New Tires

After having the tire checked at Costco, the bubble was dangerous so learned that the tires that were on the car were not the right size, smaller than they should be, so I had four new tires put on - did some shopping and the car was ready when I got done.  Brought it home, vacummed it and since McAuleys' always wash the car when they service it - now it is ready for our trip to Stanford next Sunday!  What a difference in the way it drives!  I didn't realize that new tires being the right size would make such a difference!  What a lesson I learned!  I've got 83,000 + miles on it now so guess it's ready for another 100,000! It rides and drives like it should - very comfortable now!

A MIRACLE

A Miracle
On Monday afternoon, Christmas Eve, after a couple errands, shopping for five families for food, then delivering the food to the five families in all different areas of Merced, I decided to fill up the gas tank, and get a hamburger as I hadn't eaten since breakfast - then as I drove through the drive through at In & Out Burger, my car made this knocking sound and steam started rolling out from under the hood!  WOW!  I immeidately shut the car off, and as the gal handed me my food, I asked her if anyone was available to push me through to the parking lot - so a couple guys came out and pushed me to the parking lot as I called Larry & Gary, and AAA. Larry & Gary thought the radiator might be cracked - had it towed to Gary's driveway and Wednesday called McAuleys and had it towed there after checking some prices. The radiator was okay, it was the fan and relay switch!  Was due for an oil change anyway, so had it serviced, a new alternator put in, back brakcs & rotors so MERRY CHRISTMAS!  There's a bubble on the right front tire so am taking it to Costco today to have that checked and possibly buy a new tire if the others are still okay. Want it it tip top condition as a week from Sunday we'll be driivng to Stanford with Gary for his Monday MRI & Dr. Appt. We'll be taking Philip back to St. Mary's as he's home on break so need everything in top working order!  Julie will be driving as she knows the area well and Gary knows the bay area well after living there for awhile. I'm just so thankful it happened there instead of when I was delivering food all over town - GOD IS GOOD! 
We're all caught up on our rainfall amount now so that is good!  Violets are blooming and I saw a daffodil blooming in someone's yard yesterday - spring is just around the corner!  I do hope we can ride the YARTS bus next week up to Yosemite as the valley is covered with snow and everyone says it looks like you're driving into a Christmas card!

Christmas 2012

What a nice surprise to have Mark & Dena here for Christmas - the first time we've all had Christmas together for 19 years!  Gary told us to stop after church for a visit and there they were!  So we had the whole family together as Emily & Elena came for a short visit this morning and then came back tonight for a longer visit. It was the best present ever to have them altogether for Christmas!

Julie made their famous Belgian waffles, Emily Jane fried bacon, Larry fried the sausages, I made the scrambled eggs and of course, baked Mom's famous vanilla pudding cinnamon rolls!  We had a feast!  Lots of presents that everyone enjoyed and lots of fun! 

Roses in December

Bouquet of roses from our backyard

Can you believe it?  I picked these roses this afternoon and put them on our kitchen table. We're having unusual warm weather and cool nights so the roses just keep blooming!  I usually prune them in mid January so am enjoying them as long as I can. We had over 2 inches of rain over the weekend and more is expected tomorrow. It certainly washed all the dust off things - and most of the leaves have fallen and the city picks them up as we put them in the street a couple feet from the gutter so the water can drain when it rains.

We enjoyed Hamburger Soup at church last evening and then we all gathered in the Sanctuary to put up the Chrismon tree. The men got it leveled, the star on top, the lights on, and then the kids decorated it - they had a little help with ladders as some of the decorations needed to be put up high. The Christmas boxes under the tree are all presents for children here in Merced that will be distributed by our local Salvation Army. They so appreciate the help this gives them and it benefits our local children who need them. I believe this is the third year we have done this and it is growing, as we had 60 boxes to fill this year, the plastic shoe boxes are donated by Thrivent Financial.

Benji hugging Gary with his paws around Gary's neck - this is blurry as I think I moved. The first night Gary came over for dinner after his surgery Benji jumped up on his lap and put both paws around his neck and hugged him! It was an awesome sight!  Amazing what animals can feel and know about a person. This picture isn't the true image but gives you the idea anyway.

We're taking Gary over to the Sleep Clinic tonight at 10 p.m. for an overnight sleep study. We pick him up in the morning at 6 a.m.- maybe a good time to go out for breakfast!! He's feeling better each day - amazing recovery! I checked with emergency today and the Dr. who ordered the CAT scan that found the tumor will be in next Wednesday after 10 a.m. so we're going to take her a box of Sees candy and tell her how much we appreciate her insight in ordering that CAT scan. The tumor was a separate issue from the stroke - but wouldn't have been found until he had seizures, etc. So we are VERY THANKFUL for Dr. G, a female Dr. who made the discovery!

Harvest Dinner at church tonight was a great pre-Thanksgiving meal - very delicious!  Gary enjoyed thanking everyone for all their prayers and they were all so surprised to see him - he's more like his old self again - what a miracle!  Now on Wednesday night, he has the sleep apenea test - we have to take him to the sleep clinic at 10 p.m. and pick him up the next morning at 6 a.m. so that will be interesting!  We are getting more typical November weather in the 50's during the day and 40's at night.  It makes us feel more like it should be for this time of year.  Lots of laundry to do after a week away - so working away at it - still about 2 more loads to do.  Hung out the sheets from the 3 beds the German girls had on Saturday night but they didn't dry so ended up putting them in the dryer after all. Looking forward to another good night's sleep - nothing like your own bed!!

Visiting Philip at St. Mary's College near Moraga, California on Sunday, November 4th before heading to Stanford for Gary's Surgery.
What a beautiful campus!  We were so impressed as the surroundings are so beautiful! Philip seems so very happy there and has lots of friends. It's a joy to seem him so content with his new surroundings!

An eventful day with Gary seeing Dr. Chan who with us viewed the pictures from the MRI last week and was surprised to see that the tumor in his brain had grown quite a bit. He immediately said "We've got to get that out of your head" - it can keep growing and cause lots more damage. I suggest Stanford or USF." So Gary & I both agreed on Stanford and Dr. Chan said he would contact them and get back to us as soon as possible. He said we don't want to wait. Before the afternoon was over, Gary had a call from Stanford to tell him of the conversation with Dr. Chan and that he would be coming to Stanford on Monday for his evaulation and pre-op and surgery would be on Tuesday. SO that was a quick response!   They said he would be in the hospital for a few days, probably coming home on Friday.So lots of prayers going up for successful surgery and complete recovery from all his numbness, dizziness, etc.

We're checking motels that are pet friendly so will wait for the phone call tomorrow to tell us how soon we need to be at Stanford on Monday and make reservations then. Mark & Dena plan to come - so will get a room for them too. Julie may drive us - so we'll all be there for the surgery on Tuesday.
This picture was taken of Gary and Benji December 15, 2011 so nearly a year ago! They're such good buddies!

Yellow roses blooming their hearts out - here it is October 2nd and they are beating the heat of 100 degrees!!!!
Amazing temperatures these days - usually October isin the 70's - hopefully next week it will return to normal! At least it cools off at night - we close up the house before noon, and try to get by without the AC unless we have to about 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. then open up the windows and turn the whole house fan on for about 20 minutes.

Gary's 54th birthday celebration 9-29-12

Our family gathered at Gary's house to celebrate his 54th birthday. We had a feast and enjoyed visiting and eating! He's very thankful to be able to eat, think, talk and walk after his stroke August 15th. It is a slow road to recovery but he is making progress. Physical therapy three times a week, plus Dr. appts, and swimming for exercise in his pool as per physical therapist's directions.

WORLD HABITAT DAY CELEBRATION at our newest build. We celebrated by having our chosen family present, board members and construction workers. It was great getting acquainted more with our new family as well as the family for our next house. Both single moms with children and a parent living with them. They are so excited as they always dreamed of owning a home of their own and now their dreams are coming true!

Benji's second birthday

Benji's second birthday 9-11-2012 It doesn't seem possible that our Benji can already be two years old! He has been such a delight! I went to a Womens' Retreat this weekend in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Larry said he looked and looked for me, then was content to curl up on Larry's lap and go to sleep as Larry watched the Giants baseball game. He certainly was glad to see me when I got home and is now curled up on the floor near the bottom of my feet as I sit at the computer. The cool weather was delightful and as we stopped at Casa de FRuita for our usual rest stop, the heat of our valley hit us and it ws 97 degrees when we got home. Here we had to wear jackets there which is near a small community of Ben Lomond and the retreat was at Mt.Cross which is a Christian Conference Center owned by the ELCA and LCMS Lutherans. Another gal from Turlock and I just joined the Board of Directors as they needed some more LCMS board members. We've helped get some grants and did all that sewing to make valances and purchased bed in a bag for 10 rooms which made a giant improvement and much more welcoming atmosphere for retreaters. It was a pleasant experience and the food was outstanding - we had salmon last night, rice, fresh green beans, homemade rolls, salad and chocolate mousse and chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Pumpkin pancakes and sausage and fruit for breakfast! Great cooks! The hike was bit too strenuous but I managed to do it - wouldn't do it again! Over logs, under logs, through logs, all along a creek - very rugged terrain. The gals who did batiking -looked very interesting - I did get a chair massage - which was great after that hike! People were teaching crocheting, knitting - lots of choices.

Birthday celebrations for Thomas 25th and Emily Nicole's 23rd 3-10-12

We celebrated Thomas' 25th and Emily Nicole's 23rd birthdays tonight with Pizza from our one and only Pizza Villa - homegrown/home owned pizza. Andy the owner is still baking pizzas every night - always makes a special note of welcoming us and making sure we're taken care of. He's the one who gave me the hat to send to Jerry when Jerry was having chemo. He's about Larry's age and going strong!
We enjoyed having Casey, Emily Jane's friend, and Domi, Thomas' friend along tonight so had eleven people around the table. Emily, Thomas & Domi are all students at Stanislaus State in Turlock and Thomas & Domi work at the book store there. We missed Elena who is in Arizona for a Sorority conference. I believe she is the president of her sorority, Vice President of the Student Body and involved with the engineering fraternity as well. She is a very busy young lady! Philip had his interview with Harvard today and thinks it went well. He's thinking more and more about an eastern college so we'll wait and see! We were glad Emily Nicole got off work at 5 so she could join us, she works at the Target pharmacy and since she is in the nursing program, it has been a great help to her.
Julie baked some awesome brownies so we enjoyed brownies and MooseTracks and Cookies & Cream ice cream for dessert!
It was a great family event - am determined to remember to take pictures - it took three before we got one right - with Benji and Emily running to get in place!