Merry Christmas to one and all! It has been a very very busy year for our family. This has been a year of transitions of moving into elder care. You always know it is coming but have little understanding of how it will impact you and your family. For us it was just like an express train traveling at high speed and it hit us with a bang of reality. Joe and I took it on head first and things are running smoothly now more like a choo choo train saying "I know I can, I know I can".
Joe's Family: Marye took a couple of falls this year with two trips to the hospital with minimal fractures and a short stay in a nursing home for two weeks, before Marye stated emphatically "I'm going home!" Deb worked diligently to return her to her beloved home and she is very happy to be back there. She has a great team of personal care givers that provide about 16 hours of care for her each week. Deb spends an hour each evening with her having tea and conversation.It helps in keeping her mind active and updated on the family and current events. This is in addition to cooking for her and Fred three, or more,times a week. We had a special Thanksgiving, including family movies dedicated especially for her,which she fully enjoyed. Fred is still at home with her and we are blessed to have him there. Marye turns 94 next March.

Deb's Family: Rose, Deb's mom has had some health issues recently but takes them in stride and with some assistance from Deb she is on the road to recovery and getting back to her independent energetic self. Stomie, Deb's Dad just trucks along and doesn't miss a beat. When the car starts,he is in it, no matter where it is going. He still dresses in a suit and bow tie everyday! He will turn 96 in February! Daily trips to McDonald's are his favorite time of the day. He has taken to singing hymns aloud. It is fun to hear him burst into song!

Our Family: James unbeknownst to his parents, registered and started back to school at Boise State University working towards finishing his degree in Education. We couldn't be more proud of him. He still works part time at the Flying Pie Pizzeria and will be celebrating his 10 year anniversary there next year. He recently traveled to Eugene to visit Mackie. It is a wonder to watch the closeness of our children as they mature into adulthood.

Mackie took a year off to rest the brain from Boston, and now has returned to Graduate School at the University of Oregon. She adopted and took the final two cats, Finn and Mama, we had been fostering with her. Both Joe and I hate to admit it, but we do miss them. As much as she dislikes the rain, she is adjusting to life in Eugene.

Joe and I keep plugging along in our jobs looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. It is getting brighter and we are confident we will enjoy it once we reach it! In today's turmoil in our world one needs to stay optimistic. Deb continues in her job in worker's Compensation working with the catastrophically injured doing case management, (part of the reason she may be so good with elder care).


When prodded Joe will only describe his year as "interesting....an emotional roller coaster" He is serving on a Judicial Committee concerning volunteer lawyer services and has written a chapter on adoption for a Judge's handbook, at the request of the Idaho Supreme Court. He will close out the year by finalizing five adoptions in three different towns on December 23. He will move into a new office on January 1, 2011. He whines retirement is just a figment of his imagination!

Overall, it was a year that sped by. To those of you whom who haven't heard much from the Welches this year we apologize. We will try and do better. We want to with you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Guess it is time to get this site updated! First a picture of my two new grandchildren, acutally left overs from the fostering kitties phase, Finney and Mama. Yes, they are moving to Oregon.

Life has been busy busy busy, really not enough time in a day to spend it on this machine. March took us (Mom, Stomie, Megan, Susie and I) off to the Oregon Coast on Spring Break. Rented a van and had lots of fun, boy did we put the miles on. Saw Uncle Bobby twice and was able to have dinner with them once. Went Swimming and Hot tubbing daily. The ocean was beautiful but most of the time we were there it was angry, typical spring storms. Fun to watch and more fun to stand in the spray! Visited the Aquarium in Newport, the Portland Zoo with train ride, and the sea lion caves in Florence.

Got a quick glimpse of Eugene, Mackie's new home come August! Yes she is going to be a Duck. She will be working on her Master's in Community and Regional Planning. We are very excited for her. On the used car watch for her right now. James just finished his semester at BSU, studying Education. Just finished his finals! He and Mac were off today to Caldwell to look at a Tandem Bike for sale. Couldn't be more proud of these kids.

Grandma Marye and uncle Fred are doing well. We celebrated her 93rd birthday in March.

Uncle Doug's brother in law Mitsuro his wife Hiromi and son Takeo were here to honor and visit Uncle Doug's and Aunt Michiko's gravesite this month. I took a day off and helped Mom and Stomie with their visit to Boise. There was a little language difficulties but we had a great day and Mom and Stomie treated us to a wonderful Sushi lunch......never seen so much food, but we didn't leave a pearl of rice anywhere.

Mac and I are starting some raised flower beds, hope to plant this week-end. We still have some snow on the mountains though. Both Joe and I are well, I am riding Mom's old bike again to work and loving it. This is such a great place to live.........still looking at the light at the end of the tunnel.............or maybe just dreaming. Cathy and Mitchell were just here to celebrate Mother's Day, mom is one lucky woman to have us three angels!

My transmission went out in my beautiful BMW, I will miss her so much. She was such a great road warrior, but I got a new ride, check it out hopefully she will make many happy trips to Eugene.

Later.....

Well here it is February and I haven't posted since December! It is not because I have been sitting around in the lounger or ocean side, the business is called family, and it is wonderful to have all of them. It is late, I have been going all day so will post more later, but until then here is a picture of Stomie celebrating his 95th birthday! Happy Birthday to our Father.

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick note and some photos to Wish You and all Yours a Very Merry Christmas. Santa's work shop has been in full gear, house cleaning going on for a few Holiday Parties, cards getting done. It will be all pulled together by Christmas Day. As I reflect on this day of Jesus' birth I thank God for my wonderful husband, children, family, and supportive friends. I hope this day is a special day for all of you. Here are a few photos of the home front and our wonderful little visitors! Without them life would be boring. Merry Christmas......and a Happy New Year!

Oh my where do I start, trust me life is not in the slow lane at this house. Joe and I were having a discussion the other night about why is our life way more busy than when we were raising the children and why does it feel like we are being tossed more work at our jobs than normal. We finally decided that on the first issue that even though you have raised your children to become independent in their own lives doesn't mean that you have less responsibility as a parent and that continues in other ways, but we also decided we wouldn't have it any other way! On the other issue it is because we are so experienced (grey haired and wrinkled and embracing it) at what we do that they just keep tossing work at us, afraid we might pull the plug and say retirement is looking much better......

Speaking of our children James has registered to return to college in January and will be attending BSU, Go Broncos! and studying education. Mac has applied for graduate school and is doing an internship with the ACLU and picking up odd jobs to keep the funds coming in at babysitting, house sitting and pet sitting.

The above picture is a reflection of our life at this time. We still have Mama from the original bunch of cats Mackie has fostered and we still have Finnegan, "Finny" who obviously was the runt of the litter and was tossed out in the foothills. He has flourished in our home and we all love him but it is evident that he will never be an outdoor cat. Little slow on the uptake but as cute as possible. He would make a good library cat... whenever you sit down to read anything, he is on your lap. Needless to say he has become Joe's best friend since he does so much reading.

We still miss our little Bailee but time is also healing that loss. Our vet also loved her and gave a donation to the veterinary school at the U of W in Seattle in her name.

Mom and Stomie and I took another road trip this time to Teton Idaho and we were able to see Aunt Fumi in Rexburg and the progress of the High School on the farm property. We also took uncle Bobby to Jackpot, that was a hoot!

Joe and I celebrated 28 years of marriage and are still shocked by how fast it has gone by. We had a wonderful weekend together and a romantic dinner, and some people said it would never last.....showed them didn't we Joe?

Still cooking all meals for Joe's mom and his brother, helping Mom prepare for our family Thanksgiving dinner, both my brother and sister will be here and we are so excited about this.

Mom and Stomie still go about 80 miles a minute and I hope I can be as active as them when I reach their age. Really looking forward to our family gathering next week. We lost a very dear friend today to Pulmonary Fibrosis and may not have Joe with us this Thanksgiving since he will attend the services back East next week for our family. This family was Mac's surrogate family while she was an East Coast girl.

We wish you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving week and thank God for our wonderful bounty of family and friends.

~~deb~~

Where did summer go?

Summer it is such a vague memory at this point......so is Autumn! Oh well we are well into fall and should be preparing for the holidays.....but at this point who cares. We have been helping Mac foster kittens all summer, again the housework is low on the totem pole. We keep the laundry up and Joe and I have spent as many glorious days as possible this summer in McCall. Joe and I laid the kitchen floor in McCall, he sawed and I hammered, it is absolutely gorgeous! Mac and I traveled to Portland for an interview, and then Mom, Stomie and I traveled back to Portland for Uncle Bobby's and Aunt Evelyn's 50th wedding anniversary. Uncle Bobby was in all his glory having so many family members present. It was such fun to see all the cousins and hear about their lives. We decided to take some extra time for dining and site seeing this trip. Stomie has always wanted to see Mary Hill Museum along the Columbia so we headed over the river for the winding drive up the hill. Found some great peaches along the way. The museum and the history behind the museum was very interesting. Over 100 chess games are on display in the basement. We toured the Pittock Mansion and the Japanese gardens also while in Portland. We found a great Sushi place near our hotel and dined on Oysters on the half shell at Jake's Crawfish restaurant the oldest restaurant in Portland. Thank goodness for the Garmin which took us anywhere our hearts desired, including a late night visit to Baskin Robbins. Ten days later I had a work trip to Idaho Falls and Swan Valley so Mom and Stomie tagged along and we were able to see Aunt Fumi in her assisted living facility. Joe and I just continue to plug along to retirement, and consider the fact that we are blessed with great children, family and healthy lives. I know I have missed a couple of birthdays but will eventually get caught up, hope none of you are in a hurry because I definitely am not....life is way to short to get stressed.

As you have probably read on Mac's site we lost our little Bailee two weeks ago. Will post in her memory soon.

The ebbing days of summer are upon us! I am anxious for the weather change but not too much. If I had small children I would be dancing the Staples Dance! We only have small cats and they dance enough for us. Talk about lots of laughter in this house. They are nutty in their circus antics. Bailee can now be in a room with them and is able to hold her urge to kill. She still thinks they are squirrels, but is beginning to see the growth in them and their similarity to Momma Cat, so they are holding their own against her. Two were adopted last week-end at Kuna Days so we are down to three kittens and the Mom. All have had surgeries and their shots so are good to go.

Mac didn't get the first position she interviewed for with Americorps but is pushing on with other options. She is one of the leaders this week at the Humane Society working with groups of 25, 9-12 year olds teaching them about caring for animals. Her small garden thrives and we have had some great salsa. I am sure she will update you soon on her new furniture buy. Mac and I took Grandpa and Grandma Hanami shopping Antiques stores on Saturday and they took us out to lunch at a great place called the Green Chile. In the afternoon we dropped Mac off to tend to kitties, Stomie took a nap in the car and Mom and I walked through the booths at the Lake View Park Arts and Craft show. Sunday it was out to the Emmett ranch with the kids' fourth grade teacher and one of her daughters Hailee. It was warm but lots of fun. Mac is off to Phoenix over Labor Day to visit a friend who is teaching for Teach for America.

Joe is extremely busy with work with several trials pending, my work never stops but I like it busy. My house sure shows it, but until the kitties leave there will be no deep cleaning. Why waste my energy!

James and two of his friends are roofing the old rental this week. Say a prayer for their safety. I have already given them my workers compensation lecture about roofing and my Mom lecture. I'm sure they will be proud when they finish. Nate has the most experience building and roofing in New Orleans after the flood, and he is just starting his Architectural Program at BSU in a couple of weeks.

Man vs Food will be at the Flying Pie on Friday to consume the double Habernero pizza!

Everyone is healthy in the family, including Marye and Fred.

Well the morning chores are calling, will chat later.....Much Love Deb

PS will leave you with some photos from our ranch visit.

Emily I have not forgotton your birthday! I am just trying to decide on Kitty or $!?!? Love Great Aunt Deb