Dianne's 53rd and Brenda's 57th Birthday Extravaganza!

 Did you know... Mom shares her birthday with Brenda ??? The Birthday girls have been sharing sisters for a long time, and they always love to celebrate their birthdays together...

 This year was maybe a little bitter sweet, but they still enjoyed themselves none the less.

 Because they love eachother; and who better to spend your birthday with than your sister?

 and your new nieces!

 And a little nap time

 And your kids?!

 She ventured outside for the first time since Tuesday the 30th. It was really bright out for her so Tony loaned her his sunglasses!

 And her Grandbabies were there...

 And she had a wonderful day.

 Topped off with some icecream cake which she just skewered with her fork and ate it all!

 

She had a wonderful day with her family... we were all very thankful to celebrate with her.

Today is a good day - she slept nearly 23 hours yesterday and last night... Crazy.

She has been napping on and off, and DelRita the hospice nurse came in and gave her some more medicine.

LIfe is moving pretty slow, but we are enjoying the sweet moments.

Lots of People Lots of Love

Every single one of Mom's siblings, her Grandchildren and Children were by her side at one point in time or another today.

She had a good day - awake, talking and happy.

She did sleep a little, but I think she'll sleep nice and hard tonight.

Thanks for all the visits....

Pictures of Highline Relay & The Hope Corps to come tomorrow!

night everyone,
a

Going Strong

There's something beautiful about being home with your Momma.
I spent the first week of the year with her, and it was the best. week. ever.
I haven't had a chance to blog much - I haven't been real inspired.

I do have to say that I'm pretty happy there hasn't been much news over here. Posting news here can have good and bad connotations, so I'd rather not have to blog than be posting frequently.

Mom is doing well.
She's continuing Chemo in hopes that it will zap some of the Cancer inside of her body.
She's pretty tired most days, but has been working only 30 hours a week (as opposed to her 45+ she has been working). She's been living with Kathy & Todd, and it's helped her exponentially to be around people, and not have to worry about heating that damn trailer house ($244 this month and NO ONE WAS LIVING IN IT).


We had an excellent visit, and I'm working on a little piece about my visit with her to Chemo appointment, her nurses are a hoot!In more news... Missy Sinner took these fantastic photos of us while I was there.
Thank you Missy... from the bottom of our hearts... Thank you.

Tour of the Mayo Clinic!

Hanging out in the waiting room :o)

Two days later, 14 pounds lighter, she's going home today!

Shannon took lots and lots of pictures of the Mayo for us! It looks like they had a good stay, but were more than ready to go home today.

Here's my brother Tony, who normally flips off the camera, so this is a nice change of pace for him!

This is right outside of the Mayo in Rochester. It's a beautiful place

These are the chandeliers in the Mayo, Shannon says this picture doesn't do the glass work any justice, the lights made the chandeliers sparkle!

Here's the "water tower" in down town Rochester. It's the corn capital. Or something like that!

This is the anatomically correct fountain outside of the Mayo. Apparently Tony had a lot of inappropriate comments about it ... hehehe.

The United Way was lined up on the stairs of the Mayo!

To the Left, is the front of the Gondo building of the Mayo. To the right is the Methodist hospital at the Mayo.

This is the front of the Mayo.

The Mayo's chapel. What a serene place!

The "meditation" room. The sculpture is supposed to represent the four elements.

Shannon said that our cousin Matt came by to give them a tour of the Mayo area. So this is the children's area.

Children's fountain.

The stained glass at the entrance of the Gondo Building.

The fancy Barnes and Noble!

A Lego replica of the Mayo Clinic.

The elevator doors.

More beautiful stained glass.

And more ...

The Hospital is a beautiful place, though we wish we didn't have to spend more time there!

Mom has been released to go home, she's tired, but feels much better!

They drained 14 pounds worth of fluid out of her body, and at least a liter from her heart alone.

I am so glad she's on her way home.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Posting Madness

I tried not to post everything twice once here, and once at my blog, so I got a little wordier over at my blog ... here are the links of all that happened on Mom, Brenda & Kathy's trip!
They're HERE
Something NEW : Bing Cherries and Family time
Relay for Life 2010: The Beginning
Something New : Relay for Life 2010 : The Grasshopper Part
My Momma
Relay for Life 2010 : Relay Eve
Relay for Life 2010 : The Happy Birthday Edition
Sad Day

Enjoy! Have a Great weekend!

TOMORROW!!!

Mom and her sister Kathy will board a plane in Fargo, Brenda will board a plane in Rapid City, and they will meet in Denver, to board the same plane to fly to Seattle!

I'm SO excited to see all three of them!

Relay is around the corner and we're all ready to walk - I will hopefully post as much as I can while they're here, but you might just have to wait till they leave :o)

Thank you for all your love and support!

Abby