OUR DEAR AUNT CLARA

The day has come that Aunt Clara has gone home to be with Jesus, her mom and dad and her brother (my Grandpa George). We are so thankful that we and so many other family members were with her this past week. She passed away in her sleep peacefully with my grandma (her sister-in-law) by her side. She was a terrific lady, one of a kind. She loved to laugh, she loved baseball and loved her family! We look forward to the day we will all be together again!

Aunt Clara with her great niece Debbie.

She LOVED those chocolate shakes from Goody's Ice Cream Parlor.

July 2006

We took her one at Hospice last week. She loved it!

Aunt Clara with her great niece Amy.

She loved to go to Drake park and watch the people and the birds. She loved to talk with the birds! She just enjoyed being able to get outside these last few months!

Aunt Clara with her great great nephews Josh, Kyle,

Mark Jr., Ryan

and Alexander at Drake Park in July 2006

Picnic in the Park!

Aunt Clara with Minnie, Mickey and the biggest mouse Debbie.

Aunt Clara with her great nephew

George III

I want to give special attention to my VERY special Aunt Bonnie! She has devoted the past years of her life taking care of Aunt Clara, getting her moved to Oregon from CA so she could be closer and able to come spend her afternoons at her house on the porch talking to the birds and being around family. It became a daily occurrence the last few months. Aunt Bonnie gave her whole heart to caring for Aunt Clara and she loved every minute she got to share with her. She spent MANY hours by her side holding her hand and even singing with her in her last few days here with us, "Jesus Loves Me". The convalescent center didn't know what hit when they came across a family who cared sooooo much for their dear Aunt Clara. The many doctors appointments, meetings with hospice, moves from hospital back to home back to hospice again, Aunt Bonnie has been there through it all. She is a genuine jewel in God's crown of glory. I know He is smiling down on her with Aunt Clara and her mom and dad and brother George by His side. Uncle Darrell has been right there doing what he can to help even by just making sure Aunt Bonnie got to bed at a decent hour to get some rest. Thank you to the both of you from the bottom of our hearts!

Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Darrell

Aunt Bonnie with Grandma Adele (her mother) and Aunt Clara's sister-in-law.

Thanksgiving in Oregon

We are enjoying the hot tub and loving the snow falling on and around us! This is the life!

This is Goody's, the best ice cream and candy shop in Oregon!
It is a MUST for us EVERY visit!

We are having a great time in Oregon. It keeps snowing on us but not enough to stick. The boys went to the mountains today, (15 min. away) and had LOTS of snow to sled on. The girls went shopping downtown. We had 30 family members at our Thanksgiving feast and everyone had a great time, it was an all day event. We will leave Sunday so tomorrow will be our last day. We will probably try to go sledding one more time and enjoy our last day together. We are here mainly to visit with my great Aunt Clara. She is really going up and down, when she goes down it's pretty hard. She goes comatose and then can ask for hot coffee with cream and sugar. It's pretty bizarre, hospice themselves are baffled. We are VERY thankful she was still here when we got to Oregon and that we have had a week to spend with her, (a little every day). She is a great lady and will be dearly missed!
That's all for now, I am looking forward to coming home to some warmer weather, the 30's (which is actually very warm for this time of year) is cold enough for me.
I am looking forward to the Christmas season ahead! I love this time of year!

Where has the year gone???

Gosh Halloween really crept up on us. I can't believe this year is almost over. We are looking forward to many things before this year comes to an end. Thanksgiving in Oregon, Brian's first B-DAY! Christmas and my brother Mike and his wife Hye-Young and their new baby girl coming to visit from Korea!!
We have so many things to be thankful for! My dear friend Julie has just been told she needs to start the process of getting on the double lung transplant list. She is the most real example I know of someone completely relying on God and you can NOT miss those single footprints in the sand!!

We have had a tough but great year. Mark's young cousin Stacey was taken home to be with God this year, leaving behind a wonderful and loving husband, 2 great kids and parents who loved her more than anything! Mark and I were so thankful and appreciative to have been there as she left this world and entered a kingdom WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE! She will always be missed and I ask God daily to give her a hug for me. We look forward to the day we will see her again.

On a very cheerful note......Mark finally did it!!! He is now CHIEF MARK STOVER We are all so proud of him!!!!!!