we had a bit of a rough week last week. Tuesday 11/18/08 we lost James' maternal grandmother, Violet Stiller. Doctors had warned us they felt the end was near, and so it was. She was on her morning walk with Grandpa when she collapsed. The prayer service was last Friday and funeral Saturday in Zumbrota, MN. While it was a sad time that brought us together - it was a celebration in that all of her 23 grandchildren were together for the first time in many years. I even got to meet a couple of James' cousins that I hadn't yet met - so I have now officially met all his first cousins.

11/18 is usually a somber date for another reason - in 1988 on that very same day is when James lost his father. Funny in a weird way how things happen . . .

As if James didn't have enough reasons to remember 11/18 - he experienced his first kidney stone that afternoon - or so we found out later. He took himself to the walk-in clinic that evening because the pain was quite unbearable, enough that he couldn't finish a sentence without having to stop to wince in pain. Tuesday night and in to Wednesday was tough, Wednesday it got a little better and Thursday it turned worse again - so much that I took James to the ER. We both learned more about kidney stones, got some cool pictures from his CT scan and even better . . . he passed the stone while in the ER.

He's still a bit sore and I'm sure the 5 hour drive on Friday and Saturday was no help - but there was nothing that was going to stop him from being at his grandmother's funeral . . . even a kidney stone.

Hope you all have a wonderful & loving Thanksgiving - remember to give thanks for all you have . . . . every day :)