Yesterday, Larry's kids, son in law's brother, our grandkids and my son came over to have a cookout for Larry's birthday. I dressed Larry in long pants and a new shirt. Long pants because the kids all like to have the AC on the coolest. It was about 95 outside so we ate inside. :hot: His son is good on the grill and so he cooked the steaks. They were good and Larry ate without coughing or choking. Yay!

Our 5 year old granddaughter came dressed up in a purple ballerina costume. She loves to dress up. I had shut the computer down so the older one could visit instead of playing on the computer but the parents found a reason to get on it. His daughter had gone to "Race for the Cure" in downtown St. Louis and wanted to show pictures. Also, she had photos of the oldest granddaughter's dance recital. His son had 25 family photos they had taken at Target's portrait studio. His son asked Larry if he wanted to see them. Larry started to hesitate and I said "sure". After looking at about 50 photos, Larry said "okay, that's enough". LOL Brain overload!! He would rather see them in person I know.

One advantage of Larry having the stroke is he is able to miss a lot of the bickering between the kids. One granddaughter doesn't like chocolate and when my son said he ordered a white cake with chocolate icing, she said "Emily doesn't like chocolate". My son said "It's not Emily's birthday"!

He was steamed but I calmed him down. Emily has to learn if she doesn't like something at someone else's house, you don't eat it and shut up. But her mother feeds into her spoiled child.

His daughter bickered with her brother over the way he should cook her steak - rare. :bbq: Larry sat in on this one but it didn't faze him.

Both of Larry's kids are so different from him. They are loud and sometimes boisterous. Larry - just the opposite. Don't get me wrong, I think they love their dad but have no idea how and why his stroke affects him.

Anyway, the bottom line is Larry enjoyed his birthday. He was very tired and so went to bed early. While I helped him get ready for bed he mentioned something his son-in-law said, and Larry started laughing and giggling so hard the way he use to when something funny struck him. So, all in all, it was worth it to see that laughing face, even showing his teeth! :lolu:

Julie