pictures of Tom

Here are some pictures that Tom sent to me. I'm not going to attempt to explain them, cause if you are reading this, then you know Tom. And if you know Tom, then you know there's no point in me trying to explain what he does. Just enjoy!

Gpa is 95 years old

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

We had a nice party for Gpa on Sunday to celebrate his 95th birthday.
Jef and Stef and the kids came to help us celebrate.




Gma asked me to order a cake from the bakery that had horses or a cowboy or something on it. Its hard to see for all the 95 candles on the cake, but it turned out really hideous, but they loved it. So I guess that's what matters. The purple part is supposed to be mountains, the brown in front is some kind of mud hole that the little plastic horses were sunk into up to their bellies. The blue icing made everyone's mouth turn blue. But a good time was had by all! :)




It took 4 of us all working at once to get the candles lit before the cake melted completely. (The mountains made of icing were all flat by the time Gpa blew out the candles as it is.) It was a roaring flame!!!





We sang Happy Birthday REALLY loud! So loud that Gma had to cover her ears. :) (Actually, it wasn't that loud, but she covered her ears anyway. I don't think she liked it much!)

I think Gpa had a good birthday. He was kind of sad cause none of his children or grandchildren called to wish him a happy birthday, but we tried to keep him busy and I think he had a nice birthday. He got some funny cards that he has read over and over.

Tom stuff

In case you had any question that Tom is a nut!










Apparently its a popular thing to run up the wall and many can do it,


But.....





Tom did it Matrix style!






On a more serious side, here are normal pictures.





Here's Tom with his new companion and trainer.




This is Tom with Pres. and Sister Baughman

Happy Birthday Cannon

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of Cannon! He is so adorable.

He and Ben were playing a game of checkers on his brand new checker board (it has 10 games to be played).



Can you tell which color of checkers is his from the look on his face?





This kid had better never play poker!

Stefanie is too nice to post this story so I'm stealing it from her and telling it myself!

She and Gma were having a "discussion" about family history. Gma made a reference to her Uncle Tim's older sister. Stefanie asks, "Wouldn't that make her your Aunt?" Gma replied, "Oh no, my mother died when I was 12!"

I made an appointment with the Dr. for Gma and Gpa to discuss this dementia thing cause Gpa is constantly asking me questions about it. So I thought I'd let the Dr explain things to him.
So we get in there and, of course, Gma takes a bunch of time talking about things that she's already discussed with him.
Then he turns to Gpa and asks what he's there for. "Me? I'm fine. I don't need anything!" Grrr. So I tell the Dr we need to discuss dementia. Gpa jumps in and says, "Yea, Marv said I had dementia cause he saw the way I walk and said that told him I had it." Dr. Brown gives me a sympathetic glance. Then he says, "Ok Frank. I'm going to give you a test and that will tell us if you have dementia. I'm going to tell you 3 words and have you repeat them back to me. Then I'm going to have you draw a picture of a clock. When we're done, I'll have you repeat the 3 words back to me. OK?"
So he tells him the 3 words and I about slugged him. He was just jerking my chain. I was so mad at him in that moment. This is a serious situation and I need some serious help, and he's goofing around. "Repeat back to me, baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet." I couldn't believe it! So Gpa repeats the 3 words. Duh!
Then Dr. Brown hands him a pen and paper and has him draw a clock with the hands at 10 minutes to 2. Simple. Gpa does it in a jiffy. I'm really ticked off now!
Then the Dr. asks Gpa to repeat back the 3 words that he told him earlier. Instantly, Gpa says, "Baseball,........" That's it! My jaw dropped to the floor. I guess that's why its a conclusive little test. He could NOT remember the other 2 words. Amazing! I had to forgive Dr. Brown really fast. Even living with Gpa and knowing how bad he's getting, I was sure he could remember those well known words. Nope! Next he just asked him if he wanted pills or a patch. Gpa didn't even object to having a "prescription" (that dirty little word).
The other amazing thing is that Gma brought up how Gpa sometimes falls. Dr. Brown asked a few questions about how he doesn't try to catch himself, doesn't even know he's falling, etc., and said that it isn't part of the dementia. It's caused by small strokes! That explains alot. So then on the way home Gpa says, "So all I have to do now is have one of those small strokes be a big one and I don't have to worry about all this anymore." Yup, I guess he's right.
Ah! Its a great life, if you don't weaken or waken!

I'm sorry, but I'm just not happy posting my letters to Tom on my blog.
But if you would like to read them, email me and I will copy them to an email for you.
love you all!