April Celebrations

Happy 62nd Birthday, Danny on April 5.

><><><><><><><><><

Happy Birthday, Loetta on April 7.

><><><><><><><><><

Happy 70th Birthday, Dorothy on April 10.

><><><><><><><><><

Happy 25th Birthday, Dagan on April 10.><><><><><><><><><

Happy Birthday, Venius on April 13.

><><><><><><><><><

Happy Birthday, Lisa on April 19.

><><><><><><><><><

Happy Birthday, Randy on April 22.

><><><><><><><><><

Happy Birthday, Jordan on April 22.

Countdown...5 weeks

These Fabulous Five are ready for the reunion.
How About YOU?

Russell, Danny, Minnie, Lisa, DL

You are invited to the...

2009 Isbell Reunion

Quartz Mountain State Park

Lone Wolf, OK

Thursday, April 30 - Monday, May 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2008 Reunion

A family reunion is a time of great joy and excitement. In the world that we live in, families are often scattered around the globe. Loved ones may not see or talk to one another for years, even though there is but a plane ride separating them. A family reunion is a time to remember that although you may feel close to your neighbors and friends, there is nothing quite like family. These are the ones who are closest to you in blood. You share the same history and ancestors who cared for you. When you really need help, family members are the ones who are most likely to come through.
We had 26 adults and 13 kids at the reunion in 2008. We had a great time visiting, playing, and just being together. We missed all of you who couldn't make it.

................................................................................
You CAN Sleep in the Cabins!

There is always plenty of empty cabins. We would love to have them filled. Bring your twin size sheets, pillow, towels, toiletries, and other necessities. It is always more fun to have everyone staying together.

................................................................................

Potluck
We will be having potluck on Thursday night as usual. Get in the kitchen and bring your favorite dishes.

................................................................................

42, 42, Oh how I love 42.

You can always count on there to be some rousing games of 42. Russell and Dorothy came out on top last year. Who’s going to take their crown?

...............................................................................
So Much To Do…
So Little Time

There is as much or as little as you would like to do at the reunion. You can fish, play 42, play on the playground, visit, go for a walk, mountain climb, swim, and more. We suggest bringing lawn chairs, cards, games, fishing gear, toys for the kids, and a camera.

...............................................................................

2008 Fisherman of the Year

Stephen Anderson

The fishing was pretty good last year. Stephen took home the trophy and he has given it a face lift. Come to see the trophy’s new look and get in on the fishing action.

...............................................................................

B-I-N-G-O

Bingo night will be back again this year. So, gather your prizes for Saturday night. We are contemplating a movie night for Sunday. Does anyone have a DVD projector we could use?

...............................................................................
Little Reunion on the Prairie

The Pioneer Adventure Day was a big hit. The kids were taken back to the prairie days. They made butter, did chores, and purchased things from the mercantile. We are mixing things up a bit this year. We will be having a carnival Friday night. There will be games, prizes, and even a concession stand.

...............................................................................
Not enough hours in the day, we often say

we watch as the business of life allows time slip away.

Before we know days turn to months and months into years,

Time is mapped with laughter and cheers,

the long road sometimes landmarked with sadness and tears.

Elders pass and children grow,

has it been that long we ask, where does the time go?

Not every chance to gather is taken.

"We'll see them next time" we say and hope we're not mistaken.

A chance like now comes once in a lifetime it seems,

when the bright light of family is nurtured and beams,

there will be laughter and time to reminisce

we will all be proud this is a chance we did not miss.

By Ryan Guerrero

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN APRIL!!

Countdown...6 weeks

Our Grandmom and Grandpa said it is only 6 more weeks until the reunion.
YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Rylan, Gavin
Megan, Bethany, Shai, Kyndal

Countdown...7weeks

The seven...that began it all.

Let's Play Ball, Gavin

Last Saturday was a pretty good day. It was opening day of the Little League Baseball season. Gavin plays on the Rangers.

Gavin as usual played Mr. Cool when they announced his name at the opening ceremony.

He was the pitcher for the opening game.

He even got a hit.

One of the highlights that day was our Little Rangers playing the Rays who were coached by man who played a Texas Ranger on tv.

Prayer Request for Brailie update

From Brooke's facebook today.


Brailie's MRI results were all normal...no sign of stroke, tumor, blood clot or anything that would have caused this. So, the doctors decided that it was Bell's Palsy. She is the youngest anyone has ever heard of getting it even at Children's in Denver and Children's in Florida. They think Brailie got Bell's from either the hand and foot virus (coxsackie) or fever blister virus (herpes simplex). She had a fever blister outbreak all on her lips and in her mouth back in December but nothing since. The doctors said that it is in your system forever after you get it and you can still get an "outbreak" without the blisters. The way Bell's works (from what the docs explained) is that the virus or your antibodies that are busy from fighting the virus attack the facial nerve for some reason and cause the paralysis. Luckily it isn't permanent, usually only lasting less than 6 weeks. They put Brailie on a corticosteroid and an antiviral. They said we should start to see a tiny bit of improvement by Friday night or Saturday morning!

The only problem is that I have to give her the steroid four times a day and the antiviral twice a day. They are pills so I am going to have to try to sneak the crushed pills into her food. So far she has found them in everything I have tried and then refused to eat it. Guess I will just have to get creative! I don't want to have to force anything else down her after the horrible experiences she had having the MRI drugs forced down and then aspirating some of it. We will figure something out!

Brailie is acting ok. The only real trouble she is having is that her left eye only closes about half way when she blinks. The doctors said that she can develop some eye conditions if it isn't lubricated enough. So we have to manually close her eye and tape it shut when she is sleeping if it isn't closed. It is impossible getting eye drops in it so we are getting pretty good at blinking it for her. Other than that, she is doing fine. She is eating, sleeping, and playing like normal. It is just hard to see only half of her face working. Thank you so much for all the calls, emails, and especially the prayers!!! I will keep everyone updated with her progress.

Prayer Request for Brailie

Brooke wrote this note on her facebook page yesterday. Let's be praying for Brailie and her parents. Brailie is EV & Dorothy's great-granddaughter.


For those of you who have asked, here is what happened and all we know for the time being...Sunday around noon, we noticed that Brailie wasn't using both sides of her mouth equally. As the day went along her face continued to get worse. The paralysis moved upward affecting her mouth, cheek, eye, and eyebrow on her left side of her face. She was still acting fine (eating, happy, playing and running around like a normal toddler). Monday morning Brailie woke up in a great mood but the paralysis had continued to get worse. She couldn't blink her eye and her mouth was much worse. I called her doctor right away and we went and saw her that afternoon. The doctor hadn't ever seen what seemed to be Bell's Palsy in an infant as young as Brailie so she sent us to see a pediatric specialist right away. Unfortunately the specialist hadn't seen anyone this young with it either. She said that she was going to call the neuologist at Childrens in Denver and see what he thought and she sent us home.We got a call back from the specialist right away. The neurologist had never seen or even heard of anyone as young as Brailie with Bell's Palsy. He wanted us to run some blood work and have a MRI done asap.So, today we are scheduled to have everything checked at Mercy in Durango. After the MRI we have an appointment with the pediatric specialist to go over all of the results. The scan is scheduled for 2:00 and they told us it will take about 2 hours since they will have to put Brailie to sleep to do it. We will get the results at 5:00 so we should know more tonite by 6:00.

Countdown...8 weeks

8 Pops...........................................................$8.00
8 Snacks.......................................................$6.00
Trips to the little store with your cousins...........PRICELESS

Prayer Request for Randy

Please continue to pray for Randy's comfort and peace.

I have really been bad about updating the blog from Aunt Lisa's emails on Randy. Forgive me.

Prayer Request for Beth 2 Update

Talked to Diane at noon. Beth was coming out of the cath lab. They were able to remove the blood clot and there was no need for a second stint. Praise God! Continue to pray for healing.

Countdown...9 weeks

What could be better than three days at the lake...fishing, swimming, relaxing?
These 9 people can't think of anywhere else they would rather be.

Come join us at the lake.

James, Megan, Rylan, Danny, Chester, EV, Shai, Gavin, Stephen

Prayer Request for Beth 2

Beth is going back into the cath lab today to put a second stint in. The blood clot has dissolved. Continue to pray for her, her doctors, and her girls and Jimmy.