Tomorrow's the day...

So I have been thoroughly poked & prodded in an attempt to get me prepared for the surgery tomorrow. We report to Silverton Hospital about 7:30 and the whole thing should be over by 10AM. Dr. Dalisky will perform the procedure, and we met Yuri today who will likely be the Nurse Anesthetist. It is nice to be having it done less than six blocks from my house. I should only have to stay a night or two, depending on how the procedure goes.

Our friends Rob & Julie Broyhill will take care of Mateo for tonight and tomorrow. Then Matt and his mom will split duties between Mateo and the hospital. Matt will post a message this weekend about how it all goes...so check back.

Thanks in advance for all the prayers. Love from Oregon, Sarah

It's a small world...

So I think I mentioned that I have a second cousin who just entered the seminary at Mount Angel. His name is Matt Olson, and he's from the Diocese of Sacramento. He checked in on Saturday, and brought his entire family, Mom-Jo, Dad-Dave, Sister-Sam, and Grandma-Margie. In addition, he brought the Canby LaPlante's, Uncle-Fred, Aunt-Karen, Cousin-Chris, and Cousin-Mary Anne. We had Mama Nona and Matt served steak fresh off the Traeger (momentary rant: if you don't own a Traeger, you have no idea what you are missing...everything, and I mean everything, we have had off the Traeger is EXCELLENT!!!)

We're so excited to have family so close. It's literally four miles from our front door to Matt's room at the Abbey. He'll be a regular fixture at our house, and we are looking forward to introducing him to our circle of friends.

Plus, thanks to Matt, we reconnected with second cousins who live less than 45 minutes from our house. Fred is son of Gaylord who is brother to my Grandpa Don. I had no idea there were LaPlante's so close...who are actually from my same family tree!

On another note, I am scheduled to have surgery next Friday, August 31st. I'm having it done here in Silverton, and should be in the hospital only a night or two. I am scheduled to be off work for 6-8 weeks depending on the recovery time, and we'll probably be asking our Silverton friends for play date opportunities for Mateo. I think MamaNona is excited to have the opportunity to take care of me for a while instead of vice versa. Please keep us in your prayers.

Mateo and I are off to Boise on Friday night for book club and some cousin time with Lukas and Nathan. After last weekend in California, Mateo has started to call everyone who is Nathan's age, "Baby, Baby". He just loves his cousins.

That's all from the Millers!! Hugs, Sarah

PS: the picture is Mateo holding a moth that he actually caught while in California last weekend. He jumped around and shrieked but kept at it until he finally caught it.

More weekend pictures

Tio John and Primo Nathan made their first visit to a Woodland LaPlante family gathering. It was actually John's first trip to California in his life. It was great to have Rachel's entire family there with all the other family members...plus they drove the long round trip--so Rachel and John both deserve an award for sainthood. I am too big a wuss to spend that much time with a toddler in a car!!
The eldest brothers LaPlante (my dad & Uncle Steve) had a great time at the wedding anniversary party. We sure missed the youngest boy LaPlante, Uncle Jim and his family, Conni, Austin, Katy, and Emma at the party. Rachel and I were hoping for other young kids...turns out ours were the youngest there, by a long shot. We did get to talk to Uncle Jim on Sunday night, and hope to see his family next spring when they come down from Alaska.

Rachel and me sharing our best wishes with Grandma...and getting some advice on how to keep our husbands around for as long as she has had Grandpa.

Dad's older sister, Aunt Julie (AKA Sr. Julie Ann), was able to fly in on Sunday morning for brunch. The community that Julie is a member of (the Poor Clares in Minnesota) have prayed every day for our family and for Mateo's journey to our family. We were glad for them to have a chance to see each other again (they met for the first time last October).

And finally, a family picture with all of us mostly looking at the camera with our eyes open. Success in small ways makes for big differences.

Hugs from Oregon, the Millers

Weekend highlights...

So this first picture is in honor of my Aunt Cath & her partner Dawn (on the left) who have promised to religiously check our blogs for updates like my Aunt Marsha (on the right) does on a daily basis. They are pictured with my second cousin Bobby who is the most recently married LaPlante having celebrated a wedding on 7/7/07!

Here are my favorite great aunt & uncle (Carol & Warren), who have been at almost every LaPlante gathering I have ever been at...they are so fun to be with, and we reminisced about the times we shared at my grandparent's 40th wedding anniversary twenty years ago...they too have been married for more than half a century...and they are as in love today as they were fifty years ago.

My cousins sure have the moves...Kalie (on the left) is very close to finishing her degree in Anthropology at the University of Idaho...and Alexa (on the right) just graduated with a masters in civil engineering. My dad used to say, "you come from good stock"...judging by my cousins, I think the good stock goes further up the family tree than just my dad! We must have great Papa and Great Oma to thank for that.

So, we always try to take Papa pictures when we have all three grandsons together. This is a pretty standard shot...Lukas, the ham, posing, Nathan being happy as a clam...and my son who is trying to wiggle out of the picture. But the bottom line is Papa is always smiling when the boys are around.

The reason for the trip...my grandpa Don and grandma Pat celebrated 60 years of marriage this week...they married when she was 16 and he was 17 and they have been aging gracefully ever since then. We are so lucky to share in their special celebration (and my son and nephews were the only people under 25 in the room!!)

Hugs from Oregon...more pictures later (so keep checking back if you live in Monte Rio!!)

Sarah & Matt & Mateo

Weddings and Fountains

We had the privilege last weekend of attending our friend "Rob the Rocket Scientist's" wedding to Mel. They were married at One World Trade Center in Portland, and music at the reception was provided by a Caribbean Steel Drum Band. Mateo had a great time rocking out. Matt also took him across the street to the Portland Waterfront Park Fountain which Mateo loved (as you can of course tell from these pictures). This weekend we are off to celebrate the other end of the marriage perspective...my grandparents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. To see both viewpoints reminds me how blessed I am to have someone to love who loves me.

Hugs from Oregon, Sarah