Quilt Bingo - Damiansville Church Picnic

Sharing a few more photos taken at the Damiansville Church Picnic in July. Besides the fried chicken dinner with homemade noodles and desserts, quilt bingo is another special part of the annual event. Each church family donates a homemade quilt and they are given away as bingo prizes.

Lisa and Brian are pictured here early in the evening. We played for almost 5 hours and never won a quilt. Brian won a round, but it was a money round.

Grandpa/Ralph and Emily played too. Below them is a scene of the bingo playing area. Notice the beautiful quilts hanging in the background.

Emily, Paul and Dawn

This photo was taken when the Ohio gang was in St. Louis. This is visit #3 to Ted Drew's for another treat of frozen custard.

The Ohio gang is back in Ohio. We had a wonderful visit.

I just talked to Norma and she and Emily were playing a new card game. They both share a love of games and reading. Grandpa Ralph (aka Peepaw) was out with Paul for ice cream.

My mom's been feeling more tired this week. Not sure why. Could be the new chemo treatment. She's also a bit achy. The good news is that on Monday, her test results indicated her cancer marker had gone in the desirable direction. Let's hope this continues because it means the treatment is beating the cancer cells. Every Monday, she is tested, so we'll know more next week.

Cross your fingers.

Norma at Ray's backyard party

Ray hosted a party for the Ohio gang. Here my mom is enjoying a conversation with Andre, a dear friend from Holland who now lives in Mt. Vernon, IL with his wife Annelies.

This week, Norma started her first round of another chemotherapy treatment. While her oncologist was pleased with my mom's response to the first form of treatment, the cancer was starting to outsmart the chemo. In an effort to continue to fight the cancer, Dr. Laufman is trying another approach. So, Norma receives five days of chemo this week, followed by a 2-week break. Then she does it again.

She is perfecting the art of living with cancer. I think she deserves a prize, and so does Dr. Laufman and her wonderful team of doctors.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. After treatment, she is going on a picnic with my dad, Lisa and Emily and Paul.

Happy Birthday Mom. Celebrate YOU!

Donna, Norma and Kathy

Pictured here is Donna, my mom's sister who drove in from Evanston, IL, Norma, and Kathy, my mom's sister-in-law. We had the pleasure of hanging out in Highland, Illinois at cousin Al and Kelly's pool. We played water volleyball for 4 hours and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner prepared by Kathy, the most efficient, amazing hostess in the whole world! And her husband Gervase, my dad's brother, has perfected the art of cookie baking, debuting his famous oatmeal cookie.

Brian and Emily too!

Ralph and Paul

Another photo from Trattoria Marcella.

Ohio gang visits St. Louis

Instead of blogging, I've been enjoying the Ohio gang who visited St. Louis. Pictured here is Andi Groff, Norma and grandson Paul. This is the first night of many fun times in St. Louis. We had a fabulous dinner at Trattoria Marcella and had several surprise visitors. First, Andi greeted my mom when we arrived. She drove over from Illinois. Andi is a dear friend and retired teacher. She is the wife of retired superintendant Jim Groff who my mom enjoyed working for at Central High School for almost twenty years.

Second surprise was son-in-law Brian from Ohio, who snuck in and surprised us all! It was a special treat to have him for the weekend. His wife, my sister, and his kids were already here and did a great job of keeping his visit a secret.

Then, four more of my mom's teacher friends from Breese made their grand entrance. The waiter did a great job of keeping up with all of us.

More to come...stay tuned.