Thursday, April 30, 2009

Update on my Awesome Dad -

My awesome Dad is keeping his head held up high during all of his initial consultations with his cancer. Many of you have asked for updates so here is the most recent email I received from him this week. He has found out the cancer has spread to his bone marrow but its still so slow in growth that he is very optimistic!

"What I have is called Small B cell lymphocyte lymphomia/cronic lymphocyte leukemia. It is a non-aggressive cancer of a white blood cell called a lymphocyte. (There are five different white blood cells) It is a blood cancer but since it orginated in the lymphatic system, it is know as a lymphoma. It is fairly rare and ocurrs mostly in older men. It is malignant and spreading but is very slow and orderly. It is in most of my lymph nodes and my spleen and some in my bone marrow, called stage four, and have probably had it for several years. I am receiving a drug treatment called an immunoclonal drug, (Rituxin) which has been very successful in retarding and slowing the growth down. The treatment for this cancer is to slow it as much as possible and then moniter it, I will get blood work done every three months to keep track of it. It can become aggressive and that's what we hope to avoid. If it stays non-aggressive, then we do this drug treatment every two-three years, and stay as healthy as I can. The average life expentancy is 10 years, with known cases of people living 25 years. If I can stay healthy and keep this at bay, we fully expect to be able to live a fairly normal life.
In spite of all the uncertainty, we feel very fortunate. Most lymphomas are aggressive and very hard to treat. This type only occurs about 7% of the time and is the most managable. It is still cancer, but with prayers and a little luck, we have a very good prognosis."

I just need him to know that I am so proud of him! He is so full of faith and optimism and is a leader of strength in our family. My brothers and I adore him beyond words and know he can do this. Mom and Dad - we love you!!!!!!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Example -





Mikey had no buddies to practice baseball with the other day and so I suggested he take Joey out in the backyard and teach him how to play ball. He lovingly accepted the invitation. I can not explain the sweet feeling I had as I watched a 9 year old boy gently explain the process of pitching to his 4 year old brother. Photo's do no capture it adequately. The best moment was watching Joey burst into the living room and show me his new founded skill that his awesome older brother taught him. Today is one of those days I just LOVE being a mom...

Their "food storage" -




You know you talk about food storage a little too much when your kids build a fort in your living room then gather tons of food and add it to their "food storage", just in case they have an emergency. Dallin says, "Mom, yours is downstairs so we are putting all ours downstairs too. We even have an emergency dog to play with!"

Well, at least they know to be ready, right?!

p.s. As you can see, Joey is so excited about his new soccer outfit. He has been talking about starting soccer since last summer and asked me everyday when his game is. He got his outfit on Saturday and was alittle bummed it was orange cause he says green makes him run faster...yet he worn it to bed (shin guards and all) so it must not be that bad. Problem is, the game ain't till Thursday...how much you want to bet he wears this outfit until then?

"Why is there 'straw' in strawberries?!!"





Sweet Joey LOVES strawberries. He eats them all the time and just this week he finally looks at me with the cutest and most concerned face and says: "Mom, why is there 'straw' in strawberries? Is there straw in them?!!!" He was so confused on their name and you could tell his little mind was just milling the thought over. I couldn't answer the question, but I could take a picture. So...why IS there a straw in strawberries?

Mikey dresses Karly -


I asked Mikey to get Karly dressed this week and she came down with the cutest (and most masculine) outfit she had. A BYU shirt, tan shorts, and a cute purple belt. Thanks for your help Mikey! Someday he will think pink is ok for girls...

Frosting is best!

Mikes parents brought us some cake and Joey loved it...especially the frosting. In fact, he would just scoop up the top of the cake right out of the pan. You can see here he would leave any extra morsel of cake after the frosting had disappeared. So yummy...

stuck in the road...

Yesterday I had the funnest time getting stuck in the middle of the road with two friends, Stephanie & Chelle, from my neighborhood. We were almost home when all of a sudden my girlfriends truck got funky and stopped driving! We were all freakin out until we realized it was just out of gas! Luckily it was right in the middle of the intersection so LOTS of people got to drive by and wonder what in the heck we were doing. Somebody pulled up behind us wanting to turn, yet we weren't going anywhere. He finally honked, we still didn't move, so then he pulled up next to us to see what was going on. We told him we were just out of gas and he asked "Is it a diesel?!" and she replyed "Yes!" - then he said "Ewwww..." and nicely drove away! Apparently diesels are impossible to push when they are out of gas!

We all called our husband's to come to our rescue and as we waited a neighbor driving by pulled up behind us to see how he could help. Then another neighbor drove up and parked in the rode and ran to help us! After one of our husbands got there they were finally able to push it to the gas station. The problem was the power steering was out so it took all three of us girls to turn the wheel! We were laughing so hard by the time we got to the gas stall my side hurt!

Anyway, in high school that was one of my worst fears, yet as I am older it turned out to be a hilarious, moment...who knew breaking down would be so fun with friends - sure makes life better to just laugh!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

I hate it when this happens...


Poor Joey. He was trying to be such a big boy pouring his own milk, and it usually works, but not when its a brand new full jug. Darn stuff flew right out of his bowl and into his face! I made him stand there while I got the camera. He didn't really care about that - he was more upset after I showed him the picture (thanks to the digital era they all insist on seeing it "now!") and he realized the hat of Karly's he loved to wear really wasn't his color...

I am sleep deprived....


This is why... (I know, I look sick, but I wasn't planning on my cute hubby getting up in the night and taking pictures or I would have worn some make up to bed)...

The problem is I am so tired at night that I don't even notice all these little boys creeping into my room at 2 am. Karly would be there too if she could climb out of her crib - knock on wood.

Fun with the Fam -





Whenever we can get Mike a day off work we like to take him and RUN!!!!! It seems we can often get better family time when we escape the phones and busyness of life and retreat into nowhere. This is our new favorite "nowhere..."

It's a little island about 1 1/2 hours away from our home and we took the day to explore it. I loved this place because it was so peaceful and the sounds of birds were everywhere. I think my favorite part was the fact that NO BEARS live on the island (those of you who know all my issue's with those things - thanks to a few college buddies and that darn Yosemite trip...) and I could hike anywhere I wanted. My boys (all four of them) hiked up to the top of awesome hills while I would linger with my little princess as she would "sniff" all the flowers (mostly weeds). We would go about 50 feet and the boys would already be done. I didn't realize I would love hiking with her, even if it meant basically "lingering".

So glad that peaceful places like this still exist and we don't have to take an airplane to get there.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

242 minutes...

It was a really quiet night after the kids went to bed tonight. Mike and I just assumed it was because everyone else in the world was as consumed with American Idol as we were. Then we found the cordless...turned on...for 242 minutes - hope nobody needed anything...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

"Don't get mad, take a picture!"

We have lots of wonderful family memories and most of them consist of hardcore mess's. Many years ago when I was a new mother and devouring every Parenting Magazine I could get a hold of, I came across a quote I will never forget -

"Don't get mad, take a picture!"

I love this because I have remembered this over and over (not as much as I should though), and tried to hold my tongue and grab my camera instead.


So now I am posting some fun mess's just from the last few weeks that were my favorites!






I decided to let Karly dish up her own hot chocolate and then leave her for a minute - remind me not to do that again! But she was so happy using up ALL of the hot chocolate for her drink - or should I call it "pudding"?



























































Mike called to me the other morning in a calm voice,"KEEELLLLLY." I was like "What do you need?" and he responded a little more urgently, "Keeeeelllllyy, I need your help!" Well, he hardly ever needs MY help (usually the other way around), so I quickly came downstairs and saw this! I just started laughing and made him hold the broken flour bucket a few minutes longer while I searched for the camera. Hey - I am just grateful he cooks alot - even if he does drop the flour bucket once in a while!

Finally, this morning I am updating my blog when all of a sudden I hear "GERONAMO!!!!" and see this sippy cup of milk flying over the balcony and crashing to the flour. My favorite part was hearing little feet running away upstairs before they got caught (that little Joey I tell you!). Who ever said these cups were worth buying anyway?!!!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter


Easter is one of my favorite holidays because of the love I have for Jesus Christ. Our family is blessed every hour because of our faith and belief in His atonement. Elder Holland describes this sacred event so wonderfully - I have posted his remarkable comments on the side video. Please enjoy a fantastic Easter! Love, the Ballards

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Keeping busy during Conference!

Many of you know that watching General Conference (our semi annual instruction broadcast from the Prophet via cable for the LDS church) is a constant commitment to keeping children busy so that you can enjoy the messages. Each year we try new things to keep their little minds entertained. This time we tried making "arrangements" with our food on our picnic blanket in the living room, broadcasting it on our outside speakers while the boys played on the grass, making race tracks to roll our easter eggs down, and letting everyone have a turn playing with the camera. Dallin decided to put multiple beanies on and head butt easter eggs, so Karly decided it was winter all over again and needed a hat and gloves too! It all seemed to work well because we have made it through 6 hours of instruction and heard most of the talks! One more session to go, we will see if we make it...

ps - If you didn't hear Elder Holland's talk on the Savior, I insist that you read it on line. By far it was one of the most detailed accounts of His atonement coupled with outstanding testimony of His Divinity. PERFECT to share on Easter...





A Boys Creativity

I love this moment with Mikey. He was so interested in catching a bird that he created this "trap" for them to fly into. His plan was as he hid food in the box, they would gather under there, and as he hid in the tent he would pull the string and catch them! He was so diligent in waiting for his bird. Needless to say, each time they took the food, the contraption seemed to misfunction! Good for you though Mikey, for being so creative! We ended up just buying birds instead...


Thursday, April 2, 2009

Another cute one...

The other day we caught Joey sitting in a chair, flexing his arm muscles and pushing up his skin to make them look bigger. Then he says to me this morning -

"Mom, if I eat so much food it will make a big bump on my shoulder (he means muscles!) and then it will make my basketball clothes go POP! (tear open)"

I didn't know that even little boys thought about this kind of stuff! Will be fun to see if he will be a work out freak in high school -