From my Mom, sister Holly and sister Kate

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY HEIDI

(from Holly)
1- You were such a sweet baby and little girl and your blond corkscrew hair was always having a party!
2- I loved it when you had to leave Baltimore…so…you went sailing in the Caribbean J
3- I loved it when you were the medical person aboard and traveled around the world!
4- You’re great about sharing your friends—the Kestners wouldn’t be the same without the McInerneys.
5- You have the best hug! And a great giggle too!
6- Whenever I need to move 1,000 miles or more…I know you’ll be up for another road trip!
7- Whatever is up with the moon, I know you’ll be looking at it too.
8- I loved Kelly and Allis, too, you gave them the best home in the world!
9- I love your waffle breakfasts!
10- I love living under the same roof as you J
11- Your ‘big book’ is full - with the things you enjoy! Lots of color, rocks, triangles, earrings, baskets, puppies and kittens, knitting and crocheting, plants and flowers….
12- You have an awesome career. I’m so very proud of you!
13- “Holly, just go talk to her.” Thank you for Doug, Ashley, Hadley and Will C.
14- You didn’t give up on true-love and you married your Knight barefooted!
15- You’re an outstanding wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend. The world is a better place because of all you are and all you do.
16- You are the most ‘Kestner’ of us all…You were Dad’s angel and now he is yours.

(from Mom)
17- You are so patient when helping us learn to use the computer.
18- You’ve been cutting my hair for decades – and doing it so well.
19- You took your mouse, Green Grape, up to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
20- You can usually identify my ‘mystery’ items.
21- Without a blink you got in the foreign cars and drove off on the left side of the road – even shifting gears with your right hand.
22- You are always ready to house and nurse convalescing family and friends.
23- I loved our “how about” secret from your friends.
24- You’ve kept in close touch with friends from all periods of your life.
25- I finally have a daughter who enjoys all kinds of hand work as much as I do.
26- You stuck to the task until you finally earned your PA-C.
27- You bake the best apple cakes and pecan pies in the whole wide world.
28- Al insisted that you be given a ‘happy name’. And you’ve lived up to our family choice.
29- Mike loved to let you ride in his ‘way-back’ in his VW bug when he picked you up from daycare.
30- You’ve always managed your money well and have even helped your friends with theirs.
31- I love to hear you laugh and giggle. I’d recognize those sounds anywhere.
32- We’ve loved having you as the family travel agent since you were 14.
33- You always brought such joy to your Daddy – and to all the other family members as well.
34- It was fun to be able to speak with you in Arp.

(from Kate)
35- I remember how proud and excited I was to bicycle all over the neighborhood to tell everyone that I knew that I had a new baby sister.
36- I remember singing that baby sister to sleep for so long that my voice was gone. Then laying her gently in her crib; only to see her blue eyes POP open.
37- I remember teaching her to walk down the hall, urged on by a dill pickle. And then missing her little ‘bottom-scoot’ once she learned to walk.
38- I remember playing “catch the baby” with her among Michael, Holly and myself.
39- I remember teaching her to do the twist to Chubby Checker; and then watching her twist out of her soggy diaper.
40- I remember the sheer terror of dropping her on the wood floor and thinking that I had killed her. And the relief when she grabbed onto to me like a baby monkey and howled.
41- I remember walking all over the neighborhood with her in the stroller; my friend Diane and her little nephew in another stroller; and marveling that our route took us by the homes of all the cute boys.
41- I remember registering the now 5 year old sister for Kindergarten and making the registrar wonder if I was a very young mother, or just a very old sister.
42- I remember being home alone with the now 10 year old baby sister and wondering how I was going to protect her from the greatest loss either of us had ever known, or would know for 32 more years.
43- I remember deciding not to let the now teenage baby sister grow up without my “bad influence”; and then being delighted to see that she was growing up to be a lot like me after all.
44- I remember taking her up to Jake Lake to have the time of her life; and forming the bond that holds us all there to this day.
45- I remember being so proud of all her accomplishments in handwork, woodwork, baking, sewing and so much more that always escaped me.
46- I remember being riveted by her descriptions of life in the OR and so proud of her medical knowledge. I remember deciding to grow up to be just like her. And I remember her answering in the affirmative when I asked if she thought I could do it, too.
47- I remember her assistance in helping me through classes, rotations, and her learning to tie left-handed; so that she could teach me that too.
48- I remember realizing that the roles were reversing and that I was coming to depend on her for help with the computer, travel arrangements, work assignments, and a gazillion other details of living.
49- I remember the pride and joy I felt being in her wedding party. What a lovely day!
50- And now that my baby sister is turning 50; I can’t seem to remember anything very important, fun, sad or hilarious in which she was not a central character.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SISTER, I LOVE YOU A LOT !!!


(I could not get through these without shedding a tear or two. Thank you to the 3 very influential women in my life. I am truely blessed in so many ways.)

Girls weekend in RB, can we really be 50!?

Here we are celebrating our 50th year of life here in Rehoboth beach. Already we have many memories to cherish and hold. Alas, I must right them down, or I'll forget them! :)

I think just time together to relax and chat and not have a plan is what is really great!

Last night we (Betina, Sandy, Roseanne, Laura, Pat and I) drove 2 hours south to see Tracy and Keith in Chincoteague, VA. They have a lovely mini home there. We had a fantastic spaghetti dinner, salad, zucchini and garlic bread and the best apple crisp I've had in a long time.

I want to get in the apple crisp recipe that Tracy made. It was yummo from the apple tree in her back yard (BETHANY KESTNER).

TKO Apple Crisp

10 cups apples
1 cup sugar
2 TBS flour
1 TBS cinnamon
1/2 cup H2O

1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup melted butter

cut apples up in to chunks. mix with first list of ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon and H2O) spread in 9 x 13 pan

combine next list of ingredients till coarse. press on top of apples.

bake in oven 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

There will be photos to follow once I find a USB to mini cable....which I think is in Silver Spring.