A Puzzle Is a Capital Idea

This fall Susan has kept one of the tables in her school library always covered with a puzzle that students (and staff!) may work on whenever they're in the library. It has been a good way to occupy those who come to the library with "nothing to do" in study hall and, thus, with intentions of distracting others who are in the library to study or read. It has also brought in some who might not otherwise have made the trip to the library--potential library patrons now that they've set foot in the door.

The latest puzzle was a 3-D one lent by our neighbor Chuck. It didn't take long for Trinity folks to crack it--behold!

Congratulations, Tina and Craig!

Susan's cousin Tina (Susan's mom's sister Kathy's daughter) got married last month in Las Vegas, so only their immediate families plus a few friends were in attendance at the wedding. Therefore Tina's mom and friends planned a surprise wedding reception for them in Dickinson last weekend (while I was still in Portland, so I know about it only through my family's tales and photos). Out-of-state relatives returned to surprise Tina and her husband, Craig, and Susan and the girls had a great time. Here are some highlights:

Back row: Laura (Susan's mom's sister Mary's daughter) and her son, Kaden; Lindsey (Susan's mom's brother's son Michael's wife) and her daughter, Cadence; Trista (Susan's mom's sister Kathy's son Todd's wife) and her son, Trae; and Christy (Susan's mom's brother's daughter) and her son, Matthew; Front row: Suzanna, Abigail, Hillary, and Susan

Laura, Kaden, and Cheryl (Susan's brother Jerrett's wife)

Fatigued toward the end of the night are Suzanna and Bailey (Susan's mom's sister Kathy's husband Pat's sister's granddaughter).

Tina and her new husband, Craig, and their "first dance"

Tina dancing with her daddy, Pat

Kathy dancing with her new son-in-law, Craig

Patti (Susan's mom's sister) dancing with her grandnephew Matthew

Jake (Susan's mom's sister) dancing with her grandnephew Kaden

Jake dancing with her grandniece, Cadence

Tom (Pat's brother's son) dancing with Hillary

Abigail dancing with Matthew

Suzanna and Abigail cuttin' a rug

Hillary, Suzanna, Abigail, and Bailey doing the macarena

Hillary taking pics with a cell phone that is not hers (nor ours, since we don't even own one)!

New Specs in Da House

Finally, I am allowed to reveal Suzanna's big news: she has eyeglasses! A couple weeks ago, the girls all had appointments with the eye doctor. Abigail got a new pair of glasses in a sturdier frame less likely to bend or to lose eyepads (it's an all-in-one frame without separate attached eyepads, like those that her last wire frames had). Hillary found out that she doesn't need glasses at this point but that the future appointments may reveal otherwise.

Suzanna learned that she needs not only eyeglasses but bifocal eyeglasses! There is no noticeable line marking where the bifocal starts and stops, so no one would otherwise know that she has "old person" glasses, as she said. But she likes them and looks good in them. They arrived on Halloween, when I was in Portland, so Susan snapped a pic of Suzanna still in her costume with the addition of her eyeglasses and e-mailed that photo to me at the end of a series of photos of the girls in their costumes. Astute reader, can you tell which photo below is of Suzanna still partially in costume?

Abigail's snazzy new frames

Suzanna's new bifocals

Suzanna with her Halloween news reporter mustache and her new glasses