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!

Saturday, November 6

Visiting the Pali Overlook

Rainbow in Waikiki, walking from breakfast at Duke's

Our dinner at the Luau, very good.

To update Lily's progress I will go back to November 4. Surgery went very good as I stated before. Lily was awake and eating by early evening and doing great. By Friday afternoon she had been discharged and spent the night in her own crib. I talked to Trish this morning and she is back to her usual cheery self and is even rolling over on her own. The only medication she is taking is tylenol as needed. They will meet with the oncologist early next week to discuss the pathology results. Until then we are just counting our blessings.

Here in Hawaii, Judy and I just spent 2 wonderful days and nights at the Hale Koa Military Hotel in Waikiki. It is a wonderful hotel for retired or active military personnel and their families and is located right on the beach. On Thursday night we went to the Luau at the Hale Koa and last night we watched the fireworks on the beach. Tomorrow we are going to go horseback riding on the ranch where they filmed parts of Jurassic Park, Lost and Hawaii 5-0.

Thursday, November 4

Today I am dedicating to our granddaughter Lily. As some of you may have heard, Lily was diagnosed with Horner's Syndrome on October 12. Lily's symptoms were a drooping eyelid and her left pupil was unable to dilate. This a rare neurological disease that has an underlying cause. In Lily's case, an MRI revealed a neuroblastoma in the chest area that was interrupting the nerve impulses to the eye. Although this was devastating news, we felt fortunate that Lily's symptoms actually helped to find the tumor early. It is pretty rare to find a neuroblastoma under the age of 1. Lily will be 6 months old on Sunday.

This morning, Trish and Chad checked Lily in to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a leader in the treatment of neuroblastomas. Her surgery went well and we are awaiting more information from the biopsy and bone marrow draw. Please keep our family in your prayers during this difficult time.

Tuesday, November 2

Everything pineapple can be found here.

The North Shore, today waves were cresting at near 30 feet.

The Samoan coconut tree climber.

Posing with the Fiji village people. Check out the little ones in the front.

China Man's Hat.

Today is my sister's birthday. We had decided that we would visit the Polynesian Cultural Center. I took Matt to work so we could have a car and it was an amazing experience in itself. To see so many of the ships docked there on base with their lights twinkling in the early morning darkness was amazing. Once I was back home and we had lazily gotten ready for the day we headed up to the North Shore. We did make a quick stop at the Dole Pineapple Plantation that Judy really enjoyed. I found it interesting last time because I always thought that pineapples grew in trees but learned that they actually grow out of the ground. Who knew?? The most beautiful part of this trip is crossing from the pineapple fields, cresting the mountain and then seeing the ocean of the north shore spreading out in front of you. We pulled over at a beach where we have always been able to see green sea turtles hauled out onto the sand. I had heard that the waves this week were averaging 25-30 feet and we weren't disappointed. We weren't able to see any turtles hauled out because the water was too high with very little beach showing but we could see the turtles just off shore swimming in the surf. However, there was a surf competition going on so we saw many crazy surfers in these unbelievable waves. I can't even begin to explain and pictures just can't show the magnificence of these waves. We finally arrived at the Cultural Center and spent almost 4 hours immersing ourselves in the island cultures. On our way home we stopped at China Man's Hat for some quick pictures before heading back to Sara's house. We pretty much went completely around the island and were pooped! Sara had a great supper ready for us and flowers for Judy's birthday. Judy was sure this had been her best birthday ever! I'm so happy for her.

Sunday, October 31

Aloha, from Sara and Matt's home.

Ready for a day of sun and fun.

Lunch at the "Shack", followed by dessert at Yogurt Land.

From Here to Eternity Beach.

Surfing at President Obama's favorite spot, Breakneck (Sandy) Beach!

Happy Halloween! It is Trick or Treat night in Honolulu. My sister and I arrived at the Honolulu airport Saturday at 2:34 pm Hawaii time, about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Sara was waiting for us with our leis and had some delicious potato soup ready at home when we got there. Before we crashed for the evening, we went to the Hickham Air force Base beach to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful way to end the day of Judy's first visit to Hawaii. This morning we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It was an absolutely beautiful day and Judy thoroughly enjoyed the sights we saw today. After Hanauma Bay we ate at The Shack and then we drove to the beach where they filmed "From Here to Eternity" and then stopped at Sandy Beach, also known as Breakneck Beach. Then it was back home to rest from the day's activities. Tomorrow, we plan to go to the USS Arizona Memorial.