How absolutely gorgeous these two babies are!!!! And how proud the grandparents are - as they should be :) Congratulations and much joy to you. -J

Thanks everyone for the compliments... The azaleas are 'Mrs. GG Gerbing' that we planted 20 years ago. They have bloomed faithfully every year in Spring. The individual blossoms are gorgeous. I first seen them years ago on the Annual Azalea Trail in River Oaks & the Bayou Bend Gardens here in Houston--breathtaking gardens, click on the link below for a peek. I have been known to spend the day with my friends and my boys when they were little, and just wonder through the woods along the bayou and the spectacular gardens! Azaleas are very common here in Houston...the front of my house faces the east which is perfect for azaleas...the morning sun gleaming on them, and shaded from the strong afternoon sun later in the year. Pedro will 'skillfully' trim them back in April after all the blooms are gone, and trim (or sculpt...) them back to flowing peaks and valleys. Then, after fertilizing them with bags of a good azalea fertilizer and mulching them with a couple inches of pine bark mulch, the bushes push out beautiful new green leaves that are a gorgeous backdrop for my plants in the summer & fall. This year, the azalea bushes are lower to the ground more than usual, he gave them a 'hard prune' last year--something we do about every 6-7 years to help maintain the full, bushy look, and the reward is the super full look thickly covered with beautiful blooms. For some good info on Mrs. GG Gerbing Azalea care, see the following website: http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/pd_c0af.html And in regards to Blue...yes, at first I thought of the song you are thinking of Mary, but then found out the title is really: Song: Me And You And A Dog Named Boo Artist: Lobo Album: Introducing Lobo 1971 But, our eldest son's teacher had a beautiful blue eyed husky named 'Blue', and we named our pup after her. She is a beautiful dog, a husky, and even invited our dog, Blue, to a doggy birthday party a couple years ago--complete with doggie activities at a dog kennel and a doggie birthday cake, made especially for dogs--complete with 'carob' icing! You should of seen when everyone sang Happy BDay...some howled...and then to serve these dozen or so invitees (dogs...), the cut pieces of cake were set down on the count of three, but one dog gobbled his within 2 seconds, lunged forward for another's peice, the plate & cake went flying in the air...another dog jumped up and caught the cake in mid air...it was a 'Kodak' moment in our minds that we will never forget..like out of a movie!! Ha Ha ~Mary Jane P.S. And what did our Blue bring for the Birthday Girl (dog)??? We made homemade doggie biscuits cut with a cookie cutter in the shape of a bone!!! :) Here is a link that might be useful: Bayou Bend Gardens

A big WELCOME to all the newbies. So happy you found the forum, you won't spend time with a nicer bunch...I'm Dorothy, also from Pa., not too far from Red...Married 53 years, 5 married kids, 13 grand kids, 4 inside cats and 3 semi ferals that live on our back porch...And love, love to quilt, read and cross stitch... Dorothy

Here are the updates from Thursday and Friday: Thursday Morning Update December 28 Journal entry by Mikki Spagnoli — 12/28/2017 It appears that her high fever is nuero related and they have ruled out infection through blood and urine cultures. I'm not sure if I feel better or worse about that. She is still scheduled for surgery at 12:00 today. Please pray for her and all involved around that time. I also want to say that after spending 14 nights in Memorials PICU I can testify that this floors medical staff is unbelievably amazing. While I'm eager for Ella to head to the next part of her journey I feel forever blessed by these individuals. They have treated Ella and our entire family as if we were their family. The care has been nothing short of top notch and we are blessed to have such a medical option in our area. FRIDAY MORNING Update December 29 Good morning. We are still planning our departure at 10:00. This leg of our journey is coming to an end and I have so many mixed emotions. As I stated before Memorial Hospital has provided excellent care and treated us like family. The comfort that I have felt is scary to leave. Also, the location to our home has allowed family and friends to visit us daily. This has allowed us a sense of normalcy, even for just a moment, when there is none. The distance is a scary thing for me. I am grateful that we are headed to Mary Free Bed, as it is top notch in care for those with traumatic brain injury. Having said all of that, "we go with God". Our great provider and physician. Love and thankfulness to you allJournal entry by Mikki Spagnoli — 8 hours ago Friday Morning Update December 29