Update

I've been trying to write something here for a couple of days.  I thought I would let you know that we are all OK here.  Mom's friends from England invited their Las Vegas "gang" over for Thanksgiving yesterday.  It was quite a spread.

We are wearing paper hats.  We "pulled crackers", which is an English traditions.

What is the best way to open a cracker? Crackers are usually shared between two individuals, one pulling on each end. The traditional way to pull a cracker is crossing your arms and pulling a whole circle of crackers around the table. Everyone holds their cracker in their right hand and pulls their neighbors cracker with the free left hand.

Today, virtually every household in the UK has at least one box of party crackers to pull at meal times, parties, and family gatherings over the holiday season.

Thanks Bernie and Carol for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We will be flying back to Indiana with Mom from Dec 3 - 10th.  Both of my brothers will be coming in on Friday with the Memorial on Sat. the 7th.  We'll then come back to the Whale and Las Vegas and stay with Mom through Christmas and the New Year.  We are praying about plans for us after that.

We won't be going out for Black Friday, today.  Be safe.

A Tribute to my father, Robert Hoshaw

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers at the loss of our father, Robert Hoshaw.

Click here to go to a Memorial Website

Memorial Page

June 17, 1926 - November 21, 2013

Robert Clyde Hoshaw, was born on June 17, 1926 in his parent’s home in Crown Point, Indiana.  They all moved to a farm on the east side of town when he was young.  He worked hard farming and milking cows all through his school years.  Bob suffered through spinal meningitis as a young boy and was unable to walk at one time. He lost his father when he was 11 and took over farm responsibilities.  

He was a member of the Crown Point High School Band and also sang in the Presbyterian Choir.
Bob married Marcella Hoffman in 1946 and together they raised three children: Bob, Kathy and Dave as he worked as an auto mechanic in Crown Point and in 1969 purchased the Phillips 66 Gas Station on Joliet Street, near the Crown Point High School.  Bob hired family and friends and gave first jobs to many during his time as the Station Owner.
Bob and Marc loved to play cards, dance and eat with friends and family.  He was known for his joke telling and people would often stop at the gas station to share a tale or two.  He was sure to vacation every year at his favorite fishing lakes in Minnesota.  These times created wonderful family memories.
Their son, Bob, was severely wounded in the Viet Nam war in 1968.  They made several trips to visit him during his two years at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, CO.
Bob and Marcella moved to Las Vegas 1984 for the warm weather and to be close to his sister, Georgia Petrovich.  They enjoyed their years of retirement there with good friends and family.  Bob donated many hours to the grounds committee keeping the SPA where they lived in top shape.
He was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery in Oct of 2000 and was able to enjoy relative good health until 2010 when the cancer began to spread and his battle began.  Bob was 87 at his passing.
Marcella is his loyal wife and caregiver for 67 years of marriage and she stood by her man through his final years and days. 
Please see the Obituary for more info about family and Memorial Service information. 
Robert was loved by so many and he will be greatly missed.

There will be a Memorial Service at the Crown Point Presbyterian Church on December 7th at 11 am.

Death

Nov. 21, 2013    9 pm

Death.  It's not a very comforting word, is it?  Dying isn't either.  We have watched my father go through 13 years with cancer.  For 10 of those he was able to function and enjoy life, but nearly two years ago the pain of bone cancer began to drag him down and forced going to a pain patch that he has worn since in ever increasing doses.

My 88 year old mother has been married to dad for 67 year.  She has been his caregiver since he went on Hospice care in Dec of 2011.  She has been pretty stressed and has lost weight, but has been an example of "in sickness and in health", with her steadfast care of her hubby.  The Hospice nurse validated her yesterday by saying that dad could not have had any better care than what she has given him.

Mom is trying to get some sleep and I am sitting up listening to dad over a baby monitor.  We tried to wake him for a drink tonight without any success.  The nurse told us today that we are talking about days left in his life.  At the moment, I'm wondering if it will be more than hours.  My younger brother is on his way up from Phoenix and should be here by early morning.

2:15 am

Dad passed in his sleep Nov. 21, 2013 at 10:45 pm.
I won't post this until we have had time to notify family a little later this morning.  We plan to have a service for him back in our home town of Crown Point, Indiana the first part of Dec.  Maybe on Sat. the 7th or the 14th.

Thanks to all of you who have prayed and supported our family and mom during this time.

By Poopsie, we love you.

Higher Than A Kite

I thought it was past time for a blog post. We are still just taking one day at a time here.  Dad's health continues to slowly decline. He is still able to get out of bed and spend a few minutes sitting in his chair a few times a day. He still eats but it's not much at one time.  Hospice is now coming in twice a week and that is helping mom. We spend time with them on most days.

We have had a minor issue with our kitchen sink.  The washers on the handles keep wearing out.  So, today we went to an RV parts store and bought a new one and Craig installed it.  The hard part was getting under the sink to change it out.  RV faucets are unique and not the same as a household faucet.




We picked up pizza to eat with Dad and Mom tonight and on our way home we saw what we first thought was a parasailor.

Once we got closer, I was able to video.  I can't seem to get it to upload here tonight.  So, I'll try to put it on Facebook.

Hope that all is well in your part of the world.  Please leave a comment with how you're doing.

Blessings.

Make My Day

Do you know this couple?  Neither did we until we went to a buffet for breakfast this morning.

JoDana and Dave

Yesterday we went to a movie and got 2 - buy one get one free coupons for a buffet at Sams Town.  We didn't have to be anywhere early this morning, so we decided to use the coupon.  I thought it was too bad that we didn't have another couple to take with us to enjoy both of our coupons.

As we were getting into the line to go into the buffet there was dance music playing and I "bopped" a bit walking in.  We got behind a couple and she said, "It would make my day to see you two jitterbug".  We were a bit reluctant, but thought .... no one knows us here, so why not.  Our short dance lead to a fun conversation with this couple from Idaho who were here for a car show.  We invited them to share in our 2 for 1 coupons and then to sit with us.  We had a wonderful chat and learned about each other's families and then shared names and Facebook info so we could connect.  I found her on Facebook and then noticed that she had a friend named, Sam T. and we had a mutual friend named, Khela D.  Wow, what a small world.

To make the whole chance meeting even more fun, we learned that they too are believers in Jesus and now we know that our "chance" meeting wasn't chance at all.  We had breakfast together, but will also spend eternity together.

Thanks, Lord for the circumstances that You put together so we could enjoy fellowship in You!!!

Chuck and Pudge, if you see this, we are continuing to pray for a quick recovery from the hip replacement.  Looking forward to hearing more good reports!!

Jim and Lynne, if you see this, she is from Gillette, WY and he seems to know your family.

Whale Tinting

We have tinted patio doors in our homes before, but this is the first try at tinting the RV windows.

I just basically stayed out of the way unless I was needed and Craig did a great job!!  No harm, no foul.

It wan't easy, but the key is a very sharp cutting blade.  We gave it a couple of days in between and then went on to do others.  We still have the kitchen window and some crank out window parts of the bedroom to do.

There are still a few smaller windows to do, but we are glad to have this much done.  Now that we have the heat of the sun rays blocked out, we went out today to buy a heating blanket for the bed.  It actually got into the upper 30's outside last night.  the days are still getting warm (70's) so we really don't mind it.

Was Daylight Saved?

I have been lax in my bog posting.  There's been a lot going on and at the same time, not that much to report on.  Last weekend Tana and her family came through on their way to Disneyland and this past Friday, they came back through just for the night.  We swam in the pool and warmed up in the hot tub, had dinner together, they slept in their hotel room, we ate breakfast together and they were on their way back to Denver.  They arrived safe, but tired on Saturday night back home.

This is Craig, Kyra, Cooper and me watching the 

Broncos game last weekend.

We have a nice cactus just outside our window and a Mocking Bird has been eating it's fruit all week.

Dad continues to battle the phlebitis that was caused by the IV they tried to get into him for his second cataract surgery.  It was already puffy but now its just is very painful and swollen.

This is dad's "good" arm.  He bruises easily and his skin is very dry and flaky.

This is his arm on Phlebitis.  The Hospice doctor has us treating him with antibiotics, warm compresses and elevation.  This is what it looked like today after a week of treatment.  It really bothers him and has added to his already bad mood.  If anyone knows of a better way to treat this, I would be glad for the advice.

Dad has become pretty weak this week.  Not sure if it's just this added problem or if he has just taken another turn downward. He was too weak and felt too poorly on Tuesday to make it to his one week cataract surgery checkup.  They have rescheduled us to go on Tuesday.  Also, on Tuesday, the Hospice nurse comes by and is bringing along another nurse that will hopefully be coming on a regular basis to help dad more with his personal needs and give mom some help.  Dad has turned down most offers for help up to this point, but it's way past time that we begin to let the nurses do whatever they can.

Craig and I, like everyone else, will be spending most of the week getting used to the Daylight Savings time change.  Can't say that I much like it, but no one asked me if it was OK.

Craig's brother, Chuck will be having a hip replaced on Monday at 3pm.  We would appreciate any prayers for him.  Craig's other brother, Jim, is waiting for results of a biopsy.

Keep looking for that daylight that was saved!