Today we celebrated Sarah's 6th birthday. Happy Birthday Sarah... God bless.

SarahBrianna
Sarah & Paige

Paige
ZacharyChloe

I know... it's about time I posted again lol. To tell you the truth I have been occupied with my new external hard drive, scanning in pictures. I asked for the hard drive for Christmas so that I can store & access my pictures whenever I wanted them. I don't have a lot of room on my computer for pictures & using cd's is a nuisance, trying to figure out which cd has what picture, not to mention the number of cd's I'd need! Once I have all the pictures redone, I will back them up on cd's to be kept safely elsewhere.

I am still going to physio-therapy 3 times a week. Finally seeing improvement & feeling it too. It sure has taken a long time, but as my therapist said, it was a very long time that I could not use that knee properly so I couldn't expect a fast recovery.

On Thursdays I go over to Mom's & take her out for lunch. We are then going through all her old photos, trying to figure out when they were taken & who some of the people are in the pictures. Just a note to everyone. Put a date on your photos & name the people in them. You might know who they are & when now, but give it 10 or 15 years or longer & memory fades a little. Be sure to write with either a pencil or an acid free pen though. I have scanned in quite a few of the older pictures my mom has, including her parent's wedding photo. Believe it or not, Mom could name most of the people in it! This has been a fun time.

I'm trying to get my family tree completed. Following my grandfather, John Henry Gregory's side, I have back to my great-great-great grandfather/grandmother Gregory, & her parents, my great-great-great-great grandmother/grandfather Pugh, & following John Henry's mother's side I have back to my great-great grandfather/grandmother Perry. On my grandmother's, Elsie Mildred's side, I have it back to my great-great grandmother/grandfather Wright.

There are a few holes in my information though. Especially where my aunts, uncles, cousins are concerned, so if any of you have information, please send it to me. What I need are: date of birth, Christening, marriage, death, divorce, children, names of spouses & all dates for them too.(even partial dates are helpful) Even if I already have the information, it would be a confirmation for me if I got them from a secondary source. If anyone else is interested in what I have, let me know & I will get it to you too. If you have my email, you can send it to me that way, if you don't have mine but know a family member who does have it, you can get it from them lol sounds confusing doesn't it?

Today was Aunt Stella's 85th surprise birthday party. I'm not sure she was all that surprised though. Happy Birthday Aunt Stella!



Aunt Stella with her minister. He told a lie to get her there lol


Son Stephen

Son David

Daughter Robin Stella's family

Today I spent some time with Paige, Chloe & Carolynn. It was fun to see the girls playing & interacting with each other.


A pensive Chloe.



Chloe & Paige having a snack at their special table.
I didn't get too many pictures today as my batteries ran down.... & they were supposed to be fully charged. Guess I picked up the wrong ones!

Today we had the family gathered again. This time to celebrate both Zachary's & Brianna's birthdays. We waited until now as Zachary & Sarah were down East until New Year's & they would have been too tired to come over on the 1st, & everyone had to go back to work on the 2nd (Zac's birthday).

Great news! Chris called tonight. A neighbour/friend of her came over asking if she knew the little girl in the picture that she found. Of course it was the one of Brianna that was a gift for Chris. The neighbour said that a relative of hers found it between her doors (they have storm doors also). They also had the rest of the gifts. They had been hoping to find the owners using the picture as a good clue. Everything is now back with Chris. Brianna is going to be thrilled in the morning!

Today is Brianna's 7th birthday. Chris & Brianna came over so we could help her celebrate. I made spaghetti for supper, then, before she knew what we were having, I asked her what she would like for her birthday dinner... of course I already knew what her answer would be... GRAMMA'S SPAGHETTI !! lol




Happy Birthday Brianna!

Bad news. When Chris got home tonight a bag of presents was accidentally left outside the door. Of course it was gone by the time she realized it. Both of the gifts Brianna had given to her mom were in the bag as well as some of her things. One of the gifts was a picture of Brianna that I had enlarged & put in a frame. She's going to be so upset about that.

Brianna came home from her dad's tonight. As we thought, he wouldn't allow her to bring home anything she got up there. Unfortunately we had a bit of a confrontation. I told him I didn't think it was fair to Brianna to give her something then not allow her to have it. He said she will have it whenever she goes up there. I told him it isn't the same & she feels it. He told me I wasn't her mother & to stay out of it then he stormed off. OH WELL!!

Brianna was soooo happy to be home. And Santa had come here too. It was all waiting for her & she was so excited. She knew she'd be able to keep everything this time. Here are some of the things she got.


One of her favourite things... ruby slippers.. she's wanted them since she saw the Wizard of Oz! She was so excited when she saw these.
She gets a lovely china doll each Christmas.

Every year we all get together on Boxing Day for Christmas Dinner. Once again we were sorry that Mike & Tena & their families were not able to join us. I know Mom & Dad were hoping to see them all again. However, we still had a great time together. Terry, Wendy, Kerri & Stacey didn't stay for dinner, but we enjoyed their short visit anyway.

Christmas morning was different this year without Chris & Brianna staying overnight. No little one to get us up REAL early!! However, we soon had a houseful when everyone else showed up. We had a great time.. sure hope everyone else did too.

As a Christmas present, I crocheted some Barbie clothes for the 4 oldest girls (Brianna, Megan, Sarah & Paige) I thought I'd post a picture of them.

Ballet Tutu's


matching shorts, pants, skirts & a vest

fancy dress & hat

Today Brianna left to spend Christmas with her dad in North Bay. Although she was looking forward to seeing her brothers again, she wasn't really all that happy about spending Christmas away from her mom. She wrote a letter to Santa asking him to leave some presents for her at Gramma's house because her dad told her she wasn't allowed to bring any of her presents back home with her. She feels that any presents she opens up in North Bay don't really belong to her, they are just there for her use when she's there & for her brothers to play with when she isn't. It breaks my heart to hear her talk about it.. she's just like a robot when she talks about being up there. I am hoping that Doug will allow her to bring her "Santa" gifts home, otherwise how does he explain that?

Woohoo!! Got most of my shopping done now. Cooked both my turkeys. (just need to carve them up & freeze the meat) Chris had an eye dr appt. this afternoon so I had to pick Brianna up from school. Tonight we had our small group pot luck supper.. what a lot of fun that was.

I can't believe it... Ann has gone home! She has completely recovered from the stroke. She has some restrictions of course, but otherwise she's great! Praise God!

The cause of the stroke has been determined to be from the surgery. The sudden infusion of blood in the vessels in the brain caused problems. There's a fancy name for it but all I can remember is ....... ..... infusion syndrome. I knew I should have written it down! **sigh**

Anyway.. I hope that's it for now ... between hospital visits & physio (which I've had to cancel a few times) I've not been able to get all my shopping & cleaning done. I know it will be done by Friday though. That's my deadline.. & I'm determined to keep it. I can be a little bit stubborn at times.

Ann was moved out of ICU tonight & into the step-down unit. All weakness on her right side have disappeared & she feels pretty good. She's tired, but that is normal. We are hoping she will be able to be home for Christmas.

Ann is starting to wake up. She pulled the breathing tube out herself, much to the chagrin of the nurses. She's breathing quite well on her own now though. She doesn't stay awake long but does answer questions appropriately.

Got a phone call from Ann's ex. Jim at around 6 this morning. Ann was in the General Hospital ICU. Katie is with her. I quickly got up & dressed & rushed to the hospital. Ann was not conscious but I'm not sure if that was because of the sedation being used or not. They said that she has had a stroke & there is some weakness on the right side. The stroke is on the left side of her brain which affects the right side. They were really concerned that her communication ability would be affected as it is usually on the right side. Fortunately for Ann, she is very definitely left handed so her communication centre would be on the left.

Ann came home from the hospital today. Her neck is cut from just below the ear almost to the clavicle. She's a little sore of course, but otherwise in good spirits. She will be coming back on the 20th to see the surgeon & probably get the stitches out.

Ann's surgery was rescheduled for today at 8:00 a.m. She had to be at the hospital by 6:00 a.m. UGH!

She was in surgery for 2 1/2 hrs. The doctor came out to talk with me. Everything went well & Ann would be staying in the recovery room longer than usual because they needed to keep a very close eye on her. The doctor was able to clean out the artery & once she recovers, she will have a much lesser chance of any strokes. We thank God for watching over her during the surgery & afterwards.

I couldn't stay longer than 2:00 as I had physio at 2:30. Ann was still in recovery when I left & I knew I wouldn't be seeing her until tomorrow. After physio, I had to get Brianna from daycare & take her to pick up her new glasses. They're really cute on her & I hope she will wear them all the time like she is supposed to.

It was 5:30 p.m. by the time I finally got home, 12 hrs after I had left it. I'm bushed!

Today was the Ecodyne/Procor children's Christmas party. All 5 of our grandchildren were there along with Carolynn & Christine. It was fun to see the older kids do a craft & watch the magic show. The balloon clown was there again this year, making fun balloon shapes for the kids. Brianna & Sarah wanted a mouse & Paige wanted a bunny (I think it was) Zachary, (surprise surprise!) wanted a sword. Chloe just wanted mommy!

Marshall arrived just as the children were opening their gifts. That was nice that he got to see Paige & Chloe open theirs.

A lot of the pictures I took at the party didn't come out. I had inadvertently changed the setting on my camera... darn it!



Zachary this was the only picutre I got of Zachary.
Paige loved the animal balloon the clown made for her.Chloe & Paige had to leave before Santa arrived. Sarah & Brianna wanted to talk with Santa, but Zachary decided he didn't want to.

WHEW!!! Tom & I got the house decorated & cleaned up by Friday! Well, as long as you don't go to the basement it's cleaned up. Most of the decoration boxes etc. have just been more or less thrown down there & not put away. Thank goodness the outdoor decorating was already done.

Tom's youngest sister, Ann, needs surgery to open one of the 2 blocked arteries in her neck. These arteries are the ones that supply the brain with oxygen-rich blood. So far she has avoided a stroke but who knows how much longer that will last. The right side is totally blocked & cannot be opened. The left side is almost totally blocked but hopefully the surgeon can clean that one out.

Ann was scheduled for surgery this afternoon at 2:00. We had to be at the hospital for noon. After getting prepared with IV's etc. We waited for the next 5 hours. What a boring place to be for 5 hours! At 5:00 her surgery was canceled & we came back home, a little disappointed of course. Apparently the surgeon's 8:00 a.m. patient had some complications & they were still in the operating room. Hopefully Ann won't have to wait too long until her surgery is rescheduled.

This week is going to be a busy one. We have our annual Martin Christmas Open House next weekend & Jim & Muriel will be staying with us over the weekend. In a way, Ann's postponed surgery is a blessing as it is at her apartment that we will be gathering. I would like to get the house all decorated before Jim & Muriel arrive too.

Ann came down this afternoon in preparation for her surgery tomorrow. We managed to get a couple of tickets to the dessert theater tonight & I took Ann. Tom was working there tonight. Ann really enjoyed it.

Tonight was the Ecodyne/Procor dinner/dance. As usual the food was delicious. At our table was Jeff & Marie, Ben & Barb, & Keith & Linda. Great company, good food & I was even able to dance a little. Of course I'm going to pay for it tomorrow but it was worth it!

Tonight we went to dessert theater at the church. It was really well done. The music & cast were excellent I thought & the desserts were out of this world! yummmmmmmm

Christine has a new job! She's now working full time with the city of Hamilton. To celebrate, we all went out for lunch last Sunday.

woohoo.. I can work on my blog once again. Just in time for Christmas!! lol It was Netscape that was causing the problems. Thanks Carolynn & Marshall for your help.

Chloe took some first steps Hallowe'en night too.

Here are some pictures from Hallowe'en

Brianna the fairy princess Sarah the princess
Even Marshall got in the fun!

Chloe the cutest little witch and Paige a fairy princess lady bug.


And of course our pirate boy Zac.

I'm way behind on my posts.. no excuses for the past week, but lots of excuses before that.

I was doing quite well after my knee surgery, going out shopping & starting to get back to my normal routine. A complication was just around the corner, one that was very dangerous.

On Sept. 28th, the day before we were due to travel to Ohio to visit Jim & Muriel, my leg became extremely swollen & painful. I went to the hospital & had x-rays, then dopplar ultra-sound. The ultra-sound showed a huge deep vein thrombosis (blood clot). The clot extended from mid-calf to the groin. (I've since been told that the type of clot I had & the size of it is often fatal, so I have been very blessed.) Of course I was admitted to hospital immediately, & put on a regimine of blood thinners (heperin & coumadin) & also an anti-biotic. After a few days, the swelling came down a little bit which eased the pain somewhat. Nine days after admittance, I was taken off all IV's (my veins are very thankful) & the following day I came home. My leg is still swollen, about twice the size now, & I am still on coumadin.

My stay in the hospital has put my post surgery physio back somewhat, but I'm working on getting it back again. It's hard to start over & I was very discouraged at first, but my physio therapist came back a couple of times to work with me & she helped me quite a bit. I've been back to the surgeon now & he has prescribed outpatient physio for me. I go in next Thursday for evaluation then will get on a schedule. The doctor says for me to exercise my other swollen leg too, but I also have to keep it elevated as much as possible.

We were really sorry that we couldn't go visit Jim & Muriel again as it would have been the last time this year. They leave this Sunday for their trip to Florida. They will be back home for Christmas & then going back down until the spring.

Got some bad news today about a friend of ours from church, Paul Cairns. I know a lot of those who read my blog know Paul. He was put on life support & the family called in. The doctors were going to be talking to the family this afternoon, but I have heard no further news yet. Please pray the Lord's comfort for Marjorie & their children & grandchildren. This has got to be so hard for them, even though the past few months have given them some warning.