ROBERTA IS 68 TODAY

Roberta has her 68th birthday today. Roberta and her husband, Don, minister at RGBI in south Texas, and have a home, also in Hutchinson, so we get to see them for part of the year. Roberta is a lover of children, and gets to love them in Mexico, at RGBI and with our grandchildren here. We love you, Berta, and trust you have a special birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

SONDY CELEBRATES ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

My sister-in-law, Sondy Tucker, from Strawberry Point, Iowa turned 65 today. Sondy is talented in music and is such a considerate person. I don't think she ever forgets to send greeting cards and is quite a shopper for gifts. Jim and Sondy have come from Iowa more than once to stay here so we can do some special get-a-way. We love you, Sondy, and trust you have a special day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MARY ON THE RUN

This is Roger, posting Mary's birthday blog a little late. She had her 68th birthday on December 7th. Though Mary is older in years, she really stays youthful. We had a goal of walking and running 1000 miles in 2011. Guess what, Mary is over 1200 miles. We have had a lot of fun doing this together. She is a great lover of her grandchildren and goes out of the way to spoil them.  I am sure they will never forget her. She is pictured here with her youngest grandchild, Alivia. She loves to spend time in "Gramma's Perch" with the grandchildren. We built the tree house with the money we collected off the street during our 1000 miles. I love Mary, I love her spirit and am forever grateful that God brought us together.

(Mary in the tree house)



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!

WEEKEND IN MEMPHIS

Last Thursday we left Hutchinson for Kansas City(Overland Park) and spent the evening and night with Phil & Julie and their children. The next morning we left their house to go pick up Elisa in Olathe at 5:45 a.m. When we had Elisa, we headed for Gardner to meet June and her friends and left from there to head for Memphis, Tennessee, where Rog and I were going to run a 5K and then cheer our daughters, June & Elisa, on in their marathon race(26.2 miles). It was a nice day to travel and by 3:00 p.m. or so we were in Memphis. We checked into our motel and shortly headed out to the expo where we were to pick up our packets for the race. It was a very busy place and over the loud speaker they announced that someone had lost a $100 dollar bill and if anyone saw it, would they please turn it in. No chance of keeping that one:) We picked up our packets and  wandered around among the hundreds of people in there for quite a while and then headed out to find something to eat. 


We needed a few things at the grocery store that was right by our motel so we parked at the motel and walked to the store. We also saw a place(small) called Luchessi's that had pasta and sandwiches so since pasta is a good thing before a race, we decided to try it. I understand it was delicious but since I was(am) on a diet, I could only take their word for it. Part of the girls were not with us so we called to see what they were doing and they said all the restaurants had an hour or two wait so I encouraged them to come on over and I would try to talk the people into staying open longer so they could eat there too. They were supposed to close at 8 p.m. and the girls got there at 8:03 but they made it in. They were glad we had let them know.


Then we went back to the motel to rest up for the big race day. Elisa had run a marathon 15 years ago with her sister Julie so this would be her second one. June was going to be running her first marathon in celebration of her 40th birthday and it didn't really look too promising for June to finish since she had a broken bone in one foot and had dropped an RV refrigerator door on her other foot so her feet were hurting. But June has a lot of determination(wonder where she got that)and she was going to try to do it.


Rog & I began our race at 7:15 a.m. and the girls would not start until 8:00 so we thought we could see them off. We found the 3 mile point but waited a long time for them to get to that marker and then we moved on. Since this was going to take a while, we went back to the car to warm up and thought maybe we would go back to the motel and change clothes. As we drove around after leaving the parking garage, we soon got locked up in traffic and runners going by so we couldn't move. Then one of the girls called and said that June needed a Tylenol - could we bring one - I said I would try. I tend to want to help when reality says we can't go anywhere. We couldn't move for some time but finally we saw Elisa coming again so I jumped out and tried to get a picture and cheer for her - failed on the picture - don't have any idea who the guy was on my camera. I jumped back into the car and we went and parked in another parking garage and decided to walk and see if we could find June. It was probably about mile 8 or 9 when we saw Elisa and we wandered clear to the finish line and started backtracking to find June. She was beyond needing Tylenol by this time but I was still determined to get it to her. At mile 23 or 24 we met Elisa again and Rog said, why don't you run with her for a while so I did. I handed him my jacket & phone and off we went. She needed encouragement - she just wanted to lay down and maybe even cry. I prayed for her and then she thanked me and told me to go back and meet June so I turned around and headed back to meet up with Rog and June. I walked over a mile and started thinking maybe he turned and went some other way but I had no way to get ahold of him since he had my phone so I went out in the street at the next corner and asked a police officer if he could call a number for me. He dialed it and handed it to me and when Rog answered I asked if he had kept going and he said yes, so I hung up and kept walking toward June. About a mile later I saw them and June was walking but doing a good pace so that we almost had to run to keep up with her so I decided she wasn't near as pathetic as I thought and seemed in good spirits. 


As we were walking and trying to keep up, I started having problems breathing(like when you have asthma) and it seemed to be getting worse so I sat down and told Rog to go on but he wasn't going to leave me. A med person working at the race asked what our problem was and we said I was out of energy and having trouble breathing so he wanted to give me sugar(which on my diet I'm not suppose to have) and I said no, I'll be alright. He left a couple big sugar tablets and some pretzels and went on his way. I tried to walk again but it started happening again so I told Rog to go get the car and come back and pick me up. No, he was not going to leave since it would take him an hour to get to the car. About this time an SUV drove by and turned around to ask if we were ok. I just asked them if they could take us to the finish line and after saying they couldn't but they would call someone and I said no, I want you to (cause I didn't want them sending an ambulance). They started moving some things in their packed car and said there was room for one of us and Rog said, I'll hold her on my lap. No place for feet either - It was a sight because I had to roll in a ball to fit in on his lap. When they drove past June(about a mile later), we hollered to her that I was done and we would see her at the finish line. She had already heard that something was going wrong for her Mom. She just laughed and later told us there was something wrong with that picture - that we were coming to encourage her and had to have a ride in and she was still running. We got out at the stadium where the finish line was and waited for the girls to come in. 

Elisa had already come in with a 4:48 time and June came in around 6 hrs. They were exhausted of course and so was I but we sure had fun cheering them on. We were all glad that the day was over and racing was done and we could relax.

JOHN IS 32 TODAY

Our youngest child has his 32nd birthday today. Our oldest son, Roger, waited through four sisters for a brother. At last we had another son, and he was thrilled. John has been a joy to our family. John loves sports and has ended up playing sports often with his older brother. John is such a considerate son and a good husband and father. We love you, John, and trust you have a wonderful birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

LIZ CELEBRATES HER 64TH BIRTHDAY

My sister Liz has her 64th birthday today. She is a very talented musician. We are blessed with her ministry in music at our church. We are also thankful that we have ended up in the same city, so we can spend time together regularly. We love you, Liz and trust you have a special birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

JUNE IS FORTY

Today June celebrates her 40th birthday.  She is a very busy home school Mom and has had a big part in starting a home school enrichment center. She is a very busy mom but loves to run.

She was going to celebrate her 40th with running a marathon but with both feet injured, she has had to put that on hold.

We love you June and trust you have had a wonderful birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

COOPER IS EIGHT TODAY

Our grandson Cooper is eight years old today. Cooper has inherited his Dad's attention to having things in place and arranged neatly. Cooper loves school and is attentive to what is going on around him and is good at expressing appreciation. We look forward to seeing what God has in mind for Cooper's life.

We love you Cooper and trust you have had a wonderful birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MOM CELEBRATES NINETY-ONE YEARS

Today Mom is celebrating her 91st birthday.  Five years ago we brought my parents to Hutchinson to live with us. This has provided a unique opportunity to be with them in this stage of their lives. Dad went to heaven in 2009. Mom continues to live with us and we are grateful she can be close to family in these days.

She is still walking most every day and tries to get some exercises done each day. Recently she has gotten back into reading books - she loves reading and has plenty of time now to enjoy it.  She attends church with us and even gets on her computer to keep up with the latest activites on facebook:)

We are glad we have you here Mom and trust you enjoyed your special day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

OUR DEAR HUDSON TURNS 4

Hudson is our youngest grandson and is a very active boy. He is such a great help to his baby sister Alivia and adores his big sister Ella. You are such a happy guy Hudson and we love you very much. Hope you have a really fun day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

TREVIN IS TWELVE

Today Trevin is celebrating his twelfth birthday. Trevin has a wonderful sense of humor. He is an excellent student and is becoming a fine young man. He is a delight to be around and thoroughly enjoys his cousins.

We love you Trevin and trust you have a wonderful birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

DEE DEE CELEBRATES ANOTHER YEAR

Today is Dee Dee's 43rd birthday. In the picture below she is running in the KC Marathon 5K with her hubby. This was her first time in competitive running and I think it has given her the bug to keep on running.

Dee Dee keeps busy with  3 children at home and lately has been decorating her home. She is so talented in decorating and very creative.

We love you Dee Dee and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Happy Birthday!

MICAH IS ELEVEN

Today is Micah's 11th birthday. Micah is a fine young man that enjoys homeschool and is also enjoying a new community school they have started and attend a couple of days a week.

Above, Micah is pictured with his cousin Trevin. The love when they can spend time together and with the other cousins.

We love you Micah and look forward to seeing all that God has in store for you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

ETHAN IS SIX

Ethan is 6 years old today. What a fun grandson, full of energy, ready to take on any challenge, but most of all loves Jesus and wants to be an obedient kindergarten boy. You see him with his backpack and ready for his first day of school. Today they celebrated his birthday at school with treats that he brought to school.

We are so proud of the nice young man you are Ethan and we love you very much. We hope you have a wonderful and fun birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MALIA IS NINE TODAY!

Our granddaughter, Malia Veer, has her ninth birthday today. She is a very fun-loving, energetic sweetheart. Malia loves school and plays soccer. She is becoming a fine young lady and we treasure the times we can spend with her. We love you Malia and hope you have a very special birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

JULIE IS 42 TODAY

Our firstborn daughter has her 42nd birthday today. Julie has always been a joy. She is a wonderful wife and mother. These are busy days for Julie and Phil with their children's activities. We love your family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE

MY BROTHER JIM IS 69

That's Jim, second from the right, at our cousin reunion this summer. We had a lot of fun together as you can probably tell. God rescued Jim from a horrible accident as a child. I am so grateful that God spared him, because he is one fine brother. Jim and Sondy help us out when we need to be away for a time, even though they live in NE Iowa. It is hard to imagine how God could have gven us a better brother, We love you, Jim

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

ONE THOUSAND MILES ACCOMPLISHED

Sorry, but I'm a little slow getting this on my blog. Yes, I have finished my 1000 miles for the year 2011 and am excited to reach my goal. I enjoy running and walking so this has been fun. I am continuing to walk/run until December gets here so we will see how many miles I will have in the end.

MERYN IS 8 YEARS OLD

Our sweet granddaughter Meryn has her eighth birthday today. Meryn is a beautiful, caring girl. We are delighted that she lives close to us so we see her often. She loves the Lord and her family. Meryn, we pray that you will not miss any of God's plans just for you! We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

ROGER CELEBRATES #43

Our firstborn son turns 43 today. Roger has been such a blessing to our family. From the time he was young he always was wanting some kind of business, whether selling watermelons or going door to door selling subscriptions. It is not surprising that he is a successful business man. He is always fun and ready to help wherever he is needed. We love you, son Roger, and treasure our many memories over these 43 years. We pray God will bless you with "the desires of your heart."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

OUR GRANDBABY IS ONE

Our dear little Alivia is one year old today. That year has gone by quickly. The smile you see in the picture below is there most of the time. She is one happy little sweetheart. She started walking a month ago I think and keeps everyone on their toes at home. We were with her a few days ago and she was eating almost anything they gave her. She is a lovable little girl and we are enjoying watching her grow. We love you Alivia and hope you have a fun birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MY HUBBY IS ANOTHER YEAR OLDER

       Today is Rog's birthday and he is 69 years young. I'm so thankful that he prayed for his wife long before he met me and that he found me. I am so thankful for his life and his walk with the Lord.

We went away for a couple of days and were able to see most of our grandkids. We love our grandkids so much and value the time we can spend with them. Of course we love their moms and dads as well.

God has been so good to us and today I am reminded to thank Him again as I do every day for his faithfulness and for the wonderful husband He has given me.

I love you Rog and am so thankful for your life and pray God will give us many more years together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Raegan & Brooklyn with grandpa

RAEGAN HAS A BIRTHDAY

Today Raegan is celebrating her 4th birthday. She is a sweetheart and a bundle of energy. Where Raegan is, there is always something going on. We love you Raegan and are anxious to see the young lady you will become one day soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!

THE TREE HOUSE - GRAMMA'S PERCH

I know my grandchildren will be excited about this because I am excited about it. Yesterday grandpa told me that he had decided that my street money should be used for "gramma's perch". That is what he calls the tree house. For those of you that might have questions about the street money, we have challenged our children and grandchildren to run/walk 1000 miles this year and while we do our walking/running, we pick up any street money we see. So far that has amounted to almost $300. It is simply amazing how much is out there.

So we are using that money for this special project for our grandchildren. We had a very large pine tree that died in our back yard so we had to have it taken out but left a large part of it for a tree house. So far they have mounted the floor on top of the tree. Now we need some enclosure. You can see from at least one of the pictures that it is up in the air a ways. Overlooks the back yard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!

Today Susan is 35 years old. I don't think she looks a day over 25 but I'm her mom. We really enjoy having Susan & Greg and their family so close.

Susan keeps very busy working nights as an ob tech at the hospital and works several days for a doctor. She also keeps very busy with their 4 children.

I caught a picture of her going down the zipline at camp gramma 2011 a couple of weeks ago.

She seems like she has a no ending amount of energy and we appreciate her willingness to help us with many things. We love you Susan and hope you have a great day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

JULY MILES - NOT FAR TO GO!

July is gone and my miles are on the calendar - 935. Sorry I was a little slow in reporting. We were in Colorado the end of July and the beginning of August. I still managed to keep doing some walking here and there. I am excited that I will soon reach my goal of 1000 miles walking/running and I will probably keep on walking/running the rest of the year just to see how many I can possibly do. It is fun - I do enjoy the exercise and it has been very good for me. I'm also enjoying watching to see how all my grandchildren are doing as well as some of my children. God has kept Rog & I healthy for which we are very thankful.

MELANIE TURNS 30 TODAY

Melanie is 30 years old today. We love Melanie and are grateful that God brought her into our family. She is a very busy mom with her three children. She is a great help mete to John. She sees to it that the children always look nice and gets them involved in many special opportunities. We love you Melanie and trust you have a great birthday!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELANIE!

ELISA IS 37 TODAY

Elisa has her 37th birthday today. She has been such a joy to our family! We use to accuse her of being an angel (which she always refuted). She has always been concerned for others and has been very giving. She is very busy being mom to four special children and a help mete to John. Our family is blessed with Elisa. We love you and pray you will have a wonderful birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELISA!

PHIL & MEREDITH CELEBRATE TOGETHER

Today Phil and Meredith share their birthdays. Phil turns 43 and Meredith turns 7. We have enjoyed the whole day with them since we drove to the YMCA of the Rockies for Camp Gramma 2011. We really appreciate Phil's life in our family. He is such an attentive dad and a wonderful husband to Julie. We love you Phil and trust for a great year ahead.

Meredith is a sweetheart and has had a great day with her family first and then with all the cousins. We left Colby, KS, this morning and headed to CO to have lunch at my cousin Sharyl's nearby park. She had made cupcakes for the birthday celebration. Meredith is full of life and full of fun. We love you Meredith and we love your smile.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOTH OF YOU!

ON THE HOMEWARD STRETCH

I finished walking/running in June with 821.5 miles. I really enjoy the exercise and I guess if all goes well, I should finish my goal of 1000 miles for this year much earlier than December. Rog & I do most of it together so we consider it quality time that we can spend together and it is good for our health.

DOUBLE THE BLESSING

Our twin grandsons, Brendon and Caleb Lanker, had their 14th birthday today. We were able to celebrate with them all day today as we traveled to NW Iowa for the Neir reunion. We have had a fun day. These boys are fine young men and are very grateful and helpful and are a joy to be around. We love you both and are anxious to see what God has in store for your lives.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

GREG CELEBRATES # 34

Today is Greg's birthday and he is celebrating no. 34. Greg is a very devoted father and husband. We are so glad to have his family here in Hutchinson. He is very helpful to us. He is a very fine son-in-law. We love you Greg and pray you have a blessed year ahead.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

EXERCISE IN MAY

The months are flying by and we continue to walk/run almost every day. We had to give it up a couple of days for our cousin reunion but it was worth it. I'm at 677 miles now.

This coming weekend, Rog & I will be running in the Hospital Hill 5K race in Kansas City and visiting with some of our children on Friday and Saturday.

We had a good visit this past Monday & Tuesday with Phil & Julie and their children. We were able to go walking with most of them sometime while they were here and the grandkids loved it.

TUCKER COUSIN REUNION 2011 - Part 1

For several months we have been planning a cousin reunion with the grandchildren of Otho & Josie Tucker. There are 9 cousins with 6 spouses. It all took place at our home because one of my cousins had requested to have the reunion at "camp gramma".

It began on Friday, May 27th, at noon. There were several meals at our place and all kinds of reminising and storytelling from the past. It was an amazing time of catching up with each other. It was a wonderful reminder of the blessing of having a Christian family with cousins who care for each other. We visited around the table, on the patio, and in our living room.

We concluded the reunion by attending Salina Bible Church and lunch at the Brookville Hotel and a visit to the family home. God gave us a wonderful time together. It went so well that we are planning another one in 2013.

meal times were special

cousin time in the trampoline

beautiful weather for patio conversation





Gary & Karen Sue Cromwell from Kentucky

Sharyl Cavin from Colorado

John & Karen Ann Groot from Kansas City

Jim & Sondy Tucker from Iowa

Tom & Katy Tucker from Oklahoma

Roger & Mary Neir from Hutchinson

Elizabeth Tucker from Hutchinson

Becky Cromer from Indiana

John & Susan Tucker from Salina

Guest of Honor: Mom/Aunt Caryl Tucker from Hutchinson