HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MANDY!!!!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, dear Mandy,
Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Yes, today is my baby's 24th!! Mandy, I wish so much that I could be there with you but I know that Jorge will make a fuss of you (did you get breakfast in bed??). You're birthday package has arrived in Chile (according to the internet!) - LOL, so it should be in Pichilemu soon. We hope and pray that your day is a wonderful one and that you are surrounded by friends and, most of all, the almighty love of our God! (Sorry, couldn't resist the photo...my little "Shirley Temple"!!)

On to our news.....

So much has happened since I've last blogged. Sorry about that! Thursday night, we DID go out and eat and Cynthia, Andrew and Bethany joined us. We all went to the Olive Garden and, even though there was almost an hour wait, we had a lot of fun!! We learned that Margaret needs that amount of time to study her menu (LOL - apparently a family joke!), so it worked out perfect. Clive was our waiter in the bar area while we waited, taking our orders with pen and paper! I introduced Cynthia and Margaret to Bellini's and, while not quite as good as those in Moxie's, they were refreshing and delicious!! The meal was wonderful and we even had them sing "Happy Birthday" to Floyd at the end! Our goal this weekend was to take his mind off his upcoming surgery on Monday and I think this was a good head start to fulfilling our it!!

Friday was another hot day, so in the afternoon, we decided to head for the river valley for a walk. Cynthia, Bethany, and Andrew met us there (Samantha had overnighted after she, along with Adrian, Graham, and Isobel had all gone to Capital X the night before). We walked from Hawrelak Park through to Emily Murphy and I discovered that it must have been a long time since we'd done that!! LOL! I thought it was about a five-minute walk and then we'd be in EM and walking beside the river (our original destination). Yeah, well, 45 minutes later we arrived at the river and we were all so tired that it was basically time to turn around and walk back to the vehicles! Sorry about that everyone! Floyd said the reason it was so long was that when we used to do it, we would cycle and he's probably right. We used to drive to Hawrelak and bike with the girls the rest of the way! Oooops..... LOL. The young people forgave us, I think, as we ended up at the hut on the pond for ice cream - Floyd's treat - it sure tasted good after the hot walk. Although, I must say the majority of the walk was on a lovely shaded trail and, although not by the promised river, it was nice scenery....In the evening, we celebrated Floyd's birthday with a big family BBQ. Margaret, Clive and their family were still here, Tanya and Tom with their little ones, as well as Kristy and Bob, and Cynthia and her four! So there were 19 of us all together! The weather was beautiful and Floyd barbecued some delicious steaks and we served them with salad, mashed potatoes, corn and Brussels sprouts. The only ones missing were Jorge and Mandy but Floyd was delighted when they phoned about 8 p.m. and he was able to talk to them & they were able to send their wishes and be included with big "hi" from us all!! The children all were so good and played on the swings and little teeter-totter and slide. Then for dessert, Kristy had baked four of Aunt Sal's Apple Cream Cheese pies!! Yummy!! Thanks for the recipe, Sally - you'll never know how many times we've used it!

We all chipped in and bought Floyd a recorder/player for his music. Wow, I don't even remember what it's called and that doesn't do it justice at all! It will replace his mini-disc player that he loves and uses constantly. It's about the size of a shaver (in fact, that's what Clive thought it was - LOL!) but records, with built in microphones, crystal clear and crisp. Instead of discs, he will now be able to put all his recording sessions on a memory card, similar to a digital camera, and will be able to easily plug it into the computer for transfer. He was delighted and Tom and him spent a long time on Saturday playing with it and learning how it works. Thanks, Tom, for the awesome idea!! We were all stuck on what to get for him, so it was perfect!

Saturday started out with a big family breakfast. Tanya, Tom and family had all stayed at a hotel, seeing as there was "no room at the inn" at home. But I believe the air conditioning provided an added draw!! It's been soooo hot this summer!! We had a buffet-style fruit, toast, and cereal meal and it was perfect. After that, the Osmonds began to pack and, after a family photo shoot, they left for Jasper. We'll miss them as we had such a wonderful time together.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent relaxing and doing things with the children (as Tan and Tom stayed until Sunday). Kristy, Tanya, Adriana, Erilyn, Amelie, Kellen and I all went to Reitman's as they are having a summer sale and Tan found some lovely skirts for Adriana! We were so glad as it's hard to find ones for girls that come below the knee. But these were very small ladies' sizes and, because of that, they were the perfect length for Adrie - she looked so beautiful and elegant in all of them! Amelie found a hair band she wore the whole time we were in the store, and Erilyn discovered a necklace she liked, so those were Gram's treat....

Floyd was not able to eat for Saturday and Sunday, so supper Saturday fell to me... LOL! Yeah, needless to say, the chicken was a little charred - sorry family, it's been awhile since I've wielded the BBQ tongs! But it was okay...once you cut of the carcogenic bits!!

Saturday night, Kristy and Bob headed home to do more packing, and Tanya and Tom stayed with us (thank the Lord!) as a bed was now free... About 2 a.m. I woke to find Floyd in the bathroom moaning in excruciating pain!! Apparently the meds they were giving him for a 2-day cleanse before surgery were counteracting with his regular meds he takes for IBD and causing severe contractions inside. He passed out on me while laying on the bathroom floor and scared the daylights out of me! He was cold and clammy and not responding!! I got him up and back into bed and called the Health Link. It's a 24hr phone that will always put you in touch with a nurse who you can talk to. It is such a blessing and one thing I love about our health system!! When she heard him groaning, she said I should call an ambulance. I woke poor Tan up and she came to help me asses the situation. I was planning on taking him myself as we live only a few blocks from the hospital, but then he passed out again on us while in bed, so Tan called 911 and we got an ambulance rolling (ended up with 2 ambulances, a firetruck and a police car - all lights and sirens!! LOL!) so that was good... It seemed like hours but was, actually, only about 3-4 minutes before they were here. They did their assessment before loading him and poor Floyd looked (and I'm sure was!) so confused by the whole ordeal. The pain had subsided by the time he was in a unit in emergency but they monitored him for about 2 hours before sending him home with strict instructions to discontinue his regular meds until after surgery. He did and, while having some discomfort, had no more severe attacks. Thank the Lord. It was funny because Tan and Tom stayed upstairs after we left in the ambulance and they said Madison was pacing the floor, going back and forth to the door, etc. She definitely knew something was up! Then, after we got back around 6, we all went back to bed and Floyd and I no sooner were drifting off when we heard her whimpering and twitching in her sleep! She was obviously having some nightmare thing and I had to wake her up to get her to be quiet! Poor thing....

Sunday definitely turned into a "sleep-in" morning due to the events of the night before but I don't think Tan got much sleep as Kellen was oblivious to the comings and goings and woke up bright and early. We opted for staying home from church, though, as Floyd was still feeling weak and shaky. We cooked up some bacon and eggs and let Tom sleep in as he was going to be the driver for the trip home later in the day. We spent the morning talking and visiting some more and then they all left shortly after lunch for the long drive back to Lethbridge. As always, it was hard to part with them all but, hopefully, we'll see them again soon. Kellen had been such a good little man this trip - we didn't even have to "baby-proof" the house for him at all!! I'm going to post some pics tonight when I have more time and I'll let you know when that's been done....

The rest of Sunday was spent, for me - cleaning up, changing and washing sheets, etc., and getting the rooms downstairs ready for Kristy and Bob, who will soon be coming to stay with us. As for Floyd - he just relaxed and watched a bit of TV between snoozing. He packed his bag for the hospital before bed and we packed it in early...

That's enough of an update for now - if you're still with me, I'll post more about the hospital stay tonight. Bottom line: the surgery went well and they believe they got all the cancer - with no complications! Praise the Lord!!