I'm back!! I bet you all thought I had faded into that great big Internet in the sky. :-} Not so! I just read the last blog I sent and realized I really needed to get back to everyone. Well here goes. I am doing well. Just recently returned from a wonderful family reunion in Calif. All of my children and their sweethearts were there and all of my grand children. Except for John and Kristi and there two girls. OPPD wouldn't let John have time off. They were sorely missed. We all had such a wonderful time. Mom and my Brother Richard had been working so hard getting things set up for us. Richard converted his outside tent (bigger than a garage) into a dorm for the kids complete with fridge, tv, couch and recliner. He also made bunk beds for the boys. He was and is so appreciated for all he did. Mom almost made over the whole house. New hid-a-bed and all. Michelle my niece (Richards daughter) completely cleaned and fixed up the old house (the one I grew up in, down the street). Her boyfriend helped her with the carpet cleaning. No easy job considering there was a large motor oil stain in the living room. Don't ask why:-) Stacey and her children drove with me, and David flew down later. The kids were in awh of the mountains and canyon lands. While there My sweet sister Kay took them all to San Francisco. Michelle helped and her group went to China Town and the Wharf and Kay's group went to see the Ocean and the Beach. Some of my grand babies had never seen the ocean before. Paul, Kristin and my 3, four legged grand babies drove up from Monterrey. Joe and Jen were visiting them, on their way from Disneyland. James and Gabby flew in and Sarah, Dave and their family drove in after visiting Yosemite and BYU Idaho. (My oldest grand-daughter Sasha will be attending there ) So 5 of the 6 kids and their sweethearts,(10) and 14 of my grandchildren, (24 of us pulse me..25) stayed with Mom and Michelle. I can not tell you how wonderful it was. Then on the 4th of July we were joined by the rest of the family. Kay and her sweetheart and her 2 children and their sweethearts, and their 4 children. (11) My Aunt and Uncle, Fern and Toby and their 2 children and families. (12) Then of course Michelle, Richard and Mom for a grand total 51 attending. It as I said before was wonderful!!!! If I sound like a proud mom it is because I am. We are so Blessed as a family. We hope to meet again next year (all together) here in Nebraska at Mahoney State Park! Well, I must go now. I will try to do better at keeping you all updated. Oh by the way, after I was so sick I lost 20lbs. and it hasn't found me yet. So I am down 20lbs. Take care, love to you all. Debbie

The Surgery That Didn't Happen,

Hi from very cold (-7 deg.) Nebraska. Well some of you already know the story, on Jan.28th, the day before I was to start the prep for my Bariatric surgery; I came down with a 24 hr. bug. The next day I called my Dr. and he said to proceed with the prep. The prep consisted drinking a gal. of "cleansing liquid" and 18 huge antibiotic tablets over a 7hr period. I was only able to get part way through the prep before I became violently ill. My Dr. said stop, I won't go into the details, but I ended up in the ER. That was 3 1/2 weeks ago and I am still not well. It appears I am highly sensitive to one of the antibiotics given to me. All of this has led me to think that maybe I shouldn't have the surgery. And to be honest with you I am now afraid to. I just want to start feeling better, which is why I decided to have the procedure in the first place. I had my family very worried there for awhile. I can't say why some things happen in our lives like they do. I only know there is a reason for every thing that does happen. I hope to have a surprise on the site soon. At least it is a surprise to me. Hope you will check back monthly, until then you are in my prayers............Love, Debbie

Why I call my blog "Currant Bush News"

The other day I was talking to my Mom and she asked "why do you call it Currant Bush news, is it about the President"? I smiled and told her I never really thought about that and then went on to explain why I chose this title, So now I will share that with you too. Awhile back I read the book, "Rejoice!" by Ardeth Greene Kapp. In her book she shares a story from President Hugh B. Brown. President Brown told of having purchased a farm in Canada. One morning he saw a currant bush on his farm that had grown to be about 6 feet high and needed pruning. so he cut it back to "nothing but a little clump of stumps." Then he said; "I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps, a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying. I looked at it and smiled and said, "What are you Crying about?" You know I thought I heard that currant bush talk, it said, "how could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth... I thought you were the gardener here," I said " look little currant bush, I am the Gardener here and I know what I want you to be. I didn't intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day , little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit , you are going to say, "Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring enough about me to hurt me. Thank you Mr. Gardener." Sometimes I feel like that little Currant bush then I remember, "God is the gardener here, He knows what he wants me to be." I know that all things that happen, happen for a reason, and I trust in that.

Introduction to My BLOG

Hi Everyone,

Well I have been on a Journey for a while now and thought it would be a good idea to BLOG all that is going on in the life of Debra Nightengale (Debbie).

I am living in a nice 2 bedroom duplex on what use to be Base Housing for Offutt AFB. I feel very safe and at home here. I have had a few challenges, but with Heavenly Fathers help I have come through it still smiling.

I have missed my Friends and Family in Wisconsin, not to mention the beautiful place I called home. I think and dream of Wisconsin often. I look forward to the opportunity to visit and take a vacation at one of the lakes there.

I am currently working in the Pediatric clinic at

Offutt AFB.

I was working 5 days and week, it was just too much for me. So now

I work 4 days a week. I am still working 38 to 40 hrs. but for some reason it is a lot

easier for me to do. I guess I really need that break in the middle of the week.

One of the reasons I have decided to start a blog was to keep everyone updated

on my Bariactric Surgery. I had my pre-op today, and will be having

the surgery on the 30th of Jan. 1 week from today.

I have decided to do this due to the medical conditions I suffer from which limits my mobility and quality of life. This will allow me to have less pain and thus be

able to become more mobile. Hopefully this time next year I will be ready to start

cross country skiing. I have always wanted to.

I will be keeping Family and Friends up to date on my progress, maybe even with

photos. By the way, I asked if I could have a video tape of the procedure. They

said yes. I am looking forward to viewing it.

It is nice to be here with the majority of my Grandchildren around. Jared, Joshua, and their baby brother to be are in AZ. I just don't have enough grandsons

so I need to make sure I count them. They are my Grand babies too.

My Dog Jenni is well, getting grayer every day but still young at heart. I also now have a cat, her name is Abagail Nightengale. She is a well behaved cat and sweet too.

Well I hope you will come back soon, I will try to post at the very least once a month, hopefully more often.

Take care and love to all, You are all in my prayers.

BIG HUGS, DEBBIE