Finally .... Pictures!!!

Here I am --- the evening before my surgery! Looking back I really didn't think I was that heavy. Boy was I wearing Rose colored glasses!

Have I ever worn a belt in my entire life? NO! I had no waist and had NO problem holding up my pants! But now ... I can wear blouses tucked in and cute belts. Oh so fun!

Got to admit ... Ross is my best friend. It's a discounted clothing store and I LOVE it. Especially the prices. While losing weight so fast you don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes that you will only be wearing for a few weeks.

As promised ... and finally .... pictures of Stampin' Palooza in Toronto, Canada with Caroline LeBel. This was another one of her fabulous events. Oh so fun!

Some of the gang. And take a look at those cute Olympic mittens. Talk about team spirit!

Check out the name badges. Contest for the best ones and a darling parade to boot!


My good friend Donna Henley and my new friend ... oops forgot your name ... but you are an awesome graphic designer and stamper and you speak French! See ... my memory isn't shot yet.

Carolin LeBel --- the fantastic party planner!

Dina Anker --- my tour guide, friend, buddy, awesome stamper, and great Canadian nails.

Blair Moc showing us how to make darling Easter baskets.
Lesley Poper -- showed us the most amazing cloth projects using the Big Shot!
Chanda McLean taught us how to make paper flowers ... all kinds!

Of course there's Big Shot Brent. He showed us how to cut vinyl and apply it to an umbrella to give it that customized look!

Christyne Richardson taught us how to do the Herringbone Technique.

Michelle, me, and Dina. Michelle was my darling tour guide 4 months ago! Love Yah!!!

Michelle Sturgeon showed us creative ways of using all of those scraps of left-over paper. She's amazing!
Me and some of the gang!

Well ... life IS amazing. There's never a dull moment. I'm busily getting ready for my wedding of my youngest son, Reese. We were licking, stuffing, addressing, and labeling wedding invites last night until 12:30 a.m. But it was kinda, sorta fun, especially watching the big daddy stuffing the invites and the mama telling him to not put the invitation in the envelope upside down. And his rebuttal was, of course, "Who cares?" Well, I care and I know the bride cares and he had to be told to put the labels on straight too. They couldn't be crooked!

Say ... I have a couple of demo friends who are thinking about having a big 'To Do' on the free night at Convention in July. I'm thinking about hosting a dinner, shoe box swap and some fun things to do. If you're interested and would like to attend, please comment and say, "Count me in!" Spread the word and post this on your blogs, website and 'what not' so I know what sort of venue to secure for our event.

On a sad note. I just received word that my nephew's house burned down. He lives in Silverton, Oregon and they were able to get out, but two of their cats died. There's 7 of them in their family and they have no place to live right now and only have the clothing on their backs. Thanks to family members they are getting by. Just remember them in your prayers, please.

I'll post my speaking schedule on the sidebar of my blog, if I can figure out how to do it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love and Kisses! -- Lou

They Don't Get Any Prettier Than This!

See ... I told you my grand babies are gorgeous! This is Mia Lynn Hansen, my youngest grand baby.

For some strange reason I've had a terrible time trying to download pictures to my blogger. Taking way too long so I thought I'd post some text and then try downloading pictures at another time.

Lots of great things have happened these past two weeks. As you all know I had an incredible trip to Toronto where I met with Caroline LeBel's gals. She hosted a fabulous event and I took tons of pictures of my great Canadian friends and their beautiful stamped projects. I'll post them as soon as I'm able.

We had a another grand baby born shortly after I arrived home from Toronto. It was perfect timing. Baby Mia Lynn Hansen was born shortly after 4:00 in the morning weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounches, 21 inches long. Lots of dark hair and a perfectly beautiful baby! Shortly after she was born we found that she was born with a VSD. It's some medical term for a hole in her heart. It's mild however there's a good chance that she will have to have heart surgery in a while. She's doing well at home and seems to be a good baby.

We've been busy with all of the to do's with our youngest son's upcoming wedding. My daughter-in-law picked out a beautiful purple suit for me to wear and she purchased a size 10 and guess what? It fit!!! I even went to the store over the weekend and purchased 4 new pair of pants, all in a size 10, and they fit perfect. I haven't been a size 10 since I was a fetus!

Went to the surgeon last week for a follow-up visit. It's been 8 months since my surgery and I've lost a total of 109 pounds. I weigh 148 pounds. I feel like I'm at my goal but he said that my body will probably still lose more weight. Possibly another 10-20 pounds. The body is used to certain set points that it will automatically try to reach. And then possibly I will re-gain 10 pounds or so in the next three years. He said that some surgeons will never let their gastric by-pass patients eat carbs again, but he feels that I can start to introduce some of them back into my diet in a moderate fashion. So .... I ate my first piece of bread in 8 months at my daughter Lindsey's home. She'd baked fresh bread and it was hot, right out of the oven, with butter. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! I even ate a portion of a whole wheat sandwich the other day and it was to die for. I love, love, love bread and it's been very difficult not having it these last 8 months. I can live without the sweets but I love bread .... especially sandwiches!

I met a darling gal in Mesa last year at Diana Gibb's event. She mentioned that her hubby and her were having the surgery any day now. So to you... I'm thinking about you and your hubby and wish you all the best. Please keep me posted and send pics of your weight loss success. There's several of you out there who have mentioned you have had the surgery or are thinking about it. Please keep me posted as well. I love hearing from you!

More later with pictures! I'm freezing and it's time to go to bed to get warm.

Loves and Hugs!