A tribute to a very sweet lady

Anna M. Stauffer

August 1, 1907 - July 16, 2009

Galen's grandmother passed away last Thursday. She was 101 years old, just a few weeks short of her next birthday. A beautiful lady and the sweetest person you would ever want to know. She was the mother of 4 children, 17 grandchildren, 34 great grandchildren and 14 great great grandchildren. Amazing.

Her faith was deep, she had an unconditional love for her family, had many many friends, was kind and uplifting and always had a story to tell, and had a wonderful sense of humor.

We will miss her.

~ She will forever be in our hearts.

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Many, many thanks to all of you for your kindness and concerns, your thoughts, prayers and wishes for my family, my brother and the new year.

We had a safe trip and a good trip. My brother, Steve, is doing better than we expected. He was very happy to see us and we spent Friday morning with him. He has such a determination and will to live. He showed us around the lovely facility and we took some photos and met some of the wonderful caring people that were there with him. When it came time to leave, it was hard, but I knew he would be ok.

That same afternoon, we also visited my husband's father who was in the Brethren Village in Lititz. He has been ill and recovering from a stroke and some surgery. He was very happy to see us too, and we spent the afternoon with him and my husband's great grandmother that resides at the home. She is 101 years old. We had Otis and Riley along and they brought smiles to the faces of everyone.

We enjoyed a delicious New Years dinner at my mother in law's of pork and sauerkraut (for good luck), and it was so good to be with all the family.

Otis and Riley were played out till the weekend was over.

One thing for sure, Otis and Riley love a road trip and enjoyed coming along with us.

We saw the most beautiful sunset on our trip.

And now we are safely home and ready for the new year. Hopefully we will all be blessed with joy, happiness, health and prosperity in this new year. Best wishes!

Happy 100th Birthday, Great Grandma!

Over the weekend we traveled to Pennsylvania to celebrate my husband's great grandma's 100th birthday. Happy 100th Birthday, Great Grandma!

Our one daughter came in from New York and our other daughter and family came up from North Carolina. Friday night some of us took in a baseball game at the Lancaster Barnstormers and saw fireworks after the game.

Saturday we spent the day with Great Grandma since we wouldn't be there for her big party on Sunday. She's such a joy to be around. Lots of stories to tell and still as sharp as a tack! At the village where she lives the annual "Brethren Village Auction and Fair" was being held that day. Galen, my hubby, had donated a marble chaser that he made to be auctioned off (you can check it out on his "manspace"); there were also homemade quilts and lots of other goodies to see. Such an enjoyable day!

Sunday it was time to travel back home to Carolina. We had breakfast with the family then took our one daughter to the Lancaster Train Station and said goodbye. Our other daughter was staying an extra day to take our granddaughter to the caverns.

We crammed alot into one weekend but thoroughly enjoyed it.