A HAPPY NEW YEAR BABY !

This is Zander Justin Elwanger. He is our first Great Grandson born yesterday. Just made it for 2012 huh?
He weighs 8lb 2 oz and is 20 1/2 inches long. He is our second Great Grandchild. I am so blessed !
Isn't he so beautiful ?

Mommy, Daddy, Sister and Baby are all doing great!

A CHRISTMAS SURPRISE FOR MY HUSBAND

We were planning on another empty nest through Christmas since our children live in CA and Vegas but Saturday evening Alan's daughter and daughter in law and his grandchildren showed up! It was a surprise and made him very happy. He is not one to show emotion so much but I could tell it made his spirit wake up after such a long illness.

  

This is Riley and Alix his granddaughters

 

Their Mother Teri, his daughter in law

 

They all sat around and visited while Alan cooked his traditional latkes

  

 Alix is going to start college next year in Hawaii studying child development. She is an amazing young lady and we are so proud of her. 

  

Chase is 7 years old and the light of his Mothers eye.

 He got a motorized boat for Christmas and just had to get in the tub with it!

 The gifts were ready

 The latkes cooking in very hot oil

 Alan has cooked latkes for his family for many many years as did his Father before him

 It is quit a process. Peel and shred the potatoes and onion mix in the salt, flour and egg and heat the oil to almost boiling.
Cook until golden brown. put on paper towels to absorb the oil and then put them in the oven to keep warm while the rest are being cooked. The first cookie pan is always eaten before he even gets to the second batch but it is fun and they love them and so do I. It is all part of the day.

Alan was pooped but I think it is just what he needed. He is feeling better with each day that passes and he will have a chest Xray on Friday to see if the pneumonia is gone. I am praying. He is still pretty weak and gets tired easy but he tries to do something every day to get stronger.

This has been the wettest year since we have been in Coos Bay, OR. It is so wet and rainy and cold. I can't help but think it may be part of the reason my husband keeps getting pneumonia.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day. I missed my kids but got calls from all of them and I am looking forward to a trip out to see them with in the next year.

It was great to see Cathy, Teri, Chase, Alix and Riley. That really was a Christmas surprise.

Check Out Those Needles!

 My hubby saw the doctor today. Here he is with his two nurses, Kelsy and Danielle. His Temp was back up to 99.1. His blood work looks good and the X-Ray shows some improvement but he is having a lot of pain in his right side due to the pneumonia and deep coughing. Since his temp is slowly going back up the doctor prescribed Rosephine injections. The look on his face is like...You have got to be kidding me!"

Here are his nurses with the two injections ready to give them in the behind! They did it at the same time, one in each cheek. These girls are fantastic nurses and have been such a help with questions and reassurance when we call. They even took their lunch hours to go to the hospital and visit Alan. Dr Keller is a busy doctor so these two sweeties are a life saver for her and for us. I just had to take this picture because it was humorous to see not one but two nurses with injections and they did give them at the same time and yes the needles were that long (approx 2 inches).

Bend over honey!

Hopefully they can keep this terrible infection from growing again.

All I Want For Christmas

My entry for the Creative Souls Christmas Challenge. I call it "All I Want for Christmas"

Merry Christmas

I know I haven't been to active on my blog these past few months. My husband has been sick with pneumonia several times this year twice since October. He was critical and the pneumonia caused congestive heart failure. Then two weeks ago he was coughing up blood and they did a culture and found that the pneumonia was back in full force and worse than in Oct and it is a staph pneumonia which is very hard to treat. He was in the hospital for a week on two different antibiotics and medication to regulate his tacky heart rate of 150. He was poked and prodded with IV's blood tests, EKG, Cat Scan and Xrays.

Dec 14th was our 16th wedding anniversary and we spent it in the hospital. The kitchen staff made us a special meal of steak, broccoli, salad, bread and sherbert. They set a table in the dining room with a table cloth, a center piece, Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider in an ice bucket and wine glasses. This meant so much to me as my husband wanted to be home on this day. I will forever be grateful for what they did for us on our special day.

6 months ago I designed and ordered a wedding ring quilt for this anniversary. It was down to the wire on completion but it did get finished in time and was on our bed when he was released on Sunday afternoon.

 Here it is with the quilter Pamela Quilts and myself.

And here it is on our bed

My husband went to get a chest Xray today to see if the pneumonia is gone and it isn't. He sees the doctor tomorrow. If this doesn't clear up soon she will be transferring him to River Bend in Springfield where there are specialists because she says she has done all she knows to do for him. I am very worried for the simple fact that a body can only take so much and with his immune system being so weak due to his leukemia/lymphoma it is bound to happen over and over.

I am happy to have him home for the holidays and the good news is his daughter and three grandchildren are driving out on Saturday from CA. This will be good for him.

I am also happy to announce that my Etsy Shop Altered State of Tin www.alteredstateoftin.etsy.com , which I opened a year ago in December has done very well in the past year.

My First Great granddaughter turned two years old and I am expecting my first Great grandson in January. I have lots to be thankful for and am blessed in so many ways.

So I just wanted to update you all on what has been going on in my life and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. My plan for the new year is to get my husband healthy and give my blog a face lift as well as keep it up more often. I so enjoy reading all of my blogger friends blogs .

MERRY CHRISTMAS

DEER SEASON

Deer Season

I have mixed feelings about deer season and hunting. Some people don't understand my feelings.

I think deer are so beautiful and majestic and it hurts my heart when I hear that one has been shot.

I actually stand out on my back step in the evening just after dark and there are two deer that come and eat the apples that have fallen off of my apple tree. The tree is about 15 feet away and they see me and keep eating. I don't make any sudden loud noises, just talk quietly and tell them that they can come back anytime to eat the apples.

This digital collage was inspired by them.