Dear Family and Friends,

I did a late summer report last time, but now will try to catch up. I am currently getting break from chemo to let my body recover. Seems as if there are always issues that come up that I don’t expect. I am now doing some trouble shooting on some new aches and pains. Before cancer I would just ignore it for a while and it would go away. Now, I try to document, and see if there is anything natural to do about it. It is so obvious that exercise and physical labor are so good for most things. We continue to eat and cook healthily which luckily we both enjoy.

I need to complete the fall story by telling about two amazing trips. In late Oct. equipped with some U.S. Halloween candy, we headed for Japan to visit our son, John. Because we visited during the X-League playoffs, John was very busy with game preparation. He plays offense primarily, but also goes in for special team plays and defense, so he has to attend all meetings and field practices. We did go over to the Big Blue House and practice field this time, and got to meet and see his teammates and coaches and staff. John can sometimes meet us for dinners, and one day we did spend most of the day together. Clark and I also saw two ND games with the NDTokyo group. My special thrill was actually leaving one of the games when we were comfortably ahead, and getting to play tennis with the Moynihans and friends over at the American Housing area. John joined us for dinner after another long day of practice. Clark and I then travelled to Kyoto for our days of exploring and sightseeing. We were blessed with great weather, and did get to see a lot of the fall colors. The NIshiki market, bamboo forest and Tenryuji Shrine and Temple were highlights. When we returned to Tokyo we met John, his girlfriend Sayuri, and several of his teammates at Andy’s, an amazing fish place. Saturday was IBM Big Blue’s first of two playoff games. The game did not go their way, but the other team was very good. John had a number of friends who were able to attend, and a nice dinner with a big group softened the blow. The following week when we weren’t there they had a decisive win over a top team. John caught 11 passes, three for TD’s and one for 2 pts. after.

Sunday we did our second ND game watch, enjoying a win over Navy. We had a special dinner with John and then headed back home on Mon. The Asian jet lag is something- so we knew what to expect. Ellen and I flew out on Wed. to Denver, where Sarah picked us up for a drive to Lawrence, Ks. to a family wedding. We planned to do a little bird watching on the way at Great Bend, KS. It was another project to try to see the Whooping Cranes, but didn’t have time to work that all in. We thought the road trip would be fun and give we sisters a good chance to catch up, and it worked well. For those of you who know the Murphys, this was Rosemary and Jack’s son, Doyle and Jenna. Rosemary and her 4 siblings are our first and only cousins—-so we have remained close, although spread out all over. It was a beautiful wedding and all the surrounding ceremonies and festivities were so well done. We finshed the weekend with a gourmet brunch with John Stone and wife Carmelita, who came over to Lawrence.

So, saving the biggest news for last. Luke received the great news that he did pass the CA Bar exam. This is a very big deal in getting himself launched as an attorney. The result of a lot of intense study and preparation. Luke, his buddy Jeff, and dog, Mary Jane, joined us for Thanksgiving weekend. We had a fabulous feast with friends who also had invited a group of 20-30 somethings, so it was a delightful group and dinner. Luke and Jeff saw friends in SF that evening and we all went to the ND Stanford tailgating and game. Unfortunely, as you may have seen we lost by 7. Great day! We have so much to be thankful for. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we do.

Love and many prayers
Annie/Noel