Ian & Helena

Just wanted to let you all know how Rory’s doing.  He had his catheter out on Tuesday, and is back to using the toilet.  Peeing appears to be fairly painful for him yet, but the surgeon said he is healing well.  He is back to his normal self in all other areas, playing and running as before, so we are glad for those signs that he is doing well.

The kids and I are going to visit some friends tomorrow - Sat while Ian has a chance to hunt for a bit. 

We’ve heard from mom and dad in Texas recently, and they seem to be doing well, alhtough they’re cooking hot!  Their work projects are household repairs, mainly, and mom and dad are on separate teams.  Mom and dad are on the younger end of volunteers, so despite the heat and humidity that they’re not used to, they can keep up easily enough.  It sounds like they’re having a great time, and have a great group to work with - lots of teasing and laughter!

My mom’s mom is in the hospital, currently, and is not doing very well.  They are doing a number of tests to find out what is wrong, but they know she is having some major problems with her kidneys, including some masses on them that require further testing.  She is also having difficulties understanding what is going on, and is not fully lucid.  They are exploring this more as well.  That makes being away very difficult for my mom especially, as she feels torn about continuing their work project and coming home to support her mom and sister Sophia, who is Beppe’s main support right now.

That’s all for now - I just wanted to put up a quick post so anyone keeping up has an idea what’s going on for us out in Western Canada!

Hope you are all well!

Helena

 A few pics (okay, so this isn’t such a quick post):

Stevie’s new hat

Stevie and Rory on the swings.  There were a lot of pictures where they’re happier, honestly, I just thought these ones were so cute!  Kinda fun…kinda scary!

Fall walk in the woods

Ian a.k.a. Robin Hood’s proud moment in archery practice.

Family picture

Well, the surgery is over and done with, and Rory’s doing quite well.  It was quite a different experience for us, and we realized just how much we had to trust that the doctor’s know what they’re doing when they sent us out of the OR to sit and wait!  Not that we would be of any help if we were there!  Anyway, our poor little guy was in quite a bit of pain the second and third day afterward, but has definitely taken a turn for the better today.  He is up and playing again and not complaining of pain as often.  We are grateful the worst is over and looking forward to getting the catheter out next week.  Thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes!

Well, we had a wonderful summer, and got a bit behind on sharing pictures, etc.  I’ll post just a few of my favourites (see Summertime page).  We did quite a bit of camping in July, and then I spent most of August at mom and dad’s cabin, and Ian came back and forth a bit.  The kids just loved it all, and really got to know Pake and Beppe a lot better.  And now it’s back to the regular schedule.  I taught my first class (my own class) this morning at 6am - it went quite well.  Six people were no shows for the first class already - I hope I don’t loose too many more people to the claws of the snooze button!  The kids are signed up for swimming lessons as well this fall, which I am really looking forward (a lady from our church has volunteered to come with us as the kids are all in the same class and there’s no way I could handle all three slippery little monkeys on my own)! 

The kids are all learning in leaps and bounds.  The girls are talking like crazy and they’re almost 2 already!  Rory is just car crazy.  We took him to the demolition derby and he just loved it!  Stevie’s mostly potty trained and Breanna seems ready, but I’ve got to set aside some time to work with her now. 

Two of Ian’s sisters are coming up here this weekend, and we are really looking forward to seeing them, and for the kids to get to know them a bit too.

Rory has a minor surgery next week, which I am somewhat nervous about, just because he has to go under, and it’s new ground for us.  He will have to wear a catheder for a week afterwards as well, which I don’t imagine will be too comfortable for him.  But Theresa is taking the day off to babysit the girls (what a wonderful sister) so we can both be with Rory, so hopefully things will go alright!