Some good test results and pictures from my mom's birthday party

I just got a call from my oncologist's office and learned that my a1c is 6.0. Considering my new attitude about eating "all things in moderation", I'm quite happy with that result. And my CA27.29 (tumor markers test) came back at 89, which is two points lower than it was in July. More importantly, while it may seem that Xeloda wasn't doing much, it seems to have kept things more or less in check. Yesterday we had a little lake party to celebrate mom's 83rd birthday. It turned out to be a beautiful day, sunny and not too warm. Rick grilled some exceptionally good chicken thighs (did that taste have anything to do with the marinade I made???), we had fresh corn, caprese salad, Kraft Mac & Cheese (yeah, it's a family thing), fresh cukes, strawberry shortcake and some exceptionally yummy strawberries dipped in chocolate. There were lots of lake parties yesterday and our next door neighbors were no exception. So in the evening, they hosted a campfire, the kids toasted marshmallows and made smores, and we enjoyed the company. During the early evening, two hot air balloons passed right over our house. Usually they come across the lake, but last night they came more from south to north. Here are some pretty neat pictures:

The birthday girl!

Here they come!

This one was really low and we could see it was having a little trouble maintaining altitude.

I caught this one firing its engine as it passed right overhead.

Falling like a setting sun!

And oh yes, there was whipped cream shenanigans!