Hi Everyone! Yes, I am still alive and have some updates for you! I just got back from Arizona last night visiting Kaye and her family and spending some time with Mom while she is there. We had a very nice visit!! Mom is there until this weekend. I got home last night to snow here in Portland. I was supposed to go into work today but, since I wasn't on shift, blew it off to stay home and get caught up after being away. (Steve said I was playing hookey!)

Great Grammie with 14 month-old Ethan! He stole all of our hearts!

The visit in Mesa was just wonderful! Mom got there on the 14th and I joined her on the 20th. Kaye and Mike's two sons took the day off on Wednesday the 21st and went with us to Quartsite to see Uncle Pete and Aunt Janet! We had a bit of a delay since I forgot my passport for geting out of Mexico and had to wait for Fex Ex to deliver it. Ugh! Steve was nice to get it sent off for me. I thought of it just as I was landing...oops!

We had a wonderful time with the Felins! Uncle Pete entertained us with his new toy Segway. Even I can ride that thing. Its really fun. I can just imagine him tooling around Quartsite with folks running to take cover when they see him coming!!

Uncle Pete and Great- Grand-Nephew Ethan!

Danielle, (Nate's wife) having fun on Uncle Pete's Segway! She's a natural cruiser!

Uncle Pete took us all out to lunch and then to the Big Event! There was a huge Flea Market in Quartsite the day we were there. We wandered around looking for something fur-lined that Uncle Pete wanted...didn't find it though.

The "kids" headed back to Mesa and Mom and Kaye and I said good-bye to Pete and Janet and headed to Yuma. (2 hours south of Quartsite.) We spent the night there and went into Mexico across the border in California at Algodones. We wandered around and shopped some, getting pestered at every turn by people selling their wares. I bought a yard decoration of a bird. We were laughing that I paid $14 for a couple of rocks! It's really fun, though. (I put it out in the snow today here in Portland. I hope it doesn't crack!)

Nate and Ethan. So serious, guys?!

Nate, Kaye and Mom in front of Officer Peterson's home!

We got back to Mesa late Thursday night and headed over to meet Nate (Kaye's oldest son) and Danielle' to tour an olive grove. We enjoyed our afternoon and then headed over to Nate's home. They have such a charming home in a beautiful development. Danielle stays home with Ethan and is currently 5 months pregnant with baby no. 2! Her due date is June 30th so I'm hoping for June 28th which is Dad's birthday. It could happen!

Kaye's son Chris treated us to dinner at The Outback that evening. They all sure treated us like royalty!

Kaye's "boys" Chris (21) and Nate (24). The waitress thought they were twins so they posed for us! (You'd better stretch a little more Nate if you want to look as tall as your little brother.)

Girl's Day Out! Kaye, Danielle, Mom and me. (Can you even tell Danielle is 5 months along?!)
On Saturday it was girl's day out! Mom, Kaye, Danielle, Danielle's mom Donna and I all went out for a pedicure and asian food. We basically indulged ourselves all afternoon while the guys had the "chore" of keeping care of 14 month-old Ethan. Except for Danielle getting a break, the rest of the women - Great Grammie, Grammie, Nona, and Auntie Sandi, would have enjoyed having Ethan with us!

Four of us showing off our toes!! Can you guess which "little piggies" belong to whom?

On Sunday after church, Kaye and Mom and I went to visit Kaye's friends Gene and Loraine whose home sits on a former grapefruit orchard. Every time we are in Arizona this time of year, these folks let us come and pick all the grapefruit we want!! It was like old times when Dad used to come with us and we could pick all we could use in a matter of minutes since the fruit is so big. I brought home a second suitcase full of grapefruit and lemons. Yum! Nothing like that wonderful fresh fruit!! It didn't get smooshed in the commute, but I did have a friendly note from the airline that they inspected my bag. I guess the delicious smell of citrus was just too compelling for TSA to pass it up!

"Lemon Tree - very pretty!" Ok - it's grapefruit, but you get the idea. Ahhh! The smell! The taste! The sunshine!!! Kaye and Mom were posing for the blog.

Mom is staying until Saturday although the snowy weather forecast may persuade her to linger in the sunshine a little longer. Here are some pics of the snow in Spokane...would you want to return home if you had a choice?

Mom's Driveway in the sunshine.

Twilight on the front lawn. Beautiful blue snow scene. Spokane had 6 feet of snow!!

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying winter. We are all doing well and looking ahead to new things in 2009. I am hoping to go to the Grand Canyon and to Washington D.C. this year and to Florida to see Tyson. In the back of my mind is Hawaii and Chicago. Ahh...so many places and so little time. I'll try to do a better job of keeping in touch via the blog. Stay warm however you can! See you next time.

Blessings!

It's really winter here today. We had to get Goldman to come over and shovel the sidewalks for us this morning and they may need it again before it's all finished. Joe says it's mostly ice down there and hard to shovel. Margaret said Norman used the leafblower on the snow at their house which worked very well.There were lots of school closings in the area including Goldman's.

My little Indian (Brayden) called Sunday and talked for a long time. I told him about one of the nurses at the hospital seeing his picture the last time I was in the hospital and admiring how handsome his haircut is. After he and I talked for a long time then he and Aunt Rose chatted for a long time. We asked Scott if he had bribed him but Scott said that he hadn't. Sometimes he won't talk to us hardly at all.

I had those vascular tests on my right leg last Wednesday and the doctor called with the results this morning. Lately I've also been having some pain and discoloration on some of my toes on that foot. My primary care physician said the tests show some blockage and I should see a vascular surgeon and made me an appointment for next Monday. Meanwhile she said I should take it a bit easy with my exercises. I've been very faithful with exercise since I began yoga but some of them I can still do without using that leg.

Rose and Shirley are usually busy on Thursday evenings so Chris and I and sometimes Goldman go out for dinner. Shelly also joins us when she can. Her Uncle Butch is home now and doing very well.

I think work week at the lakehouse is going to be the last week in March. It feels like Spring is taking forever getting here. Brayden is also eager for Spring and baseball season to get here. I'm sure Jalen feels that way too.

Leslie gets back from Washington tonight. Do I have to send someone from Missouri out there to get an update? Pete said Maudie is in Arizona with Kay-Kay.

Hello to everyone.

Brayden with his handsome Mohawk haircut. Very, very trendy! Sue with her Christmas present from Pete and Janet. [The last two photos may be reruns.]

Still looking forward to Spring and warmer weather. Neighbor at the lake called me Sunday and we had frozen pipes at our joint wellhouse. He and Maddog were taking care of getting things thawed or whatever needed to be done. Everything was okay inside. Thank goodness for good neighbors and for Maddog.

I had an update email from Mike Madden. He said he's been very busy working 60 to 70hours a week rebuilding the house at the farm. He's almost finished. He had seen Aunt Virginia on Saturday and she was doing well. She loves coming to the farm. The administrator at the assisted living facility where she stays told Mike that people usually don't last 6 months with whatever she has but she has been there 18 months already.

Mark and Karen spent last week skiing in Utah. Drew had to be back in school today. Joe went to Tulsa with Beth and Lydia overnight Sunday. Pete called Saturday - mostly to brag about the weather in Arizona,. It's sure been cold here. He and Janet are going to Loughlin, NV, to celebrate his birthday. It's the same day as Super Bowl and he's tired of hearing about Curt Warner. It didn't sound like he was going to watch the game.

I had some vascular tests on my right leg this morning and had the blood pressure checked in my big toe! First time I've been checked there. They were just checking some pain I get in my leg when I walk a lot and it's probably just old age but they wouldn't tell me anything there. Their doctors have to send it to my doctor and then she will let me know. I'm still doing my yoga exercises faithfully everyday and I may try some acupuncture again.

We watched the inauguration most of the day yesterday. It was great to see Obama installed in office. I think he will reinstate stem cell research and while it may not help me it might help someone like me down the road. He has a lot of work ahead of him.

Still waiting for some updates. Rose has some photos to post when she has time.

Brother Joe sent this photo.

I got out of the hospital Tuesday. Chris picked me up and we went to Fitz's Root Beer for lunch. Rose got back from Chicago that afternoon. It's been too cold to go outside since then. I do have a healing touch session this afternoon. I've hovered inside waiting for Spring.

The JCCA (Jewish Community Center Association, I think) is going to put on a play, "Sabina," and Rose has consulted with them about the topic. You can view and hear an interview with Rose at http://www.newjewishtheatre.org/video.html I think the play performances may be nearly sold out. [I probably should have her read this before I post, but I'm not going to wait. I think I've got it right.]

I'll make this short because I mostly wanted to get the address about Rose on the blog. I'm trying yoga and will update about that later. One of my neurologists is a very firm believer in it.

I came back from the lake with the boys yesterday. We had a great time with lots of laugh and good food. The menu wasn't as varied as when I go with the girls but the food was great and there was lots of it.

I spent the remainder oof the afternoon at Doug and Suzanne's and have an apology to make for misspelling Lukas's name in my last post. It is LuKas, not Lucas. Chris picked me up there and after we went out to dinner and then came over to spend the night with me since Rose and Shirley are in Chicago and I had to be here at the hospital at eight this morning for my periodic IVIG. We were both up bright and early and showered and drank our coffee and hurried down here to the hospital to wait.

Chris had a bike rack on his car and a headlight out but used my handicap sticker hoping he could pass the bike rack off as a wheelchair rack and since it was daylight no one would notice the headlight being out and we wouldn't be too late. He came back this evenng but said he didn't park in handicapped.

They finally have the IVIG dripping after a long day. They've been very busy here today. When Chris came back this evening he went to the nurse's station and asked for me some water. After a while he went back and asked for just a cup. They are terribly overworked today. Maybe because it's Monday.

We need some other updates. Catch us up with other happenings!!

It's been a while since I updated so I'll probably forget a few things. It was a great Christmas. Mark and Karen hosted a family get together on the 27th that was a great brunch and gift exchange. Scott and the boys were here from Louisville and we got to keep the boys for a few days. Deena and Jamil and Layla came over for a few days the week between Christmas and New Years. Goldman and Doug took Lucas, Jalen and Brayden to a Blues game one night. We got a wonderful package of goodies from the FeLLins in Portland that the three of us enjoyed until New Years and then Rose and Shirley went on a diet and what little was left I've enjoyed by myself. Thank you very much for that Christmas package.

Leslie, my Springfield neighbor, is the proud grandmother of an 8 lb. 4 oz baby girl born January 3 in Olympia, WA. They've named her Hannah Marie. Leslie was going to make a trip out there but I haven't heard. Jeff and Sheila say she's absolutely perfect.

Speaking of Washington, we need an update on the weather there and in Oregon. I talked to Pete this morning and he had talked to Maudie in Spokane who hadn't been out of the house in two weeks. Caitlin is due to go back the end of next week he said. Pete and Janet are back in Quartzsite.

Shirley is in Chicago and Rose is going there today. I'm down at the lakehouse (Furrlined, per Pete) with Maddog, Goldman and Doug. It was 60 degrees here yesterday but only a high of 30 today. Doug did bundle up and go fishing and said he had five in his basket. Pete said Kelly and the boys were ice fishing but Doug is sure they couldn't have been any colder than he was. Wind chill here is 15.

Let's have some updates.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE TO EVERYONE THIS MORNING!!!! It's cold again in Missouri but supposed to be a bit warmer by the end of the week. Our other contributors are behind on their updates so let us know what's happening for your Christmas celebration.

Pete and Janet went back to Idaho and contracted a signmaker to make me this wonderful sign to post on the Lakehouse. FURLINED Sue Boaz Prop Since 1982
Goldman and I are going down and hanging it the weekend of January 10. Doug may go with us. Rose and Donald both said Pete has been laughing about having the guy making it all Fall.

Doug and Suzanne had a party last Saturday night and, although I was the only 'old' person there, I sure felt welcome. I'm MOM to all the young people there. Actually the 'young' ones are getting to be middle aged. Everybody brought their kids, and they had a grand old time playing with Lukas and Josie.

Monday night Liz, my old friend from GMAC, and her husband Dave took me out to dinner down in the Delmar Loop to Blueberry Hill. We had a grand time reminiscing about old times and talking about life at GMAC now. Liz has 70 weeks until she can retire and has been forced to transfer to Chicago. GMAC has taken away a lot of the benefits. She is just praying GMAC lasts another 70 weeks.

Margaret and Norman came by yesterday to wish us a Merry Christmas. While they were here, Donald called to wish us a happy holiday. The Abbott clan is gathering at the Abbott house on Christmas Eve. Donald and Vita are headed to see the grandkids on Christmas Day and are taking them home with them for a few days. Scott and the boys are coming over on Friday and we're gathering at Mark and Karen's on Saturday. Sherry can't come, and we will miss her.

Shelly's Uncle Butch is going to be moved to a rehabilitation facility in the near future. The doctors have put some plates in his face and he can eat some very soft things. I think this indicates he is on the mend.

COLD weather here in Missouri. We have a bit of snow and ice on the ground and it's too cold for it to melt. It was in the upper 50's here on Sunday and fell to the teens on Monday. It's been very cold ever since.

We bought our Christmas tree on Saturday. Goldman came over and helped us put it in the stand to 'fall out'. He came last night to help carry the boxes of lights and ornaments up from the basement. The three of us were telling him how to put the lights and the angel on the tree. He was very patient but told us the story he had heard about why the angel goes on top of the tree. Santa and some angels were decorating a tree and at some point Santa proclaimed "Do you know what's going to happen to the next one of you who asks me where to put something?" [I've taken a little poetic license with the facts here.]

I've taken up yoga and am very excited about it. Last Thursday this instructor came here and gave Shirley and me our first lesson. Rose couldn't join us but is looking forward to joining us this Thursday. The instructor (Vicki) is a wonderful woman and believes yoga will help me in several ways. I've been been doing my exercises and riding the exercycle, trying to increase my capacity each day. Vicki picked me up yesterday (in spite of the weather) and she and I went to Mary and Lynn's in St. Charles for lunch. I've been friends with Mary and Lynn for probably over 30 years and the four of us spent an all too short day.

Vicki and I drove out the newly opened stretch of I64 going to Mary's yesterday. Sunday Chris and I were slated to do a walk on a portion of the newly-finished highway, but it was so windy I decided to pass. Turns out Chris did, too.

Just talked to Margaret and she seemed just like herself. Norm had made TV dinners for dinner but she laughed and said he didn't mind because he likes them! It was fine with him. Not like most men! She came home this morning at 5 A.M. and said she feels just fine. She said the hospital did a battery of tests and came to the conclusion that perhaps she had a TIA and this happens to people frequently and, unless she has more of them, there's no further testing and no treatment at the present time. She wasn't even at the hospital long enough for the Abbott clan to get a 'pizza' pie. By the way, I thought Rose's entry about Pio's could have been titled like the old song "We Were Country When Country Wasn't Cool".

Shelly's Uncle Butch is still in intensive care at Barnes Hospital though he is breathing on his own now which Chris says is a very good sign. Chris thinks they've been able to do some X-rays which they couldn't do before. He is now responding some and they've removed the cervical collar. Shelly and the rest of the family are taking turns being with him. We are all hoping and praying for a speedy recovery.

Catrina called last night around 11:00 pm to say Margaret had had some kind of incident and was in the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Charles. Sue was already in bed so I decided not to awaken her. Before I arrived at the hospital, Sabrina let me know Margaret was back to herself. Early indications are that she had some kind of mini-stroke--short with no lasting effects.

Of course, the Abbott clan was gathered at the ER, Norman, Catrina, Stephanie, Sabrina and her son Brett. We were all allowed to visit with Margaret in between her various tests and paperwork. A period of high anxiety was short lived, and a good visit was had by all, with the exception of Margaret.

As I drove away from the hospital, I marveled at how much of our lives has revolved around these few blocks of St. Charles. There were the places we lived as children and some of us as adults, the locations of several of our marriage ceremonies, various and sundry trips to that same ER, many stays in that particular hospital, and literally thousands of meals in Pio's, the excellent northern Italian restaurant nearby.

All this reminds me of an incidence from around 1956: When we were moving to St. Charles from Marshfield, Joe, Donald, Sue, and I arrived with a U-Haul filled with a load of our stuff. Somehow we got everything up the flight of stairs and into the apartment we were moving into at 501 Clay Street. Joe with Sue, who was around 13 years old, went back to Marshfield the same day. Donald (age 11) and I (age 14) stayed. Earlier during the trip to St. Charles, Joe (who had been in the army and was very worldly and wise) told us about pizza pie, a delicacy we had never heard of. That first evening, Donald and I went to Pio's. We had, of course, hamburgers and fries. Aftwerwards, we asked the waitress for "pizza pie." She asked, "What kind?" We looked at each other, then at her, and said, "Cherry." Our pie was, predictably, delicious.

When we next saw Joe, we immediately told him we had tried the delicacy he had told us about. He asked, "What kind did you have." We said, "Cherry." Well, Dear Readers, that happened over 50 years ago, and Brother Joe is still laughing about it. Donald and I learned to laugh about it about 40 years ago.

Norman, Margaret, Sabrina and Sue, Sabrina, Chris

Shelly sent us this update about her Uncle Butch:

"Uncle Butch was in a horrible accisent yesterday; 1:00 P.M. 170 West/Wentzville. He collided with an 18 wheeler, median, flipped, etc. No other individuals were injured. He ended up at Barnes - IU - 8th floor Room 3. 4 face jaw fractures, (was still in cervical collar when I left at 7:00 A.M.), vertibral break, blood/bruising in one lung, blood loss, respirator, arterial tube feed, two many meds to name. They are keeping him in a medically induced coma. Ending on a good note... So far, the mucho tests say no brain damage or paralysis.

I KNOW he is feeling & hearing all around him. He usually doean't get to talk much with Mom, Kathleen and I in the same room anyway. I believe his best meds right now are positive energies and prayers. He has so much more life to enjoy and needs that motivation to pull through right now."

We will continue to post news as we receive it. We are all praying for a speedy recovery--well before Christmas!

The update this morning is a request for prayers from across the country. Shelly's Uncle Butch was in a terrible accident yesterday afternoon. The accident occurred about 2:30 and Chris and Shelly didn't get word of it until about 8 last night. I don't think they know how the accident happened. When the accident occurred he was taken first to Barnes Hospital in St. Charles county. He was then transferred to Barnes in downtown St. Louis and put into an induced coma. He is there now in intensive care. He sustained broken facial bones and a broken vertebrae. I don't believe they know the extent of his injuries. Shelly and Butch are very close and Shelly's request today is that we all pray for Butch. I'll update the blog as I get more news.

I couldn't sleep this morning so thought I'd update the weekend's happenings that were more sensible than swimming in the Meramec. Scott and Mark, I'm glad Chris's brothers were smarter than that. I had called Chris Saturday afternoon and sorta thought I got the cold shoulder. Now I realize it was literally the cold shoulder.

Shirley got a new I-phone and Rose got a new wireless printer this weekend so they were engrossed in their new purchases for a while so I invited myself to Margaret and Norm's for fried chicken dinner on Sunday afternoon. Rose took me out there but was leaving for Chicago early yesterday morning and couldn't stay for supper because she had a lot to do to get ready. She stayed longer than she meant to anyway and missed a great meal. Sabrina was there for a while and we had a wonderful visit. There's a picture Rose is going to post of her when she has time. Sabrina has lost a lot of weight and is looking really good. Good old Goldman came out to get me. The fried chicken dinner was 'like momma used to make'. Margaret made all the trimmings to go with it. Though it wasn't kosher, Goldman did it justice. Norm set the table. He was cute about it but I don't think he gave anyone any extra utensils. Maybe he thought he was doing the dishes. Their grandaughter Erica, Randy and Lynn's daughter whose a student at Westminister, has a 4.0 GPA. Another set of proud grandparents.

Shirley thinks she can't walk or exercycle as far or as long as I can but I'm not sure about that. We dropped Rose at the airport yesterday morning and started shopping. We took a break long enough to come home and eat lunch and went back out again for several more hours and came home at dinner time. We found some real bargains and didn't get nearly done with what we intended to do so are trying to find another day - other than Saturday or Sunday - when we can hit the streets again. Chris and I are going to participate in a 5K race this Sunday for the opening of the new stretch of Hwy. 40/64 and this shoppinng is good training. Shirley claims she can't do the 5K but I believe she could. Just put an outlet mall at the end of it.

Sue sent an e-mail to Chris asking him about his triatholon on Saturday. This was his response to her inquiry:

"I suppose this all hearkens back to a rainy day in September.

I arose that day at around 430am in order to make it to the Lewis and Clark half marathon….I looked outside and noticed a torrential downpour, just as the weatherman had predicted…the remnants of Hurricane Ike. The thought occurred to me to slip back into my warm dry bed and snuggle up to me beautiful wife and pack tucker, oliver, and eli in and around me to ensure my comfort…..but, some of by best runs have been in the rain and runners aren’t woosies……so out the door I went. I got down to the amphitheatre (whatever they call it now… I still call it Riverport) and sat in traffic, in torrential downpours until 15 minutes after the race was supposed to start. I finally got parked, opened my car door and stepped into ankle deep water…..As I walked to the starting line, the rain needled my face and the water got deeper, at one point over my knees. When I made it to the Start line (they hadn’t started yet)…I checked my iphone….which I had placed in a plastic bag. It had some message about product being incompatible with this device do I want to go into airplane mode…I selected no…turned on some music and waited for the start of the race. Finally, 45 minutes after the scheduled start of the race, we take off. The water wasn’t so deep on the run, but that didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt when it was pelting my face….After 3 minutes my iphone starts cutting out and by mile 5 it doesn’t work anymore. At mile 8 we find out that they have shortened the race to 10 miles. After the race my phone still won’t work (the weather, by this time, has lightened considerably). I am on a bus back to Riverport and the bus radio announces that no buses in lot 2….the wakes the busses make are further flooding the cars in lot 2……am I in lot 2?

As I am waling back to my car, I realize that I am not in lot 2..whew, but I do have to walk through lot 2 to get to my car…..We are in thigh deep water at this time…and what happens when I get back to my car…..I hop in, towel off, start the car, only to realize that I have left my lights on. I live 15 minutes away, I will call Shelly and she will come and save me…..oh, but my phone doesn’t work. However, with the help of a towel and some prayer, I manage to dial out. On the third try, shelly can actually hear me, and she and all three dogs come and save me. By evening time, the iphone works like new.

Which leads us to this past weekend. John Machalek, a gent I work with at Bemes, Inc. had hit me up some time ago to pair with him in an adventure race at Castlewood Park on December 6. The race would combine elements of canoeing, hiking, biking, and orienteering. Certainly…sounds fun….But then stories of John, adventure racing and curious happenings started being leaked from my cohorts…..John’s wife Barb also works at Bemes, Inc. and she may have had the sharpest barbs of all. Then we found out that the race was the same day as the Christmas party….surely Barb would say that John couldn’t go. But a month before the race, John announced that we were signed up and ready to go. A week before the race Barb really starts warning me about all of the horrible things that were going to befall me.

Race day shows up and as I get up I notice that a dusting of snow has fallen overnight. I set out on my way and meet up with John before the race. We are immediately transported to a horse farm far away from Castlewood Park. One of the team members then has to run a mile to get supplemental maps and points to plot. I do the run, bring john the coordinates and the map, he maps them out, we run down to the river and hop in a canoe.

We glide through the first 3 miles and take out at Route 66 State Park for some orienteering…one problem, john lost his compass. That’s OK, we persevere, using the sun as our guide (and the trampled grass from those who went before us). WE collect our checkpoints and go on our way, but we get a different canoe….

We get back into the river, and after a half mile my feet start getting wet and it is then I realize that we have a leaker. It’s a slow leak, but a leak none the less….

We get our next check point along the river and John gets back in the boat. Water is ankle deep by this time. We get back in the current and one of us adjusts a bit and the canoe shakes like Califonia in an earthquake. “hey john, maybe we should pull over and dump the canoe”…”ahhh, we only have a mile”

Two minutes later, on a 30degree day, I am swimming, fully clothed, in the Meramac river.

My waterproof backpack…definitely waterproof….all of my clothes in it were bone dry. I changed clothes and was fine. Poor John had no dry clothes. My waterproof jacket, not waterproof, at least not from the inside out. My iphone…in the jacket. We got rescued and no one was permanently hurt. This made us the first one done with the race, just not the first ones finished.

After two days, the phone has resuscitated itself. I am now familiar with all of apples tricks to make certain that you don’t go swimming with your phone. I have in a dryer at work, hopefully it will start showing a charge and the mottled background becomes clear, but so far, so good."

After reading Chris' account, I ask WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT TO HIMSELF????

Wanted to correct my spelling. It's Gonzaga University that Caitlin's been accepted to. I apologize for my spelling, Caitlin.

Wanted to get this on the blog this morning. Pete called with his weekly check in and Janet got on the line to tell me that Caitlin, their grandaughter, has been accepted to Gongaza University in Florence, Italy. She is going to study public relations. Rick and Nancy must be quite proud as I know Pete and Janet are. I'm not sure when she starts. Will get more details from Janet when she has more.

Joe, Donald, and Donald's grandson Joe spent Thursday in Marshfield and the surrounding area. It was strange. I got up thinking about Donald and when I got on the computer, Joe was already on and asked me if I'd heard from "Fat." I didn't know who he meant. He meant Donald aka "Fat the Pig", a name from when we were kids but Pete's grandkids have shortened it to just "Fat". Joe then told me all about their day looking at old places. Little Joe overheard Donald say he was going and talked his mom into letting him go with him . Needless to say, I haven't heard from him though I'd love to. I'd also love seeing Donald's grandkids.

Speaking of fat, I only weighed 114 this morning. Shirley buys lots of high fat foods for me and I eat all the butter Rose wants but still don't gain much. Thursday nights have sorta become night out for Chris and me and Goldman joined us this week. We went to Applebee's. Rose is going to Chicago Monday and Shirley and I are going to Christmas shop. More later.

Just a quick update this evening. Sam (that King boy) in Springfield had an emergency kidney stone removal on Nov. 15 at Cox South and is having the stent removed tomorrow. This is an outpatient procedure but Leslie says he's nervous about and not good with medicines - even aspirin - so we're praying for him. Sam, hope it's quick and painless. They had Thanksgiving with one of Sam's sister again. Chase stayed in New Jersey and Jeff stayed in Washington since the baby is due fairly soon. Chase will be home for Christmas.

Chris's little orange Del Sol had to go in the shop today. He said it ran fine once he got it running but he had to park it on a hill and pop the clutch to start it. He borrowed Rose's today so we're expecting him to return it this evening. Thenk goodness for Goldman. He runs a lot of errands for us and is a delightful personality.

Margaret and Norm are eating turkey soup from Thanksgiving leftovers they brought home from Sabrina's again tonight. I bet there weren't any leftover pies. She and Norm were going to put up their Christmas tree this evening but, after 25 years of us, decided it was time to replace it. She told me they put it in the trash and were going to spring for a new one in the morning.

I'm training for my Highway 40 walk on December 15. Rose and I walked 65 minutes yesterday and I rode 2 and half miles on the exercycle. I rode 5 hard miles on the exercycle today. It's rainy and chilly out today and supposed to be cold the rest of the week so I guess it will be the exercycle.

It's time for my boys - Chris and Goldman.

DREW, DREW AND BRAYDEN, BRAYDEN AND SUE, SUE, SHERRY

PHOTOS OF SHERRY, DREW, DREW AND BRAYDEN, MARY MYERS

HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING!!!! The Kansas and Washington/Oregon posts were great. We had a wonderful dinner here in St. Louis with lots to be thankful for. Scott, Sherry and Brayden came from Louisville. Brayden had a flu bug and we didn't know until the last minute that he would get to come but he did recover sufficiently to make the trip. We didn't get to have Jalen this year and really missed him. Mark Lary, Karen and Drew were here. We missed Katie and Austin but look forward to seeing them at Christmas. Chris and Shelly joined us, too. Chris ran in a 10K marathon that morning and Mark ran in a 5K that morning but they're both in pretty good shape and so were able to to eat and later play games with the rest of the group. The dinner was fabulous but Rose, Shirley and I are still eating leftovers!

Pete and Janet are in Quartzsite for the winter and spent Thanksgiving in Laughlin, NV. (I'm not sure if I spelled Laughlin right.) Joe and Mary were having dinner with Lydia and her parents and the rest of the kids. Sabrina hosted the Abbott clan at her house. She learned a lot from Margaret over the years about cooking for crowds. I haven't heard yet who made the pies. Christopher made the pumpkin pie for dinner here.

When I got up this morning there was snow on the ground - our first of the season. Scott and Brayden stayed here in St. Louis until the Blues hockey game yesterday was over. It was Scott's 42nd birthday and he, Brayden, Goldman, Chris Groves and brother Chris all went to the Blues game and then Scott left from there to go back to Louisville. By the way, the Blues lost. With the snow this morning, it's probably a good thing he left yesterday. We sure do miss Brayden though.

Rose has lots of pictures that she's going to post when she gets around to it. Keep up with the updates.

Hello from Oregon and Washington! Today is the day before Thanksgiving and all of us are busy making preparations and/or traveling. Last year we all met at Mom's to spend our first Thanksgiving together without Dad. I remember it was such a beautiful day there - cold, but clear and gorgeous. Several of us - Steve, Glenn, Cyndi, Dave and I - went on a walk - which ended up lasting about 2 hours or so! We were almost home when someone's cell phone rang telling us to get our butts home for dinner! Honestly! We didn't even help get the dinner on! We were so caught up in talking and reminiscing about being children and riding the school bus and exchanging memories and funny stories we hadn't even noticed the time. Needless to say, we took dish duty. It's one of my best Thanksgiving memories. I will miss that this year. I hope someone will walk the "loop" for me!!

This year it seems people are meeting with family members in their respective neck-of-the-woods. Mom is hosting the Spokane families: Anna and Dan, Mike and Rose and their two boys and Steve and Glenn are making the trek from Portland the farm this morning. It is a beautiful fall day here so their drive through the Columbia River Gorge should be breathtaking! I hope the brilliantly colored leaves are still on the trees for them to enjoy as they travel through. I just talked to Steve and they were going to try to leave around 11:00 for the 6 hour drive "home" to the farm.

Mom and I were comparing Cranberry recipes. She and I have a subscription to the Cuisine At Home magazine and she was taking a page from there to make Cranberry-Apple Sauce. (I caught her at the grocery store looking for apple cider....) Here's the recipe in case anyone needs more ideas:

Cranberry-Apple Sauce
The sweet and tart tastes of apple shine in this sauce, which also showcases the bright flavor of cranberries.

Makes 2 cups; Total time; 25 minutes + chilling.

1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup sugar
1 Braeburn or Gala apple, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries (12 oz.)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste

Boil cider, sugar apple, cinnamon, and cloves in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries and simmer 10-12 minutes, or until berries burst and sauce thickens. Stir in vinegar, season with salt, and chill at least 2 hours before serving. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead.)

Sounds yummy! I'm not a big cranberry lover, but those who are say that this kind of relish would be great with leftovers on a turkey sandwich the next day. I wonder if the salt takes out some of the tartness like salt on grapefruit does. I guess we'll find out.

I am heading up to the Langston's in Olympia, Washington this morning. Tammy and Dick are driving to California to keep their tradition with Dick's uncles in Pacific City(?). I was trying to get up to Olympia last night to spend time with Tammy before she had to head south, but I had soooo much to do at home I couldn't get away. Plan B was created, both through Tammy's resourceful thinking, good grace and flexibility. I will meet her for lunch today before she heads down to Portland and my house to meet Dick who is traveling from Yakima. They often meet here and leave a car at my house and drive down together, parting ways once again on their return to head back to their respective homes. So, I'll still get to see Tammy, but not while she's at my house, and I won't see Dick at all, (sigh!) . Have a good time, you two!

At the Langston's Cyndi and Dave are having a houseful! Besides me, they are having a couple of friends' families over for the Big Food Day. I will stay tonight and then head home on Thanksgiving night with a plate of leftovers for Monica. Monica (Peggy's youngest), is living/working in Portland, now and has to work on the holiday. (That's just not right!) We will all miss not having her bright smile and bubbly personality to keep us in good humor! Maybe next year....

Doug and Cecile will be with Cecile's family in the Seattle area. The good news about that is we get to have them for Christmas!!! Christmas will be at my house this year - everyone's welcome! The Christmas lights are already up on the house and the wreath on the door. Christmas is also Doug's birthday, so it will extra special for us to have him on that day!

Kaye and Mike Peterson will be joining their daughter-in-law's family in the Phoenix area. Their son Nate has a beautiful little family and it will be Ethan's 2nd Thanksgiving. Last year he wasn't quite two months old, so this year he might get his first taste of cranberries. Nate and Danielle - please take a picture of that one for me - I want to see that sweet little face all crunched up with a sour look!!!

I am most excited about heading out Friday to meet Tyson in Orlando!! Yippee!! I haven't seen him for a year and a half and it has to be done!! That is one reason I couldn't get the-heck-out-of-dodge last night to meet Tammy. I had to pack for Olympia and then pack to catch an early flight on Friday morning to Florida for 5 days. Good thing I hadn't put my summer clothes away yet. I packed shorts and sandals for a few days in the sunshine. Tyson is looking forward to introducing me to his girlfriend, Sarah. I guess I'll have to get used to the idea of sharing him.

Well, I need to sign off and jump in the little red car and zip off to Olympia. It's a two hour drive and with it being the busiest commuting day of the year, I'm sure it'll take at least that amount of time. I wish you could all be with us as we spend time enjoying the holiday together. Wherever you are whomever you get to spend it with - Enjoy!!

Happy Big Food Day and don't forget to give Thanks!!
Blessings,
Sandi

Hi from Kansas! It's been awhile since we've posted anything but have lots of updates!

Our most exciting news of all is that Ellie is going to be a big sister! She really wants a little sister but Daddy is hoping very strongly for a little brother! I asked her the other day if she was going to be able to share her toys with her new sibling and she said "Um, probably not!".

We took Ellie to see Santa today and she did great - she had to sit on Mrs. Clause's lap though b/c she was less intimidating and would sing to her! Before that, we had a birthday party to go to for one of her friends. It was one of those jumping places and then had cake afterwards. When the little girl picked up our gift to open it, Ellie told her it was barbies before she even had a chance to unwrap it!

Yes, she was Tinkerbell for Halloween and had such a good time - we did a hayride with some of her cousins on John's side of the family. It was not near as convenient and fun as trick or treating in U City in Aunt Rose's neighborhood though!

Tricia is still living with us and we enjoy having her. John misses her when she is gone to Walter's b/c our kitchen is just not quite as clean and tidy as when she is around! Ellie likes her here too and always tries to wake her up in the morning when it's Tricia's day off from work. She is now working at KU Med and will start applying for nursing schools soon. Walter is going to try to find a job in KC after the holidays - I'm sure we won't ever see her anymore if that happens!

Cathey emailed and said that Grandma Felin is back living at her home again and feeling much better. They have adjusted some of her medication and they are hopeful that this is helping her. We are headed back to St. John this Saturday for dinner at Debbie's. We can't wait to see everyone as it has been since August at Ryan's birthday party since we've visited with Dad's side of the family.

I'm getting ready for Black Friday - It should be a bunch of organized chaos once all of us hit the streets. We will not be standing in line all night like Chris and Shelley though. Our first stop will be at 5am at either Toys R Us or Walmart. Last year, John fought through the crowd at Nebraska Furniture Mart to get us a Dyson for super cheap - we absolutely love it.

I almost forgot about our celebrity sighting!!! While one our way to the KSU game, we stopped at a beverage store to pick up some necessities (for john) and on my way out, found myself speechless as our KSU former Head Coach Bill Snyder was getting gas at the pumps next door! (I know all you Missouri fans don't care but he is a Legend around here). Before I could get a word out, John was telling me that we needed to go meet him so we did and got our picture taken with him. Such a nice guy and was so happy to make us so happy! And to think that I almost offered my ticket to our 6 yr. old nephew since I didn't quite feel well the night before!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy these few pictures....

Kay sent an update that Mike's surgery has been postponed. He went in to surgery today and they had a problem with his breathing tube so they had to cancel and reschedule. He is home and resting and doesn't yet know when the date for the surgery has now been rescheduled. Keep us informed.

Thanksgiving is coming up this Thursday and we're being very thankful this year. We're having the same group for dinner as last year. Michael and Leslie aren't going to eat with us but are coming by to visit. That's Shirley's nephew and his wife. Again we'll miss Kate and Austin. They're going to spend the day in Kansas with Austin's family. We'll also miss Jalen. He's staying in Louisville with his mother.

I talked with Margaret this afternoon and she said Sabrina is again cooking for the Abbott clan. I think Jana told me that Debbie is cooking turkey for the Kansas side but what we need here in St. Louis is some updates!! Jana and John had promised to update but that was two weeks ago. Betty is living with Debbie and Joe now. Ellie was Tinkerbell for Halloween. We need updates with more of a time line!

I looked at last year's entry for Thanksgiving and had heard from most of you. Let's do it again this year!!!

I have some great news from Springfield to post today. Joe sent this to me and I wanted to share it around the country. His grandaughter Lydia attended the National Scholastic Press Association and Journalism Education Association's annual national convention and contest this past weekend. It was held in St. Louis. Over 5,000 students from 48 states and London competed with 381 schools entering Best of Show competitions in 3 categories. Lydia's school, Central High in Springfield, was named #1 in the nation winning the overall Best in Show Award!! Her school also brought home 20 individual awards, more than any other student journalism competition. One of those was Lydia Berns. She won third IN THE NATION in Broadcast Commercial!!!! Many Congratulations, Lydia.

On another note, I had an email this morning from Kay (or KayKay as we used to call her) that Mike is having surgery this morning to repair a pinched nerve and herniated disc in his neck and fusion in his neck. The surgery was scheduled for 8:30 A.M. was to last 2 to 4 hours. Let's all keep Mike in our prayers today. We need someone to update the blog to let us know how quickly Mike recovers after the surgery. You're in our prayers, Mike.

I've been waiting for one of the other contributors to update the blog with no luck. My computer has also been on the blink some and Christopher is supposed to come by and fix it sometime this week. I hope I don't do a lot of typing and then lose it all.

Goldman and I went down to the lakehouse weekend before last. Maddog got there before us and turned the heat up because it was cold. I talked to Pete and I think Missouri was colder than Idaho that weekend. The guys made stirfry for dinner that Saturday and we tried to get Joe to join us but he was reluctant to drive because of his medication. I talked to John and Jana during the Missouri-K. State game and, although it wasn't an upset, John was disappointed. He was still hoping K. State would win. We need more news from Kansas posted here on the blog.

Rose and Shirley were in Chicago last weekend so Goldman dropped me off at Chris and Shelly's on the way back from the lake and the three of us went out to dinner. Chris then spent the night here with me. Shirley got home on Monday and Rose on Tuesday.

Shelly had a gym teacher convention of sorts back down at the lake this past weekend. She and some other women went down Thursday and Chris joined them Saturday morning and they all came home yesterday. It was just too cold. I didn't want to go with them. We got the boat winterized the previous weekend.

When Brayden looked at the pictures from the race posted on the blog he immediately called me and asked if I really got a medal. What I didn't tell him was that everyone who completed the 5K got a medal in no matter which order they completed it in. Joe looked at the picture of me laying on the sofa and wanted to know if I had had a 'chicken stroke' after the race. That was something he teased me about when I was a kid and Joe never forgets things. I've been doing 5 hard miles on the exercycle almost everyday since the race. Brayden has promised to exercise with me when they're here for Thanksgiving. I hope it's warm enough to walk.

Thanksgiving is next week and we're cooking the turkey here. I may go home with Scott after that for a few days. I love being with him and the boys. I see my healing touch person on Thursdays and I'm thinking about joining a yoga class. I could make my visit around these.

In my last post, I meant we cast our votes for OBAMA and assume everyone else did too.

Still waiting for more updates!!!!!

ELECTION DAY and Rose, Shirley and I voted this morning. We had to wait in line over an hour but then we cast our votes for Osama. Scott and Chris wouldn't tell me who they were voting for so I sure hope it's not someone they're ashamed of admitting to favoring.

Last Sunday was my big race day. I participated in a 5K race sponsored by the St. Louis Track Club. Notice I said 'participated in' - not 'ran in'. Chris accompanied me on the 5K trip which was a long 3.1 miles. It was held here in University City and Clayton and it truly seemed all uphill. Rose rode over on her bicycle and took movies with her camera but accidentally left the cover on the lens. She did take some still shots which she'll post.

They put this chip on your shoe to measure your time. Chris finished one or steps behind me just so I wouldn't be the last one in. At that point I didn't care. We had driven Goldman's car over there and weren't sure we hadn't parked it in a no parking spot. I told Chris if it was gone I'd just lay on the parking lot while he found us a ride. When we got home, I did lay down and rested for several hours. This time change has me messed up anyway.

Chris says the next race is in February and is 5 miles. As soon as I recuperate from this one I'll start training for the next one. I sure hope it's not another uphill race.

I was talking to Brayden on the phone Sunday afternoon and told him I'd been in a race that morning. He flat out didn't believe me. After Scott confirmed the fact I had been in one he said to me "I guess you came in last." I told him "No, Uncle Ding came in last. Results will be posted on stltrackclub.com" I don't know if he's looked them up yet. In truth, I'm just glad I was able to finish.

Margaret and Norman voted early this morning and said there was no wait for them. Margaret must be feeling pretty good. She was cleaning her refrigerator when I talked to her. Rose and Shirley both have clients this afternoon. Rose's new office is almost finished. Dave Smith has some painting to do and Doug has some glass shelves to hang and that should be it.

Weather has been beautiful the past few days but it's supposed to cool off for the weekend. Rose and Shirley are going to Chicago and Goldman and I are going bto the lake. Maddog may have to go over and turn the heat on for us before we arrive Friday evening.