More Grandchildren Therapy!!

While Papa and I were getting ready for the arrival of Tim, Kim, and family, ALL of our children and grandchildren were having a great time together in Regina. The six cousins are quite close in age and love spending time together, even though they only see one another a couple of times a year.

Here are all of our precious grandchildren posing for a picture beside a beautiful canola field near the horse stable where Tim and Kim live near Regina.

And here they all are with Super Auntie Barb, who is trying desperately to calm them all down with a bedtime story before all six of them attempt to go to sleep in the same bedroom--such laughter and shenanigans!!


Shortly after David, Ann, Billy, and Manny left Regina for the final leg of their road trip home to New York, Tim, Kim, Colby, Gracyn, Carson, and Mykenna flew out here for five wonderful days. Their almost 24/7 duties at the horse stable prevent them from getting much time off.

The pictures really tell the story of the exciting time we had together.

What a wonderful little family!! They've been through a lot this past year with Kim's breast cancer. She continues to get a drug called Herceptin intravenously every three weeks until the end of the year, and apart from being tired at times, she's doing very well.

Of course we had to go and see Papa at dialysis!!! His hemoglobin has dipped in the past couple of weeks so he wasn't as energetic as he would like to have been. Bob was supposed to have chemo today, but his white blood cell and platelet count were too low. So tonight he's getting a couple of pints of blood while he's on dialysis.

We were encouraged this week when Bob's oncologist phoned to tell us that his tumour markers are continuing to drop. Last week they were 23.5 compared with 30 at the end of June. They were about 47 when he began chemo at the end of April. The medical professionals are reluctant to speculate on the significance of the numbers and what would be most optimal, but always say that the fact that they are decreasing is positive.


On Wednesday, I will be flying down to Palm Springs to spend a couple of weeks with my folks. Mom is still suffering with very bad headaches and pain in her neck, although the CT scan came back clear of any tumour or aneurysim. She's getting some relief with heavy painkillers and cortisone shots, but is still feeling quite unwell. Mom and Dad continue to phone us every evening so that we can pray together for one another and our extended family.

It really is true that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear . . . " Psalm 46:1