The hospital called today and they are postponing Ben’s surgery for one week. Someone came into the hospital today who was sicker than Ben. Of course, we understand but . . . it still stinks! We have a friend flying in from Washington, D.C. on Saturday who was suppose to care for the girls during Ben’s stay at the hospital. Thankfully we had several friends and family vying to care for the girls (my sister was the only one who threatened me if I didn’t let her care for the girls). Everyone has been completely understanding and flexible. I don’t do well with change. I fell to the floor in complete disbelief. I have been working since the day we found out the date. Chris on the other hand does fabulous when forced to change quickly. So Ben’s surgery in scheduled for November 25th.
Instead of getting to tell Ben the terrible news that he was going to have open-heart surgery again, the kids and I made a huge pile of leaves to jump in. It took some convincing to get Ainsley to go in, but even she joined the fun. You can tell from the picture that she really didn’t want to touch the dirty leaves. Ben and Madie jumped in, buried themselves, and completely enjoyed themselves. Of course, the excitement wore off when we had to go inside, take a bath, and do a quick tick check. Trust me. It is better to find them quickly before they have become engorged. It was still a good end to a tough day!!!!
The Puddles 
Hi Chris and Kathryn and kids,
It was so good to see Chris a couple of weeks ago. I knew Richard missed their visits but I found out I missed having you next door also ( a lot) I keep thinking I would actually write by snail mail as sometimes that’s the way to do things. He asked me if I had checked out the blog. I did last fall and then got busy in my little world. Richard said he would be late for dinner today so this was a good time to play on the web.
I do enough solataire so this was a diversion. We will continue to keep you in our prayers as you help Ben through this next surgery.
I did not realize that your trees would also shed leaves. I thought it would say green there all year round.
The guys are done harvesting and are now on to other things. John planted a canola/radish cover crop so we are enjoying the larger than garden radishes. The October rains may have helped.
Remember g.l.y and s.d.w.
Darlene J from across the street