A Little Surprise!!!

Jill and Wade are expecting also. Timing might not be what they wished for, but God gives us a little one when he thinks it is right. We are all happy about it and she is due about three months after Kyla so the little ones will be close in age. Wow! Grandparents twice this year. Fun! Kyla will find out on the 21st what gender they will be having. Can't wait.

Happy New Year

Kyla has graduated to having a scan every four months now instead of three. This will be a little better for them financially because it cuts down on the amount of trips they have to make to San Francisco. Her next MRI will be in March. She feels well and is excited about the upcoming baby.

Christmas was spent at GG and Grandad Max's home with the Evans'. Kelli's trip to Scotland and England was great and she took many pictures which are below. She loved the visit but decided that two weeks was not enough time to explore. Because she took my camera, I don't have many pictures of our Christmas this year. But it was worth it for her trip. New Years eve everyone spent at home quietly. It was rather nice....Dave and I watched movies until midnight and just relaxed. I guess that means we're old!

Emmy models her new outfit from Nanna

Kelli and Kim at the airport in Portland ready for the great adventure

Kelli and Kim begin the tour of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh Scotland

A view of the city from Edinburgh Castle

Kelli, Rachel and Kim ready to go on a flight over London with Rachel's dad

Big Ben in London

This is the size of most of the Christmas trees in London homes according to Kelli's hosts

Happy Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas to all who read this and for those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays! We have had a busy November and December. Since my last post, we have managed to have a fantastic Thanksgiving at our home with the entire Evans bunch. Lots of good food and great company. Thanks for all of the help everyone!

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we had a graduation party for Wade who finished his degree at the U of O. He is now in the process of job hunting……Good luck Wade! His family as well as ours and friends were there and we had a great time. His mom and grandma fried probably 20 or 30 pounds of chicken…I would say that is love, Wade, love!!!!

Dave, myself, Kyla and Emma went to a tree farm the next day to get our Christmas trees. Poor Jed was cramming for his finals and working on his papers. He was so glad to have three weeks of “guilt free TV” as he put it. Kelli left on the 15th to fly to Scotland and England for two weeks. Lucky girl! She was visiting friends over the holidays.

We were lucky enough to have our newest addition to the family. My niece, Kamisha, had her beautiful little girl on November 21st. She is so sweet....can't wait for Kyla and Jed to have this new little one. December brings more birthdays...Happy birthday to Wade, Jordy, Sean and Eric Everyone have a relaxing holiday and treasure your love ones every moment.

Wade enjoying his graduation party with his grandma

Demi, the little daughter of one of Jill's friends....so cute!

Jill, Kelli, Molly and Eric goofing around at Thanksgiving

Emma visiting with Santa

Emmy thinks she found the right tree

Taaaa Daaaaa! This is the tree Kyla picks for herself

See what too much studying has done to Jed!

MRI Results, Halloween, Birthdays and Stork

Kyla and Jed went to San Francisco for Kyla's MRI. However, she did not have a scan because of some very exciting news. She and Jed and going to be parents again! We are all thrilled and excited and at least, I, am a little nervous for her. So they decided not to do a scan since this is her first trimester. She will have a scan in three months. The doctor appointment went well and she feels good.

Aside from that fun news, since last month we have had a lot going on. Brian is enjoying Spain and has made a visit to France. He has been sending us some pictures of his surroundings. He leaves today for Greece to take a TEFL Course (Teaching English as a Foriegn Language) in Crete. He will be there for a month and is excited but a little nervous.

We spent halloween, which is also Dave's birthday and his parents anniversary, at Kyla and Jed's house. I fixed dinner and we celebrated in between trick or treaters. But we did get to see Emmy and her friends Alex and Lilly all dressed up. They looked very cute. Later Jason and SaMara brought their three children over to see Dave's parents before driving back to Portland.

There were many October birthdays for family....Happy birthday to Max, Lisa, Marisa, Brian, Braedyn and Dave and Happy Anniversary to Max and Delpha and Dave and Laura. November brings many others.....Happy birthday to Tristin, Celina, Carrie, Patti, Tony, Jacob, Brett and Charo and Happy Anniversary to Loretta and Ralph and Tony and Karen. Whew! Our families are just getting too big.

Speaking of birthdays, my niece, Kamisha is due to have her first baby, a girl, this month. So we will be adding another November birthday to the list. I gave her a baby shower last weekend and she looks so darn cute. We are all very happy for both Kamisha and Jeremy and can't wait to see the baby. Kristi and Addie Mae came all the way from Baker and spent the night with us. We had Emma for two nights while Kyla and Jed were gone so she spent an extra night with Addie Mae after the shower. They had a great time playing and feeding the chickens.

Emmy and Gram make halloween cookies

Emma and Alex all ready to trick or treat

It takes a lot of hot air for Dave to blow out his one candle

Dave and all his girls

Kamisha and her mom, Barb at the baby shower

Some of the Fuzi women after the shower

Emmy and Adde Mae ready for bed

August MRI Results and Catch Up

Since I have been so lax in updating this my first comment will be yes, in August Kyla had another scan which was clear. I am sorry for not keeping up on this but with Jill's wedding and other things all summer I never took the time to sit down. I will try to be better about that because we know how important it is to keep everyone informed in Kyla's progress. She is feeling very well and is working part time and working on their home.

I will try to remember what has been happening for the past several months. Over the summer Wade had his bachelor party which was a trip to the Water Park in Seattle. They all had a lot of fun even if it was a few months early. Everyone pitched in and gave him a new surf board for his gift. We had a huge load of bark dust delivered and blown in around the back of the house and in the blueberry patch and garden. Dave put up my deer fence and we planted a garden which we got to enjoy all summer. We tore the old deck off the back of the house and one of Brian's friends, Todd, helped Dave and Brian build the new deck. It turned out fantastic but was barely finished two days before Jill's wedding. Dave also built me a grape arbor for Mothers Day and we planted two different kinds of grapes.

We had a dress up birthday party for Jill in July and Barb, Rick, Dave and I went to Bandon to watch the fireworks. There was a Burt family reunion which Kelli attended with her grandparents in California and several day trips to the coast to finalize plans for the wedding. Brian and Charo went to Baker for the Miner's Jubilee with friends and we had our annual "sisters vacation" in Sun River. Jill had two wedding showers, one put on by the ladies at her church and one by Kelli and Kyla.

Brian graduated from college in August and there were lots of last minute details in for Jill's wedding and of course the big weekend (Labor Day weekend) in Newport. Her wedding was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We came home from that and had brothers David and Jay, sister Kristi and their families as well as mom come stay with us. Lots of people but very nice birthday present for me to have them there. Kyla and Jed brought a birthday cake and I think that was the first time I have had siblings and my mom sing happy birthday to me in years.....I don't even remember the last time. Made my birthday one of the best. Thanks everyone for a memorable weekend....not just for my birthday but for coming to Jill's wedding and spending time with us.

A week later we had a going away party for Charo and Brian who are now living in Spain. September seems to have gone by in a blur. College has begun again, work is becoming busier now and Dave and I are now alone in the house. No kids living at home.....first time ever. Kind of an adjustment but we get to see them all the time.

Last note.....Jill and Wade spent three weeks in Australia for their honeymoon and are now home. They had such a great time and have lots of video and pictures. Even the small gnome made it all the way and back.

The bride and groom......stunning!

Wade with his groomsmen

Jill with Kyla and Kelli

Wade on the way to his bachelor party.....note the ball and chain

Jill, the beautiful bride holding Lexie

Brian at this college graduation with Kyla, Jill and Kelli

Brian and Charo with their friends at the going away party

MRI Results, Feeding the Ducks, Birthday and Gnome Business

Kyla's scan was clear today......two years this month! We are so blessed....and we found out some exciting news. The IL-13 treatment she was so blessed to receive is now being pushed through to a Phase I trial for first time brain tumor patients. It will be a while until it is up and running because of nature of protocols, but it is so exciting that perhaps radiation won't have to be used and newly diagnosed patients could be treated right away.

Kyla with her "Our Gang" DVD's

Kyla celebrated her 26th birthday last week with a family dinner. Brian and Charo gave her a pear tree to plant and GG and Grandad Max gave her a lilac bush as well as Jill giving her a gift certificate to buy what she likes in a garden store. She is loving spring time planting in her new yard. She also got a set of "Our Gang" DVD's from Kelli and a start on her collection of theTaste of Home annual cookbooks and money.

We had a little face off with the gnome after her birthday. Uuuugly! Emmy spent two days with us while Kyla and Jed were in San Francisco. Grandad took her to feed the ducks and geese in Alton Baker Park. She is so much fun right now.

All

The Faces

Of The

Traveling

Gnome

Scan Date, Birthdays, A Baptism, Birds, Art and Play

Kyla has a new date for her MRI on May 7th. As usual our prayers are for a continued clear scan.

We have had a lot going on lately. Kelli celebrated her 19th birthday in March with a family party and ended up with two guitars. She was happy and decided to keep both. A few days later Dave and I celebrated our anniversary with a nice dinner out at Jake's. Then Jill was baptized in Wade's church the following Sunday. Charo's sister and two friends were here visiting from Spain and came for cake at Kelli's birthday. They spent most of their time on the go visiting Crater Lake, the Oregon Coast, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon before returning home. They treated Dave and I to a lovely dinner while they were here.

Kelli celebrates nineteen years

Jill and siblings following the baptism

Charo and her sister enjoying Crater Lake

Emma's fourth birthday was celebrated with a Nemo theme party. She had several little friends over to help her. Kyla and Jed did a great job decorating the house to look like under water and I decorated the cake. Easter brunch was celebrated at our house with everyone including Grandad Max and GG. Emmy had the usual egg hunt on a beautiful spring afternoon.

Emma's "Finding Nemo" birhday cake

Emma's birthday party

Easter eggs

Jill and I woke to find a little finch on our deck just sitting there. He seemed to be OK but he didn't fly away and when Jill picked him up he just sat in her hand. We put him in our gazebo and left the windows open so he could escape and he flew up to the rafters and so we knew he could fly. Later he was gone so we are assuming he flew away.

The turkeys have been hanging out a lot this spring and we got some really great shots of the males with their tail feathers all fanned out. On Tuesday Barb and I visited Emma at the "Meet the Artist" event at the UO where the children in the preschool had their art exhibited. Emma was pretty proud.

Little finch

Proud turkey

Emmy the artist

Our little rebel 11 chicks are doing fine and are now able to roost in the chicken house. They are really funny to watch. I forgot to mention that Brian and Charo as well as her sister and two friends played a game of hopscotch at the Oregon coast and that Kelli was trying to teach Kyla and Jed at her birthday party how to do the "caterpillar". Here are the goofy pictures.

Chicks on a bar

Kyla and Jed have a learning curve

Brian in his hopscotch mode