Summer fun with the family

All of our children and grandchildren spent between one and two weeks with me this month and we had a wonderful time. We had three days away together at Cedar Springs last week, just south of Abbotsford in the foothills of Mt. Baker. Vi and Jerry joined us as well as Lois and Duane's daughter Anita.

Of course the kids love going to the beach here in White Rock. They all left yesterday to return home with plans percolating of spending Christmas together in Regina.

While we were at Cedar Springs, we received news that my mom has been diagnosed with a malignant tumour in her abdomen!! What a shock that has been, especially with all that we've been through as a family this year. She had a CT scan on Friday to determine whether the cancer has metastasized to any other organs and when the extent of the cancer has been determined, the doctor will talk to the family about options. Consequently I'm flying down to Oklahoma City tomorrow morning for an indefinite period of time.

Mom and Dad's spirits are good and Mom is home from the hospital and feeling pretty well. The doctor thinks that she's likely had this tumour for some time. It was discovered when she was hospitalized for anemia, and since she's received a few pints of blood, she's been feeling much better. All of the family have an appointment with a surgeon on Thursday, but at 90 years old, Mom doesn't want any aggressive treatment.

My folks will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on August 21st, so I anticipate that I may still be there to celebrate with them.

I'm feeling pretty tired right now and need to finish packing and get to bed. I have more to share about the time with the kids, but will wait until I'm down in OK to give more details and of course report on how Mom's doing.

We appreciate your continued prayers for us all.

The family at Lake Chautauqua

Since the boys were finished with school, we were able to take a couple of day trips to Buffalo and also Lake Chautauqua where this picture was taken.

Billy, Manny, and Papa

Here are Billy and Manny with their special pictures of Papa with each of them.

With David, Ann and the boys

From ON, I went down to Fredonia, NY (near Buffalo) where David and Ann live and had a wonderful time.

Ann's parents drove me down from Toronto and we had a lovely visit together and were able to attend a concert where David was playing a concerto with a chamber orchestra.

With the Woodford cousins

My next stop was at Jim and Nora's cottage near London where all of the Woodford cousins gathered for a couple of days.

Bruce & Judy, Jim & Nora, David, me, and Heather & John

Off to Ontario and western New York

After two weeks at home, I flew to Ontario and spent a week with good friends and cousins.

Here are Catherine, Sharon, Marilyn (in the back) and Anne and me (in front)--cousins on my mother's side of the family. We spent two amazing days together at Marilyn and Richard's cottage on Georgian Bay.

Time with cousins

I've been so blessed to be able to see 11 of my 15 cousins since Bob's passing. None were able to attend either Bob's Memorial Service or my brother Jim's, so spending time with them and sharing special memories together has been wonderful.

First I saw my cousin Bill Parsons in early March. Then when I was in Regina, his sister Gail, who lives nearby in Craven, came by Tim and Kim's and we had a good visit. Here we are together.

In Oregon with Lois and Duane

Lois and I drove back to Eugene, OR after our sisters' time in Victoria and I enjoyed a few days withh Lois, Duane, their daughter Alison, and Duane's mom Gail.

Some pictures at last!

Finally I'm able to attach a few pictures but will need to post them one at a time as I'm still having some difficulties with my computer.

After my trip to see the kids in Regina, Bob's two sisters Vi and Lois joined me for three days at a beautiful spot in Victoria. We had a wonderful time together.

Home for the summer now!!

I returned from ON and western NY a few days ago after spending a wonderful two weeks with David, Ann, Billy, and Manny and many cousins and friends in ON.

I now have an amazing little iPhone that's become both a delight and frustration!!! I love being able to be in touch and it's a marvelous little camera, however I've been unable to download my recent pictures onto my computer, so I can't include any until I get some help.

Although the past few weeks have been most enjoyable, I've missed Bob so much. He would have been so thrilled to be with the kids and grandkids and so proud of their accomplishments and such an encourager to each one--and to me, of course!! Experiencing life together was such a gift and I miss that mutual sharing of joys and concerns and all of life.

It also hit me for the first time that I am now the "matriarch" of the family--without the "patriarch". That seems like such a heavy responsibiity. But as I began to more seriously and prayerfully ponder this, I realized that it is also a tremendous opportunity and privilege that I will need God's special help to carry out.

I'm also missing Bob's calming influence in my life and how he was so protective of me, helping me put boundaries around my involvements. He knew how to "rein me in" when I was going too many directions.

I began wearing his wedding ring on my right hand, and inside of the wedding band is a scripture reference that I chose for him when we married almost 44 years ago. It's a promise from the Lord in Psalm 32:8~~
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."
Of course this is referring to God's instruction, direction, and watchful care (not mine!!)
And now wearing Bob's ring I'm reminded that the Lord offers that same attention and care to me--but also that having lived with Bob for so long, I pretty well know what kind of counsel he himself would give me. And I want to be attentive to that. Our daughter Barbie has become a bit of her dad's voice to me when I'm overdoing it now.

Interesting to note that the following verse in Psalm 32 says "Don't be like the horse or the mule . . . who must be controlled by bit and bridle . . .!!! I had to laugh when I read that since I keep telling people how much I've needed Bob to "rein me in"!!!

The next few days will be spent resting and preparing for our kids to begin arriving for summer vacation with me. David, Ann and the boys arrive Saturday, the 13th for two weeks, and Barbie, Tim, Kim, and the kids arrive on the 20th for a week. We're having a three-day family reunion at Cedar Springs in Sumas, WA and Vi, Jerry, Bart, and Anita will be joining us for that as well. That will be grand.

As soon as I figure out how to download my pictures and attach them to the blog, I will be posting quite a few.