began to approach and we heard thunder off in the distance. With the lightening not far behind, it was time to call it a day and head for home.

Head for home - Yes

Call it a Day - Not yet!!!

"A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart."