Dad and his little sister, Sue at Grammie's 100th birthday celebration in June this year.

Here's the latest on the Old Guy... He had a pretty good night and today they put him through a stress test and also injected an isotope into his veins to trace the flow of blood through his heart's arteries and valves. They have him rescheduled for the heart catheter through his arm tomorrow, (Friday). My understanding is that they are doing all of these preliminary tests in order to do as much for him as they can when they actually get into his heart tomorrow.

Mom has been at his side for most of this week's ordeal while still keeping up with her Grange activities and at home in her "spare" time. (She was up until 10:30 p.m. after being at the hospital all day on Tuesday night making carmel corn for some Christmas baskets.) Dad said she made it to the Grange meeting last night and even carried out her duties as an officer. If only the rest of us could keep up with her...

Dad told me today that our brother Mike is going to be Santa Claus again this year for their annual Christmas party, although Mike doesn't know it yet. Mike has been Santa for many years so I'm sure he's planning on this year's escapades. Some of the children are on to him. About 3 years ago Austin (Carrie's son who was then about 7 yrs. old), recongized Uncle Mike's shoes and had to confide in his mom that he thought it might be Uncle Mike Santa Clause. Mike keeps getting more crafty to fool the younger ones, but I think the word is out. So, if you talk to any of the little kids help Mike out and tell them it really is Santa himself!

Aunt Sue reminded me that I forgot to update the phone number for Dad's room since they moved him to Deconess Hospital. He can be reached @ (509) 473-3719 and loves a good chat.

Thanks again for standing with us as we all wish we were there to hold his hand and give Mom a big hug. Your heartfelt wishes are felt across the miles. We'll keep you posted when we hear more...
Mike and Ryan (Carrie's 2nd son). Notice anything familiar about the rosy cheeks and grey whiskers Mike has? Hmmm...I wonder...(Do I hear jingle bells?)