Wednesday, November 30

The North Shore of Oahu

Hawaiian Green Sea turtle

Surf's Up!

Saffron Finch

Red Crested Cardinal. We call it the Buckeye Bird.

The plumeria tree behind Sara's house is always in bloom. One of my favorites.

Still no baby so today we decided to drive up to the north shore. The waves weren't much over 8 feet today and we knew that there weren't going to be a lot of surfers out but we did see turtles and we checked out Matsomoto's Shave Ice stand in historic Hale'ewa. Tomorrow Sara sees her doctor and we should get an idea of when to expect baby Evelyn.

Tuesday, November 29

A poinsetta Christmas tree in the background.

Here we are at the Ala Moana Mall and we had to visit the Haagen Daz shop for some ice cream.

The weather here in Honolulu is a lot better than what it looks like it is in Ohio. I am here with Sara, still no baby but Matt did get in about 7 hours after I did. Shorty was so happy to see him, Sara was happy too but she didn't bark and wake me up. Today we went out to eat lunch and then walked around the Ala Moana Mall thinking that if we walked enough we can get that baby moving. Guess we will see. They have a doctors appointment on Thursday if we make it until then. Sorry about your weather, I hope it doesn't get too bad.

Friday, November 25

Happy Anniversary, Sara and Matt! We love you.

Good morning. I hope everyone had just as fabulous Thanksgiving as we did. We were able to bring my parents over to my brother's for the feast of the decade. Daniel had smoked a turkey and a beef roast and I brought a ham. Of course we also had all of the fixin's, cranberries, sweet and mashed potatoes, broccoli and my famous stuffing as well as Ramona's homemade pecan and pumkin pie and a cheesecake sampler.

Our appointment with neuro-ophthalmologist Dr. Epstein did not give us the news we had wanted to hear. The damage to the optical pathway from the back of the brain to the eye has been disrupted and cannot be repaired. By Ohio law, Andy will never be able to drive. Needless to say, he was extremely disappointed. He seemed much better by yesterday and hopefully will realize how extremely fortunate he is just to be with us. Dr. Epstein was very nice and spent about 20 minutes delivering the bad news in a very empathetic yet professional manner. We now have the final answer to the driving question from one of the leading doctors in that field. As it often seems, when we get some terrible news, God has a way of following up with a bit of good news. Yesterday afternoon Sara texted that Matt had called her and it looks like he may be getting a 10 day leave to come home for the birth of their little baby girl. Fingers crossed he will be arriving shortly after I do on Monday afternoon. I will not be complaining about my 11 hour flight as Matt will be flying for about 30 hours. All of us will be very relieved when we are all together in Honolulu and then Evelyn can come any time she wants! By the way, today is Sara and Matt's 5th wedding anniversary. Congratulations!! Where has the time gone?

Tuesday, November 22

Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 1972

Our first Christmas in our Mechanicsburg apartment. $75 a month

Tomorrow is our 39th wedding anniversary. We will spend it with Dr. Epstein, a neuro ophthalmologist. We are hoping to get some definitive answers about Andy's vision cut. One way or the other we need to find out if there is any hope that he will be able to drive again. I'm praying for a positive outcome but even if it isn't what we want to hear we need to know. Supposedly Dr. Epstein is the best in his field and comes highly recommended. We aren't sure what to expect but we do know that the appointment lasts between 2-4 hours so I'm taking a book. Wishing everyone safe travels and a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 20

Our blow up instant tree. A little noisy but definitely scored big points with both kids.

I got Lily an Eskimo doll when we were in North Pole, Alaska this summer. She is giving her a bottle here.

The entire Foulk family sitting on one bench. Andy was much more interested in his biscuit than in posing for the family photo.

Luke helping with the turkey dressing. He love cracking open the eggs.

King of the Hill in the neighborhood "jungle".

The hill can also double as a slide.

We made it back home tonight around 8:15 p.m. We picked up a very happy Molly from the kennel and crashed when we got in the door. It was a wonderful visit and we had a great Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration on Saturday. It was so much fun watching Luke and Lily open their gifts that were under our make shift Christmas tree. Afterwards we prepared and ate a huge feast. We were stuffed when we finished and didn't even have room for our cupcakes or pie that Luke had made the day before. Luke and I went to see Happy Feet II but once again he fell asleep before the movie was half over, probably all that turkey we ate. He was so cute when he woke up and said, "Grandma, the movie is almost over" and then said how much he liked going to the movies with me. I guess he likes sleeping on my lap. I will have to remember that we have to go to the early movie next time. This morning before we left, I took Luke and Lily for a walk. We explored the "jungle", a small woods at the end of their street. We turned over every log looking for bugs and salamanders. We did spend a small amount of time retracing our steps to find a lost binky. It was just a great way to end our visit to Delaware. They will be in Ohio for Christmas but I will be in Hawaii so I won't see them until next year. This week I will be stocking the freezer and pantry with plenty of staples so Andy can survive the 5 weeks that I will be gone. He has quite a list of things that I need to pick up or prepare so I apologize in advance if I don't get anything posted this week. I talked with Sara this week and she did have to have some tests because her belly didn't measure big enough. Everything looked good and the technician said the baby was in good position with her head down and turned ready to be delivered. I hope they communicated the fact that she isn't aloud to come out until Grandma gets there!

Friday, November 18

Luke's pumpkin pie.

Our turkey cupcakes with sprinkles

Christmas at Grammie Bichlers

Spent a relaxing day just watching the kids for most of the day. Yesterday we rode up to see Andy's mom in New Jersey about 2 1/2 hour drive. Was really nice to see her again and she was thrilled to see Luke and Lily. She even had wrapped gifts for them which was really nice. Luke got the new 2011 Hess truck and Lily got a talking baby doll. We also saw Andy's oldest brother, John and his wife Eileen. Today Luke and I made pumpkin pies and cupcakes for our holiday dinner tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to have Christmas in November. Should be lots of fun and excitement!!

Wednesday, November 16

The bridge from the parking lot to the entrance was a brightly colored mural going under the elevated train tracks.

The entrance to the Philly Zoo.

Luke and Lily hiding in a cargo box watching one of the gorillas.

The polar bear was lounging at the side of the pool.

Lily liked the petting zoo best of all.

Philadelphia's Amur Tiger.

One of the snow leopard cubs.

The playful little jaguar cub stalking and pouncing on mom.

The white lions. Two of these spent some time at the Columbus Zoo while this new exhibit was being built.

This elephant sculpture was the only elephants we saw today.

Until today the weather here in Dover has been really nice, sunny and 70's. It was a very pretty day to drive on Monday once we left the rains of Ohio. The drive through Maryland is always a treat and this time was no exception. It was amazing to see the difference in the foliage change as we got further east. Once we crossed the last of the high mountain ranges at Sideling Pass there were leaves still on the trees and as we got to Delaware the leaves looked like our did about 3 weeks ago. Yesterday we drove to Philadelphia and went to America's first zoo. It was a nice day to go, no rain and very few visitors. Their new cat exhibit is fabulous and they had lots of babies to see. There were 2 young snow leopard cubs born in July and a baby jaguar that was very playful. We also saw a baby white-handed gibbon in the ape house. Tomorrow we are going to drive up to New Jersey to see Andy's mom and maybe his brother if he isn't working. Mr. Bichler is going out to the horse barn to supervise each morning and I am having a great time with the kids.

Saturday, November 12

Some of my favorite "Heroes"

Lily Marie has overcome more adversity than any 1 year old should have to endure.

Student Megan, who played OSU volleyball, and Rae LeCompte who guided me to my eventual teaching career.

University of Tennessee women's basketball coach, Pat Summit has won more games than any coach men or women. Is currently facing her toughest opponent, Alzheimer's Disease.

Ahhhh, Saturdays! I just love 'em. Most of you that know me very well, know that I love all things sports. If it involves a ball of any shape, bats or sticks, pucks or birdies, skates or skies, I will be watching. Remember World Wide Sports? I loved it. I'm not sure where my love for sports came from. The only thing we ever watched once we had a TV was WWF Wrestling. On Saturdays, after chores and dinner (dinner being our noon meal) we watched the likes of Don Eagle and Gorgeous George body slam each other until the referee determined the winner by 3 hard slaps of his hand on the canvas mat and then holding the victor's hand high above his head. We never watched football at home so my first exposure was on the Sundays we would visit Grandma & Grandpa Long in Columbus. After dinner the women stayed in the kitchen washing dishes while Dad and Grandpa went into the living room to watch TV. Much to my dad's dismay and my great joy, Grandpa tuned in to a football game. From my seat hiding behind Grandpa's overstuffed chair, he had long before adopted a "children should be seen and not heard" policy, I would excitedly watch the game called football. The smell of cherry pipe tobacco waifing through the air, I was mesmerized by this game. There was an air of innocence in the games that were played back then. There is a part of me, that inner child, that is very angry that the media of today finds it so necessary to find wrong doing at every turn. It seems nearly impossible to have a hero that doesn't have some dirty laundry hidden away somewhere in his or her past. As an adult, I understand that media has made us more accountable for making bad choices which is a good thing. Today will be a very sad day for me as Penn State takes the field without Joe Pa and actually this entire year has been rather disappointing. I guess the lesson for our young people is that we not only need to be concerned with what we do but also those things that we fail to do. Or perhaps the lesson could be to begin looking for our "heroes" a little closer to home! Oh, and if you have any dirt on Davy Crockett, please don't tell me, that might just put me over the edge! Have a great week end!!

Friday, November 11

My sister, Judy, talking with a Pearl Harbor survivor on our visit to the USS Arizona last November.

Paying tribute to those who lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Matt on board the USS Missouri. He had the opportunity to be on board when they moved the ship from dry dock.

My dad was in the Merchant Marines during WWII.

Today is the designated day to honor our veterans. I will give a shout out to my son in law, Matt, who is currently deployed aboard the USS Port Royal and my dad who served during WWII in the United States Merchant Marines. I am currently watching a basketball game between Michigan State and North Carolina and it is being played aboard an aircraft carrier. In a few minutes they will be taking a special time out at sunset for the presentation of the evening colors. I think the ship is in port in San Diego, at first when I saw President Obama I thought they were in Hawaii but I was mistaken. Sara had told me that Obama and several world leaders have been in Honolulu all week and traffic was a nightmare because of all the road closures. Any way, the game is pretty unique. I'm looking forward to the OSU basketball game at 9. I am pretty much over football this year. I can hardly make myself watch the Browns and the college scene has been one disappointment after another. On a lighter note I heard on the news that weddings for today were up by 110% because so many couples wanted to be married on 11-11-11. Thanks again to the men and women who have or are serving in the military.

Thursday, November 10

What I am thankful for, I love how excited Lily looks when Luke opens the door.

The sky as I was driving to art class. The clouds were soft and white with a tinge of pink and the full moon right above. And then the cold front moved in.

I apologize to the faithful that read this blog. I feel my posts have been few and far between as of late. Partly, I think because the weather has been so gorgeous that I have been outside quite a bit and also because I am trying to prepare for Christmas a month early. We will be having Thanksgiving and Christmas in Delaware next week since I will be gone during the month of December. The church bazaar last week end was pretty successful, I haven't heard a final tally but my Stained Glass notecards all sold as well as the two framed prints that I donated. If you are interested, I do have my notecards at The Abbey, a gift shop in the old Catholic Church downtown, and they are having a Holiday Open House this week end. I believe the Catholic church is also having their bazaar on Saturday and several craft shows including Helen Haenszel's out on Olmstead Rd. Someone told me there is even a wine tasting at the Garden shop at the eastern edge of West Jeff? Who needs a grocery store!

Stay tuned, my next posts will more than likely be from Delaware and New Jersey and in the month of December they will be coming to you direct from sunny Honolulu. As I close this post I would like to ask each of you to say a little prayer for all the families and their children who are fighting childhood diseases. It takes such a toll on everyone concerned. I have three regulars in my prayers, 7 year old Madeline of Columbus going through chemo after being diagnosed with neuroblastoma, 5 year old Trey Love of Pennsylvania fighting against reoccuring neuroblastoma and 4 year old Celia who is the victim of little known Batten's disease. There are far too many statistics of childhood diseases but sometimes we need to forget the statistics and make them more personal. Pray for healing, understanding and faith in a power greater than we can fathom. Examine your life as it stands today and take stock of the many blessing that surround you and give thanks.

Saturday, November 5

Robin wants Batman's candy bucket, and this is before they left the house!

Batman loves his little sis!

Every super hero needs a damsel in distress. This is Luke at his pre-school, the damsel is Ava. When Trish asked Luke if Ava liked him his reply was, "I not know Mom, everybody likes me!"

A super hero convention, I'm thinking the teacher of this group is probably underpaid!!

Went to the church bazaar today. I actually went early just to buy the caramel candies that the UMW women make each year, last year they were sold out by the time I got there. I am sending a package to my son in law and he likes all things caramel so I hope he likes them. At 10:30 I stopped by the Madison House to pick up Mom so she could visit her friends at the bazaar and have lunch. I had asked several of the other ladies from the Madison House if they would like to go but Mom was the only one who felt good enough to go. I'm glad she was able to go with me, she enjoyed seeing her prayer group friends, eating lunch and just getting away for a while.

*The pictures today have nothing to do with the post but are some Halloween pictures that Trish put up on Facebook of the kids on beggars night. It appears that Lily was a double agent and posed as Minnie Mouse and also as Batman's side kick, Robin. (she is quite gifted, you know!)