You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


It's Rose here with a brief update. We've had several people ask about the blog, why there have been no entries for so long. All I can say is that we have been extremely busy here in the heartland.

Sue spent several days at the lake for the annual "Kids' Week" gathering. She and I returned to the Lake last Friday evening (August 12) where she is now with Sabrina and Family for this coming week. On Saturday Jana and John, newly-wed over the Fourth of July Weekend, came for two days. Jana is the daughter of Bobby, our nephew who died suddenly and far too young 13 years ago. Bobby was the son of our brother Bob. Jana and John both live in the St. Louis area where she works for a recruiting firm and he for Cooper Industries.

The wave runner proved to be a popular 'toy.' John is a great guy with kids, so he and Sabrina's sons, Brett and Alex, spent a lot of time in the lake running about about on and behind the thing. Jana and John went out on it and got lost just as a big rain storm moved in. Luckily, they found their way home safely because Jana knew the mile marker where the house is located.

Brother Joe came to the Lake to have dinner with us Saturday evening. We had a great catch-up visit with him. Joe told us Brother Donald was in a car accident recently and, luckily, escaped uninjured even though the car did not. All the airbags inflated which may have been the saving grace.

Margaret and Norm will spend some time mid-week at the Lake. The anticipation for Margaret's fried chicken is running high.

Shirley was in Louisiana for her family's annual reunion. I came home from the lake in time to call for her at the airport. We have had stormy, rainy weather here for two days now which has provided some much-needed water for the area. My drive yesterday, which normally takes 2 1/2 hrs (for everybody but Chris' Shelly!), took me almost four because of the rain and some accidents. Margaret called me as I was driving to tell me she had heard reports of huge slow-downs on Hiway 70. I was in one of them when she called. There was so much traffic yesterday that I actually had to wait in line to buy gasoline at Kingdom City--even with the price at an all-time high. It is one of those curious ironies that I, who have had small cars my entire life, should buy a gas-guzzling SUV at the precise moment gasoline prices skyrocket!

Chris and Shelly and two of their friends went to Chicago this past weekend where they stayed in our apartment. They went to a Cardinals-Cubs game on Saturday and got to see the Cards win one. [Truth is, the Cards rarely lose but did drop three of the four against the Cubs in this most recent series.] Chris and Shelly are great bikers so they took their bicycles to ride on the Lake Michigan stretch of park which runs miles south of our apartment and is breathtakingly beautiful. It is also very, very flat! I took my bike to the Lake where it is also breathtakingly beautiful AND breathtakingly hilly! There are now biking/hiking trails alongside the roads at Sue's house which make the riding safe and provide some of the most glorious biking I've enjoyed yet.

Scott called last evening to report a harrowing experience he and his sons had. They were camping at a park in Kentucky when a storm came through. Scott took the boys to the camp clubhouse to wait out the storm. When they returned to their site after the storm passed, they discovered a huge tree had fallen, narrowly missing their tent. Later another storm came through. The three went into the tent to escape the rain. A huge limb broke off a tree nearby and fell OVER THEIR TENT. The great fortune, truly a saving grace, was that the limb formed a triange over the tent, otherwise they would have been crushed. Scott said he put the boys in their truck, gathered all the wet gear, threw it in the back, and headed home. When he called 15 minutes later, he was still quite shaken. I am shaken now, just writing about it!

We certainly appreciate receiving family news to post here. If anyone provides e-mail updates for us, I'll post them even in Sue's absence. Sabrina has photos which she has promised for blog-posting, and I'll add some from Jalen and Braden's recent visit when I get time.