My grandmother (Deb's dad's mom) passed away yesterday evening while she was resting at the hospital. Most of the family had already left for the evening as visiting hours were over. --- She was supposed to go home last Thursday but she experienced some bleeding the night before. The doctors put her up in the ICU and went in and found the source of the bleeding and repaired it. She was given more blood because she had lost some. She had her ups and downs after all that and Saturday she seemed to be doing a little better. Yesterday morning she started going into distress and her pulse was racing and some other things were going on. The doctors were with her most of the morning and afternoon. She finally gave in yesterday evening and went to be with the Lord and with our Grandpa (he passed away last year). We will all miss her! We send our prayers and thoughts out to the family. Here are some pictures:

Carter went on his first fieldtrip today with other 3 & 4 year olds at his preschool. He took his very first ride on a school bus. He was so excited. I (Deborah) volunteered to go with his class as a chaperone. It was a pretty easy task (at least for this trip) because almost every child had a parent with them. I kept Gail in school so that Carter and I could have a mommy and son day. We went to the "Oil Ranch" (very popular this time of year) that is just outside of Houston. The weather was really nice but the wind was a bit chilly at times. The kids got to go on a pony/horse ride, we all got to ride in a trailer (pulled by a tractor) to feed the cows, we all took a little train ride, and the kids got to pick out their own little pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch they had there. One of the little girls in Carter's class, Elli, didn't have a parent with her, so she hung out with me and Carter almost the entire time. She was a sweet little girl (she is in alot of the pictures with Carter). Today was my birthday as well, so it was cool to be able to do something fun like this. I took lots of picture while we were at the O.R. They are in the Family Photos/October 2007 album. Here are a few:

My Grandmother (Deb's dad's mom) got really ill last week and was admitted to the hospital. She wasn't doing much better by the weekend, so the doctors did some tests on her. They found out what was wrong (I don't want to give details for her privacy) and wanted to do surgery but she was really weak. Things weren't looking too well since she was weak and she had heart problems and she is 91. The doctors said there was a slim chance that she would make it through the surgery. We prayed and prayed for her. We had others praying for her. Because of God's true grace and faithfulness, he made her stronger and kept her stable, so that she would be strong enough to have a good chance of surviving the surgery. She had her surgery yesterday (Wednesday) in the late afternoon and came around really fast and was taken off the breathing tube and was doing well. We (our families) all believe in the power of prayer! The answer may not always be the one we want it to be, but everything happens for a reason and He has a purpose for all of us. But Grandma was doing very well after the surgery and we pray that she continues to get stronger and have a speedy recovery.

Frank's mom is also doing well. He had to go to Florida to help his parents out after his mom broke her ankle. She has been getting around a bit more and cooking and doing some other things around the house. We are thankful that she is doing better as well.

My (Deborah) mom came out to visit and to help me for a week. Frank had to go to Florida for a couple of weeks to help his parents out. His mom passed out at home and when she fell, she broke one of her ankles. The doctors are still unsure why she passed out but are closely monitoring her to find the source. We pray that she will feel better soon. Frank's niece, Becky, is still waiting to have her baby. She is due on Oct. 7th. She is anxiously waiting to have him. Frank's sister-in-law had surgery a couple of days ago and is recovering as well as can be expected. We pray for her in that she will have a full and speedy recovery. I took some pictures of the kids with my mom while she was out here with me.

(More pictures in Family Photos/October 2007 album.)