Days with the Dorans

  On Mother's Day, we headed north to Saginaw. I feel like the last few years I have been legitly sick. I had a bit of a tickle in my throat and I was worried but thankfully it stayed just that. I feel like this has been my healthiest year in a while- but for the AWFUL case of strep I had earlier in the year.  Knock on wood. I probably jinxed myself. It was great going to Saginaw and I wish we could go more but it seems life is busy with work and stuff so I'm glad that we make holidays a priority. We had some flowers for Grandma and brought some pasta too! We didn't have Joe with us since he needed to work but the five of us made the ride in Franny. None of us ate before we left and so we were hungry! Grandma always has a TON of food and this was no different except we had to wait for the Dorans. I was cracking up because they were starving and even set a timer to begin eating promptly at 3 which was when they were told to come. I am pretty sure that they arrived at 3:01 be...

I was thinking how nice it is that we always can celebrate with family our December birthdays! Ali's birthday, my birthday, and of course Grandma's birthday. On our way north though, I was surprised that Saginaw schools were still in session. Then I remembered there were some years we had school on the 22nd. I am SO glad we didn't go that long this year! The other Dorans were able to come too and Mary's kids thought Joey was hilarious and actually loved playing with him which was cool because up until now I think they've been afraid of all of us... (I don't blame them). Although I know Chris hadn't been spending Christmas with us the last couple years it was a hard year knowing that she was gone. I was so glad we could all be together to celebrate a woman we love so very much!

The day after Sean's birthday our plan was to get his vaccine quick (he is FINALLY 12- yesterday so we were eager to get it) and then head north again to Saginaw to see Chris. Jeff got a call early that morning that she had passed.  I was thinking that we should head up right away but Jeff thought that was silly and wanted Sean to get that shot. We had been waiting so long for it so I called and asked if I could come in early (explained the circumstance) and they let me while Jeff went to Costco to get food to bring to everyone up north. Sean did great with his shot and we were all so happy. We had been so careful and all managed to dodge covid (minus Jeff of course) and now that we are all vaccinated we are feeling a bit better. We won't go out until 2 weeks after Sean's second shots but it felt good to get the ball rolling. No symptoms for him but he was tired at Grandma's. That was probably a mix of birthday excitement, stress on everyone regarding Chris, and the sho...

Jeff and I were excited to head north and see Abby and Mary perform in Frankenmuth. They have the most beautiful voices and we had time in our schedules so met Jim, Trish, and JD up there too. There were foodtrucks and later the Mary's boys came up so they could see and hear their mom and aunt play together! I took some video but with street noise it didn't turn out that great. That just means that we'll have to head up again for another show! And we got some awful news from Chris. I don't know if I had mentioned it here or not but she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian and stage 3 breast cancers last November. She's such a fighter though. Jeff and I had seen her and her boyfriend Ken a couple weeks ago when they were in town. We met them for dinner and it was nice to see her. Sadly though she got some awful news. This feels so surreal and she is going to fight until the bitter end but when I saw her post this, reality just hit and hit hard. I just can't imagine...

So Joey came home from band camp and we basically had one day to pack and get ready for cross camp. The only problem was, Joey was more than tired, he was sick! We kept praying that he would get better since this was his LAST camp and Jeff took him to urgent care where thankfully he tested negative for strep and Covid. I guess "everyone" in his cabin got sick too (again, thankfully no covid). WLC did have someone who was positive and unfortunately my friend and his son got it and they were SO careful they didn't even stay in cabins but their RV. Just another reminder to be careful I guess. Still we kept hoping. Jeff ran around getting things for Joe's XC camp and I was packing him (just in case he made a miraculous turn). Jeff had planned to go up and see his sister who was in Saginaw but in all the running, he wasn't able to. Chris was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and stage 3 breast cancer. My kids even made a video for her HERE . She hadn't talked w...

  It seemed like the last few times we tried to get to Saginaw it just didn't happen~ from Grandma going out to help Aunt Chris- then for Tyler's graduation. It was so good to finally be able to see each other and HUG! YAY SCIENCE!!! The other Dorans came too and we had a great meal and catch up and of course there were games. It was such a perfect day. Not too hot and not too cold! Mary brought her boys too and oh my gosh are they getting big. They are super shy around us crazy Dorans so didn't hear a peep from them but did try to get a few pictures. Uncle Jim gave us a picture of Grandpa Doran. I can kind of see Jeff in the picture of his dad but even more so I think I see Joe- in the eyes and lips. Jeff's dad was such an amazing man. I just loved seeing this picture and can't wait to get a better frame and get it on our wall!

 We had a great Christmas in Saginaw but it wasn't on the 26th as usual. We had it the following Sunday since all the big Doran kids had it off work.  Unfortunately, Mary and her kiddos were sick so they weren't able to make it but the rest of the Dorans were able to be there. It was great seeing Trisha and her mom seems to be doing a bit better and is almost strong enough for chemo! After some yummy food (as always), we opened presents. Al and I got birthday presents too! Grandma got us awesome gifts!! Here are more pics of everyone opening up gifts: For her big gift, we got her tickets to see the Blue Man Group with all of us (plus dinner of course). I can't wait!! She was excited. I feel like the best gift is when we get time together. I wish we lived closer but thankful for the time we have!  With Joey getting his record player, they had a GREAT time going through old records and Joe got a bonus gift of some awesome old record...