March 6, 2008

Our mission trip will not come to fruition this year. After we had returned to MS after our dear Aunt Winnie’s funeral we turned around (after two days) and returned to PA. We could not fly back because Ken had such a bad cold we were afraid that his ear drums might rupture so we drove the 1200 miles back in our little pick-up truck. Ken’s Dad had turned worse in the hospital. After being in the hospital for about a week, we had high hopes of Dad being rehabilitated, but the Lord had other plans. We brought Dad home to our house to spend what remaining time he had with us. Hospice was brought in and we lost Ken’s dad on Sunday, February 24. His diabetes took a toll on his body leaving his kidneys in failure. He passed away peacefully in his sleep with the family sitting with him.

After Dad’s funeral, we returned to MS to pack up our tools and drive the RV back home.

My father was rushed to the hospital the day Ken’s Dad passed away. He was bleeding from the cancerous tumor he has. They administered 2 pints of blood, have him on a type of opium to keep him comfortable, took an ECHO and bone scan and found that the cancer is in his ribs, spine and big toe. They did go in and cauterize the tumor to help with the bleeding. He is to be released today (Thursday, March 06, 2008). After talking with my brother, we decided that it was best for us to go home and come back when Hospice is called in so that I could be there to help out. It seems like a repeat of what we just went through with Ken’s dad.

If that wasn’t bad enough, we were on the interstate and had another blow-out on the RV rear tire…the same side we had two years ago. The blow-out was so strong that it blew the side panel off and tore out some wires. So we got a new tire and are on the road again, hopefully there will be no more problems. We need a vacation!

Watching the weather, it looked quite bad so we decided to take a side trip to my niece’s home in Arkansas and stay there a couple of days hoping that the weather will get better! In Erie? Here is a picture of our new great-niece. Her name is Ariyanna, she is 21” long, weighed 8 lbs 2 ozs.

We head out tomorrow (Sunday) to try to beat the next storm.