Dear Kids,
         Did I say spring was coming?  It was minus 6 Thursday morning.  Zero the next morning..  But we have hope.  I like to picture myself out in the yard, raking dirt and planting grass, and finishing my re-do of the sprinkling system.  And now that I’m well into my gentle chemo treatments, I have hope.  This is my infusion week, and I’ll wear the pump from Tuesday to Thursday, and my bad day will be Friday, but I don’t dread it any more.  I know I can get through it, and have a few good days after that.  Some people have asked me how we can tell if the chemo is doing any good.  I’ll be having CT scans every three months during the treatment, and they’ll show whether my tumors are growing, standing still, or shrinking.  I had a scan the end of January, so I’ll have the next one at the end of April.  I’ll let you know what we find out.
         Paul and Stefanie’s baby is due March 7, but if she comes as early as Josh did, it could be any day.  Maybe she’ll be a leap-baby!  (Macie missed it by just one day, 12 years ago.)  I just pray that she’ll be born safe and well.  We’re really lucky that nearly all our grandchildren have arrived with so few problems.  By the way, Stefanie’s nephew Oliver (on the other side) is doing well.  He’s home from the hospital now, weighing seven pounds, I think.  He weighed 1 lb 6 oz at birth.  Stefanie’s mom carries around one of the first diapers they put on him, and it looks to be about three inches long.  Too small for most dolls.  I still pray for Oliver every day, and I’m grateful that his life has been spared. 
         Dad and I are still working on cabin projects. We needed 16 new bolts so we could finish putting the bunkbeds back together, but Home Depot doesn’t carry them any more.  I bought my first bunkbed bolts 43 years ago, and my second set 17 years ago, with no problems.  The nice Home Depot lady recommended Fastenal, and we went to one of their shops, but they didn’t have them in stock.  We had to come home and order them online.  When they come, we can forge ahead.
         Meanwhile, most of you kids seem fine with partying at the cabin, no matter what.  I’m glad you’re all having fun there.Oh, by the way, we finally settled with the cabin restoration company, and we’re even getting a $1,000 refund, because we paid some of the plumbing bills ourselves.  Lots of people have asked how much it cost to rebuild the cabin.  The final amount was just under $80,000.
         We found out it was Bentley who fixed Dad’s Rubiks cube.  Last Sunday night we watched him mess it up and put it back together one more time.  His fingers were flying and the cube seemed to reassemble itself by magic. Go, Bentley!
         Life is good.  I love you all!  Mom