Thanksgiving 2006

Hi Everybody!

Dave and I are off to Mexico. We're looking forward to a great vacation away from Oregon's cold and rain. It's a normal Thanksgiving for this part of the country but it's still wet and cold.

Unfortunately, we've had to send our oldest baby, Stella, to a boarding kennel this trip. She's 18 years old and gotten very sick lately. Last week we thought she was actually ready to go, but after three nights in two different clinics we've got her home and she's beginning to regain some strength. We've had to cover the entire tv room with plastic and towels to protect the floor and couch from her accidents. But she's not suffering and still wants to sit on our laps, so we'll board her with Dave's vet in St. Helens while we're away. Our normal cat-sitter, Heidi, just can't take care of her with all of her needs. She has to be given a pill every night (not a terrible burden) but she also has to be given fluids twice a week subcutaneously. The vet showed me how to do it and we'll take charge of her fluids when we get back but it takes two to do it and Heidi would find it difficult. So the vet is the way to go.

We're going to miss the family Thanksgiving get together but we'll see everyone at our Christmas party in December.

I want to thank everyone for joining our little blog and hope we can entice more of the family to join. Thanks to Sherry for the idea. Thanks to Jason for your hard work and sacrifices for the rest of us. We're proud to have you represent the family in Iraq. Suzi and Annie - thanks for writing and letting us know how everyone is doing. Thanks to Gary and Deb for keeping the family blog goiing.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Steve and Dave