Life goes on...

Sad news, Papa is still in the hospital. Now he's just shy of four months. It's hard to imagine that he's been out of the house for that long. Grandma still goes up to visit him everyday, most days are good, but in truth the family is really just playing this long waiting game with no end in sight. The recent bout with pneumonia seems under control, but now there's word of another infection. We need him to get stronger, eat more and eventually move around so he can regain some of that strength.

In other news the kids are well, they still fight like cats and dogs, but from the sound of things that's pretty normal. Most days Roger and Tracey have to referee and keep them separated in order to have some peace and quiet in the house.

Now that it's May the school year is winding down. Malcolm is doing well in most subjects, especially his writing and reading. Roger and Tracey have been trying to work on improving his math, but most days are a struggle to get the extra work in. I think through their efforts there has been some improvement, albeit incremental.

 We're coming up on Mother's Day this Sunday. I'm not sure what's planned, but again with Papa in the hospital things have been difficult. Here are some pictures from Malcolm's baseball games and some film shots Roger has taken during March and April. He loves that Mamiya RZ67 camera.

Easter and stuff.

Easter this year was definitely different. The regular dinner preparations were absent and most of all the spirit was gone. It's most definitely due to uncle Glen and Papa's hospitalization. Not having the whole family present for dinner and activities has certainly had an effect on everyone. Papa is still in the hospital and fighting a sudden chest infection and although uncle Glen's treatment is now done the road to normalacy seems still distant. Despite the overall glum, Tracey and Roger still put on an egg hunt for the kids. No big surprises this year like in years past, but some treats, a nice brunch with Chad, Wendy and Aaden, and a few books to celebrate the onset of spring. Here are some pictures.

New car?

Yup, the family is in the market for a new car. Roger and Tracey are trying to narrow their choices down. Right now it's between the Honda Ridgeline and the Kia Sorento. Each car has its pros and cons, and right now it looks like the Kia is pulling ahead. Last weekend Roger and Malcolm went down to the Vancouver International Auto Show to check them out. They even took skytrain down, Malcolm's favorite. Once daycare ends, they'll probably move the money over into car payments. It's been nice not having payments, but it's definitely time for a new vehicle with more space. I think Roger's tired of playing tetris with all the stuff when they head out on a road trip.

We finally meet Mr. Gavin!

Uncle Lane, auntie Jen and Master Gavin came to visit last week. We enjoyed dinner together talking about old times and how children change lives. There was no doubt that Lane and Jen would be great parents, Mr. Gavin looks pretty great. He's certainly a handsome boy. I think that uncle Lane and Roger had one of those full circle moments where now Lane is in the same position Roger was 7 years ago now. Just look at the picture below, there's even a resemblance between Malcolm and Gavin don't you think? A special hello to Grandma Turner in Red Deer. Thanks for reading the blog all these years. She was so kind to send Melody her first booties back in 2009, whoa 5 years ago now. Here's the link to the original post.

Palm Springs 2014

Well, it's been a super long while since my last blog entry. Whew a lot to report! Sad news is that Papa is still in the hospital. Apparently, it looks like a few more weeks to deal with all the residual issues. Suffice to say he's considerably weaker so they need to get his strength up before any immediate homecoming. We've all been vigilantly visiting him every day, it's especially hard on Grandma.

The family is back from Palm Springs, such a relief. From the sounds of things the trip was a great success. Carol, Gomo, Uncle Glen and Grandma took good care of me though.

The trip down to California did apparently start with a bit rocky ride with a 2 hour delay in San Francisco, but for the most part the kids did pretty well dealing with all the running around. The house the family rented was beautiful and having a pool certainly allowed the kids to be perpetually entertained. The one downside is the safety issue, small children + pool requires constant monitoring. Some basic house rules were set up and for the most part everyone complied. As always the vacation was filled with good food, good times and lots of great memories. A great way to spend spring break. The next trip is planned for August, this time I get to go too! Whoo hoo! Here's a slideshow of the images Roger took during the trip.

Status quo...

There's nothing really new to report. Papa is still in the hospital, today actually marks 8 weeks. Today we didn't get very good news either, he's got three blood clots in his lung. So, the doctors and nurses are working very hard to treat the situation. We're still keeping our fingers crossed that he can come home soon. The medical staff is confident that everything will be fine in time, so that's good news. Uncle Glen's treatment is going well. It's going to be a long haul, but as the doctor mentioned, this will be a cure to his condition.

For the past few days Roger has also been feeling sick with some sort of stomach bug. Man, we just can't catch a break. The family is gearing up for their trip to Palm Springs in a week. Tracey is still on the fence about leaving the folks.

Here are some film images Roger took over the past few weeks.

Papa and etc...

Yes, as you can see from the title I'm sad to report that Papa is still in the hospital. The good news is that he is much better, the pneumonia has cleared and his leg is much better too. The last thing that remains is that the wound on his leg is still bleeding, last report shows that the wound has almost closed though. Today we got some devastating news that will ultimately affect Papa's return home, he's been confirmed to have a superbug. Even visitors will have to gown-up to see him. Which also means that the kids can't go any longer. Interestingly enough, he's always had this superbug, it's basically a fungus in his lungs that is resistant to any anti-biotic. We'll have to see what happens in the coming days. :(

In other news, it has been a rather eventful period with respect to health. Tracey has a full-blown cold and is coughing up a storm. On Friday, Melody got a bout of food poisoning and threw up at the hospital whilst visiting Papa. Since then she really hasn't eaten much, even at Auntie Shannon's Karaoke birthday party on the weekend. She's been quite sensitive about things these days. Roger and Tracey have been dealing with her feelings of sadness and perhaps some residual effects from watching the movie Frozen. There seems to be some anxiety related with separation all of a sudden. We can only hypothesize that her feelings stem from the story, the circumstance of Anna and Elsa, whose parents were killed at sea. Suffice to say, she doesn't want us to leave her anywhere or be out of sight, especially Tracey. A lot of "Mommy, Mommy, mommy".... these days.

Reflecting back on the winter Olympics in Sochi, we're so proud of our Canadian athletes. They did fantastic this year netting 25 medals in total, 10 of those being gold. Canada finished 3rd overall! Roger went over to Chris and Jennine's house for the 4 am men's hockey game final. Although bleary eyed and sleep deprived, it was a great effort. In the evening, the family went down to Jack Poole Plaza and dinner out to Dunn's to see the Olympic flame. Too bad, Melody wasn't feeling well, here's a shot that Roger managed to get of Malcolm. Below are some other pictures from the past week, including some from Taisho's skating party.
  Shannon's birthday party: Taisho's birthday party last Friday:

Montreal et al.

Today was family day in BC. It's only been around for a couple of years now, but it's been a welcomed provincial stat holiday. We had Keith, Tamara and the kids come over for brunch and some family skating. It was a lot of fun. Why is it that long weekends especially never actually feel long enough. Also after the tough past few weeks with Papa in the hospital and other news about ill health with the family, we're all happy about having some extra time off anytime we can get it.

 I'm happy to report Roger's trip to Montreal for work went off without a hitch. It's hard for Tracey to hold down the fort by herself, but she managed very well. These days the sibling rivalry is still very much an issue and I'm sad to say that it's very one-sided. Both Roger and Tracey hope that he'll grow out of it, but these days "the face" rears it's ugly head more times than we'd like to mention. The kids on their own are really a pleasure, but put them together and it's often a chemical reaction or at least a ticking time bomb of when they're going to implode! Definitely it's a maturity issue, but somedays growing up can't happen fast enough.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks: Family Day: Montreal: Aiden's Birthday: