Thinking of the Erenbergs

Can I make a nomination for mother of the year? My friend, Eileen is amazing. She is a concerned neighbor and kind friend. She has an impressive career, is actively involved in her church, her children's school and is a loving wife and mother.

Her husband, Mike is an incredible father. He loves his kids and is a kind, patient, committed dad. Mike is a talented carpenter. You should see the playstructure he built for his children (and half the neighborhood) to use. It takes up their entire back yard and is complete with garage roof-top balconies and walkways, a slide you can take a sled down, a rope swing, a pool, etc. Recently, he decided to leave his union job to be an independent contractor so he would have more control over his schedule, allowing more time for his family.

Mike & Eileen's two oldest children, Luke and Kellie, both have Cystic Fibrosis.




I don't understand it completely but know it causes mucus to build-up in their lungs. On top of school and church, in-between baseball games or Irish dancing lessons, they must fit half-hour breathing treatments into their schedule every morning and night. CF also doesn't let their bodies absorb nutrients as they should. They must take enzymes every time they eat.

Recently, Eileen told me that Luke & Kellie were going into the hospital for a couple of day. Each of them was going to have a Gastrostomy tube placed into their stomach. The Gtubes will allow their parents to give them extra food during the night. Eileen said they need to be stronger to stay healthy.

When we lived next to them in Chicago, we spent many enjoyable hours playing with Luke and Kellie and hope their surgeries went smoothly today.

Just once a year, their family participates in the CF Great Strides walk for a cure. Last year, we walked with team Luke's Skywalkers. The next Chicago walk is planned for May 20, 2007. Around that time, I will give you an update on how things are going for them and ask you to consider making a donation to help. In the meantime, please join me in wishing them a quick and speedy recovery and continued health and happiness.

Cocoa Stand - Welcome Declan

Today is the first day of rain Cam, Sam and I have experienced in Northern California. We did have a misty day one day and rain one night after dark. But today, we woke up to the sound of it; got wet walking in it and it is still coming down.

It is a nice, steady rain. There is nearly no wind so you can see it coming down gently. It reminds me of snow. And if it were below freezing, we'd have lots.

Some other day, I'll share sledding pictures with you but today, I wanted to talk about the day we had a cocoa stand. Our friend, Eileen had met us at Chipotle. We were going to go sledding after lunch but the people we were planning to meet went at a different time and it was so cold we decided to skip it.

Sam had the idea of having a cocoa stand. Eileen and I embraced it. Most people walked past us without making eye contact. But some people were really nice. I love this picture of Sam with Eileen.

Eileen worked with Cam and me. She and her husband, Matt are so thoughtful and fun. One time, on my birthday, after bringing the perfect present (a cherry picker) and celebrating with us during dinner, they insisted on staying with Sam so Cam & I could go out with the rest of the group to one of Melissa's shows.

While they kept him, they decided to speak in French accents just for fun. Sam was right there with them. They also had races up and down the hall and taught him a new card game. Another time, they invited us to a Scary Movie party at their place. They made sure the first movie was Sam-friendly so he could come. He was the only kid there but everyone went out of there way to include him in the fun. We all had a ball. They also joined us in surprising Cam with a small party on his 30th birthday. Even though we didn't see them often, they are dear to us.

Recently, we received word that their first child, Declan James Tibble was born. I wanted to congratulate them, share some memories and express how much they mean to us.

Welcome, Declan. You are a lucky boy to have been born to such wonderful people. I'm sure they will be amazing parents.

Halloween on Waveland Avenue - 2004 & 2005

I have trouble getting photos I've uploaded to Yahoo Photos to come out a normal size when I want to use them again. I hope these photos look ok when they are posted. One of our computers is on the fritz and I can't access the original files of these photos. I'm glad we archived them at least.

Cam likes Flicker better than Yahoo Photos. Last year, I uploaded almost all of our photos to Yahoo Photos and was reluctant to switch to Flicker. Plue, the number of photos you can put on Yahoo Photos for free is unlimited. There is a limit on Flicker. I did decide to uploaded some photos there too. Feel free to check out my Flicker account. Cam's is more complete. He is listed as my only contact. Do you have a Flicker account? You can create one for free. If you do, let me know.

Anyway, back to the near present. After being in a relationship together for almost a year, Cam, Sam and I moved into our first place together on Waveland Avenue in Chicago on Halloween weekend of 2004.

Before we had even finished unpacking, we met the Erenberg's. Eileen (here with Nikki and Kellie) and her son, Luke noticed Sam and were excited at the possibility of a new boy moving in across the street. They introduced themselves right away and invited us to come trick-or-treating with them that weekend. Talk about welcoming. We were so blessed to have them as neighbors.
Here's Luke, he was a ninja that year.

Jack (the red ninja) lives next door to Luke. It was fun for Sam to have two ninjas living so close by.

Sam was no ordinary ninja. He was a space ninja. Everyone loved the "night vision goggles" he'd decided to wear with his costume. While I went around with Eileen and the kids, Cameron stayed behind to give out candy. You can sort of see him in the background.

The battle was on. No one can beat Space Ninja.

Kellie waited patiently for us to move on down the road.

Cam got creative and joined the fun with his costume. He was creepy in this face paint. Now who looks like a zombie?

We trick-or-treated with the same group the following year but when it was time to head out, I realized the batteries in our camera were dead. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of trick-or-treating in 2005. I did take some with Eileen's camera. If she sends them to me, I will put them up.

I remember Eric and Sarah came by and sat out on the porch with us watching the Trick-or-Treaters. They stayed at the house for a bit so Cam and I could take Sam out together. Then, when we came back, we encouraged Eric and Sarah to take Sam around. We thought we'd explained to them what part of the neighborhood we'd already hit and what was still open but Sam led them right back along the houses where he'd already trick-or-treeted. Eric and Sarah were laughing about how people said, "Hello again" to Sam. Oh well. Luckily, our neighbors were nice.

Happy Halloween, Chicago. We love and miss you.