Hi Everybody!

Hi Everybody!
It has been so long since I have read the blog. The blogger site is differnet. (I like my misspelling).
I gave 2 units of platelets today and got my 8 gallon pin. I joined Paul F. Anderson on the "Distinguished Donor" board, although I’ll never be able to catch up with him. He’s under the ELEVEN GALLON category!
Mark and I have been down to Illinois and back. We were busy the whole time. On July 3rd we watched the fireworks from my sister’s front deck. The next night we viewed them from the Galva cemetery. Because the town is 150 years old (sister city of Gavla, Sweden), they had wonderful fireworks. Some I hadn’t seen before.
Mark worked hard all week helping my parents and sister by scraping, painting, gardening, cleaning, recycling, screening and weeding. He planted tomato plants for my parents, since they didn’t manage to get a garden in.
On Thursday, my dad had cataract surgery. The next day he was able to go out for lunch with us at Bishop Hill (Jan, Dad, Mom, Mark and I). We left for home from there, visiting Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, IL, the oldest Augustana Lutheran Church in the U.S. The Swedish singer gave $1500 to build it in 1850. It doesn’t have a steeple because they had to use the wood for coffins during a terrible cholera epidemic. Suddenly, I’ve become the Swedish historian...
    I enjoyed reading about everybody, your trips and pictures. Congratulations, Maria on your new job. It sounds like it will be a good fit for you.
    Liv, it sure made me nervous to see you on top of that pyramid. You’d never get me to put my legs over the abyss. Was it really as high as it looked?
Thanks, Teresa and Joel, for the fun picnic on Father’s day. I enjoy reading your submissions also, Stevie, though you didn’t explain too much about the party (-ies) you had while we were gone! I hope he or Tom will tell you all about Salt Lake City so I can hear about it, too!
Hope to see y’all soon. That includes the Hoosiers and New Yorkers of the family, too.
Everybody’s pictures were terrific. Mark took some good pics while we were in Illinois. Maybe he’ll post one. Love to all, Nancy