Pecan Grove (www.pecan-grove.net) Pecan Orchard and Senior Residence

Gilbert Reese had to be taken to the hospital because of shortness of breath.  He has a heart valve that is narrowed and causing congestive heart failure.  They were able to reduce the water in his lungs so he felt better.  Today Jeffrey Arnold and his parents Charles and Bethel came from Louisiana to see Gilbert.  Jeffrey is Gilbert’s POA.  A heart catheterization was performed this afternoon and showed that the arteries around the heart are good.  So a heart valve replacement called a TAVR is planned in the next few days.  Here’s a picture of Don Barber visiting Gilbert on Saturday, and then the Arnolds with him this afternoon.

Dad had a pacemaker installed, but was still doing poorly.  We reduced his medications and he improved significantly.  He still has difficulty walking, but is enjoying his riding mower again!  John had surgery on his hand for carpal tunnel, which went well.  He’s recovered feeling in that hand.  Marybelle has a lot of pain in her hip and has started using a walker.

Marcos and Lety had a new baby boy, Johan.  Here they are with daughter Hannah, and then with Lety’s parents.

We had a lot of visitors in April.  Gary and Sharon Nordic were here visiting Ty, Amy and Shanaye.  The Shibis visited with Judy Timmersman.

Cheryl Hutchinson visited her dad, Elton.  Here they are at his favorite eatery, and then she is with her uncle Roger Cleveland.

Don and Lynn Hockaday visited Lois and John.  My sister Ronda and her 2 sons, Brandon and Travis and their 4 kids visited.  Here Ronda is at Overbys with Travis and his daughter Harper.

While Ronda and family were here we had a crawfish and shrimp boil.  5 of the residents enjoyed the wonderful spicy food.  We ate it in the garage to keep the smell out of the house!  My brother, Brent and wife Ann, and Terry and Kim Hoffman were also there.

Trey and Carly Holladay (shown with Lois) were married in Paige Texas Saturday.  Yesterday 11 Holladays came to visit PG.   Last week before the wedding Trey’s grandmother and husband, Phyllis and Wilson Narehood visited.  Here they’re shown with Roger Cleveland.

Alice and I share the same birthday, 28 years apart.  Joyce and Marie visited, shown here with Emma and Rachel.  Sue George and her sister Gail Townsend visited today, shown here with Alice.

Clinton was in good form today.  He remembered Gilbert visiting a few months ago, and even remembered Gilbert’s age.  But it was noon and he thought they were serving breakfast.  The wild flowers came late this year.

Ken

Raymond Reece passed away March 2nd.  He had many visitors in his last few days and was able to recognize and understand them.  Rachel and Emma were with him when he died.  There was a funeral at PG March 10th, which about 175 attended.   More than half were Spanish speaking, so the funeral was in both English and Spanish.  Raymond spent 55 years in the work in Mexico. The pamphlet in the upper right corner of this page gives more details.  Here’s Raymond and the workers that spoke or prayed at the funeral, LeRoy, Loren, Alan and Lyle.

Dad (Jack Newman) has gone down hill recently.  He moved from his house on the farm into the residence in March.  We are in the process of getting his house ready to rent.  If anyone knows someone who might want to live in a house here at PG, please let us know!

There were 3 birthdays in March.  John turned 92, Salena 25, and Lety 30.  Marcos and Lety are expecting a son in April, so Lety won’t be working for a while.  We have hired 2 part-time employees at the residence, Abigail Hoffman (who lives on the farm) and Kashaunna Edwards.

Samuel and Conchita came to Raymond’s funeral.  It was wonderful to see them again.  Deanna Smith (NH) visited Fern.  June and Terry Stafford (LA) visited Gilbert.

Colin and Hannah Ruan and their children came for a visit.  Colin has worked with us in the past.  Melinda Yule and Stacy Seidlitz (LA) came to see Gilbert.  Lori Cortez and Andrea Harris (Round Rock, TX) and their children came to visit and fish.

Jananne, Kent and Sharon Chappell visited from NH.  Gail Townsend (Katy, TX), Kent and Addie Johnson (CO) visited.  Clyde and Murlene Corneille (LA) visited Gilbert and John.

Elton’s daughter Cheryl Hutchinson (WA) is here for a visit.  Ty’s parents, Gary and Sharon Nordic (CO), and daughter Shanaye, are here also for Easter weekend.

Marybelle loves to feed the Hoffman’s animals.  We didn’t have as many wild flowers this year, but there were some.  We had 5 1/2 inches of rain in one day this week causing some minor flooding.  We’ve had three 500 year storms in the last three years!

Ken

February has been a wonderful month!  The workers meeting was held here at special meeting time, making it possible for PG residents that had been in the work to be there.

Lots of pictures were taken that day… here are a few.  You can see the names by clicking on the picture.

Karen Cleveland came up from Columbia for a visit with Elton and Roger.  Her brother David came from PA also.  Here’s Karen with Elton and David, then with her uncle Roger in the nursing home.

Lois Culver arrived to be a resident.  Deborah Wentz came with her and stayed a few days.  Here she’s arriving with Deborah and then with her brother John.  This brings us up to 8 residents.  The residents page in the upper right corner has been updated to combine the current and past residents on 1 page.

Several workers came back after Houston special meeting.  Here are some photos taken then.  Marybelle enjoyed time with her old co-workers.

Other visitors this month included the Schmertmans and Pedigos.  The second picture… the Nelson’s visited the Overbys and Mai Hoa visited the Milles.  In the third picture the Hares visited Fern and Karen.

Raymond Reese has declined significantly.  He was in the hospital twice in February, and is now on hospice.  This morning he was very difficult to understand when he spoke, but his memory was working and he seemed happy and content.  Clinton stays about the same, some days better than others.  Here’s a picture of Karen and Fern first with Raymond and then with Clinton.

We had lots of rain in February.  The beavers have returned, and Dominique has been complaining about something attacking his bird feeders!  That’s a coon climbing the bird feeder pole… small pole, big coon!

Thanks,

Ken

Roger Cleveland was taken to the hospital with pneumonia.  He refused IV and nebulizer treatment, so was returned to the nursing home where they put him on oral antibiotics.  We can’t tell if he’s getting better or worse since then.  When we visit he’s usually asleep and since he’s completely deaf now, it’s hard to visit with him.  But the nurses tell us that he gets up, gets into his wheelchair, and they see him out in the halls sometimes.  So.. it’s hard to know how he is really doing.  Here’s Patty Maki trying to encourage him to take a nebulizer treatment… which he’ll take for less than a minute.  The second picture is of Clinton Goff and Kathy.  Clinton sleeps except for meals, has no idea about the present, but can discuss the past, and has a big appetite!

Teresa Goff fell in the nursing home and broke her hip.  She had surgery, and seems to be recovering.  She claims that she can walk when they give her PT… we haven’t seen that yet.  Raymod Reece seems happy in the nursing home.  We had thought we would try to move him from this VA nursing facility to the same one in Conroe where Roger and Teresa are, but he seems settled, and has quite a few visitors, so maybe it’s better to leave him there (an hour away from PG).  He only walks during PT, but makes it clear he doesn’t really expect to be able to walk again on his own.  Here’s a picture of him with Kathy, Alice, Jack and John.  The second picture is of a new employee at PG, Penny, with Salena.

Roger and Marian Fryer are staying near here for about a month, trying to escape the Wisconson winter.  Marian is a niece of Alice.  Their son Vance came from California for a visit.  The first picture is of Vance, Marian and Roger.  The second is of Virginia and Tom Bradshaw from Alberta, who came to visit their fellow Canadian, Fern.  Tom’s relatives met the gospel in Ontario at the same time as Fern’s mother.

Other visitors include Kory, Teresa, Ryan and Lily Overby,  Wray Paul and Sue Sluder (to be married in January), and Britt and Eva Booth.

The Spunagle / Willhoite clan from Redbud Canyon came through on their yearly vacation.  They loaded Marybelle on the Redbud bus for a photo.  Marybelle came from Redbud to PG one year ago.  Kathy’s sister Pat Johnson visited from Iowa, shown here with our workers, Emma and Rachel.

Dawn Overby’s brother Kelly and family visited.  The first picture shows Dawn and Wayne Overby, Jodi and Cory Kelley and daughter Payton, Kelly and Marlene Olson with Alice.  The second is 3 of Ty and Amy Nordic’s kids who are here for the holidays, Slade, Shanaye and Stetson.  The third is Magaret and Gerry Gunderson with Elton and Fern.

We’ve already had a cold winter… compared to our normal.  It snowed!  Unusual for here.  Unfortunately the stump of our eagle is rotten… not sure how long we can save it.

It’s supposed to get down to 16 F tomorrow (New Years)!  When we moved to Texas in 1985 there were bumper stickers that said, “Drive a gas guzzler, freeze a yankee!”  We moved here from Massachusetts! 🙂

Y’all keep warm!

Ken