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!!!!!!

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!