John, Lisa, and Layla visit Groton! ---

Wednesday through Sunday we had a lot of fun with the Yarmosh's; John, Lisa, and newest member Layla. Layla takes after both parents and we couldn't help but notice that she has John's smile.

They arrived Wednesday afternoon, Daddy and John stayed up that night playing around with Civilization just like old times. Later on they got Daddy's computer and John's computer playing Civ together (one upstairs one downstairs) to complete the reminiscence of times gone by.

Thursday was kind of a lazy day as everyone caught up on rest and got situated. The meeting was a lot of fun as the friends got to meet Lisa and Layla and we could introduce some of our newer friends in the congregation to our long time friend.

Friday we enjoyed breakfast at Oh Boy's! and took our first trip to the mall, which Lisa enjoyed. Later on in the day we enjoyed Smokey Bones for dinner. The women got great deals shopping at The Christmas Tree Store as the men window shopped Best Buy and Border's Books.

Saturday John and Daddy got haircuts while Lisa and Mommy enjoyed a morning out in service. Daddy was beginning to feel fatigued at this point, which would culminate in him getting sick that night. Mommy, Eliza, and Layla would all come down with something before long. We shopped some more at the mall as Uncle Micah joined us, catching up with his long time buddy. That night we hosted a gathering of friends including the Bliven's, Champlain's, Bailey's, and Benson's, as well as Sister Martin. Uncle Pepsi brought Scene It, a DVD board game, and everyone had a great time, even John who suffered an accidental black eye during the night!

Sunday there was one last breakfast with friends before the Yarmosh's headed back to Pennsylvania. Thanks to the Internet John and Daddy can still play Civilization together. Everyone had a great time and we are making plans for another visit sometime this summer.

Pictures here!

Roller Skating ---

After a nice day out in service we got to cleaning the house and getting ready for the Yarmosh's visit this coming week.

After that and our family study was done we got to go to the roller skating rink as some of the friends had rented it for the congregation for a couple of hours. There was a good turn out and all had a good time.

Sadly Mommy will have to buy a new pair of skates as one of her wheels broke. She's had the pair for over twenty years and only paid $15 for them! Unfortunately they don't make 'em like the used to.

More pictures here.

The Family Pulls Together ---

The last few weeks have been difficult for everybody, but as a family we've been getting through our various trials and have enjoyed each others love, company, and support.

First there was Grandpa's heart attack. Everyone was supportive and understanding as Daddy spent many a day at Yale New Haven Hospital with Grandpa, Grammie, Auntie Rissa, and Uncle Map.

Grandpa was brought to the Pequot Walk-In by Grammie and Uncle Map were he received medication in an effort to open his blocked artery. That having failed, Grandpa was then flown to Yale via the Lifestar helicopter and received a stent to open the artery. It was determined that a triple by-pass would be necessary to prevent another attack from happening in the near future. These proved to be trying days for the family as Grandpa was in a lot of pain but everyone held up and held together through it. It was impressed upon Daddy and Uncle Map that they needed to look at their own health condition more seriously.

The family enjoyed a visit by Brother Brainard, our substitute Circuit Overseer while Brother Crispen was away. Daddy had a great day out in service with Brother Brainard and felt the love and support of the congregation through the difficult times. The whole family, including Naughny, enjoyed a morning out in service with Sister Brainard as well.

Ella Grace received new glasses for reading and watching TV and has been enjoying them. She did not get them in time for her first talk but she didn't seem to need them as she did a wonderful job with it. She was relaxed and natural while giving it with Mommy and seemed as though she had been giving talks her whole life. Most importantly she was herself, fluid and natural.

Ella Grace did get her glasses before the Special Day Assembly however and enjoyed showing them to everybody. The family did well and we were able to get to the hall early as we were planning. Even though the Assembly Hall was renovated only about ten years earlier it had already become difficult to schedule everyone for Assemblies as the Organization grows quickly. While there we enjoyed association and meeting old friends. One Sister whom we did not know personally stopped us at the hotel the night before the Assembly and said that she always looked forwards to seeing what we would be wearing the next day as Mommy always does a wonderful job arranging our clothing around a particular theme. Mommy and Daddy had the privilege of helping to keep the bathrooms clean during and the session. Ella Grace and Eliza had fun running around and taking pictures in the wooded park behind the small lake on the property.

Great Grandpa fell and broke a couple of bones, so the family visited him as much as possible at the Windham Hospital were he was recovering before being moved to the Mansfield Rehabilitation Center. Ella Grace made a card for him selecting Winnie the Pooh stickers to help cheer Great Grandpa up and invited the rest of the family to join in. Eliza is writing her name now and enjoyed adding it to the card.

We also got news that Uncle Map was in the worst pain of his life regarding one of his teeth. We were glad to hear that he was doing better but it was hard to hear that he was going through so much pain.

Recently Daddy and Daddy Poppy were able to get the web-cams working between Daddy Poppy's computer and Ella Grace's. The whole family enjoyed being able to see each other live on the computer.

Through it all the family has been enjoying each others company and the time we get to spend with one another.

Pictures of the Assembly are here.