New Granddaughter has arrived!!!
Kiana Rose Lau arrived at 2:43 on Friday, June 27, 2008. She weighted in at 8.8 lb and was 19 3/4" in length. She is a healthy, happy baby. Mom and daughter are doing great. Gwen has been a trooper in getting up and down and doing all the walking needed to make things easier for her as days go by. Both Mom and daughter went home on Tuesday, July 1 and Daddy had everything ready for them.

GOING TO DISNEY WORLD WITH ALLYSON, ANDREW AND AUNTIE JENNIFER:
Due to Tammy's surgery conflicting with a trip to Disney for Allyson and Andrew; I got to fill in and take them. Auntie Jennifer was going to be there for meeting and could get passes for three additional people on her employee i.d. She and I both went to Disney World on Friday and I picked up the AA's on the way. We went to the parks on Saturday and Sunday and then rested and went to miniature golf on Monday and Swimming on Tuesday and visited the parks in the evening for fireworks. We had a good time but were really ready for some rest by the time we got home.

TOMMY'S EYE SURGERY UPDATE

Tommy saw his eye doctor on 1-28 and received a good report. He is still taking meds to shrink the blood vessels in the eye as well as eye drops. The complications after surgery would not allow him to take the medicine (steriods) he needed to take care of the blood vessels. They are trying now. He'll have one more appointment and then I think it will be finished.

Tommy's Eye Surgery

What a time for Tommy! He had a "thur-ridge-ium" (pronounced yes/spelling?) which is caused by dirt, dust, etc. getting into the eye, coated with that goop that creates around it and then attachs to the eye. He had one from both left and right side of left eye growing toward the center.

He had one of these removed from the right eye several years ago with no problems.
This time the doctor put a graft over the incisions with a couple stitches to hold them down. After a few days Tommy called to move his appointment up because the eye was giving him some trouble and he was scheduled to attend a week long class in Dallas. Doctor looked at eye and panicked... No, there would be no class! No, he could not do his work! Yes, he could stay down with his eyes closed! Problem - grafts were not healing.

After another week and not much progress the doctor stitched his eyelids together with just enough space for him to put the meds in -- that had to be so hard. He sure was a trooper thru it all though.

Finally he got the eyelids open again and shortly after the stitches out. His, hopefully, last appointment will be on January 28.

It was a very hard thing to go through but Tommy didn't have a single word of complaint. I'm very proud of him and the way he handled it all.

2008 GREAT BEGINNINGS

Our 2007 ended with great family time and 2008 started the same way.

We were very fortunate to have all our family here except Dustin was
not with us until after Brad and Jennifer had already left to return home.

<<<<Allyson learning Wii Golf from Dad

Life was good and Glen was able to come home on RR to have Christmas with us. It was so good to see him and he did a good bit of work cleaning up some tree limbs broken by an earlier ice storm. ((Boy - Wish I had some pictures of that to publish - he was up in a bucket with a chain saw at the tree tops - it was work but he was having a good time)) He left us to return to Iraq Jan. 4 and we only hope time will past quickly for him until about August when he can come home to stay - at least for a while.

Brad and Jennifer had a terrible experience with the flight getting to Oklahoma but they toughed it out and we got to see them just a few hours later than originally expected. I was really upset thinking they might not make it at all. It was great getting to see the plans for the house they are buying and renovating. What a job! But, it will be great when they are done and that should be in 3 or 4 months. They will be much closer to their jobs and have a great yard. I can't wait to make a trip out to see it.

Gwen is doing great and is almost over the morning sickness part of her pregnancy. She's starting to show a little. I was privileged to go with her and Dustin to her sonogram last month. This was a first time experience for me and it was great to see that tiny person that lives inside Gwen's tummy. Who can see something like that and say there is no God? After the sonogram Dustin, Gwen and I came back to Oklahoma along with Phillip and Tucker (the labs). We had a really good time learning to Wii. I do have a few pictures of that maybe I can post.

Tammy, Allyson and Andrew came to stay with us mid-November to wait for the day when she went to the airport to pick up Glen. While waiting Tammy worked on a scrapbook of Glen's first tour of duty in Iraq and it turned out really great. They continued their home school until just before Glen came and then it was vacation time for sure. They are back home in Georgia and trying to get back to normal after being gone for so long.

That's our End 2007 and Beginning 2008 with lots to look forward to.