Decker was the first to open.

The picture tonight is one Don took yesterday of my patch of Decker, the first iris that bloomed this year. It is sitting there by itself, and it's not my favorite, so it doesn't often get in the pictures. It was my favorite for a while, though, because it's the only one I had open!

Today was a gorgeous day! We got to gather sun; we got all our exercises done; touched up the house and had folks from church over to play cards tonight. Now, I'll go to bed and get up early in the morning to go to the Corn town wide garage sales.

Corn is a neat little town about 30 miles from here and it's kind of a tradition for Joan and I to go with another girl friend from Cordell. Don will have breakfast with David and Dorothy, so I'll miss that. Joan's birthday is today, so we'll be celebrating her birthday tomorrow. All my light purple and white irises were my mother-in-law's, but all the other ones I have Joan gave me from starts in her yard. She introduced me to re-bloomers; I didn't know there was such a thing. She also takes care of our mail and our house when we travel. I thank God for good friends like Joan!

Frustration hits.

Tonight's picture is one I took of a big vase of irises from the yard. I love it!

The frustrating thing is that Don handed me a couple of papers to read and figure out. My brain doesn't do concentration tasks and read and make sense things. I guess he doesn't get that. I keep looking at it and reading it, but it might as well be in a foreign language. I'll look at it, again, tomorrow. It's something about saving money and heaven knows we need to do that, but I can't understand it. He handed it to me and said, "You're good with this stuff." He must be losing it. I have no clue what it says. I'm a tight wad, but that's genetic; it has nothing to do with me reading a complicated paper.

I'll read it, again, after my bath; maybe getting all this sweat off of me will clear my head? God will help me; I'm going to turn it over to Him.

See why I could hardly wait?

Tonight's picture is one Don took this morning of me out doing an inventory of the irises out back. Compare this one to the picture he took last week when only 2 or 3 were blooming. THIS is more like it! Last year I only had the peach colored ones and the purple ones behind me; all the rest were planted last year and this is their first year to bloom. This is so much fun, and I thank God for them!

Today has been an uncomplicated day. I love it when there are no complications! I did all my exercises, paid my library fine (4 cents) and found grapefruit at the store. It's wonderful when things work easily. We even had sunshine today and the wind was rugged, but it kept me from getting too hot when I was gathering sunshine. The wind broke a few of my irises, but I just brought them inside to enjoy.

Don even got the yard mowed for the first time and it looks great. One mower quit on him, so we took it to the shop, but he was able to finish with the back up mower; his day was complicated, I guess. We thank God that our complications are the kind that can be easily untangled.

More of our weekend exploration.

Tonight's picture is one Steve took of Don and I this weekend when we were at the Wichita Mountain reserve. This is the greatest place to explore! It's only 45 minutes from our house and we love to go there and hike and explore God's handiwork.

Today was a gorgeous day in Hobart! It was warm and it wasn't windy! Woohoo! My irises are exploding and look so great. Tomorrow I'll post a picture; that's the hard thing: picking the picture to use!

My back is nearly back to normal! I so thank God for making our bodies able to heal. Wouldn't it be terrible to get a backache and have to have it for the rest of your life? We are so blessed!

Gracie is SEVEN!

Tonight's picture is one I took of Grace when she was swimming in Branson. She has become a fantastic swimmer. Her seventh birthday was yesterday, so she's 7 years and one day today. Seven years ago today we were so proud of her and have been ever since she was born. She is such a delightful little person; we could not be prouder of her.

Today I had even more irises open, so I am reveling in the beauty of these flowers! It's chilly and windy, but they can't hold it any longer and they are so beautiful. I have to thank God for the beauty. These flowers are nothing compared to our grandkids, though. I think how the irises thrill me, but they don't hold a candle to the thrills our grandkids bring to us. God blesses us so abundantly!

Exhausted but invigorated!

We've had such a wonderful weekend; this picture is one some other adventurers took of Steve and Mary and Don and I at the Wichita Mountains Reserve, today. Who would dream that a place this beautiful is in southwestern Oklahoma? It's Oklahoma's best kept secret. We love to go there and explore God's handiwork, and Steve and Mary like to explore it with us.

We've had a wonderful weekend, but we are so exhausted. We got up at 5 the last two mornings, so that we could get to wherever we were going at daybreak to see all the wildlife we could. Poor Steve and Mary are still driving home; I know they're tired, too!

We were talking today about all the adventures we've shared and it was a bunch of great memories. We've known each other for nearly 30 years and we've shared so many good times. God is great to give us such good friends and the health to continue to enjoy adventures!

We enjoyed watching tons of new irises open over the weekend, too! I'll cut a new bouquet and get pictures tomorrow. Woo hoo!

Exciting day!

Tonight's picture is one I took of Steve and Mary at Tom Steed Lake, where we went birding. We went birding lots of places!

We saw everything from water fowls to owls all over the area from Hackberry Flat near Frederick to TWO owls at David and Dorothy's farm! We saw a barn owl there and also a great horned owl! Even better than that we got to visit with David and Dorothy. Mary had made copies of pictures for them of the owls we saw at their house last September, so it was fun to leave them with them.

We also saw tons of beautiful wild flowers. The wind blew us crazy all day, but it was not raining or muddy, so that was great. It was a clear, wonderful day. Again, I thank God for friends who share His awesome handiwork with us and for His abundant blessings for us to enjoy.

Forgot the camera!

I totally forgot to take the camera to the card game last night, so no pictures of that. So, this picture is one of Raynie when we were in Branson and she'd been to the face painting event. She's a hoot!

Tonight we are waiting for Steve and Mary to arrive. It's so exciting to have them come for the weekend. I wish they could stay longer, but I'll be grateful to have them for the weekend.

We are so blessed to have family, friends and health. Speaking of health, my back continues to get better and better. I so thank God for making our bodies so that they heal!

No more whining about the irises!

I'm done whining about the irises opening. I have a huge bouquet, now and the blue one that I was waiting for opened, so I'm happy. This picture doesn't do them justice, so I guess it's time to whine about my camera? They are really gorgeous. I'll take a picture of just the flower and it'll be better. The yellow one on the right is so pretty; it has some white on it, but you can't tell it in the picture. I'm having the best time with them. Don came in while ago and said, "Who died?" It looks like a funeral home in my kitchen; there are two arrangements besides these two on that bar! He was kidding; he knows I'm enjoying them.

Tonight we're going out to play cards at Jo Ann and Frank's, so I thought I'd post this early. I hope I remember to take pictures of the game and I'll post it later. We have great times playing cards.

My back is so much better; thank you for all of you who ask about it. I'm doing everything I need to do. It's still very tender, but it's healing and I'm functioning just fine. I praise and thank God!

Irises sleeping in?

This is a picture Don made of me out inspecting the irises for about the 10th time today. See, there are four big clumps on this side of the sidewalk and they are full of stalks, but none are open. There are a bunch more clumps beside me with a couple that are nearly open, but not open, yet! I think my irises are sleeping in, because lots of irises all over town are in full bloom. I don't get what's up with mine, but I know they'll open soon. Maybe they're waiting for Steve and Mary to get here to show off for them. I have a few open out front and some others open in the back (they were too far away to be in this picture), so I have a bouquet in the house, but I am so anxious for a BUNCH to open!

Today has been warmer. In fact we spent some time out collecting sunshine (Vitamin D). It was good to be warm enough to be outside and not shivering. I thought sure the irises would burst open today, but they're going to surprise me one day soon.

Don vacuumed and I did the hard floors today. I dusted and did the bathrooms yesterday, so it feels good to be in a clean house, again. He makes a great pattern on the carpet when he vacuums; how cool is that? I'm so grateful that he does it; it's a huge help to me.

Tomorrow night we're playing cards at Jo Ann and Frank's house and then Friday Steve and Mary will be here. So, we have great times coming our way. I thank God that my back has gotten better and better each day. He made us so amazing! Now I'll be able to enjoy these fun times with friends.

In the picture, that's one of Don's cherry trees in the front, right. Maybe if you click on it you'll be able to see all the green cherries on it. I sure hope he gets to eat some of them!

Slept in!

The picture tonight is Steve and Mary, taken last June when we went to the Bamboo in Hawi, Hawaii! They are some of our best friends and we get together as much as possible. They do the very best bird and nature pictures and they are so fun to be with because they never miss a thing. They are coming this weekend to go birding around here with us and we can hardly wait for them to get here.

Today was unreal. Absolutely. I woke up at 10 minutes to 10 and Don was still in the bed with me! If he ever let me sleep that long before, he got up and left me there. Today I asked him if he was all right and he said he was, but he just let me sleep to see how long I'd really sleep. It's a wonder I woke up then. I thought I would sleep forever, but I had gone to bed around 10, so it looks like 12 hours is my limit. It's a good thing to sleep as long as I want, but I don't like not getting much done because I slept 3 extra hours. I still haven't done my walking or my jiggling, so I've got to do that, yet. I don't like that so much, so I guess I won't be sleeping in, again. It was sure fun, though. Thanks, Don!

It's still cool here, so my irises are out there holding their 'coats' closed. I was able to cut a couple more of the ones that have already bloomed, but the fresh, new colors are still hiding. Maybe tomorrow. Soon it will warm up and the flowers will bloom, but with that warmth will come grass that needs cutting and our electrical storms. I'm grateful for this calm even if I have to wait on the flowers. Don's cherry trees are FULL of cherries. I thank God for that; Don will enjoy them a lot if he can beat the birds to them.

I'll get current pictures of Steve and Mary this weekend. They came one weekend last fall, but I forgot to take pictures. I get busy having fun, sometimes, and forget to take pictures. I'll do better this weekend.

Hibiscus memories.

The picture tonight is a hibiscus in Harry's yard. My irises are being dormant because we're having this cool spell, so I'm enjoying flowers from Hawaii today. Our friend, Joan, came over today and we went over all the Hawaii pictures, so this was on my mind. It was fun to revisit Hawaii with Joan!

It was cloudy and cool all day, so the irises are out there shivering. We even put the comforter back on our bed for about the 3rd time. We keep hoping it's spring, but it's really hesitating. I don't think I remember a spring this cool. I know it will be warm, soon, though and the irises will explode for me.

My back is better and better. I thank God for a body that heals! I'm sure glad we aren't made out of china or plaster!

Another hitchhiker.

The picture tonight is Gracie hitchhiking on Ryan at the pool in Branson. She has 3 big brothers, but now, she has another even bigger 'brother!' Ryan is pretty close to Don's size, and he'll be 17 next month. He's the newcomer in the Oglesby household and we all claim him with pride. This was taken before Grace discovered she could swim the whole pool, so it was sure great to have someone to take her to the deep end. Ryan is so handy! He's another tall person to help me reach things; he plays great cards; he loves to help whenever possible and he's a great eater . . . a grammy's dream! (Besides all that he sings and acts.)

Today it's still cool and drippy. The irises are on hold and me, too. I walked on the treadmill, so I'm content. All the iris stalks are just about to burst! I can see color on so many of them. If we get a little sunshine my yard is going to burst open with irises. Weather.com says we may get some sun tomorrow, so tomorrow may be the bursting open day for the irises; it's not going to be so warm, but probably it will be warm enough. I'm excited and love it that God gives us this pleasure every spring.

My back is so much better than last week. I finished up the herbs and vitamins for this batch. In a couple of weeks I'll do another batch and hope to get ahead for a while. It's a pretty overwhelming task, so I never look forward to it, but we believe they help us, so it has to be done.

Have a great week!

A busy Saturday.

Today has been busy and I'm late getting the post and getting to bed, tonight. The picture is one Don took of me on the treadmill a few minutes ago. I wanted to show you the O2-E2, R2D2's cousin. The boxy looking thing in front of the treadmill with that orange tag on it is O2-E2. We do the craziest things! It's been raining here for the last two days, though, so I'm sure glad to have the treadmill, so I can walk! It's been a very unusual rain; just a steady light rain like we used to get in Tennessee. I don't know where the wind is, but it's a nice break and the ground will be so happy to have this rain that can soak in and help things grow.

One more iris opened today, but I didn't get a picture of it, yet. There will be a ton of them open as soon as the sun comes out. I can hardly wait. You'd think I'd get tired of them, but every year I get excited about them opening. I'm enjoying them in vases on my kitchen bar, right in front of the sink.

My back is doing lots better. I thank God for the relief, and I am so grateful for His healing in my life! I've been throwing herbs and vitamins all day. That's tiresome, but we were down to our last day, so I had to do it. I'll have to finish this batch tomorrow. I threw for 40 days and I'll get the rest of them packaged tomorrow. I got about 2/3 of them packaged, but I ran out of time and had to leave some I can finish up tomorrow.

Women win, again!

I meant to take a picture of us playing cards tonight, but we got so busy winning that I forgot to do it! (We won all 3 games and they were close, so it was good.) So, I'm going to put on a video I took of Grace swimming when we were in Branson. I know you people with dial up will have trouble with this video, but I can't resist sharing it for the people who have high speed.

The first of the week she wouldn't go past the 3 feet mark because it was over her head and she couldn't swim that well. By the end of the week she was all over the pool and swimming like a fish. This was the day that she discovered she really could swim. I was so glad I knew how to video with my camera. It was so fun to watch her swimming! I thank God for this gift for her because she really loves the water. Robert's parents have a swimming pool, so she gets lots of time in the pool, and she can really enjoy it, now because she can hang out with the big kids.

My back is a little better. I think it gets better every day. I thank God for that, too! It was sure fun to play cards tonight; it's been a long time since we've played with our original group and that was who played tonight.

Look, look! Another iris is open!

Woo hoo! Another iris opened today! I'm so excited! I cut some of the Deckers and the one new one; I don't know what it is; Joan will come tomorrow and she'll tell me what it is. I'm going to have to map out the yard and write down all the names because I can't remember what they all are.

Today my back has been a lot better. It still hurts, but I've been able to do everything I need to do. I see the chiropractor in the morning and I think he'll be done with me, then. I hope I don't have to see him for a long time, but I sure thank God that we have him here in town.

We walked on the treadmill today because we have a new family member, O2-E2. Remember R2-D2 in Star Wars? Well his cousin has come to live with us. It's an oxygen concentrator to be used with exercise. That is: EWOT, Exercise with oxygen therapy. It has lots of benefits and cancer doesn't like oxygen at all, so we're all over this. I'll miss walking outside, but no dogs will chase me in our bedroom!

I'm going to jiggle after Survivor. I'm watching it right now. Then it's bedtime for me!

Raynie, the hitch-hiker.

Tonight's picture is one of Gabe, swimming with Raynie on his back. It occurred to me that she does whatever she wants to do and hitch-hiking is her best tool. She and Gabe have a real mutual admiration society going, so they both loved this.

Today has been much better for my back. I can skip tomorrow seeing the chiropractor and only see him on Friday. I think after that I'll be able to go without seeing him. It's amazing the turn I took from yesterday to today. I thank God for the turn in favor of comfort!

No more irises opened today, so I'm jealous of Trish and Dana who have new ones opening. I have lots of stalks, though, so I'm looking forward to pretty new ones opening later in the week and next week.

I felt so much better today I called folks to come play cards Friday night. Woo hoo! We haven't played cards since we were in Branson with the kids, so this will be great. We haven't played here since before we went to Hawaii in December, so it'll be way fun to get together with our good friends.

Back to hiking fun.

The picture tonight is one I may have put on the blog earlier, but I want it on, again, because it shows how Raynie does her best hiking. Gabe carries her. That's Mason on the far right. From the left is Robert and Sadie is behind him, then Trish and Ryan is behind Trish. Good memories!

I didn't have anymore irises open today, so I pull up good memories. My back is still being cranky. I saw the chiropractor again and he's helping, but I'm slow to respond, I guess. I go back tomorrow. Maybe THAT will finally fix me! I hope so.

Other than the backache, we're doing fine. I was able to do laundry today. Tonight is the ladies' salad supper at church and Dorothy made salad for she and I, so I wouldn't have to do anything. I thank God for precious friends!

Open irises!

I have irises open! Woo hoo! These aren't my favorite ones, but I love them today because they are the first ones to open!

My back is better in some ways, but worse in others. It did only hurt when I got up and down. Now it doesn't hurt as bad when I get up and down, but it hurts all the time. That's not happy for me, but it's so much better than chemo. Everything is relative! It's better than surgery or radiation, too. I survived all that and I'll survive this, too. I see the chiropractor again tomorrow. I just know I'm not ever going to get this out of shape, again! I thank God that this is only a backache. It reminds me that my sweet mom had so much trouble and so much pain with her back. I thank God that I don't think my back issues are as bad as hers were. I thank Him for giving me the opportunity to survive worse times so that I can put this into perspective. I'll be all better soon.

We did walk today, but we cut it short because my back was hurting. I'm so grateful that Don is so thoughtful; he goes with me, but he doesn't make me feel bad about cutting it short. I did pull some weeds in the yard today, too. I thought I was behaving because I was sitting on my 3 legged stool, so that I didn't have to bend. Don came out and reminded me that I was SITTING, though, and the chiropractor said sitting is the worst thing I can do. Ugh. So, I quit, but I got a little done so I didn't feel totally useless today.

Resting Sunday.

The picture tonight is little Raynie, the day we were hiking in Branson. She's our youngest grandbaby and she's growing up, too. She'll be 3 on July 10th; the day she was born was the day they did my biopsy at MD Anderson; she turned a tough day into a joyous one. She's a great little hiker; especially when she has her big brothers who carried her a lot of the way!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. I wanted to stand and watch to see if my irises would open. I must have gone out and checked on them 3 times. Maybe one will open tomorrow. I thank God for spring; it's so beautiful, and I can hardly wait for these irises to open! But, I'm relishing the redbuds; they are so pretty. I have to remind myself all the time to enjoy the moment and not wish my life away looking for the next flower to open, etc.!

Today we didn't walk. Don was watching the Masters, so I took a nap. I also did lots of jiggling, hoping to loosen up my back so the chiropractor can make some real progress with me tomorrow. It is some better, but I hope for a bigger improvement tomorrow. I'm going to go take a good hot bath and power plate and jiggle before bed.

Still walking.

This picture is from yesterday with me in the back yard with my little redbud and Don's little cherry tree that were in yesterday's picture, but he backed up and got my bigger redbud, too, as well as a bit of my bridge that I love. I'm really happy when the back yard is blooming! This is my walking 'get up' . . . no boobs, walking cane, and baseball cap to hold my hair and keep the sun out of my eyes.

My back is still hurting, but it's a little better. I'm ready for the next adjustment on Monday! I can still walk, so that's a good thing. I have the most trouble getting up and down from sitting or bending for anything. Everything else is going really well.

We had breakfast this morning with David and Dorothy at the Kozy Diner, so that seemed normal. Then this afternoon I gave Dorothy a haircut and that felt good. I'm so grateful that I can do so much. I also packed up a bunch of meat today; we found some on sale at the grocery store, so I came home and packaged 40 hamburgers and meat for 4 meat loaves to put in the freezer for future use. I told Don I'd made all that and he said, "So, we've got enough for this weekend, right?" Never a dull moment. I thank God for Don who keeps me laughing and holds my hand so I can walk, just for starters!

A little better.

This is a picture Don took of me between his cherry tree and my redbud. I love it when these trees are blooming!

Today has been better. The chiropractor said that both my sacroiliac joints are frozen and my bottom vertebra is jammed. So he worked with me to loosen it all, but it's still pretty bad. I go back to see him Monday. If I get a little better each day that will be good. I'm using the jiggler and the power plate a lot; he said they would be good, but not to hang on the inversion table. He also says sitting is the worst thing I can do, and I'm sure finding that to be true. The trip to and from Houston was probably the last thing my back needed, except we had to make the trip. This is all repairable, so I'm in the mend mode. I thank God for a good man in town to help me get through this. Hooray for Dr. Reed! I'm moving a little better and looking forward to improving more and more. (This is nothing like chemo! That's one good thing about having cancer; it puts lots of things into perspective! So, a backache is bad, but nothing like chemo!)

Have a good weekend and keep your back loose if you can!

Missouri's bluebird.

Tonight's picture is one I got of a bluebird when we were on our hiking day in Branson. The bluebird is Don's favorite bird and I love it, too! (My favorite is the rufus sided towhee.) It's the Missouri state bird, so we love it that we see lots of them when we go to Branson.

Today has been a tough day. My back is out for some reason. It started hurting more than common on Tuesday. We walked a couple of trips at the skywalk at MD Anderson between appointments because we had extra time and it seemed like a good thing to do. My knee started bothering me, so we quit after two laps, but I guess maybe it was bad on my back, or maybe I was favoring my knee and pulled something in my back. I had on Crocks instead of walking shoes, so maybe that was it; I don't know. The ride home from Houston was hard on my back because sitting hurt. I thought if I could just get home and get to hang on the inversion table, and use the power plate and the jiggler, I'd be better. All of those things make it feel better, but when I get off it hurts, again. We did walk today, but I called the chiropractor from the walk and made an appointment for in the morning. He'll straighten me, I know, so I'm looking forward to in the morning! I have a couple of issues with my back, and usually the jiggler keeps it under control, but I have a good deal of pain most of the time. Generally, I just live with it and understand that it's how it is. This pain has been more than common, though, so I think I need the chiropractor to adjust me back into shape. I thank God that he's in town and he always seems to know how to fix me.

Home, again.

Stephanie sent this picture from her camera today and I couldn't resist putting it on the blog even though it's so much like the one she got with my camera and I posted the other night. We just love it when we go to Houston and Doris and Jerry share their grandsons with us. They are so, so precious and we have enjoyed them so much since we get to spend time down there fairly often and their sons and wives are so good to come and visit when we're there. (Thanks, Gregg, Stephanie and Brett and Heather!) This is Colter and he won't be 3 until June, but he's such a hunk of a guy. I cherish his climbing up in "our" lap; he'll probably outgrow that kind of behavior before long, but we won't ever forget it!

We made it home just fine today. The wind was gusting the last 4 hours or so, so it was really hard driving for Don. I drove for about an hour to let him nap, but it was easy driving when it was my turn. I thank God for a safe trip home.

We got home in time to get the mail, so Don's been busy catching up on mail since we got home. I've been busy doing laundry and cleaning veggies and fruit and cooking supper and quiche for the next few days. (I learned how to make quiche before I left and I like to have it for breakfast; Don won't eat it, so it's my treat.) We're set for a few days, now. It's good to be home, although our trip was wonderful. We're both exhausted and will fall into bed soon.

Great report!

Tonight's picture is one I took Sunday of Jerry and Doris with Colter. This picture helps me to understand why old people are so often bent and stooped; we spend lots of time bending over to meet the grandkids and get stuck there, maybe? It's worth it. Luckily, we have lots of tall grandkids, so maybe they'll help to keep me stretched!

My checkup at MD Anderson went so well. Everyone is delighted with how I am doing. It's so good that I went to them in the no makeup mode and they treated me through baldness. It's like a total make-over when they see me! Besides that they like me looking alive, I test out well, thanks to their treatment and God's direction and will. I am so grateful! Thanks to all of you who care and support me through all this, too! Your prayers and concern I so appreciate.

We are going to eat at Gringo's to celebrate tonight. Then we'll go to bed early and then get up early and head for home in the morning. Home is always so sweet. It's been wonderful to be here; it feels like home for a few days, thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Doris and Jerry and their family and friends. We are so blessed.

Luke and Logan enjoying the Easter egg hunt.

Tonight's picture is one I got of Luke and Logan Saturday afternoon. (Brett and Heather's boys) It's sure fun to get to see them as often as we do. Logan reminds me so much of his daddy when he was a little guy. They are both precious little guys and it warms our hearts to get to be here with them.

Tomorrow is my check up with the radiologist and the oncologist. I don't expect any problems at all. I thank God for a wonderful year and I have to say that I feel really great. I'll report tomorrow night about the visit with the doctors. Today has been an easy day of relaxing and reading. We did get in a good walk this morning; love this warm weather!

Susan got to go home this morning, so we thank God for that, too! We know that we are so blessed that she had only this wake up call and not something more serious! PTL! Thank you all for caring and praying with us.

Happy Easter!

This was our happy Easter picture, and we were happy! Don and I were sitting here and Colter came and climbed up to sit with us. What a sweetheart he is. Can you believe he's not even 3, yet? He'll be 3 in June, but he's nearly as big as me. The Easter bunny brought him that little green car that matches a stripe in his tie and he was sure pleased with it. I was sure pleased to have him climb up in our laps!

We had a wonderful day, visiting with family and seeing lots of good friends at church from the time we've spent here with my treatments. It's wonderful to know so many really wonderful people. I thank God for opportunities to see them and for His healing.

Susan reported on FaceBook today, herself. She's doing really well, so we thank God for that, too, and thank you for your prayers and concern!

Family fun.

This is Brett and his wife, Heather, and their two boys, Luke who will be 3 this next week and Logan. Three is just too busy for a picture, but Logan is all smiles for the camera. We had such a fun visit with this family today. We thank God for times to spend with them.

David says Susan is doing well, so we're very pleased with her recovery and so thankful that her family could come to spend this time with her. April Fools day was tough on Susan, but the Easter Bunny is being good to her.

All the rest of our family is good, as far as we know. We give thanks!

Doing well.

Tonight's picture is one I took of Susan the day we climbed up Knob Hill in Waimea on the Big Island. She is robust and strong and she will be in this shape again, soon. She's doing very well, but is still in the hospital and will be until Sunday night at the earliest. Sitting there in the bed is really a difficult task for her; she'd much rather be running or climbing, etc. We are so grateful that she is doing well. Her mom and dad and sister and her family all arrived today to spend Easter weekend with them. So, she's got lots of loving people around to cheer her to a speedy recovery.

We came on to Houston today, so we actually arrived a day before we intended to arrive. That's good for us because we get an extra day of visiting here with family we love and don't get to see very often. We had a good trip today, but we're tired from the long drive.

We sure thank God for a safe trip and for Susan's strength and health and for their finding this clot in time. God is great to us always, but sometimes we see it so clearly. This weekend, when we celebrate His son's resurrection; how awesome is that! It seems so feeble when I begin to site the things for which we give thanks and there is so much more than I can even tell and all He does for us is so very grand.

A scare!

This is a picture of Susan and David and Don when they were visiting us in Hawaii. Susan is the healthiest person in our family, but Davy called us today to tell us that Susan was in the hospital with a blood clot in her lung! We were getting ready to go to Houston on Saturday, so we just loaded the car and came on to see how she was doing. She's doing great, and we thank God for that.

It seems that this is a complication of the birth control she has been using, so she won't be using that anymore! We are so blessed that she's in great health and that she had some pains to give her clues before it got any more serious than it is. In many people it goes straight to the brain and they have strokes, which would be much more serious than it is at this point. They are giving her injections of heparin and also coumadin pills. They will keep her in the hospital for 3 to 5 days and monitor her blood before they let her go home. She seems to be doing fine, considering all she has on her plate right now. We thank God that she's doing so well; we need her!

We will check on her early in the morning and then head to Houston if she is still doing this well. It has been good to see David and Bruce and Erica, too. It's been a scary day, but God is taking care.