And Happy New Year's to everyone! No big plan here as we're both still sick. Who am I kidding? We'd have no big plans even if we were well!

I told Keith to remind me to call you when we got home this afternoon but he forgot and then it was too late.

Sorry you had to work on your birthday but hopefully you'll do something fun to celebrate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! tomorrow Ann. I hope you don't have to work too hard.

Ann'a working on her birfday. I'm working also. Hopefully I get home before she leaves for work.

Maybe she can get some uninterrupted sleep on her birfday (only her call between 2-6 pm for birfday wishes)

(and yes, I do know how to spell birthday)

Does anyone have plans for New Year's Eve (Ann, any birthday plans?)?

We're just going to go to dinner with another couple. We're going to a downtown restaurant so we'll just walk which is nice. I doubt we'll be out past 10PM.

Nice job Mary. I really enjoyed watching that. I can't imagine how long this took to arrange.

Brunch, riding the light rail to the Mall of America, watching the Holidazzle parade and dinner out.

Hope you had a good birthday yesterday, Patrick. I think you must be catching up with me in age by now!

Hello everyone, I just wanted to tell everyone that I had a great time . It was so good to see everyone.

Kevin hooked up Mom's TV on Sunday but she needed a new TV stand so we shopped on Monday and decided we needed more measurements before buying. We went out Tuesday and she found this one - I put it together this afternoon. She loves the TV and the stand and she's been watching DVD's with family photos on it yesterday and today.

I've got copies of the Family Reunion DVD made and Mom and I will be sending some out this week. For those of you coming for Christmas, Mom has your copies here.

I head home in the morning - it was great seeing everyone!

That's what we are getting today. We have snow just covering the ground and then around noon we are expecting sleet and freezing rain. Which will then become heavy rain late this afternoon. I wish it was going to be all snow!

Kiera's getting her Christmas pictures taken today and when we get home we will start decorating for Christmas!!

See you all later this week!

Oh that looks so pretty Mary. It's nice looking at the snow without having to get out in it. I don't like to have to be out in the snow anymore but it sure is pretty to look at.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend

These photos were taken from our apartment without the flash....I love how the snow lights up the night.

Keith and I are getting ready to head out for a walk in the snow and some coffee!

Kevin and Lisa, hope the move went well - did you have the closing on the other house yet?

We're expecting a *severe* winter storm - they're calling for as much as 10 inches of snow....I'll be back with photos tomorrow!

Our temps have plummeted and Chesty has crawled into the warmest spot around!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good.

We had a great time at my house today. I was glad so many of you could make it.

A big thanks to everyone who helped me.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Can't believe I'll be there in just a couple weeks! Looking forward to seeing you all!

Looking forward to seeing you all in a couple weeks! Hard to believe we were canoeing with Adam a couple days ago. We had snow flurries yesterday when we got home and it's snowing right now and it's sticking!


Kevin, glad the move went OK. I updated your email address here on the blog.

Well we got everything moved yesterday and are working to get evrything arranged and unpacked. I hope every one has great day. Please make a note of my new email address and I will send a email to every one with the new address.

k.j.mclaughlin@cox.net

Kevin

We spent most of the day visiting with Adam. A visit to see his house, canoeing and kayaking on the lake, dinner, sitting by the bonfire. It's a good thing I'm going to see him in a few weeks otherwise I'd have been crying when I said goodbye to him tonight.

Well, Saturday was Fiona's first birthday! Last week she finally figured out the walking thing, and now nowhere is safe....Fiona had a mixed day for her birthday - we had the party at Janet's parent's house. Fiona, for her part was a little overwhelmed at all the big loud people wandering around. She also has bronchitis, so the night before her big day she didn't sleep much (I think the only sleep she really got was when we broke down and let her in our bed), so she was kinda cranky and cried a good bit. But she did have fun eating...I'd post some pictures, but Janet has the CD with the pictures burned on it with her at work. Well, we're looking forward to Thanksgiving and I suppose we'll see ya'll later this week.....

It's nice having connections! We had a really nice dinner tonight and they took really good care of us thanks to Adam.

We're here in Georgia and after seeing Adam last night and having a wonderful dinner in the restaurant he works at, we had a quiet day sitting by the lake. Unfortunately I have a terrible cold so I haven't been feeling very energetic. Adam, Chris, and Becky will be here shortly and we'll visit a while before going to dinner.

I'm getting excited - just a few weeks until the reunion. It will be great seeing everyone - too bad Chris and Becky won't make it.

Keith and I watched the Redskins/Eagles game today - lets just say I was a lot happier with the outcome than he was - GO EAGLES!

Speaking of unhappy, Chesty wasn't thrilled with getting a bath after the game either!

It's great you got a new job Erin, I'm happy for you I hope it workes out well for you.

I understand that you will have to work whatever hours they tell you but who knows maybe you will be working in the morning on Friday 23rd. We'll just have to wait and see what your hours are and maybe you will be able to make it, if not Christmas is not far behind Thanksgiving so you should be able to make Christmas since the stores will be closed on Christmas.

hey everyone. sorry it has yet again been a while since i have posted.

i have a new job now, at toys r us. which sadly means i may not be able to make it to grandmoms thanksgiving dinner, as it is black friday.

also, i will be at the family reunion. however, with my job and not being able to take off during the holiday season, i don't know when during the day i will be working, if i am even working. hopefully i can get them to let me just take a morning shift so that i can be at the reunion.

and yes joey will be there too so that he can meet everyone. however he will be at an arcade auction the first half of the day up in richmond and then should be over soon after that.

It's a beautiful fall day - breezy and COLD and we had our first SNOW FLURRIES! I had go to the post office this morning and walked through the park on my way home. Of course, I had to stop for a coffee too.

Heather did someone make your baby sad? She is so cute can't believe how fast these babies are growing. Jamie stopped by tonight with Ben. It is unbelievable how tall he is getting. I'm sure he will soon have lots of girls chasing him even though he goes to an all boys school.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in December too.

Mary your baby is cute too.

Kiera crying at school......boy are girls moody!
Kiera eating a piece of candy (after the parade) with her 2 classmates.

First, Fiona is SO cute.

Chesty had such a hard day yesterday he only wore his ladybug costume in the morning on his way to the hospital. He did get several comments about how cute he was.

They're going to treat his collapsing trachea medically, they put him on Theophylline BID and Hydrocodone BID PRN so we'll see how it goes.

Just in case you forgot how cute he was....here's another look at his photo.

Fiona looks so cute Janet.

Hope everyone is doing well. Mary we are thinking of Chestie.

Fiona's first Halloween was a hoot. She was a giraffe (courtesy of Kim, our wonderful babysitter!) We just wanted to get some pictures of her for her first Halloween. She had her walker and pretty much ran down the sidewalk. Our neighbors tried to entice her with candy but she did not give in. She was just thrilled to be out and running around past her normal bed time!

Everyone we will have Thanksgiving dinner at my house on Friday November23rd. I plan to eat about 6:00 p.m. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

Chesty is going to have a bronchoscopy tomorrow. Poor thing, he's pooped from being in the clinic all afternoon and is sacked out on the sofa beside me.

Keith is out of town which brings back all the memories of having the boys in the ER or Dr's offices while he was traveling.

Chesty has an appt. tomorrow at the university to have his *breathing* issues evaluated. He's had problems all along and the vet in GA told me it was probably a collapsing trachea but it's gotten worse and the vet here is referring him for evaluation. I taped one of his episodes today so I can show the vet. Isn't he pathetic?

Well that's good news Stephen...and I'm sure Janet is thrilled! I know it may not be all that exciting, but it is safe, and the hours are good....gives you more time with Fiona!

We will be having a very quiet Thanksgiving here, just us. Hopefully it'll cool down by then. We had a taste yesterday, but the temps and humidity are creeping back up. They say that in a couple weeks , we'll be into normal temps for the season...but they've been saying that for weeks now, and I'm tired of being hot! Don't want cold...just 75-80 with low humidity...

Can't wait to see everyone in December!

Well, I've finally been transferred out of Patrol and I'm in a nice, cushy Admin job now. Granted, it's not the assignment that I wanted, but I was at the top of a short list of qualified (technical qualifications) of Sergeants so here I am. I've been sentenced to be the commander of the Records unit...ughhh. At least it's M-F, 8-5 (or close to that), and I have an unmarked car now. I also don't have to work holidays anymore. So here I am, a police supervisor doing an office manager's job. Oh well.

We will be having our Thanksgiving here. I just am not absolutely sure what day yet. Pat will let me know this weekend if they can come and then I will decided on the day and let everyone know. I'm trying to choose the day that would work for the most people.

Mom emailed me that Pat, Marcie and the kids, Patrick and Sean are attending the reunion so I've added their names.

How about Brian and Erin? Do you two plan to attend?

We'll be here in Minneapolis for Thanksgiving but we're planning a trip to Georgia the early part of that week. We'll be staying at the Ritz the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and will fly home the day before Thanksgiving. We're looking forward to visiting with Adam and Chris, and Becky plan to join us for dinner one night.

That's real pretty! I'll take mine in maroon please....pink just isn't me.

Hi all !!! Glad to here everyone is doing well.

What's the plan for Thanksgiving? Anyone have any ideas?

Happy Birthday to all the October babies!

Congratulations on your nomination Adam...very impressive.

Hi everyone, I had a real nice visit with John and Nancy last week and then today Dot and Talbert came for a visit for today. I enjoyed seeing them.

Adam I'm proud of you. It was an honor to get nominated.

Chris I believe you like to paint. I'll remember that when I need something painted. It was good to hear from you.

You are welcome Mary. You always do so much for me I'm happy when I can help you with something.

Chris, Dad's freaking out about the paint job and I have to say I'm not too impressed either. Is it pink?? Did you sponge that wall behind the bed? I'm pretty sure your rental agreement states you have to have paint color pre-approved!

What was wrong with all the neutral tones on the walls?? You and Becky should visit Debbie - she has lots of bold color on her walls too.

My sweet Chloe was 1 year old yesterday!
And she spent her day taking care of Harry.

She was more fascinated with the grass than the pumpkins. At one point she was crawling very fast after a young boy who had caught her attention. So it begins! :)

Hello all, I just got caught up on reading the blog. Adam that's great and I hope you win.

John and Nancy left this morning. We had a real nice visit. It was great to see them. We didn't do a great deal just visited. We did go to Williamsburg one day and went out to eat also.

Chesty does look cute Mary. The pictures are nice from you trip. IT reminds me of when we go to Bob and Frances seeing the Freighters and also the shore lines.

You could volunteer somewhere, do anything but insult that poor dog like that.

Poor Chesty.

I can't believe you made that poor little dog dress up like that! Look at the look on his face...poor Chesty!

But he does look really cute! LOL

Chesty's going to be a Ladybug!

It's just after midnight and I realized that today is October 17th. Happy Anniversary Mom, I'll be thinking of you and Dad today.

Hope you have a wonderful day Kara. I can hardly believe that you are 12 already!

Also happy birthday day to Brian and Chris!

Another weekend getaway - just a 2 and 1/2 hour drive north - we stayed right on Lake Superior.

Thanks Heather - Mom had told me that Frances and Bob were coming so I've updated the list of attendees on the sidebar. Can't wait to see everyone.

Hi Mary!
Brian is coming to the family reunion. Also, I've heard thru Mary Ann that Karen, Todd and Jimmy will also be coming to the reunion.

Aunt Frances and Uncle Bob are coming too!

Thanks!
Heather

Hey everyone long time no post. Sorry work has been a little crazy. Grandma that's good to hear that you are feeling better you have my best wishes. Ben it's good to hear that your elbow was only bruised. Brian happy birthday to you.
Something cool happened to me at work. I got nominated for five star of the quarter(this is kind of the hotel employee of the month) so now i get to go to a nice dinner at the hotel and find out if i get to win which would be really cool. i am really looking forward to the family reunion and can't wait to see every one again it's been too long.

Erin, you are just around the corner from us! Mary and Ron (and Aunt Elizabeth) LIVE in Lansdale....My folks live 15 minutes from King of Prussia! What concert are your seeing in Philly??

Kiera is going to be a little chick. Very cute costume from The Childrens Place. I'll post pics of her in it later. She did GREAT with the tooth extraction last week. They didn't sedate her like they originally said. She just got laughing gas and novacaine. They said she cried, "mommy!" through the whole process :(

Aunt Rae, I am doing a small blanket (kinda basic) for a friend. My friend just had a baby and I had made a baby blanket (like you made for Kiera). Since the baby got a blanket, it's only fair that her toddler also gets a blanket.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BRIAN. I hope you had a good day

What a cutie Kiera is Heather. Are you mking any quilts now?

Ben I'm glad you didn't have a break in your elbow.

Ben's turned out to be a bad bruise. It's no longer suspicious. No more splints/ slings, etc.

Sarah is still going to PT for her knee. Opps! Just remembered Ann's working tonight. I have to pick Sarah up from PT....NOW!

sorry it has been so long since i have updated.

Right now, me and my boyfriend are in Pennsylvania until Monday. We are staying in King of Prussia. Today we are heading over to Lansdale to see his grandparents, and to eat Ray's Pizza...supposedly the best pizza in the world? we'll see, haha. Tomorrow, we are heading over to Reading to see some of his friends. And Sunday, we are going to be in Philadelphia for a concert. This is going to be a great weekend. :)

Talk to you all soon.

The photos of Kiera are very cute - what's she going to be for Halloween? How did you guys manage with the tooth extraction?

So Ann, how is Ben's arm?

(Sorry Jamie) If poor Ben has a suspicious area between his TIBIA (in the lower leg....normally) and humerus...then he has one heck of a break!!! He may need a full body cast (hehehe).

The orthopaedic doctor may request a MRI to see if the area is actually an occult fracture or a stress fracture. Sometimes those types of fractures won't show on a regular X-ray. Either way...sorry to hear you hurt your arm, Ben.

I hope everyone else is feeling better too (Aunt Rae, Sarah, Fiona).

The weather broke here today as well. We have had mid 80 degree temps with humidity. Now we are headed for a couple of days of rain and much lower (average October) temps!!!

Ben and Sarah I hope you are feeling better.

I'm glad you took Ben in Jamie. You just never know with theses injuries do you?

Just got home from Nighttime Care Center. Ann just had her little darling looked at and get x-rays. Of course she was working so I had to take him. The worst part is she was right (I hate it when that happens)

Seems there is a "suspicious area" between the tibia and the humorous. They can't tell if it's broken or not. They are going to get the orthopedist to exam the x-rays tomorrow to confirm a break or not. Of course he's in a splint and a sling so he's getting a lot of mileage out of this.

More to come later......

OMG Mary, that's winter...40's and 50's?? We are still in the 90's here, but they say fall will start this weekend with highs of 86-88! Hey, it's a start! Another 3 or 4 weeks and we'll have heaven on earth..75-80 with nights in the upper 50's to low 60's. That's our winter and it's wonderful. Though the weather doesn't make up for the distance.

Hope all you ailing folks heal soon! And Janet, I can't wait to see you guys!

After a weekend in the low 80's we're finally cooling down! I walked to the post office this afternoon and it was breezy and cool - just beautiful.

The trees are not so pretty right here in Minneapolis, mainly just gold and green right now but Keith and I are going to head up to Duluth and Lake Superior this weekend. I'm hoping we'll see some prettier fall colors on the drive.

By the way, we bought a GPS system for the car a week ago and I LOVE it. It's a Garmin StreetPilot c340 and I actually drove around yesterday and today without any problems. This city is not the easiest to navigate and it doesn't help that we walk most places and aren't familiar at all with the outlying suburbs. I wish I'd bought this months ago when we moved here.

Maybe we should have a prayer list here like they do at church for all those that are ill or injured.

Mom
Sarah
Ben
Fiona

You're all in my thoughts and prayers!

Thank you Jamie. I am doing well. No more dizzy spells. I get my staples out tomorrow.

I hope Sarah and Ben feel better soon.

I think Stephen would like to go golfing. I'll have to ask him. Deb, we got your email and we are so excited that you will be staying with us! I can't wait for you to see her again. Fiona has had a virus since Saturday. We made our first trip to the ER Sunday morning. She is getting better, Not as feverish or lethargic. Tonight she was crawling around and became very upset with me when I wouldn't let here pound on our sound system. When she gets her diva attitude, you know she is feeling better!

do you mean putt-putt? Yea, that's OK with me. If you mean real golf, no thanks but I'll caddy (drive the cart) for the others

Grandmom - glad you're feeling better. One old man at church just had a pace maker put in.... his wife said it made him a new man! Once the soreness wears off, you had better behave yourself!!

Sarah's knee is still a mess. One day they will figure it out. Now Ben has a bumb elbow. A wrestling injury.

Martinsville next week! I can't wait!! 12+ hours a day is getting old.

Uncle Johnny wants to know if anyone is interested in golfing the Saturday morning of the reunion. I think Kurt and Ron would be interested in golfing also.

OK, I made my reservations for December. I fly in on the 5th and home on the 10th.

Janet and Stephen I e-mailed you my flight info.

I'm looking forward to it..it'll be fun!

That's great Mary, we'll have time to visit after the reunion. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

Like Mary said where is everyone else? It been a long time since some of you wrote. Let us know how you are and what's going on in your life.

Keith and I just made our flight reservations for the reunion. The reservations were a little complicated since I was trying to get Adam on the same flight to VA with me and with Keith coming home.

• Adam and I will fly in on Wednesday, Dec 5th so we can help with the prep work.
• Keith flies in Thursday night.
• Adam and Keith fly home on Sunday morning.
• I fly home on Wednesday, Dec 12th.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Where is everyone else? I know Chris made it home from Kansas City where he was attending a conference. What are the rest of you up to?

Mom and I have been working on blocks for my HeartStrings group that will assembled at our October meeting, quilted, given to a breast cancer patient in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Mom's still sore but must be feeling better because she's been back at her sewing machine the last few days. She's taking it easy and just doing a little at a time.

I head home tomorrow morning. It was great seeing Kevin, Lisa, Brian, Pat, Marcie, Ann, Ben, and Maureen. I miss you guys!

Aunt Rae I'm glad to hear everything went well Friday. Rest up because I think Mom and Dad are coming for a visit in a couple weeks, right?

Poor Kiera fell on Friday night...her upper lip got a bit swollen and 15 minutes later she handed Kurt a nice chunk of her right upper tooth ( ya know the one you get teased about when your 7 yrs old and "all you want for Christmas is your 2 front teeth"). So I called Kiera's primary, got referred to a pediatric dentist who decided we need an oral surgeon to remove her tooth. The fracture goes above her gum (by just a hair) so the surgeon needs to remove it, in case it breaks into 2 pieces. I was a mess today when she cried like I've never seen her cry (fear not pain). Friday she has to be sedated to have the tooth extracted. Which will be better for her....but I'm going to be a crazy mom asking who figured out the dosing for the sedation, etc.... The office will probably want me to have a little sip of Kiera's cocktail to shut me up!!!!!

GO PHILLIES!!!!

Glad you're doing OK Mother!

And Ann, your postcard is so cute!! Isn't it fun? I'll send you some envelopes in the mail tomorrow...I'll send you a few too, Mother in case you want to try it. You do have to take them to the post office and have them hand cancelled so they don't put them thru the machines, so that makes it cost the same as a regular letter. I just use the self stick stamps and put them on the outside of the envelope(on the addressed side, of course).

Be sure to post pictures of any more you make!

Ann, Maureen, and I are here with Mom for the weekend. Pat and Marcie came by on Friday too.

Ann's learning to make quilted postcards and Mom's feeling sore but doing well.

We had terrible storms the other night with the tornado sirens blaring but I managed to take a few photos. I sent this one in to a local news station and it was published with other storm photos on their website. If you click on the photo, you can see a larger view - see my name?

We had a quiet one and I was able to finish up a quilt for Mom and get the binding on - it's ready for you to stitch down Mom and I'll be shipping it out tomorrow along with the two for Mt. Carmel.

Looking forward to my visit next weekend.

It seems I ran out of room...either too much to say or too wordy I guess.

Glad to hear everyone is doing well.

Hey Mom, I'm just now catching up on the news. I am so sorry to hear about Bonnie. My thoughts and prayers are with you and her family!

It seems I've been working non-stop for the past several weeks...in fact I'm should be at work now but my garage door won't go up (I think the spring broke) and my car is stuck inside. Curt is still at work and I can't get in touch with him so I'm patiently waiting for the service place to call back or for Curt to get home so I can get to work. Not exactly the way I would have planned to get some time off.

Mom have you heard from the doctor yet? I'm looking forward to seeing you next weekend. I don't think I have any books you haven't read but I'll go through them and bring some just in case.

I'm planning to go and see Laura Tuesday. We are going to go to Roanoke for shopping and dinner. She needs a suit for school (something to do with the fraternity she is joining...and yes I said fraternity). I'm really looking forward to seeing her. Last Thursday there was a fire in her apartment building and they are sure it was arson. It seems this year is starting off as stressful as last year (at least for me).

Mom- I'm looking forward to next weekend. Have you heard from the doctor yet?

Ann

Hi mary Ann and Maureen I'm looking forward to seeing you next weekend. If anyone has any books please bring them. Thanks

Mary the pictures are wonderful. What a pretty place.

We just got back from Key West and I took a quick look to see what was going on while we were gone. We had a good time but Keith whined about the heat - hard to believe he spent most of his life in FL!

Mom, I did get your email about Bonnie and emailed you back. I'm so sorry.

Chris, Dad told me you'd painted the bathroom yellow...wasn't sure how that was going to look but the pictures don't look half bad. If we ever get there to visit I'll let you know what I think when I see it in person!

Janet, glad school is going well. The pictures of Fiona are so cute.

Ann, did you do all the gardening?? How long will the plants and flowers last before they die of neglect?

Thank you Ben, Chris and Debbie
Ben so glad you are liking your school. I hear you are going to be starting a new sport, good luck.

Janet the pictures are so cute. It was great seeing you Stephen and Fiona on Saturday

sorry to hear about your friend grandma

hope you are feeling well

school is hard but not that bad

ben

Becky And I painted the bathroom! Thought that this would look good for a kids bathroom. Don't worry we aren't having one soon, we just were planning way ahead in advance. It looks pretty good, we still have a little touch up, but it was well worth it. Lots of tape, and a lot more tap. The next room that we want to paint is going to be our bedroom, but we are not sure what color we are going to paint it, or if we are going to do a pattern again. Anyways What do you think?

Grandmom, Becky and I will be thinking about you, sorry to hear the bad news.

Mother, I'm sorry to hear about Bonnie. I know you how much you cared for her. It is very hard to lose those we care for. I hope you feel better soon.

I love you.

Hi everyone, I'm having a sad day today. Bonnie died this moring.

The yard looks good Ann and Jamie. the flowers are pretty. Rosie looks good too she seems very peaceful there.

Stephen and Janet came by today and brought Fiona to see me. She is growing up so fast and is as cute as a button.

Rosie under the crepe myrtles