It's a Boy!!

I am a very proud "aunt" of my new baby "nephew"! Laine Thomas Nicholls was born yesterday afternoon on the first day of spring!! What a wonderful day to have a baby! I had the wonderful honor and privilege to be there for the whole birth. When he came out to meet the world his eyes were wide open, ready to face his new life. He is just so beautiful and perfect. You can read more about him on Joni's blog when she's up and running. Just wanted to share a few early pictures! Welcome little one, I'm so excited to have you here! Congratulations Joni, Shawn and Landon! Love you so much! What a blessing!

Happy St. Patty's!

Since it was our turn to host the "sometimes" monthly couple's-get-together, we decided to have a St. Patty's party and cook up some corned beef and cabbage. We had a pretty good spread. I made some Irish Soda Bread and a loaf of Cottage Cheese and Chive bread, which turned out to be very popular. We also had baked potatoes. Joni brought a veggie tray and a green Jello poke cake that was very festive. Kim and Jeff brought Blarney Stone bars and a keg of root beer which went along nicely with the homemade ice cream that Sarah and Bryan brought. Chad and Sherrie also joined us and Issac kept us entertained with his coos and carrot munching. Since it was the Eve of Joni's birthday, of course we had to sing "Happy Birthday!" Happy Birthday cuz! I wish you all the best! It was a fun get-together and we spent many hours just chatting away.

The luck of the Irish was with us all as the best part of the day was when we got the news that Tom's biopsy results came back benign!!!! It is such exciting news. He will not have to have the pelvic resection now. Tomorrow he goes into surgery and they will remove the tumor and do the hip replacement. Our prayers have been answered! We are thankful to the Lord. Now we just wish him a speedy recovery.

Down Home Fun

This last weekend, Tim had his EMT refresher course in Harlo all weekend, so on Sunday I decided to go visit my parents. They are in full swing of lambing so I thought I would go help out for the day, but I quickly got distracted with another project. I had been getting the itch to do some sewing, and mom is working on a big sewing project, so I plopped right down at the machine and sewed the whole day! I'm very inspired now, and have lots of plans to make some stuff. I'll share more about that later, but I can't spoil the surprise yet. I did manage to sneak out to the barn to look at the lambs before I left. They are so cute with their floppy ears and gangly legs. I'm sure Benjie would love to have a little lamb to play with!

In Loving Memory...

My Great Grandma Agnes Leach passed away peacefully early this morning. She was just 2 months shy of her 100th birthday. It would have been neat if she had met this milestone, but I believe 99 years is long enough. It's amazing to think of the things she has seen in her 99 years. Way more than we will ever see in our lives. One thing I remember about grandma is she always had Tang for us kids, and we began to call her Grandma Tang. She was such an artistic lady too. She was quite the painter. I remember her watching Bob Ross on t.v. all the time. I think all of the family is lucky enough to own one of her paintings. I remember she had some of her artwork for sale in the Wolves Den when I was little. I saved all my money up so I could buy one of her paintings. I'm pretty sure she cut me a pretty fair deal! She also did some leather carving, crocheting, drawings, making cards, numerous arts and crafts, and the list goes on. She was a very kind person, loving to visit with anyone, and always had time for her family. She is resting peacefully now. We love you grandma. May you rest in peace.

Coming Along...

We've really been slamming on the house this week. Tim got the carpets installed in two of the bedrooms. That was his first try at that, and they turned out wonderful! We also got the bathroom completely painted, light fixtures in, linoleum down, and we have started tiling the shower/tub walls. It's going to look so amazing when we are done. One of our biggest debates was what to do with all the interior doors. They really need some updating. They are coated in varnish and look like they came straight out of the 70's. So we thought we would sand them down and re-stain them. We tried that with one door, and it took forever to get through the varnish and stain. Then we couldn't find a stain we liked, so we just decided to go for a clear coat, because they are really neat with all the grain running through. I think they are birch doors? So bought a whole bunch of stain and some sanding pads. Then we thought maybe to save time we would try zip stripping the varnish off. So I tried that on another door. Yeah, that won't save any time at all, plus it takes about a can of that stuff per door. $$$. So our next option is just to buy some danged new doors. So, I guess that's the option we are going with today!

Oh, I almost forgot the most exciting news! We have finally installed a toilet!! After about a year and a half without one, it sure is nice to have!

Updates on Tom & Tiff

Tom went into surgery on Thursday. When the Dr. got in there, he wasn't exactly sure what type of tumor they were dealing with, so instead of going through with the whole shebang, he just did a biopsy. While in there, they had to drill some holes in to his pelvic bone to reattach abdominals and they had to cut away some of the hip flexor muscle to get at the tumor. So that's about all that transpired that day. We are still waiting to hear the results of the biopsy to see if it is malignant or benign. He is rescheduled for another surgery on the 19th, and by then they will know exactly what course of action to take. He has already started some physical therapy. So they will remain in Seattle until surgery time. We wish them all the best and our prayers are with you. Waiting around truly sucks, but it's best to know what is going on.

As for Tiffani-- She had some appointments with her doctors in Spokane last week to see what the next step of action is. The tumor is still present in her knee, so she is going to have to have her upper tibia, knee and lower femur completely replaced with metal. That tumor is so snug in there next to some major vessels that this is the best course of action to ensure that the tumor doesn't come back. She is scheduled to have her surgery on Monday the 9th. I'm sure this is hard news, but I wish her the best of luck and let's just get that junk out of there already! Many prayers for Tiffani. This has been such a long, difficult road.

Cousin Tom

It seems like I just got done telling you all about my friend Tiffani's fight against cancer, and now I have another story for you. My cousin Tom has been diagnosed with Chrondosarcoma. It is a form of bone cancer. He underwent testing in Seattle at the University of Washington. They found a cancerous mass that is located on his hip and pelvis area. The doctors are certain that the cancer has not spread anywhere else, and that it is centered in that mass. He will be going into surgery this week. Becuase of it's location, they are going to have to do a total hip replacement and remove part of the pelvic bone. It's going to be quite the procedure. He's going to have a long recovery time. He'll have to wear a brace for about 3 months that limits his movements to either lying or standing. And it'll take up to a year for full recovery and motility. However, he remains in good spirits! If you would like, there is a website for him: www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomostertag Please keep Tom and his family and your prayers. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery! Go Griz!

We have been putting in some good hours at the house in Lewistown. We have the 3 bedrooms completely painted as well as the hallway. I chose Cottage White for the ceiling, which isn't really white at all, but kind of a creamy orangish something or other. Then the walls are Biloxi. I have no idea what that means. I don't know how they come up with color names. I guess this color is supposed to make you think of Biloxi, Mississippi or something? Anyway you can't really tell a difference in the colors which is lame because I just would have bought another bucket of the same dang color. Anyway it does look really good, and it's so nice to have some fresh paint on the walls. Then this afternoon I put up all the ceiling lights and Tim did trim painting and put a sand texture on the bathroom walls. So we are almost completely done with the bedrooms. We just need to replace the windows and hopefully Tim can get the carpet in sometime this week. We will be working there all this week so will get quite a few things done!