A wedding

Isn't this a beautiful scene? We attended a wedding recently and the reception was at a marina on East Lake Tohopekaliga (or Toho), St. Cloud, FL. We enjoyed the view very much.

It was cold enough outside that we didn't stay there long but it was still beautiful.

Deb worked with both Aaron and Katie at Campus Crusade for Christ. They married here but now live and work in Ohio.

Vernon got to travel to Atlanta for a business trip one day this week. And he surprised his mother before leaving the city by taking her a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. The donuts could have been an early birthday celebration but we didn't think of that until now. Her birthday is the 28th.

We are approaching Feb. 4 , the 3rd anniversary of Vernon's heart transplant. Three years have passed quickly in one way. And yet when I think of all that has transpired since that day, it seems like it has been a long time. We both remain very thankful for the gift the McKinnon family shared with us.

Weekend Guests

Last Friday evening we welcomed to Orlando Vernon's brother, Richard, his wife, Susan, and their daughter, Morgan. We enjoyed dinner together at a Pizzaria Uno. Morgan made her own pizza to be baked for her to eat. In this pic she is wearing the plastic apron that was supplied. In front of her on the table is the pizza dough spread with sauce. She hasn't added the cheese yet. Doesn't she look pleased to be making her own pizza? While Morgan wasn't wearing her new Minnie Mouse hat, Richard put it on his head and posed.

There was a balloon artist in the restaurant. Look at what he made to wear on his head, some kind of alien. He's making something for Morgan to wear. She let him decide after he asked her questions like her favorite color. Can you tell what he's making?

Morgan approved of it - a castle!

Here's another view. Notice he drew on the balloons with red marker to make it look more like a castle.

Now her pizza has arrived and she's ready to eat it.

Here's the bee I asked the guy to make for me. Cute, isn't it? I chose a bee because Deborah in Hebrew means "bee".

Saturday morning they left our house by 8:30 to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom. Morgan is dressed for it. She took her autograph book along and got quite a few signatures of the Disney characters. It was perfect weather and even a full moon that night.

Sunday noon we ate at Cheescake Factory and celebrated Vernon's birthday a day early. He doesn't look very happy in this photo but the picture I took when he was smiling didn't turn out. He also could look unhappy because we were singing to him. Ha!

Our guests returned home Monday morning. Since Morgan is home-schooled, they didn't have to leave on Sunday or have her miss a day at public school.

We didn't celebrate Vernon's birthday on Monday because he didn't feel good that night. In fact, he slept several hours after getting home from work. We hope to celebrate with friends this weekend. Maybe I can get a happy picture of him to show you.

Great visit to Shands

Sunday afternoon Vernon and I drove to Gainesville to spend the night in advance of his clinic appointment with Dr. Hill Monday morning. We like to have extra time at Shands in order to visit the two areas that he spent lots of time during the 10 months we were there. Here are 3 of the CICU nurses we saw that night. We shared hugs and heard, "You look great!" They always thank us for stopping by, explaining they seldom see a patient after they leave CICU, and when the patient leaves, they aren't in good health yet. And recently there have been some deaths, so to see a healthy former patient really encourages them. Of course, we are glad to do that!

We were well-stocked with Dove chocolates, Werther's creamy caramels and Reisen chocolate caramels. Vernon offers candy to everyone he meets, even on the elevator. Some doctors or nurses people don't recognize Vernon until they see the candy and then we hear, "Oh you're the candy man."

This picture shows Jean, our post-transplant coordinator, with Vernon in the clinic examination room. She is the one we call with any questions. She assists Dr. Hill and gives us expert care and attention. One outcome of the office visit was some medications were changed. He's now off Slo-Niacin, which has a very unpleasant side effect: hot flashes. He won't miss that torment.
Vernon is very happy while we're at Shands, whether we are talking to nurses or doctors we know or meeting new patients (he talked to 2 men waiting for transplant) or even family members of patients. We encouraged one family group whose father/grandfather/husband was in emergency surgery by telling them how excellent the surgeons and the nurses are. Of course, the fact that he'd recieved heart transplant there nearly 3 years ago added weight to what he said. We first talked to them Sunday evening and were glad to learn Monday noon from one of the family that he'd come through surgery well at 6 AM.

We enjoyed this trip to Shands very much and look forward to the next one, Feb. 18. That one will involve a biopsy to check for any rejection and "full study" to check all the functioning of Vernon's heart.

Happy New Year

Vernon and I spent the first day of this year at home all day. He's sick with a cold and is coughing a lot so was either in bed or in the recliner. I enjoyed taking down some of our Christmas decorations and reorganizing the storage. We ate the traditional black-eyed peas and turnip greens for dinner.

I worked only Monday this week but Vernon has the week off. He isn't happy to be spending it sick, though. This next Monday we are scheduled to be at Shands in Gainesville for an appointment with his heart transplant doctor. It is just a check-up It is 7 months since we were there last. Depending on how he feels tomorrow, we might ask to delay the appointment.

Family Christmas photos

Since the title of this entry is "family" Christmas photos, how does this picture qualify? Morgan, our 10 year old niece, drew it and I think she draws quite well. Don't you?

Morgan is playing a game on the computer while her grandmother watches.

This is the view from the other side.

Morgan's mother, Susan, is glad to get her feet up at the end of the day but much more glad to have her other daughter, Emily Ann, home for Christmas from Cincinnati. Emmy faced ice-covered roads to get home, alone except for her cat, Daisy.

Sisters Emily Ann and Morgan are glad to be together again.

Emmy's cat loves to sit in her lap.

Singing carols on Christmas Eve.

Vernon and I prepared a breakfast casserole on Christmas Eve that would bake while we opened stockings Christmas morning. I held the camera for this picture. Emily Ann took the next one.

Morgan is delighted to get to choose a chocolate from the box that Emily Ann brought.

Emily Ann & Daisy

Christmas morning, waiting for Richard, Vernon's brother, to say we could enter the family room where the tree and presents waited. Three generations: Morgan, her mother, Susan, Emily Ann and Grandma Brady.

This is how the room looked. The presents were arranged this way by Morgan so the cats had tunnels to explore.

Morgan was thrilled to find Santa had brought the American Girl Tree House for her doll, Kitt.

Emily Ann displays a cat-themed quilt her mother made.

Morgan is holding an ornament that she gave her grandmother. If I remember correctly, Morgan used her own money to purchase this gift.

This is a quilt we gave Vernon's mother. It was made by a quilter and donated as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. I thought it appropriate to purchase since Vernon had radiation this year and my mother is undergoing chemo. She's had 3 rounds and the chemo has successfully stopped stage 4 liver cancer from growing.

Vernon's brother, Richard, and his daughter, Morgan, enjoy a break from opening gifts.

Morgan brought one of the books she received to dinner, walking to the table while reading and sitting very still while waiting to eat.

Notice she's sitting on her feet. She's wearing clothes she received for Christmas.

Morgan and her doll are modeling matching nightgowns.

The Bradys ready for Christmas dinner. Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas from Atlanta

Vernon and I returned to Atlanta on Sunday to be with his family for Christmas. It was 80 degrees when we left Orlando that afternoon and 34 when we arrived at his mother's house but we aren't complaining about the weather. We don't have ice or snow to deal with. Last night we enjoyed sitting around the fire at his brother's house and talking. Merry Christmas to all!

Family Time in Atlanta

This show some of the Thanksgiving meal bounty we enjoyed. You don't see desserts but we did have those, too, of course.
Vernon sorta looks like a rabbit, but the explanation is his brother made this balloon for his daughter's surprise birthday party. Vernon put it on for fun. We celebrated our niece, Morgan's, 10th birthday last Friday evening. It was a surprise to her because the date is actually Dec. 8, but we thought while all together for Thanksgiving, it would be fun to do and it was.

She certainly looks happy and ready to celebrate, doesn't she!

Morgan poses with her mother, Susan and sister, Emily Ann.

Morgan and her grandmother, Margaret Brady

Of course, Uncle Vernon also gets a hug. Somehow I neglected to get a photo of Morgan and her father or me, but we were there!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING - BE GRATEFUL

Vernon and I enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal together with the people I work with at Campus Crusade last Thursday. This is how each place setting was thoughtfully and appropriately decorated - a miniature ceramic loaf pan with a pumpkin bread recipe, candy corn and a pumpkin scented candle.
There were 50-60 of us all together (other spouses joined in like Vernon did) and the food was served buffet style. Notice we are outside! Beautiful Florida sunshine warmed us nicely. You can see the dessert end of the buffet: pumpkin and pecan pie plus turtle cheesecake. I ate only 1/2 piece of pumpkin pie.I'm writing in Atlanta where Vernon's mother, Margaret Brady lives. We plan to go to his brother's home today and return to Orlando Saturday.

I've been remembering where we were 3 years ago now, living and waiting in Gainesville, FL, for the heart transplant Vernon needed. We'd been there six months and were well-acquainted by this time with the other patients who were waiting and we had a good sense of community. We were able to gather in a conference room in the hospital and have a great meal together on Thanksgiving Day. It is a wonderful memory. Family members who weren't able to live there with the patients joined us for the day, at least, and some for the weekend. They brought home-cooked food to share. Our heart transplant social worker purchased food from Publix (turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans) that those of us in the apartments heated up and brought to the hospital in little red wagons that were borrowed from the children's floor. If I had pictures of that time on this computer, I'd share a few but I didn't think ahead.

So though we could not be with the family members we are with this Thanksgiving, we were grateful for the hospital family we had there and enjoyed the day very much. We did not know at that time how much longer we'd be waiting. It turned out to be more than 2 more months, all of December and January until Feb. 4, 2006. At least two of the patients with us 3 years ago are not alive. All the more reason for us to be grateful today for the life that Vernon has. Yesterday we both talked to Tina, the wife of Vernon's donor, Steven. And Esther, Steven's mother, talked to Vernon last week. We are blessed to know them.

Recently I've read several places the benefits of gratitude. Saying thanks is not just pious or polite. It is good for you. "It doesn't really work if you do it only once a year," says Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at UC-Riverside. Practicing gratitude is like exercising, says Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at UC-Davis: Use it and you won't lose it, even when times are tough, as they are for many folks right now.

These two researchers are among others who have learned that:

• People with high blood pressure not only lower their blood pressure, but they feel less hostile and are more likely to quit smoking and lose weight when they practice gratitude.

• People who care for relatives with Alzheimer's disease feel less stress and depression when they keep daily gratitude journals, listing positive things in their lives.

• Those who maintain a thankful attitude through life appear to have lower risks of several disorders, including depression, phobias, bulimia and alcholism.

• Most people can lift their mood simply by writing a letter of thanks to someone. Hand-deliver the letter and the boost in happines can last weeks or months.

Practicing gratitude in these systematic ways changes people by changing brains that "are wired for negativity, for noticing gaps and omissions," Emmons says. "When you express a feeling, you amplify it. When you express anger, you get angrier; when you express gratitude, you become more grateful."

And grateful people, he says, don't focus so much on pain and problems. They are also quicker to realize they have friends, families and communities to assist them in times of need. They see how they can help others in distress, as well, he says.

To give your gratitude muscles a workout, Emmons suggests the following:

• Keep a gratitude journal, listing the gifts in your life, daily, twice weekly or weekly. Try to be specific and don't repeat the same things each time.

• Make a list of people or circumstances in your life that you take for granted and then consider what your life would be like without them.

• Write a letter of thanks to someone who made a difference in your life. Consider delivering and reading it in person.

The above information was found in a USA Today Health column written by Kim Painter Nov. 24, 2008.

If you haven't seen the Gratitude Dance on youtube.com yet, or would like to view it again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NeMC1Fl3J0

And here's the link to another video showing people around the world doing the Gratitude Dance, including happy children. It will make you feel happy just watching it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeLbrGspigg


My gratitude list begins with thanking God for the spiritual life I have because of Jesus. Ready to start your list, if you haven't already?

Savannah Scenes

Saturday evening, Nov. 22, after arriving in Savannah, we ate dinner at The Olde Pink House, built in 1773. Yes, 1773! It first was the home of Mr. Habersham and meetings were held there by the colonists for the Revolutionary War. Next it was a bank and the vaults held the colonists' money. While Sherman occupied Savannah, it was used by his army. Many years later after some disrepair, it was purchased and restored to use as a restaurant. It was highly recommended to us and we found it a memorable experience.Notice we are dining by candlelight. It was Vernon's idea to take photos without flash, just using light from the candle. Our waiter, Britton, took this one of us.
Here is the appetizer portion of the menu. We enjoyed fresh sauteed shrimp served in country ham gravy over cheese grits. It was delicious!

Vernon took this of me

And here's Vernon

In the elevator of the hotel, I noticed the reflective ceiling and we had fun taking photos as we looked up. Vernon is holding a cup of hot chocolate and hot tea for us to enjoy in the room. It was cold in Savannah!
This butterfly was NOT found by us in Savannah. I actually took the picture in Orlando but it is so beautiful that I share it with you now. I haven't figured out yet what kind it is, so if you can identify it, please let the rest of us know by posting the answer as a comment.

This picture was taken in Orlando, too.

If you want to see more scenes of Savannah, go to this link where there are 60 pictures, including some of the above:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70949&l=a47ab&id=685713412