A Lot to be Thankful For, Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving morning and a tradition continues.  This Thanksgiving I am extra thankful to spend the morning with Cheryl doing the Turkey Trot at Manito Park.  

It was chilly but as we started walking it got better.

There were more people this year than Cheryl and I had ever seen.  Bunches of people so we expected to see lots of costumes to take pictures of.  For a while I was reduced to taking pictures of dogs because no one had costumes.  We found them though. The dogs were deleted.

The usual turkey hats!

The unusual turkey hat.

Not sure what these costumes were but looking good guys!

More crowd pictures.  It was a bit slippery and I was hoping all these people walking would take care of that but no.  Almost had a spill walking back to the car.  Cheryl grabbed me so I wouldn't fall.  Don't want to knock that head.

So cute

Toby Doolittle, my son in laws brother was discovered at the Trot.  Good to see his family and I especially loved the NO WHITE FLAGS shirt.  My hat seems to be drifting down my forehead to my eyes.

Ah yes, the tradition continues.  Our coffee after any and every event.

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon with the Lathrops.  Kristin's and Justin's first Thanksgiving dinner hosted at their home.  It was fabulous for sure.  

One of the chefs!

Kristin has a creative touch when it comes to decorating her house.  This is Layne's bedroom.  It was all nice and clean and she was anxious to show me.

Lucy was jumping on Layne's bed.  Layne did not like it at all.

A beautiful table setting with two beautiful girls.

The other chef! Lucy was doing a little testing of the turkey!

Lovely

Squash heads.  Love these girls!

The two chefs putting on the final touches of the dinner.

AHHHHH

Grandpa loves his granddaughters!

Thought I would get a picture of Mike and I !

The girls helped with the dinner too.  They made the pie crust, set the table, Lucy is cutting bananas for the fruit salad.

Mike and Justin pondering over the turkey.  Is it done?

Before dinner we all sat down and Mike did a devotion then we all said what we were thankful for.  Mike did such a wonderful job of sharing his thoughts.  He is a spirit filled man.  We were all thankful for our families for sure and the miracle of life!

Dave and Dana were over for dinner.  Friends of the Lathrops and the Gleasons too.

The feast begins!

You may notice the look on Layne's face and the turkey I am holding.  She flung a piece of turkey accidentally and it landed on my left forearm!  We laughed!  I didn't even notice it fly by I just saw it on my sweater.

The turkey was perfect.  The food was delicious.  It was so so so great spending the day up at the Lathrops.  We love them so much.  This Thanksgiving I had a miracle to be thankful for.  My life after the ruptured aneurysm I had.  Not only did I beat the odds by surviving there is nothing wrong with me.  I thank a powerful God that still performs miracles and I thank my family and friends that never gave up praying for me.  God is great!

Boy did we miss this group on Thanksgiving.  We missed Katie too so much and the Gleason boys and their families.  One of these days we will all get together for Thanksgiving and watch Santa at the end of the Macys Day Parade.  I am so thankful for the precious family that was not with us.  Love you all.

First Swim at Whitworth Pool

Almost 5 months ago I had a ruptured brain aneurysm in this pool at Whitworth University.  I have been trying to get back in the water but have been nervous about it.  One Monday night I was already to go and we were watching Monday Night Football and the Saints play.  There was a special on Stephen (he played for the Saints) before the game.  We knew he was at the game.  During the game right around the time I should have left for swimming the announcer said Steve Gleason was unresponsive and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.  That sent this family into a tail spin and phone calls started coming to us and we were making phone calls too.  So much for swimming.  Steve had a flu bug and as most of you know he has ALS so any sickness is concerning.  He is fine and I still didn't get in the pool.  Well, I finally made it on Monday Nov. 19, 2012.

There were a lot of heroes and angels when it came to this whole thing.  Here is one of them.  Kevin is the coach that was at the pool the morning all this happened.  He and Emily got me out of the pool and kept telling me to breathe! Good advice for sure but I couldn't hear it or maybe I did, who knows.  911 was called and I was whisked away in an ambulance.  Kevin is such a nice person and I am glad he helps me with my swimming and I am so thankful he was there!  I look forward to many more coaching sessions.  Even if you did tell me tonight you wouldn't jump in the water and get wet for me.  :-)  Kidding I am sure?  You are awesome Kevin.  Thank you, thank you! If I look a little scared in this picture it is because I was.  This picture was taken at the spot I was pulled out of the water.

 My other hero/angel, Emily.  She also was there and helped to rescue me.  I really owe both of these people my life.  They moved fast and did the right things so that I could carry on in life.  Without their quick thinking who knows what would have happened.  Emily drove to the hospital to be with me and the family.  She said they did everything right.  Thank you Emily for being there and saving me.  You are a good friend.

Mike came with me to the pool.  He was my support as he often is.  I know it doesn't make much sense that the pool would freak me out because the pool and swimming didn't cause the aneurysm.  But there is an association there for sure.  As soon as I got in the water it all went away.  I wasn't in the best swimming shape but was able to swim for about 40 minutes with rests.  It was a great feeling to overcome the fear.  NO WHITE FLAGS, no surrender.  Below is a video of me swimming.  Kevin you can send me a list of the things I am doing wrong.  :-)  

Mike was trying to get a picture of me when I took a breath but it didn't happen.  Probably because of my blazing speed in the pool.  The camera didn't work fast enough.  Just kidding of course.  I am not fast YET.

 Happy me!

No White Flags.  The Steve Gleason pose.  In case you don't know this is the saying Steve has on his Team Gleason shirts.  No surrendering and he doesn't even though he is faced with ALS.  Steve started the WhoDat chant at a Saints game with this pose.  One arm in the air.  It is on everything actually.  He has a foundation that raises lots of money to help others.  He is amazing.  I posted a picture of the shirt below.  Out of context I know but...

Finally found the real thing.  Adding it after I originally posted but there it is.  Steve and the pose!

 NO WHITE FLAGS.  I did it.  So glad to have the anticipation over with and to finally have jumped in that pool.  It was great.  Thanks to Kevin and Emily and the others that were there at the pool on June 25, 2012. Glory to God!  He was there too.