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.