Gallbladders & the Gift of My Girls

Having a 23 year old daughter living in the same town with a great job- this one at Greenbaums Quilted Forest (the coolest quilt/fabric shop EVER)- is such a blessing to me. We usually get to see her at least once a week when we celebrate Sunday Mass together then hang out for family dinner and facetime with brother Josh in college. Sometimes, however, those young adult children need a little bit of "momming" (even in this case with that being done by sister & grammie as well). this all had to do with Cari's surgery to remove her gallbladder last Friday. As David and I were needing to be in Bellvue, WA for a fencing tournament, youngest daughter Mary~ who now has her own blog at under the apple tree~ was happy, or at least okay with, being Cari's "momming" helper at the hospital  and at my parents house where my mom- Grammie to the girls- helped take on the "momming" too. Both my mom and Mary were such gifts to me as they did a bang-up job of taking care of Cari, who had a bit more complicated surgery than expected as the doctor had to go in to do some stuff that was originally supposed to be laparoscopic.

Lentil soup

Gluten Free Crackers

Cari and Mary then came to our house on Monday via the Grammie van as our suburban was too high for Cari to climb into easily. It's been such a gift for me to be able to take care of her this week. When  I've had to go to work, Mary's been here to do the "momming" for me with much tenderness as a future nurse will need. David, of course, has been here for mostly comic relief although we've been trying hard to to keep Cari from laughing as it hurts her stitches area. Brian's been glad to do bits of running around picking up necessities. It's been fun to make gluten free/low fat recipes for Cari to try too. Mary made some oven fries to go with leftover chicken. I did a garlicky lentil soup for dinner last night from the fisheaters blog along with some homemade rice crackers. I also made her gluten free waffles and breakfast quinoa. Tonight is roasted chicken and rice with veggies.

Two chickens ready to be roasted!

It's been anything but boring at our house this week, that's for sure! Having Cari here along with Mary being so great at helping to "mom" her has shown me what a gift I have I these girls and that  gallbladder surgery isn't always as bad as it seems!