Final Medical Post (I hope)

The doctor at Lahey Clinic gave me the surgical notes, So I thought I would share that with all of you.

INDICATIONS:Patient presents with a septic right shoulder.   She has had two surgical procedures done elsewhere.  She had persistent drainage.  She presents for surgical treatment.

PROCEDURE:  The patient was placed on the operating room table.   general anesthesia was induced.   the patient was placed in a sitting position.  The right shoulder was prepped and draped incision made over the anterior aspect of the right shoulder through the old incision, down through subcutaneous tissue and fascia.   there was some purulent tissue that initially expressed.   The deltopectoral interval was then entered and necrotic tissue was removed throughout the deltopectoral interval.   the subscapularis tendon was then incised off the lesser tuberosity and some purulent tissue was also removed and sent for culture.   There was a significant longitudinal tear of the supraspinatus tendon off the greater tuberosity,   the bone was significant longitudinal tear of the supraspinatus tendon off the greater tuberosity and in probing the greater tuberosity, the bone was significantly soft.   The bone was entered.  there was noted to be some necrotic bone which was debrided using a curette and after the shoulder was copiously irrigated, and the decision was made to put a few sutures in the supraspinatus tendon rent.   This was done with Prolene suture.   after purulent synovium was debrided and bursal subscapularis tendon was left open.  The shoulder joint was left open.  the wound was  packed with betadine soaked sponges and a wound VAC was placed in the shoulder. Patient was awakened and transferred to the recovery room.

Since I didn't have a room yet, I spent the next 24 hours in the recovery room.  Was actually very nice.   I got lots of attention.  

Life is Good

No more gory pictures, just a note to let everyone know that I am doing better,  I had half of the stitches removed from the shoulder on Friday, and hope the rest will go this friday.   The infectious disease doctor is pleased with how the infection is looking but wants to keep me on the IV antibiotics for another 3 or so weeks.   I would rather have too much and make sure the infection is gone, rather than not enough and have it come roaring back stronger than before.  The xrays showed that the bone seems to be healing, so that is also good news.  Now i have only a week to wait before I can start with the occupational therapy to get the arm moving again.

MaryAnn Status 5/12

Things have gone very well today.  We've met with multiple doctors, most notably the infectious disease doctor.  Right now the feeling is that she will be able to go home on Thursday morning.  Tomorrow they will pull together the home treatment stuff.  The antibiotic regimen is not simple and definitely has the doctor scratching his head, but he  will have it together tomorrow.  The orthopedists are happy with how everything looks.  The endocrinologists are happy about her glucose levels and are confident she will be on oral medication when the infection is done with.  She is feeling good, walking well and the shoulder is not causing much pain.

I'm heading home tonight and will work tomorrow and after my church meeting Wednesday night I'll head up to the Hutchins' and then come over to the hospital on Thursday to pick her up.  Right now that's the plan, we know it could change, but would certainly like it to happen like this.

Above are pictures of the scarf that a high school friend sent and a picture of the shoulder

Hospital Update 5/9

Here is a link to pictures of the hospital room, the line in her shoulder, and the suction device that is constantly running to get the "bad stuff" out of her shoulder. All is well we are just waiting now until Monday when the line is removed.

http://gallery.me.com/kohl/#100053

Surgery 5/7

The surgery was completed at about 5:30 PM.  I met with Dr. Smiley.  He took out a minimal amount of bone.  They did some repair of the rotator cuff.  There will be a follow-up surgery on Monday and she will need to be in the hospital until at least Tuesday.  I have seen her twice this evening and she is doing well.  On the last visit we got to talk with the doctor that assisted Dr. Smiley.  He felt that it went well. They took tissue samples and are culturing them and if they find anything unexpected they will address it during the Monday surgery.  I am staying at the Hutchins' home in Belmont right next to the temple which is about 15 minutes from the hospital so I will be well rested.

MaryAnn Status 5/4

We went to the Lahey Clinic in Peabody this morning and met with Dr. Paul Smiley.  He agrees that surgery is needed and is now scheduled for Thursday (5/7) in the Burlington facility. He knows that some bone will have to be removed, but until he gets in there he does not know how aggressive they will have to be.  Right now our focus is on eliminating the source of infection and he agrees with that.  How much bone they have to remove will obviously determine what degree of reconstructive surgery will be required, but that is in the future.

We probably will be heading up early Thursday morning, but we'll know the time  for sure on Wednesday. She could be home as early as Saturday depending on how things go.   It was a very efficient morning up there.  We left home at 8:20 and were home by 2:20

MaryAnn Status 5/3

Well, it didn't work out quite the way we hoped it would, but we're moving forward.  Lahey Clinic would not accept her for a hospital to hospital transfer, so she will have to go in for an outpatient checkup and then be admitted.  She was released from Newport Hospital Friday morning with a new antibiotic treatment regimen and we have an appointment on Monday with Dr. Smiley at the Lahey Clinic.  Hopefully they will examine her and decide to admit her then.  We had a nice weekend at home and are ready for a busy week.  She received a priesthood blessing from myself and our home teacher so we are moving forward in faith.   I will update the status after we meet with the Lahey folks.

MaryAnn Status 4/29

Well we're moving ahead.  Today we continued  to push toget her moved to Lahey Clinic (Burlington, MA (north of Boston), which hopefully will take place tomorrow.  There are bureaucracies that have to be waded through in making things happen, but we see movement.  The MRI confirmed what we have suspected which is that the bone infection is getting worse.  Knowing that she will soon be seeing professionals that lead their field makes us feel better.  That being said we are grateful for the local doctors  - they worked hard and did the best they could and they are totally on board with her going to Lahey.

We did get some good news today that the C-peptide test that she recently had shows that her body is producing lots of insulin, so that once the infection is gone she should be able to be on oral medication or perhaps just on diet.

She continues to be of good cheer and is grateful for the phone calls.

I don't know exactly when we will be going up there.  I will endeavor to get an update out tomorrow.

MaryAnn Status 4/28

Today was just gathering data.  She had an MRI of the shoulder which is key to determining how the bone infection looks.  We had a discussion with the orthopedist on treatment options if the bone infection has gotten worse.  The technical term for a bone infection is Osteomyelitis and it doesn't always respond well to antibiotics.  Surgery may well be the only option and if it has to happen we will not have this done in Newport.  We are working through Susan Moran Mathieu to get her into the Lahey Clinic in the Boston area.  I know surgery doesn't sound great, but having a chronic infection is not good.  We should have a pretty good idea by the end of tomorrow as to what will be done.

MaryAnn Back in the Hospital 4/27

Two steps forward, one back.  After a bout with fever on Sunday afternoon and another one today we made a decision to bring her to the emergency room and they decided to admit her.  It is clearly a problem with the infection.  I am coming to realize that it is not an easy thing to get this right.  The last time she was in they put her on Vancomycin and that is what they have done this time.  Clearly they have to come up with an antibiotic that will work better for maintenance at home, otherwise she is going to be in the hospital every week.   Hopefully this will be a short stay and the third time will be the charm.  Prior to the fever she was doing really well.

MaryAnn Status Is Home

MaryAnn got home on Sunday and is doing well.  

MaryAnn Status 4/16

Things are going fairly well.  I need to correct what I said about what the orthopedist found.  The pus had accumulated since the first procedure.  He cleaned out the same area the first time and there was no accumulation there, so clearly there was a change for the worse this time.  The infection was definitely not in the shoulder joint.  The main work now is clearing up the infection.  They are referring to this now as a "wound infection" and are treating her with antibiotics Cefazolin and Vancomycin, which are specifically for that type of infection.  

She may have the followup shoulder surgery tomorrow to remove the packing material.  I'll report on that tomorrow.

MaryAnn Back in the Hospital

Well, here we are again doing something I hoped we wouldn't have to, but it looks like it's all good.  She had the shoulder surgery at about 5:00 this afternoon.  The procedure went well.  He found a pocket of pus that he had missed the first time that definitely was causing a good part of her shoulder problem.  She got back to her room at about 7:30 and had a good dinner. There are some good things that will come out of this.  The infection status will be evaluated and they will see if the antibiotic she is on is doing the job and also they are playing with her insulin dosage to see if she can get along with less.

The one down note after the surgery is that he put in some absorbent material in the cavity where the pus was found and he will have to go back in and remove that probably on Friday. As you know I'm terrible on predicting discharge dates, but I don't think it will be before Monday.

MaryAnn is Home

MaryAnn arrived home early this afternoon.  We both got a course in administering her IV antibiotics.  This could be going on for up to 30 days so we need to get into a routine.  She is pretty tired as you might guess, but very glad to be home.

MaryAnn Status 3/31

Well the time has finally come!!  She's coming home tomorrow.  We're not totally sure of the exact time, but it will probably be later morning or early afternoon.  Obviously she's in sufficiently good shape to be home.  I have been working to get things ready.  For local folks we'll be in touch about help needed.

I am going to stop the daily updates unless something significantly changes.

Hopefully MaryAnn will be able to personally do the next update

MaryAnn Status 3/29

Progress is being made.  Her doctor told her that her white blood cell count was 13000 yesterday - a drop of 2000!  If that trend continues it is good news indeed.  I'm sure the infectious disease doctor will weigh in on Monday.  Our Aaronic Priesthood youth came and gave her the sacrament today.  She certainly appreciated that.  She had another workout from the physical therapist and is making progress there.  Her spirits are great.  She had quite a bit of company today.

Tomorrow should be a day with lots of information and potential decisions.

MaryAnn Status 3/28

We saw two of her three doctors today.  Her internist is concerned that the antibiotic that she is on is not doing the job they would like, so they will probably switch her to a different one. She still runs a low temperature occasionally.  The orthopedist looked at her shoulder and noted that she is healing well from the surgery and the swelling is less.  She continues to walk and do her right shoulder exercises.  Her movements seem to be definitely improving.  She really enjoys phone calls  so take a few minutes and call.

I am going to stop predicting departure days.  When I get told she is going home tomorrow I'll let everyone know.

MaryAnn Status 3/27

Things went well today.  The doctor came in and removed the drain and talked to us for a while.  Everything still looked good.  He feels that it will just take time for the antibiotics to work. He gave an order for her to start physical therapy and that started today.  She did various motions with her right arm for about 10 minutes, which she was able to do without a lot of pain. That will go on every day.  She also went walking for a while today.  The main thing that seems to be keeping her from being discharged is high white blood cell count.  It is still hanging around 15,000 (less than 10,000 is considered normal).  They want the count to start going down which it hasn't yet.  Right now I think the earliest day she could go home is Tuesday.

MaryAnn Status 3/26

The surgery happened today, rather late.  She actually got back into her room at about 7:30.  However, she had a great appetite and ate most of her dinner.  I talked with the surgeon a little while ago and he said everything went as expected.  He cleaned out the shoulder and found a small amount of cloudy liquid, but no pus deposits and no evidence of anything that would require orthopedic surgery.  He put in a drain as planned, which he will take out tomorrow.  She will have her arm in a sling for the next few days, but that is somewhat academic as she had very little use of the right arm anyway.  Physical therapy will start in a few days.  As I've said before the IV antibiotics will go on for quite a while and everyone feels that eventually that will fix the joint problems.  I think we're getting close to discharge, but we'll know better tomorrow.

MaryAnn Status 3/25

This is what the PICC line looks like.  

Decisions are being made!!  She got a CT scan on her hip today, which did not show anything.  However, finally something is going to be done on the shoulder.  After consultations with some orthopedists in Providence and Boston the medical team decided on a procedure to make an incision in the shoulder and go in to inspect it and clean it and to put in a drain.  If there is anything that indicates that something is seriously wrong she will go somewhere else for surgery.  She will be put under light anesthesia for it, but it's a pretty minor surgery that will provide information to determine how to move forward.  In the best case the procedure itself will make things significantly better.  In the worst case they will know exactly what is going on there and will be able to inform surgeons in either Providence or Boston.  The doctors are hoping the procedure will be done Thursday morning.   Her glucose levels continue to go up and down and probably won't be steady until the infection is totally gone.

MaryAnn Status 3/24

Well we learned a bit more today.  The MRIs came back negative.  So far the culture from her shoulder is negative also, but they will keep that going another day.  She thinks that the joints have improved a little bit.  Tomorrow we're going to start walking the halls a couple times a day.  The joint pain may be the way it will have to be for a while until the antibiotics have finished doing their thing.  Unless the orthopedist comes up with something I think we're going to push for getting home by the end of the week.  Her glucose levels do need to be stabilized a bit more before she can come home.

MaryAnn Update 3/23

Today was a tiring day for her.  The orthopedist came in and poked into her shoulder and looked for pus to drain, but found none, but it was still pretty painful.  Later on in the afternoon they did an MRI on both the shoulder and hip which lasted for about 2 hours.  Still through all that she is still cheerful and has a good attitude.  

I have no idea now as to what is going to happen next and when she might be going home.  Obviously the orthopedist needs to look at the MRI results.  He will be looking at the bones to determine if there is infection there.  That probably wouldn't be good.  So we shall hopefully know more tomorrow.

MaryAnn Update 3/21 and 3/22

Here are the last couple days of news

3/22

Today was another good day.  She really enjoyed getting phone calls.  Elder Wood called which was nice.  We got another bit of medical news today.  The internist stopped by and mentioned that the echo cardiogram that was done on Friday revealed that she has a dilated aorta.  This is one of those "watch items" that can get worse and when it does it becomes an aneurism.  She is on a beta blocker which keeps her blood pressure down and will minimize the danger from this.  This has absolutely nothing to do with the infection or blood sugar, but probably has been present for a long time.  We look at this as a "tender mercy"  that gives us a heads up that we never would have had if she had not been hospitalized.

They will probably be draining pus from her shoulder tomorrow.  if that does not help they may have to do some type of surgery on it.

We expect that the next few days will be full of information and training on what we will need to do when she goes home.

3/21

Today was a big day.  She has moved to a regular room!! She is quite tired because she was sitting up most of the day waiting for a room to open up.  They didn't move her until about 7:15 PM.  She started eating solid food today.  As you might suspect it is a low-carb, low-sugar diet, but she was quite happy to have it.  The surgeon that removed the gallbladder came in and checked her out and removed the drain.  She has had no discomfort or complications from the surgery.  The shoulder and hip are definitely infected.  They are saying that she will have to have IV antibiotics for another 4 weeks, so that obviously means that we will be doing it at home.  The focus over the next few days will be on getting her ready to go home.  They stopped the insulin drip and started with injections.  That will require adjustments to get the right amounts. 

MaryAnn Hospital History

For those that don't know MaryAnn has been in the hospital since Wed. March 18.  Here are the status e-mails that I have been sending to the family:

3/20

She continues to do well.  She has had no problems whatsoever in recovering from the gallbladder surgery, in fact the nurse reported that she slept very soundly last night.  She had her first hospital food today (broth, jello and herb tea), nothing to get excited about, but she wolfed down every bit of it.  Her last real food was on Tuesday.  The doctors were concerned about the heart getting infected so they did an echo cardiogram and that looked good - no hint of infection.  The orthopedist took tissue samples from her shoulder so hopefully they can get to the bottom of what is causing that problem.  She also had a PICC line inserted today.  For the non-medical types this is basically a semi-permanent IV line.  It is easier on MaryAnn and easier on the staff.  No more sticking her to put in yet another IV.

I do want to clarify something about her glucose levels.  They are down to normal levels, but that is because she continues to get an insulin drip.  Until they get the infection eliminated and determine what the pancreas is doing they do not know what type of diabetes she has and what treatment will be required.   They are proceeding one step at a time.  There is a lot that has to happen before she can get home.

3/19

The big item today was that she was operated on to remove her gallbladder.  This was done at about 6:30 tonight.  Earlier today they did a test where they found that the gallbladder was "dead" and was considered a definite possibility of causing the infection.  The operation was successful and I saw her at about 8:30.  She was fairly groggy, but doing well.  The surgeon said the gallbladder was definitely infected.  Her sugar level was down to about 120 so that is good.  She will definitely be in ICU through Friday.  Tomorrow an orthopedist should be taking samples from her shoulder and hip to find out what exactly is going on there.  The "jigsaw puzzle" pieces are coming into place so hopefully by tomorrow we'll have yet more info.  By the way I'm doing fine.  I had a nice dinner at the Mellos tonight and will be eating at the Baileys tomorrow and of course I'm working.

3/18

Some of you have probably heard, but I wanted to send a note out to everybody that Mom/Memere/MaryAnn is in Newport Hospital right now. She has been having severe joint pain for the last few days and today was much worse so after a visit to the doctor it was decided to send her  to the emergency room.  The main finding is very high blood sugar (over 600) along with an infection that they are still looking at.  Right now she is in the ICU and resting comfortably.  They are giving her insulin and antibiotics by IV.  They wanted her in ICU to ensure that they could watch everything very closely.  I'm sure that she will be in the hospital for at least Thursday.  I'll keep everyone informed after I see her tomorrow.

The feet January 10 2009

Twas the week of the feet.  Linda Hallen on the left with a newly broken foot, the called it a Jones fracture.   the little bone that goes to the little toe.   She will be off of it for 6 to 8 weeks.  It might need surgery if it doesn't heal, and there is poor circulation in that area.    The foot on the right is Gary's with a week old sprain.   It is beginning to look much better.     More nasty pictures will follow.

Gary sitting in the lanai at the hallen's.   A lanai is a screened room.   Was so nice to sit out there even when it wasn't too warm.

First day in Florida.   Doesn't it look pretty.
Here it is again the next morning   it is really starting to bloom.   He is walking just fine on it now, and the color has returned to normal.

Here is Linda just sitting and enjoying an ice cream sundae the night after she broke the foot.  The other knee was hurt as she fell on one of those cement things in the parking lot.  

Our time with Spencer and family-1/1/09

Here are two of the goats, there are now four more.  A buck, a wether and 2 more does.   Hopefully hey are now expecting and there will be kids in the spring.

I think I got the last picture of the ducks,   they are no more.   They were dirty and ate a lot
Ahhh finally the kidlets,  Here is our Jolly Xavier,  he is so much fun, always happy



oops, forgot to get the red eye out.   

When we first arrived at Spencer's we went out to look at the animals, and as we were walking down a hill, Elizabeth slipped and slid down the hill.  Then Gary took his turn going down,   he slipped and twisted and sprained his ankle.  Couldn't have been too bad as he walked back to the house.   I, remembering my knee the year before at Gordons, promptly sat down and slid down the hill on my bottom.  Figured one injured person was enough for one family.

Here we all are, well some of us don't show in the picture, opening presents.   Meredith is very serious about seeing what is in her package.

Xavier looks half asleep here, think he had just gotten  up from his nap.   He is such a happy baby that we consider the J for his middle initial must be short for Jolly.   He is always laughing.

We had a great visit, Gary kept his foot up and iced, but it still turned purple and ugly. We had actually considered going back north at this point, but then finally decided that a couple of weeks in the warm would probably be helpful, so we continued on to the south lands.

New Year's Eve in DC

Here we are on New Years Eve during the VERY early morning driving with Jared and Stef to the train station to take the train into Washington DC to view the exhibit on Pompei.   It was a great show.  Amazing how those people lived.   For this picture we were heading east right into the sunrise.   It was certainly beautiful, almost made me glad that i got up that early.

The first thing we saw when we got into the city was the Washington Monument.  Beautiful clouds,  

to bad we didn't get up early enough to get the sunrise in Washington

We turned around to see the capitol building.  and the grass on the mall.   Was a very pretty morning,  to bad it was almost at freezing, and there was a strong wind blowing the whole day.  Oh well, we are thinking of a return trip in the spring or fall when the weather is nicer.   Will probably take one of those tour busses that you can get on and off wherever you want.   See all the sights and not have to walk.

We went over to the Smithsonian building where there was a beautiful Christmas tree right in the middle of the main building.   This was the only place that was open when we arrived.   Was nice to be in out of the cold with a bathroom, and a place to buy Hot Chocolate.  There were also exhibits here also.  

This waterfall was inside one of the art galleries where we saw the Pompeii exhibit.  The water came from outside and was behind a glass wall.   I could have watched it all day, it kept changing.  Note the next couple of pictures of the waterfall

This is a picture of Winfield Scott, I like the way the reflection looks.  He was displayed in a plexiglass box 

This was a cowboy right outside the museum.   It reminded me of the cute christmas ornament we received form those folk in New Mexico.  

 This picture of a house is an optical illusion it is hard to tell if you are looking at an outside corner, or an inside one.   Keeps flipping before your eyes.  it even dose  it in the photograph.  But not as much as it did in person. 

Another interesting  sculpture,  they were all over the place.  Even on a cloudy day it was interesting,  I would have like to have seen it in the sunshine.  The shadows would have been even more interesting.

And finally the train we took getting home.  We were all so tired we almost fell asleep on the ride back to where our cars were parked.   We had to drive slowly because the train in front of on the tracks was having some issues, but once we got going we made good time.   Havin a great time on our trip.

Christmas in Greenfield

After we left Vermont we drove south to Greenfield and Leanne's house.   Edward was at work so we didn't see him, but we saw everyone else/  Ben and Jenn and Hannah and their new dog Maggie all came for Brunch.   Was nice to see all of them.   

This is the little Creche that Gary's mother had all these years.  I tried out my real close focus and think the picture came out quite well.   It really looks deep.   I had never noticed that before.   Dottie always had fake snow around it.   Leanne put green leafy branches around it.   Much better than the snow which probably doesn't happen in Bethlehem, especially when the sheep are out in the fields in April.    So we all think it looks much better, and more realistic with the green leaves.
A shot of one of Leannes Village houses.
After feeling compelled  to go places on Christmas morning and finally deciding that they would be staying home Leanne has decided that she will keep her pajamas on all day on Christmas, and she did.   Here we all are out on a walk on Christmas afternoon.   That is Jenn on the left, then Leanne, and then Rachel on the right.   The rest of us were there, but in back of the camera person.
And finally Maggie, with the Big Stick.   It was far longer than she was, but she insisted on carrying it with her on our walk. 

Merry Christmas in Vermont-12/25/08

We had a delightful time in Vermont with Gordon and Carrie and Geoffrey and Ron and Gabriel.   We arrived on Christmas eve and had a nice dinner then went off to a Christmas eve service at their church.  We sang lots of Christmas Carols and heard Christmas reading.   When we returned home we got the little guy to bed and then as all parents and grandparents do, we wrapped Christmas presents.   I remember the first time I was allowed to stay up and wrap gifts for Hank.   I felt so grown up.   We were living on Holyoke street at the time, so I must have been in 7th or 8th grade.   We even played with some of the toys.   One of the toys was a target that one held on their left hand and a dart type ball with a suction cup on it.   It was lots of fun.   Enough for the past,   on to this year.

Christmas Morning and the tree that Gordon hiked out into the woods to get.  He chopped it down and brought it home.  Geoffrey has had a good time rearranging the ornaments.  We had to wait for Geoffrey to wake up  I think you need at least two children for them to get up early on Christmas morning.   We heard some noises from downstairs and figured that he was coming up.   And boy did he come up wearing only one sock.   Gordon was close behind carrying a diaper and some clothing.   I didn't take a picture.   He did get excited when he saw all the wrapped presents under the tree.   He was eager to give us the things for us.   We got a lovely collage of pictures of all the children and grandchildren that Carrie put together.   Thank you everyone for sending pictures.
Gordon and Geoffrey opening their stockings  M&M's were a hit
There he is  Christmas Boy

Geoffrey and Ron opening a gift.

Finger Crayons from Leanne.   He sure was having a good time with them. 
Geoffrey and Papa opening the Thomas sheets that we gave him We still haven't seen the bedroom all done up with the train theme.
Gordon and Carrie are looking a little sleepy, must have been a long night.
Carrie and Geoffrey having a little snack while he was taking a break in opening his presents.

Here he is playing with his Thomas stuff.   

Snow in Rhode Island - 12/19/08

The tree is the Lindon on the far side of the driveway.   This was before Christmas.

This , obviously isn't from Florida.   This was our big snow storm that we had before Christmas When we left to go to Vermont before Christmas the snow was this deep.  The picture was taken from the back door.   When we returned from All our Christmas travel we were down to almost green grass.  We measured the snow, and it was about 13 inches.

Lorraine's Birthday bash - 12/13/08

This was the time of the big Birthday bash  Many people attended, there were friends and family, and of course the Birthday girl herself.   We didn't get pictures of everyone, and some that we did get didn't come out as well as I would have liked, but a good time was had by all

First we have Evvy and Jack Russell, they have been friends of the Mathieu's for as long as I can remember.

Then Elaine Mathieu Mandeville.   Elaine is the daughter of Henry's Brother Gene.   She drove in from Milton Mass for the big event.   Not pictured is her sister Barbara who arrived a bit later, actually after Henry and Lorraine had left for home.   She drove over to Easthampton for a visit.

Ricky and his girlfriend Janet were there,   Ricky is the brother of Elaine and Barbara.   The other sister, Nancy was not able to attend, she had a cold and didn't think it would make a great birthday gift.   We are thankful  that she didn't share.  

Hank, was of course there, as it was his house.  I missed taking pictures of Gary who was there and Hanks kids,   you can see the three of them in an earlier post.   I was holding the camera and Susan, if you look closely was holding the cake   you can see her hands underneath.   

And finally Lorraine Mathieu   Happy Birthday Mom

Thanksgiving2008

we went to Easthampton to celebrate my mothers birthday.  Got a good picture of Cam and gregg and Olivia wrestling on the couch.  

Here is a picture of our blow up manger scene looks like the light is out on the left hand side.   oh well, better luck next year 

This is a picture of Laselette shrine all lit up for Christmas.   We stopped on the way to bring Adam and Jessie to the airport.   The lights were quite pretty and then we saw some

Swans

Then before we left home i got a good picture of Gus sitting with our stuffed animals