Sickness hits the Raffa household AGAIN.........

Well, another sickness has hit the Raffa household. Now that Gabe is on medication for what his doctor believes was Fifths disease, he is feeling better. (We have no idea how he contracted it, but it goes to show we always get the weird illnesses.) Now Madison is sick. She was stung on her toe by a bee last Monday, we thought we got the stinger out, but on Saturday her toe began to swell. (It actually looks like a finger...) Then yesterday, while picnicking at a friends house, she started feeling "bad". She suddenly developed a 102 fever and her throat glands hurt (she couldn't swallow). Of course, we took her to the doctor, and he thinks she might have mono. He put her on Augmentin and said if she develops a rash that is an indication she has mono???? She is at work with me today, laying on a cot in the back room. She looks pitiful...

NH Vacation without the Raffa

My family recently went to New Hampshire for a family vacation, we had all ready taken our vacation in June so were unable to attend. Here are some of their pictures. I didn't get a picture of the New York Gangwer's. The Massachusett's Gangwer's : Ron,Tammy, Jaclyn, and Elizabeth

I guess the train was a little loud for Chase
The Mitchells from North Carolina: Jeff, Robin, Chad, and Chase

The Beauchemin Clan
Chad and Chase- They look so cute posing

AJ, Jaclyn, Jordan, Lizzy, Justin, Brandon, Chad, Chase, Lauren-all the cousins, but The Raffa
Grammy with the "2nd generation" cousins- I call them that because they are so much younger than the others...

Here are just a few more vacation pictures. I took over a 100 photos. I know I can't put them all on my blog because people will start getting bored. Thanks for letting me "bore" you with my vacation pictures. We had a great time...



The kids spent alot of time in Aunt Rachelle's and Uncle Alan's pool while we were in Vermont. They look like sea creatures with those goggles on...

Uncle Gabe and Justin with Lauren - She was so good, she didn't seem bothered by all 13 of us invading her house. She wasn't shy at all.

Dad looks like he is having a great time with the Raffa and Beauchemin kids fishing

Luciano and Brandon at the creek

Dominic and Luciano looking for fish

My "little" nephew AJ... I remember the early days of Pops and I fighting over who was going to rock him to sleep..... He's grown up so fast.....

Ron, Tammy, Dominic, and Luciano by the camp fire. The boys just couldn't stay out of it...

Brandon and Luciano at the creek

Okay, I totally messed up this entry. I tried to put pictures of our vacation on, but it seems as though you have to write backwards. The beginning of this blog starts at the bottom of the page.... with the picture of shirtless Gabriel.. Sorry, I hope to do better next time. So begin reading from the bottom..
Thanks~



The last leg of trip was in Herkimerr, New York. We all rented cabins at the KOA campground. It was fun 2 days of campfires, cookouts, and fellowship. Ron, Tammy, and the girls drove up from MA to meet us there. The have a "diamond" mine next to the campground, so one day we all went to the mines to find riches. It was extremely hard work, basically we were pounding rocks with hammers hoping a "Herkimerr" diamond (crystal) was inside. Now, I know how prisoners who are sent to the rock quarry feel... We had fun though. As you can see Luciano was very excited to begin. We were able to get a picture of Pops and Grammy with some of the grandkids... Lauren, Chad, and Chase are missing. I also have picture of us with Lauren. I will put them in my next entry. By then maybe I will know who to enter pictures and words...









We also spent some time at the creek. Grammy Gangwer packed us a picnic lunch. We had a great time. We also left just in time. We didn't know it but there was a tornado warning in effect in our area. Only the Raffa's could go to Vermont (where there is never tornados) and spend the afternoon inside with a very freaked out Brandon. After that day, Brandon never wanted to be outside if he saw any clouds in the sky....





While in Vermont my dad bought my kids fishing poles. They have never been fishing before. So, Gabe's one request was to take the kids fishing this year. They had a blast on Lake Champlain. They went with Uncle Allen, the Beauchemin cousins, Pops, and Gabe. Everyone, but Madison, and AJ caught some fish. Gabriel even fell in the lake while trying to reel his fish in.







Here are some pictures from our recent summer vacation to Vermont. We made our first stop in Erie, PA where we spent the night at a Country Inn and Suites. It was a great room and also a great price... We went swimming and ordered pizza delivered to the room. My kids love sleeping in hotels. (Until they see the dateline specials "How clean is your hotel room"). Oh, well I always carry alot of hand sanitizer... We woke up early and traveled the last 10 hours to Vermont. They kids did a great job, they didn't fight too much, but then again when you have a DVD player there is no reason to be bored!

Early Morning Emergency Visit

Well, it never seems to amaze me that with all the technology in medicine- it still takes 5 hours at an emergency room just to have blood work and pain medication dispensed. Most people have never ever been to an emergency room, but Gabe and I seem to visit one on a yearly basis. This time it was Gabe! This week he pressure washed our deck and stained it (with the help of Gabriel and a neighbor friend, Justin). It looks very nice..(as soon as I have a picture of it, I will put it on my blog). But it seems he overdid himself... He pulled some muscles in his lower back and at 3:30 am this morning was in so much pain I had to basically "carry" him to the car because he could not move without being in extreme pain. You may be wondering what I did with our children? Our wonderful friend, Kelly came right over and sacked out on the couch.
The emergency room didn't look that busy, but it was 2 hours before we saw a doctor who was with us for about 10 minutes and said he will be back with pain medicine and a nurse to do blood work. She didn't come in for another 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, I am irritated and Gabe is extremely uncomfortable (Have you ever noticed emergency room beds are not made for comfort???) She came in gave Gabe some pain medication and drew some blood work and said she will send it "right" up to the lab and it should be another 30 minutes. 1 1/2 hours later, she still had not returned and I left to go home and relieve Kelly so she could go home to her children. Gabe called me 40 minutes later to tell me he was being discharged. He is now recuperating at home drugged up on muscle relaxers and pain medication.
It's funny, I thought I wouldn't have anything to "blog" about, but I was wrong! I should have used my phone camera to take a picture of him in his cute little hospital gown.....NOT!!!!

Well, I have finally succumbed to the blogging trend. I love to read other people's blogs, even if I do not know them. I think I am "blogged obsessed". It took me a little while to think of a cute name to call my blog. Some of my friends have cute names like the"Dilliard Discoveries", "Haydock Herald", and the "Billington Blab", so of course, I needed to think very hard on what could go with Raffa. I came up with Rhetoric. For those of you who don't know the definition of rhetoric is "the art of using words effectively...".
I have also noticed that most bloggers seem to be young mothers who have cute pictures and stories to share of their young ones. Well, I am a couple years late on the blogging thing- my children are no longer "little ones", but they are still cute and we still have funny stories to share. I also just won a cell phone from our local Disney Radio. It takes pictures and videos, so I am hoping to have some pictures and videos to upload soon.
So check back soon for some "Raffa Rhetoric"