August 20, 2008

Hi Friends,
Well, the fishing trip was a success. No health problems and a good time was had by all. The weather was perfect, the fishing was fair. In the first fifteen minutes of fishing Joe caught a large 8 1/2 pound bass. He said if he didn't catch another fish all trip he would be happy. They did manage to have a fish dinner one night and everyone loved it. Joe cooked breakfast every morning while Michael took the boys fishing. The cabin is rustic and the mice thought they owned it but after killing 12 of them they had a little more peace. They were glad they had mosquito nets to sleep under. They came home happy, tired and grubby. Saturday morning Joe shaved his beard off and that was a good thing. I guess telling him he looked like my Dad with it helped him make the decision not to keep it. We are home now and although he still doesn't have his queasy stomach back his ascites is really bad. He has doubles the diuretic but it hasn't done the trick. he goes to Dr. Suh tomorrow for chemo so we will see what he says about it. Thanks for all your prayers that the trip was uneventful. Even tho they didn't need the satellite phone Michael used it to tell us they were OK several times. The girls and Heidi and I had a good time in Ohio just relaxing reading and some shopping. It was the most time we have spend with Marianne and Matthew, our two oldest grandchildren,in a very long time, and it was terrific. Marianne leaves for her first year of college tomorrow. We will be home for several weeks and then out to Phoenix to visit Karen again after Labor Day. Love to you all and God Bless. Mary Anne