S'more history

I have a lot of cool things to scan and post of my grandfather Norman Lee Fox since we just got another load of stuff my mom's friend held onto after she moved here. He led a pretty interesting and movie-like life.

But I am not up to scanning everything tonight; my flank pain got worse from taking care of L + O tonight. It seems to get worse if I am bending over, like the stent doesn't stay in the right place. I don't know.

Anyway, here are some pictures I recently scanned for your pleasure. I couldn't figure out the best way to divide them that would be easiest to read/view, so they are pretty random:
More of my dad:

Dad cracking nuts--probably ~1996

Dad and I at "Mickey-dem's" house ~1986 (as dad called their English friends Mickey + Carol)

Dad in Hawaii eating pork rinds?

Dad with another random girlfriend and his shagmobile

A very cute picture of dad back in Hawaii with I think Reggie and Jamie

Dad posing next to some dumb statue. What a rock star.

Mom and dad in Hawaii 1983

Here's some random photos of my mom and her family:

Mom in her cute dance routine outfit :)

My hot grandma! Mom said she and Norman used to go out weekly and she would get fixed up like this!

Grandma Betty + Grandpa Norman, with my mom taking the picture, and her sister Kathy, visiting their brother Michael in the home he had to live in due to mental problems caused by nurses forcing Grandma not to push him out til the dr came (lack of oxygen...devastated Grandma and she was always torn apart after their weekly visits to Michael, who only reached the mental capacity of a 2 yr old--so they always brought him toys.)


Grandma Betty's sister Toni, and her husband Verne had a salon. Those wigs are so cool!

My mom playing in the front with neighbors

Grandpa Norman with the family dachshund

Have you ever seen your mom frustrated over homework?

I had to post this picture of my mom's music teacher Ms. McCullen from Canoga Park Fullbright Elementary. Too true to the time it seems fake!

And this one is my grandma holding me at her house, and i think Sarah or Susan next to her

Will post more recent pictures soon.

No longer on heavy drugs

I am feeling better today. The reflux hasn't been too strong, and the doctor prescribed a strong ibuprofen to take instead of the heavy narcotics which have....made me constipated. I haven't gone since I don't know when. I am not even hungry lately, but I have to eat whenever I take the pills or I get nauseous.

I am holding out to make an appt on wednesday to tentatively get this stent out. They usually do an x-ray to check for remaining stone fragments, but mine won't be visible with an xray--they most likely are not calcium, or calcium may not be the main component.

John had duty all day today so I am glad I was feeling a little better. Mom and Susan still helped some though. I am eating as much fiber-y food as I can to get "cleaned out." Any advice? I have already drank Milk of Magnesia, miralax, taken dulcolax, used an enema, and suppositories and stool softeners....and I just bought this herbal Colon Clenz (mmm) but I failed to read the small print that curiously says "Individials prone to kidney stones should use this cautiously." And how exactly do you do that?

Yeah, I know this is kind of a gross blog--turning into my health record. I just want to be off all medications and healthy and feeling good, especially before John leaves again on Sunday :(

here's a little something funny: how'd they know it was me?

Yeah. Ho waiting. I must be feeling better.

I can't feel my mouth

Last night was horrible. I ended up getting up at 3 am because I had this strong urge to pee but the catheter/balloon was still in and I am supposed to just let it drain. I couldn't lay down comfortably to relieve my right kidney; it feels like it's so tender and raw from the surgery so the coiled up stent wire is constantly jabbing it.

I called the urologist on call again, crying because I want everything taken out. I want the catheter out, and the dang stent too. He said if they take out the stent now, it's guaranteeing worse pain because the ureter tube will be weak, fragile and deflated, and it will be impossible to pee, let alone pass small stone fragments. He said I could deflate the saline balloon and pull the catheter out, but I was so scared of having that contracting kidney reflux pain.

This doctor was much nicer and considerate and gave me options. We compromised and agreed I would take out the foley catheter and he would have the ER doctors prescribe me the hospital grade opiate Dilaudid. I had to personally pick it up since it's a controlled substance, related to morphine.

John helped me stand in the bath, cut the saline tube to drain the balloon, and slowly pull the bloody catheter out. I then sat on the toilet barely pushing pee out to see if the reflux pain was still bad, as I hugged John's legs. That man has seen me in the most uncomfortable and unflattering moments of my life and still loves me!

Thankfully all the drugs I am taking are at least taking the edge off. I think I will sleep tonight. I cannot say thank you enough to Susan, my mom, and John. I am also very grateful for my tricare insurance--this procedure costs $30,000. My insurance deductible is only $150, which I've already met for the year, so they cover 80% of the cost, and there is also a $1,000 catastrophic cap for the year, which I have paid ~$600 of. That means, if we pay ~$400 before the year is up, everything will be covered 100%! And this is with whatever civilian doctor or specialist I choose to see.

I can't feel my mouth or lips, but the pain is a little less intense so I am doing okay now. No longer want to die. I can barely stay awake now so I am gonna lay down while the babies are entertaining each other. John has been taking care of me since he came home thursday night---I surprised him with a gift:

I bought him this Ipod Itouch because I know he said he wanted one but we should save money. He rarely indulges in things he wants and I never spend that much money without permission, but I have been taking care of the bills and it was within our budget. He was shocked and very happy with it, and it will make the deployments a little easier. He is already downloading fun games on it. Last night at the ER as the nurse was putting in my IV, they started talking about John's Itouch--it was kinda funny and I didn't care since I was getting drugged up and relieved of intense pain.

I love my family and times like these make me very grateful for all I have. What would I have done if mom and Susan weren't here and John was on a deployment? Probably died. Or at least have wanted to. Hope none of you ever get stones. thanks for reading.

Totally Awful Day

I just got home for the night at 10:30pm. I will try and give the full description of how today went, and hopefully people in the same situation can learn from it---like I learned from this girl Tammy's blog: www.cystinuriablog.com. I honestly have lost some respect for doctors because it seems at every turn, since the beginning of my flank pain in 2008, I have been doubted and dismissed.

When I was pregnant with Lucas and had this pain, my OBGYN said to go to my primary dr. The primary doctor says "I don't feel comfortable dealing with you since you're pregnant--go to your OBGYN."

Then the pain got so bad further into the pregnancy and nauseating they did an ultrasound to find my right kidney was hydronephrotic most-likely from a stone--that I don't think ever passed.

The pain came and went in my 2nd pregnancy.

Then this month, 4 months after giving birth to Olivia, my flank pain was worse than ever before. At my initial visit with my general doctor,he was going to send me home to 'drink more water'. I pleaded enough for him to run what he obviously thought unnecessary tests, urinalysis and a CT scan. The scan revealed 4 stones, the biggest at that time was 4 mm in my right kidney. The urinalysis showed "occult blood and protein" indicative of what? Kidney problems.

I then went to a urologist who tried to tell me "stones don't cause that kind of pain while still in your kidneys; this has to be your muscles." A week later, I am pissing blood and plead with them to do another CT scan---after which the urologist comes in saying, "Well, you must have a high pain tolerance! you got a 7 mm stone already in your ureter." Now look where I'm at.

Well, I am sorry but I don't have any pictures of the day---yes, it was that bad that I wasn't thinking of the camera lol. This morning John dropped me off at Sentara Hospital, where I was taken to a pre-op triage room and asked health history questions. They had me take off EVERYTHING, down to my wedding rings (good thing I lost some weight--those rings wouldve never come off!...). They tested me for pregnancy--all clear this time. They then pushed me down to get an xray to make sure the stone hadn't moved/passed. When the urologist came in, I told him the xray shows little to no movement of the stone--he says "Oh alright doctor." Yeah, I may irritate him, but how would you feel in my position? I feel like I am the only one I can rely on for answers.

They administered an I.V. with fluids in my hand. As they pushed me in the bed to the operating room, I was shaking with fear. They were all re-assuring of course. I entered the room with the urologist, the anethesiologist, and 2 nurses. They had a CD player going and asked me if the music was okay....at this point I wasn't in too bad of pain so I was honest.."Is it Bruce Springsteen? Yuck..." they asked if Elvis would be better and I said of course.

They transferred me onto the table, tried to warm me with blankets, strapped my hands outward, and then I see the anesthesiologist upside down in my face telling me "you're gonna feel a.." BLACKOUT.

Literally the next thing I know, I wake up in the recovery room. It had been 2 hours and I didn't even remember anything. I had to pee but could barely speak. Apparently the urologist talked to me and told me how it went--i don't remember that part at all. They did break up the boulder and get most of it out, but they put in a "double J stent" curling inside my kidney, down to curl in my bladder. I asked for pyridium (reccommended by the kidney blog girl Tammy-thanks!)

I was in and out of sleep for a few hours. They wheeled me back to my pre-op room. I had to pee urgently so the nurse helped me to the bathroom with my fluid IV and she gave me the phone to ask the urologist final questions. I am trying to talk to him, but the pain of that first burst of blood-filled urine is so bad I had to stop. Once that pain subsides a little, I get an extra surpise---horrid flank pain in my right kidney. I ask him and he of course says it's normal because whenever my bladder is flexed, it will force pee back through the stent in my kidney...They gave me more percocet, and pyridium...which didn't alleviate the kidney pain when I peed AT ALL. I was crying because I was not only burning upon urination, but my nausea was very intense, and then everytime I went, I knew to expect a delayed debilitating kidney-contracting pain.

John came to pick me up but there was still a lot to go through and sign before discharge. This stent is horrible and I can' wait to get it out. He says MAYBE wednesday it will come out because it still has to flush out the stone fragments in my kidney. But I continued to take my medication, ate a little, drank water, and since the stent is in my urethra, I always have the urge to pee. I peed about every 45 minutes, though I dreaded it. The pain in my kidney was so bad I called the urologist after hours service. The dr on call (a different one) called me back. I explained the pain, and he said "well, I guess you're one of the few who have bad kidney reflux---where the urine is pushed back into the kidney. It was to the point where I had to pee in spurts just to endure the pain, which kept building. He said to go to the ER and have them put in a "foley catheter" and he prescribed me drugs for 'bladder spasms.' The Foley catheter is basically just a tube with a balloon they stick in my peehole, with a thick tube to drain my pee continually (without pushing) into a bag. I was angry that MY urologist didn't tell me about this, and again expected me to just walk it off.

I had to wait for John to come home because we unfortunately had an appt for the dogs today to get cleared for take off next week when they fly to CA. I was so afraid of that pain I held in my pee.

We got to the ER and they give me a gown and said they need a urine sample...I said "i am holding it until you get the catheter and bag. The pain is going to be way too intense since I held it so long.

I paced the small room (which helped the urge not to be so strong) for a good ten minutes. They put an IV in my right arm, which was dried up of blood. They found a better vein in my left arm and administered fluids and nausea meds. Another nurse came in to put the cath bag in...now, I already have a stent in, and this tube was as the nurse said, "sonic straw size" i.e. big. With a balloon filled with saline to hold it in. The burning was so intense and never-ending! My bloody urine quickly filled up to 32 ounces. I cried really bad. John tried to comfort me, but I was just so worn out and had realized that all I have been doing is trading one horrid pain for another one. I told them if this is what it's going to be like for the next 5 days, I would rather have the intense, but temporary kidney pain. I couldn't move.

The doctor at the ER had never seen anyone with this 'kidney reflux' before. She gave me dilaudid in my IV---thats the hospital grade stuff I needed. John talked to me while I was going to sleep constantly. Pain significantly reduced. I realized I wasn't going to be discharged any time soon so I told John go ahead and go home to allow mom to go home from babysitting (thank you mom & Susan). John left and gave lucas a bath and put him to bed.

The actual dr finally came in again and I told her it's not worth it. She said we would try it out for 24 hours, and see if it gets better or is at least controllable with painkillers, whereas the kidney pain wasn't. I agreed to it and they changed the huge over night pee bag, to a small one strapped to my thigh. I do have to pay attention to keeping the bag lower than my bladder or the urine will go back in me...you'd think they'd make them so there is only one way for fluid to go...

John came to get me and brought Olivia (left the monitor with Susan since Lucas was going to sleep). He helped me get dressed sorta over this bag and tube. On the way to pick me up he went to go pick up those 'bladder spasm' meds the urologist called in to the CVS earlier. Well, the pharmacy was closed. I buzzed my nurse to see if she could possibly get a dr to call it in to one of the 24 hr ones, but the dr said I should be able to make it through the night with one dilaudid pill, and pick up the Rx tomorrow morning. I realized we don't have any 24 hr pharmacies in Williamsburg anyway so I am home now. Eating a little so i can take my antibiotic, and percocet, and pyridium. Now I gotta dump my pee, and replace the bag with the overnight one, which has to be lower than my bladder, but not on the floor...Olivia is having a whiney night tonight, but thank God John is home to take care of me.

On one hand, I am glad that I didn't have to wait for the 7 mm stone to get stuck in the fibrous and narrow pathway to the bladder, but today's pain was unexpectedly horrible. I hope I can get through the night but I know the hospital grade stuff is wearing off now. What a great memorial day weekend. thank you to all of you who kept me in your prayers. I hope this ordeal is ended with the stent removal Wednesday. But then again, we already know I have at least a few more stones in each kidney. Hopefully the urologist will have received my 24 hr urine collection results, or were able to directly test the stone they got. I would like to know what's causing them and adjusting my diet accordingly. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Worse than I thought, but i'm okay

I am too out of it to write all about it because I am on so many things. But its pretty bad and peeing is the worst pain ever. Thanks for checking and for caring. Writemore later.

Leaving now!

I am going to get this stone out today. I wasn't too scared until ~4am this morning. You know, those thougts about actually being awake but paralyzed etc...hope this is quick and that stents are not as bad as I keep reading...See ya on the other side!

Scared for Surgery

I leave tomorrow AM for the ureterscopy/lithoscopy/stent procedure. I am scared because it's my first surgery, and it's scary enough to be put out, but even worse to be put out with your legs spread! Hopefully it will be quick and I will recover quickly, but from what I've read, having a stent in is painful...just to walk, sit or pee is painful with that straw in. But I only have it in for ~ a week. John comes home later tonight so he will be taking care of the babies. I can't wait to surprise him with a gift I got for him....

Also, here's another reason to be grateful for our neighbors; I came home from the park yesterday and found Kalin, (Larry + Stephanie's son) weed-whacking all around the house! You might think our yard is that embarassing to the neighborhood for anyone to volunteer to care for it, but I know they are just caring people and good samaritans. I hope to return the favor or give back in some way soon. Thank you!

More Family Mysteries

My grandpa Norman Lee Fox on the left enjoying his time in the Navy, before suffering the atrocities of being a POW to the Japanese in WW2.
Today, we got another box of old pictures my mom saved from California that we thought we had lost. Some of them were from my mom's dad's side and we probably will never know who any of them were...it's still cool to see old pictures, but we sure wish we knew their stories.
Some quick background about my mom's dad Norman Lee Fox. He was born in Missouri but raised in Wyoming where his dad worked in a coal mine. His dad died pretty young from some influenza, most likely exacerbated by his occupation. Norman enlisted in the Navy in the 1930's, and served during WW2 as a Chief Warrant Officer.
Here is a cute little post card he sent his mom and stepdad (Joe)--he was apparently on a train going to Idaho Falls (hey! we may be going there too!)--I am assuming he was going to school for some kind of training pertaining to the job he had in the Navy.

Here's another card showing the USS Saratoga--on the back he wrote about what a huge ship/landing strip it was:


Just before he was supposed to come home and be relieved from his duty, he was captured in the Philippines by the Japanese. He was a POW for 4 years until the war ended in 1945. He suffered horrible conditions and I would recommend reading personal accounts of how they were treated--I thought the "Bataan Death March" book was very thorough and scary. Here is his Bronze Star awarded for "Meritorious Service" when he was a First Class radioman:

He met my grandma, Elizabeth Eulilia Clemens in the 1950's in New Mexico, they married in 1953. They had 3 babies, Katherine, Jane (my mom) and Michael. Norman passed in December 1984 just 4 months after I was born.


These are my adorable grandparents when he was stationed in Hawaii ~1950's.

And here's an even older photo of someone from my grandpa's side---could've been his dad. We don't know--there is absolutely no inscription or date. But I looked up different uniforms and found out he was a field artillery man in the army in WW1. Pretty cool.

It was fun to research the uniforms down to the pocket flap, buttons, and collar disk. I felt proud that I found out!

And this one I have even less information on...in fact, nothing! But it's sooooo freaking creepy I had to post it..It actually scares me to look at. We think it may be Norman's grandmother or greatgrandmother. The house is probably in Missouri somewhere, looks to be in the late 1800's. Wonder if it's still out there somewhere.

In fact, the only non-creepy thing in this photo is the cute dog. Everything else is like specifically made to be scary...the way the tree branches look like veins, the odd stature of the people in it, the rickety old haunted house looking thing, the odd door upstairs leading to nothing lol...

Hope you all enjoyed this little mysterious bit of my family tree. More to come!

Update on FUN stuff lol

So here's a happy blog. Olivia is so cute when she's not screaming. She laughs at Lucas all the time and it makes me feel like they were meant to be a year apart :) How can she love him so much already? And the love is definitely reciprocated; Lucas pulled a big heavy comforter off the rack to put on her when she cried. He doesn't do it for our approval, but purely out of concern for his crying sister. Constantly brings her pacifier to her. When I went to my appt today, Lucas gave grandma >20 kisses! She didn't even ask! So cute.

I had marinated chicken last night, so I went out to get the bbq warmed up, and my neighbor from across the street (stephanie's husband) came over and told me (yes, told, not asked!) that he was cutting our lawn since John's gone. They are really giving people. Wouldn't you like to have my neighbors? How many of my blogs have been about neighbors helping or cutting my grass! I was going to until this kidney thing happened. But I totally appreciate it...and while I thought he was only doing the front, he went in the back, while the dogs barked and ran at him, picked up all the branches/sticks/pinecones, and mowed the whole lawn all the way back to the huge trees. I felt so indebted to him, but I didn't have enough barbecue so I made my new favorite cake--strawberry with rainbow chip icing--I of course, made one for the Childress's and one for us :) We enjoyed ours too. Thanks Larry + Stephanie! (And yes, I snuck the camera out to catch you in your good deed!)

Then I finally got my 'Constantine' dvd in the mail. Got it on ebay for $4. I don't know why, but I like the movie. I even like Keanu in it.

I don't know, I always like those semi-scary/corny religious movies with a real message. This movie's moral was to quit smoking. nah, just kidding. Watch it!
Mom and Norman came over to watch it with us, although it was kinda scary for Lucas. I barbecued a few chicken breasts and hot dogs, and made asparagus (s'posed to be good for kidneys) and I had already made chicken/pasta salad with sweet pickles and cranberries the night before.
yum:


It was a good night and babies are asleep now. Ugh...time to clean up all the messes though!

Update on Stuff

So, last we left off, I had a 7 mm x 4 mm stone halfway through my ureter. The urologist thought I would've completed passing it by now. He gave me flowmax which I take nightly. He gave me percocet for when the pain is unbearable. I haven't taken any yet because while my flank pain comes in waves, and I cramp in my abdomen/groin every so often, I know it's not the excruciating pain yet.
Here is a diagram:


My stone is about halfway through that long NARROW ureter tube, scraping it along the way.
Here's what happens when anything obstructs it:

Now, I thought it was funny that I asked my urologist if he has ever had stones and he said he did--and they were about my size. I asked him today why he had them taken out, and he said, "because I couldn't pass them--they were too big." I guess I don't get that luxury--I am expected to wait for it to scrape itself out, or get stuck and damage my kidney. Guess that's one of the perks of being a urologist. I have been researching it all week and found a blog ironically by another military wife in California: www.cystinuriablog.com and she has SOOO much helpful information about kidney stones over her 10 yrs of experience with passing them. Everything I've read says stones >5mm will require intervention. She said none of her urologists would allow a 7mm stone to rot in her ureter for the simple fact that there's a huge potential risk for kidney damage...

Sunday night I awoke at 3am having a nightmare and it felt like my right kidney was contracting. Yes, like I was going into labor through my kidney lol. Babies were asleep so I left the monitor with Susan, and my mom drove me to the ER. They gave me fluids, painkillers that knocked me out, did an xray (with no useful results---stones arent always visible with plain xrays) and stuck a catheter in me (ouch) to get a direct sample from my bladder and pulled it back out (double ouch). I was sent home after being treated like a child: "You're gonna need your kidneys so you need to pass the stone..why didn't you take your pain meds like you were supposed to? i don't understand why you didn't take the pain meds!" He didn't understand I wasn't there asking for more pain meds, I am more concerned about this hunk of a stone causing a full obstruction and hence, kidney damage. The CT scan already revealed there was hydroureternephrosis, and I don't want acute kidney damage. Nothing came of the visit..uh..I mean, except a hefty bill I'm sure. The doctor who was very short with me says "uh, there's a 50/50 chance the stone will pass."

They don't understand that I can't just go home load up on oxycodone and be zonked out until it passes. I have 2 babies and no husband here.

Today's appt with my urologist I was very adamant that I want this boulder out. He agrees it's reasonable. Today's x-ray shows little or no movement of the stone:

Yeah, that tiny fleck is causing lots of trouble.
The doc agreed to schedule me for surgery on friday morning. I am going to be put out, have a scope stuck in me, they will shoot water to inflate the ureter, which usually pushes the stone back up in the kidney, they will chase it, blast it into pieces, and put a stent in my ureter. Basically, I will have a straw in me connecting my kidney to my bladder for a week or so, to flush out the boulder fragments.
That is, unless I spontaneously pass the stone tomorrow or thursday. Thursday night John comes home for a week and a half, so he will hopefully help take care of things.

Thank God for my mom and sister being here to help. I don't know what I would do without yas!

Like A Really Good Drama

I have been wanting to blog about this for about a week or so. Something very neat has happened to add to my dramatic family storyline. I know pretty little about my dad's past before he was "my dad", a man who most knew as very tolerant, stoic, and brave, with a quirky sense of humor. He was a good dad to me. I am more grateful for that now than ever.

Growing up, it was totally normal for me to have half-siblings; although I was never really close to my dad's 4 kids from his first marriage, we knew of them and they came to visit a few times. My brother Reggie was a hero during the big Northridge quake--he rescued people from his collapsed apartment building. The other 3 siblings, Jamie, Jerry, and Ronnie, live in Hawaii. Jamie, my half sister who is a respiratory therapist invited me out there to enroll at the University of Hawaii after high school, but the plans fell through for various reasons and I never went.


Reggie Gallardo

Jamie Gallardo
I was raised in a household with 3 older half-siblings from my mom's first marriage: Sarah, Susan, and Jon. I never called them 'half' brothers/sisters, unless people said we don't look alike etc. We are just brothers and sisters. Then I had 2 younger full-siblings, James and Norman.

My dad with Sarah Susan and Jon

My dad with Me and Jon

James and Norman
Well, apparently there is this social networking site called "Bookface" and pretty much everyone but me in my family has one. I prefer my blog. Anyway, Susan and I were remembering stupid funny little jokes and memories about dad, and she decided to make a memorial page for dad, so we have somewhere to keep our memories and pictures of him on. We gave a little background about his mother being a WW2 POW, and about his various bands and their success, and how he and mom met in a band. We posted about how he has 4 kids from his first marriage, 3 from his second, and 3 stepkids, and all the grandbabies etc. We semi-jokingly put, "If you think he is your dad too, feel free to comment!"

Well...someone did respond that I didn't know about. And while it is sad, it is also hopeful because we have more extended family. And the better news is---they are all beautiful! :)

About 5 yrs before my dad met my mom, I believe he was performing in Las Vegas and working as a mechanic. He had a short relationship with a woman who became pregnant by him. It is so shameful, but my dad was a totally different person then---he was a real jerk. Although he did eventually pay child support, he wasn't involved in the baby's life.

That little baby is named Michelle Jones, now Michelle Parham. She is 30 years old, married for ~10 years, and they have 3 really good-looking kids. Kaileina is 14, Leilana is 9, and Keniko is 7. Michelle happened to search for "James Gallardo" and saw the memorial page. She contacted my sister and now we have met through emails. She didn't know he had passed. It is so unfortunate because I just know that the dad I knew would have wanted to see her and be a grandpa to her children. I am sure it pressed on him from time to time and he just never did the right thing. It's hard to see my dad in a different light, because all my life I have only seen him as suffering and stoic, and a good dad. It is very disappointing and I can't even imagine the hurt that either his first kids, or Michelle felt. In my heart I do feel like dad wants us to have a relationship and I am excited to have a new sister :)

When I first saw her page, I was shocked at how much this girl looked like me, and the more I saw of her, the more I realized she really resembles my dad more than any of us. It was an odd feeling to never have met someone, but to feel some kind of connection through viewing pictures of a person who shares many of your qualities.

With her permission, I have decided to share this information and pictures with you all--it's a very intriguing story to witness, and hopefully many good things will come of it. I am excited to move to California later this year and get to meet my sister, and her family, and have hers meet mine.

Here are some pictures I borrowed from her page--even when she was a little baby/kid I see myself in her:





More recent photos with her cute kids:






this one is my favorite:


It is so nice to meet you Michelle- can't wait to meet you in person and see your family later this year! :)