MERRY CHRISTMAS 2002

 Well another year has flown by and I don’t know where it has gone. It’s been a busy one but I’ll try to hit some of the highlights for you.

The first major adventure that we had was a trip to Disneyland courtesy of and with Grandma Reed. Mickey being 7 and Keelan almost 5 it was a perfect time (although I can’t think of a bad time) to go there. We went in early February and the weather was beautiful and the crowds non existent. Mickey especially enjoyed Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and 3-D Bugs Life. Keelan was too small for Indiana Jones but loved Thunder Mountain, Grizzly River Raft and Matterhorn. Mommy enjoyed everything but wished she’d done Star Wars again and had the intestinal fortitude to try Jurassic Park at Universal Studios. A highlight for both boys was Legoland – yes there is an entire theme park – and despite five hours there we did not have as much time as the kids would have liked. There were rides, a wonderful play park and an incredible miniature display of world wonders, famous buildings and architecture all built out of ordinary Lego pieces.

As you all know, the family that plays together stays together what about the family that breaks together…. One Friday, Keelan and Mickey were skating over at a friends playing tag. Keelan to a quick fall and when candy wouldn’t calm the crying we were off to emergency. He had a buckle fracture on his right arm and got the first cast of the family. The next Friday, Deb went curling and after giving some instructions to the new curlers was moving some rocks back and suddenly lost her footing. When she couldn’t stop her tears either, it was off to emergency again. Yes she too had a fracture of her right arm (no she didn’t miss work being left handed and all).   She did make it back to the rink in time for a drink and to show off her cast from finger tips to shoulder. Needless to say the next Friday no one in the family was allowed near ice. After all we needed dad to do the dishes for 6 weeks of casting and the doc kept trying to stretch that.

Pat had a bit of a scare this spring when a tumour was discovered in his bladder. It appeared to be small and so just after the long weekend in May, Deb and Pat were off to Lethbridge for his operation. The operation was also combined with Pat’s second vasectomy (yah nothing seems to go as it should). The surgery went very well and the tumour was what they call low grade so that was good news too. Pat had to stay in hospital over night and we woke up to a foot of icy slushy snow. And of course we had removed our winter tires just the week before. Deb was too nervous to drive so Pat took over (ice packs and all). At 35 kms an hour we headed off down the highway. It was by far the worst roads we’ve seen in years. In spite of our care between the strong wind, iced up wheel wells and slushy snow we slowly drifted into the ditch. Luckily a farmer in his big tractor was coming out of his field and with a bit of a struggle was able to pull us out, however this was not before Pat tried digging the snow out from under the wheels with his boots- probably didn’t help the post-op recovery. We did continue but it took 4 hours to get to Sparwood normally a 1 – 1 1/2 hour trip. Things did improve from there but the kids took to calling the Subaru the ditch witch.

Keelan began Kindergarten this year and in spite of an initial attack of nerves is really thriving. He enjoys having friends of his own (he’s busy tonight trying to figure out whom to give school pictures to) and “reading” books every night. He suddenly seems to be growing up far too quickly. He continues to enjoy gymnastics and was thrilled this year when he was allowed to be in an older class with Mickey (the class was really small and it sure made it easier for mom). It’s sure funny as he’s much smaller than the rest and they always have to add a step or lift him up to reach the rings and bars.

Mickey is in grade two this year and is in a 2/3 split. He’s one of only 5 grade 2s and the class has 17 boys total! It is very different in the level of independence either expected or taken by the kids, but he seems to be doing well. It has given him some incentive to try a bit harder in some of the open ended tasks. The class work is around a series of themes and they started with Dinosaurs and are now on Fantasy (including mixing potions in science experiments) so he’s been very happy.

As usual, Pat’s work is in a state of flux. The region that he is in is being combined with two to others, it is moving to a governance body, as opposed to a government ministry; and this has to be accomplished with 25% – 35% budget and staffing reductions. He discovered with two days notice that he would be covering Complaints and Quality Assurance for the Okanagan region in addition to the Kootenays. He is handling all of this change with an amazing amount of grace despite the fact he was just about hurt by a wall mount book case falling on his desk. Pat is trying to pick and choose which battles are worth the fight – and which aren’t. His new motto is “Don’t fight with idiots, they bring you down to their level and beat you with their experience.”

Deb’s work environment had also been dramatically changed over the past year. Health services have been regionalized and the government is holding them to their budget and since health services have traditionally gone over by 20 – 30% this had meant some significant reductions in staff, services and programs. Most significantly for Deb’s work, long term care facilities and home care services are now strictly medically based. The philosophy is to keep people in there own homes longer and to mobilize families and communities to be active in providing non-medical supports but during the process there are some big gaps and the change is so sweeping that the stress is overwhelming at times. On the plus side Deb has been doing a six session workshop for family caregivers that has been extremely well received and is very rewarding.

Sadly, Great Grandma Boyle passed away this July. She would have been 100 come September although she swore she’d only have been 99. She was an amazing lady and will be missed by all of us.

Spending time with both of our families remains a highlight for all of us. Keelan is our social butterfly and loves nothing more than beating Grandma Boyle at “Crazy 8” and playing Lego or building sand castles with his cousins. Grandma Boyle comes over for a sleepover every weekend or second weekend which we all enjoy. The kids and Deb got up to Loon Lake again this year and got baked (Deb even sought out some shade on occasion). Mickey learns more in that week of swimming than all the rest of the year.

We did a Canadian Rockies Hot Springs and National Parks tour for our summer holiday this year.    Although we traveled very few miles (according to Pat for whom anything less than 600 km/day is not a holiday) we did numerous hikes, swam in 6 hot springs and saw another, rode up the Columbia Ice fields, rode the longest gondola in western Canada and discovered the best Kim Chee in the world. (Kim Chee is a Korean spicy pickled cabbage that Deb adores.) We also got to visit Deb’s cousin and family in Rocky Mountain house for two days and had a great time.

At this time of year and throughout the next we wish your family health and  happiness.

Merry Christmas to All