Sunday night dinners begin again

Mom is back and the Sunday night dinners start again. Here are some photos from the April 29 dinner.



Josh's new mini cooper with the vanity plates. Grandpa would love it.


Heather, Whitney, Josh, Grandma, Beth, Barry

Good food and always good conversation. (If you can get a word in)
Beth with Josh and Whitney's dog Sidney.
Whitney and Josh cleaning up after dinner.

Jeff trying out a new bike. I think he'll keep his Harley




Beth and Grandma

Barry with a good helping of great food. Is that the heel of the load he took?

Whitney, Josh and the new mini cooper.







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Mom's blog April 29

Hi from Minnesota,

Yes, I'm back in Minnesota, home where it's awfully good to be. I arrived back Tuesday afternoon just in time to have dinner with Greg & Bonnie--Greg fixed wall eye for me-- and then I went to my first grief management seminar at the hospital. It was a little difficult going home for the first time but Annie was at the house to greet me and spend a few hours with me.

Bonnie took Wednesday off from work to help me unpack and get settled. Buying groceries was next on the list and then we went to the cemetery.

Annie called me Thursday morning to see what I was doing--just trying to find my way around I guess. She invited me to go to a Twins ball game so I realized that the work could wait. I had all summer to do what had to be done. It was a good game and the Twins won the game in the bottom of the 11th inning. We stayed to the very end, too.


Friday I finally found my way around the farm and visited with Jeff's parents. They had done some remodeling so it was fun to see.

Saturday. Sue came out and mowed my lawn--it looks great now. In the afternoon, Bethanie came and introduced me to her boyfriend, Barry. I absolutely approve of him. They both like the outdoors and it's great to see her so happy.

It is now 7:30 Sunday evening and the family has all been here for our usual Sunday evening dinner together.
It is a wonderful tradition and I'm so happy that they all like to come. There were 12 of us, Greg, Bonnie, Jeff, Annie, Sue, Julie, Heather, Josh, Whitney, Bethanie, Barry and myself. They've all gone home now and it's too quiet. I look forward to next Sunday evening when we'll do it all over again.

It's good to be home!

Love, LaVerne

April 22 Blog

Hi!

I starting to get really excited---wait a minute---I'm not starting, I'm already there. I'm going home this next Tuesday. Yes, My plane leaves at 9:10 a.m. April 24 and the shuttle picks me up at 6:15 A.M. That means I'll be getting up EARLY to get all the things shut off and put away. I'm anxious to get home to my family. It's been good for me to be down here this winter but it's time to go home. My friends down here have been very good to me and I do appreciate all the things they've done for me. I look forward to seeing all of them again in the fall but for now, home is where I want to be.

Greg is picking me up at the Humphrey airport in the early afternoon and Bonnie has invited me for early dinner--I've signed up for 6 grief sessions for the next 6 weeks and the first one starts the evening I get home so I don't want to miss it. I'm looking forward to it.

This week has been LONG. There is only one other person on my block and it's quiet. I had dinner with Doris Gulbrandson on Sunday evening--went to a family restaurant. Nothing else exciting all week and I couldn't stand it any longer so went to a movie on Saturday afternoon.."In The Land Of Women" with starring Peg Ryan. It was okay only because I like her acting.

Went to church this morning. This afternoon, my friend Bob Salvage, who I bought the golf cart from, is coming over to help me put it away for the summer. Have to put distilled water on the batteries and unplug one wire and what else I don't know. I did buy a cover for it so he will show me how everything is done. He is also showing me how to put RV anti-freeze in all the drains and whatever else needs to be done. This is all new to me

Tomorrow I put the car away. Ed Schmidt will help me with that. Take the license plates off(in case it looks tempting to steal) and unhook the battery. Wow! More things I don't know how to do.

This is all for this week. I don't know what will happen when I get home. Probably won't be a weekly blog but I'll keep you guessing. Stay tuned.

Love, LaVerne Thanks to all for letting me share my life with you!

Mom's blog April 15

Hello Friends,

It's QUIET here now. Almost everyone has gone home and I'm lonesome. 8 more days and I will be winging my way home. I leave my home here at ViewPoint at 6:15 in the morning--the shuttle picks me up then so I'll be up EARLY to get everything shut off and out the door. April 24th is the day. Until then, not much is happening. I'm still walking twice a day and maybe even more now than all activities are over for the season. I'll be going to the pool too. You can shoot a cannon down our street and not hit anyone!!!

The last activity for the season was Monday night. They had a Greek festival--greek food, music, dancing. It didn't last very long!!

Tuesday, Shirley and I went to lunch at Mia Rosa's Tea House. It was great--crowded even at noon. Good food and great ambiance. Very enjoyable. I'll go there again next year.

Wednesday, Phyllis and I went to visit Donna & Jim Schadegg. Donna used to work for us at the Big Steer and I hadn't seen her in many years. It was a good visit.

Thursday, Ed & Joan Schmidt took me to Sour Dough Pizza. It is one of my favorite pizza places in the valley.

Friday I went to visit my former neighbor, Eileen Nihoul, who is now in an assisted living facility. I couldn't find her in her room so asked one of the nurses. She must be up at "Happy Hour" What would that be in a place like that I wondered. First thing I thought of was a 2 for 1 bar!! No, it wasn't like that. It was an afternoon sing along and movie time. She is a dear friend and I wanted to see her one more time before I went home.
After I left there, I stopped at Doris & Arden Caldwell's place. Had coffe and cake and a good visit.

Today I went to church and it was Confirmation Sunday. Pastor had a quiz on the things we should remember!! It was good.

This week will go slow. I'm having a perm-that will be the highlight of the week. See what I mean about being BORING!!

Until next week, Love to all. LaVerne

Mom's Blog Easter Sunday

CHRIST IS RISEN What a glorious day

I went to church at 7:30 this morning and what a message the pastor gave. Who would not believe?

It's been a quiet week and I guess each week from now on will be quiet. Most everyone that I know is leaving within the next few days. Oh well--I'll have time to go to the pool and start packing. It will be a challenge to get everything I want to take home into 2 pieces of luggage plus a carry-on!!! I'll make it.

As I told you last week, my friend, Renie, was here and on her last evening with me we splurged and went to Cold Stone Creamery. I had never been before and it truly was GOOD.

I've been going to the pool in the late morning before it gets too hot and now I've started going in the evening after dark, also. When my fingers start to shrivel I know it's time to get out. The hot tub in the evening warms my blood to walk home.

I went to Maundy Thursday service and also Good Friday service. It makes me feel good.

I had an electrical problem in my kitchen this week. I was heating something and thought I blew a fuse. I checked all the breakers and all of them were okay. Called my buddy, Stan, who helped build the Arizona room 9 years. He knew that it was a short in one of the outlets so he called an electrician and he came Saturday morning to fix it. Had to move my coffee pot and toaster across the room and, of course, no microwave!! Made me realize how dependent we've become on all the little things in life! I actually had to heat food on the stove!! What a bummer. I did live through it!

Saturday evening Jim and Eve Boyd invited me for supper. We sat out on their deck--what a pleasant time we had. Went for my late evening walk and then to bed.

Today I have nothing planned so guess I'll just relax and enjoy the nice weather.

Thanks Kitty & Lorn for the very thoughtful card and letter. I know you read the blog!!

Love to all, LaVerne

Update from Jody 4/5/07

Good morning. Thought I would get a little update off to you. I found out yesterday that the MRI they did on my brain was clear – it’s official I have nothing in my head!!!!!!! My chemo starts tomorrow (Friday) and radiation starts on Monday. The first day of chemo will be about 6-7 hours long because they have to fine tune everything and I’m getting both drugs but after that my two drug days will only be about 5 hours long; the other 3 weeks between will only be 1 hour start to finish. Radiation will be about half an hour the first time and then only about 15 – 20 minutes. Already have it planned that if and when I start losing my hair we are going to have a head shaving party. Gina thought that would be great, we could drink wine and giggle and laugh. Told her they could have the wine and I would drink non-alcoholic and as Connie said be the designated driver!!!! Anyway, that’s about it for now. It will be interesting to see how my body decides to handle the chemo. Just to let you know, I have talked to Jere and Gina about church, faith, and spirituality. Went to church with them on Sunday and it was the weirdest thing; all I did was shed tears off and on through the entire service. Told Jere I felt a little embarrassed, he just smiled at me and said that was alright the spirit entered me and that was a good thing. What a son I have! I just wanted to share that with you. Now I should get going. Have a terrific day LaVerne and I’ll talk to you later. Love, Jody

Jere and Zac's mom

I am posting a copy of an email that Jere and Zac's mom (Jody) sent to mom. I hope we can all keep Jody in our prayers as she faces a difficult battle with lung cancer.

Her email address is jomieska@cox.net



Hi Laverne! Jere gave me your email address, hope you don’t mind. First I want to tell you thank you for the nice card and beautiful letter you sent; brought tears to my eyes. I too, am glad that you went down to Arizona, much better for you to stay busy being outdoors and with a lot of friends than sitting in the house with cold crummy weather. How was your experience with buying a used car? Are you planning to come back to Minnesota in April like you and Marland used to do or are you going to wait until it’s a little warmer? Yes, I do have two great little grandsons don’t I? I go back for a simulation for radiation on Tuesday and then Wednesday I go for an MRI of the brain. Everyone keeps asking what’s going to happen when the doctors find a lot of empty space up there, I just laugh and tell them they will be surprised!! Then once both oncologists look at the results, the chemo doctor will know whether we have to change treatment/drug plans or if we just proceed the way it stands now. My radiation will be 5days a week for 5 weeks and the chemo will be for 16 weeks using two drugs one that is considered a big dog that I will get every fourth week. I decided to get my crayons out and have one color for radiation and one for chemo so I can mark completed days off – I know it’s a mind game but that’s okay. The doctors have told me that when I feel I want to try and start back to work I just have to let them know but they suggest I sit tight for a few weeks to see how it all affects me and then I can tell what kind of schedule I can start with. That will be great because staying at home with no structure is not too darn exciting. Otherwise I am doing well; Jere, Gina and everyone else is continually checking on me so I can’t get myself into too much trouble. It was great to have Zac home for a few days he makes a pretty good babysitter. We had a great evening out a Steve and Peggy’s one night; they invited the boys and myself out for dinner. Thought that was fantastic – they seem to make a pretty good pair. Anyway, I should get going and try to accomplish something. Take good care of yourself and it’s a good feeling to have you in my corner also. Thank you so much. Love, Jody

Mom's Blog April 1

Hello---

My friend Renie Hall is visiting me this week. She lives on Lake Jefferson (across the lake from where we used to live) in the summer and in Illinois near her daughter and son-in-law and 2 grandchildren in the winter. She is in the valley visiting at Sun City with old friends and with me. We are catching up on all the news from the lake of the people I used to know. She is also helping me finish all the food that was left by the bikers when they were here. We have visited friends that we both know and she spent an afternoon with one of her husbands cousin. If your ears have been ringing then you know we've talked about you!!! She and I have gone to the pool almost every day and that is good excersize.

It was the end of the month yesterday so lots of folks left for their summer homes. It was a regular caravan out of the park. Phyllis & Bud are talking of leaving right after Easter and most of my friends will leave then also. It will be lonesome here. I'll probably get lots of walking and pool in after that.

Friday Norine & I went shopping for a golf cart cover. One thing always leads to another and I found out that I needed one to cover the cart up while I'm gone for the summer. I also have to find some 4 inch boards to put under the cart to keep the tires off the cement!!. Home Depot here I come!

Palm Sunday was awesome!! In Arizona the palms are prevalent so the church was glorious. The sermon was great too. Holy Week will find me in church Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Wow! Think of what our Lord did for all of us. Amen

Love again, LaVerne Loriann--where are you? You didn't leave a comment last week and I missed it.