WHAT A GIFT!

Harvey just got a call from the oncology office and his most recent PET Scan is CLEAN! We are all tickled pink and couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift! Our weather is predicted to be nasty/icy/snowy by morning when he was supposed to have had his appointment so they called and told him the results and said he really didn't need to reschedule the appointment for tomorrow unless he felt a real need to talk to the doctor! He's on his way down there before this storm hits to have labs drawn an they'll let us know the results next week. Those should show marked improvement from last time and he is good to go for the next three months! We sure have a lot to be thankful for this year - this was the perfect present under our tree! (by the way, our tree is not up yet, but will be by tomorrow!)

Schatzi

Growing Up!

We just got the most current school pictures from the four older grandkids and just had to show them off! Where does time go and how can they grow up so fast. 

   

    

Here's the stats: Shea will be 14 in March and is in the 8th grade; Cody is 10 and in the 5th grade (Shea & Cody are Corky & Greg's kids and live in Houston); McKinley is 9, almost 10, and in the 4th grade; Andy is 8, almost 9, and in the 3rd grade (McKinley & Andy live in Decorah with their folks Nicki & Paul); and Lani (Helana - Brad's baby) is 19 months already but since she isn't in school yet, we don't have school pictures from Las Vegas - that time will get here long before any of us are ready for it! They will all be here between Christmas and New Years so am sure there will be a LOT of picture taking and Becky will surely share them with you. The smells from the kitchen tell me Becky is busy baking Christmas goodies and heard her tell Harvey he was going to have to carry the decorations up from the basement this weekend. Snow, cold, goodies baking and decorations going up - Christmas will be here shortly!

TTFN

Schatzi

Thanksgiving

Can you believe I was invited to the Thanksgiving celebration at my other Mom's house and Becky & Harvey left me at home! Was not very nice of them for sure and it looks like they had a great time. For sure they came home full and complaining about overeating - serves them right for leaving me behind! All of us have a lot to be thankful for this year: Helen is looking forward to her 90th birthday in January, her friend Betty joined us for the day and was a most welcome addition to the group, Betsy is cancer-free again, Butch and Harvey remain so! Lots of big things to say our prayers for. We hope you all had a great holiday with family and friends. However I certainly hope you didn't leave your pets at home when they were invited!

Schatzi

Plans!

Boy is the Christmas chitter chatter going strong here! I hear tell that all the kids, grandkids, etc. will be home between Christmas and New Year's! WOW that's a biggie for us and hasn't happened in ages. Becky is busy planning a family portrait and already wondering where all will sleep and what to cook! Am sure this is going to be a great time for all of them and I can't wait to meet Lani.  Hope I don't make her allergies worse, I'd feel awful!

TTFN

Schatzi

3-Days in Chicago

I spent three very relaxing days at Camp being completely spoiled by my other Mom & Dad (they are wonderful you know). Becky, Harvey, Nicki, Paul, McKinley and Andy on the other hand were off to Chicago. Whew, they made me tired telling me all they did. Andy pretty much was the photographer on the trip and took 253 pictures in three days! Don't worry, Becky didn't post them all! 

The first day Andy got to go to the big Lego store on Michigan Ave. for the first time and the Bears store. They all went up to the observatory on the John Hancock building, had dinner in Lincoln Park, went to Briar Street Theater to see the Blue Man Group perform AND when they got back to the hotel the kids went swimming! See what I mean? I'm tired just thinking about it.

On the next day they spent almost all day at the Shedd Aquarium where both kids took a zillion pictures until they read the sign that said "NO FLASH PICTURES ALLOWED". Hmmmm.... They got back to the hotel just in time to see Iowa beat Penn State and still get to Heather & Bill's reception pretty much on time! That was another wonderful wedding event.

On the last day Andy, Paul, Nicki & Harvey went to the Bears game - a first for most of them. Other than not bringing home a winner, it was a great time for all of them. McKinley got her very first cab ride with Becky to shop at Water Tower Place where she spent her money wisely! Then they saw the pre-Broadway stage performance of Dirty Dancing. I know they didn't get home until almost midnight cuz I had to spend an extra day at camp! From the number of packages, souvenirs, smiles and pictures, I think it was a great adventure for everyone.

Becky has sorted through the pictures and posted the "best of the best". Click here to see them. We are now having snow, sleet and ice so I think winter is almost here and the adventures may end. I hope so, I love camp, but I need to sleep in my own bed sometimes.

TTFN

Schatzi

Fishing Evidence from Cancun

And here's the fishing evidence.  You can see the infamous barracuda in Harvey's left hand.  To see the rest of the fishing pictures click here.

Finally - Pictures

I am going to let Becky post this one since I'm not allowed to use the camera and she is.....

As you all know our Goddaughter Heather was married to Bill Maris in Cancun on October 10th and I've not yet posted pictures of any of the wedding events and/or the vacation part of the trip to Cancun. Believe me, it has been a challenge as I must have a zillion pictures to choose from and am sure none of you want to see them all! Have sorted these into events and picked what I thought was the best of the best for each one. Many thanks to Sandy, Heather & Bill, Tony & Kathy and the tour folks for the ones I've chosen. 

Click to see any or all of these you are interested in and thanks so much for stopping by the blog! We'd love to hear from you.

Heather's shower in Cedar Rapids

This was hosted by her bridesmaids, Anna, Beth & Courtney, at the Cedar Rapids Country Club In August.

Heather's Shower in Bolingbrook

This was hosted by Bill's family at a restaurant in Bolingbrook.

Heather & Bill's wedding in Cancun

The wedding was at the Excellence Playa Mujeres resort a bit north of the city of Cancun. It was a beautiful setting, the bride was gorgeous and everything was much like a fairy tale!

Vacation time in Cancun

We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation time in Cancun.  We were there a whole week and lived in the lap of pure luxury! The resort is elegant and we spent way too much time enjoying the fruits of "all-inclusive".  The food was outstanding, there were a LOT of pools and we spent many hours in them.  The spa there was in my opinion outstanding - at least I enjoyed it! We did a bit of shopping one day in the town of Cancun. Harvey went fishing one day on very rough seas and came home having caught several Amberjack, a Barracuda and something unknown that broke a 50 lb. test line. He came home with the snout of the Barracuda and convinced one of the cooks to boil the meat off so we could bring the teeth home and I was cautious what I ordered for dinner that night. They are currently on display on our kitchen counter and the pictures of the fish are yet to be available. The eight of us "oldies" from Cedar Rapids/Marion went on a catamaran trip to Isla Mujeres (about a 40 minute boat ride from Cancun) one day where we met a wonderful young couple, Kathy & Tony.  While the tour was not as advertised I believe each of us had a great time and enjoyed the day. We had the opportunity to snorkel, shop on Isla Mujeres, have lunch there, swim with a shark, get awfully sunburned and laugh a lot.

The entire trip was wonderful! A real vacation and that is something we haven't had in ages! We truly enjoyed every event and thank Heather and Bill for including us in this most special time of their lives. We look forward to celebrating one more time with them at a reception in Bolingbrook next weekend.

Becky & Harvey

We're Home Again!

We are all home again, at least we were yesterday! Becky is back from Arizona. As you can see Grandpa George's cataract surgery was a success and he is recovering well (this picture was after surgery). It'd been way too long since they'd seen each other for sure and both enjoyed their time together. Becky also found the Knefley's happy and well - another visit that was way long overdue! Rumor has it they tried to cram several years of missed visits into two short days with limited success! Becky said she drove over 600 miles in Arizona this trip and thinks she's seen every cactus and mountain in the state! Harvey and I survived but we both forgot to do any laundry until the last day! Whew, Becky came home and did it for us! I really think pictures from the Cancun trip will appear soon so come back soon and check them out!

Harvey is off to Minneapolis today so again I am in charge! This time for Becky! Boy, this dog life is hard work!

TTFN
Schatzi

We're Back!

Becky & Harvey are home from Cancun a day late & a dollar short! Somehow they were the guests of American Airlines in Dallas for a night that wasn't planned on the way home. As you can see they had a great time! Heather & Bill's wedding was beautiful; the resort was top notch, VERY relaxing and with way too much food, drink and pampering; they went on a catamaran trip to Isla Mujeres; snorkeled, saw two baby barracuda & some beautiful fish; Becky swam with a shark but never got to swim with the dolphins meaning she will have to go back again; Harvey went fishing in some rough waters where he was the chum champ, caught a big Barracuda and brought home some of the teeth which are currently soaking in a bleach bath; and the entire trip was a huge success! Both are burnt and peeling but seem to be o.k. with it all! Their pictures are in a shambles at the moment and Becky is leaving Sunday for a week in Arizona with Grandpa George and a quick visit with the Knefley's but I am positive she'll have them organized and posted sometime soon. I am in charge of Harvey for the week - a tall job, but someone has to do it!

Love
Schatzi

Off to Vacation

We are off to Vacation! I leave tonight for Camp Wagner, my bag is packed and hanging on the back door waiting for my ride! Becky is packed and ready for the 4:30 a.m. pick up in the morning! Harvey on the other hand hasn't started packing but I'm sure he'll get 'er done! This is the "awful" place they have to stay in Cancun. We are now discussing who is going to have more fun, me at Camp or Harvey & Becky! Will let you know when we all return next week.

TTFN

Schatzi

Busy Weekend

Nice surprise this weekend when Nicki and the kids came for a short
visit. Whew, they can pack a lot of excitement in a short time!
Shopping, ice skating (Becky took the picture thru the plexigas),
church, eating out and the Cooper's coming to videotape a message
for Heather & Bill at their wedding! Too much activity for a Schnauzer
so I spent a lot of time catching up on my sleep here at the house! 

Just so you know... Paul is not mad at me, he was on his way home from a fishing trip trip to Canada and we hope he caught a LOT of fish!

Excitement at our house!

Boy, the excitement at our house is getting intense and I keep hearing Camp Wagner mentioned! Must mean Becky and Harvey are headed out and I get to go to camp, Yippee! I think they are headed to Cancun for Heather's wedding on the 8th and will be there a whole week! The suitcases are coming upstairs so that must be really close now! Becky also told me I was going to have to be in charge of Harvey for a week starting the 19th. Grandpa George is having his first cataract surgery in Tucson. She is going there, then to see the Knefley's (oh man I miss them!) and hopefully will see Terry before she comes home on the 26th! Then, if that isn't enough in November they are going to Chicago with Nicki, Paul & the kids! I think this is supposed to be for a stateside reception for Heather & Bill but I keep hearing about Blue Man Group, the Shedd Aquarium and Chicago Bears! Sounds like an exciting trip to me! I'm betting there will be LOTS of pictures several times in the near future so check in with us often.

Love,

Schatzi

HAPPY DAY IN IOWA!

Note from Schatzi: I'm going to let Becky post just this once to see if she can get it right plus I don't understand all this but this news seems to be VERY important to both of them!

We just returned from the oncologist and Harvey/Dad/Pep/Uncle Pep's PET Scan results from Wednesday said Normal Study without abnormalities! CANCER-FREE IS THE WORD OF THE DAY! Needless to say we are extremely happy and thankful. His labs are not perfect, but making steady progress towards normal again and about where they expect them to be at this stage of the game. This visit they gave him a Survivorship Prescription to enhance the outcome of the treatments and improve his health as a whole. Monitoring is part of this plan and he will be on the 3 month recheck plan with the oncologist for a year with PET Scans each visit and labs as needed. Then the intervals will increase to 4-6 month visits for the next 3 years and then annually! There are still the multiple other doctors who keep up with his progress that he needs to see as directed as each of them have their own areas of expertise they keep track of. Needless to say he is the STAR PATIENT at every office we visit, he has all the nurses, techs and doctors charmed!

One more time we thank each and every one of you for your thoughts, prayers and support over the past year - we couldn't have done this without you.

Many thanks from both of us and Welcome to Schatzi's blog where we will try to keep updated with the events in our lives. We'd love to hear from you as well.

Love

Becky & Harvey/Dad/Pep/Uncle Pep

Test post from email

Am still learning this blog operation and this is a test to see if sending a post via email really works! We'll see!

PS: This is Brad's little Lani!

Oak Park and FLW

Well I was left home to take care of Pep AGAIN! Becky took off and went to Chicago, actually Oak Park, to spend some time with Betsy (she's my other Mom you know) who was babysitting her grandchildren, Ellie and Jake. They had a great time! While the grandkids were in school the "Moms" toured the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio (Becky's a huge fan of FLW), wandered around Oak Park to see other FLW designed homes and had Saganaki and beer on an outdoor patio for lunch! She must've liked it all cuz she had her constant camera companion and used it frequently and you can see the results if you click below. Someday I hope she will take ME on one of her "ventures"! I reallly think I would've had fun romping on some of those beautiful lawns and also playing with Betsy's grandkids! Oh well.... maybe next time!

To see the pictures click here: View Pictures

Way basic....

This is my first attempt at blogging and this is a test to see how I'm doing! These two folks are the Grandma & Grandpa who have stolen my name and also who I live with! They recently took a trip to Seattle. They had fun and I know I did at Camp Wagner.

They took a TON of pictures and if you want to see them click here.

Let's see if all this works now.

Schatzi