Post Christmas "Post"

Hey Girlfriends,

Are you all recovered from the Big Day??? We are slowly digging out from the avalanche. What was your favorite gift? I got a "Roomba" automatic vacuuming robot. This is a big deal, since I haven't vacuumed my floors since my surgery in August (don't be grossed out - others have vacuumed my house since then, just not me). So now I can have the kids pick up the "stuff", and just program the little bugger to go to town. Living Large.

What both my Physical Therapist and my Doctor are telling me is that we are at the end of their capabilities, and that I should look elsewhere for a long term solution to my back pain. So I have made an appointment with a doctor who is a "Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation" specialist in January. He also does some "alternative" therapies .... so I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Any big plans for New Year's Eve? The Kerchevals are having a party, so we are planning to go to that.

BTW, (notice the cool blogger lingo) this is my first Blog!

Annette

Tucson Girlfriends' Journal

Tucson Girlfriends' Journal
Hi everybody. I'm thankful to hear things went well with you and your dad, Ann. I hope your recoveries are going well. I will continue to pray for you and your dad. I have been praying for Annette too. Any news from her? Annette are you on yet? I saw your name on the list, but didn't identify any blogs from you. You have been on my mind. We had a nice Thanksgiving with my brother and his girlfriend. I wasn't stressed which was really nice. We will be in Los Angeles this weekend and look forward to an update on Steve's dad. I'll keep you posted.
Have a good week.
Beth

Tucson Girlfriends' Journal

Tucson Girlfriends' Journal HI girls. Really quick, first about my dad and then an update on me. Katy, thanks for your call about my surgery last night!! Please pray for my dad who is going in for multiple urgent bypass surgery at 7 Mon. a.m. We had no idea he had heart disease. He is 80 and its a huge blessing it was caught w/ moderate heart attack today. He is a believer, but I hope this draws him and my mom closer to Jesus. Thank you! I had a laparoscopic tubal and an endometrial ablation on Thurs. with general anesthesia, which was "plan B", but I am recovering, though tired and less pain each day. What a fall its been!!! Love you all, more later! Love, Ann

Publishing to our Blog

Hi Girls...to publish to our blog, to to the top of our page and click on "Blog This." This will either ask you to sign in or give you the publishing tool. You can make your own title as well as type in your info.

To get to our control panel/tools page...you can click on the B in the orange square in the upper left corner of the page. There you can access all the tools you need to publish or add photos, which I hope you all will try.

Will be praying for you today Ann and I sure hope they only have to do plan "A." Love to you all!

I'm Back

Hello,
I am back on and I have recorded my username and password b/c my memory is not as good as it used to be.
We are well. Settled into our home as much as we can be before we paint or hire someone to paint. We don't have much to hang on the walls anyway. I could get into being a minimalist! We are happy to be here for a while.
Everyone has transitioned into their new surroundings very well. Steve loves his job, the kids like their school very much and I am teaching two days a week for the Children's Day Out program at our church. I am liking it more now than I did at the beginning. I am team teaching and we have 12 four year olds.
Rebecca is liking third grade. She has a male teacher who is very organized and routinized which Rebecca loves. She makes friends quickly and has started piano lessons. She performed in her first recital in October. She is also interested in taking dance classes, but we haven't gotten there yet.
Nathaniel's transition is an answer to prayer and a testimony, yet again, of God's grace. He really likes his teacher and is becoming very comfortable in class (to the point of talking too much at times). He just finished another soccer season. I helped was the asst. coach for his team. He also loves to read and he's devouring Magic Tree House books.
We have no plans for the holidays. Maybe this is the year we'll start some traditions of our own. If you ever get to DFW please call, we would love to see you. We are still close by and enjoyed visits with Andy and Brian last year.
Blessings,
Beth

Hi Friends!

Hi Girls,
Looks like we're all here except Annette and Pam. Randy is going to help Nettie get logged on. Ann, we enjoyed seeing Andy last night and had a very nice dinner with him. We talked a bit about starting to plan our coastal trip for a year from next summer. The boys also talked about a week long bike tour in Oregon in the fall. John and Randy seemed excited about it. Any other husbands want to go?
The weather is still crazy warm and summer-like in Tucson. Hannah has her first play audition tonight. She is involved in CYT /Christian Youth Theater. Here is a photo of her all dressed up for Halloween as Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus. She is so funny. I'll let you know how the audition goes. Adding photos is very easy here. Just click on the photo icon when you are blogging and it will help you find the image on your computer.
Time to do some housecleaning. Glad to have everyone here in our cyerspace! Have a great weekend.

I'm live

Howdy,

I guess I do know computers....well, Katy had to help me figure this thing out, but I'm on this "blog" now. I am so glad for a way to share more timely with all of you. I have been reading your postings, and now I get to communicate! We are really enjoying the fall season here in Gilbert - the weather is awesome! Several evenings we have laid out on a blanket looking up at the stars and have even gotten "chilly" - well for AZ weather it's chilly (I had to go inside and get a blanket to lay under). Our schedule is starting to get busy now as we are planning several get-togethers with friends as Thanksgiving and Christmas season approaches - oh so quickly.

So, with that said, I'm off to get organized (yeah, I say that every week).

Love to you all,

Kathy

Hi gang, I am finally on. I hope y'all sign on. This would be a fun way to keep up AND plan out next get together. We would love to see you all come to the Oregon Coast to the Cannon Beach Christian conf. center for family camp one the next couple to few summers.....

Andy is in Tucson the next few days for a medical meeting. The kids and I weren't able to work out going. I'm preparing for an 8 girl b/day party sleepover for Lizzy tomorrow night, yikes! She stayed up until 11 typing a book report tonight. Its amazing how all our kids are growing. My right foot is taking the slow boat to healing from my surgery 3 1/2 weeks ago and I'm not sure he actually removed what was causing my problem, but I am trying to be hopeful! My next surgery is next thurs. the 16th. I'm having an endometrial ablation and a tubal b/c I've been unable to keep ahead of my blood loss the last year and 1/2 and have been too anemic. What a year its been! I know God is doing a lot as I see medicine from a whole other viewpoint. I laugh now when I get medical bills since I reached my "out of pocket maximum" in July of this year already! I'm learning why kind people in the medical field are really important to patients!!

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We will be here and go to my mom's. Love and miss you!

Ann

Monday Ramblings

Last night, John, Hannah and I went to Dad and Nancy's house for dinner. We arrived just as the sun was setting. I stood out on their balcony and took this picture facing Sombrero Peak. Their mesquite tree was in the way but I am pleased at how this picture came out. This is the same place we had our overnighter ...all of us girls...someone please remind me whose birthday we were celebrating. It was 88 degrees here yesterday! Goodnight for now and have a great week. Kathleen, came across that great verse you shared last time we were all together. Julie Barrier taught at our womens' retreat in Sept. Part of her lesson was about friendships of women. She shared that verse so here it is again :

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Hi girls,
This is a test to see if I have successfully made contact on our blog.
Beth

Our Page

Dear Girlfriends,

Here is another option for blogging. I think we can all post to this page. I will research. Meanwhile, it's warm in Tucson with a hint of fall ln the air. How do I know this? Our cooler has now been turned off and John is getting ready to overseed the backyard with ryegrass.
I will be on the lookout for an awesome Tucson sunset that I can capture on my digital camera. Will post it to our page so the rest of you won't feel so FAR away! I can spend much more time putting our blog together after we enter the month of November.
All is well here. Feel free to post your updates and/or photos here and tell us all how you're doing.