Bridal Show

We would like to give a big shout out to Pam at Alicia's Bridal Shop and The Formal House.  They are hosting another Bridal Expo on January 5.  Here's a link to their website: www.bridalinspirationsexpo.com

Les had delivered to Alicia's Bridal for many years and has a great relationship with the owners, Pam and Mark.  When our daughter got married, we did all our wedding "stuff" with Alicia's and had such a great experience with Mark, Pam and Gretchen.

Every year in January they host a Bridal Expo.  In the past, Les has been known to model tuxes at these shows.  Our daughter also modeled one year.  Such fun!  This year, Pam called and asked Les if they could designate some of the proceeds to him personally, or some other charity of Les' choosing.  Les was overwhelmed with this gracious offer!  We decided to use the ALS Evergreen Chapter as the designated charity, in honor of Les.  So that is what Alicia's Bridal is doing.

If you or ANYONE you know is getting married or thinking about getting married, please consider attending this show.  They do such a great job and it is so much fun.

Christmas!

We can hardly believe Christmas is over already!  The time flew by this month!  The week before Christmas Les was kinda down, and he said it was hard seeing the brown trucks go by.  He was missing working.  EVEN THOUGH it was the biggest peak ever and the drivers were having very LONG days!  Les kept busy all month, but still missed going to work.  On Christmas Eve day we were out running a few errands and planned on going to the 4:00 Christmas Eve service (Les in the past usually missed all services) and Les said "wow, it's really nice being able to enjoy Christmas Eve like this!"  I guess he still has mixed feelings :)

 When Les was finished working a month or so ago, he had decided he wanted to bring the UPS drivers breakfast on Christmas Eve morning.  He made his plans, decided on breakfast burritos (one of our family favorites).  He has breakfast every Friday morning at Fairway Cafe so mentioned it to his friend Rose.  She offered to let him borrow some warming trays.  Then he sat down with her and started talking about cooking all this food, and they decided Rose would cook it instead.  Worked for me!!  Christmas Eve morning he was up and out of the house early, picked up all the cooked food from Rose, and delivered it to UPS.  The elves there had set up tables and brought drinks, plates, etc.  Les thoroughly enjoyed doing this - he knows what a long month December can be - and I'm pretty sure all the drivers appreciated it!

Christmas morning is when we celebrate with our kids.  They go to the "other side" on Christmas Eve.  Our morning got a bit of a later start than normal due to a certain new baby in the family.  Les and my dad had a prime rib "cook off".  Dad baked his and Les grilled his on the rotissire.  We had a dinner around 2 and my nephew Derek and girlfriend Meghan joined us.  We all decided BOTH meats were delicious.

We pray that you truly enjoyed Christmas.  Our Christmas was a little bit slower paced and we enjoyed that so much.   Jesus is the reason for the season, and to make it anything else is not what He wanted when He was born on this earth.  We also pray that you have the love of Jesus in your hearts.
 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth"  John 1:14

Reality

SO, we are trying to settle into our new reality.  Having Les home is like when he sometimes would take a week off and I kept working.  That's not TOO out of the normal....except for the fact that it won't ever end...... Ha!  I work a lot from my home office, but it's hard to stay at the computer when Les is rattling around the house.  We are trying to figure out some sort of a schedule.......but that's pretty impossible this time of year.  He keeps having friends pop over for coffee, etc. and I of course don't want to miss out!  For the record, Les has been very good about helping out with whatever I ask him to do.  I haven't been to the grocery store for awhile and can't say I miss that! I have realized that I was pretty stuck on my little routine (gettin old ya know!) and I am having to learn to go with the flow a little more.....

We were offered several nights at a condo in Victoria last week, so we decided we couldn't pass that up.  We took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Vancouver Island.  Those are some nice ferries, eh! (which they should be at the price we paid......)  We had a great view of the harbor pretty close to the Empress Hotel.

We had a very quiet, relaxing long weekend.  It was COLD! but clear and so beautiful.  We did quite a bit of walking and exploring and reading.

Les' voice continues to weaken - well actually his tongue continues to weaken which greatly affects his speech.  Last night he was playing around with some voice apps on the iPad.  We have someone from church who has a connection to a voice box of some sort that we can borrow.  He will try these out before our next appointment with Dr. Weiss.  Les is also having a harder time swallowing, and has more saliva collecting in his mouth.  He is still eating great, but takes him longer to eat. We were both pretty discouraged last week, but this week is better again.  We have been so hopeful that his progression would be slow.  And maybe this is still considered slow, but I guess none of that matters.  What matters is our reality, and we don't like it!  It's hard to stay positive sometimes.  Les is starting a new supplement program called the Deanna Protocal.  He heard about it from Oliver, the ALS support guy who visited awhile back.  Our Dr. Weiss said go for it, with some modifications, so we are.  In a nut shell, the supplements are supposed to protect the nerve endings and slow the damage.  We figured it can't hurt.......

Last weekend we both read a book given to us by my Iowa bestie, Nancy.  The book was written by a young man with melanoma cancer and tracks his journey.  The first few chapters were right-on as to our feelings dealing with a terminal illness.  This man had so much faith and such a strong relationship with Jesus...it was inspiring and yet humbling because we feel we have so much growth to get to that point!

We covet your prayers - we feel them when you are praying.  We are asking for the disease to slow; we are asking that Les stays mobile even if/when he loses his voice; we are asking for joyful attitudes and continued growth in our relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Thanksgiving!

I received a copy of "Jesus Calling" a month or so ago from my dear friend Lu. These past few weeks have focused on being thankful no matter your circumstances and wow have those words had special meaning for us.  "This is the day that I have made! As you rejoice in this day of life, it will yield up to you precious gifts... Walk with Me along the high road of thanksgiving and you will find all the delights I have made ready for you.  How precious are My children who remember to thank Me at all times.  They can walk through the darkest days with Joy in their hearts because they know that the Light of My Presence is still shining on them.  REJOICE IN THIS DAY THAT I HAVE MADE, for I am your steadfast Companion." 
Psalm 118:24

We surprised Les on Saturday evening - a birthday/retirement combo surprise. I may have told a teensie lie that afternoon when he asked if there were any surprises coming...... THANKS to our kids and our friends who helped us celebrate!  We had a great time together and Les was very honored.  We are blessed with great people in our lives!!

This little peanut will be having her own little peanut soon. We are so excited to be grandpa and grandma!  We are very thankful for God's special timing with this baby. 

Brrr, it's cold outside!  Les isn't too sad about not working this COLD week!  His driver friend Ed stopped by the other day for coffee and filled him in on what's going on in the world of brown.   Don't think Les is missing too much!!