More prayers, please!
The small grandson of fellow Xangan, Gr8Grace, needs your prayers. A few days ago he climbed on a chair in the kitchen. It started to tip, and he grabbed a pot of rice cooking on the stove. The scalding water hit him and burned him badly. Poor baby!! He is now home from the hospital, but will take a long time healing. Grace has pictures of him on her site. Go visit, and give her words of encouragement.
Edit:
See Grace’s comment below in the comments section.
This morning I got out of bed, stumbled to the bathroom and looked out the window:
Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
The snow is still coming down, but much slower, and it isn’t sticking—–yet.
I walked into the living room with my coffee, and Ken had opened the front door. The storm door window was all steamed up, and he had drawn a smiley face on it. Grrrrrr!
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On to a more pleasant story!
Last Saturday, DIL Lori called. Grand, Louise’s 14th birthday was to be Sunday. They had wanted us to come over there, but their main bathroom was out of order. They also had commitments on Sunday, and wanted to celebrate Louise’s birthday on Saturday instead. They asked if they could just bring the cake over here and we could celebrate her birthday here instead. I had planned on making spaghetti over the weekend anyway, so told them to come for dinner, too.
So they came over mid-afternoon. Lydia was home from college for the weekend, and Silas surprised us all later on. He had come home from college, too, just to pick up some winter clothes. He saw that nobody was home at his house, and thought they might all be here. He just stayed overnight.
But, it was the first time they had all been together in a long time. So, of course, I had to get my trusty camera out for a family picture!! Didn’t think I would get one before the holidays, since Lydia won’t be home for Thanksgiving. (She will be going to her boyfriend’s family in St. Louis that weekend. The St. Louis Rams had invited the interns to come to work at any one regular season game they wanted to—at their own expense. So Thanksgiving worked out perfectly for Lydia, since the Rams have a home game.)
Greg’s family:
Lydia decided she wanted to highlight her hair while she was home. They brought the kit along with them, and did it here. I won’t embarrass Lydia with some of the goofy pictures I took during the process. This picture was when Lori was pulling the strands of hair through the holes in the cap.
This picture shows it after it was all done. A very subtle change.
Greg was sweet enough to set up my Wii—–and, of course he had to “test” it to make sure it was working properly!! lol
He also had to give Avery pointers on the video game Avery was playing in the kitchen.
Silas, Louise and Linden playing games on my computer:
Louise with her birthday cake. (She LOVES “Hello Kitty”–that is a birthday shirt she is wearing )
I guess all the sugar made them all hyper. As they were leaving, they went into my bedroom to get their jackets from off my bed, and several of them—including Greg—ended up having a “tickle fest” on my bed!! There were legs and arms flying everywhere!! By the time I grabbed the camera they had quieted down a bit.
As the old saying goes—-”A fun time was had by all”!!
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!
My Wii finally arrived. Grand, Lydia, stopped by grand, Silas, and picked it up for me on her way home from college yesterday. I told you all that Silas works at Best Buy while attending college about 35 miles away. We could have gone down there and picked it up ourselves, but timing it to when Silas was available could have been tough.
So, now I have to get it hooked up. They say it is easy—-I sure hope so!
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The kids dropped the Wii off on their way to a Halloween party. Sylvia wanted to borrow one of our canes.
Louise is checking Sylvia’s heart—but forgot to put the stethoscope in her ears!! lol
They made name tags for themselves. They both said “Last Chance Old Folks Home”, with Sylvia as “resident”, and Louise as “RN”.
DIL, Lori, works at the veterinarian clinic, and brought home an empty IV bag to pin on Sylvia’s top.
Linden did not go to the party, but he wanted to get dressed up anyway.
We had around 50 kids trick-or-treating here. The weather was pretty nice, a little cooler once the sun went down, but just costumes or light jackets on top were enough. The hours for our town were between 4:30 and 7. Most of them came in the first 1 1/2 hrs. Hardly any after dark. I think about four little boys came in the same Transformer costume. Lots of cute ones.
OK. Now, I am off to get dressed and tackle the job of setting up my Wii. Hope I don’t “tear my hair out”—-I have little enough as it is!!!!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Please keep fellow Xangan Nanny in your prayers. Her Knight is failing fast with lung cancer—the same thing that Ken’s brother just died from. God bless them!
SAYING GOODBYE
First of all, thank you all so very much for your condolences. You don’t know how much they meant to Ken and me. I read them all to Ken, and he appreciated them so much.You have all become “family” to both of us, and your caring is so very special. I love you all. God Bless every one of you!
We left home at 6 a.m. on Tuesday for the four hour drive to Chippewa Falls. It was quite cold out, but there was no snow, which had earlier been a possibility.
We arrived an hour ahead of time, so went to a gas station and got some doughnuts to tide us over—since we hadn’t eaten before we left.
We arrived at the church at the same time most of Warren’s family did. They were all in good spirits. Before the service there was a lot of visiting and sharing of news of the various families. A couple of Warren’s boys we hadn’t seen in about 10 yrs. I did manage to get the four boys together for a picture before the service.
The 4 “K”‘s: Kip, Kurt, Keith, Klint
I took a picture of the table in front of church with the box of Warren’s ashes, his bible, his flag (He was in the Marines—served in Korea in the 50′s.) Also on the table is a picture that was from one of the Builders for Christ brochures. Those are Warren’s folded hands, with either drywall paste or paint crusted on his nails.
The service was beautiful. Warren wanted it very simple—he was a humble man. In fact, he didn’t even want his obituary in the paper until the day after the memorial service. It was mostly family and close friends. Even at that, their small church was pretty much filled. The pastor gave a wonderful sermon, but broke down close to the beginning. He and Warren were good friends. He composed himself and said that when Warren died, a multitude of angels came for him—and they were all wearing tool belts—-a reference to all his work for the Builders for Christ.
After the service was over, their son, Kurt, talked about his dad. All four sons have grown up to be strong Christian men. Kurt said their dad was the foundation (or cornerstone—can’t remember which) of their family, while Doris was the mortar that held it all together. Good comparison.
Both the pastor and Kurt mentioned about it being such a mix of emotions. Joy that Warren is now in heaven and out of his pain, yet sadness that we cannot enjoy his company until we join him there in the future.
Through this, I was thinking about how awful it would be to have amnesia or Alzheimers. As we age, we have more and more wonderful memories of those we love. After they are gone, we can just go to our memories and relive great times!!
After the funeral, we went to the cemetery, and then back to church for a meal. That is when the real visiting and reminiscing begins. I almost forgot to take more pictures. I was enjoying visiting so much! This is always a happy time for almost everyone. I missed some of the relatives that had already left.
Warren’s wife, Doris, with niece, Dawn and her hubby, Scott. Dawn is their Goddaughter. Two other godchildren of theirs were able to attend, too. Ken’s brother, Danny, was Dawn’s dad. Danny was the baby of the family. He died suddenly not quite two years ago in Florida.
Out of 7 brothers, only three are still with us. Martin, on left, is a Lutheran minister. Merlin is retired–he is the one who had the 70th birthday party last month. and my sweetie, Ken. You can tell that we were reluctant to leave. The kitchen volunteers were cleaning up around us stragglers.
None of the three sisters could come. Linda had just gone to Arizona for two months, Diana is down in Georgia, and the local sister Elaine, just couldn’t make the trip. She is not in the best of health. She stopped by our house after church on Sunday, and her one leg is all swollen. The Dr. wants to do some testing to see if there is a clot. There is no way she could–or should– sit in a car for 8 hrs!!
I took more pictures of various family members, but will not bore you with them all. I have e-mailed them to family members who could not attend.
We were tired—neither Ken nor I slept very well the night before, but we decided to come home the same day, rather than staying at a motel. We stopped to eat, which refreshed us quite a bit, and enjoyed a most beautiful sunset between Green Bay and home. Reminded us both of how wonderful God is to us, that he can give us such a beautiful sight.
So ended a day filled with so many emotions.
Sadness—Joy—Peace
Thank you Lord!
I had put this picture up in mid-August, when we stopped at Ken’s brother in Chippewa Falls for a short visit. He had lung cancer. I am so glad we were able to get there to visit then, when he was still feeling fairly well. When Ken’s sis went to visit him a month later, he was having breathing problems then, and was also weaker.
We received the phone call Saturday that Warren had passed away Friday nite. He died peacefully with almost all his family around him. Oldest son is a trucker, and he couldn’t get back home until Saturday morning. We had called there earlier in the week, and Doris said Warren was bedridden now and on hospice. The pastor had just been there to visit, and the pastor broke down. They were good friends. Warren, his pastor, and two of the pastors from our churches in Eau Claire would go out together for a potato pancake breakfast at Perkins once in a while. Everybody loved Warren. He always showed such a sincere interest in everyone!
Tomorrow morning we will be driving the 4 hours there for the memorial service, and probably back home the same day.
Warren was a very special man. He was a Christian who lived his Christianity. When he retired early, he worked hard at his church, and when our Lutheran synod’s Builders for Christ program began, he and his wife, Doris, traveled the country in their motor home several times a year, helping to build and remodel new churches, schools, and parsonages. They even flew to Antigua to work. Some jobs would only last a couple weeks or so, and others lasted months.
Our son, Jeff, (the “traveler”) said that so often when they would visit one of our churches around the country, they would find people who remembered Warren and Doris—-usually from work done on their church.
Warren and Doris have four sons. All good christian men, also. They will all miss their dad very much, but know that Warren is now out of his earthly struggle. One son and grandson were sitting at his bedside not too long before he died, and the 14 yr. old grandson was reading the 23rd Psalm to Warren. Doris said that even though Warren was not totally conscious anymore, she could see a change come over his face—-that he knew that Justin was reading this special psalm to him, and that he loved it.
Doris said he never had pain. Since he was terminal, they were able to give him anything he needed.
Doris is a very strong woman, and admitted that she will do fine—–until everything is done, and she is all alone. Then she will have time to grieve. But her youngest son and two grands are just a few miles away, and her oldest son, who is single, comes home on most weekends from trucking. The other two sons are just a couple hours away.
Anyway, that is where we will be tomorrow. Keep Warren’s family in your prayers. Thank you all ahead of time.
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Also wanted to let you know that the “Travelers” are now at West Palm Beach. They arrived yesterday. They drove through some rainy weather, and saw several bad accidents along the way from Nashville. Jeff said they came around a corner in S. Tennessee just in time to see a car flip end-to -end and go into the median right ahead of them. They cannot stop their big rig very quickly, so they didn’t stop. Jeff said others behind them stopped to help.
They have found out that camping is VERY expensive in West Palm Beach. They will be staying at a nice county park (campground) about 15 minutes from the Trump Golf Resort where he will be working. The campsite will be costing them $700 a month!!!!! Unbelievable. But they had looked at a private RV park closer to the golf course, that was the same price, but the sites were so close to each other that Jeff wouldn’t even be able to fit their bus in a site. And it was in an undesirable neighborhood. They will be there through Thanksgiving weekend, which is when the LPGA golf tournament will be. He starts the sign job on Nov. 3. His Thanksgiving will be spent on the golf course. He has to be on the course at all times when the tournament is actually going on, in case any signs are damaged they can be fixed or replaced right away. The sponsors pay good money for the signage, and they have to be seen at all times.
I hope you all have a good week. Ken was supposed to start his skin cancer excisions tomorrow, but that whole schedule had to be rearranged. He had 4 appts. set up. This one will be rescheduled to be done last instead of first, and the others will stay the same. Now, he won’t be done until Dec. 16, instead of Dec. 2.—Merry Christmas!! lol
It is supposed to get down to freezing tonight, so Ken cleaned up the last of the flowers still blooming and cleaned out the fountain, removed the pump, and covered it up with plastic for the winter.
That all signals the end of decent weather for me! Boo-Hoo!! But it will be still getting up into the 50′s the next few days. But, just heard about the possibility of S*** (that awful four-letter white word) next Monday. UGH! It probably won’t be here near the lake though—-I hope, I hope!!!
Yesterday, Ken’s niece and hubby visited us for a couple hours. They are here from Arizona. Carla is such a sweetheart. She always remembers her aunts’ and uncles’ birthdays with gifts, and always sends Christmas presents, too. We always visit them when we go to Arizona to see my family. Carla lives across the Phoenix valley from my sis and my dad. The first time we visited her and Cory (and their “baby” Felix the cat–lol), she showed me her guest bedroom. Well, there is no room for a guest in that bed!! The bed is full of all the things she buys all year long to give as gifts. I swear she keeps her Avon lady in business—and probably her Hallmark shop, too! lol I keep telling her to stop doing that—we don’t need anything. But she says she won’t listen—it gives her joy to do this, and wants nothing in return.
Carla was single for a long time. We had just about given up hope that any man would see what a special person she is. She and Cory finally found each other when she was 35, and have been married for 16 yrs. now. Cory loves to tease her, and she loves it! Poor Cory, though, when Carla is around her family he hardly gets a word in edgewise!
Cory and Carla
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Way back in Sept., I said I was going to share pictures with you all of Ken’s brother’s 70th birthday. Well, I FINALLY uploaded some of the pictures.
Merlin is Ken’s next youngest sibling. Merlin was best man at our wedding—the first time I had met him, since Ken’s family lived back here, and Ken was out in Arizona, where we met and were married. For those of you that don’t know, Ken was a mason, and when he was out of work here, he would go to Florida or California during the winter. One winter he came to Arizona instead, and the rest is history!
We were living—and struggling financially—in Colorado in the mid-60′s, when Merlin called from here, and said he was starting to build homes. He was wondering if Ken would be interested in doing all his mason work. Would be a great opportunity for Ken to go into business for himself. We came back here the beginning of summer 1967, and Ken did work for Merlin, and then picked up other masonry work, too. I flew back to Colorado with the boys and put up the house for sale. Sold it just in time to move to Wisconsin for the beginning of school.
We saw that this was the right thing to do. Another reason for the move back here was the fact that Jeff was ready to start kindergarten, and we really wanted him in a Lutheran school. There weren’t any out in Colorado Springs at that time. God does provide!!! Our boys went through the same grade school that Ken did.
About 20 yrs. ago, Merlin gave up the building business here and moved to Appleton with his family. He still did finish carpentry work, but for other contractors. Then, several years ago he started his own wholesale millwork business. Millwork is all the beautiful molding and decorative wood you see in a lot of homes nowadays. He supplied millwork to a lot of home improvement stores. He sold the business to his son-in-law a year or two ago, and is now retired.
All of the inside pictures were taken in Merlin and Karen’s basement. Merlin built their Victorian style home himself, and you can see the beautiful wood work he does. The house is built on a hillside, so the basement is open to the backyard.
Front entrance. Here you can see some of the “gingerbread” on “The Lady”, as they call her. The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac.
This is the view out their back from the house. They have two acres. There is a creek in the back hidden by the trees. Merlin is taking someone for a ride in his Gator. I took a ride in that thing, and he drives it like a madman!! There is a steep hill in the middle of the picture that doesn’t really show up well in the picture that he went down full speed—felt like a rollercoaster!
Had him stop at the bottom so I could get a picture of the back of the house. It is for sale. Anyone want a beautiful custom home in Appleton??? They have a For Sale sign on the back. When the trees lose their leaves, people driving by on the main road behind them can see this view of the house.
Brother-in-law, Richard, going for his wild ride with Merlin on the Gator. Hang on, Richard!!!!!
The party was supposed to be outside on the deck, but thanks to a drizzly day, everything had to be moved inside.
Part of the party-goers. Merlin’s back is to us in the left foreground. His middle daughter is sitting across from him. Sister-in-law, Judy, who lives behind us, is in green on the right. Most of the others are Merlin’s wife’s relatives. I didn’t get pictures of everyone—nuts! I do have a picture of Karen with Merlin, but their expressions are awful—know they would not appreciate being on Xanga looking like that! lol
The dining area minus the dining table. Set up for all the delicious food!!
Merlin’s office in the basement. Now that he is retired, he spends his day doing day-trading on the stock market. That is why he needs a tv and 3 computer screens to keep track of every tiny movement of the stocks he monitors and buys and sells during the day. That kind of “hobby” would drive me bonkers!! Too risky for us! lol
The birthday “boy” eating his meal. You can see the beautiful woodwork on the fireplace—Merlin’s work.
Merlin and youngest granddaughter admiring the cake. Karen’s theme for Merlin’s birthday was “Age 70—-A Piece of Cake”.
I took a video of him opening our presents, but it didn’t turn out the greatest, so am not putting it up. Karen also gave his life’s story—very humorous—with appropriate music and props. So, we had a great time. We don’t get to see them very often, so this was special! One daughter had the flu, so she wasn’t there.
Ok. This should last you for a while. Will try to get around and comment during the next couple days.
Mimiwi is a BAD, Bad Xangan!!
I have not been around much. Also not doing much commenting either. Just why I am not sure. I do read my subs in my e-mail, though.
We have been a little more busy around here. This past week has flown by.
We heard from son, Jeff, on Thursday. They arrived in Nashville Wednesday. I thought they would rent a u-haul to move the girls things down there. Well, it ended up that Jeff could buy an inexpensive, used 12 (or 15?) passenger van for about the same price. They managed to get almost everything in there and in Mindy’s car, and I suppose some things in the bus, too. Hannah followed the bus, and Mindy followed Hannah all the way to Nashville. There was one slight mishap. Well, not really a mishap—just a mistake. Symbolreader probably knows of this place where people turn the wrong way. We did the same thing once when we went to Arizona. It is where I 39 and I90 split near Rockford. If you are in the wrong lane, you end up heading to Chicago on a tollway. We had to drive about 10 to 12 miles to a toll booth, where we could get off and take a side road back to the right road. It must happen a lot, because the gal gave us a slip of paper with directions to get back to where we needed to be without having to pay more tolls. Anyway, Hannah turned wrong. I know the turn comes up quickly, and she evidently couldn’t get in the correct lane in time, and headed to Chicago. Mindy, who was behind her, saw Hannah turn and Jeff go the other way, and quickly decided to follow Jeff—–figured he knew the right way to go. Hannah was hysterical, and called Jeff on the phone. To make a long story short, she made her way back—probably the same way we did—-but she was really shaken up. I guess Judy volunteered to drive the van if Hannah was so upset, but Hannah said “No! If I can make it through this, I can make it through anything!!” You really have to know Hannah to understand all this. She can be very theatrical and emotional. I used to call her “DQ” for Drama Queen. We always knew where Hannah stood on anything. Never had to wonder!! But, she really is a great kid—well, young lady of 19 1/2. She is such fun!! Mindy is fun, too, but in a different way. Mindy is the “cool-headed” blonde.
The girls will be living on the SE end of Nashville, in Antioch. There is a big mall right off of the interstate, and their apartment is within walking distance of it. Will be interesting to see what jobs they get. They took a year’s lease on their apartment.
Jeff found out that he doesn’t have to be in West Palm Beach until Nov. 3. The company that hired him to be a “traveling” sign man is in Ft.. Lauderdale. While he is there, he will go and see them. They have approached him about Jeff’s being the head of the traveling crews. Will see what develops with that.
Jeff’s job at the Trump Golf Resort will last until the end of Nov.—through Thanksgiving. It is an LPGA tournament. Grandson, Jacob, (the one in chiropractic college in San Jose, CA) will be flying to Orlando the middle of Dec. to spend Christmas with them. Then Jacob will fly to New York City and spend New Years Eve there with some friends. Jeff doesn’t know where they will go after Jacob leaves. It may depend on what happens when he goes to Ft. Lauderdale and talks to them.
Jeff said that Catalina made the trip just fine. She seemed to like the movement of the bus.
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We got our results from our trip to the dermatologist. I had one biopsy taken, and it came back clear. Ken had 8 biopsies, and 3 of the spots can be “frozen” off, but the other 5 are squamous cell cancer and have to be excised. One of those 5 may have to have MOHS surgery done—-it is in his ear. He doesn’t want that, but will talk to Dr. at the first session, when they will excise 2 spots. He panics at the length of time MOHS can take. He gets claustrophobic! The older he gets the worse it gets. It runs in his family. Anyway, all of this will take over a month to finish up. All those years of working without a shirt on in the summer sun is catching up with him.
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Our oldest local grandson is going to college near Sheboygan, and just got a part-time job at Best Buy down there. I told him to keep an eye out for a Wii. He called last evening and said they got a few in, and if I wanted it he would get me one. I had decided NOT to get one (trying to cut down on expenses what with the stock market taking a dive). But the price was too good to pass up. Convinced Ken to let me get it as an early Christmas present. If we end up not going anywhere this winter because of the cost, at least the Wii will get me up and moving, instead of just sitting and vegetating! I told Silas OK. He called back a little later and said he got it, and there was only one left then!! It is just the basic Wii with one controller and the “Sports” game included. That is enough for now. Eventually I would want the Wii Fit. Think that would help me the most.
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Well, that brings you up-to-date with us. The weather has been beautiful. In fact, right now it is 69 degrees. But it will get cooler in the next couple days. Have been cleaning up the planting beds. Well, Ken has done most of it. The flowers in planters are still going strong, though. Looks like there will be at least another week that will be frost free. I did bring my hibiscus plants inside. I was going to toss them out this year because they have gotten so tall. But Ken and the kids talked me into bringing them inside because they still have so many buds on. After they are done blooming I will cut them back so they aren’t so scraggly.
Catalina Marie—-picture from Penney’s.
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Judy, little Kenny and Catalina arrived sometime after 8 p.m. on Sat. night. She had tried calling Greg and Lori after leaving her brother’s party. Planned on stopping by there on her way to our place. She couldn’t reach them, so she just came here. Since she wanted to leave around noon, we thought she wouldn’t get to see them at all. Greg’s Sylvia and Louise had to sing for late service at church, and wouldn’t be able to get here until later. And they WOULDN’T have made it—– if the baby hadn’t pooped!!
Judy had the car all packed, and was ready to go, but I wanted to take a couple pictures. When Kenny took our picture of us holding Catalina, I could feel her pooping. So, Judy had to dig out the diapers, come back in the house and change Catalina’s diaper. She was just getting ready to leave again when Greg and family drove in the driveway. So, she decided to stay a while and visit with them. She later called Jeff to tell him that she was delayed, and he told her to take her time. There were hold-ups (long story) in LaCrosse, and they probably wouldn’t be leaving until Tuesday for Nashville. She stayed for dinner, and left later in the afternoon, right after Greg and family left. That was fine with us. More Catalina time!!!! Oh, and of course more time for little Kenny and Judy, too! lol
Everything worked out the way I hoped it would. I was disappointed when Judy wasn’t going to be able to stay long enough for Greg and family to see them. What is weird is that Greg and family were home Sat. evening when Judy tried calling them. Judy called me right after trying Greg’s house, and I tried calling Greg’s, too. It just rang and rang and rang. That was strange because their answering machine always would answer if they were not home. We couldn’t figure it out. Lori couldn’t figure it out either, until we told her what time we called and she realized that was when she was talking to her brother and she was in the basement. Their dryer was running and is very noisy, so she evidently didn’t hear the call waiting “click” on the line when Judy, and then I, called.
Anyway, it was a great, though short visit. Every time I held Catalina, I wondered how much bigger she would be the next time we saw her! Since “little” Kenny grew so much since December, I wondered the same thing about him. I measured him Sunday morning, and he is 5′ 6 1/4″ at 11 1/2, and his voice is changing already.
Gretta didn’t come because she went to Homecoming and one last sleepover with girlfriends in LaCrosse. Missed our “CuppyCake”. Sylvia and Louise did, too. They were very close to her in age, and played together whenever Jeff and family would come. Even planned their summer camp for the same week each year, so they could be in the same cabin.
I promised you lots of pictures, and you might be sorry you reminded me so often!! Our extended family will enjoy them all, though.
Two more that Judy had taken at Penneys:
Ken fixed pancakes Sunday morning. Kenny enjoyed them—-Judy and Catalina were not up yet when I took the picture.
Papa and Catalina—she smiled a lot for him. Must think he is funny-looking!! llol
Kenny, Judy and Catalina—-when they were ready to leave the first time.
Ken, Catalina and me—-about the time she decided to fill her diaper.
Sylvia feeding Catalina
Louise feeding Catalina
Linden feeding Catalina
Linden, Louise and Syvia with cousins Catalina and Kenny
Mimi with her two “babies”—grands #12 and #13.
And, here is a video of Catalina. Started it just as she sneezed. She is just starting to interact with people. Can get her to smile once in a while now.
Gretta made Catalina a quilt. Here it is. She hand-embroidered the writing in the center square. I think she did a great job!!!
Now, if you haven’t had enough of Catalina and the others by now, there are 4 more videos I took yesterday. Just click on the “videos” link at the top of the page.
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