Welcome Nicholas David Murphy...

Nicholas David Murphy

Great granddaughter Madilyn

Grandma, Patience, and Jordyn

We arrived in Canada on Wednesday September 24th. Baby Nicholas was scheduled to be born on September 29 with a cesarean surgery. We decided to come a few days early to help with the family and also just in case Nicholas decided to come early.

On our way to Canada, we changed planes in Seattle and called our son-in-law, Don, to let him know that we would be on the 1:30 pm flight arriving in Bellingham. He was picking us up and we were traveling on a stand-by ticket so needed to let him know what flight we would be on. He told us that we were grandparents again but we didn't believe him since he is always joking around with us. After talking with him a while, we determined that he wasn't joking!

He had to take Cathi to the hospital about 4 am that morning as natural birth had begun. However the baby was not in the birth canal. Natural child birth was not possible so he was delivered with a major cesarean surgery since it was scheduled anyhow. Nicholas was born at 6:37 am.

After Don picked us up, we picked up the rest of the family and went to met Nicholas for the first time. Here is a link to more pictures of Nicholas. Cathi was doing remarkably well when we saw her at the hospital considering the surgery. She and the baby came home two days later on Friday after convincing the doctor to release them a day early. She was ready to come home!

So we have been busy helping to take care of the family while Cathi recuperates. Patience and Jordyn, 4 and 2, keep us busy and require a lot of attention. They go to pre-school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I’ve been taking them to/from school. Dylan and Sean, 16 and 13, are both in high school and are involved in school activities so need a bit of chauffeuring around as well.

There are a lot of domestics involved with a family of 7 so that keeps us pretty busy. Cathi has been a great help doing what she can and Don helps as much as he can in between working on his computer business and his Christmas tree farm getting trees ready for sale.

Last Saturday we went to Bellingham for the weekend to visit with the Richey’s (Pat’s oldest daughter and family). We got to see everyone but Cody which was nice since the 3 oldest grandchildren are on their own now. We even got to see our great-granddaughter, Madilyn. She is such a sweetie and always has a smile for you. Here is a link to some pictures of Madilyn, and her mom, great-grandma, and aunt.

We took Cathi to the doctor this past Thursday for her checkup. The doctor said she was doing remarkably well and was one of her “stars.” He released her to drive so she picked the girls up from pre-school that day.

Last Monday the girls had a field trip with their class to Dave’s Apple Farm. They had a great time learning about and picking all the fruits and vegetables. We were lucky with the weather as it wasn’t raining but just overcast and cloudy. Here’s a link to some pictures of the field trip. The next day they talked all about the field trip in class and even had some of the vegetables and fruits they picked to pass around for class.

Yesterday we took the girls to Krause’s Berry Farm which is across the street from the house. It was a beautiful warm sunny day so the girls had a great time playing in the big sand box they have. There are always other kids playing in the box so they make friends and play together.

The weather has turned cold and fall is in the air. We had two mornings of frost and had to scrape the car windows before we could go to school last Friday. The leaves are turning and beginning to fall. Everyone here is saying that it is going to be an early winter since it’s gotten so cold so early.

We got a call from Nathan yesterday evening. He’s away at boot camp for the US Coast Guard in Cape May, New Jersey. He’s begun his 6th week of training and will be graduating on October 31st. We’re going to his graduation and looking forward to seeing his graduation ceremony. He’s doing well and had passed his physical and academic tests. He’s going to be stationed in Seattle so that is good news since he will be so close to home so will be able to see his family and friends more often being so close.

If all goes well here this week, we’re planning on going back home the end of this week. The family is doing great. We’ll be back to Canada on the 31st since Nathan is coming home for a few days leave after graduation from boot camp. Then we’re going to our great-granddaughter’s 1st birthday party on November 8th. Also Cody, our oldest grandson, will be home on leave from the Air Force. It will be good to see and visit with him since we haven’t seen him since June.