BABY SHOWER AND FINAL UPDATE

Saturday, September 30 – Marsha pulled off another GREAT party. This is something she's been working hard on all summer preparing for our daughter, Kelly's, baby shower. We had reserved a 20' x 20' tent in case of rain, but the weather turned out pleasant for a fall day in Ohio. The tent still added a nice touch and provided a place for some to sit to get out of the direct rays of the sun. Over 55 people attended the “baby shower/picnic.” It was an unusual baby shower because not only were lady family and friends invited to share in celebrating Kelly and Dave’s upcoming baby, but it also included husbands, children, and significant others! Most of the men said it was the best baby shower they ever attended. Although most admitted it was the first baby shower they were invited to.

The theme was Jungle Animals which is the same theme used by Kelly to decorate the baby's room. They chose not to have the baby's sex revealed to them. Marsha had a magnificent time searching for jungle decorations and making animal themed food, drinks, and table center pieces. She made most of the decorations and with the help of family, prepared all the food. She even put Paul to work doing some of the tasks she found difficult to complete. Carrie, Kelly's sister, flew in from Houston and went straight to work helping Marsha get ready for the party. Those girls didn't stop until it was time to start the party!

Some of the center pieces.

Some of Kelly and Dave’s favorite toys and blankets when they were little ones.

Thank you table.

Dessert table

Food anyone?

There was plenty of conversation, but of course what would a baby shower be without a couple games. There was Guess the Expected Mother's Girth, clothes pin collecting by the attendee getting others to say the word “baby”, Corn Hole, touch football for the kids, and guess the animal crackers in the jug for the kiddos.

Everyone had a wonderful time. Of course, Kelly an Dave received an abundance of great gifts to get ready for the baby expected in November. Enough gifts to fill Dave's pickup truck with a little overflow that we'll haul to there home next weekend.

Much love for the baby.

Beautiful day for a shower.

Big and little kids enjoying the super weather.

Kelly and Dave had a marvelous time. This will be our first grandbaby, and we are so excited. Mother and baby are doing great. Now the dad might be a little nervous. LOL

Mom and dad

Excited grandparents and Aunt Carrie.

 

Time to update our readers on our plans for the future. We've sold our Cameo 5^th wheel, and our Ford 350 DRW pick-up.

Now you see it.

Now you don’t.

We are not sure what the future holds for traveling, although we do not want to give it up completely. We are leaning toward the idea of a smaller travel trailer to use for shorter excursions to escape the winter weather in Ohio for several months.

Our plans for this winter are still up in the air. We would like to head to the Houston, Texas, area after the Christmas Holidays to spend a couple months. We are looking at Airbnb housing options but may look for the travel trailer option as mentioned above.

We both have some health issues that make us reluctant to spend much time out in the boonies like we enjoyed doing in past years. We can't count the number of times we've thought about how health issues could have been disastrous if they would have occurred while at Big Bend NP this past winter. We don't want to avoid living but no use pushing our luck either! Unfortunately, we are getting older.

So we've decided to reduce the extent of our “blogging adventure.” We will sure miss exploring this great country and all the friends we've made the past nine plus years during our full and part-time RV life. Hopefully, we'll stay connected and will be able to meet-up somewhere down the road. It has been a great ride. Thanks everyone for riding along with us. We love y’all.

Take care and safe travels!

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you have a great day!

A LITTLE CATCHING UP

Sunday, July 15 -  It's been awhile since we posted on our blog. We thought we better send out an update. We are currently in our summer home in Canton, Ohio. Those of you who follow our blog regularly may recall that Marsha suffered a stroke on April 11, while visiting Paul's brother in Amelia Island, Florida. We extended our stay in that area so Marsha could attend physical, speech, and occupational therapies. Once released by the doctor, we took our time traveling to our summer home in Canton. We arrived here on May 11 and immediately visited doctors in this area. Marsha worked very hard on therapy and is currently doing home therapy as needed. Her writing and typing leave a lot to be desired, but she is still plugging away trying to improve those skills.  She still has some speech issues she would like to improve upon. For some strange reason, she has acquired an Italian accent. Paul finds it a little exotic, and Marsha, family and friends have humorously enjoyed having a little Italian gal around the house this summer.

One of the tests the doctor ordered for Marsha was  a 30-day heart monitor, She wore it from mid-June to the middle of July and will get the results at the end of the month. She doesn’t wish that 30 day misery on anyone. What a pain. And as funny as it sounds, Paul’s cardiologist had him wear one for 30 days also, due to his afib problem.  We go to different doctors and were wearing them for different reasons. Our appointments were on the same day, at the same hospital and back-to-back times. The gal that set us up said she never had a husband and wife wired up together. What a hoot. 

To complicate matters, Marsha's dad, who just celebrated his 90^th birthday this past November, has had some health issues of his own and has just recently moved into an assisted living facility. Thank God for Marsha, her brother and sister-in-law, Rick and Chris, dad has improved significantly and is comfortable in his new home. He wouldn't be where he is today without their dedicated and hard work. They continue their efforts with getting his house ready for sale and trying to satisfy the rest of the family. We do see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Carrie, dad, Kelly, Dave

We have really enjoyed spending time with our oldest daughter, Kelly, and husband, Dave. Kelly is pregnant with our first grand baby. She is due in late November. She and Dave tried for three years to get pregnant with negative results. They decided to try IVF. Thank God it took the very first time. Kelly’s pregnancy was confirmed the same day Marsha had her stroke. We are all so happy and can’t wait till the little one arrives.

Kelly and Dave are so excited!

Our daughter, Carrie, had a return flight to Houston this morning after visiting here in Canton for nearly a week. We had a great time with the entire family together.

A little fun playing bags

Marsha gets to enjoy all the fun.

She tried her hand at bags but is still a little weak.

We don’t know who looks more pregnant…Kelly or one of the boys.

And to add to the excitement, Kelly and Dave are in the middle of remodeling their kitchen, which Paul enjoys helping with. Kelly has taken a new teaching position in their home town of Chardon, Ohio. For the past six years, she was teaching in Parma, Ohio, nearly an hour drive from home. She looks forward to teaching at the nearby high school after her childcare leave.

We plan on remaining here in Ohio until after the Christmas holiday to spend time with our new grand baby and the rest of the family before traveling to Houston, Texas, to escape winter for several months. Hopefully, Paul can slow Marsha down a bit, but it has been a difficult struggle.

Hope this updates everyone on what we've been up to and what we plan for the immediate future. We want to thank everyone for the kind thoughts and prayers through this troubling time. Amazing how an event can change your life so quickly. The cause of Marsha's stroke remains a mystery to her and her doctors. She was in good health, exercised regularly, never smoked, wasn't over weight and lived a pretty healthy life. We hope and pray it was a “one-time” event and she will recover completely…..although Paul thinks he'll miss having that sweet Italian lady around the house.

We hope every one has a great rest of the summer.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back soon.  Have a great day!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE THERAPY, BABY!

Sunday, May 6 - We remain here at the Bow & Arrow Campground in Yulee, Florida. We are just north of Jacksonville, Florida and about 20 minutes from Paul's brother, John, who lives on Amelia Island.

We arrived here on April 5, for a short visit with John, but on April 11, Marsha suffered a mild stroke. She spent a short time in the hospital but returned home to the 5^th wheel soon after. She has been working hard at physical, occupational, and speech therapy, three days a week, on an outpatient basis. Her progress has been going well with only a minor set-back. She suffered through several days of exhaustion and even returned to the hospital emergency room for a check-up. There were no signs of another stroke, so it was assumed she was overdoing her rehabilitation or had come down with a minor virus. She needs to slow down and do some resting.

Marsha continues with her therapy and has an appointment with a neurologist on Tuesday, May 8. We are hoping that he will clear her to travel to our summer home in Ohio. We hope to depart on Wednesday. We are planning on taking three days, only traveling about five hours per day and will take the doctor's recommendation on what is best. We already have appointments with doctors in Ohio and will continue with therapy if necessary.

At physical therapy, Marsha spends the majority of her time on balance and strengthening her right leg.  She has numerous exercises she also does at home. 

At occupational therapy, her goal is to regain her fine motor skills. She does eye-hand coordination drills, as well.  Regaining strength is a major goal.

 

She’s been focusing on her writing skills.  This is one of the area of the brain that was affected by her stroke.

Adult coloring. Who would have believed? No Marsha! It was recommended as a great exercise for her fine motor skills.

Loss of her typing skill is one of the hardest pills for Marsha to swallow. She actually taught personal typing in high school years ago. She is anxious to regain this ability as quickly as possible. She practices everyday for short periods. Her forearm just isn’t strong enough to do much more.

Marsha uses therapy putty, containing small beads, as another fine motor skill exercise. It helps strengthen the fingers, as well.

This is an unusual exercise called mirror therapy. The mirror image ‘tricks’ your brain into thinking that your affected arm is moving like your unaffected arm. Mirror therapy involves the use of a mirror to create a reflection of Marsha’s unaffected arm in place of your affected arm during therapy. Our sister-in-law, Chris, a nurse, said it gets great results. Here she uses her left hand to trick the mind into thinking she is putting the stones in the slot with her right hand.  She does this exercise for three minutes, twice a day.

In speech therapy, she spends time on teaching lips, tongue, and throat how to make proper sounds. She learns how to use the diaphragm to make correct sounds. She has numerous mouth exercises to do and has made a notebook full of sentences to read out loud. Here she is reading the sentence out loud while watching how her mouth forms the words.

So in summary, Marsha is working hard at therapy and has shown considerable improvement. She is in good spirits and is nearly back to the happy, passionate, warmhearted lady we all love.

We hope our next post will be from Canton, Ohio, and we'll include a picture of Marsha working in her flower garden.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back soon.  Have a great day!

BLOG IS GOING ON HIATUS

Saturday, April 14 – We have extended our stay here in Amelia Island, Florida, due to an unexpected health issue. Marsha was awaken from a restless night on Wednesday with a minor stroke. Luckily, we were near a large city (Jacksonville, FL). Within a very short time, we were at Baptist Hospital, and Marsha was receiving emergency care. After extensive testing, it was determined she had a minor stroke on the left side of her brain. She has some difficulty using her right arm, a weakness when walking, and minor difficulty forming thoughts into words. She was released from the hospital Thursday evening to return home to the RV.

It is amazing the progress she has made in just a very short time. She is doing home therapy which they taught her in the hospital. Monday she will begin physical, occupational, and speech therapy on an outpatient basis. We are spending our time exercising, taking short walks, and getting Marsha back to her fun-loving self! With hard work and support of medical staff, she is expected to have a full recovery! Paul is confident that we will be able to move on in a very short time.

We are remaining here in Amelia Island, Florida, until her neurologist releases her to travel. We will then travel to Canton, Ohio, our summer home. The manager here at Bow & Arrow Campground graciously permitted us to extend our stay to a month, even crediting us the cost of our first week. That was very thoughtful, and we thank him for his kindness.

We will not be blogging until Marsha is healthy. Marsha won’t be doing much computer reading as she cannot leave a comment. We will update her progress and keep our “blogger” family informed. Marsha is doing well and on the road to recovery. She would appreciate your prayers and encouragement.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back soon. Hope you have a great day.

WE TRIED TO HAVE A BEACH DAY.

Saturday, April 8 – With good intentions, we headed down to the beach just a few steps from John's house on Amelia Island, Florida. The weather report was not good, but we had high hopes any rain would hold off until later in the day. Of course, the boys have a great time even if the adults would never dream of going in that cold water. They wanted to remind us how wonderful it is to be young. They skim boarded, boogie boarded, dug in the sand, tossed the football, and of course did a little swimming.

Paul testing the waters.

Paul saying NO WAY!

These boys just crack us up! L-R: Graham, Hudson, Noah. Graham and Hudson are twins.

These guys kept us entertained while we waited for the sun to shine.

The sky was getting a little dark and the air was cooling down, so we decided to retreat back to the pool area. The water was warmer, but the adults remained as spectators while the boys challenged each other to swimming contests. After a short stay at the pool, we gave up on any hopes of enjoying a sunny Florida day at the beach and headed back to the house.

After a quick snack for lunch, the Mexican Train game was dug out. We enjoyed several hours of fun. Marsha was the winner, and of course, she didn't want to mention it in the blog! Her name and date are also placed permanently on the lid of the box as a historical documentation of the win. That's a neat tradition!

What would a family get together be without food? Soon it was time for dinner. Karen had prepared BBQ, corn on the cob, French fries, and baked beans. Yummy!

After visiting for a while longer it was time to bid our farewell for the day and head back to the RV for the night. Unfortunately, the weather isn't looking good for any more beach time, so we'll have to find other ways to enjoy some family time together for the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

FERNANDINA BEACH, AMELIA ISLAND.

Friday, April 6 - Having arrived a day earlier than planned here in Amelia Island, Florida, we had a day to kill before meeting up with Paul's brother and the family for dinner tonight. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to get a little exercise by visiting historic downtown Fernandina Beach. (You can always click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Our last visit to Amelia Island was back in 2013. The downtown area has expanded since then. It still retains its quaint small town feel, but there are many more restaurants, shops, and taverns to serve the expanding tourists trade. We noticed significant building taking place increasing the residential community and hotel space as well.

David Levy Yulee, the prime mover behind the Florida Railroad Company and the founding of modern Fernandina.

We enjoyed walking along the dock and stopping into several of the small shops to checkout the displays. We always enjoy visiting this downtown area because it is not overcrowded with tourists even though it is less than an hour from Jacksonville, Florida.

Thanks Fernandina Beach for caring.

Remember when we were in San Antonio and Paul wanted to try out to be part of a mariachi band. Well, now he thinks he might want to be a pirate instead. He thought this guy could answer some of his questions about how exciting it would be to be a pirate.

Later in the day, we headed to Paul’s brother John’s, who has a home here on Amelia Island. It was great to see John and Karen and a new addition, Grandpa Doc, Karen's father. John's son Ryan, Holly and the boys arrived shortly afterwards. We headed into town to enjoy pizza. After dinner, we returned to John's to enjoy some family time with the gang.

Karen, John, Paul, Ryan.

The gang.

If the weather cooperates, we have a little beach time planned for tomorrow. Stop back and enjoy the beautiful beach here at Amelia Island with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.