Here is an e-mail we received from Sabrina (Margaret and Norman's daughter) this morning:

Our first grandchild...and the first great-grandchild for Meemaw and Peepaw.

Up to the minute news...Announcing our newest addition! Tristan Joshua Barrett. Mom and baby are doing fine. Mommy and Daddy did a great job delivering this beautiful baby boy. You would all be proud! He is a sweetheart of a baby with a set of powerful lungs and a seemingly sweet disposition. (photos attached). Tristan Joshua Barrettborn at 10:26 pm on Thursday, December 14, 20067 pounds 9 oz.

Technical difficulties have halted an upload of photos of the newborn.

Hi folks! Sorry to be so tardy in getting an update out. Between technical difficulty and being behind the eight-ball with work and Christmas just around the corner, I'm just now taking a few minutes to say hello. Thanks again for all of your support for us while Dad had his latest bout in the hospital. It's so nice to know the rest of the family is there for him. We feel your support!

Mom and Dad at home in Spokane!

As you know Dad got out of the hospital on Saturday and he and Mom headed off to their Christmas party! Well done, Mom and Dad! Each day I talk with him he sounds better and better. He says the progress is too slow, but I'm encouraged. Today my son Tyson is heading over to Spokane for a few days to help his grandparents get the 5th wheel ready and secure their home for a two or three month road trip. Mom and Dad plan on spending Christmas in Portland and then meeting up with their camping club in Eastern Oregon and heading south to Arizona. They will visit Uncle Pete and Aunt Janet on the way there and stay some of the time with Kaye and her family in Mesa. Once they get past the snow in the north they should have a toasty visit in the desert. I hope they remember to bring back grapefruit!

Cyndi and Dave are dropping Tyson off at the Sea-Tac airport on their way to the Seattle area for Red Robin's annual Christmas event. Dave is the General Manager of the Red Robin in Olympia and this is a gala affair. I texted Cyndi just now and reminded her to take pictures of them all dressed up for the party. If she does, I'll post those here for others to see.

Tyson and I in Olympia on the Puget Sound.

Anna left today from Spokane to go to Florida for another week of school. Mom took her to the airport this morning. Anna will then go to Virginia to visit with her finace' Dan and head home to Spokane on the 21st. She has been sick with a cold/flu bug, so I hope the traveling won't aggrivate her health. 'Tis the season...If she and Dan are up to it, they will join us in Portland for Christmas.

I'm off to work for another graveyard shift. I get off Thrusday morning and then on Friday night Cyndi and her good friend Lori will arrive for our annual Girlfriend's Christmas shopping weekend. It's the last push to get it all done! I've taken invetory, wrapped what I have, and made my list for the rest of the loot. It is divide and conquer time! As usual, we will incorporate a nice dinner out or a girl movie while we wrap our gifts. Good times!

Hope this finds you all well and looking forward to the Season upon us.

Love,

Sandi

Rose has switched to an updated version of blogger which has confused me considerably. If any of our contributors has problems, Rose's email address is roseholt@aol.com

Back to news. Rose talked to Bernie Sunday afternoon. He sounded like his old self and said he felt good. He got out of the hospital Saturday, and he and Maudie went to a dinner in an ice storm Saturday night. Sounds like he's back to his old self. They did take the truck because of the sleet but, other than that, he didn't slow down.

Pete called Saturday morning. He and Janet were packing for their trip home to Idaho for Christmas. They were leaving Monday morning in the recently purchased Ford Focus. He should know the way by now but was perhaps taking a new route. He told me they were not stopping at any casinos.

We put our Christmas tree up on Sunday. Shirley insisted on a real tree so we had to enlist the help of our Jewish friend, Mark Goldman, to get it up. Once when Mark and Scott were in kinergarten, we invited Markbto have dinner with us. Scott took me aside and told me "Don't pray. He's Jewish, you know." That was 35 years ago so we didn't scare him off. He is one of my loyal helpers. He and I went to Doug and Suzanne's for dinner one night last week. They are another two of my loyal helpers.

Chris took me to St. Lukes to physical therapy this week and last. The hand therapist is trying some electrical stimulation among other things. The physical therapist is concentrating on helping me improve my balance. There's a jogging path there that Chris frequents while he waits. He is reluctant to park in handicapped spaces in his jogging attire so I have to limp.

I just tried to call Bernie in his hospital room and found out he went home yesterday. When I called last week, I talked to Lonnie, the guy who took his room in the other hospital. After some conversation Lonnie, realized I wasn't his sister Sue. I did wish him well. We haven't heard from the west, but sounds like good news if Bernie is already home. I also had a correction to make based on a recent conversation with Janet. Pete cannot buy a car in Arizona. He had to go to California this time. He had been to dealerships in Arizona before.

Just had a call from Sandi out west. Bernie is out of surgery and doing fine. I may have the particulars wrong but they were able to go through his arm and correct two blockages. Sandi thinks they will keep him over the weekend but doesn't know for sure. Maudie was with the doctors and Sandi hadn't talked to her yet but the procedure was successful. I'm sure one of the FeLLins will add a more accurate update when they have time.

I should have posted a picture of my mom. Here she is the morning and evening of their 55th wedding anniversary party.

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?)

Hi Family! Just a quick update on how Dad is doing. The surgeon's went in this morning (Wednesday) to do the heart catheter, but were unsuccessful because of too much scar tissue in the main artery system from Dad's leg up to his heart. This process took only about a half an hour as the surgeon, Dr. Bishop was afraid of poking around too much and creating a secondary injury.

The next step will be for Dr. Lubie, (not sure how to spell it), the same surgeon who has helped Dad before, to go in with the heart catheter through an artery in Dad's arm. I think it is less of a direct route, but a viable option. Since they are fitting Dad into the surgery rotation tomorrow, we are still unsure of what time they will operate. If they find a blockage that is repairable by implanting a stent, they will do it at that time. Dad is conviced he will be home then on Thursday or Friday.

He and Mom are in very good spirits and wish to thank everyone for their prayers, concern and phone calls. I hope they will both get a good night sleep for their big day tomorrow. We'll keep you all posted.

Anna's birthday at Tammy's home in Olympia.

Back row l to r: Steve, Tyson, Cecile, Kyle, Doug
Front row l to r: Matt, Monica, Cyndi (center), Anna and Tammy. Jake is right out front - as usual.

Janet, whose birthday was December 4 

Shelly 

Rose 

Shirley,Ellie, John (barely) 

Ellie and Jana 

Ellie and Jana 

Ellie, Sue, and Shirley 

Scott 

Shelly (barely) and Mark 

Drew, Mark's son who is a student and Truman 

Brayden 

Chris 

Jana and Ellie 

Shirley and Ellie 

Ellie 

Here in Missouri we just heard from the 2LL's. Sandi called to update us that Bernie has been transferred to a different hospital. They decided to do a heart cath which Maudie says is a tiny camera they insert to look around his heart. If the cath determines there is some blockage or something they can fix, they will go ahead with the fix. The nurse practioner was with him when I called and the doctor hadn't been in yet. The number in his room is 509-473-3719. His room number is 719 and this number rings to his room. Maudie said he is not in much pain and likes hearing from everyone. Between the two posters we will keep updating when we get news.

Hi Folks! Sandi here with an update on Dad. He had some heart trouble on Friday night and after Mom and three Nitro tablets helped him get past it, he rested over the weekend, (although he said he felt like he'd been hit by a train!). When he went to the hospital for his regular physical therapy session, (he works out on their equipment 2-3 times per week, lifting weights and riding the stationery bike), he decided he'd better have them look him over. They admitted him for more tests.

Fortunately, the week before they had run a routine EKG so they had that most recent baseline to compare with after this weekend event. At first blush the doctors are saying that he suffered a minimal amount of damage to his heart. We'll know more after this next series of tests. Apparently, they run one test three times over a 24 hour period and so that is why they kept him overnight. I talked with Mom this morning and she thought they would send him home today. So, mostly he's bored and would like to hear from folks. His hospital number is (509) 434-7863 if he's still there he'd love phone calls or if he's home he still likes hearing from everyone.

The temperature in Spokane is still have very cold , but not experiencing as severe weather as you folks in Missouri. Hope you are all well and coping with the cold snap. And to think winter isn't even officially here yet! I can't wait for January. For me, more weather means more snow in the mountains! Yipee!

Love you all - I'll keep you posted as I hear more on the Old Guy.
Sandi

We've dug out a lot today but we still need a nice thaw. Shirley got Rose and me some vest coats
after we told her how much we admired the ones the FeLLins wore in Spokane. They came in handy these past few cold days.

Pete checked in this morning. Monday is Janet's birthday and they are going to Palm Springs, Ca. to celebrate it. They're traveling in a Ford Focus that he recently purchased. I think they had to buy it in Arizona because he wasn't welcome back at any dealer in Idaho Falls that he'd been to before. He went with me in 1964 to buy a car and I bet the dealership still remembers him. Janet, you have my sympathy.

Rose is in to carpenter work these days. She is building a work table in her client room in the basement. Actually, she is pretty handy with tools. We were remembering Brick's handy man ventures. When we lived on Rainor Court after we first got married, the soap dish in the bathtub fell out. He got his new drill out and repaired it. When we were in the process of moving out several years later and went to move the dresser in our bedroom, it wouldn't budge. He had drilled through the wall and attached the soap dish to the dresser. You can see what kind of handyman he was. I can't say it speaks well for my housecleaning either.

We are babysitting Bob's great grandchild today. Jana and John are Christmas shopping and then have his company Christmas party tonight. Ellie is 8 months old and at a very cute age. [Scott, my first baby, is 40 years and 4 days old.]

I noticed that I posted three times last time. I'm not sure if I was stuttering or repeating myself. My computer guru, Maddog, wasn't here to help with technicalities.

Hello from snowbound Missouri. We have probably more ice than snow, but the roads are treacherous. Shirley had reservations to visit her family in Louisiana yesterday afternoon but that flight was cancelled. She rescheduled for this morning, got up at 4:30, sat at the airport until 9 and called me and Rose to come back to get her. Her flight was eventually cancelled. Goldman and I were going to Doug and Suzanne's for dinner last night but had to take a raincheck.

I had my eyes examined last week and found that I, too like Rose, have cataracts. Pete also has the beginnings of them. I always thought cataracts were something that affected only old people. Perhaps the rest of my siblings should be checked before they get old.

Rose had a phone message from Bernie the other day to say they got home safely from a wonderful Thanksgiving with Cyndi and family. The FeLLins keep the road hot.

Stephanie just called from Troy. They have a bit more snow and ice than we do. I believe Springfield had it worse. Probably, th wind blew. . . . . Joe, how is it there?

Hello from snowbound Missouri. We have probably more ice than snow, but the roads are treacherous. Shirley had reservations to visit her family in Louisiana yesterday afternoon but that flight was cancelled. She rescheduled for this morning, got up at 4:30, sat at the airport until 9 and called me and Rose to come back to get her. Her flight was eventually cancelled. Goldman and I were going to Doug and Suzanne's for dinner last night but had to take a raincheck.

I had my eyes examined last week and found that I, too like Rose, have cataracts. Pete also has the beginnings of them. I always thought cataracts were something that affected only old people. Perhaps the rest of my siblings should be checked before they get old.

Rose had a phone message from Bernie the other day to say they got home safely from a wonderful Thanksgiving with Cyndi and family. The FeLLins keep the road hot.

Stephanie just called from Troy. They have a bit more snow and ice than we do. I believe Springfield had it worse. Probably, th wind blew. . . . . Joe, how is it there?

Hello from snowbound Missouri. We have probably more ice than snow, but the roads are treacherous. Shirley had reservations to visit her family in Louisiana yesterday afternoon but that flight was cancelled. She rescheduled for this morning, got up at 4:30, sat at the airport until 9 and called me and Rose to come back to get her. Her flight was eventually cancelled. Goldman and I were going to Doug and Suzanne's for dinner last night but had to take a raincheck.

I had my eyes examined last week and found that I, too like Rose, have cataracts. Pete also has the beginnings of them. I always thought cataracts were something that affected only old people. Perhaps the rest of my siblings should be checked before they get old.

Rose had a phone message from Bernie the other day to say they got home safely from a wonderful Thanksgiving with Cyndi and family. The FeLLins keep the road hot.

Stephanie just called from Troy. They have a bit more snow and ice than we do. I believe Springfield had it worse. Probably, th wind blew. . . . . Joe, how is it there?