Memorial Day weekend

Hey all, hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend. Mexico sounded like fun, Chris !! So thankful to hear Uncle Eldie is doing so well - must be all those Grush prayers. We are doing great and had a fun weekend. Spent most of it at mom and dad's eating and golfing, what more could you ask for, right? Henry is pretty good at talking Papa out of his responsibilities (like painting the garage) and into taking him out golfing. Sorry, mom !! I even got out Sunday afternoon with Dan and did pretty decent considering how little I have golfed in the past few years.

Cute story - I took Henry and Cora for pictures Friday afternoon and had some taken of Henry holding a number 4 planning to send them out for his 4th birthday, right? Well, today on the way to school he asks me why the lady with the pictures made him hold a 4 since he's only 3 years old. Because apparently he even told her he was just 3 when I was busy with Cora and she told him "don't worry about it." How long do you suppose he sat and pondered that question before he decided to ask me? Aren't they amazing? The stuff they wonder about is just fascinating to me.

Just wanted to say hi and wish everyone a good week. Take care !!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Great news on Uncle Eldie, hopefully he continues to improve both his health and golf scores. We are having an unbelievable Memorial Day Weekend. It was cloudy, overcast, rainy and cold on Thursday and Friday. It was 110 degrees last Monday and Tuesday and in the 50's and low 60's on Thursday. Saturday, Sunday and Monday the highs have been in the mid 70's and low 80's, 15 to 20 degrees below normal and heavenly.

Kerri received May 14 - 19 off from work at the last moment, so we took the RV and headed to Rocky Point, a small town on the Baja of Mexico that is 212 miles away. It is not very far but takes 4 hours or more to get there because of crossing the USA/Mexico border and you need to have Mexican car insurance, USA insurance does not work in Mexico. We parked the RV 27 steps from the beach, and just relaxed. It cost $22 per night to camp with full hook ups and we just chilled on the beach and swam in the ocean every day. Went downtown to the fish market a bought some fresh shrimp, grouper, and sea bass and grilled it up each night. It was fantastic. A very relaxing and inexpensive vacation.

Not much happening in Arizona, except that we are still dodging the hot summer temps, yeah! Kerri is getting ready for a busy summer at the hotel pool bar and I am preparing for Summer Junior Golf Camps. With the economy in the tank and the cost of gas in the stratosphere, we will unfortunately not make the family reunion in Rapid City, sorry. I hope everyone has fun. Hopefully you can get everyone up and running with this blog this summer and we can start to have everyone use it on a more regular basis. Wishing everyone a great summer!

Eldie

Most of the news from here is the latest medical report. U. Eldie is feeling much better each day since his nephrostomy on 5/13. He had never had major surgery before, so now has been educated in the way of hospitals/dignity/recovery. We are very thankful that the results were so good--at this point, no further treatment scheduled. They have asked him to consider a study they are involved in--I am all for studies, but don't know about this one--it involves 9 42day cycles of meds/tests---the purpose to see if these 2 drugs will help to prevent a recurrence--lasts for a year, includes CT, bone scans, blood work, etc. We will have to do some serious thinking. If his was truly contained with no metastasis, do we want to experiment with possible potent drugs with several side effects. Plus, the cost of 9 trips to IC is not petty cash. Plus, some potential insurance issues. We go back to IC 6/23--so will be talking to them. We were very happy with our medical/nursing care while there. We are headed for Boxholm this weekend for the infamous Alumni Banquet (where is A. Jan when I need her?)--not too bad for 10 days postop. Then to Estherville the next weekend for the June 1 celebration--we are looking forward to that. Then, not long after, tripping to SD. I"m thinking the summer will be going fast again. Love to all Aunt JO

Hey All!

So it has been a while since we first set up this website. And while some of you have gotten the hang of it, there are still some of you who have not. However, other than Rhonda, i have not gotten any questions about help!

So, for those of you who have not signed up yet, please either email me at twsmith23@gmail.com, or give me a call at 623 433-6422. I really think this could be a great way for all of us to keep in touch, but we all have to make an effort! Like writing or typing out the letter we pass around in the round robin, this takes only a few minutes and can be fun!!

Hope everyone is doing well, and keep in touch!

Mother's Day -- what NOT to do

So, last Sunday was Mother's Day, right? Since Henry is almost four years old, we have now had four of these days. You'd think by now Dan would have a clue, wouldn't you? Here's how it goes: I told Dan I wanted to sleep in Sunday for once as a treat. At 6:10 a.m. (the usual wake-up time for Cora) Dan says, "Carin, I think Cora's awake. She probably needs a bottle." Thanks, hon, for the extra rest time. Then after Henry was up I made breakfast for him and was feeding Cora. Dan wandered into the kitchen (this is 7:45 and he's been sleeping since 6:10) and says, "I'll make you breakfast, Carin." Don't get too excited - it was a frozen Eggo waffle that he forgot to put syrup on. Then he proceeds to make himself scrambled eggs, toast and sausage. As we're getting ready for church he and Henry get into a huge fight which results in me trying to calm Henry down enough to stop sobbing. After church we have a really lovely time at mom and dad's with delicious food that I didn't even have to prepare. Thank you, mom, for making part of my Mother's Day great !! Ed, Jane, Grandma Darlene and Uncle Tom were there as well and it was nice to chat with them. After we arrive home, however, Dan announces that he needs to mow the grass and spends the next two hours outside while I play with the kids, feed them dinner, bathe them, and get them into bed. When Dan makes it back into the house he makes microwave popcorn, which I don't like, and tries to tell me it's for me, but then proceeds to eat all of it while I'm finishing getting Cora to sleep. Then he brings in his trench coat and reminds me that I need to sew the button back on. So at 10:00 at night on Mother's Day I'm sewing this stupid button back on his coat while he watches TV. Then, and this is the best part, the card he picked out for me opens up three ways, okay? He signed his name on the second page of the card. Quite obviously, he didn't even read the entire card when he picked it out because he didn't even know there was a third page.

So for all you husbands out there - this is what NOT to do on Mother's Day, okay? By the way, today is Thursday and I finally spoke to him last night for the first time. :-)

Take care everybody and hope to see more posts sometime soon.

Chris, I keep checking for more entries--keep on trying to get us all going! Eldie has a bone scan on May 5 and meets his surgeon--will have a nephrectomy (right kidney out and GONE) on May 13 (tentatively) by laparascopy ( small holes instead of a 12" incision, which sounded good to him!). The Dr was very positive about the outcome, apparently no spread, therefore no need for further intervention. Many people live with 1 kidney--will probably not be able to participate in contact sports, but golf will work!!! We are very relieved--10 days of having no idea what is ahead was frustrating--gave us an appreciation for those in the same or worse situations. We are thankful for the support we have received from everyone (maybe you all know the sisters called us up the first weekend and said "it's time to circle the wagons", came and brought food and games and we had a GREAT time together). We're glad to have Sheila close--helps with motel bills--until they kick us out anyway. We are trying to get odd jobs done around here, and would like to get some golf in next week. Take care, all

Springtime in Arizona

Things in Arizona are moving along as expected. The weather is turning warm, mid 80's which is perfect down here. We had a couple of mid 90's days last weekend, but hopefully no more for a while. The Parents and Carin and Dan were down for close to a week and played some golf, attended a conference and ate out for several great meals. The jobs are the same, Todd and I have been trying to get rid of some crud (bronchitis) for the past week or two, but nothing serious. I was just checking the blog and not seeing much activity, figured I would try to get it going.
Smitty

PS, Any news on Uncle Eldie yet?