Dear
Friends and Family: December
2011
Happiest
of Holidays! We wish you many
blessings during the coming year!
We are so grateful for the love and support of our community both here
in Boise and around the world. We
love hearing from you and enjoy all the visits you have bestowed upon us. Keep them coming!
PEGGY
PREVAILING BRAVELY!
Peggy
courageously continues her health
journey with a year of more cerebral hemorrhages and hematomins this
year. In July, she spent an
intense seven days at the NIH for
the Undiagnosed Disease Program in
July. While seeing many
amazing doctors, as of yet there have been no insights. This fall offered another very
difficult set of challenges and we feared Peg might descend into another coma,
but she has now turned the corner towards better health. Our good friend Connie Bates spent a
week with Peggy in March, another this summer at NIH and three weeks in Boise
this fall, which was an unbelievable help to us. Given that the NIH, Mayo, and many other experts have
no idea how to proceed in her case, we have decided to focus on other therapies
from Eastern medicine, which seem more beneficial. Peg continued to do
her art and glasswork hosting
her second art show this past October at the Elks Rehab Hospital in Boise, to
great acclaim. (You can see her artwork at: http://www.annecirillophotography.com/Art)
and she is working on an online website in which to sell her glass but will
take any orders! She is also
making numerous videos as the “front
person” for a national initiative to promote electronic medical files – see HER BLOG
for her story in video and words with more upcoming videos. Legal battles with Blue Cross continue
and are starting to get some media attention. Peggy is so grateful for all of your prayers, kindnesses and
good thoughts.
JAZZY THRIVING
IN THE STUDIO AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS!
Jasmine
finished her freshman year at Western
Washington University this past spring, and celebrated with five weeks and
an intensive art course that took her all around Italy (Florence, San Gimingano, Venice, etc.). Following this was a twenty-day trip
down the Grand Canyon with dad and
our friends, the Foster-Sears and Greenburgs. This fall, she is continuing her studies as an art major and
is hugely enjoying her work as a Resident
Assistant in a supposedly substance free dorm! She continues to love school, reading, the outdoors, and her
artwork in different media.
FIONA
GRADUATING AND COMPOSING AND PERFORMING!
Fiona is graduating this December from the
University of Redlands with a degree in religious studies. She is currently
finishing up her honors thesis.
Fiona continues to write music
(check out her CD at CD Baby or Itunes under Fiona Luray; her website with
music videos at www.fionaluray.com ), and to perform widely. She was accepted at three music
festivals this summer and had a great time performing. Fiona has led quite a lot of outdoor
trips over the past year in her position as an Outdoor Education leader. She plans to continue her music and to
pursue further studies in sustainable living and agriculture as these are her
life’s passions.
JEFF WORKING,
WRITING, PLAYING (BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER)!
Jeff
continues to enjoy his work at Boise State University directing the Boise State
Writing Project. Though the
National Writing Project has been defunded by the federal government, Jeff’s
site continues to thrive and this past year they delivered over 30,000 contact
hours to over 1,000 teachers. Jeff
published a new book with Teachers
College Press entitled Teaching Literacy
for Love and Wisdom. It’s a book of philosophy - a new move for him. The first highlight of his year was his
Nordic ski season – his best ever – culminating in a bronze medal finish in his age division at the US National Masters Championships in the skate marathon. He also finished 18th in the
marathon at the World Masters Championships. (He is willing to tell you more
about these races – just ask!) The
second highlight was his kayak trip with Jazzy and friends down the Grand Canyon – filled with hikes and
spectacular, adrenaline inducing whitewater. The lowlight was the discovery of a bone lesion in his
left femur – requiring a major microfracture
surgery this October and intense rehab. We won’t know if the surgery was successful until a follow
up FMRI is done in January.
BLESSINGS!! With everything we have experienced these
last few years, we continue to be mindful and very grateful for the wonderful
friends so fully present in our lives. While this newsletter is filled with our “doings”, it is really our
“being” that we concentrate on.
That said, we are so thankful all for your many kindnesses, prayers, and
good wishes.
HERE IS
WISHING ALL THE BEST AND THE HAPPIEST AND HOLIEST OF HOLIDAY SEASONS TO YOU
ALL!!!
