During this week of Thanksgiving, I pause to reflect on what I am so very thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful family. I am so thankful to have the world’s best daughter, Ashley and the world’s best son, Ben, Jr., along with the world’s best daughter-in-law, Robin, and world’s best son-in-law Andy. I am also thankful for my four precious grandchildren, Maddy, Jacob, Carson, and Kate! They are wonderful and bring so much happiness into my life. Additionally, I am gr

When I was a boy, the first game I learned to play was checkers. It was the only board game that I remember we had in our house. My Dad did not allow us to have a TV, but we did have checkers to help keep us occupied when there was free time. My Dad knew that the game of checkers could help us develop decision-making skills and strategic thinking, so he encouraged us to play. To master the game, one needed to figure out where each move would ultimately lead. You had to vi

I love being with my family at Christmastime. To help keep the stress out of Christmas, a couple of years ago, the adults decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange. We put the names of the adults into a hat, everyone pulls out a name, and then they buy a present for that person. The gifts can be no more than $50, and it wrapped in newspaper that has the letters of the recipient circled in the newsprint. This gift exchange is so much fun and only buying one gift helps to