

Thanksgiving and Cranberry Relish
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


The Ultimate Desired Result
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


The Best Present
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