Brain Matter

Hello all. Just wanted to send out an update to let you all know that on Friday I had my 6 month follow up for my aneurysm. It was an outpatient procedure and the preliminary results are that everything looks just as it did after my surgery in August-which is exactly what we were hoping for!!!! I have to tell you; going in for the follow up was so much more relaxing than going in for the diagnosis and surgeries, obviously. I was able to actually marvel at the science of it all and since I was consciously sedated I could watch the huge monitors next to my head as they threaded the camera up through my body into my brain. I could see EVERYTHING and it was really cool. And best of all, all is normal.....no comments from the peanut gallery. One more follow up in a year and then that's it.....~Deb

Last group of Florida pics

More Florida pictures

Our Week In Paradise, AKA: Spring Break :)

We spent Craig's Spring Break visiting Patrick and Carla's beach house in Port St. Joe, Florida. We packed up our van within minutes of Craig's last day on Friday and headed out towards Florida. Along the way we picked up Grandma Judy who had flown into Pensacola from Illinois. The kids did really great for such a long ride, it helped that the girls had DVD's to watch. Finn was fantastic, he loved watching all the cars and especially trucks go by. We arrived late Saturday and introduced little Finn and Ainslie to their Aunt Carla. We slept great that night and woke up to a most beautiful view of the ocean-right out our bedroom door. The kids were VERY excited about the sand and water and they played in both; once and sometimes twice a day for hours. Maisie could NOT get enough of the ocean, she swam and swam. Ainslie loved the water also, but her preference was building sand castles. Finn loved both. Our visit with Patrick and Carla went by too fast, but after they left we still had 3 days at their beautiful house. Oh, forgot to mention that before P&C left, they cooked out on their outdoor kitchen area. Patrick grilled up the most amazing oysters. We were all a bit nervous to try them, but they were gourmet and delicious!

There were lots of walks on the beach, fun outdoor showers for the kids, riding their scooters in the driveway, building (Maisie/Ainslie) and destroying (Finn) sandcastles, fun Grandma time, cooking out, lounging and chasing kids. Did I mention chasing kids?? Their favorite pastime the whole week was definitely collecting seashells!!!! We left Florida loaded down and were on the look out for a green group who might chastise us for collecting so many!! One of the sweet things that we discovered is that our Ainslie is a little conservationalist. As much as she liked collecting seashells, she threw tons and tons of them back in the ocean. She was 'saving' them we guess!! Anyway, it was really cute.

We had a really wonderful, relaxing time. We have some really great shots of the week, but they really don't do it justice to how beautiful the home and beach are. Anyway, we arrived home refreshed and rejuvenated, a wonderful result of a great vacation!!

Love and thanks to P&C (and their kitties)
~Us