Sunday, March 26, 2006, 3:40 a.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Rosie~

I am sorry for not responding to your last e-mail in so long, but with my family, you can imagine the chaos that ensues every day. What free time I do have is severely constrained; if you don't hear from me as often, please don't worry. I will try to write back; it just may not be as often as you would like!

I have already heard from my friend in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Bitta Magnussenn; so I have already been on the computer. i haven't answered her e-mail yet, but I will (eventually). I am so backed up now with e-mails it isn't funny; I don't mind writing, but I need a week just to be on the computer, so I can get all my e-mails caught up! :)

I am glad that Angus is getting stronger. Hopefully this is continuing. I have been praying for him, and for you, too. How are Alastaire, Peter, Brighton, and Millie doing? I hope they are well and that they are behaving!

My kids are all well, and I will be becoming a grandma before too long: my oldest daughter, Lightning  (she lives in Colorado with her family), is expecting a little girl; this will be her sixth child. She already has four little boys and an older girl, and as you can imagine, Bill and I are beyond thrilled! :) I hope she has a healthy child, and I hope her pregnancy progresses without any difficulties!

My daughters Barbaara, Camey, and Tammi have joined the work force: Barbara is working at Golden Corral, and the twins are working at Fire Mountain. Both are very good buffet-style family restaurants, and they all love their new jobs!

My son Johnny has had some medical tests and his disease (muscular dystrophy) is getting worse (but not to the extent of most others who have it). Please keep Johnny in your prayers; he is really having a hard time right now. His friend in California is also recovering: she recently had an amputation due to an infection (her leg), and it has been very tough on the both of them. Her name is Rebekkah; please be praying for her too.

My youngest son, Arjun, was also in the hospital about the time the Olympics started: he had RSV, and he was in for a week, but has since recovered; he just got off the antibiotics and is now doing splendidly. He did give us quite a scare though; I am just glad that it wasn't any worse than it was!

Ronee' was sick with a flare but is doing better. She has systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), which can affect major organs as well as her joints. It's bad enough she has to be hospitalized, but that hasn't happened for a long time. The last time she was in the hospital was when she had her hips replaced last summer.

In addition to all of this, Bill fell last month during an ice storm and hurt his back, but he is all better now. He did miss a week and a half from work, but he is back, and he has been trying to be very careful. He was miserable, and I was afraid he'd done something to his back; he just sprained it severely, and had to take it easy.

Now the family is getting ready for our new baby to be (my granddaughter, remember), and Bill and I are alreaady counting the days to June, when we will then go on a Mexican cruise to celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary. We will be going for five days; we are going to go to Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, and we are going on the Carnival Cruise Ship Ecstasy; this is the second cruise for both of us, but this is the first time we will have gone to Mexico.

We are also going on a cruise to Alaska come October; but on that cruise, the entire family is going. (That cruise is free; it was a Christmas gift last year from my bosses at work. Very generous of them to do that, hunh?? *grins* We are going on the Alaskan cruise to celebrate the adoptions of Arjun, Janica, and Rani, who joined our family last year.) So we will have some adventures on the high seas, Sandusky style; we are really looking forward to it! :)

How is the weather there in London? Here it is supposed to be sunny, so we will be able to enjoy getting out. We will be going out to eat at Fire Mountain this morning, and we will then go to church, where we will be spending a good chunk of our Sunday. We will be having dinner-on-the-grounds after the second morning service, and then we can spend time with each other, talking and having fellowship. It is a great way to meet new church members we haven't met yet; our church is quite large (well over 800 members). It has gone from just a few hundred people to 870 in just a little over a year; God has really been moving in our church, and our church family has grown by leaps and bounds! :)

I hope the weather there is good; I hope the rains have stopped. Seems that y'all get an awful lot of rain there in London town...

Take care, dear Rosamunde, and God bless! I am going to try to get an hour's power nap in before the troops arise! Take care, and God bless! Write back soon; I do miss hearing from you! Give your family my love!

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