Withywindle Wanderers

Thank you all so much for your prayers and concerns regarding Mum. She asked me to tell you all today's news - she does have breast cancer, and will be having a mastectomy at Port Macquarie Private Hospital on June 19th (June 18th USA time) There is an element of good in Mum's news. Unlike the last two times, this time the cancer is not so severe as to warrant chemotherapy. Mum is exceedingly relieved about this! Thank you again for you kindness to us all. I'm going to provide updates of Mum's health here on my blog for those of you who would like them. God bless you all, Megan

Eowyn, Megs, Patricia, Ben, Coco, Bens, Laurel & Chris!

...dancing in the fountain and bouncing on the slack wire!!

...and this week Mum and Dad celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary, and Sam and Becca their first! CONGRATULATIONS! I just went around the house taking pics of the aforementioned celebrations, but I think Coco dropped my cell phone into the key lime martini I was drinking earlier to celebrate Philippa's birthday, and none of the photos worked, except this one, and it only sort of!!

Tom gave me this print when he, Anita and I were in New York in 2001! It's sacred for me, because when I first met this painting and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996, I prayed God would put me in a dear little family like this, and he did! Eowyn and Coco are gliding in New Horizons' WALK! And if you'd like to sponsor them, why, you can! New Horizons is the homeless teen drop-in centre I volunteer for. I've been there 7 months and am growing very attached to some of the kids.Last night we took them roller skating at a really groovy retro place. They loved it and were very tricky on wheels! To find out more about NH, go to http://nhmin.org/ , and to sponsor E and C, please make cheques out to New Horizons and send them to The Ady Ladies, 'Bag End' 10345 32nd Ave. NE Seattle WA 98125 USA Thanks and cheers, Megs PS Eowyn is playing schools, Coco being her student, and just said: "OK kids, time for free choice!!" They are adorable!!!!!!!!

Bens is conducting research examining the correlation between time spent in therapy and subjective happiness. Please would you be so very kind as to spend 5 minutes or so filling out his anonymous survey at http://express.perseus.com/perseus/surveys/1734848031/78a294de.htm Grazie duo mille! (Thanks 2 million, a common expression in Naples, Italy!) Megs

Eowyn loves reading Coco stories, and can sing her Brown Bear in its entirity! Today at our zoo, Eowyn and Brown Bear had the most amazing bonding interaction!! Brown Bear was wrinkling her nose and looking at Eowyn in a most interested manner, and blowing bubbles under water. Encroyable!!

...and the livin' is easy! fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high your daddy's fine and your mama's good lookin' so hush little baby don't you cry!

Here are my lovely girls and my lovely man! And it's Becca's birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!! This time a year ago we were together! And all the Joneses too! And all the Winters! And Josephine, Caroline, Martin, Mim, Zoe and the Coombses! What a delightful time that was, celebrating SamBecca!! The video of you climbing the tree on your blog Becca (see link!) is simply GORGEOUS!!!!!!

This dear little family of ducks live at the Beaver Pond just down the hill from us. The Daddy duck is a little bit bossy! Poor Mama duck. I'm glad Bens is more sensitive than his Drake counterpart!! You can see Coco's little side Pony Tail in the picture! Dear girl. Eowyn just came out of her room (despite it being past her bed time) dressed in a ragtime outfit with sunglasses, singing into a toy microphone! She's adorable. And Megs-super-disciplinarian didn't put her straight back to bed ... I took a photo!!!!!!

Hello me hearties! Our computer has been having a little holiday at the repair store! And now it's almost all better! Hooray! Bens, Eowyn, Coco and I are planning, very excitedly, a road trip around the USA, for two months, leaving, God willing, June 26th and going all the way around, in a clockwise-ish direction!! Camping in national parks, staying in luxurious casino resorts, indulging in art at NY and Chicago, visiting old friends, experiencing the culture of the deep south ... we are excited! Much love to you! It's an honour to have you reading my blog! Love and God bless you, Megan PS Happy Mothers' Day! PPS "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." Isaiah 66:13