College Football

One thing that made Christmas decorating yesterday a little more fun was watching college football with Cameron and Doug while we were doing it.  Rivalry weekend has always been one of our favorite times and yesterday's games were really exciting.  We watched Michigan shock Ohio State with an upset, followed by a disappointing quadruple overtime win by Alabama over Auburn.  Cameron then kept us up- to-date on the score of the Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State game.  It was also a close one with OK St. holding on to win in the end.  Those along with a close Florida vs. Florida State game made for an exciting day of football.  The only game that wasn't fun to watch was the IU vs. Purdue game.  The Hoosiers looked terrible once again and were completely blown off the field.  For the first time in years, we really didn't care that much about the Old Oaken Bucket game.  All of the other ones made up for it.  Cameron said it was his favorite day of college football all year.  We were glad to hear that as Doug and I both thoroughly enjoyed watching it with him.

Christmas Decorating

Yesterday, Doug pulled all of the Christmas out of the storage room.  When I first saw the eleven tubs, the entire set of North Pole Villages, the three boxes of light up Christmas animals and the Christmas tree, I almost cried.  I love our Christmas decorations and traditions, but the reality definitely became apparent to me this year that we have too much.  Doug was already on that page, but now that we have talked more of moving and downsizing, we have to start the process now.

I felt a lot better about the Christmas after today.  Doug was able to hang up all of the outside decorations, put up the Christmas tree, fix the non-working strings of lights and set out the North Pole Village by this afternoon.  With all that he got done, I was able to focus on the tubs and decorate the tree.  Once I finished going through all of the ornaments and unpacking everything in the tubs, Meg was able to look through it all and decide what she wanted to take to Bloomington with her.  She ended up with two tubs to add to her collection. Next, I FaceTimed Brett so that he could also look through all that I was ready to part with this Christmas.  He ended up with a tub full as well.  

Cal left for Chicago at noon today.   He let me know before he headed out that he really didn't need any Christmas decorations.  I wasn't too shocked by that.  The last person to go through the "goodbye" pile was Cameron.  I wasn't sure how much he would want to keep as he usually holds on to more than the other three.  I was actually surprised by how much he parted with this time.  Meg and Brett were both relieved, however, that he said he wanted to keep the "Saxophone Playing Santa."  We had had it for years and they didn't want to insist that I keep it, but were glad that he did.  Doug did not share their sentiment, but overall was thrilled to find out that in the end we had downsized at least five tubs of Christmas decorations.  I was happy about that and was also pleased that I found the missing piece to Grandma Guard's vintage toy stove top.  I had lost it several years ago and found it tonight in the bottom of the last Christmas tub that I cleaned out.  Overall, it was a great day.  We got a lot accomplished, decorated the house, downsized quite a bit and even had some decorations for Grandma Jane to use at the cemetery.  

Grandma Jane's Birthday & Black Friday

Since we were all together yesterday for Thanksgiving we celebrated Grandma Jane's birthday before she left for home.  Brett, Cam and Meg had all picked out some fun gifts for her including earrings, a sweater and big box of Russell Stover's.  Cal decided that he would wait until her actual birthday to shower her with gifts.  It also gave him a chance to eat lunch with her as well.  Whether it was today or yesterday, I was just very happy that all of the Heinisch children were able to spend time with her to celebrate.  I was also glad that I found this picture of her recently.  It was a great one to post in honor of her day.

Nick, Meg and Cameron left for Fort Wayne this morning to participate in Black Friday shopping.  It was definitely a little more low key this year as most stores remained closed on Thursday and didn't open until this morning.  That worked out perfectly for our shoppers as they had some Christmas gifts to buy.  They also found some good discounts on clothing for themselves.  They stopped at Portillo's again for lunch.  Meg said it was extremely crowded, so they decided to wear masks while they waited thirty minutes to order.  They were home by 3 p.m.  Meg and Nick left shortly afterward for Goshen.  Cameron stayed home a little longer, but by 5:30 was out the door for Goshen as well.  He, Sam, Jordan and Richard hung out at Klopfenstein's for the evening with Cameron ending up spending the night there.

Cal hung out with us last night.  He had really been wanting to watch the 1980's version of The Thing.  The original had been mentioned several times in the movie Halloween and it was remade by the Halloween director in 1982.  I hadn't seen it in years and Doug, Cameron, Cal and I all really enjoyed it.  It was a lot like the movie Alien, only set in Antarctica.  Tonight Cal decided to see a movie in the theater instead.  He and HM went to a late afternoon viewing of The Gucci Murder.  He really liked it.  

With Brett back in Bloomington and the rest of the Heinisch family busy, Doug and I had a quiet evening at home.  We spent it making Chex Mix, playing Ticket to Ride and working on the Neuschwanstein Castle puzzle.  It was nice to spend time with Doug as it had been a very busy week both at home and at his work.  Meg and Nick made it home tonight in time to watch The Fox & The Hound with us.  Although the movie was really sad, it was a nice way to end our evening.  

Happy Thanksgiving

 It was a wonderful Thanksgiving day for all of us.  Last year we had a small group for dinner due to the pandemic, but this November not only were the six of us here, but Nick, Grandma and Grandpa, and Paula and Gabrielle were able to join us as well.  It was so much fun.  We started the meal with Paula's new brie and cranberry appetizer, then enjoyed Doug's traditional dishes as well as Grandma's desserts.  There was plenty for everyone and the guys were able to watch the Lions vs. Bears game while we were eating.

After lunch, we split up for games with some of us playing pool, others Euchre and a group with Apples to Apples.  I joined the last table and was glad that I did.  I hadn't played Apples to Apples in a long time and forgot how much fun it was.  Nick was the only one who left early as he needed to join his family's Thanksgiving as well.  He made it back before everyone else left.  After a quiet Thanksgiving last year, I was incredibly thankful for all of the activity today.  It also gave us a chance to get a much needed family photo, one that we hadn't taken since Christmas of 2020.  Paula did a great job with the pictures and we even got one with Grandma and Grandpa in it as well.  What a wonderful way to commemorate the day.

Family, Fun and Games

It was a fun day for everyone here in the Heinisch home.  Brett had lunch with a friend of his from the Kosciusko County Political Party and then had dinner with a friend from high school.  Cal spent the evening with his friends as well.  First, they all hung out here for awhile and then they headed to the Frog for the rest of the night.  Doug and I were glad that we also got to see Jayce and Kyle for a little while before they left.  The guys had been hoping to play basketball with the teachers while they were home, but unfortunately that was cancelled due to virtual learning.  Meg had been catching up with her friends this week as well meeting Rachael, Sarah and Gabrielle all at various times.  Therefore, she decided to spend a good portion of today with Nick either in Goshen or at our home.  Cameron had a full evening yesterday as he had three basketball games at Bethany and dinner at Culver's afterward.  He most looked forward to catching up on his sleep today.  He did make it up in time for Doug's homemade lasagna.  

Even with everyone coming and going today, we did find time to play games as well.  Racko, Disney Geek Out, Sorry Revenge, endless games of pool and even an after midnight round of Swap Meet were all a lot of fun.  Grandma and Grandpa joined us for part of the evening.  I was definitely exhausted by the time we headed to bed, but I didn't mind.  I had thoroughly enjoyed the day with the Heinisch family and appreciated that everyone still made time for us even with their busy schedules.

  

They're All Home

 Brett arrived this afternoon, and for the first time since last Christmas all four of the Heinisch children were home at the same time.  Doug and I were happy to have him here, and Meg and Cal both had a chance to see Brett before they left for the night.  Since Cameron was at the Bethany basketball games, it was only Doug, Brett and I for dinner.  We enjoyed catching up with Brett, hearing about his week at work, his friends and his thoughts on Christian Mingle.  Brett appreciated the conversation and Doug's fried potatoes.  He hadn't had them before tonight.

Once Grandpa got home from his rescheduled town council meeting he and Grandma came up for an evening of Oh Hell.  We were excited to see that Grandma was able to fix the Sorry Revenge game.  Meg really wanted to play it over break and we thought it was dead for good.  We spent the rest of the evening playing cards.  It also gave me a chance to catch up on Brett's laundry as well.  Everyone else was home by 11 p.m.  It was wonderful to have all six of us under the same roof tonight before we headed to bed.  

Oncology Appointment

When Jeanette was first diagnosed with peritoneal cancer in 2011 she underwent a lot of testing.  One of the biggest issues to solve was the origination of the cancer.  We quickly learned that it was ovarian cancer that had attached itself to the lining of her stomach.  As Jeanette had already successfully fought metastatic breast cancer years earlier, her oncologist decided to also do genetic testing.  It was at that time that she let the family know that she was a carrier of the BRCA 1 gene which had increased her risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.  Because she was a carrier, Phil, Dan and Doug all had a 50% chance of being one as well.  At the time her doctor offered genetic testing for the boys, but only Phil was interested.  His bloodwork returned positive for the cancer gene as well.  We were a little surprised by that as we always thought that he looked the most like the Heinisch side of the family and the least like Jeanette's.  The other piece of advice that we received from all of the testing was for Meg to start having mammograms at the age of 19 because of the Brucker family history of cancer.

None of us had really done much with the information that we received a decade ago relating to Jeanette's BRCA 1 diagnosis until this past summer.  Doug had a colonoscopy and Meg and I met with Dr. Freeze to discuss setting up a mammogram for Meg.  Dr. Freeze had a different suggestion then we had previously heard.  She wanted Meg to meet with a breast oncologist from Goshen and discuss genetic testing.  At first Meg and I were reluctant as she really didn't want to know if she had the BRCA 1 gene.  She didn't want a mammogram either, but at least that sounded better to her than finding out that she was at high risk of ovarian and breast cancer.  In the end we went with the oncologist idea, however, and set up an appointment for Thanksgiving break.

This morning Meg and I headed to the Goshen's Women's Retreat Center to meet Dr. Fiona Denham.  We were extremely impressed with her.  She was even younger than Dr. Freeze and was extremely informative.  She thoroughly explored Meg's family history of cancer, giving her thoughts on genetic vs. environmental risks.  Due to Jeanette's diagnosis, Dr. Denham highly recommended genetic testing, but respected that Meg wasn't ready for that.  She was prepared for that answer and gave Meg screening choices instead, most of which would start at age 25.  It was a lot of information for Meg and I to absorb, but she and I felt really good about the appointment when we walked out an hour and a half later.  I also appreciate that I had quite a bit of information to pass on to Doug as well.