Another fun memory.

Our Fox family reunions are run by my cousin, Frank Fox. He is quite a character and very outgoing and fun loving. He's about 5'9." So, when it was time to bring everyone to order for announcements, Frank stood up in a chair beside Don and leaned on Don for support. It was too funny, because he kept putting his hand up behind Don's head with two fingers up like rabbit ears. Of course, I didn't get THAT shot! Most of the pics I got were blurry because I was laughing so hard! Frank has kept me laughing all my life! He's just 2 years older than me and his sister is 1 year older, so we grew up close and the 3 of us went to Lipscomb to college at the same time. We share lots of precious memories and this is just one more.

Today it only made it to 104, even though they predicted 107, so I guess we were relieved. Tomorrow it's supposed to be just 101, I think. The weeds love this heat and are taking over out front. I'm going to go out in the morning and attack them with the hoe before it's too hot. That's my plan; I hope I can do it. Tomorrow night we're playing cards out at David and Dorothy's house. I sure thank God that David's health seems to be holding pretty well. He's an amazing guy! Dorothy is just as amazing. They are a pair we sure treasure!

Nate and Megan at the reunion

This was Megan and Nate at the reunion. Nate hasn't been with us for the last 3 years because he's been working, so it was great to have him join us. Megan has never been with us and Grace says she's family, now, since she's been to the family reunion. We love her like family! It was really cool to have Nate and Megan go with us this year. We thank God for the opportunity to make these memories and share them with as much of the family as possible.

Today it only made 104, and it was cloudy! I'm amazed at this weather. It's been over 100 most of this month. I hope August takes a cool turn. If it heats up to 10 degrees higher than June, we're in for a really expensive summer. As it is, our electric bill will probably be the highest one we've ever had this month. I thank God for the AC and the money to pay for it. This kind of heat without AC would be unbearable!

Boulder hopping in Gatlinburg.

This is a picture of Sadie helping Raynie climb around in the creek in Gatlinburg. Raynie knows no fear and she's the luckiest little girl in the world. She has 5 siblings who love her and carry her along wherever they go. She will be 4 in July and she has Grace, who is 8, Mason who is 10, Sadie, who is 14, Gabe who is 16 and Nate, who is 19.

We took it pretty easy today. It was supposed to be under 100, but it got up to 104. Don walked this morning, but the last two times I walked left me afraid to walk, again. I'm just now getting over those walks, so I regretfully stayed home. He's doing better all the time. It's been 6 weeks since his surgery, but he's really not feeling all better. That disappoints us, but I think he'll be better and better with time. He's just kind of dragging.

We have a friend who needs us to take her to get her glasses and we've been on hold for a week waiting for them to come in. It's hard to be on hold, but we can do that, and she can't go without our help. I wonder what the hold up is on those glasses, though! Patience, patience! I thank God that we can help someone else. I know that someday we may be in a position to need someone to take us to get whatever we need, so I do my best to be compassionate.

How Wanda usually looks.

This is a picture of my class at our last reunion in DC. Wanda is in the middle. I wanted to post this picture so you can see how she normally looks. This heavy duty surgery has taken a toll, but she looks great to me for the surgery she's had. We're looking forward to the next reunion! The tallest guy in the picture is Bob Dwyer, who we house sit for in Hawaii. He's had a third back surgery this year and this past Saturday he had both his hips replaced. He's doing well, too. Wow, these folks are tough! I thank God for His healing power and for the bodies he gave us! I thank Him for these great friends, and for you!

Everything is relative.

This is our friend Dancing Wanda. How brave is she? She insisted I didn't need to shave my head like hers; she realizes we support her all the way. It turns out that they put her pie shape on top of her head instead of behind her ear like we thought they would. I told her that her hair will grow back really quickly and by the time she feels like getting out anywhere she can just wear a baseball cap for a couple or three weeks and then she'll have bangs she can work into her hair. The incision is about the size of the pie shapes we cut into our hair. Her face is swollen from the surgery, but I'm sure it's gone down some by now. When I talked to her she sounded great and said she was doing really well. When I see these pictures, I realize how blessed we are to have whatever measure of health that we have. I am so grateful that there is this surgery that can be so helpful to her in keeping her balance. I thank God for inquiring minds who figure out these things and for making our bodies responsive!

They put the leads into her head and will connect them to a battery that will be put under her collar bone in July after her head has healed. While she was in surgery (and fully aware so she could respond to them) they had her hooked up to the battery, so they could tell that it works for her. This is so exciting! You can imagine how glad we will be to see her at the next reunion in San Antonio in the fall of 2012!

We've had a cool front come through and it's down to 94, already! It was 98 when I went to bed at 10:30 last night! We're kind of excited about it cooling a little bit. We like the heat, but it's been pretty intense! The good thing is that I haven't had to cut the grass, again! :) We may get a storm tonight; if we do, that will mean rain and we'll be able to watch the grass grow! Ha!

Happy Summer!

The Morrison family visits.

This picture Don took this morning of Chris, Trina and Lillie with me. They were here to pick up their older daughter, Sami, who was at the Quartz Mountain summer art course for the last two weeks. She was studying chorus. We loved having them stay with us a bit. It was a quick visit, but really pleasant for us.

I'm taking a lazy day today. After church both of our restaurants were closed; what's with that? There was still the deli, where I could get chicken livers and fried okra. Then after that I went to the nursing home to sing. It's 104 and I'm staying inside this afternoon. I think I'll take a nap! I'd like to go get some pool time, but then I'd be wasted for church tonight, so the nap wins. One of our elders is speaking tonight and we're delighted to hear him. This morning one of our deacons spoke. We love it when our local guys speak. I know they don't enjoy it much, but we think it's a real treat and we thank God for their talent and willingness to share.

Not good light, but the mountains are beautiful.

This is a picture of Nate and I on the balcony in our unit in Gatlinburg. Precious memories! Shoot; I can remember when he was just a tiny little thing and he's grown! How time flies!

Today it got up to 108; I don't suffer a bit in the 'grammy pool.' After sunning we went out to David and Dorothy's and did haircuts plus a visit. They had been to Oklahoma City for a few days, so we'd missed them.

Tricia's good friend, Trina, and her husband Chris and younger daughter Lillie are spending the night with us, so we're pleased. Trish has known Trina since Nate was a baby, I think, so she seems like part of the family to us. With each birth of Tricia's children Trina was always there to catch a visit with the new baby and bring a meal to help. Trina's older daughter, Sami, has been at Quartz Mountain for a chorus training for the last two weeks. Tonight is her big program and tomorrow they'll take her home. It's fun for us to have them visit, although they are just here briefly. They came this morning and put down their belongings and then visited a bit before leaving to take Sami to lunch. We thank God for good people to know and visit!

Looking down.

This picture will give you a glimpse of the view from our room, looking down, when we were in Gatlinburg. There was a wild turkey right on the upper side of the road below us. Look just a little to the right of the center of the picture and you'll see him. A hen was on the road up closer to us, but I didn't get her in the picture. We were on the 4th floor. This is pretty, but the view looking the other direction was better because it was the mountains. I never got that shot, though, because the sun seemed to always be in the way. I got some when I was aiming to get people on the deck, but the people were in the shade; maybe I'll post one of them tomorrow.

Today it's 104; not much of a break in the heat. I'm loving my pool, though. It's no longer a kiddie pool; it's a grammy pool! I thank God for sunshine and a grammy pool! I woke up with a catch in my get-along, today, so I can only walk with my cane. The water got warm in my pool pretty quickly, and that felt good on my hip and back. Man, this aging is trying and it's sure hard to stay graceful!

The Gatlinburg puzzle.

I like to always have a puzzle with me. This is the one we worked in Gatlinburg between other adventures. Gretta worked most of this one. I hate that the date is in the way, so that I couldn't crop it. I couldn't figure out how to set it so it would be right, either. I've learned my lesson and think I'll never go off without my own camera, again! This was a beautiful puzzle and fun to work. It was fun memories, as always, too.

Today it was 105 here, again. Don and I got up and walked around 8 this morning. I still got home soaking wet from sweat. It was fun, though. When we got home we did the floors in the house before lunch. Don vacuumed and I swept and mopped the hard floors. I dusted yesterday and did the bathrooms. Ah. It feels good to have the cleaning done. Watch out! Here it comes, again! I thank God that we're able to take care of the house and that we have a home where we are so comfortable. After lunch I laid in the kiddie pool on the deck. Who said kiddie pools aren't for old ladies in their 60's?

Raynie and her pose.

This is Raynie's pose to show off her new haircut. She did love the haircut! It looks so cute on her. Whenever you tell her to pose for a picture she takes this stance. What a case!

Today has been a good day to lay on the deck in the kiddie pool. It's 102 out there. I'm so grateful for the kiddie pool! I love the sun, too. It's sure easier to take when I lay in about an inch of water in the pool. Is it any wonder folks in town think we are crazy? Bands on my knees, triangles in our heads, walking poles, laying in a kiddie pool on the deck . . . it gives them something to ponder.

Our friend, Dancing Wanda, had her surgery today and her daughter writes that she is doing well. Praise God!

My pie shape is like the first piece out of a fruit pie.

So, here is my "pie shape" to support Dancing Wanda. It's really hard to see what I'm doing when I look in the mirror and then put the clippers up to my head. All the while keeping the other hair out of the way. So, Don and I have done all we can do. We leave the rest up to God and know that He will see Wanda through this. What a wonderful opportunity for her to get to have this surgery. She said it is successful 99% of the time. Those are really good odds! Modern medicine is awesome.

It was cooler here, today. We walked around noon and it was only about 85, then. It got up to 101, but it wasn't that hot when we walked. I'm so glad for my walking poles. I could have never made it without them. It was great to walk outside and the day was gorgeous. We need rain, but it's nice for walking to be so pretty.

I'm off to candle my ears. Ah; that'll be nice. I love candling my ears! (Tom, I always remember when you came here and we candled your ears; fun memories! Linda, you're next!)

Are you on the mail list?

I took this picture of the triangle in Don's haircut today. He is such a good sport. My friend from Itazuke has Parkinson's Disease and she is having surgery this week in hopes that it will help her with balance and stability. We call her Dancing Wanda because she loves to dance. I had said I would shave my head to support her and she said they may not be shaving her head, but will likely shave a triangle area where they will do the surgery on Wednesday. Then in a couple of weeks, they'll go into the other side and do surgery, again. After her head heals enough to remove the bandages and wash them she'll get a short haircut. That left me baffled as to what to do. I still am. I will do whatever they do to her. I guess she won't know for sure until it is over on Wednesday. In the meantime Don needed a haircut, so he let me cut a triangle of support on the right side of his head, in the back. I may cut a triangle in my hair, too, but it won't be noticeable since I wear my hair up all the time. If I wore it down, the hair I don't cut will cover it, too. So, I'm baffled about what to do, but it was easy to do Don's. He wore a 10 in the back of his head for a couple of summers to support our grandson who played baseball, wearing a 10 on his jersey. In fact, at one time we had 3 grandkids wearing the number 10, so we cut a 10 in the back of Don's head for support. Maybe this is one of the reasons we call him Honeyman; he's the best! I thank God for hope that Dancing Wanda can get some help with this procedure. We're so glad to show our support.

Now, some people get this blog in their email, but I'm not sure who! One of those people wrote that she was not getting the blog, so I went to check if she had fallen off the list; there was nobody on the list! So, if you would like to get this blog in your email, please let me know and I'll put you on that list. I put back on there the people I thought were there, but if I left you out, please remind me! I don't know how the list got deleted, but somehow it did. My apologies! Thanks for caring about what's happening with us! (Thanks, Dot, for making me aware of this malfunction! Ruthie, forwarded your email to me. I love you and Ruthie!)

New haircuts.

Tuesday afternoon Gretta gave haircuts to Trish, Sadie, Grace and Raynie. I took all their pictures with Gretta and Elena. They all loved their haircuts and looked so cute! Gretta does a fantastic job!

Today we ate lunch with David and Dorothy after church, as we commonly do. The Mexican Restaurant is our favorite, but it was closed today. We've found an alternative in a new restaurant in town called, Fire and Ice. So we went to the Fire and Ice today and it was good and the company was the best. It was 111 here, today, so I got the kiddie pool out and put an inch of water in it and laid in it on the back deck. That was a great idea! It was wonderful to lay out there in that puddle of water; I wasn't miserable at all, like I would have been if I was just out there in that heat!

I even cut some purple cone flowers and brought them inside! The flowers have been so scrappy this year because we've had so little rain. I haven't brought many inside, but I couldn't resist these today. The yard still looks good from when I cut it before we left. With no rain, it just doesn't grow. If we get a shower it will shoot up, though! I thank God for the beauty in our world. He didn't have to give us flowers, but I sure enjoy them. My magnolia is blooming, too. I want to go get one of those blooms to bring inside, too. I love their look and their fragrance!

Made it home! Barely unpacked.

This is a picture I took of our nephew, John, and his precious daughter, Willow, in my Dad's baby dress. Willow was happy to model for us. I didn't have the camera set right, so I didn't get good detail of the dress, but I love John's smile and Willow's fun attitude. Trish and Gretta were taking pictures, too, so I hope one of them got a good one!

We got home today around 5 and it was 109. We got the car unloaded and I have the kitchen mostly back in place. I still have to unpack my suitcase, though. Don is already in bed and I'm headed to the tub and then to bed. I thank God for AC and our own bed! The trip was wonderful, but home is always so sweet!

No picture; stay tuned.

We are close to home. We've stopped at a motel and will be home tomorrow! Ah, home sounds good! I didn't bring the laptop in and I haven't figured out how to do pictures on this little netbook, yet. I DO have it online and working, though!

The kids have been swimming. The big guys are walking around exploring the area. I'm ready for a bath and bed. I thank God for a safe trip and an opportunity to rest.

Before the haircuts.

This is a picture I took of Trish, Gracie and Raynie the other day at the creek. Gretta gave them all great haircuts after that. I'll get pics of them with their new haircuts tomorrow, I hope. It's hard to get pictures. There is always something happening!

It's been such a great visit. We thank God for this great time of visiting. Trish and the kids went tubing down the creek today. Raynie stayed with Don and I. She slept most of the afternoon and I went up and relaxed at the pool while Don stayed with her. Then I packed the car, so my relaxing was done. :) We leave to head for home at 7 in the morning. Home is always sweet! Thanks for keeping up with us.

Fun at the creek.

This is a picture I took of Nate and his girlfriend, Megan, and Gracie. They struggled all the way up the creek to this spot where everyone was sliding down the rocks. Grace was such an adventurer! They had a blast! I could hardly get close enough to get a good picture!

Today Trish and the kids went to Cade's Cove. We stayed at the condo with Gabe and Garrett. We spent some time at the pool, and then a big storm came and that was kind of exciting, too. It rained BIG time! Sadie and Megan had walked down to the clubhouse to return a game; Nate drove down to rescue them from having to walk back in it. While they were at Cade's Cove (a scenic drive, which we had seen, so we opted out of it) they saw 5 bears! They also saw lots of deer and wild turkeys. Cool!

We're so grateful for this time to spend with great family! God is great!

Another model.

This is the pose Raynie strikes when we take a picture and ask her to pose. This must run in the family; her sister, Grace, used to do the same thing!

Today has been another full day. We didn't go to Clingman's Dome with Trish and the big kids. We stayed home with Gretta and Elena and Raynie. We spent a couple of hours in the pool! Woohoo! I loved it! The kids sure have a ton more energy than we do!

We've finished one puzzle, already. Gretta did most of it. She's a real pro puzzler! Gretta and Elena have to leave tomorrow; it's been short, but sweet. Gretta gave haircuts to Trish, Sadie, Gracie and Raynie tonight! They all look so cool. I took pics; maybe one will be good enough to post; the girls all look great, but I'm not so good with this unknown camera! I'm grateful for it, though; it's better than none since I forgot to bring mine.

We haven't seen any bears, yet, but we've seen a wild turkey and his hen and a bunny. The bird place brought birds for a show at the resort today. That was cool. We thank God for great family times!

Cousins are fantastic!

This is Sadie, sitting behind Nate, who is holding their cousin, Elena. We went to a couple of creeks today and explored. We picnicked at the first one. Gretta and Sadie brought Elena and Raynie back to the pool when we went to the second one. We all loved the second one. Even though we all love the first one, Gabe said the second one was 10 times better than the first one. It's pretty good when we can please the 16 year old! Tonight we went in search of the illusive fireflies for the second time. We see some here at the condo, but there is a place where everyone goes to see them. We never saw anything spectacular, but we made a valiant effort. We tried to go last night and the rangers were turning everyone away. We made it out there tonight, but saw nothing. All I know is that we did our best and we're not going to waste any more time on them. We'll be content with the ones we see here. They are pretty bizarre because they light up all night. All the lightening bugs I ever saw quit lighting after it gets very dark. There is a certain place where they are supposed to be in such great number that it's rather fantastic. It's something I think I'll never see because we've done all we can do and missed them.

We are having so much fun with the kids. It's amazing how fun the kids are when they are babies and then when they grow into bigger people, they are still so fine and so much fun. We know that we are really, really blessed and we thank God for our family and the time we get to share with them.

Left my camera at home!

I left my camera at home, but Trish had one she wasn't using. I'm not so good with it. It's way fancier than mine. Somehow it is set so that the pictures do the coloring really strange and I can't figure out how to correct it. So, I'll do the best I can with what I have and be happy to have something to capture the memories without having to buy another camera. This picture is one of Sadie the other night at the Red Robin. Sadie is a dream teenager! I thank God for her and her precious attitude toward everything.

Today has been a good day. I've gotten to NUBAX several times and it's been a big help. Last night I was so tired and hurt all over. I think sitting in the car for hours is really hard on my back; the NUBAX is getting me back into working order. Today Don and I got to walk a bit and we drove around checking out creeks to explore tomorrow. The kids went swimming. We're having a great time!

So, so tired!

The date on this picture is wrong. It was last night when we went to the Red Robin to eat. This is Grace and Mason. They are both SO sweet. I think there may not be any more rowdy kids, but I KNOW there are no sweeter kids than these. Funny how I think that about all my grandkids. They overwhelm me, though.

We've had such a full two days. This travel is tough, but it's so worth it. We got checked in tonight and then Trish and I went and got groceries. Then I cleaned the veggies, etc. Now, I'm going to take a bath and go to bed. It's so late; it's already tomorrow, so I'm so late with this blog. I thank God for the strength to do it. I thank him for the precious family that we've gotten to see this weekend, too. This is going to be a wonderful week.

On the way . . .

Trish had her luggage on top of the car and the belts were flopping and making a lot of noise. So, when we stopped for a pit stop she jumped up on top of the car and fixed it, with Nate's help. I thought it was too good to miss a photo op like this!

We had a great day, traveling. Everyone's in bed except me; we'll start early in the morning for the reunion! Woo hoo! I thank God for awesome family and safe travels.

It's only hair; way over rated.

This is a picture Don took yesterday. He said I should take a picture sometime with my hair down to show how long it is. He took one from the back and it's nearly to my waist, but you couldn't see my smile in that one, so I chose this one. Some day when I'm short a picture, I'll put that one on. A good friend who has Parkinson's disease has qualified for surgery on her brain. She expects they will shave her long hair. If they do, I'm shaving my head to support her. Her surgery is on the 22nd of this month, so we'll be home from the reunion by then. I didn't want to shock the family, so I'm waiting until then. I thank God that I have hair and it grows quickly, so this won't be so bad. It'll be great for summer, in fact. It won't be the same as chemo bald because I will still have eye lashes and eye brows! I think there's no way I'll freeze; it's over 100 here, every day anymore. Anyway, it's the least I can do.

We are just about ready for our trip back to Tennessee for my family reunion. I really can hardly wait. We are driving the van we bought from Trish and Rob and I love it! Our 'new' white van is still ailing; the guy who works on it is in Houston with his wife who had heart surgery. So, I'm so glad we have this van as an option and it's my favorite choice. I love Astros!

Our good friend, Joan, is looking after the house and yard. We thank God for her, to make us feel free to leave. I'll be in touch along the way if my computers hold. (I'm taking this one and the netbook. I'm not so good with the netbook, but it's my back up and it's small, so it's going.)

Getting ready for family reunion.

This is a picture Don took of me as I box up food to take for our family getaway. My best count is that there will be 14 of us. Woo hoo! I'm excited about it!

I am posting from my little netbook tonight. It has taken me all this time to figure out how to use it. It's pretty cool; slow, but cool I like that it's so small. I don't suspect that Don will like it all all, though. Hope the other one holds up for him!

I mowed the yard today in 103 weather. I'm pretty pleased with myself. The hardest part is starting the mower. If I get to redesign things, everything will be wireless and there will be no such thing as a pull cord to start anything! God is good, though; He gave me life, but He's not going to put me in charge of redesigning! HA! Let's see if this will work!

Such special friends.

This is a picture I took today of David and Dorothy. I write about them a lot on this blog, so I like to picture them from time to time. Today we went to Altus with them. Dorothy had to preregister for a procedure she's having next Monday, so we went with them and we had lunch at the Western Sizzlin we got all her tests done. We had a good day today. We sure thank God for such good friends. In my whole life these are real gems in my jewelry box of friends.

It's tiring to make a little trip like 40 miles to Altus. I can only imagine our trip to Gatlinburg. The good thing about that trip is that we'll have grandkids with us and they keep us motivated! We're looking forward to it!

Don and Jo Ann.

Tonight's picture is one I got of Jo Ann and Don the other night when we played cards. I'm going to have to get some new pics; this is the last one from our card playing!

It's hot, hot, hot here, but we love it. We didn't walk today, but we're getting ready for our family reunion, so we needed the time inside, anyway. The average temperature for us is 84 and it was 101 today, and has been for the last several days. This is July weather we're getting. I shudder to think what July may feel like!

Woo hoo! I thank God for warm weather and AC to retreat to when the heat gets so bad! Sun provides Vitamin D, so we get all we can take.

More players.

This is Frank and Jo Ann and their daughter, Stacy. Jo Ann took turns playing and letting Stacy play in her place. It's just a great time when we play. We love it when the girls are available to play with us.

Today was a restful day. We had a meeting at church after we had lunch, so when we got home we took a nap. Ah; that was sweet.

My hip was really out of shape this morning. I had to take a cane with me to walk this morning. After my nap, it was much better. It hurts, but I can walk without the cane. I guess my hip just didn't get enough sleep? I've spent a lot of time on the NUBAX; I'm sure it helped and maybe it's what got me back to walking without the cane. It was humbling and sweet how folks were so concerned to see me with a cane. I sure thank God that it mostly works well!

Even Frank and Joan were smiling!

This is another picture from last night's canasta game. However, Kristy called this afternoon and said, "Let's play, again!" So, we did! It was a fun night!

Don and I had breakfast with David and Dorothy this morning. We did some yard saling, then got some sun, then I went out and gave Dorothy and David haircuts before we went out to play cards. It was a full day, but full of pleasure. These are all good friends and it was great for all of us to be healthy enough to play two nights in a row! Joan is our friend who looks after the house and yard for us when we are gone. These are dream people and we thank God for them in our lives.

Such a good time.

This is a picture Joan took tonight of Kristy and I at the card table. Kristy is one of Jo Ann and Frank's daughters and she comes as often as she can to play hand and foot canasta with us. Her sister, Stacy came to play with us tonight, so it was really a fun time. Kristy lives near Oklahoma City. Stacy lives in Mangum, maybe 20 miles from her mom and dad. We don't all get to play often, so this was special tonight. We thank God for great friends and fun times.

We took the new (to us) van out to Jo Ann and Frank's and we took Joan and David and Dorothy with us. It was our first real spin in the new van. We really like it!

We're so grateful that David's health is holding pretty well. He really struggles to breathe, but he's able to play, so we sure feel blessed!

The pole 'dance.' Yeah, right.

We walked with the poles, again, today. Our first two days of walking were 27 minutes; then we went to 29 and today was 30. Maybe that's right, but it's something like that. We're working our way up to an hour, again. The poles make it possible for me. It's amazing how they help my back and hip. No way could I walk without them. So, I've gone from 'raising cane' all over town to 'pole dancing' all over town. Crazy old lady! But, I thank God that I've lived to make the walk!

I have to tell you something funny. Yesterday, when we were playing cards, Mason said, "Grammy, do you get bored when nobody is here." I have NEVER been bored in my life! I don't think I'm wired to be bored. I'm wired to get up and do something and there always seems to be a mountain of stuff to do! I just thought that was so funny. I guess what he was saying was that it was kind of boring to him with only us and Nate and Megan being here. Usually when he comes there are 8 of them and that is quite a circus!

Big brothers are great!

This is a picture Don took of us playing Hand and Foot Canasta tonight. Nate and his girlfriend, Megan, brought Trish and Rob's blue van to us and drove our red van home. Nate took Megan to the Quartz Mountains, hiking, today since they were coming here and she'd never been to them. Mason asked Nate if he could come with them and He LET him! What a cool guy is all I can say! Nate took our van that we've had for 15 year! We loved that van! We love Nate, too, though, so we hope it will serve him well.

Speaking of great big brothers. Don is Doris' big brother, so he falls into the category of great big brothers, too. We saw his surgeon today and he said Don is doing "Excellent." Of course he's not back to 100%, so we were afraid he'd not be pleased. He was almost ecstatic! He said Don shouldn't expect to feel all back to normal for 6 weeks. Duh; we should have known that, but, no, we thought he ought to bounce right back to normal. So, we've adjusted our expectations and are giving thanks that he is really doing so very well.

Sorry to be so late posting, but I've been catching up on all the emails I missed today. I'm so ready for bed!