A big day with family and friends

Dear Family and Friends,

This evening as Nan falls asleep she has a lot to be thankful for once again. True to their word and plans Barb and Gerry arrived at 8:45 this morning. Barbie spent the day with Marilyn and Nan and Gerry went with me to Oakland, Brentwood, Home Depot, WalMart, Longs Drugs, Taco Bell. We did some work and took care of a few other things also. Gerry is great to have along on the work days, he helps with the map and files and ride shotgun even falling asleep for a few winks at times. We had a quick lunch on Bancroft in Oakland at the TacoBell before heading east. We found a small remnant of indoor/outdoor carpet for are area between the back deck and the dock which is just dirt, got meds we needed at Longs, looked for shot glasses without any luck for Jerry. We happened across a PG&E office in Oakland and paid the bill which has but a few days before things get very quiet around here. Fortunately since Bob and Carrol showed us how to apply for a medical discount our utility bill is not as high any more.

Nan had started planning tonight dinner yesterday. She did the mixing for the cottage cheese special K loaf, made sure we had other supplies on hand and a short time after we arrived home at 4:30 we sat down to a wonderful meal, fresh tomatos, cranberry sauce, loaf, fresh corn, wow what a feast. Nan had a plate full and then suffered through some tummy pains but later asked for more and ate a small second platefull. She has had a good day in spite of some pains and discomfort. She has been downstairs nearly the entire day only taking a short nap in her hospital bed this afternoon. Barb and Gerry brought photos of when Marilyn and Walter lived in Sacramento and when Lauri was a little girl. They enjoyed catching up on their friendship.

This evening I noticed a black Tahoe out front and discovered Steve and Melaboo swimming in the lake. This dog loves to dive in and swim. She played in the water for the next couple hours, STeve and I got to talk business a bit and then the phone range and Nikki and Keanna were just coming through a small town, Knightsen. So they came over, keanna had corn and pasta, Nikki ate her burrito and Steve had Lemon Pie that Barb and Gerry had brought.

I have included a couple photos from this evening. Thank you all for coming and helping us celebrate family and God's blessings. Barb and Gerry should be home by now having left early evening. It was such a nice thing for them to come down for the day and help out and socialize. nan enjoyed every minute of it all. We had sad news from Dana, yes she is still coming but no it won't be this week. Perhaps next week, she is ill with a sinus infection and is having surgery on her hand tomorrow. So we will just have to look forward to her coming when she can come. We do look forward to she and Ron being here and Jonathan too.

Nan is doing much much better, more strength, more relaxed, more engaged in conversation and positive things. Her colostomy is working very well now, normal and we are so thankful first to God and then to you our friends who were so faithful in keeping it before the Lord in prayer.

Tomorrow I need to pursue Dr. Melynk about either sprycel (thanks to someone who got the spelling right) and eventually AMN107. We need to shrink the tumors while we can.

Its been a big day and a good day, we have been blessed in so many ways.

love

tim and nan and marilyn

photos are of Starr watching over Nan, Gerry and Barb with Keanna and Grammy, Barb and Gerry and Marilyn as they leave for Sacramento this evening.