Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! We talked to Mom and Dad on Monday night and they were heading from Mesa to meet up with Uncle Pete and Aunt Janet for Pete's birthday! Ground Hogs day, right? Happy Birthday Uncle Pete! From there they were headed to Casa Grande to meet up with some friends and stay a couple of weeks, then back to Mesa to celebrate Kaye's birthday on the 27th. Dad talked like Kaye is thinking of coming back with them for a visit to Spokane. I think they are aiming to be home in early March.

Mom grapefruit picking in Arizona.

Kaye and her son Chris were going out to try to pick grapefruit while it's in season to send home with Mom and Dad. I hope they get a chance to get some - it's absolutely delicious! There is a woman Kaye knows who has about a dozen grapefruit trees that are just loaded. Each year she invites us to pick there and take away as much as we can carry. Since grapefruit are so big it only takes a few minutes for you to have all you can use. Kaye has an orange tree in her backyard and we've scoped out a beautiful lemon tree down the street from Kaye where they usually let us pick. BTW - I'm including myself here because I usually visit while Mom and Dad are at Kaye's home and we all go. This year is different since I'm heading out for two weeks in February to work on the freckle count. (More on that later.)

I got home Tuesday about noon from Olympia. (Olympia is about two hours north of Portland in Washington state, where Tammy, Tyson, Cyndi & Dave and their two sons, Kyle and Jake live.) I went up on Sunday for an impromptu trip to hang out with Tyson. We shopped and ate out, played with Tammy's dogs and watched our favorite tv show together - "Heros". It was nice to be with him. We had coffee with Tammy in the morning on Monday when she had a few minutes from the legislature and lunch with Cyndi and Dave at noon at Red Robin and then went out to the Oyster House for dinner. On our way into the restaurant in the evening Mom and Dad called so we got caught up on their whereabouts. It was like being on a mini vacation with your family! Thanks for having me, guys!

Now I'm furiously packing and getting ready for my trip. I leave on Superbowl Sunday to travel to Guadeloupe for some sunny, tropical relaxation for two weeks. I hope I've thought of everything while I'm away. Glenn will come to water the plants and a teenaged friend, Eric "offered" to drive my car for me...Not so fast Eric! Since Doug speaks French he will be my contact person if anyone needs to get ahold of me - he knows how to reach me. Thanks Doug.

Tammy with Elvis and Charlie!

Well, I'd better get back to my suitcases. I have three graveyard shifts right before I go, so I am trying to get mostly done tonight. Hmm...did I pack the sunscreen? Sandals...bathing suit...shorts...?

I'll send postcards and post some pics when I return at the end of the month. Hope you all are well. Catch you later.

Our snow is gone and the snow bear has melted away. We had to take Brayden to Mt. Carmel on Tuesday to deliver him to his dad and have been bereft without him. He was overjoyed on seeing Scott, and we no longer existed. We played the Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue" on the trip over there, and we had to repeat playing it several times while he tried to figure it out. He wanted to hear "the Sue song" again.

Norman was snowblowing his driveway last Sunday and somehow got his fingers caught in the contraption. He didn't make much of the incident at first and was more concerned about a perfectly good pair of gloves. Margaret insisted he go to the emergency room and he had, in fact, cut off the tips of two fingers. The surgeon grafted skin from his wrist to repair the worst finger and sent him home. Norman made Sabrina and Catrina dig the glove out of the trash can when they finally got home late that night. Despite his protestations, the girls threw it away.

We had a newsy email from the newly weds, Anna and Dan. Dan will be transferred to Spokane at the end of March. Anna is still traveling to Florida for her classes and will have to go in February, April, and June. She will have the summer off. Dan will have to stay in Virginia until the end of March to complete a project he is currently involved in. Anna said business at the print shop is steady, which is good.

Rose, Shirley, and I had dinner at Jana and John's last night. Their baby, Ellie, is almost one and a delight. She's about to walk, has 6 teeth, and keeps them both hopping. Jana made a delicious dinner and John always remembers to get my favorite wine.

Pete called this morning. It was 72 degrees there and about half a million people taking advantage of the warmth. Janet is having lots of pain in her back and now in her hip, too. Pain patches help some but not completely.

Bernie and Maudie are wandering around Arizona and must be relishing the weather. Maybe it's an inherited trait because Sandi says Bernie is always cold and so is Rose. Right now she is wearing my vest - one we got after we visited Spokane and saw the FeLLin vests.

Chris and I had lunch Friday with Karen and my stepson Mark. Mark and Karen had big news to announce. They're engaged and have set the wedding date for December 22. Karen already feels like part of the family and, in fact, IS.

Joe was without power for 12 days. The generator he bought blew his computer out so we're behind on news from him. Pete talked to him this morning. Joe was going to Marshfield because he heard there was vandalism at the cemetery.

Goldman continues to be helpful when we need a man around. He is driving Chris's orange Del Sol. We always know when he arrives because of the roar of the little engine in that car.

Our Snow Bear and Brayden

Hi All! It's a beautiful, sunny, and warm (50 degrees) day in Portland. I'm sitting in my home office wishing I was out jogging around the golf course! It is a far cry from last week as we had snow, ice and freezing temperatures here for a couple of weeks. I was so happy that Mom and Dad are in Arizona and missing this cold weather up here, (Spokane isn't thawing out yet. High today of 32 degrees with 5 inches of snow on the ground! Brrrr!) I spoke to them yesterday. They're in Phoenix (Mesa) at Kaye's it isn't that warm yet. Mom said Dad was missing his fireplace because he can't stay warm enough. If they head home now they'll just get home by the time it warms up in Arizona and they'll wish they were south again. I hope they decide to stick it out and wait for the temperature climb up. They so love the heat!

Here's a picture of my little house in the snow! I decided to call the Christmas lights "winter lights" since they are still up on the house in January. They are so pretty in the snow! I guess I'll have to take them down now that it's almost spring. We don't get snow here in Portland very often so it's a big event. There was lots of ice and Portland has lots of hills so chains were required. Growing up in Spokane I feel confident driving in the snow, but the city was requiring chains so I had to crawl around on the floor in the garage and get them on before heading to work for a graveyard shift. (At least when you head to the mountain to go skiing you can enjoy the fun at the end of putting on the chains. No fun just doing it to get ready for work.) With teeth rattling and my rearview mirror jumping around I bounced my way into work at a whopping speed of 25 mph. Honestly! I made it safely and spent the next 12 hours selling lots of power to California, Idaho and Montana because of the same cold snap. Good times.

Mom and Denise and I on Christmas Eve.

I'm getting ready to trade my skis in for snorkeling gear. In February I get to go to Guadeloupe, an island in the French West Indies. (Did you hear me say "Carribean"?) My best buddy Denise is from there and left a week ago with her husband and two small boys. Her father passed away after a long illness and so she went "home" to be with her family. She has asked me to come an join her there when her husband has to return to Portland for work. I'll be helping with the boys and whatever I can do to help her mom get back on her feet. It won't be all work, of course. Those tropical temperatures and white sandy beaches will require some attention from this tourist while I'm not being Auntie. All in all, I am honored to be able to be there for my friend. I'm sure I'll be posting more on that after I get back.

Hmmm...not a lot of other news from me! Glenn and I are scheduled for dinner for his birthday this week. His birthday was the 9th, but I have been sick with a cold, so we put it off until this week. He has recently got me addicted to sushi so we are sushi buddies now. Not sure what movie we'll see, he's a sci-fi kinda guy and I'm the drama or romantic comedy type. I guess I'll let him pick because it's his birthday afterall.

Tyson is keeping me informed on football. Two weeks until the superbowl. I'm not sure I want to root for Chicago because they are the team that eliminated the Seahawks, but I'm thinking Aunt Rose and Shirley will be rooting for them so I might just have to get over it and join the party. (I was rooting for New Orleans yesterday after Hurricane Katrina, can you blame me?)

Tammy is busy as the legislative session is in full swing while she also works on finishing her master's degree. (Don't you think that should be capilized!? Master's Degree!) So, we have a Portland shopping weekend planned for when she resufaces in the summer. A woman can never have too many pairs of shoes, right?

Aunt Sue is in our prayers as she undergoes the latest round of treatments. Thank you for posting some of the details so we know how to pray and are aware of what is happening. I wish I was there to give you a hug and spend the day with you.

Hope you all are doing well and getting excited for the summer family event at the lake. I am looking forward to it.

Stay warm there in the coldest part of the country! If I worked there, I'd make certain Uncle Joe's power was on long before now! (If I could...) You're all welcome to come to my house until the spring!

Love you,

Sandi

Brayden and Jalen on their four-wheeler

Brayden and our Snow Bear

Another quick note. The treatment was uneventful. Each dose costs about $10,000. so that is one reason I have to stay overnight in the hospital - so they're sure it isn't wasted. My blood pressure flucuated some so they would stop 'dripping' periodically. Rose had class last night so Goldman picked me up and we had a nice dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Chris and I are meeting Scott halfway to Louisville this morning to pick up Brayden. We get to keep him until next Tues. or Wed. I doubt that he is as excited as the "Golden Girls".

I had an email from Joe this morning. They are still without power. It went off last Friday and still has not come back on.

Chris is on his way so I've got to get my shoes on. Keep praying.

I got some news from the neuromuscular clinic doctors 2 days early. THEY ARE GOING TO TRY TREATMENT. Dr. Lopate told me when I was in his office that if he confirmed it was motor neuron that there was no treatment and nothing he could do. My affliction is still not confirmed either way but is not typical of ALS or motor neuron so treatment will begin as soon as they can get it set up. I will have 2 IVIG treatments 30 days apart. I will have to stay overnight at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for the first one. They can do the second one in 30 days.

As I was typing the above, the hospital called and I'm to have the first treatment tomorrow. I have to check in the hospital at 8 in the morning. The seizure clinic is a different group of neurologists and they were waiting for the results from the neuromusclar doctors to see me. The nurse who called about admitting will try to have them see me while I'm there anyway.

Goldman pickred me up from the Abbotts yesterday and then we picked Shirley up at the airport. Then Goldman and I joined Sabrina and family and Margaret and Norm for dinner out. It's been very cold here. Goldman has been driving Gossamer, Chris's orange Honda Del Sol. It's a two seater, low to the ground, and loud. We took my car to the airport and dinner and left Gossamer here. When Goldman brought me home and tried to leave in the Del Sol, it's so cold here that he couldn't get the door key in to unlock the car. When he used to leave his old Lexus over here he would leave it unlocked and the key in the ignition. He's acknowledging the advantage of a rusted out, dented old car that will only turn right.

My nose looks worse than it feels now. The stitches should dissolve. Ding hasn't called today yet to see if I'm any prettier. Goldman reminded me what happened to Pinocchio's nose when he lied so I'd best be very truthful because it might hurt worse if it grew.

The ice has melted here and was much worse at the Abbotts. Pete said Joe was without power or cable Saturday morning. We haven't heard from Joe so don't know if he has electricity yet. Bernie and Maudie were somewhere in Arizona yesterday and were headed to Kay's.

Keep praying. I think prayers are working.

Just a quick update before I'm off to the Abbotts and Rose off to Chicago. Shirley went to Chicago on Wednesday and missed most of my pain and agony. Joe and Chris assured me that removal of skin cancer was no big deal. THEY LIED. Rose dropped me off Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. for the procedure, and we thought I would be done in time for her to pick me up and take Shirley to the airport for a 11:30 flight. WE WERE WRONG. I was there until 4 that afternoon and had 37 stitches in my face and I don't know how many in my ear. Chris's comment was "yes, but did they make you pretty?" I was in so much pain on Thursday that Norman called to check on me. That really concerned me because sometimes when I call their house and he realizes it's me, he tries to pretend he's a recording. I'm much better now after Rose hovering and keeping ice packs hourly until Friday. The cure was much worse than the disease. It was a basal cell type cancer, the least problematic, but had to be treated.

Chris brought bagels for breakfast Friday morning. After he ate, he told me he had to go back to his car. I inquired about what he forgot. He had left his "diary in his purse". The daughter I never had. . . . In reality, he is training for a marathon and had left his running log/journal in his gym bag.

Mike Madden, Uncle Curt's and Aunt Virginia's oldest son, has recently been keeping us updated on his life. His daughter, Lauren, is starting college. Mike lives in Kansas City and is in the process of starting a grape growing project near there. It will eventually be a vinyard and winery. This is an investment for his retirement. If social security funds run out before he reaches that age, he says he will just stay drunk. In case some of us want to join you, are you going white or red?

That was a wonderful update from the FeLLins. By comparison, we are pretty dull. Pete hasn't called yet today. The Abbott clan is way behind on updates. Get busy.

Hi folks! It's the west coast slacker here - finally offering an update from our neck-of-the-woods. We have had such a wonderful Christmas season that Doug and I were just commenting on how fast it flew by! Today is the 8th of January 2007 already! I am just catching by breath since everyone was here and am reluctantly putting all the decorations away and settling into the New Year with lots of resolutions.

Dad, Mom, Tammy, Doug, Jake, Kyle and Sandi!

We had one of the best Chritmases ever! I had a week off which was perfect, but also means I have lots of shifts at work stacked up waiting for me when I returned. (Thus the delay with updating the blog...) Mom and Dad arrived on Friday before Christmas and the festivities began! They stay in a RV park not far from my house and so Glenn, Tyson and I ran out with a light dinner to welcome them. They were pretty tired, but we laughed and talked and kept them up late anyway. I spent the day on Friday making quiche for Christmas morning. (Doug said he was a Real Man, but he would eat it anyway just because it was Christmas and his birthday!) Glenn got a new little video camera to catalog the Christmas events and caught Tyson and I on tape arguing about trimming the Christmas tree. It was hilarious. I had no idea how funny we are when we are disagreeing. (Okay - yelling at each other. BTW - If that video ever makes the blog I'll be making another hilarious one with Glenn when I hear about it! )

Cyndi and Dave with their wonderful boys and Jack Russel Terrier named Louie arrived on Saturday night. Christmas Eve consisted of church and getting ready for more family! We had a BBQ salmon dinner with Rizotto that my friend Denise had to rescue when she arrived. I guess I had forgotten how to make it.

A huge surprise for us was when Glenn's son Tim and his new bride, Roxanne arrived at the door on Christmas Eve. We didn't know they were in town, (they live in Boise). After dinner, Doug and Cecile arrived and we enjoyed our tradition of opening Christmas pajamas. We all exchanged names and so it was a blast opeing funny jammies and laughing especially when Dad opened his pink boxer shorts. (I'll have to get that picture on the blog! I didn't take the pics so stay tuned...) Mom and Dad stayed well after midnight as we stuffed more than a dozen stockings. We had to line them up on the stairs because there were so many!

Tim and Roxanne!

Christmas day Steve and his three sons arrived and we opened presents until we were tired of it. One of my favorite presents was some restored pictures for Mom. As you may know, we didn't really have a camera while we were growing up, so any pictures are very precious to us. There are a few that have been mangled and passed around so many times over the years that they are falling apart. I smuggled them away from the farm a while back and was so surprised to know that I could actually scan them into my computer and retouch them and restore them! Me - even me! I put them in a frame for Mom and Dad and now have them archived on my computer. Amazing!

Anna and Shirley (Peggy) as toddlers. The photographer at the newspaper where Dad worked took this famous shot!

Tammy arrived from Yakima, leaving Dick at home sick, and we opened more presents! We had more food, of course and then had to say good-bye to Cyndi and Dave (and Louie) who had to drive back two hours to Olympia taking Little Red, my old Toyota home for Kyle to drive. They both had to work the next day. All the others were able to stay but Mom and Dad turned in early that night. (Gee, I wonder why!)

Kyle and Jake stayed for the winter installment of Aunt Camp. We (attempted) to go snowboarding on Wednesday, but the mountain was experiencing some extreme weather. We finally drove to the back side of Mt. Hood and found a small resort where they were able to take a lesson and play around. I'm hoping they are hooked. I need more ski buddies. Now, if we can just get Cyndi to like it...

Kyle and Jake in a blizzard on Mt. Hood!

On New Year's Day I headed up to Seattle via a stop in Olympia to have lunch with Cyndi, Tammy and Dick, (who was feeling better), Tyson, Kyle and Jake thanks to Tyson's good planning. I stayed the night with Doug and Cecile and went to the Seattle Pacific Science Center on the 2nd to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and didn't want to miss it. It was facinating and very faith affirming. I spent nearly 4 hours in the exhibit! Then back to Cyndi's for a great dinner that Dave prepared and a game night with the Olympians! (Have you ever played Would You Rather...? What an hysterical game.)

Home to Portland around 11:00 pm to the quiet and the official end to the holidays. I stayed up and roamed around my empty house reflecting on the whirlwind and how it was such a wonderful event to have my family descend on my little home for Christmas. Somehow, my house felt bigger having everyone here. I am blessed to have my little house and a beautiful family to make it a home.

Now with the New Year upon us I will using my new Ipod Shuffle that the Langsons got me to get back to the gym so I can keep up with them when we jump into the summer and the 4th Annual Aunt Camp week. My resolutions include changing jobs to a 8-5 M-F routine. I need more structure and routine in my life. (Regular sleep, regular exercise, et al) This past 5 years of shift work have been great, but I'm ready for a change. I'm looking forward to the family reunion at Aunt Sue's lake house this 4th of July. I wouldn't miss it! Keep me in mind while you're planning it. I'd like to help as much as I can from a distance. I feel bad that I've come the last two times and been a freeloader! I hope to bring as much of the 2L Clan as possible!

Another major event happened on New Year's Day. Anna married her love from high school - Dan Lemon! (Now she's officially Anna Banana-Lemon.) They announced they would be tieing the knot and had a quiet ceremony on the 1st. What a way to start 2007! Hmmm, that leaves Steve, me, Glenn and Tammy as the only unmarried ones left. Maybe we can improve on that this year....?! Congrats Anna and Dan!

Anna and Dan Lemon on January 1st, 2007 - their wedding day!

That's all for now. Great to hear how your holidays were filled with fun and family. I hope your New Year is filled with promise and bright days on the horizon. With the dawning of each new day I'm filled with gratitude for the closeness we've enjoyed this last year and look forward to being more a part of each others' lives.

Happy New Year!

Sandi

I hope I can capture an occurence that happened here on Friday. I had spent a good part of the morning updating the blog. When I finished and tried to publish the update, my update disappeared. I am not computer savvy so I enlisted Rose's assistance. She said things don't just disappear and the update must be somewhere but she couldn't find it. When Chris comes over, the three of us bombarded him with questions and problems that he can usually solve. My question that day was "Where is my update?" He messed with my computer for a while and then told us this story.

When he was in high school he once was assigned reading and making a book report on the novel The Old Man and the Sea. He waited until the last minute and was up typing the report on his first computer, an Apple 2E, at eleven o'clock the night before the report was due when an electrical storm came up. The power in the house went off momentarily. When the power came back on, his nearly completed report was gone. Try as he might, he couldn't retrieve his work and had to start all over. What he was telling me was that sometimes things disappear and can't be retrieved.

After he left and was at a poker game with his friends, I called him to tease him that he was right and sometimes things just disappear and can't be found. I couldn't find my blog update but, in the process of searching, I found his Old Man and the Sea report he had lost in eleventh grade. Needless to say, he didn't believe me. If anyone finds my update please post it.

Jana, John, and Ellie got home from Christmas in Kansas. They didn't incur any bad weather with all the storms in some parts of Kansas.

Pete called Saturday morning. Bernie and Maudie had arrived in Arizona Friday tired from their travels. The four of them went to dinner and then to bed early to recuperate.

Rose got some new saws for Christmas and has been busy at carpenter work all day. She is building some more bookshelves in their office in the basement. For those of you who haven't been here, the bathrooms are the only rooms in the house without bookshelves. They may be next.

I spent a long time updating this morning and somehow lost it all. I'll try again.

My last update focused on my health so this one will be about current events. Goldman and Maddog picked me and the boys up for a New Year's Eve party at the Hollensbes'. Doug and Suzanne made a fabulous prime rib/ lobster dinner. The kids preferred chicken nuggets but were almost too busy to stop playing and eat. The Slayton and Cullinane families joined us. Goldman had to go down to the basement occasionally to soothe and referee. Being a schoolteacher makes him very good at this. Rose was under the weather but the doggie bag they sent fed us for two days.

We had to deliver the boys to their dad half way to Louisville on Monday morning, much to our reluctance. We were just into our return to St. Louis when Scott called. He said "Mom, I don't want to upset you, but Brayden just said he misses Aunt Shirley the most cause she's the nicest". Rose and I had worked very hard to show them a good time and Shirley had been in Louisiana since Thursday. Go figure.

Shirley returned from visiting her family in Louisiana on Monday night. Her brother-in-law is still not doing very well but has shown a bit of improvement.

Joe, we may have to get some pointers from you on sailing. Mark, my stepson, has bought a 36 foot sailboat that he's going to keep on Lake Michigan. He and Karen just returned from a week of lessons on sailing in Florida. We've been invited for a sail with them, but I'm not going to get deck shoes until I'm sure they have the hang of it.

I had lunch with Chris and Mark today. We're back to our Friday lunches and are planning another lunch in Evansville, Brick's hometown. We eat at a 'Miss Muzzy" type cafe there with about the same prices that Muzzy charged, so we all grab for the check.

Chris took me to the dermatologist/surgeon about my skin cancer. Joe has had the same thing and so has Chris. The doctor was also a cosmetic surgeon but Chris decided everyone there was on their first trip. He filled out the form for me and listed my occupation as an exotic dancer. I don't think the doctor believed it.

Rose and Shirley are going to Chicago next weekend for their monthly trip. I'm going to stay with the Abbotts and Margaret and I are going to work on plans for reunion this summer. Any suggestions or ideas would be welcome. Joe has already been busy getting things in the planning process.

Our West Coast editors have been slacking off. Fill us in with the happenings.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. 2007 may be an even better year. There's some news about "my journey back to health" that I hesitated to post but decided to ask for prayers and best wishes in the coming weeks.

I went to the neuromuscular clinic at Barnes Jewish last Thursday. Rose, one of my many staunch supporters, and I spent the whole day there. I saw about 13 neurologists. At one point there were 5 of them in the room. My neurologist in charge is Glenn Lopate. There is lots of stuff about him on the internet. They drew vials of blood [I thought they were going to have to give me a transfusion when they were done], poked me, shocked me, pinpricked me, tested my strength, watched me walk, hooked me up to various machines, and probably did some other things to me I either forgot or didn't know about. They even watched Rose walk to see if we had an odd "Felin" walk.

After all this they did not come to any diagnosis. Nor has any of the other testing and doctoring I've done for the last 3 years. They may have a diagnosis in about 3 weeks when they get all the results of the tests back. I may have a motor neuron disease which is not treatable. Dr. Lopate said he cannot rule that out but he's leaning toward a possible motor nerve disease which is treatable, and he will be the one that treats it. This is some of the most possibly positive news I've had for 3 years. It's going to be a long 3 weeks.

This group of neurologists deal strictly with muscles and nerves. Since I had encephalitis a couple years ago, I've had intermittent 'spells' for which a different group of neurologists deal with. I'm waiting for a referral from the muscle/nerve group at Barnes Jewish to see that group of doctors.

Meanwhile I had a biopsy on a spot on my nose which turned out to be basil skin cell cancer. I'm having that removed this Friday.

I don't like to dwell on my condition but wanted to let everyone know my current status.

I continue to marvel how good people are to me and would name a lot of them but I type too slowly. The computer would go into one of its modes.