In Loving Memory of Grandma Maljaars (Aug 4,1921 - Aug 15, 2011)

  Catharina Maljaars-Kodde 

This picture of my Dad's Mom (my Grandma Maljaars) was taken on August 2, 2011.  On Aug 3, 2011 my grandma ended up in the hospital just the day before her 90th Birthday.  Little did we know that just 11 days after her 90th birthday she would pass away. She had a series of strokes while in hospital but had recuperated from several of the first ones and was told on Aug 10 that she would be discharged because she was doing so well.  Shortly after that she had several more strokes to the point that she could no longer communicate with anyone.
Grandma was a widow for 22 years.  She had 11 children, 65 grandchildren, 113 great grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild.
It's at times like this that you sift through your memories...and pictures.

I will share a few of those pictures:

Family picture - with their 4 oldest children 

This picture was taken when they were ready to set sail
from Holland to Canada.

Grandma made sure there were pictures of everything!

She would meticulously label each picture, date it, and
list who was in the picture

My Grandmas - always busy knitting!!

All my grandparents at my parents' wedding in 1966

Another family picture - this with all but their youngest

Grandma Maljaars and my mom

Here my Grandma is holding my Auntie Mary and my
Mom is holding my brother, Bob.
Bob is 6 weeks older than his aunt!

The next 3 pictures are of some of my Grandparents Maljaars' significant anniversaries:

I think this was their 25th.
I'm the baby that my mom is holding!

This picture was taken at our wedding in 1988. Here
Grandpa looked so healthy but only 10 months later
he passed away from cancer.  I'm always glad we had this
nice picture to remember him by.

And some pictures that aren't as old:

This is a picture of me in my Grandma Maljaars' Dutch
Costume. This was a family tradition - that every granddaughter
would have the opportunity to try this outfit from Grandma on
when she was about 12 years old.

In the kitchen with both my Grandmas!

Bob with both of our Grandmas!

Grandma M holding Katie

I'm still here!

Hello again,
I know it's been a long time since I posted on this blog but the past few months have been very busy.  At the beginning of March I had surgery which was supposed to be endoscopic sinus surgery and septoplasty but only ended up being the septoplasty because of too much bleeding.  I've had a few surgeries in my life and I'd take a hysterectomy any day over nasal surgery.  Because they weren't able to complete the surgery, I have to have part b at another time.  That took me a bit to recover from but I think it's healed now.  The worst part was that I had to be off my arthritis meds for such a long time, causing joint havoc for me.  I had made so many trips to the ER for joint flares but now I have injectable Toradol at home so that we can try to avoid long waits in ER and I can at least get somewhat comfy until I can see my doctor the next day.
From March - April my sisters and I put together a 180-page digital scrapbook memory album for our parents' 45th anniversary.  It was time-consuming as we waded through tons and tons of pictures, but the end result is amazing and I'm so glad we did that.
Since that album was completed, I've been working on another project (top secret for now!), had a new kitchen installed  (I'll post pics once it's all finished), have been working 2 mornings a week, and have been planning several things (in law's 50 anniversary in August,  a Youth Day in August, and a Youth leader's retreat in November).
Well, that's all for now - definitely time to head to bed. I will try to post more faithfully from now on but make no promises:)

Digital Scrapbooking Pages - our kids

I've also done a few pages on each of our kids, marking milestones or enjoying candid pictures of everyday life.  (If you'd like to see the pictures enlarged, just click on each one and it will open it in a bigger size).

Digital Scrapbooking Pages - Grandma V's 90th birthday

I had posted pictures of my maternal Grandma's 90th birthday back in October but now I'm showing you what I did with those pictures!

Digital Scrapbooking Pages - Dessert Day

In January of 2010, my mom, my sisters, and myself had a fun day together making all the desserts for my niece's wedding, which was the next day.  We worked hard but also took time for things like a tea party and a delicious lunch.  It was extra special that my sister, Marianne, from Ontario was able to be there with us as well.

Digital Scrapbooking Pages - Dad's 65th birthday

I had a lot of fun with Creative Memories Digital Scrapbooking Program "Storybook.  I'll post a few of my projects.  The first one here, is of my dad's 65th birthday which was in May 2010.

The top picture has him surrounded by most of his grandchildren:)

It's been a while...

Yes, it's been a few months since I posted anything.  A lot has gone on in all different situations in our lives and I have been mulling things over, trying to process them, wrestled with some of them, and am trying to accept the limitations and situations that the chronic and unrelenting symptoms of arthritis toss into my life.  In many ways Remicade has been a life-saver.  It took a while to titrate the dose and frequency but eventually we reached a point where things were as controlled as they'd likely ever get.  The glitch to using a 'big gun' medication like Remicade is that it cannot be given if you have a cold, cough, a stomach bug, or an infection. It also can't be given if you're anticipating a procedure like a root canal or surgery.  I am prone to sinus infections and it seems that since starting Remicade they have become more frequent and harder to treat.  So in the past 4 months, I've been on antibiotics almost constantly, and not able to have my treatments every 5 weeks like I should.  I finally saw an ENT (Ears, Nose, Throat) specialist yesterday and his examination as well as the results of a CT of my sinuses, showed that I need extensive sinus surgery.  He put a rush on it so I am booked to have this surgery on March 10.  In the meantime I cannot have Remicade until at least 3 weeks after the surgery and have to go off all my other meds for 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the surgery.  the last time I had a Remicade treatment was on Dec 15.  Four years ago, when I had a hysterectomy and had to stop all my meds, I had severe joint flares.  To say the least, I am not looking forward to that aspect of things and thought that because I now have injectable Toradol (major antiinflammatory) at home, I'd have a way to manage things.  Unfortunately, I'm also not allowed to use that until after my surgery.
In spite of this current challenge, I've kept busy digitally scrapbooking.  I will post a few pages to give you an idea of what I've been up to.  I bought the program in early January and have already completed more than 100 12 X 12 pages.  Addicted?  I'd say so but it's a healthy addiction and is therapeutic for me.
Anyway, the wee hours of the morning have arrived and I need to get to bed.  I will try to post the pics tomorrow or another day this week:)