Staying Busy with Family and Friends...

Since Miss Kinley arrived, we have been staying busy helping out here around the house.  I am pleased to say that after a little bout with jaundice and a couple of trips to the doctor, her numbers are good and she

is eating and sleeping good. And, Kourtney is loving her role of

big sister.

We also celebrated

Lauren's 11th birthday.  Lots of fun with

  

all the family.

There was a girl's day at the

nail salon...with a special

added touch for Lauren and Kourtney.

Last week, Lauren

graduated from the 5th grade and is looking forward to middle school.

Andrew won

3rd place in his school district for this drawing.

Congratulations to you both, Poppa and I are very proud of your accomplishments.  Now, enjoy your summer.

With a break in the action and the holiday weekend ahead of us, we decided to take a break and head over to Canton, about 110 miles east of Fort Worth and catch up with

Weldon and Sandy and Joe and Sherri.

On Saturday while Joe and Sherri were at a family reunion, Weldon, Sandy, Mark and I took a trip over to Tyler to enjoy a day of shopping.  The guys were looking for a repair fix for the awnings where the fabric had started to come out of the tube.  Probably a result of winds.  After a stop at the RV Supply and Lowes, they decided with the help of Sandy and I, that weed-eater sting

 

would be just what they needed...worked great.

They checked all the

awnings and were quite pleased with their workmanship.

Other shopping for the day included Bed, Bath, and Beyond for handles for our Tervis Tumblers.  Of course, lunch was in the plan as was a stop by the

 

new Fresh store, which is Brookshire's answer to Central Market or Whole Foods.  Great store!

Sunday, we were up, cooking and packing up lunch to head out to the country to spend the day at

Joe and Sherri's.

We visited, took a drive over to

to the lake.  It was a full house and even the

day use area was seeing lots of action.

Once, we were back at the motor home, the guys were all

reading and studying Joe's new braking system for the car, while, the

girls all gathered inside admiring Sherri's new home.  It was an added treat to get to see Rodney and Becky...Sherri's brother and sister-in-law.

All too soon, it was time for us to gather our belongings and head back to Canton.  After a big day, we said our goodnights and settled in for the rest of the evening.  What a great weekend with old friends.

This morning, Mark and I were up early.  Since it was the end of the holiday weekend, we wanted to beat all the traffic back to Fort Worth.  We were home by noon and set up.  Mark got the

windows clean while I finished up on the inside.

We are now ready for a new week that once again promises to be filled with lots of activities with family and friends.

We hope you all had a great holiday weekend.  We are thankful for those that have given of themselves to serve our country and we honor you on this Memorial Day.

The Rest of the Story...

A little background, and then the rest of the story...

A little over 21 years ago at the age of 42, Mark had heart by-pass surgery.  Even at a time like that, we were very blessed that the problem was found during his routine fire department physical.  The doctors told us the by-pass should be good for 20 years.  Gosh, where has the past 20 years gone, because I remember that day like it was yesterday.

So, fast forward to about year ago and he begin to wonder about that 20 year warranty.  Then a few months ago, he began to experience a little shortness of breath at different times.  Over the past several years at the agreement between, us and his doctors, it was decided that our family doctor could monitor his meds.  And, I have to say, he has done a great job.  Through blood work and EKG's he has kept everything under control.  However, there has just been that little bit of concern...remember it has been 21 years.  So, since we are home for awhile, I convinced him to make an appointment with the cardiologist...

Now...for the rest of the story...

So, about three weeks ago, we made that appointment, and Dr. Willard agreed that we should do some new testing to compare with the last test from 2003.  First, we did an echo cardiogram which showed that the heart was pumping just fine and all valves were in good condition.  There was a little thickening of the heart muscle, but nothing that wasn't age related.  We also scheduled a stress test.  That took place a couple of weeks ago.  Now, while, Mark thought he passed with flying colors, a follow up appointment was made with Dr. Willard.  And, last week when we found that he really didn't pass with flying colors and it was decided a heart cath was needed to find out just what was going on.  Dr. Willard was thinking that there might be some blockage at the original graph.

Today, we made our way to the Heart Center where the heart cath would be done.  The procedure took about an hour.  Then came Dr. Willard's findings...I am glad to report that the original graph of 21 years is still in good condition.  There were a couple of other spots that showed a little blockage, but not anywhere close to needing anything done.  We are so blessed and thankful for such a good report.

We are now waiting in the recovery area and will be going home around 9:00 tonight.  In about a month, we will visit back with Dr. Willard.  He said he might decide to adjust Mark's meds to help out those smaller blockages.  But, in the meantime, keep up the good work, stay on that heart healthy diet, (lol), and keep on walking!

And, that is Mark's story, and he's sticking to it!

Introducing Me...

After

waiting and

waiting....

finally just after 6pm last night....

Miss Kinley Blair Brown was welcomed into this world.  She weighed in at 7lbs, 6ozs. and is 21 inches long.

There was lots of

family there to greet her.

Caden

couldn't wait to kiss her and hold her close.  I mean after all he is the "honorary" big brother!

Big Sister Kourtney and Aunt J

made sure the nurse knew just what to do.

Then, it was time for a little

mommy and daughter time with new baby sister.

Daddy wasn't left out, and he wanted to be the

first to feed her.

Soon the nurses came and took Kinley to the nursery while mommy was moved to another room.  And, it wasn't long until we got a call that Kinley was about to take

her first bath.  Again, there were lots of

onlookers.  And, we couldn't believe just

how much hair she has.

After her bath she was all snuggled in for a

 

spa treatment under the warmers.

Kourtney said her goodnights and we headed home for some much needed sleep.

This morning, we were up and ready to head back to the hospital to check on Kinley.  After she had a

nap, we decided it was time for her to get

dressed and pose for a few pictures.

Welcome Kinley to our world...How blessed we are!