The day after they left, Bob’s sister Lois and her husband Duane arrived from Uruguay, South America. After Bob’s cancer diagnosis about eight months ago, all of our children, siblings, nieces and nephews wanted to come to visit us, and at this point almost all of them have!!
A couple of days after Lois and Duane’s arrival on Wednesday, all four of their children arrived here for a very special family reunion. Matt and Rachel and their adorable little 15 month old daughter Gabby, as well as Anita, Lois and Duane’s youngest, arrived from Indiana on Thursday, and Alison arrived at midnight Friday night from California. Thankfully we were able to reserve the guest suite in our condo complex and between that suite, our condo, and the spacious amenity room, we’ve had plenty of “venues” to gather together and even have some privacy from one another!!
Once again our days have been filled with much talking, laughing, sharing, and of course eating!! The Thiessen children will leave us on Tuesday, but Lois and Duane will stay for a few extra days, then take the train down to Oregon to visit Duane’s mother for a week, and then return here for a final few days before flying back to Uruguay. Bob’s sister Vi and her son Bart will be flying down here from Edmonton for a few days at the end of Lois and Duane’s visit!!
We've taken many pictures and I'm having difficulty attaching them to this post so will include them in a separate posting.
It’s actually a very good thing that these visits have come now instead of a few months ago as Bob is feeling amazingly well—just tired—and we give him lots of freedom to rest. He’s now receiving his dialysis through the new “graft” and the doctor is pleased how well this new vascular access is working. His hemoglobin has dipped again so he’ll likely be getting a couple of pints of blood this week.
BOB will see his oncologist later this week, who is monitoring his well-being since he’s been off chemo. KIM also has an appointment to see her oncologist this week and will have her second chemo treatment on Friday. Her hair began to fall out this past week and apparently she and Tim decided get all of the kids involved in “cutting” her hair together!! What a traumatic event that would have been for all of them. Please continue to keep Kim and the family in your prayers.
My brother JIM tested his stamina this week as he went out to Palm Springs to assist in the care of our parents for a few days. My mom had a nasty fall last week when she tripped over a curb, bruising her ribs and her face pretty severely. Dad’s bad back doesn’t allow him to help her get up and down, even from a sitting position. Jim was so helpful to them and Mom has greatly improved in the past couple of days. They continue to encourage us all every evening as they phone to pray with each of us. What a comfort it is to know the reality of God’s presence, strength, peace, and assurance of His good purposes in all that we face.
I will try to more consistently update our blog every Friday so that friends and family know when to check for the latest news!!
We are SO grateful for your love, support, and prayers. Eight months ago we could never have imagined that we would come to the end of 2011 with such joy, thanksgiving, and strength. GOD IS GOOD!! And we are entering 2012 with a sense of hope and expectancy of all that the Lord has for us. We hope you are doing the same!!
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