Saturday, January 7, 2006, 10: 45 a.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Rosie~

I was so sorry to learn of your husband, Angus, being in the hospital! How awful! I am glad he is doing better, but I was sorry to learn that he got sick and needed surgery! Hopefully he will be out soon!

I am glad that Brighton, Millie, Peter, and Alastaire are doing well; they sound like wonderful kids! Speaking of kids, I am sending you a picture of us taken at the AASK picnic last year; I hope you will enjoy it! I am the little woman with the wild black hair, and my hubby is the tall, skinny man standing behind me. Of course, the children are surrounding us, and as you can see from their bright, shiny, smiling faces, they were having a wonderful time! They were wired from too much candy and sweets, but they managed to stay still long enough to pose for the picture! I hope you will like it! :) Now you will see what we look like! (I think you already know because you have a copy of my book, and there are pictures in there! I think you forgot! LOL)

I trust you had a good Christmas; but I was sorry to learn that it was cut short because of your husband becoming sick. That always manages to spoil the holiday, doesn't it? But his health and well being is more important; you can celebrate the New Year later after he recovers from his appendectomy! Yes, the news HAS been sad lately: the sudden illeness/surgeries of Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, the deaths of those miners in West Virginia (and the 13th miner now fighting  for his very life), the neverending violence/bloodshed in Iraq, the death of R & B legend Lou Rawls from cancer, etc.---it IS enough to make one want to hide, but we need to be informed, and it is better to  be informed than be caught unawares! I am a news hound: I watch CNN, but because of the kids, I only get to watch it before I go to work or when the children are in bed. Bill is a news hound, too, and we like to know what is going on in our world, no matter HOW bad it may be!

I had a very good Christmas: the kids (and myself and also my hubby) made out like bandits, and we were surprised from my job at the hospital with a FREE 2-week cruise to ALASKA! I did NOT expect that AT all! My husband, myself, and all the kiddos are going on the cruise; in fact, I just called yesterday evening to make reservations, and we will be going on the Carnival Cruise Lines. We will have rooms where we can see the ocean, and we will have the main floor, seeing a lot of the children (and my husband) do have obvious physical impairments, so we don't have to worry about things like stairs and other barriers. We will have to get some good clothes for when we have the Captain's Dinner on one of the nights we are on board the ship; in fact, there may be several, seeing this IS to be a two-week long cruise! The kids all know about it, and as you can imagine, they are PAST thrilled!! That is all that they can talk about, they are so excited!! :) (We will be going to Alaska in October, somewhere around the 10th or so, and we will be back just before Hallowe'en.)

I was sorry to learn of the weather being miserable there. It is sunny and coolish here, and the kids are outside, playing with their toys or are riding their bikes or scooters, and some are just content to stay on thw swingset in the backyard. They are behaving now; I don't know how long this will last because it seems that it is never long before mischief sets in! LOL I will have to keep an eagle eye on them---LOL

I will go now; I will write more later. I have to keep an eye on my kids or else trouble will surely follow. Take care, dear Rosie, and thanks again for your email! Please tell Angus that I hope he feels better soon, and tell him we will pray for his speedy recovery! God bless you and your family!

(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in America, Louie May Sandusky. :D