Silly Kids

The kids in our family sure are silly.  For example:

Collin blinding himself with his new mouse.

Hunter bowing.

Hunter trying to do a pull up (and Debbie giving him a boost).

Tausha spinning and spinning under the Christmas tree at the Capitol building to make herself dizzy.

Corryn and Ethan exploring Grandpa Bob and Grandma Katherine's house.

Ethan found a treasure box.  He then put the PT Cruiser toy car that Grandpa Bob gave him in the "treasures" box.

Hunter explaining the rules of Settlers of Catan.

And finally, Ethan insisting on being tossed around in a laundry basket until Dad was tired, then he asked Mom and when Mom was tired he asked Nay Nay and when Ranee was tired he asked Grandpa Bob. And when Grandpa Bob declined, Ethan wanted to take the laundry basket home to Nana's, cause she wouldn't be too tired for sure.

Dad's Field Trip

One week post surgery, Dad went on a field trip...

...to Walmart.

He says he's healing well, he's sleeping to aid the healing and the Doctor says he can start walking next week. He's looking forward to being able to walk around the neighborhood - he says Katherine won't even let him walk to get the mail. Let's hope he listens to her, cause I couldn't stop him from walking to the mailbox the day he got home from the hospital. What was I going to do, ground him? He'd just sneak out like we did when we were grounded. ;)

I believe you have my stapler...

Dad's home from the hospital today...one day early. Yay!

The staples have all been removed. The doctor said his incisions are healing so well it's like he has the skin of a 30 year old.

The purple bruising...yeah, that's still there.

You know what's NOT still there? The cancer! The surgeon said that the cancer hadn't gone through the intestinal wall and was not in his lymph nodes. Hooray!

What time is it?

One thing Dad wants to know all the time is: what time is it? He's in and out of sleep quite a bit and never really knows what time it is. The one clock in his room was behind all of his IV equipment and every time we've been to see him, he's asked, multiple times, "what time is it?" He tried to put his watch on, but it wouldn't fit on his wrist due to the IV tubes stuck in there. So the nurses did Dad a solid and put a clock up on the bed across from his. Now all he has to do is look up and his need to know is satisfied. Clever nurses!

Since Dad will be in the hospital for a week, we brought him several things to try to keep him occupied. We didn't bring them to him soon enough though, apparently. Saturday night he kept getting out of bed (he said he was bored) - so much so that the nurses installed an alarm on his bed so they would be alerted if Dad decided to walk around without their assistance.

Here he is playing Trapt on a Tab and you can see the corner of Bobby's laptop on the bedside table - he's watching Inception (paused during our visit). Katherine brought his book and his mp3 players. Hopefully all of that will keep him occupied enough to stave off the boredom, but it's highly doubtful. If you're heading down Fort Street around 2 am on Tuesday or Wednesday night and see a man that looks like Grandpa Bob roaming around looking for something to do, it'll probably be him.

Dad's got a new colon

Dad got a new colon on Thursday (or at least part of one). There was a cancerous tumor about the size of a quarter on his colon that was removed, along with the surrounding lymph nodes.

The surgeon then took part of his large intestine and moved it to the area of his colon that was removed. So I guess he's got a new colon and shorter intestines.

He's been pretty groggy from the drugs and until today was in a lot of pain. (Was at an 8, now at a 1.) He's still a bit groggy and drifts in and out of sleep as you're talking to him, but he seems much more himself.

Lynda will have to tell you about the not-lollipop.

More updates to come.

December Cali Visit Part 3

Some of my favorite photos from the trip:

Dad, Kat, Kendra, Tyson and Molly by the Teacups. Molly LOVED the Teacups. She didn't ride them (only Katherine and Ranee did) but she LOVED the lanterns above the ride.

Tara and family in front of Haunted Mansion, all decked out for the Holidays. Haunted Mansion and Small World were the two "must do" rides for almost everyone at Disneyland, both having Christmas decorations incorporated into the rides.

While Tara, Jon and Corryn were riding Haunted Mansion, Ethan found a ramp and started running up and down it. Of course, he didn't mind all of the other people on the ramp at all, he just weaved in and out of them wherever he found an opening until he got to the bottom of the ramp, stopped and looked around for Ranee...who was apologizing to all of the people he was cutting off and she was running into trying to keep tabs on him. Half the people looked at her with disdain - who lets their kid run around in a crowd? (he's not my kid...that's how...I'm just concerned with making sure he doesn't bleed while in my care) and the other half just laughed and smiled that Ethan was having such a great time at the Happiest Place on Earth - jealous that he didn't have to wait in a long line for a ride to have fun...he was pleased as punch just to keep running up and down the ramp.

Above Ethan kindly points out the water he found...that kid loves water...and wheels (see above). The wheels above did not belong to his stroller, nor to the stoller of anyone we knew. Of course, that didn't stop him from playing with them - thanks, Random Stranger, for parking your stroller so Ethan could play with it.

December Cali Visit Part 1

Turns out that Ethan is infatuated with wheels. Ranee, Grandpa Bob and Grandma Katherine visited Tara and Jon and family earlier this month. Grandpa Bob on a trek of the Southwestern US, having spent a few days with Tyson, Kendra and Molly just prior, is apparently travelling the country visiting his great grandchildren. Lucky them!

Corryn chilling...but just seconds later she lost it (see Tara's blog for the photo taken 2 seconds after this one).

A neighborhood in Torrance goes ALL OUT with the Christmas lights. We spent several hours walking around, admiring them all and taking out of focus photos.

Ethan is not a fan of the Grinch. At such a young age even he knows that the guy is trying to steal Christmas.

Grandma Katherine meeting little Corryn for the first time.

Next up: Tyson and Kendra surprise us all and join us in Disneyland.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

About 1 Year Old

About 10 Years Old

About 19 Years Old

Dad and Aunt Nancy, summer of 2009

Dad and Katherine, June 2009

Happy 67th Birthday!! We Love You!!