Late spring 2012

What a busy time it has been since we've been home.  First Lee had his back surgery and we dealt with getting him better. Since then, I've been very busy getting the yard back in shape and planting the garden.  We have had many salads already from my mixed lettuce bed.  Yummmmmy!!

We had 2 more grandchildren graduate from high school this year.  Featured above is Troy--the second son in our eldest daughter's family. He will be going to college just outside of Nashville and playing division 1 soccer.

Being that one of my best friends is English,  I had to watch some of Jubilee days.  It was fun to look at the places we had visited with Jim and Jane.

Featured above is Carissa our other graduate this year. 

She is featured here in her prom dress.  Isn't she gorgeous? 

Above right hand corner is a picture of Carissa and her mom Michelle (our second eldest daughter)

That now makes 4 of the 9 grandchildren high school graduates.  How did that happen???

The picture in the collage of Lee and I  was enlarged from a snapshot and given to me by our daughter, Michell, for my birthday.  You did recognize us. right?  The orchid was given to me by Brandon our youngest and the jewelery I am wearing was given to me by our son, David, and family. The card in the right hand corner was given to me by Jane.  You've got to enlarge it and read it.  It is so Jane.

We had a lovely visit with Dave, Erica, Garrett and Izzy over Memorial Holiday.

Dave and his daughter Isabella and dog Friday

Friday,Nicky, and Isabella having a group hug.

My brother got a new dog, Sherlock.  He is a Golden doddle. He is 4 months old now and he and Nicky are the best of buds.

Above a bee swarm in the tree behind our house.  Our neighbor caught the swarm and put it in a bee box for us and got us started with our own bee hive how. By winter, I should have some honey to bring down to Florida.

Well, I'm seventy now and it takes me longer to get around to getting things done. So therefore, this post is long overdue.  I am also working a couple days a week as a circuit coach at Curves.  Plus I have three cleaning jobs that I do biweekly. 

Lee had planned a beautiful surprise dinner for me with the family.  It was a great day.

We've been busy visiting the children and having them here.  This summer we will have several of the grandchildren staying with us off and on.  So keeping up the yard, the house the garden and the visitation schedule keeps me very busy.

Lee's back continues to heal nicely.  The surgery was a total success.  He is pretty much back to normal except for limited lifting.

I pray all of you are well, happy, and enjoying your summer. 

Thought for the day

If wrinkles must be written upon our brows,

let them not be written upon the heart.

The spirit should not grow old.

James A. Garfield

I think we are heading in the right direction now

This is what I've been up to during the time Lee is re cooperating from surgery. I'm getting the vegetable garden ready for planting.

This is a picture of my brother's new dog Sherlock. He is a Golden doodle.

He and Nicky are already hanging out together.

As you can see from the sun porch spring has sprung. If we needed to come home from Florida early this was the year to do it. The weather has been unusually warm for spring.

After all the children left after Easter, Nicky collapsed. He had not had a serious nap in 5 days. He couldn't find a quiet spot in the house.

This is our youngest, Brandon, and our eldest, Suzanne.

This is Brandon with our youngest daughter, Karen, who was in from California for the Easter holiday.

There was not a lull in the conversation for 5 days.

When our three girls--Karen, Suzanne and Michelle get together, you might as well give up the idea of getting any sleep.

It is such a wonderful thing to experience the love our children all have for one another.

Just before Easter I had gone with my brother to look at dogs at a dog breeder near-by.

I felt like I was in dogie Heaven.

These are standard poodles in this pen and as it got cool in the evening they all piled on top of one another.

These are the Golden doodles.

These are 2 of the standard poodle pups. Isn't the sable colored one with the green eyes gorgeous?

My grand daughter, Hollyn, and the bear I just gave her.

This is Hollyn's dog, Rio.

As you can see, everything is in blossom here and it is beautiful.

This is my new respite room. All ready for Jim and Jane.

My girlfriend, Renee, was selling her curio cabinet and I bought it to display the porcelain dolls that I made over the years.

I rearranged the great room to accommodate our new piece of furniture.

Suzanne and Rio

This was Nicky relaxing on the way home from Florida.

Chris and I just before we left Florida.

God was so good. We got home from Florida and were able to get into the back surgeon within 5 days. The surgery took place on April 11 and all went just as anticipated by the surgeon. Lee had 3 herniated discs and some bone spurs. They were badly pinching the sciatic nerve and that's what caused the excruciating pain and loss of control in his right leg. It is only 4 days since surgery but Lee is already walking around normal again. The pain is now in the incision area but not the leg anymore.

Thank all of you for your support, calls, prayers and cards. We're hoping our lives are heading in a different direction now. One without medical issures for a while. Lee will be on the mend for at least 6 weeks and then slowly return to full activity.

Hopes this finds you all well and healthy.

I DECIDED LONG AGO NEVER TO LOOK AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MENUE OR THE PRICE TAG OF CLOTHES--OTHERWISE I WOULD STARVE NAKED.

What a month!!!!

After spending a lovely day on Key West we spent the following day in the emergency room on Marathon Key. On Monday morning Jan 30th, Lee told me he thought he might be back in A-Fib. I checked with our insurance and found out where we could go for emergency care. We went to the emergency room and Lee was indeed in A-fib and they would not release him. Lee spent 3 days in the emergency room there. This hospital was about 25 miles from the campground.

We were in a new area, a new campground, didn't know anyone there and in the worst place to deal with heart issues. I was really concerned but the Lord kept telling me," You are not alone, I am with you. I know a support group is nice but all you really need is me." During that week the Lord met all our needs. On Wednesday the hospital on the Keys knew Lee was not going to respond to medication and a cardio version would be necessary. This is a procedure that shocks the heart back into normal rhythm. The equipment for this procedure was, of course, not available in this small hospital on the Keys. Lee had it done once before and it worked very well for him. On Thursday morning Lee was transported by ambulance to the Baptist Hospital in Miami, FL. This was about 78 miles from our campground. Thursday afternoon the procedure was done on Lee and his heart once again jumped back into normal rhythm. He was monitored overnight and released on Friday morning.

The Lord provided me with the patience to work with the insurance company through all this, he provided a dog sitter while I went to the hospital, and he provided me with enough strength to drive the 78 miles through heavy Miami traffic to the hospital.

After getting there with no problems, I was about to turn to go park the car when a lady ran into the passenger side of my car. I just sat there and said."now you're stretching it God". I got out and the security guard at the hospital came over and told the young lady," You, my dear, were trying to make 2 lanes out of a one lane road." The police came and she was issued a reckless driving ticket. Once again God was good-- the Jeep was totally drivable. If it had not been we would have had an RV 78 miles away, a disabled vehicle in Miami and no transportation.

This was one of the worst weeks of my life and one of the best. I learned how truly sufficient my God is. It's a lot easier getting through a difficult situation when you are surrounded and upheld on a daily basis by all your friends and family. God taught me it is he alone who carries us-- yes sometimes he uses others to minister to us but He is our source of strength.

Lee and I drove from the hospital to the campground and then packed up the RV because Saturday was our day to leave.

A lovely couple in the campground had us over to dinner that night and helped both of us calm down after a very hectic week.

This is Chris and Cynthia and we so enjoyed meeting them. They too have been the proud owners of a stand Poodle.

It was so good to be packed up and on the road again. Our next destination--Wauchula, Fl. A small ranching and farming town. We would be camping at Peace River campground and meeting up with a lot of our friends.
We set up camp down by the Peace River and it was like we could catch our breathe again. That Sunday we heard a fantastic sermon at the First Christian Church.

Nicky has found a new way to entertain himself. He loves chasing remote control cars.

We got to babysit Nicky's good buddy, Miss Molly" while at Peace River.

Isn't she adorable? Jane I know this makes you miss her.

There is always a resident alligator present in the river.

One day my friend Janie and a couple of other ladies went strawberry picking. There is something so special about picking fresh strawberries in February.

While in Wauchula we did some visitation to the elderly widows from the church and it was such a blessing to us. They ranged in age from 85-97, and they all still live on their own at home. They sure had some stories to tell and we were so glad we could brighten their day by breaking it up with a visit and letting them share their memories.

This is one of our ladies, Francis, and she was a joy to visit with.

I made up little baskets for them so they could have some nice snacks.

After a relaxing week in Peace River where we met up with friends and just relaxed we were off again. Our destination Venice, Florida on the Gulf.

We love this area on the Gulf. While there we met up with our good friends Mark and Chris and were able to spend a little beach time and dining out time with them.

Their dog, Teddy, and Nicky get along very well.

Isn't Teddy just too cute??

Chris , Mark, Lee, Teddy and Nicky having a fun day on the dog beach.

That's Teddy saying,"Wait up big guy"!!!

We had so much fun watching them. It's as though they were saying to one another,"what shall we do next?"

Chris and Mark helped us celebrate Lee's birthday on February 23rd.

This is the four of us at the Nokomis Grove store where they have the best Key Line/chocolate swirl ice cream in the world.

One of the owl's in the park.

The Rookery is a bird sanctuary in this area and Mark spent a lot of time over there taking pictures.

Lee and I spent several nice days just relaxing on the beach.

Friday evening. after a visit with Mark and Chris, Lee began having extreme pain in his back that radiated down his leg. By 8:00, Lee said," you better take me to emergency room." We did not get home from there until about 2:00 AM. Lee was diagnosed with a pinched sciatic nerve. They pumped him full of pain killers, did a CT scan and sent us home with all kinds of meds. We did a follow up visit on Monday and then a MRI on Tuesday and on Thursday we will meet with the doctor again after he sees the MRI report.

I had also spent some time at the Doctors the last 2 weeks. I had a pain in my lower right side. They did a CT scan and found nothing and it has almost gone away so I'm hoping it was all from being so stressed on the Keys. My knee was also acting up also. It too seems to be on the mend.

We also were able to get the car fixed while here in Venice so all of that is done. A new tire, fender and running board.

We were supposed to leave here on the 26th. Due to the medical issues they extended our stay another week. Lee is still not able to get around well, so I'm really not sure when we will move from here.

Last night there was a really great pot luck on our street. A Hungarian couple made the main course--Hungarian Goulash and stuffed cabbage.

I'm sorry I did not call all my friends but all of our phone minutes were used up keeping up to date with the children and dealing with Doctors and insurance. I also had so many emails to keep up with. I hope the blog had updated you.

It's not been the most restful winter but I have really had the opportunity to grow in my faith and in my appreciation of our many friends that God has blessed us with.

Love to all of you, Judy