2009 in review

2009 was a year of service and visiting with family and friends. Polly and I have become great friends through the service she has needed. Thank you Rose for introducing this need to me!! This is a mutully beneficial relationship, because I learn more about long term care as the diabetes progresses, and I get a fun companion to go to lunch and shop with at least once a month!! Also, Susan and I have been making baby quilts to be given from Relief Society to new mother's. What a pleasure it is to get to know this lovey daughter of God who is a great moral support to me and I hope in some way I have been to her as well. She has cared for her husband's aging parents for the past 8years! What a great example she has been to so many in our ward and stake!!!

February brought a blessing in disguise, a car crash on the way home from visiting with Tommy and Cherie. Both the back and front bumpers already had some minor damage to them, but the accident required they both be replaced. Wala, the car looks like new again, and only cost us $500!!! Not that we wanted to spend the money on that... Oh well, could have been worse, no injuries to the occupents, not even a bruise!! The Lord definitely was watching over us!!!

May brought our family's first Masters Degree Graduate!! Congratulations Elaine!!! To celebrate this milestone, we drove to Utah and had a deligltful time at the ceremony and eating with friends and family afterwards! This trip also gave us opportunity to visit with Trina's family, tour the house they wanted to buy, and renew our bonds with Gabe and Sam!! Such delightful boys!! In addition, we were afforded the opportunity to visit Ann and see her pregnant and bond a bit with Alyson. What a cutie!! On the way home, we were able to stop in MO to visit my sister, Kolleen for a couple of days, then on to TN to visit Dave, Tom's brother, for a couple of days and then a quick stop at Joe's, another brother, in OH before the final drive home. Thank you everyone for allowing us to crash in your homes and interupt your daily rutines!!!

Unfortunately for Dad, the final drive home was not enjoyable, because of a broken tooth, which was in too much pain, sigh. It took several visits to the dentist and a specialist, but finally, tada, it is as good as new!!

The first of June brought much fun in the garden!!! All was going well until..... too much rain, mold, insects and slugs, argh. Not a total loss, there was much produce to eat during the summer and fall and some to process for Winter.


What a delightful summer we had!!! It started with traveling to VA to celebrate Mikes graduation and 18th birthday!! What fun we had preparing food, decorating, and partying with all their friends!! Thanks for allowing me to tag along!!



Then. Elaine came around the 4th of July. Tommy and Cherie stopped by on their way home from Va and left the 3 younger kids here so we went to watch the fireworks at Hiland Park. After Elaine, Dan and Matt helped Dad dig a French Drain along the back fence to relieve some of the water problem, we took the boys and went to Saratoga Springs to visit Tommy and Cherie at their house.



Finally the icing on the cake, an adventure to Rhode Island!!! Thank you Elaine for allowing me to accompany you on your adventures!!!!

HURRAY!! August 4th the solar cells started producing electricity!!!! It was a long year of preparation and instalation, but nice to see the watts build up and bring the NYSEG bill down!!!

Next came Trina, Gabe and Sam in August! I had so much fun getting to know the boys better and have them get to know our home and town even more!!!! Also, getting to "show them off" at the Siglin Reunion was a blast! Thank you Trina for the pleasure of the playground, pool and merry-go-round!! It's been too long.....

Tommy and Cherie met us at the Siglin Family reunion and came for a visit while Trina was here, so the cousins could have some time getting to know each other better as well! Thank you for putting up with the crowded conditions, so we could all have fun together!!!

In August, I was released from being a Seminary Teacher and called to be the First Counselor to the Stake Primary President. I must say it came with mixed emotions.... The Lord knows our deepest feelings and concerns. Mine were for the seminary students and their ability to learn from me after the difficulty we endured last spring. They have a delightful teacher this year and I have a wonderful President who is not demanding of my energy or time, both of which have been greatly needed and appreciated. This release gave me the time needed to dig the ditch to drain the downspout from the back of the house to the French Drain and sump pump to the water storage tank, which Dad installed for watering the garden. Not that we needed much watering this year..... but with the rising cost of water, this will come in handy in the future.

Tom and Uncle Mike have been attempting to make a trip to Erie to visit an old friend of the family, "Zerbie", who used to work closely with Grampa Siglin on the railroad. Interestingly, he is also the uncle of Aunt Patty! He volunteers as a docent at the light house there and is also good friends with one of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Such a small world! We may have to wait till spring now that the bad weather has set in.

Fall brought a renewed commitment to attend the Palmyra Temple monthly with the Relief Society Sisters from our ward. What a joy it has been to get to know each of those with whom I've ridden with or driven. Thank you everyone, especially Linda Burkhalter, for making these events spiritual and uplifting!!! What a gift it is to have the fulness of the Gospel in our lives!!!

Also, Fall brought a much needed opportunity to attend the Lunch Bunch once a month and spend time with many lovely sisters from our Ward, as we chat about just about anything. We are of a "mature age" so can laugh, joke and cry about the situations we each find ourselves in. Because of the accumulative well-spring of experience our group brings together, we can be of significant help, when one of us needs perspective, advice or just a pat of reassurance on the back. Relief Society is a fantastic sisterhood!!!

Tommy's last child turned 8 in April and wanted her oldest brother, who had lived at some friends in VA for his senior year of school, to be in attendance for her baptism, so she waited till he was eventually installed back in the family home. Then there were grandparents schedules to consider. Finally, the baptism went off on a Saturday in the fall. Not written on the calendar or the talk on baptism I gave for her. I'm not a good secretary. :>( Thank you Becca for requesting that I speak at this special and important event in your life!!

At her insistance, Thanksgiving Dinner was put on almost entirely by Gramma Ford on Sunday before Thanksgiving Day!!! I took pies, squash and cranberry/orange relish. We had a lovely time, but I was much concerned for her health doing so much cooking and lifting, so insisted that I do the same for Christmas and brought it to her home. She was greatly surprised when she saw the computer come in and Tom setting it up in her room!!! Then when we told her that the e-mail service was paid for for an entire year, she was speachless. :>)

For our anniversary, which fell on Thanksgiving Day this year, we took a trip to the Toronto Temple, stayed in a nice hotel ate at Dad's favorite Chineese Buffet and had a pleseant drive there and home, even at the border crossing to return to the US!!!! Thank you Tom for the much needed R&R!!

What would I do without Elaine and Trina to keep me focused and informed as to what would make the best gifts for each other as well as helping with the purchase and distribution of said gifts to those far away. Thanks to my special helpers, Christmas has been so much fun!!!

A close friend's son, Abrahm Freeman ,11yrs old, was diagnosed with Rabdomyosarcoma a rare form of children's cancer and has been battling the tumors for the past 3 weeks. Kelsey, his sister and I changed bedrooms around, so Abe will be nearer his parents bedroom for easier care when he is able to come home. This is the same cancer my nephew, Justin, died from..... Why does it have to happen to innocent children????? I realize that everyone has lessons to learn and some of us learn them quicker or earlier in life, but this does not take away the difficulty of seeing others, especially children, suffer and not be able to stop it. Suffering does give us opportunities to serve others though. I'm debating how much more I should/can do for this family. Kelsey and Jacob need stability, but we live so far from their school and activities. Do I have the stamina to deal with all it would take to accept this challenge?????

For Christmas, Kolleen and I got Mom a new computer and e-mail service, which she promptly got frustrated over when she forgot to turn on the monitor, oops. Now she is leaving it on so as not to have any more problems. We will be going to visit sometime soon to install more memory and to check out the monitor and see if it needs to be replaced or if Tom can fix it. I sent her an e-mail but have not heard from her yet. Waiting......

When Zach seemed no longer in danger, Cherie drove straight down for her friend's party on Saturday afternoon after Christmas, then dropped the 3 youngest children off here for bed around 11pm. Zach and Tommy were still at the hospital. Zach had become dehydrated from throwing up for a couple of days, and had tremendous pain in his abdomen, which was finally resolved after much re-hydration from an IV, pain meds, and walking. The doctors said that there was an obstruction either from scar tissue from his appendectomy or a twist in the intestines from the solid hour of wrenching vomiting he had done. He was released on Sunday about noon and they arrived here around 5:30pm.

Sunday after Tommy arrived, we had dinner, opened Christmas and birthday presents, and ate cake for Matt's birthday. That evening, Tommy was up ALL NIGHT with Dan, Matt and Mike throwing up, and Zach having pain in his abdomen again.

Monday afternoon Cherie, Zach and Becca left for home around 2:30pm after Dan throw up again, and got a father's blessing. Tommy left here around 7pm with Dan, Matt and Mike and arrived home around 10pm with no problems with the boys stomachs.

Starting the week before Christmas till 11pm New Years night, Zach, had been dealing with this problem in his intestines, which resulted in surgery on New Year's night to remove a ring of scar tissue (grown after an appendectomy about 2 years ago). It was strangling his bowel. Strangeness.... Most likely the bowel twisted into it, when he was wrenching from vomiting caused by a virus the week before Christmas. Anyway, he is on the mend now, whew!! I was a bit nervous with the surgery being preformed so late and the doctor tired, but all's well that ends well! The Saratoga Springs Ward bishop came and helped Tommy give him a blessing before the surgery. Interesting, that the Bishop called at that time. He didn't even know that Zach was in the hospital again. He had called to give Cherie a new calling. The Lord works in wondrous ways!!