Meemo in the Mountains: My New Years Letter

Another big snow picture.

Hi All! Happy New Year!

As usual I am sending out my Christmas cards as New Years cards, again. I am also posting this letter on my blog so I can use whichever computer I happen to be near to get it done! In case you want to check out my blog to get all the details of our life in 2010, here is the sight (apologies to those who are reading this at meemointhemountains): meemointhemountains.blogspot.com

Here is a summary of our year, the good, the bad and the ugly! We started out in January at the cabin. It was a bit snowy but nothing we couldn't handle with the Argo. In fact we could use the road that Hughie had plowed open for Christmas to take the Argo back and forth. We could not drive on the road with the pickup, however. We left the cabin in late January headed for the south and warmer weather!

We spent February with Micah and Kim and the great grand children in San Antonio. We had great fun and many adventures with them. Then it was on to Florida to visit my sister, Lynn and her husband Bill. We spent a couple days driving down and spent a fun two days in Biloxi, Mississippi visiting its casinos and the beach.

In Florida, we had a a nice time with Lynn and Bill watching classic films and just enjoying the semi-warm weather. Oldtimers said it was the coldest winter they ever had! It was warmer than our cabin winters so we were fine! I got to visit my friend, Laura, in Vero Beach. We had a great get together with our Struble cousins who live or spend time near by in Lehigh Acres. We hadn't seen any of them in over 20 years! Bob and I even drove over to see where they lived after we dropped Lynn and Bill off to head back to France!

We left Florida in early April to head back to San Antonio where we had a date to watch Micah's 3 little girls while he and Kim went on a cruise with Kim's family. Erin came down with her friend Eric from Dallas and JJ flew in from Elko. We had a great time spoiling the girls and starting new Easter traditions!

We arrived back home in mid May just in time for Bob's Dr. appointment for a check up with the Urologist and Nephrologist.. Good news on the kidney, bad news on his prostate (which had been removed 11 years before). It seems a cancer cell or two had remained and now was growing exponentially. After consultation with the tumor board, the Drs. at the Urology Center decided he should have radiation therapy. We visited with the Radiologist and he also recommended hormone therapy to enhance the radiation. On May 15 Bob's journey into cancer treatment began with the hormone shot! The radiation treatments would begin in late July but there were a lot of preliminary things to be done.

In June we attended Thomas's graduation from High School in Casper. The rest of June and most of July we spent at the cabin or going to Denver for prep work for the cancer treatments. Finally the last week of July we moved down to Denver and Bob began his radiation. We spent 7 weeks five days a week in Denver and the weekend at the cabin. We stayed at the VQ hotel next to Invesco field and less than a block away from the Urology Center where Bob had the treatments. The radiology team was wonderful! They all were upbeat, lots of fun and very caring. Bob had some side effects but was mostly tired. He did not lose his hair or have nausea and was able to have physical therapy, attend 4 baseball games, go to the Zoo with JJ, her friends, and I, attend a preseason football game and drive back and forth to Walden during this time. I spent a lot of time at the pool, reading, going to the 16th St. mall, and picking crabapples which I made into jelly when I got back home on weekends! The seven weeks went by (I won't say quickly) and soon we were back at the cabin.

In October I did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Denver and we did go to CSU Homecoming activities in Ft. Collins. We spent Thanksgiving with Marianne's family after a trip that never ended to get there (see my blog). We had a great time picking holly, shopping, doing volunteer work for the Christmas fund, attending Big, the Musical and a Christmas party for Marianne's womens church group, making Santa hats for the Christmas tree farm, and eating!

In mid-December Bob had his 3 month checkup for his cancer treatment. He is doing well, although he still has some side effects of the hormone and radiation therapy. The Dr. is optimistic but cannot say whether the radiation was completely successful for maybe 6 more months. He did say, “Well, at least you are still here!” I’m taking that as a good sign!

The whole family except Marianne's family and Micah's family were at the cabin for Christmas. Kathi's son Chris also missed the fun because he was watching the farm and had to get back to work. We had lots of fun sledding, doing How Do We Look for Christmas Eve, How to Host a Murder, Pass the White Elephant Gifts and eating, of course.

The kids decided Bob and I could not stay at the cabin due to big snow so we all left on December 29 and here we are in Casper for the next month. Then on to Elko to stay with JJ for a month and finally on to San Antonio for awhile. I have a hope to go to Florida but that might not happen and we do plan to visit Danny at the farm while we are staying here with Carla.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and prosperous New Year! Keep us posted on what's going on with you!

Penny and Bob