Doctor's Visit

The sun and the sea must have worked its magic - Don went to the doctor and is doing

very well. His blood pressure was normal for the first time since he's been on the chemo and other than fatigue, he is having no side effects. The doctor said he has had to take three patients off of this medicine because of various problems so we are very lucky that he is doing so well. He also maintained his weight since our last visit three weeks ago. That was good news because the doctor was worried about his continued weight loss. I am sure that fish fry and the Jordan's boiled peanuts had something to do with keeping his weight up! For once, he's free to eat what he wants!! Don will have a blood test on September 2 to measure his cancer marker and we will get the results during the September 10 visit.

Thank you all for your continued concern and please continue to keep Don in your prayers!

Family Gatherings

Don's niece Angie and her husband Chris cooked up a fish fry and everyone came over to visit Don and have good time.








Angie and Chris cooking up a storm.

Douglas and Don slicing okra together for the fish fry. Dennis grew the okra said he picks almost five gallons of okra every day!

Tommy and Don.

Edward, Debby and Don.

It wasn't hard to find Dekie amongst the vistors! He was ready for the beach.

Stacy with a HUGE watermelon Dennis grew in his garden. He called it a volunteer because he planted corn and the watermelon grew out of that planting. We learned a new farming term.

Kim with Hannah and Christopher enjoying the balcony.

Don visiting with Erin, Stacy and Dennis.

Aunt Vicki, Uncle T.C. and their great grandson, Drake, drove down from Century, Florida and took us to lunch. It was fun catching up on the family news.

Ashley showing Aunt Vicki the "sea squirts" growing at the dock. If you stood too close you were bound to get wet!

Uncle T.C. with Drake, Don, Aunt Vicki, Ashley, Doug and Drew at the boat dock.

The Walker family with Don's cousin, Dennis and his wife, Doodle.

Feeling Good!

Well, we have been busy for the last couple of days. Don and I wrestled the boat away from the kids and took a nice boat ride throughout the pass. This weekend is the Thunder on the Gulf boat race and all of the racing boats are out and about so there was lots to see. We also took a dip in the Gulf which was very cold...we didn't stay long but it was beautiful.

Today we are having Don's relatives over to the watch the races. It will be a busy buy fun day.

In His Element

As we were riding along I asked Don how he was feeling and he said, "Fine baby, I'm in my element!

Don and Drew took the boat out early this morning before it got too hot. They went out to the Gulf but said it was "rocking and rolling" and decided they would stay in the sound. Don called me from the boat and told me to come down and take a ride. Of course, I was there lickity split!

Come take a ride!

Things Are Looking Up!

One of these things is not like the other...our little boat is the odd man out in this marina! Look how high the dock is compared to the boat - you literally have to jump in and climb out. I guess when I make these condo reservations I have to learn to ask the right questions, beginning with, "Do you have a small boat marina? I think this is the first sunshine the boat has seen since we left New Orleans!

The weather cleared up and the kids could finally get the boat iout of the marina. They rode over to this little island and had a good time exploring. Don and I watched from the balcony.

The evening ended with everyone out on the balcony talking and watching the dolphins feed on their way back out to the Gulf. Ashley spotted a beautiful Osprey and we all watched it glide far above the water, zero in on its prey and then swoop down for a tasty fish. It never missed! Don could surely use one of those on his fishing trips!

Stompin' Grounds

While our new condo was being cleaned, Don decided he wanted to go to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. His Boy Scout troop met at NAS so he spent a lot of time there growing up. We went to the museum and saw the new exhibits. The kids had a good time evidenced by the fact that we did not see them for over an hour!

After going to the air station, we stopped by Don's niece Angie's house for a visit. We looked at beautiful wedding pictures of Angie and Chris and Don checked out their "floundering rig". Angie showed us a picture of the flounder she and Chris had gigged - Uncle Donnie was very impressed. He shared some gigging tips with Angie but according to the pictures they have gigging under control!

I looked out of the window at Angie's house and saw her cat, Mr. T and dog, Taco, relaxing by the water and checking out the view. I think the cat FAR outweighs the dog!! (You have to double click on this picture to see the size of this cat!)

Angie and Hannah saying goodbye. It wasn't for long though, they came swimming at the condo for a little while last night and are supposed to be back this morning!

Oh, What a Night...

We headed to Gulf Shores and checked into our condo and although the view was nice, Don hated the unit. The rooms were small and dark which is not what we are used to. I could tell he was horribly unhappy so, I called the rental agency and asked if they had something else. They had did have something but it would not be availble until this morning so we had to spend the night in the original condo. I included the picture of the big clock so you could see that we were packed and ready to go at 8:00 AM. He could not get out of there quickly enough. To add insult to injury, it stormed! We are in the new place and much happier. Don finally feels like he's on vacation.