June 28, 2010 Chris made it official and adopted Kallie Marie. It was a great day that each of our's and Tahnie's family were lucky enough to share. Chris and Tahnie both were brought up to the witness stand, just like on TV. Both sworn it and asked questions about their desire to complete this adoption. The judge asked Chris to tell her about his involvement in Kallie's life and what brought him to this decision. He was so nervous, but described how he fell in love with Kallie the same time he fell in love with Tahnie, how he would hold her and couldn't get enough of her. He has stepped into this responsibility so naturally, without hesitation. We're proud of his dedication to them both! We look forward to some day when they can become an eternal family.

Summer has come and gone and so much has gone on. Where did time go! Seriously...did we really really have a summer??? The wave runners have not even left their little shed! How sad is that! Time just goes by in such a flash! The pictures below are of our trip to Oregon to see our sweet friend Toni the end of June. She lives in Beaverton, and has a beach house in Rockaway Beach. What a blast we had. We arrived Thursday evening, hit the road to the beach and didn't stop all weekend. What a blast we had-oh wait, did I say that!. SO so fun getting reconnected with her. And man, that girl can move. We hiked, hiked some more and hiked again. And I'm sure we slowed her down a bit. But the scenery we saw. This is only a portion of it. It was true heaven. Beautiful mountains and pines to one side, and beach front, ocean on the other. It would be perfect if it was like 80 degrees! I know...picky picky! They love it there. And everyone kept saying how lucky we were to have the good weather. It had rained almost everyday since April and we had sunshine! It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I had told Rick & Chris just before we left that I would love to travel the country one year during the summer and sight see all the small towns during the holidays...see their hometown barbeques and parades. Well, I got my home town parade all right. This was so fun! Tillamook cheese factory and their parade. Company couldn't have been better either!

Oregon and sweet sweet Toni

My Mom

Okay....so this picture IS kind of scary! We just had to take it cause it made us laugh! Crazy fro do and all...she was so out of it this night. And so so skinny! This was Wednesday, September 15, 2010 and it has been a rough month~ The first of the month, the care center called to report that Mom has a broken hip. We knew this would not be good. That she would most likely decline quickly. Linda has been traveling in a Motor Home caravan since the end of August and has just returned tonight. This has been a real trial for Linda, as she has worried about being gone and we both are preparing to say goodbye to our Mom for the 2nd time. This actually goes hand in hand with the care taking of both her & Dad being one of the hardest things we have ever done. It's an honor, but it's hard! We have both cried on each other, and can't believe how emotional we are, how Dad's passing and funeral seems like it was all just a dream. Now we'll be preparing for another one soon! Mom is one tough cookie. She hasn't declined as quickly as we thought. But honestly, I believe it's due to answers to our prayers and the pure knowledge that we have that Dad is telling her to hold on until Linda gets home. Dad was always concerned with Linda & I "being put out" as he would say in their care. I told Linda that he was helping Mom to wait for her. I believe that with all my heart. Last Thursday, I had the day off and went to an IT meeting at Crossland's. They have them occasionally, and I have complained so much I figured they were either kicking us out, or actually trying to communicate with us! The meeting went well. It was all the staff that has anything to do with Mom (one representative), my hospice ladies, and me. Rick asked me if I was intimidated and I said, heck no, they should be! HA! I have learned to speak my mind, in a calm, sweet, but firm way. The staff actually comes to me now as I arrive and ask about Mom. For awhile, I swear they would hide! This night of the picture, I was pretty discouraged. Mom was pretty out of it, even though she hadn't had meds since noon. She would look up at me, but not see me, looking right past me. It made me sad. I asked her if anyone was home and Rick just said, I don't think so hon! But Thursday after the meeting, I walked into her room where she was lieing down, and the nurse said, look Nona, Stacey is here. She smiled, reached out for me, and saw me. She didn't know me, but she knew I loved her and it felt so good. It has been awhile since I saw that. It brought me to tears actually. She told me that "George wants her to quit but she doesn't want to!" (Hmmm)
I had them get her out of bed, and I took her to the beauty salon to fix that crazy mop. She had a hair cut and set. It was a good day. Today after the walk, I went to see her, and she was sleeping soundly, so couldn't get much of a feel for today's status. The nurse reported that she now has an open bed sore on her bottom about the size of the top of your thumb. That's not good! SIGH

walk for a cure

Jody emailed me a little over a week ago and invited me to join her in the walk for a cure for Alzheimer's/dementia that was being held at Murray High today. Of course it was on my Saturday shift at Discover, so I didn't think I could go, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew I just HAD to go. This disease is way too much. It needs to go! And far too many people are not speaking out about it. The number of people who have it or who are effected by it are staggering, and it's only going to get worse. It's the 2nd largest disease causing death and the cost...it's unreal! And the sad thing is...death is the happy ending for this disease...there is no cure, and we HAVE to find one! Jody & I decided we will be more involved and organized next year and put together a team, or maybe two...thinking maybe of a challenge. Maybe my kids would get into that! This year was last minute and not planned at all so our families didn't particiapte, but next year...we'll be on it! It was good to be with Jody. I have missed her and the Bradbury gang. Uncle Frank, Jody's Dad passed away with this disease in May and we'll soon loose Mom. We did it today in their honor. She put Mom and Frank's picture on a card around a ribbon for us-she's always thoughtful like that!. I made a t-shirt with my parents on it. We saw several families with their own team shirts on that were way cute. Hope to do something like that next time!