A Heiser/Carroll Palooza..and ..walking for a great cause.

The header photo is a picture of the back of our house at just about dark..I may have gone a little overboard with the lighting...possibly looking like a carnival or a landing strip from the air..Hey, I DO have a tendency to take things to go a little overboard with some things...REALLY???

This last Saturday, Dennis and I had the privilege of being included in our son-in-laws family reunion...Tim's mother, Loretta, was born and raised in Bonn, Germany. She attended college here in the states and met her first husband here. His name was Ken Carroll and he was killed by a drunk driver when their kids were little...Later, Loretta met Bill Heiser, Tim's Dad, and they had 2 kids together..Tim and Michelle..Bill also adopted Ken's kids and they all became Heisers.

This family reunion was a blend of the Carrolls and the Heisers..and what a great group! Above is Bill and Loretta Heiser..

 Above is Marty Heiser..Ken Carroll's and Loretta's son

 On the left is Teresita, Ken Carroll and Loretta's daughter..(I almost cut her out of the pic!)

Above is Michelle and Tim (Loretta and Bill Heiser's two kids)..and Hays (one of the Carroll clan)

If you are now very confused, it's taken me about 20 years to finally get everyone with the correct people...Basically, there are 4 Heiser kids..Marty and Teresita's real father was Ken Carroll and Tim and Michelle's father is Bill..so they are half brothers and half sisters..WHEW!

 OK, to confuse you further, here is Loretta on the left and her sister, Gilla on the right..Gilla flew here from Germany just for this occasion..

This was a reunion/birthday party for Loretta..(she will be 80 soon, and she prefers to call it a celebration of Loretta's life..I agree).

You know these kids...our Heiser grandkids..They love their Oma and Opa very much,and don't get to see them very often. Bill and Loretta are originally from Glencoe, IL and moved to North Carolina about 25 years ago..
We had a some cocktails, a great meal and a wonderful fun time with this blended family, and I thank them for including the Caves as a connection to the extended family...Everyone was so much fun, and most family members got up and said something about Loretta as they knew her..Actually it was very much like a good natured "roast"..and I'm sure some of us including her grandkids learned much about Loretta we didn't know...She could write a book!!

I know, I know..not one of my usual "ensembles"..Once in a while MacGyver and I DO clean up our act..!!

I need to mention one other important thing that is happening all summer...and I think you will agree. One of our former Sandwich Police Officers, and ex-Marine, is doing a cross country walk to raise money for military and police suicide. His name is Toby Flaget, and he was an usher at Terrie and Tim's wedding 20 years ago. He had to retire from the police force due to Epilepsy, and he moved back to his home town of Wenatchie Washington..He is walking from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast...as we speak..I am attaching a link to Toby's Walk for Awareness.  Here is another link to an interview he did in Portland Oregon...Toby's interview.  Toby's route is available and also a way to make donations. He is going to walk right through Sandwich hopefully end of August,and Den and I want to walk with him for a few miles...Toby is walking 3100 MILES!! 

OK, that blog should make you nuts just sorting out the family stuff...but I do hope you click on my links to Toby's walk...Our vets our killing themselves daily...let's step up and help!!!!