ADVENT

Three weeks have gone by so tonight it's time to catch up again.  People still say that they follow my blog, so thank you for sticking with me and my irregular updates.

We have lighted two candles on the Advent wreath at Trinity so that means Christmas is not far away.  Three of our children plus spouses and seven grandchildren plan to be here on Dec.23 for our celebration of Christmas.  We will have an early turkey dinner and enjoy the rest of the day together - playing games, reading Christmas mail, singing carols, snacking and opening a few presents in the evening of "Little Christmas Eve"as Todd reminded me of what Dec.23 is called in Norway.  They will all stay for the night and we will attend Sunday service at Trinity, Torquay.

We went to Crosby this afternoon and sent a parcel by Priority mail to the Johnsons in Førde, Norway.  The last parcel sent from there arrived in a week so I hope this one does the same. Books are a favourite with all four of them. Also requested were candies to decorate a Gingerbread house so there were a few kinds included.

We had an overnight stay in Moose Jaw on Dec.1 when Abbey's team was curling in a bonspiel at Mosaic Place.  We missed the first game when they laid a seven ender!  We saw them win the next two and winning the A event with those three games.  That gives them a spot in the U21 provincial games in Regina on Dec.27-31.  We plan to take in some of their games.  They are assured of five games as they are in two pools of six teams.  They have played against all the teams in those pools so have gotten to meet many new friends.

Today we got a picture of Nora cross country skiing so here she is:

Tomorrow we are off to Weyburn for our yearly medicals with Dr. Katie Fong.  I have chronic kidney disease and Alan has Type 2 diabetes so we need to have regular checkups to keep things under control. We are both feeling well.   I am so thankful for a Kidney Health Program that deals with Early Detection/Chronic Kidney Disease.  Alan and I have met with this group in Weyburn every six months for the past year and a half.  I really have no symptoms yet, but blood and urine tests show that my kidneys are functioning at about 50%.  So far they are staying about the same, with slight improvement and that is the best I can hope for - no cure but staying at stage 3 instead of progressing to stage 5 which requires a kidney transplant or dialysis.  I am drinking more water, avoiding caffeine, limiting proteins somewhat and avoiding Advil and Aleeve painkillers.

I had a holiday in Victoria in October so now it's Alan's turn!  He is leaving on Thursday on a bus trip to Minneapolis with Stagecoach Tours out of Weyburn. He leaves from Estevan, will see a Viking Football game in their new stadium, take in a basketball game and also a hockey game against Edmonton Oilers.  They return on Monday so it will be a full five days.

I won't be left alone!  Clare is coming down for a day or two.  Dawson has a hockey game in Estevan on Saturday so Laurel, Ashley and Dawson will be at the farm that night and head back on Sunday for a game in Milestone.  Saturday is also Laurel's birthday, her last one in the forties.  I bought some lutefisk in Crosby today so we'll have that when Alan is away!

Kirk's wife, Shauna, had her tonsils out last Friday in Moose Jaw. She was discharged the same day, but was to stay overnight in Regina as that's where the surgeon lives, in case there were problems.  So far she's had no bleeding, isn't eating much yet but getting lots of fluids and taking a pain killer so is doing better than she expected.  She's avoiding crowds so is sticking close to home to avoid getting the flu that is going around.

I've been busy baking flatbread (6 batches) and one of lefse so will do more of that when Alan is away. I made a batch of fruit bread so have a few loaves in the freezer and served some for coffee after Sunday service.  I baked the loaves in tall tomato juice cans so the slices are round.

I have been enjoying the arrival of Christmas mail.  None has gone out from here yet but I'm okay with sending greetings during the twelve days of Christmas from Dec. 25 to Jan. 6 so don't give up on me.  I usually post my letter on my blog too but don't hold your breath!