Family Reunion - Seeley Lake, Montana

Kenneth in the power chair that Roger brought for grandpa to use during the reunion. I posted the pictures before writing anything because I was not sure I could even get it done. There were lots of other pictures but I just put up a few of them. We enjoyed the trip a lot and our thanks go out to Kenneth for going with us. I could not have done it alone I know. We spent the first night at Dean & Laura's at Harpster. We enjoyed a wonderful visit and had some real good chicken enchiladas. We left the next morning after more visiting and got to Seeley Lake just before supper time. When we came home we drove it all at once because Kenneth had to be back for work on Monday morning. It took us a few days to recover, but we have more time than money so that's okay.

Grandpa and Darlene saying goodbye at the motel

Grandpa, Kenneth, Darlene & Roger - at the motel just before leaving for home.

The three of us - getting ready to leave

Darlene and Tim - We were glad he could bring her.

Dad, Darlene & Roger

The serving table loaded with food. It looked this way most of the time.

More of the guys.

The woman behind Roger is his wife, Kaye.

Dad's family - they had a great time.

The preacher, Thomas Dean Hendrickson and his wife, Phyllis. She is a sweetheart - he takes some gettine used to

Grandpa and Darlene

Grandpa's cousin, Joanne and his cousin Ross

Dad and Roger

Kenneth on the way to the reuion. It was a beautiful drive. One almost got tired of all the beautiful trees and scenery - almost but not quite.

Ross's wife Lacene. She was responsible for everything and is such a great gal and good organizer, etc. We enjoy her a lot.

At least it's getting warmer

I haven't posted anything for a long time because I didn't want to just have bad news all the time. So I waited and right now the only good news is that I brought Grandpa home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. He has had ups and downs but Friday I thought I had better take him in. They kept him 2 days which is not bad. He is feeling better - seems to be his old friend - a combination of heart failure and pneumonia.

We really did enjoy all of the visits we had from family the last couple of months. It was wonderful to have so many family members around the day Aaron's little girls were baptised. We enjoyed the baptism and all of the visiting and the eating. We love the quilt with all of the family blocks. I have not taken a picture to post but I decided I had to post something anyway.

Today I did the dental cleaning thing - glad it's over - and then I took grandpa to the doctor, left jackets at the cleaners, went to Winco and then had to put all the food away when we got home. I got a jury summons so have filled out their questionnaire and submitted it. Then I find that I could have asked to be excused because of my age. I don't mind serving, but I may ask to be excused anyway because I never know how daddy is going to be. Last night grandpa and I went to the High Priest meeting where we saw a nice film with Sheri Dew giving a talk about Joseph Smith and then we had pie and ice cream. I do read your blogs, just don't get comments submitted very often - always in a hurry.

It is nice to have warmer weather. Now if the wind would just die down it would be wonderful. I was able to get the lawn mower started and having been doing the mowing and watering. Jim came to start the riding mower and found that the battery was down and one of the cables had been eaten completely through, so he is fixing that. Kenneth got my weed eater started and used it until he ran out of string. So we are stopped for now, but Kenneth promised to try and till up my garden spot and in spite of myself I am itching to get some plants in the ground.

Finally!

Grandpa is doing well and I expect to bring him home on Friday, or Monday at the latest. He is indeed getting stronger. If he comes home Friday or Monday he will be getting outpatient therapy at a facility here in Kuna. We miss him here and are looking forward to his being home.

laughter is the best medicine!

It has been interesting to say the least. Grandpa at first was not very happy about not coming home so finding things to laugh about always helps. His first day he had to be "inspected" by the nurses. Quite literally they checked over his whole body for injuries, scars, sores, etc. and made a note of them. This is of course so that they will not be held liable for anything that happened to Grandpa before he got there. When he told us about this I just started laughing. He was so indignant about it. No allowances for modesty - women already know all about that do we not? Then the other day the nurse who came in to take him to breakfast said "after breakfast I will give you a shower." Grandpa assumed that she would show him how she wanted him to shower and then leave him alone. Wrong! She literally gave him a shower - washed him all over except for one spot. We were already laughing when he started telling us about it because we knew the outcome. Grandpa got checked out on his own walker and is allowed to use it instead of the kind they use, and on Sunday he gets to attend an LDS sacrament meeting held there in the facility. He has settled down into a routine now and is getting some productive therapy each day. I go there each day to see him and today I am taking Muffin in. They not only allow but encourage people to bring their dogs in. I am looking forward to Karen & Bill coming on Thursday night.

Update

I started this blog in the first place so that I could keep you all updated on what is going on with us. We have had another week of being in the hospital - grandpa, not me. He had some congestive heart failure, underlying pneumonia and a mild heart attack. However, they have tuned him up and released him to a rehab facility in Meridian where they will try to help him regain some of his strength. I say "try" because grandpa is not always cooperative and he doesn't like to be told what to do. The blessing in all of this is that we are surrounded by good people. Jim always comes as soon as he is called. One of our home teachers came to help with giving a blessing and has checked on grandpa every day. Our family has been here to visit and help me. Four daughters taking turns coming - 3 sons here in the valley that also help and give moral support. Allen would if he could, but he is still working in Alaska. So life is good, interesting and challenging. We love all of you and pray that when it is your turn to be elderly and in need of help, your children will be as loving and supportive as ours are.

I Didn't Do It

I couldn't resist posting this picture. Grandpa took a fall last Sunday - not from lack of balance, but because he tripped on my exerciser. He was in the process of vacuuming a spot for me that I was going to do as soon as I took the puppies outside. When I got back in, he was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, bleeding. I said he needed stitches. He said he only needed a bandaid. Jim came over and settled it for us and we went for stitches. He is doing well.

Sold two of the puppies and there are times I would give the other two away for nothing. I guess this too shall pass.

Annette & Grandpa juicing apples after I had my cataract surgery.

Muffin and puppies home from the hospital - about 8 hours old

Just so you can see about how big the puppies are - weighed about 7 ounces at birth

Kathy has been helping me get some pictures up again. I had a lot of little problems and couldn't figure out just how to do this, so now I hope I can keep it up.

Muffin had her puppies on Tuesday, November 25th. She was in labor all day Monday, just pacing and stopping and panting and then starting over again. I felt real empathy with her. I stayed in the family room with her all that night so she wouldn't try and deliver while we were in bed asleep. Grandpa came out about 4:00 a.m. and spelled me off. She started pushing just before 5:00 a.m. and had a puppy started, and then she just quit pushing. So at 6:00 a.m. we took her to the pet hospital emergency room. I told Grandpa I thought we would probably lose the one that was partially born, but we didn't. The vet gave her oxitossin shots to keep her contractions going and she finally had 2 more. Then they had to xray her to see how many more there were because if there was any more than one more they would have to do a c-section because it was too much for her. She only had one more in there, so they gave her another shot and delivered it. So she has 3 females and 1 male.

At first Muffin didn't want to even look at the puppies, but with some urging and help laying down and nursing, she finally got the hang of it, and how she is taking very good care of them.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Jim's house with all of his children and grandchildren, Dave & Kathy & kids, Bill & Karen, Allen & Sioux and Sioux's daughter, Ashley and some assorted people who had been invited also. When we got home we could not put all of the leftovers away, so we did what we could and fixed two bunches of leftovers and took to two of our neighbors who are experiencing very bad times. They were all thrilled and we not only felt great but could now put everything away. We ate pie and turkey sandwiches for breakfast-saved lots of work.

Hope all of you had a great day and lots of good things to be grateful for.