Dear Family and Friends,

We hope the beginning of these holy days finds you well and energized at all of the prospects of great family and friend togetherings. We surely have a newly honed sense of health, healing, the energy of prayer, the strength of friendship, and the rock of family. It has been a year of many challenges and many more blessings.

Winter and Spring were marked with chemo and doctor visits for Noel. Great breaks were seeing Salesian win the State BB championship, and a trip for a working weekend to Monterey. We also have had great visits with John and Kathy Stanton from Houston, Jim and Jolanne Stanton from Seattle, Bob and Mimi Nusbaum from Charleston, S.C., and Noel’s cousins, Patty and Virginia, from Topeka, Ks. and Yuma, Ariz.,and Janie and Peter Hayman from Austin, Tx., and Dana and Donna from Minneapolis. We also had a chance to catch up with Judy and Brian Henderson, from Pasadena on their way to Tahoe.

Summer was wonderful , and heighthened by Noel’s trip to K.C., the MotherHouse of the SCL’s and Reunions in Falls City, NE. Clark and Luke also traveled at about the same time to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, to visit Judge Holloway, for whom Clark had clerked after Law School, and Joe Morris, a family friend and expert in arbitration and negotiation. They also had good visits with friends, Peggy and Jennie, who have been such great support with nursing, cancer information. It was also a great joy to see college rommate Pat Virnich, and husband Woody.

Clark and Noel enjoyed the powerful ND football season, attending the Michigan game at ND, and seeing the ND victory over USC at the LA Colliseum. We began football season by traveling to St. John’s, for the season opener. In Nov. we traveled for about 2 wks. to Japan. Luke, who is in his third year at Pepperdine Law School was able to come over for about a week. We had also had a good wkend visit with Luke in Oct., when he and his law school Trial team competed in a national event in SF, and we were able to meet his partners, coach, and group, and see them compete.

I have to break here to explain that I started this Dec. 14, and in between we put together the Xmas card. I haven’t sent any of my cards, yet, so you may get both, but because I only have web addresses for some folks, I want to complete this version, and get it out. I can also just add a little holiday news- so it is now Dec. 28.

Japan was an amazing trip, and of course, especially to be with John and Luke. Because John’s X-League team made the playoffs, we did get to see two games while there, and meet his teammates and coaches. During the week Clark and I, and John’s close friend Rita traveled to Hiroshima, Tsu(where John lived and taught, last year), and Kyoto, which are marvelous cities. While in Tokyo we barely began taking in all of the attractions, and are anxious to return. We did a lot of reading and research before we went, but it makes it so much more real to dig into aspects of the country, culture, and life there.

I won’t go on and on, but my health is still going well. My last visit was to my surgeon at UCSF, and he was very pleased. I just need to check back in with them every 3 months. So, whew! very happy things are going so well. The progress from last Xmas, when I was sort of a guest, is remarkable. It was quite fun to decorate this year, and we had a real tree, and had the house, just the way I wanted it. Over Xmas we were blessed to have both Luke and John home, as well as Sarah, from Denver. Beginning with a belated birthday celebration for John, we had had many nights of celebrations. Our last evening was going in to SF to see Robert and Laurel Jones, her parents, Elmer and Jean Hinkle, and their three daughters. We had celebrated Thanksgiving with them, but this time John, Luke, and Amanda, completed the celebration.

So, I had better get going, and finally get this out. Know that you are and have been in my thoughts and prayers. If you have moved or changed addresses please send us an up date. Please do keep us all in your prayers.

Love
Annie/Noel

Hello dear family and friends,

It is so awesome to be able to blog when I have such good news. I did go in for my 6 month check-up and the Doc was so pleased he gave me a big hug- not his usual approach. Anyway, I had a CAT scan, and the whole blood test routine and everything looked really good. My blood is almost back to normal, with a little way to go for the white cell count, but I haven’t had any colds or sickies since chemo. I have had a battery of other tests- that go with my regular physical, and everything is clear. I just finished a double duty 10 day antibiotic routine to get rid of a pesky stomach bacteria, that had no symptoms, but they want to clear because it could become cancerous. Last of these will be a colonoscopy, and then I hope I’ll be finished for a while. Anyway, thank you again for all of your prayers and energy, because I am sure they have had a major effect on my recovery. I’m sure I have mentioned this before, but they consider ovarian cancer a chronic condition, that can recur, but can be treated. So I am thrilled to be clear or NED—no evidence of disease, and it does really give me a unique appreciation of life, my family and friends.

Anyone who knows me well knows I am a longtime Notre Dame fan. We were the Sacred Heart Irish in a small county-seat, Falls City, NE, which was pre-dominately Protestant, and my mom had gone to St. Mary’s, across the street from ND for college before co-ed. Clark and son Luke graduated from ND, and we all remain fans. We went to the ND-USC game on the Sat. after Thanksgiving, to have a good visit with Luke and see ND remain undefeated and No. 1 in the country, and beat USC. We got home and swung into action to do a Thank you party for my friends who helped so much during chemo, with meals, driving and moral support.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Clark’s cousin, Robert Jones and family in SF. They live near Presidio so we took a pre-dinner walk down to Baker Beach, for one of the most spectacular views of the ocean and GG Bridge you could ever see. I do hope you and your families had a beautiful Thanksgiving together. Know I am so thankful for all of you. Please do remember me and all of us in your prayers, as we do you. I hope the season of Advent will be rich and fruitful for you. I am still trying to reach out individually, so until then, the blog is my best buddy.

Love Annie/Noel