Pig Hats and Wizard of Oz?

It's no doubt this family is feeling a few pressures. This is our first big holiday without Mom G - even if we usually just had calls. Mom T is fighting metastasized cancer. We're missing family members on the outside (outside of AK for you lower 49ers). Some of us are under or unemployed. We're facing up to the reality of a degenerative disease in our immediate midst....and yet....we're THANKFUL.  We are called to be people of gratitude, thankful IN all things - not necessarily FOR all things.  Today, and throughout the year, we  look to choose joy, to cultivate hearts of humble gratitude, and to bring him glory for what he will do IN the hard situations as we choose to thankfully trust Him. We love Thanksgiving. Today was, "practically perfect." We are missing one Gherkin and are looking forward to her joining us on 27 December.  Michael and I were talking and we think the last time we had this many Gherkins around the table on Thanksgiving was our assignment at Goodfellow AFB - 2005 - 2009. 

 We love our Co-Co. Krista experienced her first Black Friday on Thursday with Walmart today.

Jared and Larissa

(Note the barefoot print in the snow!!) These two got our migration started. The boys had talked about moving back for years. Michael and I had considered it, but were being wise and looking at less expensive places where our retirement dollar would stretch further, and we wanted to be somewhere "central" to all the Gherkins. When these two moved up after their wedding...it wasn't long until Josiah was planning on moving up. We realized if we moved up we'd have 60% of the Gherkins in one locale. We began planning. Then BreZaak and CoRielle decided to join us...and now 90% of the Gherkins are here.  It's been an amazing year!

Larissa, Arielle and Bennett, Stacia 

 Everyone was here and it was time to start - but first a word on Thankfulness from Michael.

Cy, Cory, Arielle, Jamin, Michael, Nolan, Stacia

Michael, Nolan, Stacia, Alex, Izaak, Bella, Jared, Larissa 

Bennett's first family devo 

Even Yuuki is attentive

Gideon must check on Bella and Daddy

Bre, Gideon, Izaak, Bella, Jared and Larissa

The Table - set with China and Goblets from Mom T

Hello, Bella. 

Gideon has decided Jamin is o.k. 

Gramps and his boy....there are some similarities. 

Sleeping seems to be contagious  - working on a campaign and in property management

Bennett and Cory 

While Jared, Cory and Bennett caught some zzzzssss....we moved on to the traditional after dinner games!

Risk - Alex won 

Farkle - Michael won 

 Gideon has his first boy crush on Auntie Riss

After Farkle, CoRielle, Bre and Gideon went home.  Some of us moved on to our annual viewing of the Wizard of Oz, This led to the best line of the day. Larissa observed,  "Pig hats for birthday and Wizard of Oz on Thanksgiving, why?" ::snort::

Via Google Images

This is an old Gherkin tradition from Michael's childhood. Back in the day before cable and streaming, we were at the mercy of network TV.  Every Thanksgiving evening, during Michael's childhood,  they'd run the Wizard of Oz. My family didn't watch it - the witches were held suspect. Michael grew up watching it yearly. It's fun to watch it together - and discuss all the trivia that has since come out about the making of the movie.

Risk ended about the same time as the Wizard....and the guys and Larissa headed back home. It was a practically perfect day.

Meme from Alaska Memes

Thanksgiving Prep and Fun

Stacia and I began cooking and prepping on Wednesday. Our goal was to be able to have fun and relax a bit more on Thursday, while still having the big dinner it turns into when all chime in with favorites. LOL  By the end of the day we were well into the cooking list. We were too busy to take photos - but the plan worked. Late this morning we were out of things to cook and added Deviled Eggs to the menu. It is so much fun to have a partner in the kitchen and I'm thrilled Stacia has taken an interest in cooking and baking. Good for all to know how to feed themselves.

We even had time for the a bit of Thanksgiving fun BEFORE dinner. We have a little sledding "hill" - not much of a hill -  but it's fun.  Stacia tries to get the boys out to play in the snow daily. It happens once or twice a week. We have little saucers. We've been talking about getting a couple of toboggans etc... Josiah and Jamin came over early today. They had scoped out the trail head of Matanuska Peak Trail and thought it would be fun to sled down. I was mildly alarmed - but what can go wrong with two such responsible Gherkins on watch? The younger three and Cory headed out with them. All promised not to break any bones...no mention was made of sleds.

The meal was under control, the house cleaned and our part empty....Michael put on some Kenny G, filled a couple of glasses with Sparkling Cider and we enjoyed a moment - or two - complete with selfie.

Arielle came up and asked if we could hold Bennett! Of course. She apologized for intruding on our "date moment," but moments with grandblessings are our number 2 favorite thing.

Meanwhile the others were sledding....yes, it is a good, steep hill. I'm not sure it was meant to be traversed on sleds...but I knew it was going to happen the first time I hiked up it. I didn't know it would happen this early in our life in the shadow of the mountain. I envisioned sleds or snowboards - so I was close. I, however, kept those thoughts to myself.

Alex - climbing to the top 

Great place for a pause 

 It's a climb without the snow - I'm sure they were dreaming of fun on the way down! 

Stacia, Cy and Cory
 

Josiah and Jamin went down first. They decided it may be too fast.....

Nolan, however, was chasing them down the mountain before they could communicate their findings. 

 Cory got to the bottom, reached around and grabbed his sled only to find it was in pieces. 

Surprise! 

 They rode it all the way into the ditch

Stacia pondering how she got in this situation 

It warms my heart that the brothers went to all the trouble of buying toboggans and scouting out a sledding spot near our home, so Stacia could have her sledding day.  I think we need to continue to look for something between our backyard and this suicide hill.....though you can't beat the isolation of sliding down the hill in the midst of the woods vs a sledding hill filled with sledders.

A Week with Bennett Lee

 Bennett Lee S is one week old. Here are a couple of photos I grabbed from Arielle's facebook. I'll be sure to get a few pictures soon. I've fallen down on my Gemma duties this week.

Arielle's caption:Bennett had his first doctor appointment today! His royal chubby cheeked highness wasn't impressed with the service.  😂💙

I suspect he didn't appreciate being 1/2 clothed on a cold Alaskan day much either. LOL Ah, the indignities of doctor's visits! 

Oh my heart! What adorable chubby cheeks - reminds me of Arielle's chubby cheeks -  though Bennett has looked like Cory from the first photo. 

You've stolen our hearts in one short week, baby boy! 

Parkinson's Update

Michael's swallow therapy was cancelled this morning.

We calculated that gave us just enough time to run into Wal-mart for some "last minute" Thanksgiving supplies, and to make it into Anchorage in time for his neurologist appointment.

We arrived with 10 min to spare at the office in the South Tower at Providence.....only to discover they have TWO OFFICES and our appointment was at the other office....which is closer to us than this one. If we could make it in 20 min, they would see us today. We certainly did not want the hour long drive to be for nothing - and we did NOT want to wait more months for Michael to be seen. He has some symptoms that have changed and we wanted some answers.

We booked for the parking garage and then back down Debarr to Alaska Regional Hospital. We parked with 3 min to spare and made it to the office with 1 min to spare. I commented, "Look at that Michael, you CAN still run!," which relaxed everyone and  put all in a cheery mood - even though we were technically late and had thrown off the groove. 

We checked in and spent the next hour and 45 minutes with our new neurologist. God has blessed us. He was trained at Mayo Clinic, has headed up research and studies and seems to really know his stuff. We feel we can trust him. He LIVES in Anchorage and will be here should any emergencies arrive in the future. This matters as most neurologists here fly in and see patients every few weeks. He is also the only board certified Motion Disorder Specialist in the area.  I'll skip all the nitty gritty - but he explained his views on treatment and what we need to do at this point in Michael's treatment. Some of the more alarming symptoms Michael has been experiencing can be caused by one of the drugs he is on, a dopamine agonist. He will be weaning to a lower dosage and we're hopeful those symptoms will disappear. He feels it's time for Michael to begin Levodopa - using the lesser dosage of the dopamine agonist to stretch out the effectiveness of Levodopa, rather than depending on it for control of the PD.  The former plan had been to avoid Levodopa until Michael was 60, but due to progression and symptoms, Dr. G feels the time to make the change is now.   We spent quite a bit of time listening to the studies and such that led to his conclusion, as it is different from the one at UC Davis. We will return to the clinic in 4 weeks..... Michael is also going to be part of a study - basically they'll watch the progression of specific symptoms in hopes observing his response to treatment will help them with future treatments for others.

Dr. G  seems rather determined to jolt us out of our stages of denial. He felt it necessary for us to read up on where we are and what is to come....I'm still not sure that's the best course....but he gave us a reading list nonetheless.

All kidding aside - it's a lot to process. To hear, "As the disease began in your 50's you are likely to experience the full range of symptoms due to your increased lifespan and the effect of the disease," is hard to take in.....then to hear "By age 65..." well SHOOT - that isn't so far away at all! ::wink::

We followed our appointments with a quick visit to Milt and Cobie's! Cobie had a gift for me. Are you ready???? You won't BELIEVE it. I'm just a tad bit excited....

She's a beaut

We've already purchased material for a tablecloth. Eventually I'll have to make something with more than straight seams - but not yet. LOL

Next up was a flying trip into Fred Myers for a roaster - the one I ordered online isn't big enough for our turkey.  We also got gas and then headed into the snow storm and back to the Valley.

Stacia had Veggie Pot Pie on the table, the boys had wood in the wood box and they tell me they put in a full day of school. We are truly blessed.

Bullwinkle Visited this Morning

Ahh!

Lights last night and a BULL MOOSE this morning.  CoRielle see them first most often....their kitchen looks out on the back yard/woods where the Moose like to romp.

Finally, "the Bull Moose," we've heard of visited our yard.  He is more skittish, so I couldn't get as close.  There is always concern I'm too close....these are taken from our deck with a Nikon 55-300 mm lens. I'm not in danger. I would have liked to get closer, but I knew he'd run and it was COLD out there in my robe and slippers.

Spectacular Lights

These WERE the best so far. Michael said it was supposed to be a good night and I was SOOO tired that I wanted to ignore them. Josiah texted from Eagle River and said they were out. Michael got the kids up....their first time to be up with the lights.....and it was worth it!

We had whites, greens, yellows,  and even a bit of reds. The reds moved fast....across the Lazy Mountains and over the face of Mat Peak.....we tried to get some, but,  as fast as they move, and as slow as Michael has to take them.....you lose distinction and it's just a red glow.....

These are unedited - Michael will do that later. I did lighten the ones with the house.....

The blobs at the bottom are some of us

I think that's Nolan - you can see some of the yellows in this one

 

Our house - amazing stars last night 

I am thankful for incredible beauty in the midst of winter - that'll preach.

Gideon's Half Birthday

Gideon Michael D turned 6 months old on 20 Nov! 

His personality has blossomed in the last two weeks. He's full of smiles, giggles, coos, and various other sounds now.  It's a joy to get to know the many sides of Gideon.

He LOVES to kick. His legs are almost constantly in motion. LOL 

Happy Half Birthday, Little Man.