Christmas Fun

Sally's Mom Making Progress in Ohio

Hi All. My mom is making slow progress in Ohio. In case any of you did not know this, she had quadruple bypass surgery at the University of Cincinnati Hospital on November 23, at age 89. As you would expect, this has been a tough go, but all the medical people say she is doing remarkably well. She has been worried she will not have the energy and determination that it will take to recover fully, but has been trying hard to do what is expected of her. Eating has been a major problem, in that she has little or no appetite and chewing takes too much energy when nothing tastes good. We're told that heart surgery often affects the taste buds for quite a while, and she has never been "much of an eater" (as my Gramps used to say). She also has to induce coughs and do deep breathing exercises that are painful when the sternum has been cut through and wired back together. Anyway, I have been here two weeks as of tomorrow and will be going back to Minnesota tomorrow. It is very hard to leave her, but my niece is returning tonight and will stay until early next week. I am just hoping Mother is headed in the right direction, and can see that she has made a lot of progress in the last two weeks. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. If you want to send her a card, her temporary address is :

Gail Ireland
Berkeley Health Care Wing, Room 408A
100 Berkeley Drive
Hamilton, OH 45013

Love to all,
Sally

A Los Alamos Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2007 was marked by standard Robertson fare: good conversations, good food, good wine, some laughter, some tears, and fun and funny experiences. Rebecca and Davida and Karin were extraordinarily gracious hosts--for Monica, Tate, and me, in particular, as we pretty much took over a whole wing of the house with baby stuff. We enjoyed lots of good coffee, watching Grandma hold her (now increasingly heavy) great-grandson, and boardwalks saunters at Oso Flaco Lake; we worried for Grandma Ireland, and mom as she traveled to be with her following quadruple bipass surgery.
Here is a slide show of some images from the holiday. We hope you're all well, and enjoying this advent season. Much love to everyone.