Greetings from the Northwest

We are completing our stay in Seattle and will be returning to  Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon.  Sharon has been here with Nate and Sam since last Thursday and I flew up on Tuesday and have been working in the area during the days and spending time with the fam in the evenings. 

Our 10th grandchild and 8th boy was born last Friday.  His name is Drake Randall Packer and he weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz.He is such a CUTIE and has a cute big brother!  Sam is feeling stronger each day and she and Nate are able to handle things by themselves at night with grandma helping out during the day while Nate is at work.

It's been a really good thing for Sharon to be here to help them out.  It would have been hard for them with a newborn and a one-year old after a C-section.  It's been fun to be here with them and share the first few days of Drake's life.  We wish that they lived closer to us so we could see them more often.  I get to see them on occasion because I work up here on a fairly regular basis, but it's hard when they live so far away.

       

Today I drove to Winthrop, WA, about 235 miles from Seattle to see a customer.  It was a beautiful drive through the apple orchard country of Wenatchee and the Columbia River in north central Washington.  I am really fortunate to be able to work in Washington, Oregon, Colorado and British Columbia.  There is never a lack of beautiful stuff to see.

Today I saw some interesting stuff on the drive back to Seattle. 

        

 

The eagle was sitting in a tree about 20 feet off the highway right above the Methow river.  I tried to get closer for a better picture, but he saw me coming and flew off across the river to a tree on the other side.  When I stopped for gas, this Chevy truck was parked by the station with this German Shepherd sitting up on top of the cab.  There is another yellow dog in the back of the truck who was up on top at one time while I was getting gas, but he jumped down before I could get my camera.  I think that their master was down at the river fishing and they were just hangin' out for the afternoon.

We're looking forward to being home and getting ready for the holidays.  I start my next series of chemotherapy on Monday.  This time it will be every day for five days, once a month.  Boy, am I excited.  We are hoping that this series does the trick so I can avoid the need for a bone marrow transplant.

Till next time.........