Sunday, December 26

A white-breasted nuthatch, taken on my new camera.

Our $14.99 last minute tree, I thought it was a real beauty.

Grandma Great enjoying Lily on her first Christmas.

Gift exchanging after sledding and dinner.

Grandpa Bob with his little Olive.

Luckily the kids got away last night and landed in Philadelphia before the storm hit. I woke this morning feeling just awful. I have the worst head cold ever. I think I slept all day and went to bed at 7:30. Guess all the stress of the holiday finally caught up with me. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed being with family and friends.

Friday, December 24

Grandma & Luke are ready to go hiking and birding.

Our little Polar Baby!

Lily in her activity-mobile. Beep-beep, coming through!!

Grandpa and Grandma Great, Lily, Asher, Luke, Olive and Lillie.

Sledding before Christmas dinner! Everyone had a great time!!

Today we had our Christmas dinner since Trish and Chad are leaving for their home in Dover on Christmas night. It seems different trying to get dinner ready at 1 instead of a "magic moment" when dinner is usually ready at 6 pm. All the while preparation was taking place I was trying to watch Luke and Lily enjoying Christmas stockings. I was a little apprehensive about getting everything to come out of the oven on time and completely cooked but I must say, dinner was pretty good with lots of variety. I did forget to bake the dinner rolls but I didn't hear anyone complain and we seemed to have plenty. Before we ate, the kids, Luke and Daniel's two oldest went sledding. Mom and Dad were able to join us from the Madison House and several friends stopped out to see us (well mainly to see Lily) along with my brother and his family. We had a great time. At 6, I headed down to church for our Christmas cantata. It was a wonderful ending to a pretty perfect day. The only thing that would have made it better is if Sara and Matt could have been here. Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy this special day!

Wednesday, December 22

Luke on his new John Deere Gator

Luke and Pop Pop taking a spin in Pop Pop's new Super Mach UTV.

First of all, Happy Birthday to Colo. Colo was the first gorilla ever to be born in captivity and is now also the oldest gorilla in a zoo at the age of 54. Yesterday I picked Trish, Chad and the kids up from the airport. We had Flyer's pizza and spent the evening playing with Luke and Lily and catching up with Trish and Chad. We decided to let Luke see his gift from us early in case we get more snow before Christmas. I think he really likes it but he definitely needs to work on his steering skills. Today, Andy got his Christmas present early as well. It's a 700 cc Super Mach with a snow plow blade mounted on the front. It looks great and seems pretty easy to drive. I'm hoping that Mr. B can use it to get back out on those snow days and start pushing snow for our neighbors. No more shoveling the driveway by hand! Yea!!

Saturday, December 18

This is Aurora and Anana wishing you a Merry Christmas and Blessings in the New Year

New Delta faucet, installed by.....moi. And not one drip under the sink.

The beginning of this week seemed pretty hectic and by Thursday I was exhausted. I think part of it was the added stress of snow removal as we are still awaiting Mr. Bichler's Christmas present, a new snow blade. I'm also feeling that I am not quite ready for the holidays and there never seems to be enough hours in a day. My new windows are in so that is now checked off my list. Thursday was the longest day of the week, Rosati here at 7:30 to finish windows so I was up at 7 shoveling snow, Mom's doctor appointment at 10:45, roads were a mess, lunch at Bob Evan's, shopping at Wall Mart with Mom, drop Mom off at the Madison House then back home just in time to change and drive down to school to catch the bus to our Licking Hts. game. Finally back home at 9:30 pm. Needless to say I slept in a little on Friday morning before I tackled putting a new faucet on our kitchen sink. It took an hour and a half to get the old faucet off and only 20 minutes to put the new one on. I was pretty proud of the job, if I must say so myself. Today I finished wrapping the Christmas gifts and went to Columbus to pick up some last minute items. I want to have everything wrapped before the grand kids get here on Tuesday. I want to spend a stress-free week with the family while they are here. (I know, it probably won't happen but it might!) Tomorrow I have to get my Christmas cards written. I sent cards to the shut-ins from our church but I haven't sent my regulars. I've attached this year's Christmas card just in case I don't get them out in time, also a picture of my new kitchen faucet.

Wednesday, December 15

A beautiful view of the Little Darby.

Still snowing.

To think I put lights on these trees! You can't even see them with all the snow!!

Sure has been cold, it is 8 degrees as I write this. Monday they came to put our windows in and I felt really sorry for the fellows that had to be out in the frigid temperatures. My windows look great and they will finish the outside trim tomorrow morning. Tuesday I worked at the zoo as usual and I stayed to do a Mexican wolf watch from 10-noon. Talk about cold!! We have 5 new Mexican wolves, 5 sisters who were being released into their new yard for the first time. Docents help to watch animal behavior when animals are being placed in a new environment or if they are being introduced to new animals. The new wolves are beautiful and seemed to settle into their new home very nicely. I will post some pictures later. We aren't supposed to take pictures while we are working. I do have pictures of the snow storm that we had on Monday. I would have posted them sooner but I was too busy shoveling our driveway. Have a nice day and stay warm.

Saturday, December 11

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it has been since I blogged. Sad to say that not much has happened in that time. Basketball games have started and we won our first two pretty easily but lost to Liberty Union on Thursday. I've been trying to get prepared for winter and those nasty storms they keep talking about. Last week was spent trying to solve some septic issues. It took 3 days but between Yoder's Septic and Yutzy Brothers plumbing, I do think the problem is solved. On Monday Rosati is coming to install my new energy efficient windows. I am going to put a bow on each one since they are my Christmas present. Today was spent getting our outside Christmas lights up. I still have a few left to put up but the majority of the work is done. I picked up our tree yesterday so that is one more thing I can check off of my list. Trying to get all my gifts wrapped, can't believe only 2 weeks until Christmas. Trish, Chad, Luke and Lily will be here on the 21 so I need to get it in gear.

I fed Lily some peas, didn't know she didn't like them. I switched to apple sauce but she apparently didn't realize it for a while. Loved her facial expressions. (video from October)

Tuesday, November 30

Polar Frontier.

Taking a swim

Both the girls, Aurora and Anana

Can't believe that November is gone and December is here already. My day started off as bad as today's weather has been. I got a speeding ticket on the way to the zoo. It really wasn't my fault, there just wasn't any traffic like usual to slow me down. He tried to say I was going 70 mph. but I know for a fact that I set my cruise at 68. Somehow, I didn't think it would work in my favor to mention that. (thought he might cite me for premeditated speeding if I told him!) So I quietly waited as he wrote the ticket out. Glad Mr. B was working today, that will almost pay for it, can't believe how much the ticket was!

Once I got to the zoo things were better. I worked Polar Frontier and the polar bears were really active. Maybe they know it is supposed to snow tonight.

Saturday, November 27

The anatomy of a perfect picture. How many will it take?

Oh, well.....I'll settle for this one even if Lily checked out about 2 pictures ago.

Lily with her Pop Pop. She would cry each time he left the room.

Today was our last day in Delaware. Spent the morning just packing up and playing with the kids. We had a wonderful visit and it was really hard to say good bye but Mr. B has basketball and is subbing both Monday and Tuesday so we needed to get back home. The traffic was a little heavy until 70 went north to the turn pike. We continued on to Cumberland, Maryland and the traffic was less but we got into some snow between Cumberland and Morgantown. The temperatures went from 34 to 26 real quick. I hope it gets warmer when we get into Ohio. I pray everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with those who are important in your lives. Sara and Matt head back to Hawaii tomorrow morning. We certainly hate to see them go but it was really nice to have them home for a while. Have a great week!

Friday, November 26

Lily with Grammie Bichler. Taken last week when Trish and Sara went to visit.

Luke with his Grammie. Don't they have the same mischievous grins?

Luke on his tool box which contains about 800 lego pieces.

This is one of Trish's pictures of our little angel, Lily!

Lily working on sitting up on her own.

The rains came in this morning and the temperatures have gotten much cooler. We haven't done much today. We did go to Giacomo's for lunch and had a Philly chicken cheese steak. Mr. B had an Italian sausage cheese sub and Luke had his usual ziti with marinara on the side. He likes to dip his pasta in the sauce. (It's messier that way!) Luke and I went to the park after lunch but it was pretty wet so we didn't stay too long and went to the Dairy Queen instead. The afternoon was spent playing and relaxing. Tomorrow we are heading home so we will have Sunday to rest since Mr. Bichler has to sub both Monday and Tuesday. We also want to spend Sunday with Sara and Matt as they will be heading back to Hawaii on Monday. Safe travels to all who will be traveling this week end.

Thursday, November 25

Luke helping Lily clean up after Thanksgiving dinner.

Luke's turkey cookie from Cake Creations.

Lily has her pilgrim cup cake from Cake Creations.

Our Anniversaries were celebrated here in Columbus on Monday.

We were so fortunate to be able to spend Thanksgiving with Trish and her family in Delaware. What a joy to see Lily and Luke again. And to see Lily after everything she has been through gives new meaning to Thanksgiving. Luke and I went to see Mega Mind yesterday and had a great time. Mr. B has been helping out at the farm and keeping all of the hired help on task. It has been a little cooler but at least we didn't get the rain and sleet that went through Ohio and Pennsylvania. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a special wish for a happy 4th wedding anniversary to Matt and Sara. They spent their Thanksgiving with his family in Cincinnati.

Sunday, November 21

Sara with her dad on her wedding day, November 25, 2006

Mr. and Mrs. Bichler on their wedding day, Thanksgiving, November 23, 1972.

We have had a pretty busy week. Basketball is in full swing and we had a scrimmage on Thursday against Brookpark Middle School. The girls are looking pretty good and we have another scrimmage on Monday against London. Sara and Matt are back from Delaware and Sara and I did a little shopping today. Matt went to a Bengals game, they lost, but at least they don't torture their fans by leading the entire game just to lose in the last minutes of the game like the Browns.

Tomorrow we are going to celebrate ours and Sara and Matt's wedding anniversaries by having lunch at Montgomery Inn. It will be our 38th anniversary and Sara and Matt are celebrating their 4th year together. Their anniversary falls on Thanksgiving this year and they will be spending it with Matt's family.

Mr. Bichler and I are looking forward to a relaxing Thanksgiving with Trish, Chad, Lily and Luke and we certainly will be giving thanks for our many blessings.

Monday, November 15

Well Thanksgiving came a little early this year to our family. This morning we received some wonderful news. Lily had an appointment with her oncologist this morning and he said she would not need any further treatment. The tumor was classified as a stage 2a neuroblastoma and evidently since 98% was removed by surgery they will just monitor every 3 months with a MRI. We are overjoyed that she will not have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation.

On Friday last week, I picked Sara and Matt up from the airport. Matt is home on a 20 day leave. Saturday he drove to Cincinnati to surprise his family and evidently did a pretty good job. When his sister answered the door she screamed so loud that her family thought she had dropped the baby and came running upstairs. This is their first time back since last Christmas. Today they flew out to Delaware to see Trish, Chad & Lily. They also took Luke with them to see mommy, daddy and Lily. I hope Sara survives her brief stint of parent hood. First he didn't want to take his shoes off for security even though he had kicked them off in the car before we got to the airport. Once they were in Baltimore and finally made it to their rental car and got on the road, Luke announced that he had to go to the bathroom. They did eventually make it to Dover. We are truly blessed.

Thursday, November 11

The memorial over the USS Arizona. It lies where it sank on December 7, 1941 and entombs 1,177 men.

As I was leaving I saw this volunteer, a veteran, paying his respects to the men who rest here.

Three survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Left to right, Al Rodrigues US Navy (90 yrs old), Bob Kinzler US Army (88 yrs. old), Herb Weatherwax US Army (93 yrs. old).

The National Cemetery of the Pacific at the Punchbowl, Honolulu.

Stained glass in the chapel at the top of the cemetery monument.

I meant to get these pictures posted for Veterans Day but am still operating on island time. These are from our visit to the USS Arizona Memorial. The day we were there we were fortunate to talk with 3 of the Pearl Harbor survivors and the author of a series of books on the War in the Pacific. It rained when we first arrived but cleared up after we had visited the memorial.

On our last day in Hawaii we also went to the National Cemetery of the Pacific also refered to as the Punchbowl Cemetery. Both were very humbling experiences as you realize the number of men and women who sacrificed their lives for our freedoms. Thank you to all who serve our country and continue to preserve our way of life in America. God bless them and their families.

Friday, November 12

Mounting up for our Kualoa Ranch 2 hour ride.

Movie set for Wind Talkers, the movie.

Riding into the valley where many movies have been filmed.

Part of the trail overlooking the ocean. The weather was perfect.

The log where the T-Rex ate the little dinosaur while Dr. Grant and the children hid behind the log.

Sorry, I know many of you have been waiting for an update on Lily. The situation is that the pathology results were slow getting back on one of the tests so the appointment had to be cancelled. The oncology team meets on Fridays to discuss each case so Lily's appointment will be this coming Monday. Until then there really isn't much to tell. Lily has recovered completely from her surgery and Trish said you would never know that she had been through a major surgery. We do know that the tumor was a neuroblastoma and that the surgeons were able to remove about 98% of it. Now we just wait to see what the oncologist thinks is best to treat the remaining 2%. Luke is here in Ohio, splitting time with the grandparents to give Lily a chance to regain her strength and get ready for his rough-housing. Things have been pretty hectic since my return from Hawaii. I got in on Tuesday at noon and then went to basketball practice with Mr. B at 2:30. On Wednesday, I picked up Luke and it has been pretty much non stop ever since. I'm really feeling the jet lag today, think I'll do something about that right now!