Birthdays

Birthdays are fun for everyone except those who do not want to be reminded that they are getting older. However, when you consider the alternative, you should be very happy to celebrate your birthday. Anyway, I know the ones who enjoy their birthdays most are the kids. The little girl next door just got her first full size bike for her birthday and she is riding around shouting about how happy she is. There are 6 kids between the 2 houses next to us and there seems to be a birthday party going on almost continuously from July 1 to August 1. They set up the BBQ and chairs and grill out and have cake and ice cream. We are invited to all the parties too. That is really nice of them. The kids have such a ball celebrating their birthdays. It is so much fun to watch.

Texas Officials Try to Sort out Relationships

Armed with cotton swabs and cameras, lab technicians began taking DNA samples from hundreds of children and mothers. They are hoping to sort out the tangled family relationships within the West Texas polygamist sect.A judge ordered that the genetic material be taken to help determine which children belong to which parents. That seems reasonable to me. Before they begin custody hearings to determine which children may have been abused, they need to figure that out. Those children who have been abused need to be removed from the sect compound in Eldorado. Then they will be able to tell which ones can safely be returned to their parents. It is confusing because the children call all their father's wives "mother" and all men in their families as "uncles". Why don't they call some of the men "father". Strange, huh?