Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Special Friends

Our Christmas vacation in Portland has continued to be wonderful.  We have had some special times the last couple days.  I'll start with yesterday.  We went to visit the Radford family across the river in Washington!  Kasey has the same tumor as Kelly, and his mom, Amy, and I have talked to each other a lot online and we finally got to meet them yesterday.  Here are Kelly and Kasey.  They had fun playing Wii together with Kasey's brother, Colby, and Kelly's cousin, Jake, that came with us.  Kasey's birthday is Thursday.  If anyone wants to wish him Happy Birthday, his website is www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaseyradford



Kasey and his mom,  Amy.  It was so nice to be able to finally be able to talk to Amy in person!  Kasey taught us his dice game.  He was so cute and really was fun to talk to yesterday. He showed us his special scrapbook too.

Kasey, Amy, Colby, Tracy, me, Jake and Kelly

On Sunday night, our we were happy to see our friends, the Diemers, again.  The Diemers lived in California until last August and have moved back home to Portland.  We met them at CHOC, and if you have been following this website, you may remember Chloe, another oncology patient. They did Relay for Life with us last April.  We miss them, so it was great to see them again! They invited us to a Christmas concert at their church, then we went out after the concert for dessert and coffee at Papa Haydns in downtown Portland.  It was a wonderful night with good music, delicious desserts and great friends and family. 

The Diemer's church put on an amazing concert with an orchestra and choir.

Here are all the kids at Papa Haydns.  In the front are Chloe, Shannon, Hannah, Ashley  and Emily. Behind them are Jake, Megan and Kelly.

Today, we went to David Hill Winery in Forest Grove, Oregon.  It was beautiful and there was still some snow there.  While the adults tasted wine, most of the kids made a snowman outside.

The house above is where the tasting room is, and the photo below is a view of the house from the hill behind it. It was such a beautiful setting.
Wow, so many wines to try ~  Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

Happy Birthday to Kevin's mom, Nancy Laude! 
Her birthday is today.

11 comments:

Gabby's Mom said...

Thanks for the pictures. I know that you were excited to have a chance to visit all of your friends and I am happy the weather did not spoil the plans!

Have a great New Year's Eve!

Love,
Pat

Anonymous said...

So glad that you've all had a wonderful Christmas! It looks like you've gotten to do a lot of fun things. Have a safe ride home. May the new year bring nothing but good health and good times!
Love,
The Silvestris

Anonymous said...

Hi Laudes,

Looks like you have been having a WONDERFUL time!!! All the pictures are great!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!!

See you in 2009.

Have a safe trip home....

Love to all of you...
Patty J.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelly,

It looks as if you're having a great time visiting lots of people. Enjoy it all and have a hapy new year.

We woke up to a snowstorm today. Unfortunately, around here, that means getting the car out of the lot so the lot can be plowed, trying to find another place to park the bloomin' car (don't even THINK about parking it on the street unless an $80 fine is all right with you).

Fortunately, the last time it snowed, a neighbor shared his secret with us. Unless it's a Sunday, he parks in the church lot down the street. Thanks, Jim!

Do you think anyone at CHOC would care to study those wines, to see if they kill cancer cells? It would be great if they did, but it would be a shame to administer them intravenously.

Happy New Year!

Henry

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a fun week you all have been having!! Love the photos again!! So glad you've been able to visit with the Diemers and the Radfords!! How nice the winery still had snow for everyone to play in! :) Looks like a beautiful place!

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Love,
Aunt Jenny, Uncle Bob, Kylie and Ryan

Catalina Eddy said...

Happy New Year!!!
And happy birthday to my Mom.
And happy 21st anniversary of the day I met my wife during a brief stop-over in Houston, TX.

Here's to a safe drive home.

Love you!

Anonymous said...

Hello, Kelly & Family,

Praying that 2009 will be your best year yet filled with many blessings and good health for all!

With love,
Wylene

Anonymous said...

Hello, Kelly & Family,

Praying that 2009 will be your best year yet filled with many blessings and good health for all!

With love,
Wylene

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelly- I am so glad that you had a great Christmas. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

God bless you

Debbie/Angel_Wings

Anonymous said...

wow what a great trip, we hope that 2009 is the best year ever!

God Bless,
Chris & Wendy Leonard

Anonymous said...

Hello, Kelly,

So glad that you and your family had such an enjoyable trip to Portland, but sad that you are not feeling well now. Praying that you will be feeling better very soon.

With love,
Wylene