My Aunt's ALS Blog

My Mom wrote a very special letter my Aunt and posted it on her ALS Journey blog. I did not include the actual letter on my blog since it means more reading it striaght from the ALS Journey site. Everyone can read it on her blog here, and I encourage people to follow it. It is full of inspirational stories/thoughts and details about her ALS. I am so glad Auntie is sharing this time of her life with everyone.

Pumpkin Patch: Tanaka Farms

We started going to this SUPER cool pumpkin farm in Irvine called Tanaka Farms. You get to pick your own pumpkin, take a tractor ride and pet all kinds of animals.

We got a baby pumpkin for Savannah and she LOVES it. She walks around the house with it saying, "Pumptkin, Pumptkin, Pumptkin!"

Conversation

(Brian sitting on the couch with Kelly's laying down with her legs on Brian's lap)

Brian: "Wow... what happen to your feet?" (pointing to the multiple band aids)

Kelly: "Oh, my shoes cut them up".

(Kelly pulled off all the band aids)

Brian: "I don't see any cuts under the band aids... oh... I understand, is that what we call 'Kelly Cuts' (said with heavy, heavy sarcasm referencing Kelly's possible hypochondria)."

Kelly: "Brian! It was a preventative measure so I wouldn't cut my feet on new shoes, but thanks a lot!"

Little MeMe

Savannah has a favorite stuffed animal. It's a monkey that she calls MeMe. She loves everything monkey. When it's time to get dressed she looks for her shirts that have monkeys on it or her Pjs that have them all over. So, it was only fitting that she would love the monkey Halloween costume.

Our friend, Jill Brady, took amazing photos of Savannah in her costume. She took the Halloween photos last year as well. It was fun comparing how much she as grown. THANKS JILL!

(There are a ton more, but I am going to spread them out in many posts since the files take so long to upload)

If you want to see last years photos' click here http://kblrogers.blogspot.com/2009/10/priceless-gift.html.

YMCA

Last night Savannah and I dropped by Auntie's house with dinner. Her living room was full of genealogy stuff that she is trying to finish. While she works on it she listens to her iPod- which I have to say I like Auntie's taste in music. While I was packing up all of Savannah's stuff to head out I could hear the song YMCA. I walked over to the living room where Savannah and Auntie were and they were dancing. She was showing Savvy how to do the Y-M-C-A. It was so cute. Savannah loves to dance and Auntie was a bundle of energy. There were spinning, clapping and waving their arms.

I have been showing Savannah photos of all our family members trying to get her to memorize everyone's names. I have been pointing to Auntie's photo saying "Aunt Grandma". However, last night Savannah just kept calling her, "Grandma". She would say it over and over and over again.

After I loaded the car with our stuff I walked back to the front door to get Savannah. When I looked up I saw Auntie and Savannah just sitting on the top step of the brick stairs going up to her door. The only way I can describe it was precious. I wanted to take a mental image of that moment forever- it was just so sweet.

Date Night

Brian and I had a date night last night. We went to a movie and walked around Downtown Disney. We almost went into Disney (since we have passes now) but decided to walk through California Adventure's Hotel. We have never stayed at a Disney Hotel since we are so close. It looked like a huge log cabin (which made me happy because it makes me think of Christmas). Then we saw the pool and hundreds of padded lounge chairs. The door to the pool was open so we just went in and laid there for about 15 minutes. It was so nice and so relaxing. We just talked about the future (careers, more kids, moving to Ladera Ranch).

Kelly: I want to have a backyard like this- with a pool and big comfy lounge chairs.

Brian: I want a bedroom that doesn't include a refrigerator and sleeping schedules around running the dishwasher.

Washington vs. USC

Matt, Joe and Brian went to the Husky game last Saturday and had a great time. The Husky's WON!

Minneapolis, MN

I am at a conference in Minneapolis, MN and I love it. The trees are changing colors, I get to stay up late, get a King sized bed all to myself, watch TV, shop in their beautiful down town, take baths, paint my nails, go to fancy dinners with vendors trying to get our business and... attend the conference sessions. I am the type of person that attends every session. I love listening to the speakers and getting new ideas. I also love the networking.

Today, the keynote speaker was DAVID BACH! He writes personal finance books and I have read about 8 of his 12 books.

So, I got a photo with him but sadly it turned out a little blurry :(