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Saturday, December 20, 2008

We are busily getting ready for Christmas around
here. Kara and I have been busy baking like crazy
people. As soon as we fill the kitchen with goodies
we take it out and give it to someone. We took a
break today and figured we could start again when
Grandma gets here. She is due in Salt Lake pretty
soon.....tonight.

We are missing Devin, but from his phone calls it
sounds like he is having fun. Today his group
was going to San Diego for SeaWorld. Who knew he
would be able to go twice in one year?? I would
have never guessed.

He won a contest the other day. I'll have to write
more about it later.

Hope you are all doing well.

Merry Christmas

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:08 AM CST

Things are busy around here!!!
Trying to get Christmas cards mailed, last
minute packages in the mail and shovel the
ever falling snow!!


Dev


Best friends?


Visiting Santa


Maddie had kisses for Santa



Dad had a few requests for Santa

Kara had her injections on Friday and lucked out and
met some of the Utah Jazz players, coach and dancers
while she was up at PCMC.


Kara..........the short one!

Hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday
season. We are shipping Devin off for a math camp
and competition tomorrow....he is anxious to get
to CA for some sunshine.........although it sounds
like he may be hit with rain!! Grandma is coming
in for a visit on Saturday so we are busily getting
things done for her arrival.

Thanks for stopping by!! Please sign the guestbook.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Devin's repeat scans were all 'normal'!!
Whew, what a relief!! I had no idea how
stressed I was over these scans until after
they were done! I have been falling asleep
every time I get still! Devin is free to
stay away from the oncology clinic until
next September!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Things are busy here. We had company over
the weekend, then put up a tree on Sunday
afternoon.............AFTER we took the dogs
and the kids to see Santa!!! Maddie thought
Santa was just great. She climbed right up
on his lap and proceeded to tell him she
wanted bones and a new sweater. Willie is
a bit more reserved, but did tell Santa that
he wants a 'walk through' shower....kindof
like a car wash for dogs. We'll see what
happens.

Kara is out of school now until after the first
of the year. We worked on crafts today and
hopefully will start baking later in the week.
We were excited to finally get some Christmas
cards in the mail.........one from Mrs. Pam and
the preschool pen pals and another from Trudi
and her family!!! Thanks guys!!! Rosi...also
got a 2nd package from you. Thanks.........we'll
wait until Christmas to open them up.

I've got a lot of pictures to download here pretty
soon. We've had computer issues and things are
not working as well as they should. I'll try to
get them on here soon.

Thanks for your prayers and well wishes for Devin
and our family. We appreciate you!!

December 4, 2008

Things are okay here.

Kara and I worked at Devin's school
last Wednesday for their 'feast' day
at school. We had cooked a turkey,
dressing and mashed potatoes to take
over. There was TONS of food. The
kids had a great time.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Randy's
family. It was very quiet.

We have been busy with Devin's clubs and
working at Kara's school.

I had a scare with Devin this morning.
He called around 10:30 and said he thought
his arm was broken. Evidently some kid
in his class had pushed a lunch table into
his arm.........hard........on purpose.

Anyway, the dr. got us right it. It was
very swollen and bruised, but luckily not
broken. Its in a wrap and sling for a
few days, but at least its not broken.

Devin tested up for another math competition
and camp that is coming up in a few weeks.
He will be heading to San Diego for a few
days. He seems to always be on the go!!
It really feels like he is growing up way
too fast all of a sudden.

Yesterday I went with Kara's class to the
Junior Achievement "Biz Town". We had so
much fun. It lets the kids be grown ups
for the day......practice banking, working
at jobs, etc... Quite an impressive place!

Tomorrow is Kara's last day of school until
after the first of the year. I'll be helping
with her Christmas party. We're making some
beaded/sequin ornaments.

Devin's got his follow up scans set for
Monday the 8th and 8am. Please pray that
things are still okay and he remains in
remission. I can't stand to think of
anything being wrong...........things
are just going soo well for him.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays.

Please sign the guestbook.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Long time without an update.

Things are going well here. Devin is VERY
involved in school and just busy, busy, busy
all the time!! He's constantly doing something
and just doing soooooooooooo well in school.
I cannot tell you how thrilled we are with
his situation.

It is so nice to see a kid want to get to
school and have so much fun while he is
there. He's convinced Kara that she wants
to come to his school when she is ready for
7th grade. She sees him doing so much that
I do believe she is on board. She is happy
with her school right now and has many
friends. I'm glad they both seem to be so
happy.

I've been busy here trying to get Christmas
gifts bought and wrapped. Kara is out from
December 5th through the 1st of next year, so
I need to get most things done BEFORE she is
home to spill any secrets!! She is excited
to be home and make Christmas crafts and
cookies with me.

Its been extra warm here in SLC. Short sleeve
weather.....its been a little different!! I'm
hoping it stays nice for a few more days so we
can get lights put up over the weekend. Most
of my neighbors have been taking advantage of
the warm weather to get it done.........Randy
has been out of town...again...so we have
nothing so far.

Rosi....our big lighting of the town is the day
AFTER Thanksgiving. That would be next Friday.
It is also, usually, the biggest shopping day
of the year. With the economy this year who
knows what will happen. The lights downtown
will come on, but who knows if the shoppers
will spend any money.

Devin is still due for repeat scans the first
part of December. I'll have to look at his
schedule to see when he WILL take off time for
the doctor. He does NOT like to miss any of
his school or activities!!! Quite different
from the last few years!!!

Thanks to all of you who continue to check in on
Devin and our family. We are THANKFUL for you
in our lives. We appreciate your continued
prayers for Devin's continued remission.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Things are going well here.

Devin had parent/teacher conferences yesterday
and I could have stayed there listening to all
the compliments all day. I think these teachers
were making up for the past several years!!!
Evidently he is doing well both academically
and socially; popular, well mannered and CUTE.
I totally agree. He is all of the above...and
then some!! I just feel soooooooooo good that
he is having such a good year!!!!

I work 2 mornings a week at Kara's school.
Mondays I work with a group of fourth graders
that need additional help with their reading.
We are doing a 'reader's theatre' and reading
different fractured fairy tales. It is a lot of
fun and the kids are soooo cute!! In Kara's
class I help with testing on Fridays and whatever
else the teacher comes up with me to do. Hopefully
we will start doing the reader's theatre in her
class as well. I think those kids would like it
too.

Randy has been up in Moscow, Idaho at the University
of Idaho the past couple of days. He was asked a
few months back about speaking to a group of math
students there about his career. He spent most of
the day yesterday on the campus. He had his
speaking engagement in the afternoon and said it
went well. One of his old professors that was
retired even came to listen. I am so proud of him
and how well he does. He is one of the smartest
people you could meet!!! He was really impressed
with the set-up they had for him.......a real
reception; then a nice dinner!! Wish the kids
and I could have been there to watch him in action!!

Things on the house are NOT so good. We did receive
the official DENIAL letter in the mail. Even though
the soil report clearly states the fence and cement
were obviously damaged by the water damage, the city's
insurance company has denied any wrongdoing. UNBELIEVABLE.
I'm not sure exactly what the next step is, but I am
sure we will be finding out soon. Fun....

Thanks for stopping in to check on Devin. With the
reports I received yesterday I am in disbelief that
he has been through as much as he has.........I have
NOT discussed his past condition with any of his
teachers and none seem to think anything other than
he is a 'normal' 7th grade boy........so glad!
Thanks for your prayers!!

Please sign the guestbook.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Things are going well here.

We made it through Halloween by doing things
a bit different this year. We met up with
some friends at a local church and went to
a carnival, then took the girls trick-or-treating.
It was so wierd not having Devin here.

Devin made it home Sunday evening. He said he
had a really good time. He stayed VERY busy
while away, but a good type of busy. He looked
so grown up as he came out of the airport wheeling
his bag!! He is growing UP!!

Not much else going on here. Just waiting on
the official report from the city and their
insurance company. I keep thinking it will be
here any day, but turns out they don't do anything
quickly.

Thanks for checking in on Devin.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!!!



I don't know what this is about, but evidently dad and
Devin have been playing with the camera.......:)

Devin is enroute to Denver with the math kids. He
got out of school a little early to catch a plane.

We had an 'early' Halloween last night. We carved
pumpkins and ordered pizza. Grandpa and Grandmother
came over to carve with us.


Devin & dad carving


Grandpa Ross carving his masterpiece

Maddie got a serious hair cut this week. She is not
too thrilled with her new look. When I went to pick
her up she had on a Halloween bandana. Those are for
boys!! She was glad to get some orange bows to
spruce up her look!!


Maddie and Kara

Randy got me some beautiful flowers for our anniversary!
We even got a sitter and went out for a great dinner
at Flemings. It was my first time there.......it was
good. Randy gets to go there all the time for business.




Mom and Dad on their anniversary.

Here's a picture of my beautiful witch before school
this morning!!!

Kara !!!


Miss Kara the spooky witch

****The house is on hold. I did speak with the
city manager this afternoon who told me the claim
should be DENIED by the first of the week. Over a
week ago a city employee took water samples out of
my STILL LEAKING basement and we are still waiting
on those results. I think we are through playing
'nice'. We have too much at stake here........the
value of our home, the health and safety of our
family. Whew. The consensus of the structural
engineers that have come out is the drilling was
NOT done far enough down, so we do not know the
compactability of the soil.......so, we do NOT
know how much more sinking we will have. *****



Thanks for stopping by...........please sign the
guestbook.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Devin had a terrific weekend!! He hasn't
stopped talking about it yet. He said the
dance was great fun. He was a bit confused;
he said it was mostly 'group' dancing...fine
with me!!

The dance was costume optional. He dressed
up as a hippie....again. It was easy...and
it fits him!!

He leaves Friday afternoon for a math camp in
Denver. It is his first flight without one of
us, but he will be with 6 other students and
2 teachers. It should be fun. He is getting
excited; especially since he gets out of school
early on Friday to go!

We have no real Halloween plans. It just won't
be the same without our boy here. I just hope
he has a lot of fun while he is gone. We will
all be missing him!! They will have a Halloween
party at the camp, so I am hoping he meets some
new friends and has fun. He is becoming more
talkative these days.........I think he is just
excited to have things going so well for him.

Thanks for stopping by to check on Devin/us.

Please leave a message.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

We're back!!


Devin and GG

We left last Wednesday after school and spent a
long weekend in OK. We got to see everyone...
well pretty much, and even have an early
Thanksgiving with MY side of the family. I
haven't had T-day with my family in YEARS!!!
It was nice to see all of my old favorites...
foods that is!!


D & K with most of the 2nd cousins...

The kids had a great time. T-Shirt is doing well
and we were all happy to see how well he is getting
along. He had bought the kids a go-cart awhile
back and we all got to take turns riding it around.
He also had bought them a 4-wheeler, but HE
decided NOT to let the kids ride it because it
is so dangerous. Too bad we don't get to OK more
often so they can play with all their 'toys'....
it was good to see the 'hippie bus' again too. Now
Devin is trying to talk T-shirt into buying him
a 'short bus'........we saw one for sale on the
way out to the farm.


Kara on the go-cart


D & K checking out the hippie bus



GG is doing good. She worked just one day while
we were there, but that was fine. The kids and I
just hung out with T-shirt and Uncle.


D, K and Uncle

We were able to geocache a bit while we were there.
We found one that was a webcam in downtown Shawnee.
The kids thought that was pretty cool. We had
perfect weather to do just about anything.



Geocaching in downtown Shawnee, America

One day we headed over to Seminole and did the
Jasmine Moran Children's museum. I was glad to
see they have (finally) added some new exhibits.
I still don't see the intrigue of that place?



Devin in the bubble maker....this is a cool thing!!

Yes, Mrs. Pam we did get your box....actually Wednesday..
the day we left. The kids really liked their spooky
stuff and Randy and I both got a laugh out of the
napkins!!! Thanks. Rosi and Trudi, we got your
packages as well..........thanks so much. I think
the kids have pretty much eaten all of the candy...
at least the chocolates. Thanks!!


Maddie says thanks for the pumpkin get-up!!


Miss Maddie aka Pumpkin Dog

Big plans this weekend.........Devin's school is
having a 'Harvest Dance'. He is so excited to go.
Its only a couple of hours, but Devin is just soooo
excited to go. Kara has a birthday party to go to
at the same time, so that should work out well.

Thanks for stopping by. Please sign the guestbook.

Monday, October 13, 2008

We woke up yesterday to SNOW!! Not the 11 inches
that Michelle got north of here, but snow nonetheless!!





We are NOT ready for winter and especially not too
ready for snow duty!!! Last year was horrible, with
lots of snow every day.

A couple of weeks ago we took advantage of the nice
weather and took a drive up Provo Canyon and onto
the Alpine Loop. It was so pretty up there. I
would imagine with the cold most of the leaves have
dropped by now.










There was an amateur dahlia show in Salt Lake City over
the weekend. Kara and Grandpa Ross entered their flowers
into the competition. Kara won one first place (trophy)
for her 'Tomo'. She won a third place for her 'Almond
Joy'. She was very pleased. We were all very excited
for her too. She is planning on growing lots more
flowers next year.


Grandpa & Kara


Kara's 'Almond Joy' dahlia...3rd place


Devin, Grandpa & Kara with 'Tomo'
1st place

Here's one final picture. Devin had
his friend Isaac spend the night on
Friday night.......The kids decided
to break out the chocolate fountain...
What fun, but what a mess!!! Between
the chocolate fountain and candy
poker these kids were on a sugar high
all weekend.



Thanks for stopping by. Please sign
the guestbook.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Devin is doing well. He made it to school every
day this week!! He's excited because he gets a
break from his math competition team tomorrow and
can have a sleep over tonight. He is having one
of his 'old' friends from the old school over
tonight. I don't know who is more excited; Devin
or Kara. This group likes to stay up late and
play 'candy poker' until all hours of the night.

Here are some recent pictures. No news on the
house yet. We are still waiting on soil tests
to come back. Its been a week today since the
drillers were here. We should be hearing something
the first of next week.















Please sign the guestbook.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Not a great weekend.

Devin and I both turned up sick Thursday
night. He was fine by Friday evening, but
I was sick and in bed all weekend. I'm finally
feeling 'human' again.

The geo-tech firm came out on Friday morning
and started drilling. Ten holes that are all
ten feet deep. The holes are now plugged and
they will begin taking water samples sometime
today. I didn't see all of the soil taken
out, but Randy and my neighbor said it all
was wet.....not dripping, but definetly wet!

So we wait. It will most likely take a week or
more to get all of the evaluations back on the
soil testing. ONLY then will the city get
busy. We can't do mold removal until we know
what the city is going to do, so for now we are
staying out of downstairs...........

Thanks for stopping to check on Devin.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Yesterday was a LONG day.
We sped through blood, cardiology, radiology and
got stuck in the oncology clinic. Several hours
in oncology actually.

It was a wierd appointment. We did NOT see our
regular dr., but some strange PA. I mean strange
because of the ridiculous things he asked....
just stuff that anyone (who even glanced at the
chart) would know.......or had spent any time
in the oncology office. Maybe I am picky, but
I feel like I set up an appointment to see
someone who knows something.

We did see Dr. O'Smiley.....those in PCMC
oncology know who I mean. He came in and
did the main exam on Devin. I reminded him
of the cyst at the last appointment so he
felt for it......couldn't find it, but
noticed a discrepancy.......so sent Devin
for an ultrasound then.......

We were told the original findings of the
ultrasound was good. There is some change
evidently, but the cyst was not found.
This was good.

After we got home from our long day Randy did
receive a phone call that the discrepancies
were too significant and there had been some
change since last time. No cancer or cyst
was found at this time, but this is a common
place for lymphoma to re-occur, so Devin
needs to have another ultrasound the first of
December.......unless new changes are noted
before then. Aaghhh.

Almost a clean bill of health.

We wait again.

Speaking of waiting....the drill guys no showed
this morning. Now they are planning on coming
tomorrow, so I need to get some appointments
changed.

Thanks for checking in on Devin. Please pray
that this 'issue' turns out to be nothing. He
is doing so well right now and really enjoying
life. I cannot bear to think of that changing.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The last day of September.....whew!!

Devin is feeling much better. He was
able to go to school on Thursday and
Friday (it was a short day) and then
get some extra rest over the weekend.

We did get over to Chili's last night.
Devin ordered his usual; buffalo chicken
fajitas. He loves Chilis. I think one
of the main reasons is their willingness
to do SOMETHING, anything for childhood
cancer!! It was a fun night out. The
manager of the Chili's we went to last
night actually has a five year old
daughter who JUST finished her chemo for
some type of sarcoma.......he told Devin
he was very glad to see him in there
eating and looking so healthy!! Me too.
Thank you Chilis!!

We went up in the mountains (Alpine Loop)
on Sunday afternoon and had a picnic.
Anything to get away from the stress of
this house...........things are not going
so well here, so it was good to get away
and check out the fall leaves.

The yards have been staked out for drilling,
the blue stakes (utility marking people) have
been out and we are due to dig on Thursday
morning. It sounds like the city is going
to have their entire crew here.........for
whatever reason..........hmmm......not quite
sure of that. The geo-tech firm was contracted
BY the city, but NOT part of the city's employees.
Thursday should be interesting to say the least.

We have water AGAIN in the basement and are showing
even more signs of settling/sinking. We had a
structural engineer out here most of the day
yesterday. He was worried about the house and
anxious to hear what the soil reports show.

Devin's scans are tomorrow. We are praying for
perfect counts and continued remission!! Thanks
to all of you for keeping him in your thoughts.

I will try and post some pictures soon.

Please sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

NO scans today.
We've re-scheduled for next Wednesday.
Devin is too sick/contagious to be in
the oncology clinic around so many
immuno-compromised kids. He is either
sleeping or coughing.........he's now
on cough syrup and antibiotics, so
hopefully he will be getting better.

A guy came out to stake out our yard for
soil testing last night. Blue stakes will
be here to map out the utilities either
today or tomorrow, then the 'big dig' will
happen on Friday.

We do have mold in our home. We cannot see it,
as its under sheetrock, but it is there. We've
got to get the water source (city pipe) stopped
before we can get started on clean up....then I
am sure we'll have some battle on getting it
paid.......I'm just hoping the mold isn't what
is making Devin sick.

Thanks for the prayers. Please sign the guestbook.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

There was no party yesterday. Kara and I
picked Devin up from school and came straight
home. He said he had started feeling bad in
the morning and looked and sounded horrible.
We told him we had planned on going out to
eat, having cake and doing fireworks, but he
was feeling too bad to care.....by 5:30 or
so he was asleep for the night.

Kara made a cake for Devin all by herself. She
can be such a nice sister when she decides to
be!!

Today Devin is feeling a bit better. He's just
been taking it easy and being lazy. He was
supposed to go with Randy and Randy's dad to
a University of Idaho football game over in
Logan today, but Kara went in his place. I
think its probably just a really bad cold, but
he is miserable. Poor kid.

When Devin comes home and goes to bed like that
it brings back such feelings of helplessness...
I notice even Kara seems to tiptoe around making
sure that he is comfortable and taken care of...
We all panic any time that Devin is not acting
like himself or is in any type of pain or distress.
I would imagine it will always be that way....even
a simple cold stirs up old memories in all of us.

Some days when Devin goes for a stretch of 'wellness'
I think those days are behind us, but when he gets
sick we are all quickly reminded of what he has
gone through. I somehow think that nothing will ever
be routine with him.

Kara has been home again this week 'off track'.
We've stayed busy with 'house stuff'....still having
people over to access damages. HOPEFULLY we will
have a company over to do the soil reports this
coming week. She will be out this next week too.

Devin's doing great in school. He's staying ultra
busy with all sorts of math activities. He was
invited to be in the math club at school. This
group is in a lot of competitions and get to travel
quite a bit. He is excited about that. He is also
in yearbook club....hopefully as a photographer and
the Robotics club. He is super busy and excited to
be in so many things. We are thrilled to see him so
excited about school.

Scans are set up for the 24th.........

Thanks for checking on Devin.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Three years OFF TREATMENT!!

Devin is at school today. We will
celebrate this major milestone tonight.

We are so grateful to have Devin with
us.

Scans are set up for the 24th.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Five years ago today our world changed.

I knew nothing about childhood cancer...nothing.
The only thing that came to mind about cancer
in my mind was death. To be told Devin "had
a tumor and hopefully its not too late" was
unnerving to say the least. I still replay
those conversations in my mind and stand in
disbelief of all that transpired.

We are sooooooooooooo incredibly lucky to have
this kid. He's alive and doing so well. We
thank God every day to be given this second
chance with Devin.

Thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts
over these past five years. We appreciate you!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in updates. I haven't had
much time to sit down, much less update the site.

Devin is doing well. We went to an open house at
his school and evidently he is doing super!! The
junior high thing....switching classes and all...
has been a bit hectic for him, but he is finally
getting the hang of it!!


Devin

Kara is off track now and enjoying spending time at
home with me. She is getting as tired of this 'house
business' as I am. It seems everyday we have loads
of people coming over and sizing up the properties.
We are sinking here..........right now it is slight,
but its there!! We are waiting for the city to take
some action...........so far its a s l o w process.

Kara has earned some blue ribbons recently in the
state fair with her dahlias. Her first showing she
got one blue, one special award and a red. Her
second showing was BLUE again!!


Kara and her awards

She has also started taking horseback riding lessons.
I have no idea where this will lead, but its fun for
now.


Kara and Piper

Thanks for stopping by to check on us. We've got
yearly scans coming up soon, so your prayers are
appreciated. September 19th will mark 3 years
OFF treatment!!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Well yesterday all the concrete contractors that
we have been waiting for all showed up at once!
Talk about a slew of people..........

We also had a couple of guys from the pier systems
come and check foundations. My neighbor and I both
got a clean bill of health on our foundations...today.
The future???????????? An unknown.

We've had a few landscape companies show up and
check out the trees. Not good at all. Evidently
between the root rot and other problems things
are not looking good. One guy this morning said
that concrete and plants/trees are the least of
our worries. He said what a couple of people
yesterday said; we need soil samples done.

I don't know a lot about the soil sample process.
I'm researching it now. Seems it is very expensive,
but can tell the likelihood that your house is
going to sail down the river within the next
20 years or so. I'd hate to do 'cosmetic work'
and then have it all turn to crap in the next
few months.

Our freestanding garage did not check out well.
It has a large crack on the front and is beginning
to move. We have to get additional information to
check out the footings on it.

Devin seems good. Kara seems good. School is going
well. Kara starts horseback riding tonight. She
went this morning with Grandpa Ross to turn in her
dahlias at the state fair. She is hoping to get
some blue ribbons!

Thanks for checking up on us.

Please sign the guestbook.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Whew. Never a dull moment around here!

We had a gas leak scare on Thursday evening.
We could smell gas...(me and Mr. Questar), but
after an hour of searching around with his
sensors, Nothing. Good.

Randy came home on Friday after spending the
week in California for business. Its nice to
have him home and have some help in worrying
about things around here. The adjuster for
the city had been here on Thursday.....he
was clueless. When Randy got home another
adjuster was here from Allstate. Both me and
my neighbor have Allstate and they are trying
to get the city's insurance motivated to take
some action.

Our basement is finished and seems okay....no
visible cracks or anything; however, we can no
longer open our windows. I checked them again
this morning and they aren't budging, plus have
water in the windows.....hmm.....too much of
a coincidence?

The kids became "Great" cousins on Friday
afternoon when their cousin, Jeremy and his
wife Chanel welcomed 7 lb, 5 oz Madison Elle
into the world. We went to see her on Saturday
at the hospital. They both can't wait to see
her again. She is a cutie!!

I'm helping Kara finish up a book report, so I
will make this short.

Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I will give
my camera a break and get some pictures downloaded
soon.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Yesterday was beyond busy.

Mold guy found water in the basement...........
took air samples. No visible mold, but he
didn't do any lifting of carpet.

Tree guy #1 found loads of problems........I
think 5 trees will be lost. Best case scenario.

Gas company was over to repair stressed lines at
my neighbors house. Please don't light any
matches in our neighborhood........we're still
on gas leak alert!!

Air conditioner was taken down, 5 buckets of dirt
were brought over to bring A/C unit back UP...I
believe it was about 5 inches down...putting a
strain on the wiring/tubing. Guess I could have
neglected it and let it fall into the sink hole
under my house.

City sent 2 workers and 3 shovels over for "routine
maintenance" after a NEW sinkhole was found on my
neighbor's property.................They dug about
a foot north of the previous hole in MY yard,
decided things were 'good' and left...........
SO.......I have yet another hole in my yard....yeah!!

New sinkhole discovered behind my falling fence on
another property. City has yet to respond.

Insurance information given to me by the "Risk Manager"
of the City was discovered to be false........

After 5 phone calls I tracked down their coverage and
was told that there was NO CLAIM........the city was
"taking care of it on their own"

After a couple more phone calls I've finally got
an adjuster coming out today. It should be fun.

I'm waiting for yet another cement guy to show up
an access damages. I'm beginning to get a bit
stressed.................

Devin seems to be doing well. No complaints except
getting up early. Character building I tell him...
he doesn't like my answer!!

Thanks for checking in on us.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Its been one year today since Nanny passed away.
We miss her!! The kids are eating cheese crackers
this afternoon and we're thinking of going out
for fish.......one of Nanny's favorites.

The house mess continues.....
The city wants 3 bids on each thing before
they do anything. Homeowners has said they
won't pay, so its up to the city. The
sinkage continues.......

On a lighter note, here is a picture from
Devin's first day of school:


The big 7th grader!!!

Thanks for stopping by.......

Friday, August 22, 2008

We are home.

We got home late Tuesday night. The kids were
both sick with horrible colds. Devin woke up
Saturday morning with a hacking cough. Kara
started in with the coughing and stuff on Monday
night. They both did well on the trip and
enjoyed our time away. We went to the San Diego
Zoo, Seaworld, the beach and even Tijuana, Mexico.
I think the kids liked bargaining in Tijuana the
best of all..........boy did they get some
treasures!!

Kara got some jewelry, a t shirt and some maracas.
Devin got a "Rolex" watch, a ukelele and some other
treasures. They were fascinated with all the shops
and stuff available.

We got home to more mess................!!!!
Luckily my neighbor and I both have the same
homeowners insurance so we got the same adjuster.
Just as we suspected the insurance company will
NOT take care of our claim..........instead we
get to file claims against the city. The adjuster
came out Monday while we were away and the neighbor
took care of all of that. She said he was in shock
over all the damage. He seemed to think the 25 INCH
pipe was probably leaking for at least a year!!!!!
He also said that the city SHOULD have meters to
regulate pressures/output and should have figured
out the leak on their own BEFORE this broken
pipe was 'accidentally' found...........hmmm.

I've got trees moving around....leaning....you name
it. One of my trees closest to the house is covered
in white 'gunk' that is shaking off the tree. One
tree guy came over yesterday and said it is most
likely mold from water saturating the roots.......
another 'expert' in tree disease is supposed to be
out soon. 'IF' it is mold then the adjuster said
we will have to have our home tested for mold.

The courtyard on the front of my house has started
to break away from the house today. I would imagine
by Monday as the ground settles more that it will
start falling down. The gas meter is also beginning
to move again.............the gas company is VERY
aware and keeping an eye on it.

The back stairs are pulling away from the back door...
the patio is cracking and lifting everywhere.....even
the cracks in the driveway on the west side of the
house are being blamed on this leak........

Some of the next steps include having someone come out
and dig down to the footings on the house to see if
they are corroding..........if so they will have to
be re-poored and the house jacked up. (We live in
a rambler with a full basement) Also, some one is
coming out to check to see if the house is still level...
some fancy machine they bring out and sit around in
different parts of the house.

All in all we can just sit here and watch things
sink and crumble around us. Its not funny, but
I have to laugh........things could always be worse.

I'll download some pictures soon.

Devin's first and second days went well. He
just seems sooooooooo much more grown up all
of a sudden!! 7th grade.....where does the
time go?

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, August 15, 2008

What a mess!

What a BIG mess.........

The city finally got the part and was able to
fix the 25 inch pipe on Tuesday. They've kept
the hole open to make sure everything was okay,
then reburied it on Wednesday. Wed/Thursday they
started hauling dirt/sand in to replace what was
lost under my pool. Randy and I spent Wednesday
and Thursday nights cleaning the pool.......it
hadn't had a pump running in a week, then was
empty.........need I say more. Fun stuff. Randy
thinks its especially something fun to do after
taking off work 3 or more times a day for the
past week to answer questions that arise from
the city workers.

Anyway. The pool is level, but has some places
where the liner is not. A couple of dozen guys
from the city came out this morning with the
intentions of filling the pool from a water
truck with a fire hose. That wasn't working so
well...........the pool bottom was NOT smoothing
out and I told them they could stop. They act
like I am going to be happy with some half-a**
job, but unfortunately for them I am not. Every
time we look around we see more damage. I've
called a pool company to come over and get this
done right!!

The gas company was out this morning to work on
my and my neighbor's gas meters. Originally he
thought hers was in worse shape since it had
twisted almost upside down, but then he got
to mine and had to put a 5 inch extension onto
the pipe and was afraid we had a gas leak. He
called out some other guys from the gas company
and they have spent most of the day here. There
has not been a day in the past week that I have
had any less than 10 workers in the yard for
most of the day. The city crew is gone to lunch
right now and the gas company has just left. We
had our gas off for an hour or so while they made
sure we were safe.

Our homeowners is sending an adjuster on Monday to
access the damage. Luckily my neighbor has the
same company so he will be able to look at every-
thing at once. We share a property line cinder
block fence that is unstable right now. She has
lots of concrete that is cracking all to pieces
thanks to this water leak.

It has been a mess. My dogs have sure enjoyed it
though....they think everyone who comes to the
house is their new best friend and of course they
are thinking the guys from the city are just some
of the regulars. We are on a first name basis
with most everyone at this point.

We got a good deal on some flights and are taking
off to San Diego for a few days in the morning.
We are excited to get away and go to the beach,
the zoo and Seaworld. I don't know who is more
excited; us or the kids? (I'm thinking it is
me!!!)

I'll get some pictures downloaded on here before
we take off. I've got some last minute errands
to run before we leave.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Monday, August 11, 2008

We've been having some real excitement around
here. I have been noticing most homes in our
neighborhood have water pumps back on their
fence lines. I asked one of my neighbors about
it and turns out everyone....except me.....had
access to a secondary water source for watering.
I called the water company to inquire and was
told I SHOULD have access and they would send
someone out to find and access the line for me.

Thursday morning a guy from the city came over and
started looking around the SE corner of my backyard....
He found a MAIN CULINARY shut off that was NOT marked
on any of the city's plans AND a HUGE water leak from
the humongous pipe supplying the secondary water to
my neighbors. He called in a crew and they started
digging.

Friday the actual leak was located and several band-aid
attempts were made to slow the flow. The pipe in
question runs under a cinder block fence separating my
yard from my neighbors. My neighbor has a small
area of gravel against the fence...probably 12 inches,
then a large patch of concrete. Most of the digging
is on MY side. All of this digging is done behind
our above ground pool with the pump/water heater/house
being moved off to the side.........Needless to say
we had to shut down the electricity to our yard/pool.
No pump = dirty pool

When they left on Friday we had about a 3 1/2 foot
wide hole by 6 feet deep. They have dug another
2 feet UNDER the footing for the fence....and you
can imagine how the fence is looking about now...
a little stressed. They did come out twice over
the weekend and pump water out of the hole.

Today they showed up and have been here again all
day. The pool has been sinking this summer and we
did not know why........now we do. Since the pool
is already sinking and they need to do MORE digging
they decided today to drain the pool. They have
ordered the replacement parts they need and completely
turned off secondary water to the neighborhood.....
I'm sure the neighbors will be thrilled since the
majority uses secondary for watering their lawns...

They are still here today and we have had no less
than 10 guys or so at a time in the yard. The
mess will get worse before it gets better.

Devin is doing okay. Trying to get school uniform
stuff ordered so he can start the new school on
the 21st. He is getting excited. We are glad
and excited for him.

Kara is enjoying school. She was thrilled today
that she made 100% on her pre-spelling test today
and won't have to take another spelling test on
Friday. She's excited about an upcoming field
trip to Timpanogas Cave........dad will be going
with her class.......mom has received notice AGAIN
for jury duty!!

Thanks for stopping by.
I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Things are going well here.

Randy got home yesterday afternoon after spending
the past few days at a conference in Nashville.
I thought maybe he might come home with a cowboy
hat, but surprisingly he didn't. I asked him if
he'd be interested in moving to TN, but he said
NO, his allergies were even worse there than they
have been here this summer. He has been having
horrible allergy problems for some reason. Sneezing
and gunk all the time..........thats with his
drugs!!

Devin is feeling okay. Same stuff, different day.
He still can't make it through a meal without
having to make a rush trip to the bathroom....so
much for the new drugs.

Kara pulled a good stunt earlier this week. She
woke up on Tuesday saying her head hurt. I think
the main reason it hurt was because she didn't
get enough sleep on Monday night...........She
went to school and by 10:15 had called me with
'the worst pain'. I picked her up and while I
was signing her out I noticed that her new
best friend had also signed out earlier. On
our way home I questioned Kara about this and
found out that not only was her friend sick, but
the teacher was out as well. That explained a
lot. She laid in her bed for about 10 minutes
before she was up asking me for some lunch.
While I prepared some left-over pizza she
glanced at the school's lunch schedule on the
fridge..............turns out the kid was
missing cheese nacho day at school!!! Talk
about MAD!! I think she picked the wrong day
to play sick.........no more nachos all this
month!! I'm still not believing I picked her
up. I guess better safe than sorry....

Not much else going on here. I've been working
at going through closets. Kara seems to outgrow
things before I can get them washed and hung
back up!! The kid's foot is at about 6 1/2 now!!
She is catching up with me.

I've been doing a lot of reading over the summer.
An interesting book I've just finished is called
Escape
Its a good one if you're interested in polygamy
and stuff like that :) Very interesting...almost
as upbeat as the holocaust books I've been reading.

I found this wierdo story while scanning CNN for
any new news on the missing Florida girl....Caylee.
Nothing new there, but check this out:

Guinea pig festival

Thanks for checking up on Devin. Please leave
a message.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Things are going well here.

Randy's building got cleared and he is back
at the office. He enjoyed his little 'vacation'
and didn't get much work done from home. He
landed up spending the day with me up at PCMC
while Dev did his neuro-psych on Tuesday.

Speaking of the neuro-psych........not such
great news. His processing speed is continuing
to decline.............this is not a good
thing. We will be looking into some alternative
therapies for him. That damn chemo is continuing to
wreck havoc on his brain. It is really a blow.

Kara's school is going well. She met a 'new
best friend' today. They have a lot in common
she tells me. They both love lip gloss, horses,
dogs and conditioning their hair!! It sounds
like they may have been separated at birth!!
We are glad she is enjoying school so much.
We had open house last night and her teacher
had so many positive things to say. It looks
to be a promising year.

Devin is REALLY into geocaching these days. He
got interested while at camp and is now addicted.
We've gone out a couple of nights this week
looking. There are several really close to our
house. Dad splurged and bought Dev a really
nice GPS after his 6 hours of testing the other
day!!

Thanks for checking in on Devin.
Please sign the guestbook.

Monday 7-28-08

Maddie enjoying the great outdoors


We had another busy weekend getting Kara
ready for her first day of 5th grade. I
still can't believe my baby is 10 years old!!


Before we got to bed last night we got an
interesting call from Randy's boss. It
seems the small storm that we had experienced
earlier on Sunday evening turned out to be
a bigger storm a few miles away at Randy's
office.

What a mess!!

The old building where Randy works
experienced A LOT of damage. The top front
of the building is OLD brick (3 layers thick),
with windows on the rest of the front. When
we went down to see the damage most of the
brick had blown down and was covering the
sidewalk. It looked horrible. Police tape
surrounding the building and into the street;
quite a mess!!!


Randy, Devin & Kara surveying the damage

Anyway, the city has condemned the building
until someone can get inside and check things
out. All the power and utilities have been
shut off for the time being...........for now
everyone is working from home. Luckily no one
was there at the time and evidently there were
no other damages done to neighboring buildings.


Not looking so good........no broken glass!!


On a lighter note, Kara LOVED her first day
of school. She said she met several new friends\
and hooked up with some older friends as well.
She came straight home and was excited to tell
us everything about her day. We were all very
happy for her. Its nice to see her so happy
and excited!!


Devin and Kara on HER first day of school


Devin and his 5TH grade sister

Ok, here's some pics from when GG was here.


GG, Devin, Kara and Randy


GG and Mr. Devin


GG, Maddie and Devin


Devin and Dad


Devin, GG and Kara


Devin has his neuro-psych follow up in the morning.
He is NOT looking forward to it...lots of boring
testing, but Randy and I both would like to see
what is happening with him. Some days are better
than others.........

The gastro FINALLY called me!!!!! He still is pretty
much clueless, but is starting Devin on a drug to
settle his stomach down. Most of the testing came
back pretty good..............he does have a vitamin
D deficiency, but we need to talk to oncology before
we start him on any supplements. The gastro had
suggested just a good multi-vitamin, but we have
always been told to limit his folic acid....and that
is already high. Maybe we will run into someone we
can talk to up at PCMC tomorrow while Devin is doing
his tests. Hope so.

Thanks for checking on Devin and keeping him in
your thoughts and prayers. Please sign the
guestbook.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Well we made it through the 24th without the
law visiting our house...........yee haw!!
We weren't the only ones in our neighborhood
who had made the trek to Wyoming for illegal
fireworks.......hmmm. I was beginning to think
we were the only sinners in the neighborhood.
Guess not.

Things are going fine here. Devin is getting
very excited about back to school and that is
exciting to all of us. Last year was pretty
lame, so to think that this year there will be
GIRLS and more than 8 other kids in his class
is super exciting to him!! He found a super
cool backpack today and seems ready to go....
August 21st is the big day!!

Kara also got a new backpack, but is more interested
in getting signed up for horseback riding lessons
than worrying about school starting on Monday.
She's now convinced that she is a 'real cowgirl'
and needs her own horse. She has been searching
online and has even found some free ones in our
area; never mind that we have NO WHERE to put a
horse, no knowledge of horses and she hasn't done
the greatest job taking care of Maddie (HER dog).
She has her mind on horses and that is all there
is to it!!!

STILL no word from the gastro. I hope there was
nothing seriously wrong or we could have a real
issue here. I got the EOB from the insurance
company in the mail today...........this dr.
charges $200 for an office visit!?! Wonder
how much more I'll have to cough up to get him
to call me back??

FINALLY got the kids' report cards in the mail
TODAY. Not super great, but not horrible either.
I noticed they were printed on June 6th.....sure
must be some slow mail here in SLC, but just
glad to finally receive them!!! I needed Devin's
SAT and report card for the neuro-psych follow-up
on Tuesday. We're just checking to make sure
nothing 'falls through the cracks'.......he had
some issues on the first set of testing done
during 4th grade so this is a follow-up to see
if the chemo has continued to do damage. I'm
clueless as to what the tests will show, but the
dr. says we will get the results quick....how
exciting!!

Its been hotter than I can remember this summer
in SLC. We've had some 100 plus days which make
being outside pretty miserable. I am so glad
I don't have to be out in the heat of the day.

We took the kids to see Wall-E this afternoon.
We hadn't been to a movie in a long time and
everyone seemed to enjoy it. Devin complained
about going.......he thought he was 'too old'
for this Disney movie.........but I reminded
him of how Enchanted kept him in his seat
earlier in the year!!!

Thanks for checking in on Devin. Please sign
the guestbook, so he'll know you were here.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I'm getting to a point where I don't think about "our news"
anymore. I think we have given up on it happening and
are going about getting on with things. If you 'need'
to know what it was about, e-mail me privately and I
will fill you in..........there are reasons it was NOT
mentioned on here.

We had another fun weekend with GG visiting from OK.
We had planned to go to OK, but our friends at Delta
airlines think that RT tickets from SLC - OKC are
more valuable/expensive than a trip around the world,
so Grandma came to us!! We had fun and the trip went
by way too fast!!!! We're hoping to get out there
over fall break...

Devin and Kara are doing well. We went ahead and
enrolled Kara in the public school which backs our
house. She has gone there before, so should know
some kids. It is a year-around school, so I'm not
thrilled about that, but I just was not so happy
with the Lutheran school this last year. We still
have NOT received our report cards or SAT scores!!!
School has been out since the first week of June!!!
We did get an envelope from the school today...with
another kid's info.............wonder where my kids'
stuff is?

We've got Devin enrolled in a charter school for
math and science. He is super excited about starting
school on August 21st!!! He will be switching classes
and have lots of extra activities available through
the school.

We still haven't heard anything from the gastro. I
am beginning (no, not really beginning) to think the
dr. is a nutcase. He had ordered all those tests
through the pediatrician back the end of May....but
apparently never looked at any of them. ????What the
hell?? I mean my kid gets seven vials of blood drawn
for nothing it seems. AFTER I explained to him on
the 11th appt. that the tests he was talking about
doing had already been done he finally went and
looked them up...............AFTER he told me several
times how to do 'poop collection'............PC is
nothing new to me. I've collected my fair share and
then some.............and evidently this poor 'poop
dr' has no idea of the 'hats........designed especially
for this purpose'. So...........we did all the samples
and bloodwork a week ago this Monday and ARE still
waiting to get results on that...........I've called
his office a few times and still not having anyone
call me back. Let me assure you that I put on my
sweetest voice when I call.............I wonder if
the receptionist gives him any of his messages? I
am thinking the way to get results is to call the
pediatrician and have him contact the gastro.....?
Seems pretty backwards, but seems like backwards
and medical 'professional' sometimes go hand in hand.

Tomorrow is the big Mormon holiday....."Pioneer Day".
Its an excuse for our family to have friends over
and shoot off illegal fireworks!! Fireworks are
legal on 4th and 24th here, but unfortunately
illegal/bootleg fireworks are illegal all the time.
I am usually out of town for this holiday, but thanks
to high gasoline prices we are home. There is a
humongous parade downtown.........lucky for us its
on all the major networks ALL DAY tomorrow. People
treat it like the Macey's parade or Rose parade and
actually camp out for good spots. Not me....I'm not
one of the majority here and could care less about
their parade.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Thanks for
stopping in to check on Devin. Hopefully we will
get some answers soon on his gastro issues........I
mean I've already received the bills for some of
the tests done!!!!

Please sign the guestbook.

Monday 7-14-08

It was a busy weekend. We had loads of company
and very little sleep. We all had a good time!
We had visits from Randy's Aunt Anita and Uncle
Bud from Seattle, as well as some of his 'old'
friends from Idaho. It was a good weekend....

This morning didn't start off so well. I got a
knock at the door pretty early from my neighbors.
It was not good at all. She didn't know all of
the details, but the people who had lived in our
home before us had lost their eighteen year old
son yesterday. Evidently he became sick while
camping, was taken to a local ER, then died shortly
thereafter of a blood clot. This is a complete
shock.

As a parent, I think the worst thing you
can think of is to lose a child. As a cancer
parent somehow I never had death in the forefront
of my mind, but felt I was probably closer to
dealing with it...and perhaps even more prepared
for anything than others? I don't even know
if this makes sense. The suddeness of this
death I would imagine would just be even harder
to handle.

I told the kids. They had met Tyler a few times
and thought he was really nice. He was always
very kind to them in the brief encounters they
had. Devin was very shaken by this. He has
asked me numerous times if maybe he had had
cancer and no one knew it? Every time I think
he is not thinking about it he asks me some other
question that I really dont' have an answer for...
It has been a hard day in our neighborhood and
I'm sure hell for Tyler's family. Please say an
extra prayer or two for this family.

In lighter news, Devin did finally get in to see
the gastro dr. on Friday. It was an experience
to say the least. We finished up 5 vials of blood
testing and 'samples' this morning. The dr. is
thinking he is not absorbing vitamins and nutrients
from his food. We shall see.

Please remember our friends:


www.caringbridge.com/wi/benjamin

www.hadleyfox.com

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Here's some pictures from the 4th. We had fun.
Our old neighbors brought over their new puppy.
His name is Toby and he is tiny....I think he
is about 10 weeks old. He is a golden-doodle.


Devin & Uncle Sam


Maddie, Randy and "Toby"....Holly's new puppy




Devin lighting off fireworks


Maddie and Kara taking a swim


Devin & mom


My birthday fountain


Devin FINALLY has his gastro appt. tomorrow. Hopefully
we can get him figured out. He is having the same
problems since he is off of the steroids.....hmm.

Still hot as everything here. The kids have been
spending a lot of time swimming.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Happy Birthday to me!!

Yes, the mom of the house is wearing the birthday
crown today!!! Its been a good day and we're
planning on doing nothing but fun things all day!!

I have been showered with gifts from my family and
have been promised a trip to see one of my favorite
caringbridge kids later in the week..........life
is good around here!!

I'm so lucky to have two HEALTHY, happy kids. If
your kids are home with you safe and sound, don't
take it for granted. Our paper today lists a story
of a 7 year old shot in gang-related shooting while
playing in her own yard. Another story is about a
memorial for another 7 year old killed a few months
back in her own neighborhood. It doesn't take a
cancer diagnosis to change your life!! Hug your kids
a little tighter. There are no guarantees in this
life.

Thanks for the birthday wishes.............!!!!


Please say some extra prayers for our friends:

www.hadleyfox.com

www.caringbridge.com/wi/benjamin

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Mrs. Pam we received your box in today's mail. I'll
open it in the morning and let the kids have their
4th of July stuff. Thanks....

We've had an interesting day. Devin & Kara invited
a friend (Devin's) over to play yesterday. This
kid has never been to our house, yet was dropped
off. I always find this a little wierd........to
barely know someone, yet drop your kid and basically
run.

I didn't pay much attention and just let the kids
play. An hour or so later I noticed a bag in the
living room that contained a sleeping bag.....I
guess I still didn't clue in. I told myself it
was a prop for one of their videos they were making.

Joke was on me; about 8:30 I said we needed to figure
out how he was getting home. NO....he was planning
on spending the night. No one answered at his house
when I called. This morning I got up and told him
it was time to go. I was planning on driving him
back across town before I went to my 11am doctor's
appointment. He started saying that his mom and
dad weren't home and he couldn't be home alone.....

Randy came home and watched the kids while I ran to
the doctor.........While I was away our friend decided
he was some kind of computer guru and 'fixed' our computer;
wiping out some of our programs and all of our favorites.
No apology. No remorse.

Finally at 4pm mom shows up and innocently asks if they
had fun???? I told her what had happened and she said
she would have a talk with him. While I was telling her...
and I told her so her son wouldn't go home and tell her
how mean we were since we weren't exactly thrilled with
what had happened........this kid is ROLLING HIS EYES at
me!!!! Whew. Trying to get ready for our 4th party and
instead following the kids around waiting for him to
decide to 'fix' something else. Never a dull moment.

On a better note we have found a new school for Mr. Devin.
It is a charter school focused on math and science. He
took a math placement test a couple of days ago and did
VERY WELL!!!! The teacher was very impressed and said
he can begin the year in Algebra 2 if he wants to be
challenged! Devin is so excited. He hasn't even taken
Algebra 1 yet, so this is quite a jump!!! He has always
been good at math........takes after his dad!!

I hope you all have a very happy and safe 4th of July!!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Devin had a tremendously good time at camp. He
said it was his best year ever!!! It was so
good to seem him so happy and feeling so good
about his time there.


Devin & his counselor, Bill


Devin & his old friend, JT
JT is his cabin mate, Riley's brother

They did the usual camp stuff at teen camp, but
also did scuba diving, rock climbing and mountain
biking!! He said it was just so much fun. A
very busy and fun time! He said all of the boys
in his cabin were in his cabin last year too, so
he knew quite a few kids.


Devin & some of his nurse friends from camp


Little JT finished treatment in March

Kara is glad to have her brother back. She said
she didn't really miss him, but the two have been
inseperable since he came home. Its good to see
them playing so well together.


Dad, Kara & Devin


Devin & his memory box he made at camp


Thanks for checking on Devin and praying for his
continued remission.


Please say some extra prayers for
www.caringbridge.com/wi/benjamin

and

www.hadleyfox.com

Thanks

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I got Devin off to camp yesterday morning. He
looked so young compared to all those bigger
kids. He looked a little intimidated, but I
am sure he will be fine. He was just so excited
to be there.

While I was gone Randy made the calls for the
ortho docs. Our old neighbor works over at
TOSH and was able to help. She was able to
pull up the xrays and the original radiologist
notes. She also had a couple of other docs
read the xray for their impression........
result: growth plates!!! IF there is a break
it is a small hairline fracture........3 docs
agreed the split on the xray was a growth
plate. Whew.....that makes me feel better. I
was beginning to wonder if my whole family
was falling apart. She is supposed to keep
weight off of that side of her foot, but other
than that, she is good to go!!!

No other news here. Its officially summer time
with temps in the mid 90s. I am sure Kara will
be doing a lot of swimming now that she is off
the hook for that cast.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Kara had a great time at camp!!!! She was sad
to leave as this is her LAST year as a camper.
She told her counselors she would be back when
she is 15 as a CIT...counselor in training.



She said she met some really nice kids there;
one of them being a boy on treatment. He
kindof reminded me of Devin while he was on
treatment; patchy hair and prednisone face..
quite a cutie!! She said that she even danced
with him at their big dance.....wow!! I was
glad to see she made so many friends.



We drove home from camp and decided to take a
swim and just take it easy. We left dinner
plans up to Kara and she decided SHE would fix
us all sandwiches. She went inside and made
one of her specialties while the rest of us
waited outside on the patio. She brought the
first 2 sandwiches out fine...........the next
two.........BOOM!!!

She missed the next to last stair and fell.....
she did keep her arms up and kept the plates
from crashing, BUT she did break a bone on the
outside of her right foot. I am honestly
surprised it wasn't any worse.........I think
if she wouldn't have kept her arms up she
could have broken arms or wrists...or possibly
knocked out teeth. This is her first broken
bone.......HOPEFULLY her last. It truly was a
freak accident. I think if she hadn't of been
so tired from camp it wouldn't have happened...
but, that is why they call them accidents!!

We took her to an insta-care place on Friday
evening and the swelling was so bad that they
just put a temporary cast on it. We are to
call tomorrow and get her into the orthopedist
and see what they want to do with her......
hopefully just a solid cast. She's already
decided she wants a green one.



Needless to say this has put a damper on her
summer plans. She was supposed to start a
drama/dance camp tomorrow. Not going to happen!
Not only do they dance most of the day, but the
afternoon finishes up with swimming. I feel so
bad for her. She was really looking forward to
it. Hopefully her time as a patient will be
short-lived!!

Devin leaves in the morning for Camp Hobe. He is
so excited to be going to TEEN CAMP. We are going
to the store after while to get the rest of the
things he thinks he needs........snacks and silly
string. He is tapering off the steroids so hopefully
we can find enough shorts around here that fit to
get him through the week. He had gained 10 pounds
when he was at the pediatrician on Thursday!!! He
is NOT happy at all about that. I know how he feels
and I'm not even on steroids. You forget how crazy
steroids are when you havent' dealt with them for
awhile!!

We're having an early birthday party for Grandpa Ross
tonight at our house. His birthday is actually tomorrow,
but we wanted Devin to be home to celebrate. It is
nice and warm here so we are looking forward to eating
outside tonight!!

As soon as I can locate my camera I will download
some new pictures. Thanks for stopping by and signing
the guestbook.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The week has been quiet at our house. We'll
pick Kara up from camp tomorrow afternoon.
Devin will head to camp on Monday morning.

We've had fun having Devin by himself this
week. He finishes swimming lessons tomorrow.
He has really made improvements over the past
two weeks. His diving has really improved.

We spent the afternoon in the pediatrician's
office (again) today. He had fallen (again)
and we had to double check that he hadn't
broken anything else. It seems like anything
can happen these days.

We spent Tuesday afternoon up at PCMC seeing
the orthopedist. He said that Devin's bones
just seem to be having a hard time these days,
but we have to let him be a kid. He said
most likely we will be back in with another
broken bone within the next 3 months...not
so encouraging.

On a happier note, Devin got his new glasses
today. It took him quite awhile to pick out
something he liked, but here's the final
result:





I'm not so sure that Kara will recognize Devin with
the new haircut and glasses!!

Thanks for checking on Devin. Please sign the
guestbook.

Monday 6-16-08

We had a good weekend.

Sunday was all about DAD!!! We took him to
breakfast at Dennys, then packed a picnic
lunch and headed up to the mountains for
a hike. We finished up the day with a cook-out
at home and some swimming! We were busy!!



Kara spent last night getting her own things
together for camp. She did a very good job
packing and getting ready. Surprisingly she
wasn't interested in taking too many extra
things. I was impressed. She was soooooooo
excited to be going to camp without Devin.
He is going next week to TEEN CAMP.....hmmm.


Devin & Kara THIS MORNING before camp


Kara....happy on the top bunk!

This morning I dropped Kara off at KID camp
while Randy took Devin to swimming and tennis
lessons. He's been doing swimming lessons since
getting out of school, but just started tennis
today. Afterwards Randy decided to take Devin
in for a haircut. Whoa..........


Devin and the new do...looks like dad got his money's worth


Devin was NOT too happy with the cut.....

Tomorrow Devin has his ortho appointment. I have a
feeling he is going to get chewed out by the doctor
for all the crazy things he continues to do....we
shall see. I'm just hoping we don't find out any
surprise news........

He's started the taper for the steroids and back
to the same old habits. I guess we will be seeing
the pediatrician again before camp since the gastro
can't seem to find a spot for him before the end
of July. I think the steroids helped for awhile
at the higher dose, but this lesser dose just isn't
cutting it.

Thanks for stopping by. Please sign the guestbook.

Friday, June 13, 2008

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. The kind of
overwhelmed that makes you stop asking what next.

The kids officially started summer vacation
this week. We've also started swimming lessons;
which are going fine........even though Devin
thinks I have ruined his life by scheduling them
at 9am.........I'm really convinced that one day
he will thank me for not allowing him to sleep
his summer away.

We went to physical therapy (finally) yesterday at
8AM for his foot. I was half tempted to cancel the
appt. I had made so long ago, but stopped myself
when I thought of how it would look when I took
him back to the ortho.....I certainly didn't want
to get the bad mother award for just deciding on my
own what was best for my schedule. Sooooooooo
glad I didn't cancel. The PT is worried about his
leg..........AND BOTH of his feet!! He is showing
signs of MORE nerve damage..........from chemo
no less. We've got a list of 5 intense exercises
twice a day and an appt. to come back next week.
The PT also wants Dev in for another xray BEFORE
he leaves for camp on the 23rd....

I called PCMC's ortho dept as soon as we got home
from swimming lessons...around 10am. Of course
they were busy. I knew they were busy before I
called. I knew they'd have to take my information
and "call me back".........I knew it was probably
hopeless calling up there, but then again, everytime
I get that feeling I just picture that sign so
proudly displayed on the entrances of the hospital...

"The Child First and Always"..........except when we
are busy or need to take a lunch break.

The super-busy gal NEVER returned my call. Never
just told me to suck it up, or call someone else...
I guess that is for me to figure out today, after
waiting patiently all of yesterday.

It makes one feel a little defeated.

Two bad news, chemo will haunt you for the rest
of your life, issues in less than a week!! I
just don't understand. I feel the need to be
mad, but am just too scared to be mad. I'm
thankful the 20 pills Devin has been taking for
his Crohns flare up have now been reduced to
18 and seem to be helping.........but at what
cost? The poor kid just needs a chance to be
a kid.......without wondering what bone is going
to break next or where the closest bathroom is.
I just feel so bad for him because all the dreams
and hopes I had for him are seeming to disinegrate...
there will always be the big question as to what might
have been while we put back the pieces of what he
has been left with...........we are scared. We
try hard not to let it show, but its always there.
If its not the fear of a relapse, its the fear of
what the chemo has done. Who knew almost 3 years
(9-17-08) after ending chemo he would still continue
to have so many issues?

Thanks for listening. Gotta get ready for swim
lessons.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Back online again!!! Hopefully we are fixed
for good this time....we have a new spyware
that is supposed to keep us better protected.

Devin's meds are helping him keep more food
down. He said he still hurts, but not nearly
as bad. This is good.

Kara's procedure went well yesterday. Its much
easier going through the RTU (Rapid treatment unit)
than the OR..........whew. That was a lot of
waiting!!

After we finished up at the hospital we met Devin
and Randy over at the water park for the last day
of school. It was TOO COLD to be there, so we
didn't stay long. The kids enjoyed their time
there and no chance of sunburn.........just a dark
and dreary day.

Finally warmed up a little today. Maybe 70 or so....
still not summer type weather. We had Randy's
parents over for dinner tonight; an early Father's
Day dinner. They will be gone on vacation next
week so we celebrated tonight.

Devin's eye appointment on Thursday went well. The
health of his eyes is great. I learned something
new; kids/people who take steroids for prolonged
periods of time are more at risk for developing
cataracts early. So far though everything looks
good. He DOES need glasses, so we will be getting
those shortly. The doctor also recommended getting
his eyes checked every 6 months simply to keep tabs
on the health of his eyes. Sounds like a plan.

Not much other news here. Just good to be back
online. I feel like I'm really missing out when
I can't get online and look things up and check
on our friends.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a message.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

We spent yesterday morning at the pediatrician's
office. He, in turn, called the gastro to see
why in the world nothing could be done for Devin
before July 11th. The doctor evidently has his
calls screened by the receptionist and only gets
about every 30th message or so...we were supposed
to be seen in his office this week or next...this
is what the gastro told the pediatrician, but the
receptionist called today and actually offered me
an appointment in LATE JULY..............he is
scheduled for July 11th. Guess I'll have to get
the ped. to call the gastro again and explain
what is going on with his front office.

Anyway, the drs talked and started Devin back on
steroids along with 2 other kinds of pills. He
went to the lab and had about every type of blood
test done. I know they are mainly concerned with
blood loss and liver functions.......from what I
could hear of their conversation. Devin has lost
4 lbs in the past week and a half. I think I
found the weight :)

Today is the kids' official last day of school. I
am so glad. Devin's teacher wrote me a nasty note
in his 'conduct folder' last night about how she
had been inconvenienced all year with Devin's appointments.
Gosh, I hate that. Devin and I have had SO MUCH FUN
driving all over town to see different specialists and
try out new drugs and therapies. Her inconvenience
just makes me want to slap her!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be
assured I wrote her a sweet note back. Does she
honestly think Devin enjoys this life??? Wondering
if he can eat today since he is going to be at school?
Wondering which bone is going to break without much
effort? Wondering if he'll need another blood transfusion?
Wondering if you'll get the thrill of another colonoscopy
over summer vacation? The fun just never ends.........nor
do the medical bills.

I finally got a call from Kara's neuro regarding the
injections. He found her a spot in the regular O.R.
for tomorrow morning. She has been having way too
much pain and just falling asleep anytime she gets
still. This is all from that minor accident back in
August of 2006!!! What a mess that turned out to be.

Still waiting for our news. I know this may not sound
like that good of an update. I feel bad that Devin's
teacher has tried so hard to make him feel like a freak
all year..........but honestly, we are the ones that
really deal with all of the baggage that cancer forced
into his life and we're (meaning DEVIN) are not complaining..too much anyway. We are just so thankful
that the chemo/radiation gave him a second chance at
a somewhat normal life......we'll deal with things as
they come our way.............this is a big reason we
are sooooooooo interested in money for cancer research.
These problems that Devin (and so many others) are
experiencing are direct results of toxic chemotherapy...
if we can cure male pattern baldness surely there has
got to be a CURE on the horizon for the big C. A cure
that doesn't leave you with so many problems...

Please pray for Hadley. www.hadleyfox.com

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Devin has new symptoms. I am trying to get him
into the pediatrician today.

He has an appt. with an opthalmologist tomorrow
afternoon.

Kara is still falling asleep any time she gets
still. I'm STILL waiting for the neurologist
to get back with her appointment. She hasn't
been this bad in a long time.

We have no computer access at home so I
will update again when I can.

Please pray for Hadley..
www.hadleyfox.com

Please sign the guestbook.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Things seem crazy here. Everything is up in the air
awaiting 'our news'. Everything. I feel like my
entire life is on hold. Even simple things like
buying groceries have become too thought involved.

Devin is having quite a battle with his ailments. He
is having s much trouble with his stomach. It makes
me wonder if he really is going to outgrow the crohns...
its certainly better than 'c', but its not any fun;
especially for a kid. He is now refusing to eat unless
he is home. That means no breakfast or lunch...or
anything until he gets home from school is out. Luckily
school is done this week..............yeah!!
(Gastro appt is July 11th)

He's also had sudden vision changes that hopefully
are just related to his age. (Try having a kid on
chemo for 2 years and making yourself believe that)
He is fine with his close vision, but distance is
a different story. Also, more migraine-type headaches..
probably at least one a week!! Ouch.

The foot is healing nicely. He hasn't listened to
the doctor (or me) about being careful. He still
seems to think he is invincible...........he gave
up 'the boot'....too hot for this time of year. The
doctor said a couple of weeks would probably be
good, so at least he did that. He starts physical
therapy on June 12th.

Randy turned 42 yesterday. He's been in San Francisco
the past few days. The kids and I had an early party
for him before he left and will have another for
him when he gets back tomorrow.

Please go by and offer some support to our friend, Hadley. www.hadleyfox.com

Gotta run, Kara just called from school and is sick
and needs to be picked up. The fun never ends.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Randy decided at the last minute that he was taking
off work to enjoy the long weekend. I got some last
minute cancellations on some rooms and we headed down
south to Zion National Park.


Devin and Kara.....doing a little hiking.


Kara, Devin & Randy at Zions


D & K on hotel grounds

On Sunday night we spent the night in cabins on the
other side of the park. We were able to go horse-
back riding for the first time. Devin liked it, but
Kara LOVED it!!

Devin on "Moe"


Kara riding "Steel"

On Monday we drove up to Bryce National Park. Its more
like the Grand Canyon........you have to hike down, then
come back up.


Dev at Bryce Canyon


Kara, Randy & Devin down in the canyon...


Bryce Canyon


D & K


Tree growing up the canyon


Back at the top of Bryce Canyon

We had a good time getting away. Now its back to the
waiting game again for 'our news........It is maddening
to not know what is going on and hard to plan out the
summer....

Yesterday the kids participated in Field Day with the
other local Lutheran schools. They both came home with
ribbons and a little sunburn!! Yesterday was a perfect
day to be outside........I think we may get more rain
today.

This afternoon President Bush is flying into SLC.
Hopefully we'll be able to catch a glimpse of Air Force
One as it flys over.........he's supposed to be headed
up to Deer Valley to Mitt Romney's mansion.......If we
had an extra $70,000 we could go see him!!! Guess I
will hold onto my money.......

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Still no news. I think we are getting closer
though.

Devin was in a lot of pain with his arm. Too much.
He is not a complainer, so when he cries we listen.
I called the ER on Friday morning for 'follow up'..
they wanted nothing to do with any type of follow up,
regardless of what their discharge papers said. They
told me if we were worried to take him to the pediatrician.

Off to Dr. Valentine's we went.........turns out Dr. V
was concerned too. He immediately took off the temporary
cast and sent Devin for another x-ray. The x-ray of the
bones was good, but the cast had been on too tight and
was cutting off his circulation into his hand and causing
A LOT of fluid to build up in his arm. It looked very
strange........a very large area on his lower arm that
was full of fluid.

Devin is now in an ace bandage wrap and sling. To get
the fluid down we wrap and un-wrap several times a day.
He is doing lots better. He was able to play bells
yesterday in church and swim (no its not THAT warm)
yesterday afternoon. He is starting to put some weight
on his foot without pain, so that is good too. Hopefully
he can ditch 'the boot' after this week.


Only 3 more weeks of school..........we are so ready to
be done!!!!!

Thanks for your prayers for Devin and our family.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Still waiting, but getting closer.

I took Devin up to his orthopedist yesterday. He
wants to keep him in the boot awhile longer, but
said the xrays were looking better. No skateboarding
or trampoline until at least 6 weeks off of the boot...
plus he wants him in physical therapy for awhile. He
said the break is in a tricky area right by the growth
plate.

So much for staying off of the skateboard..........
Randy and I had a babysitter tonight so we could go
out.........this doesn't happen very often. We had
been gone about 20 minutes when we got a call from
Devin saying he thought he had broke his arm.....
doing what? Skateboarding.

We rushed home and took him to the closest ER rather
than driving up to PCMC for a 7 hour wait. After about
an hour and a half we are home. No break; surprised us,
Devin and the doctor. It is very swollen and very sore
so they put him in a temporary cast and sling to keep
it still. He will be in this 4-5 days then re-checked.
The cast is up above his elbow and down over his fingers..
there is no chance of using a pencil or typing on the
internet....!

He is quite a site with his walking boot and cast and
sling on the right side of his body. Devin is NOT a
happy camper!!! He was supposed to go to Lagoon tomorrow
with his class and of course now he isn't going.....it
was questionable at best, but for sure he is home
and not trying to figure out a way to break something
else!!

I am just dumbfounded with his bones. It almost seems
like they are getting worse rather than better. Just one
of many side effects of two years of chemotherapy I
guess.

Thanks for keeping Devin is your prayers as he recuperates.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Lynn, I am beginning to think you may be right.
If it was in my nature to give up, I would give
up right now. We are a bit underwhelmed/overwhelmed
or something.

Other news:

Devin fell last night and hurt his foot. We tried
to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was still
in pain this morning when he woke up. I called up
to PCMC..............you know, where "The Child is
first and always.....", but they couldn't get him in
until Tuesday. They also told me NOT to go to the ER
because they only had one doctor there and that dr.
was too busy already.............

Makes one feel important!!

I called the pediatrician and he got us right in....
Diagnosis: Broken fibula (the smaller bone)

He is now in a walking boot..........we go to PCMC on
Tuesday..... hmmmmm..........that place drives me nuts!!

The kids got out of school early today........their school
is in Murray, UT and it is "David Archuleta Day" in the
state. David is a student at the high school which is
basically across the street. The school was basically
evacuated due to traffic control...........a little wierd!!

Needless to say we are not fighting the crowds to catch
a glimpse of "Utah's Idol".......especially with Dev's
current status...........

Does the fun ever end around here? I think not. Like
I said, I am just over the top overwhelmed.

Thanks for your prayers for Devin and 'our news'.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

We are still waiting. Maybe tomorrow.

It has been nice here so we have been busy
in the yard. Tonight we planted geraniums,
lobelia and marigolds in our front yard.
We're still trying to figure out what to
do in the backyard.

Devin had a fun field trip today to the
space center over by Provo. His class went
last year and had a great time, so he was
really looking forward to it.

Hopefully I'll have some big news very soon.

Thanks for checking on us.

Friday, May 2, 2008

I guess I shouldn't have said anything. We
still haven't heard anything. I am about to
go nuts with the waiting and anticipation.

I just really thought we would know something
by now......

The kids program was good last night. Devin
was playing the bells and Kara was singing.
They both did a great job. Wishing I had my
camera with me, but it is in Randy's truck
out at the airport........he will be home
in a bit.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

It's 10am and I still have NO NEWS. My heart
feels like it could beat out of my chest!! I
will be glad when this is out in the open and
I can talk about it............IF it goes the
way I want.

Originally we were supposed to find out on Friday..
when that didn't happen we decided to take some
friends up on an offer to meet them up at their
cabin on Friday evening....(kids were out of
school on Thursday)

We drove up to Duchesne (pronounced Dew-shane)
on Friday afternoon and had a good time. Randy
had tons of work on his brain; plus our pending
situation and so we headed back home on Saturday
afternoon. Kara wanted to stay and come home
later in the day so we agreed to that......

I came home and did yardwork the rest of Saturday,
while Randy worked all day. About 4:30 I got a
call from my friend that Kara was throwing up
(and throwing up and throwing up) Needless to
say they had a fun 120 mile trip back to SLC!!
Kara was very sick. No fevers; but couldn't keep
anything down!!! Sunday I woke up not feeling so
great....by afternoon I was throwing up as well.
It was not fun. Luckily Randy and Devin seemed
to avoid the gunk.....

Kara finally was able to go back to school today.
She had an eye that started looking pink on Monday
night. I had an appt. for her yesterday afternoon
thinking she might be getting pink-eye, but it
cleared up about an hour before our 2:40 appt....
thank goodness for that!! She seemed good this
morning and actually got AHEAD on her homework!!!
She was working really hard on it last night...
which is NOT her style at all!! She does not
give a lot of effort toward school-work, just
socializing!!

Randy's got 2 trips this week. He had to travel
to Alabama yesterday to testify as an 'expert
witness' in a trial this morning. He flies back
through SLC for a few hours this evening, then on
to Reno for some schmoozing with clients........
I'm really kindof nervous for him to go there with
the recent earthquake and wildfires in the area...
but he'll be gone less than 24 hours before he
is back.

I 'think' he misses the kids' singing performance
for school tomorrow night. It is the Strawberry
Festival at their school. I know Kara is excited
to sing...............Dev, not so much.

It finally looks like spring here. I drive by my
old house about every day and the creeping phlox
looks sooooooo beautiful!! Lots of tulips out
over there and finally starting to see some
bulbs pop out over here as well. The new yard
is a bit of a surprise to us...

Thanks for stopping by.......I'm hoping, HOPING
to get my positive news on here soon...

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

This is going to be a half-hearted attempt at an
update. We have A LOT going on at our house....
nothing I can share right now, but hopefully by
the end of the week. There is lots of excitement
and nervousness in the air!!! I am keeping my
thoughts to myself in order to satisfy my
superstitious self.............

Just pray that things will work out for our
family. We are soooooooo excited about all
of the possibilities dancing around in our
heads!! Each and every one of us is having
trouble sleeping and thinking of anything
else!!!

Devin is doing great!! He got his FIRST
cavity filled earlier this week....he was
a little down about having a cavity, but
dad said he did enjoy that nitrous...

I got an e-mail yesterday about an upcoming
event to benefit Camp Hobe
It is a breakfast on May 3rd from 8:30 - 10:30
at the Great Harvest in Taylorsville. All money
goes to Camp Hobe.

Thanks for stopping by..........I'm hoping to
have some news to report soon.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

First off:







Sorry for the he delay in updates. Things have
been hectic around here. We were supposed to
go to Las Vegas and meet up with Rosi and Kenny,
but landed up not being able to go; too many
unexpected expenses, sick kids and SAT testing
at school. Hopefully things are on the way up now.

My dad is awful. He is still in the hospital and
really not expected to get any better or even go
home. He has had some new MRIs done that show
more damage to his frontal lobe. The outlook is
not good and the possibility of him living at home
is pretty non-existent. I am usually a pretty
optimistic person, but I am not feeling that way
about my dad. I have spoken with him and he is
just not right to say the least. I have not had
a close relationship with him until these past
few years and I feel like that has been taken
away from me. I wonder how much he realizes
since he does have moments of lucidity. My
brain is not handling this very well.

The rental business is NOT going so well. We've
received the first 2 payments LATE. When we went
out of town a few weeks ago I received a call
regarding an outlet that needed to be changed
in the laundry room..............well, the
tenant said he "would normally change it, but
thought he should ask me first......" WELL,
that is what he told me..........I sent my
repair/handyman over there and the tenant
admitted to him that he had attempted to change
the plug from 110 to 220 and blown out his dryer
and cut off electricity to the laundry room and
part of the kitchen.................aaagghhhhhhhh
This crap went on for over a week trying to get
an electrician over the house on their time
schedule...................the re-wiring has
been done now.........but what a damn mess!!
Both the handyman and the electrician said it
was very lucky he didn't blow himself and/or
the house up!!!!!

While we were over at the house......(it is
very clean inside)........we noticed the back
deck has been coated in salt...(the kind you
melt snow and ice) Soooooooooo, the deck
that we had refinished last May is now all
knicked up. I guess since we specifically
told them NOT to put salt on the driveway and
sidewalks they figured the wood deck was okay...
????????????????? Aaaghhhhh....

Oh, and the weather finally got nice enough that
the brick mason could finish the mailbox that was
knocked down back in December...........so more
$$$$$$$$$$$ out the door. It has been an
unprofitable month in the rental business.......

Devin had his final xray on his knee on Tuesday...
everything looks perfect!! Like I said, things
are beginning to look up!! If we can just make
it through this school year I am confident that
things are really going to improve. I am so
sick of the nagging crap from the school I could
scream.............I haven't heard a positive
word about anything from the school in I don't
know when.......the kids are done on June 5th...
so we are on the downhill...........

Lots of miscellaneous stuff going on with Kara
right now. Too much for my brain to explain
right now. She is still having a lot of pain,
getting in trouble at school (talking mostly)
and just lacking in motivation. We are taking
several different approaches into shaping her
up. It has not been an easy road.

Enough rambling on. I will try and get around to
check on our CB friends. I have just been on a
CB break for awhile, trying to get my thoughts in
order. Thanks for checking on us!! We appreciate
your thoughts and prayers.

I'll try and talk to you soon Rosi. Sorry I missed
your phone call Kathy...Good to catch up some with
you Mary. Thanks for calling Sheila....Hope you
enjoy your company GG!! Hope you have a good
birthday Mrs. Pam!!! Tammy...maybe I can catch
up with you one of these days...didn't want to
call while your kids were on spring break.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Devin remains in remission!!! We are free for
another 6 months........what a relief!! The dr.
had me scared for a bit. New studies are showing
that these Lymphoma/Leukemia kids are coming up
with thyroid problems.......from one of the chemo
drugs. I didn't dare ask which one. They will
begin checking his thyroid each time he gets blood
drawn. The dr. also said that Devin has strikes
against him since he has the Crohns and a family
history of thyroid disease.

Long story short, everything is fine. The cyst
that scared us to death in September is the same
size. All blood counts were within normal range;
thyroid was good. Dr. Barnette thinks that his
immune system just isn't back up to normal and
that is why he is getting sick so often. He also
said that people sending their kids to school sick
wasn't doing Devin any favors......

Randy is still sick. He has just worked part-time
this week. He has been coming home every day at
lunch and falling asleep. Poor guy has been
coughing his brains out!! We just can't seem to
all be well at the same time around here.

My dad is worse again. I think they moved him to
the VA home too soon. I talked with his nurse
last week and he was falling every time he got up,
confused, etc.. He was transferred back to the
hospital earlier this week. I am wondering if it
is the keppra that is causing him so many problems.
They switched him off of the other seizure med
and started him on keppra and he just hasn't
been the same. Very confused. I haven't been
able to talk to him since he is in the hospital.
I'm hoping to get some answers today.

Thanks for checking in on Devin and our family.
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Its back to school today. Kara had a good birthday,
despite the chicken pox!! Nothing seems to get that
kid down. She had A LOT of spots, but seems good to
go now. Thanks to benadryl she wasn't overly itchy.

Dev's spots were here one day...gone the next. If
they were the pox, it was indeed a light case. I
guess he's entitled to catch a break every now and
then....

We decided to go on a mini-trip while the kids
were out of school; once everyone was well.....
I woke up Thursday with horrible ear pain and
SPOTS AGAIN..........inner ear infection in both
ears..........the dr. I saw was clueless and said
the spots were probably from my fever??? (First
time I broke out in spots from a 100 degree fever)

Anyway, we left anyway and went on another trek into
Nevada in search of ghost towns. We found a few...
some old mining towns, old mine shafts and even
part of the old Pony Express trails. It was nice
to get away. The ear infections made the ride seem
sooooooo quiet.......I think I hear about 20% of
what is said right now.

Yesterday we drove into Great Basin National Park
and went on the Lehman Caves tour. The kids liked
that. Randy would have liked it better if he too
wasn't getting sick..........he is horrible today.
We just can't seem to get rid of our gunk around
here!

I messed up and re-scheduled the kids dentists
appointments on the same day as Devin's oncology
appt...........tomorrow. I didn't figure this
out until I listened to the answering machine
this morning.........it should be a busy day!!!
I absolutely dread going into oncology. I have
so many questions and am just hoping they give
me the answers I WANT to hear. I haven't told
Dev yet that he is going...........he gets
super anxious about these appointments. No reason
for all of us to be so on edge. Please say a
prayer that he continues to be in remission.

My dad is bad. He had a fall a few weeks ago
due to a seizure and we about lost him. He is
out of the hospital and back in the VA home right
now. He is not making any sense. I am very
worried about him too.

Here are some pictures from the last week or so.
Thanks for checking in on Devin.
Pony Express Trail



Devin and Kara


Inside the cave
Cave picture


Devin in one of his new birthday shirts from Rosi & Kenny

Please sign the guestbook so we'll know who is
checking the site.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I woke up this morning to SNOW and a son with
SPOTS.

The pediatrician said it was a possibility....a
slim possibility. I've always said that Devin
is one in a million.

Not only has this kid had BOTH chicken pox vaccines,
a horrible reaction to the 2nd vaccine (last year)
He now has a *small* case of the pox.

I did my parental duty and phoned the school this
morning to let them know Devin had spots and
would NOT be there. About a half hour later his
teacher called to request that I bring his homework
that is due today to school so that she can finalize
grades...........and...........he needs to come to
school next Tuesday (spring break) and take a couple
of tests. Fun.

Here in a bit I'll load up the kids and take the
homework up to the school. Kara, especially, is
not supposed to be around people. Gas is over
$3.00 a gallon. Needless to say I am thrilled to
make these extra trips. It could always be worse
though. Been there, done that.

Devin is due for his scans and stuff this month.
This is the longest he has gone......6 months.
Hopefully we can get that done next week....if
everyone is looking better.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I've been grounded.
Maybe I should say Kara has been grounded.

I took her to the doctor this morning due
to an accident where she hurt her neck at
school yesterday. Her neck is okay...sore,
but okay. (She just had injections again
on Friday) The doctor noticed a spot on
her, which led to another spot.....which
led to the mysterious rash that popped up
yesterday on her chest..........(we thought
maybe it was new soap/bubblebath/??)

Nope, Chicken Pox!!!

Lovely. No school this week. No church on
Easter Sunday/her 10th birthday. No sleepover
party this weekend.

Its been so hectic around here that I just have
to laugh it off. Things could be soooooooooo much
worse, but its just incredible that its just one
thing after another continuously. I guess that is
life? I still need to get Devin in for his oncology
appt. this month. In my spare time I will do that.

Dev's birthday was good. He got soooooooo much stuff.
I think his favorite was his 'video camera'. I can't
remember the name of it, but its a small camera that
is supposed to be especially useful in connecting for
his many (too many) youtube videos........he is quite
the filmmaker.

We had a good time with GG. The time went way too fast,
but luckily we had healthy kids and good weather while
she was here. I've got some pictures to download...
maybe I'll get to that in the next little bit.

Thanks for your prayers for our friends. Mrs. Pam's step-son
is out of surgery and recuperating:
visit/ericfinch
www.hadleyfox.com


Please sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, March 13, 2008

He is finally feeling better and hopefully going to
school today (Thursday).

GG got here this morning. Devin has been working on
homework........lots and lots of it. I'm hoping
he can get caught up so he can enjoy his birthday
'weekend'........for whatever reason there is NO
school on Friday!!!! I'm sure we will find something
fun to do if he continues to feel better.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Randy is finally feeling better. Just as he gets
better Devin starts running 103 temperature....
I actualy think he is feeling better today. He
is doing anything, but he is awake. The first
two days he slept non-stop through everything!!

We have a surprise visitor coming out on Wednesday
morning; Grandma Gwen!! I hope everyone is well
by then. She'll be out just in time to celebrate
Devin's 12th birthday. She'll have to leave just
before Kara's 10th.

Rosi: Devin got a package from you in the mail
yesterday, but will wait until his birthday to
open it. He hasn't felt good enough the past
few days to even want to open anything.....

Hope everyone else out there is doing okay. I
know there is LOTS of sickness going around.

Thanks for checking in on Devin.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeff!!

Things are okay here. We were able to have
a relaxing weekend. Randy took his dad, Devin
and one of Devin's friends to the car show on
Sunday after church. Devin LOVES car shows!!

Kara and I went to see Penelope while they were
gone. We both liked it pretty good. Kara loves
going to the movies.

Monday night we went down to the Delta Center, whoops..
its not called that anymore....."Energy Solutions
Arena" and watched the Jazz vs. Dallas. It was
our first NBA game to go to this year. We had not
such great seats, but it is just so exciting to be
there in person!! We went specifically for Monday's
game because at half-time a check was presented to
Camp Hobe from the Utah Jazz....almost $7000 !!!

Randy is sick now and running lots of fever. I'm
hoping to avoid the rest of us catching anything.
It seems like we have all had way too much 'junk'
this year.

Mrs. Pam, we got your box yesterday...........it
is HEAVY!! I guess we'll wait until the 13th
to open it....right now it is keeping Willie off
of the couch!! He can't get it through his head
that the couch is NOT his!!

Thanks for stopping by. We appreciate your
prayers and well wishes.

Please pray for our friends. www.hadleyfox.com

Monday, February 25, 2008

Whew!! Finally an update.

We have been busy around here. Busy going to the
doctor that is. I was sick for almost 2 weeks.
Every time I thought I was getting better, I would
get another symptom. At one point they thought I
had chicken pox..........but after a trip to the
dermatologist they decided it was one of those
"unknown, unidentified viruses".....technical speak
for we don't know. Please don't forget to pay us
your co-pay on the way out.

Devin has been sick more than he should. He'll have a
couple of good days, then wake up with fevers and throwing
up. He has missed days of school with viral/stomach
issues for the past 2 weeks. No rhyme or reason; he'll
be fine one minute and throwing up the next. Too much of
it!! I guess the only positive thing is he seems to have
a couple of good days before it starts all over again.
He's due back in oncology, so hopefully they can get him
figured out. His immunity seems horrible right now.

Kara missed a day last week with neck/head pain. It
seems we can always figure when its been three months
since her last injections. Neurology will administer the
shots AGAIN on March 18th. I *think* the kids are out
of school starting spring break then. Other than pain
issues, she has been well.

Devin has had school issues. He is doing well academically, but just doesn't have motivation or
interest. He thought he wanted to change schools..
but after some long thought he has decided to stay put.
I'm not sure exactly what he thinks he wants, but
just wish we could make him excited about school. He
loves his friends there, but just seems to always be
looking for more. Sometimes I think he is too grown up
for his own good. He seems to worry about things that
he shouldn't be thinking about at almost 12.......I've
said it before, but cancer really grows these kids up
too fast.

Out of the clear blue I got a call from his ortho's office.
I had about given up on hearing from them. I had called
numerous times about getting Devin cleared for skiing,
but never heard back.........well, as of last Monday he
is cleared for skiing. We had to buy another brace for
him to wear, but if he stays well he can go. He is
excited, but now tells me he wants to try snowboarding....
nope, wasn't part of the deal. I'd much rather him be
on skis, since he at least has the concept down!! Truth
be told, I'd prefer he stay home in his bubble wrap suit
where I can keep an eye of him!!

Thanks for checking in on Devin.

Please sign the guestbook.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The kids are doing well. They received 2 V-day
packages yesterday, so they have been keeping busy.
Thanks Pen Pals, Mrs. Pam and Rosi!! That candy was
delicious!!

I haven't been feeling good for awhile. I went to the
dr. earlier this week, thinking I had been dealing with
a sinus infection for the past 3 weeks. Instead I found
out it was a migraine. The dr. gave me a shot, gave me
some new meds and sent me on my way. On Friday I started
feeling bad again. Yesterday was miserable. I can relate
Mrs. Pam!! I have been in bed for the past 24 hours.
Randy took me to the insta-care this morning and after
several hours of waiting we found out I have the adno?
virus? The dr. said I should be feeling more like normal
by Wednesday or so................yuck!!

We've actually had a break from the snow storms. We can
finally see our street after it being covered with snow
for weeks..............I don't think we had seen it yet
this year!! Kara is supposed to be going skiing with
the school tomorrow. It has been cancelled the past
3 weeks, due to too much snow for ski school. Dev is
wanting to go, but he hasn't been released yet by the his
ortho..........the PT said he could PROBABLY go IF he
wore a brace. We are still waiting to hear from the dr...
Honestly I am hoping it is a no go for him. It just makes
me so nervous for him to get hurt again.

Randy and Dev are gone now to the RV show. They are
both sooooooooo excited. They are both so into rv's and
such. I told Randy he better not bring home any toys!

Congrats to Lynn on her new grandson. He is a cutie.
Glad he is here safe and sound!!

Mrs. Pam get to feeling better.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Snow, snow and more snow!!!!!!!!!

We got a foot at our house Sunday!!!

Needless to say we shoveled for HOURS
before we could get out of the driveway!!
Sunday was one of those days that we were
wishing we had a snowblower..........or a few
more kids to help shovel!!

The kids are doing well. No one is sick
at the moment. It seems like we have had
someone sick every week here lately.

The renters are moving in today! We are
through shoveling over there. The weather
man is forecasting MORE SNOW for us throughout
the week. If anyone needs a place to ski, I
highly recommend Utah!!

Here's some pictures of our snow from yesterday.


Our snowman!!


Front of the house; looking east


Front/side of house....

Thursday, January 31, 2008

It has been busy here.

I did take Devin to the pediatrician on Monday morning. He was so sick all Sunday and Monday. He was running fever, still throwing up and just miserable. The dr. checked him out and just scratched his head. He did say
it was NOT the flu that Kara had the week before, but something to do with his intestines. Not quite sure if it was something with the Crohns, or some type of virus that was affecting his stomach. Either way, it was something that only time and a very bland diet would solve. The dr. did give him some anti-nausea meds and told him to stay home. He gave him an OK on his chest and said unless his cough worsened that a chest x-ray wasn't warranted.

Monday and Tuesday were spent with Dev in bed. He did get up in the evening and worked on homework that Kara had so kindly brought home for him. He was worried about being sick because the big spelling bee was Wednesday night. He did NOT want to miss that!!

Wednesday morning we got a call from the school saying that if Devin did NOT get to school by noon that he would not be allowed to participate in the spelling bee. I explained to his teacher that he did want to be in the spelling bee, but was trying to save his energy to participate. Nope.


Devin was livid!! He felt awful, but did NOT want to miss the bee. I explained that he did NOT need to go, but he insisted. He barely scraped into school by noon; sharing his hacking cough with all his friends.

We had to drive clear across town last night for the spelling bee. He felt very confident going in and survived until about the 5th round. The word he missed:

H I A T U S


He spelled it with a Y. I thought he was going to cry.
No trophy for Devin. He was sooooooo disappointed. He
did get a participation certificate; which he refers to
"as just a piece of paper". There is always next year!!

Kara was sooooo sweet to Devin last night. She was so sure that he was going to win. She just kept telling him how proud she was of him and how well he did. If I remember correctly he outspelled 32 other spellers from at least 4 other area schools. So he did do well.

Kara is feeling better. Still on antibiotics, but starting to get more energy.

We're expecting MORE snow tonight. Hopefully we only
have to shovel at the other house one more time before the tenants move in and take over. They are planning on moving in on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

What a day!! Kara woke up this morning with a
throbbing, very red ear. When she sat up in bed
I could see that she also had a very swollen face.
She had been up in the night with the pain, so there
was no more putting it off. We made a trip to the
insta-care.

After waiting in a roomful of VERY sick people she
was finally seen. The dr. said her ear was really
infected and had a lot of wax build-up. He put her
on augmentin and also some ear drops. She already
seems to be feeling better.

When we arrived back home Devin was STILL asleep.
I got him up and he got dressed and ready for our
day. I got lunch fixed and he refused to eat. I
figured he just didn't want what I had fixed, but
before long I heard him in the bathroom throwing up.
The past few hours have been a mix of throwing up,
sleeping and throwing up some more. He's got about
100 degree fever, but no other symptoms. He is an
old pro at being sick, but it doesn't mean he likes
it. Anytime he gets this sick we all just seem to
hold our breath. Too much like the old days.

I'm hoping he doesn't have to make a rush trip to
the dr. today. I'd rather him see his regular
pediatrician tomorrow if at all possible. He is
just so much more familiar with Devin's past history.
It seems like after your kid has gone through sooooo
much that any time you have to explain everything to
a new doc that you are exhausted by the time it is
all over. Plus you get the real feeling that the
new dr. thinks you might be a bit over-protective
and NOT take things as seriously as you would like.

No new snow this weekend. We were supposed to get
hit with 2 or 3 new storms, but so far nothing.
I'm not complaining. I am tired of shoveling!!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Things are okay here. It has been a real chore
getting the kids to go to school this week. Worse
than usual. Devin and his teacher really seem to
be going sideways over everything. I think this
really flusters him and makes it harder for him
to focus and get things done.

More PT this week. More next week. He still
continues to do his exercises at home. We can
definetly see improvements.

Rona is pretty much the same. Still unconscious;
still on the vent and drugged up. I think this
is one of those PUSH situations.

Kara and Devin are both having sleepovers tonight.
Randy has taken Dev and his friend down to the
planetarium. Kara and her friends are here at
the house about to present a 'fashion show'.
Hopefully I'll have enough makeup left in the
morning to be able to leave the house!! They
seem to be very busy getting beautiful.

Thanks for stopping by. Please continue to pray
for our friends.

Monday, January 21, 2008

What a holiday!!! We didn't go anywhere.....just
stayed home and SHOVELED ALL DAY!!!!! Its great to
have TWO HEALTHY KIDS to be able to help. We got
about a foot of snow here. Beautiful, heavy snow!!!

The kids go back to school tomorrow. They did have
a great weekend. They both had sleepovers with their
friends; Kara on Friday night and Devin on Saturday
night. Devin and his friend also went with dad and
grandpa to the car show on Sunday afternoon.

We rented the house over the weekend. It is a family
from Phoenix, Arizona who have been transferred here
with the military. We had many, many people interested
in the house, but felt this particular family would
be the best fit. I hope they enjoy the house as much
as we did. They are wanting to sign a year lease, so
that makes me feel good.

I've got several prayer requests for you. Our friend
Stephanie (fl/caitlin) is having her consult with the
ONCOLOGY office tomorrow. Also, Brock is still
needing some answers with his heart. (al/brock)
My friend Hadley Fox and her friend Morgan are
in need of your prayers as well.

Within my own family I have another request. My
cousin's widow was struck by a car on Saturday
night. She was airlifted to the same hospital
where my dad spent so much time last year. It is
really touch and go. She is broken in many areas,
including bleeding on the brain. Please pray for Rona.
I understand she is in severe pain and any movements
can change her status. Pray for her children as
they try to cope with what has happened to their
mother.

Thanks for stopping by to check on Devin. He seems
good and his limp is getting less noticeable. He
has PT again this week.

Mrs. Pam: Willie's birthday is the same as GG's
the 16th of January. He was 6 this week......
Maddie's birthday is December 14th and she was two.

Rosi: I emailed you, then Trudi. I'd like to set
something up. Just let me know what you would like
from me. You know you are always welcome here.....
or we can meet up with you.

Please sign the guestbook.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

The geography bee was yesterday. There were
seven schools competing. It was pretty
intense. Lots of good questions. I was
soooo nervous going in. Luckily they do the
geography bee as a group effort. That took
a load off of my mind!! Devin's team and
another team went into a tie breaker for NINE
questions........finally the other team won.
Dev's team came in 2nd; which was still very
good. I was just so glad it wasn't individual
questions....I was more nervous than Devin I
think!!

He goes on sometime soon to compete in the
spelling bee. I don't know if it will be with
the same schools or not. There was a team there
at the geography bee from Pocatello, Idaho!! I
know they didn't compete against us in the spelling
last year. I am hoping Devin will go ahead and
win the bee this year. He did very well last
year and was the last 5th grader on stage. I'm
trying to get him to study and put more effort
into it......we shall see. I do think he may
have a photographic memory!!

Its cold again here this weekend. We've listed the
house for rent. We've had several interested people
calling, but we are really being cautious about who
we rent to..........its a very nice house and we
don't want it messed up!! I guess you could say
we are attached to it.

If you know anyone who needs a house in Utah, let
me know!!

Did I mention that Devin got rid of his crutches this
week? I can't remember. He still has to go to PT,
but is making progress.

Thanks for checking on him.

Friday, January 18, 2008

NO jumping
NO running
NO basketball
NO skateboarding
NO skiing
NO ............

Devin was relieved from his crutches at Tuesday's
appointment, but is still supposed to be taking it
easy for at least another month. His physical
therapy is going well and he seems like a new kid!!

Kara finally went back to school on Thursday after
being home all week (and weekend)with the flu. So
far, everyone else seems to be staying well.

This week has been spirit week at school and the
kids get out early tomorrow, then NO school on
Monday for the holiday.

Devin won the geography bee at school this week and
will be in a big contest tomorrow afternoon against
other area schools. He was surprised and excited!!

Keep praying for our friends; especially Stephanie
and Brock.

Leave a message if you have a minute. Thanks.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Its been a week since my last update. Not much
to write about. I have had a sinus infection or
something most of the week, so that was no fun.
I did manage to make it to a few 'after Christmas'
sales, so I have some new decorations for next
year. I love those after Christmas sales!!

Dev started physical therapy on Thursday. He
started out very stiff, but was making good
progress before he left. He goes back to the
ortho on Tuesday, then for more PT later in the
week. The PT said he could take off the brace
and continue to walk with the crutches. He is
doing well. His foot seems to turn out when he
walks, but hopefully with the exercises he can
get that straightened up.

We went downtown for a change of pace on Friday
night. We ran into some old friends at a brew
pub where we ate. Now Devin is convinced that
we need to open our own!! Last month he was
convinced he needed his own hot dog cart business!

After eating we drove over to the state capital.
It has been closed for the past several years for
'earthquake updating', so it was fun to get to go
inside. There was a special open house through this
weekend. It is really pretty. Lots of granite and
gold!!! Makes it look like Utah is a very prosperous
state.......hmm.

Kara started feeling sick Friday night and has got
progressively worse over the weekend. Very sore
throat, low grade fever, chills....and a bad cold.
We'll see how she is doing in the morning. We have
had a very lazy weekend, just letting her rest.
I'm hoping she is better in the morning or I'll be
getting her a doctor's appointment.

Thanks for stopping by to check on Devin. He is
looking good and feeling more like himself getting
rid of that brace. He would appreciate you praying
for his friends. Little Brock is having some problems right now. Also, Stephanie is in need of extra prayers. She has
been sick for too long!!! Hoping she can get the
answers she needs and be on the road to healing soon,

***Sorry, these links are not working at all............

www.caringbridge.com/al/brock/
www.caringbridge.org/fl/caitlin

Please sign the guestbook

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Happy New Year.

We are enjoying a quiet start to 2008 around
here. GG went home on the 30th and we have
just been staying home and getting stuff done
around here. It is harder to go and do 'stuff'
when you have a kid on crutches/wheelchair....
plus it limits the things you can do. I'm sure
there are plenty of you out there that understand
that.

Dev is supposed to start physical therapy this week.
Twice a week, or as tolerated. He is still in his
brace, but I've noticed he is putting weight on
his leg. I'm still not sure he is ready for PT,
but we'll let the therapist give her evaluation.

Randy went skiing last week with his dad and nephew.
He's got a sore knee now too. It is swollen up and
looks awful. This is the same knee he had
surgery on a couple of years ago. I guess
good knees are not a strong point at our house
right now.

The kids started school last Thursday. Dev is
not thrilled. I've been 'school shopping' again.
Kara is saying she wants to stay put, but we
shall see. It just doesn't seem like there is
any excitement for school with these two...and
nothing exciting on the horizon at their present
school. Seems like the only thing the school has
going on right now is begging for more money....
always needing money. I guess that is just the
way it is. Is it too much to ask that kids are
excited about learning? That they actually want
to talk about their day and how much they learned?
Am I crazy here? Seems like these should be the
best days of their life and it feels like we are
biding time...

The house is still for sale. We are considering
renting it. If you know anyone who needs a nice
house in SLC, USA please let me know. We need
to do something and the housing market is just
not doing anything right now.

Snowing again today. We came out of church to
about 2 inches on our car. Kara sang this morning
with the kid's choir. Evidently if you are in
bells or band you don't sing with the other kids,
so Dev sat with us. I'll be glad to be back at our
regular church this next week.

I better get some kids started for baths and bed.

Please sign the guestbook.

Friday, December 28, 2007

We've had a great Christmas. Nice, calm
and healthy!! It is so nice to be home
and feel like you have no real worries in
the world. Cancer can really suck the life
out of things. This Christmas I didn't give
'c' much thought. Thank goodness!!

Dev seems to be putting more weight on his leg
each day. We're supposed to start into physical
therapy next week and see how it goes? If he
can tolerate the PT then he will go twice a week
for awhile. He starts PT before he goes back
to the ortho. for re-evaluation. The ortho
says he may NOT be able to tolerate yet, so we
shall see.

We've had a good time with GG here. Been super
busy. We've made more candy, been shopping for
bargains, stayed up late, went out looking at
Christmas lights.......etc.., etc.. It seems
we go, go, go while she is here. We may stay
home tomorrow and just watch it snow. We are
supposed to be getting another big snow storm
tonight. It is snowing now.

We hope you all had a great Christmas. Thanks for
stopping by and don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Monday, December 24, 2007 10:24 PM CST

Merry Christmas.

Things are good here. Devin did get his
cast off on Thursday, but is still in a
brace. The dr. will re-evaluate in 2 weeks.

GG got here on Thursday morning. It has already
snowed a few times, including tonight, since she
arrived. We have been busy; baking, shopping,
looking at Christmas lights, making gingerbread
houses. Tomorrow we will relax.

Just waiting for Kara to go to bed so that Santa
can visit. She needs to go soon as I am very
tired. I hope he finds us at our new house....

We are thankful for so much this year; including
those of you who continue to check on Devin and
pray for him. Merry Christmas to you all.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The program last night went well. Devin did an
excellent job with the bells last night. The
music was just beautiful.
Very impressive.


Dev is in the middle


Devin


Devin in the middle......

Kara did a good job with the choir. They sang some
traditional Christmas songs AND The Grinch song...
that one surprised me. They all did a good job though.


Kara after the program....

Tomorrow is the kids last day at school. Kara
woke up with a fever and sore throat this morning.
She is hoping to get back to school tomorrow.

Here's one picture from Maddie's big birthday.



Thanks for stopping by, Please take a minute
and sign the guestbook.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Maddie had a good birthday yesterday. I don't
think I would have been too impressed if I were
her, but then again that is just me. I tend to
be a bit sensitive...

Kara and I had picked her out a sweater at Petco
a couple of days ago, along with a dog 'necklace'.
Poor Maddie was very excited with her gifts....
UNTIL she tried them on. If I hadn't been feeling
her pain I definetly would have captured the moment
with my camera. That sweater DID NOT stretch one
little bit. Poor thing looked like a sausage trying
to squeeze into it..........I know the feeling!!!!
Necklace was too small too..........I personally
thought the necklace was stupid, but Kara always
accuses me of 'never letting her do anything she
wants' so I gave in. Looks like both items will
need to be returned........For those interested
Petco has most all of their doggie fall/winter
clothesd on 1/2 price......some deals to be had!!

Kara brought a friend home with her after school
yesterday. The girls made a cake for Maddie when
they arrived home. It was quite a masterpiece:
a piece of white bread with doggie bisquits (again
purchased at Petco) spelling out M A D D I E. We
all sang and tried to get Maddie interested in her
cake......no thank you!!

Devin had a friend spend the night too. Issaac
wasn't able to come over until after b-ball
practice, but he was able to be here for the
birthday festivities. We had pizza, then the
kids all decided to play poker. Evidently they
were having some kind of tournament because I
finally went to sleep at midnight and they were
STILL playing....up again at 3am and the poker
players were STILL at it!!! Luckily no laws
were broken since no money exchanged hands, but
Devin is convinced he is ready for the big leagues.
Oh how I wish that kid could go out and win us
some big money. These double house payments are
really cramping my spending style!!

It is 4:30 and my kiddos and pups are sound asleep.
It should be fun getting everyone back on schedule
to wake up in time for Sunday school in the morning.
I FINALLY found the box with Christmas clothes in it
and I'm convinced that Kara is going to get some use
out of the dresses I saved so much money on at the
after Christmas sales last year.........just wish
my son's wardrobe could consist of something other
than sweat pants......that cast is really wrecking
havoc on my Christmas picture plans!!

Randy has finally okayed the Christmas letter so
cards are in the mail. If you'd like one and aren't
on my regular 'list' please feel free to e-mail me
and I'll send one your way. I've got a few 100
extra...just in case. What can I say, I just love
pictures of my kiddos!!

Hope your weekend is going well. We're anticipating
more snow sometime. Not much accumulation last
night........but that is fine with me. The snow
shoveling is not so much fun anymore.

Thanks for checking in. Go ahead and sign the
guestbook.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Tomorrow our little miracle dog turns two years
old. Thanks for the prayers on her behalf. I
do believe they are what have kept her here with
us. The doctors were not optimistic she would see
her first birthday, much less her second.

Things are okay here. The kids do not seem happy
at all with school. We are looking into other
options for after the break. I would like to see
some excitement and enthusiasm toward learning.
They are both highly intelligent children who just
seem to be at a standstill with school.

I did speak with Dev's teacher again a few days ago
and "they are working on letting him participate in
the CHRISTmas program". I don't really understand
it, but am certain people at the ACLU could help me
understand the law regarding disabilities. If they
are going to discriminate against him because of his
bum leg I wonder where the line gets drawn....???

I feel so empty and hopeless about the school
situation right now. I cannot figure out why
being treated like a human is not a given.....

We are still baking around here. I'm hoping to
get our Christmas cards in the mail very soon.
I usually write a letter to send along with it,
but am soooooooo very thankful that I really have
no 'big' news to tell. The kids are healthy
and we are just so grateful. The big picture
is good, make it great......healthy children
make life good.

Thanks for checking in on Devin. He still has
plans to get that humongous cast off on the
20th.


Kara and Willie


Kara and Maddie


Dev and Kara

Please sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Happy December 12th!!


Sorry for the delay in updates. It is close to
impossible to get any time on the computer
when the kids are home. When they are in
school I seem to stay very busy trying to get
things done........its that time of year!!

Devin and Kara both did really well in Sunday's
Christmas program. I didn't get as many pictures
as I wanted, but I'll post a couple. I thought
Kara was going to be an angel, but instead she
was a sheep. That will explain her 'head gear'.
Both kids really did well with their memorization.
We were really proud of them.


Devin is in the back left.....


Kara in the middle...

After church we got a call from a neighbor in our
old neighborhood to let us know that our VERY
HEAVY brick mailbox had been plowed down in the
night.....always something fun going on......


The top is completely off and thrown about 10 feet...

We have started baking and trying to get ready for
Christmas. Making Christmas cookies has always
been one of my family's favorite traditions and
I am lucky that my kids and husband enjoy doing
it too. We are waiting for GG to get here on the
20th before we start our gingerbread houses. The
kids are getting very excited!!


Baking cookies

Dev is doing well on the crutches. He is soooo
hoping to get rid of the cast on the 20th. It
doesn't slow him down too much, but it does keep
him off of the skateboard.


Dev

Thanks for stopping by to check on us. Please sign
the guestbook and let Devin know you were here.
Hope you are enjoying the holiday season.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Devin is absolutely hating his cast. He is not a
complainer, but this is one thing he is not at
all happy about. It is very uncomfortable and
really cramping his style.

Other than that we have no news. We are anticipating
a HUGE snowstorm sometime this afternoon. Our snow
from last week is almost gone so we are in need of
some white stuff.

The kids have dress rehearsal for the church
Christmas program tomorrow. Devin is a wise man
on crutches and Kara is an angel. They both have
several lines to recite. The program is this
Sunday morning. Hopefully I will get some good
pictures.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

It was an interesting appointment. We saw Dr. Randall
up at PCMC. He was very nice and put our minds at
ease regarding bone density, cancer, etc.. He took
more xrays and the knee is beginning to heal. His
main concern was the possibility that Devin may tear
his ACL. The possibility was too high just to wear
the immobilizer; especially with the ice outside.
He ordered a cast for Devin...........a big cast.


Devin and his Christmas green cast


The cast goes from his upper thigh to his ankle.....yikes!


He is hoping to take it off on the 20th....although
he said that was not for sure. He is hoping it
will be off for Christmas; but no guarantees. He
thought Devin's bones in general looked good. He
agreed with Dr. Lemons that supplements aren't a
good idea for Devin. He also said he would have done
surgery on Devin if he had seen him the first day....
It is puzzling to me that two ortho's had such
differing opinions.....






Our front yard after Saturday's snow...


Some dogs like to play in the snow...


Some little dogs don't....

Thanks for your prayers. We are relieved that Devin's
knee is beginning to heal and hopefully we have
stabilized it enough with the cast to prevent any more
injury to it.

Please sign the guestbook.

Monday, December 3, 2007 8:54 PM CST

Its that time of year again.......
Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Awareness Tree.

This year the gold ribbons are $5.00 each and
can be bought to honor your favorite cancer
kid. Here is the link

Childhood Cancer Awareness Tree


Tomorrow is Devin's big appointment. Kara's neuro
appt. went okay today. He thinks she is having
more muscle spasms and needs to go back on the
baclofen. He also felt getting back into
physical therapy would be a good idea. We'll get
that started in our spare time. I can't wait...
sarcasm here.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a message.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Kara and the dogs.....Maddie, Willie and their cousins; Phoenix, Carby and Foxy


Original knee picture


Close up of knee


Dev

Nothing new to report here. Kara has an appt. with
the neuro in the morning. Dev has an appt. with the
new ortho on Tuesday.

Thanks for your prayers and continued support.

Friday, November 30, 2007

The last day of November. Can you believe
tomorrow is December already? We've got
lights on the outside of the house, but
nothing done inside. Hopefully soon...

We got Devin's appointment set up for Tuesday
morning. He will see an ortho that comes to
PCMC on Tuesdays and works the rest of the
week at Huntsman Cancer Institute.....basically
all on the same campus. This doctor specializes
in ortho related to cancer; tumors and such.
We are certainly hoping we are not talking
cancer, but feel like this dr. may hopefully
be able to give us some insight as to why
he is not healing. I am only thinking positive
thoughts. I cannot imagine any more things
not going as scheduled for Devin. I cannot
even stand to think of it.

In other news I have found out that Devin is
going to be excluded from his school's
CHRISTmas program.............Evidently they
don't want anyone in the hand bells sitting
or on crutches........Don't think for a
minute there won't be something done about
this. We are not at all happy. Luckily he
is still okay to be a wiseman in the Dec 9th
program at church.

Never a dull moment.

We're expecting a big snow storm tonight.
We'll see how that goes. Devin has been
wanting to try snowboarding this year, but
he'll have to get rid of the crutches first.
We've got a good looking sledding hill close
to our house, so hopefully that will satisfy
his need for speed when the snow hits!!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a message
and let Devin know you were here. Also, if
you'd let us know how you found his site that
would be great as well.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

What an interesting day.

Got a phone call from PCMC this morning from
the social worker we had while Devin was on
service for oncology. She was calling to tell
me that the clinic NO LONGER wanted to see
Devin since they set up the appt. yesterday
afternoon.

A big WHY? Why did they not feel it necessary
to see him? WHY do they have a social worker
we haven't seen in over 2 years make such a phone
call?????????????? I went back and forth with
this woman until she really didn't know which
end was up...........if it wouldn't have been
so pathetic, it might have been funny. At one
point she told me that the main dr. wanted me
to take Devin to his pediatrician and tell him
I needed a chest x-ray..............

Called her back on that and requested a letter
signed by that particular doctor that I could
take to the pediatrician............boy, did
they start hopping up there then. Finally,
after much e-mailing and telephoning I do
believe we are going to get to the root of
the issue.

Main question?? WHY did Dev's knee fracture so
easily? Why is it not healing...we are assuming
this is a steroid/chemo issue. Should he be
on supplements of some type? Why did the current
ortho indicate he didn't believe Devin's bone
density tests was so positive? Is there a
false positive on these tests....or, worse yet,
has he had some degeneration? So many questions
that somehow I don't think the pediatrician would
get answers from a chest x-ray.........

Finally heard from Kara's neuro. He was surprised
that he hadn't received any of the 4 messages I had
left for him........he finally called me due to a
message he received (from Saturday) from the E.R..
She will go in there on Monday. That should be
interesting. I would imagine she will be feeling
her very best for that appointment. Isn't that
the way it goes?

We got a bit of snow yesterday, but its about gone
today. Good thing; crutches and snowy, slick
sidewalks don't really go together. We got a
wheelchair yesterday after school so he can get
out more.......He is desperately wanting to go
to the mall. He says to Christmas shop, but I
have this real feeling he is wanting to check
out the skateboard shop. He is obsessed.....and
NO, no more skateboarding on crutches.

Thanks for checking in. If you want a really good
story I'll tell you about my experience with the
lady at the WJ water department. Who knew that
September came before August?? I sure didn't until
she got me straightened out today.........never
a dull moment.

Thanks again for stopping by to check on Devin.
We appreciate you praying for his continued
remission. Please sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I've been doing too much research on this knee
injury. I have got my mind working overtime
worrying about the what-ifs. Everything I
read is negative and just brings up more
questions. Once you have a child who has
survived cancer it seems anything can happen.

I don't know if my mind is playing tricks on
me or if things are really changing with Devin.
To put my mind at ease I've got a call into
oncology to set up an appointment....also
into gastro. He's got some recurring issues
that are not being helped by his current meds.
If its not one thing its another.

Still waiting to hear back from Kara's neuro.
She has woke up the past 2 days without a
headache, so that is a step in the right
direction.

In my reading regarding Devin a big question of
mine is regarding genetic testing. We've had
none done and I'm wondering what the standard
is? Our hospital is COG, but I'm wondering if
someone knows the standard of care on genetic
testing and cancer kids? If anyone has any
info. on this, please e-mail me. I am
particularly interested in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.
I just want to make sure we aren't missing
anything here.

On a lighter note, we got our first 'snow'
last night. Not much, but enough to cover
the lawn and give the highway patrol something
to do during rush hour. First snow always
brings tons of accidents!! People forget
what to do I guess.....

Thanks for checking in on Devin. He could
use some uplifting messages. This injury
has got him down more than he'd like to admit.
Please sign the guestbook.......we know you're
out there!!

Special prayers to fellow cancer warrior Angel McKenna's site She became an angel last night after a very long, brave fight with the beast. She fought harder than anyone should ever have to fight and kept a smile on her face. May you rest in peace now sweetie.

Monday, November 26, 2007

We did not receive good news at the ortho appointment
today.

NO HEALING whatsoever.

He is STILL on crutches and not at all happy
about it. He made it outside the clinic
before he broke down.

I feel defeated. He feels deflated....but we
will get through this.

The doctor was shocked that there was no progress
at all........

I am in shock thinking of the scenarios that were
placed before me today. Cancer does not end with
the final chemo and flushing the meds. These side
effects are all consuming.

Things will get better.

Monday, November 26, 2007

It is early morning and I cannot sleep. I can't help
but wonder if life may not be so complicated if cancer
hadn't crept into our lives.

For some reason I keep seeing Devin's diagnosis
over and over again in my brain. Its like a non-
stop slide show that keeps stabbing me in the
heart. I know how lucky we are to have him here
with us and can' stop thinking of how close to
NOT being diagnosed this kid was.......

Unbelievable!!

He has come so far, but still has so far to go. I
am fearful for tomorrow's appointment. I can't
help but wonder if any time the kid falls he's
going to break something. I was there when he fell
this time and I just can't figure how such a small\
fall could do this. All of those steroids must
have played havoc on his poor bones.

Gosh cancer is horrible. I opened the paper today
to find out a local boy here had passed. He was
Kara's age and diagnosed a few months before Devin.
Last I had heard he was doing well...........it made
me mad at myself for not realizing how quickly things
can change with these kids. Good one day does not
guarantee good tomorrow.

Life is a gift. There are no guarantees. Hug your
kids. Life can change in a heartbeat.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

We had a good Thanksgiving. Plenty of food and
plenty of family. We even had FIVE dogs at our
feast. Of course Maddie and Willie, but their
canine cousins Carby, Phoenix and Foxy also came
over for the festivities. I got some pictures...
just need to download them. They were all gathered
around Kara begging for food........pretty cute.

Kara had her injections on Wednesday morning and
that was pretty close to a nightmare. She was
originally scheduled for Tuesday, then last minute
the neurologist called and said that didn't work
for him and changed us to Wednesday in the RTU.

We arrived at the RTU one hour and a few minutes
prior to the appt, but no rooms, so we could not
check in. We were told to 'mess around' for 30
minutes or so until a bed freed up........Messing
around is somewhat easier when one of your kids is
NOT on crutches, and the other isn't NPO for her
procedure. NOt fun........of course the playroom
was also off-limits since she wasn't 'officially'
a patient.........and boy are they strict in the
3rd floor playroom.....

Anyway we were just heading down to the RTU after
25 minutes when I got paged to come down there.
Still no room; some more hurry up and wait. AFter
15 minutes or so the neuro comes through and says
the RTU is over-booked and we will have to go
cold turkey (NO sedation) down in the clinic.

You can imagine how thrilled the clinic people were
to see us in their clinic.........just about as
thrilled as the RTU was..........double-booked
in both clinics and now they've got to make a
rush order for drugs, clear a room, etc......not
exactly welcomed with open arms....

Anyway, put into a procedure room and the dr. comes
in to give the numbing shots.....then the regular
shots (lidocaine and something else, since botox
was done by itself a few weeks ago).....Kara hated
it, absolutely hated it and continued to cry for
most of the day. It was not fun. No one could even
look at her without a rainstorm of tears....

Thursday was okay. She did nap during the day which
is out of character. Friday was alright. This
morning was out of control. She woke up with swelling
and crying and just completely out of sorts. We were
to watch for swelling, so we skipped play practice
and drove up to PCMC ER. By the time we waited
around for an hour she was starting to settle down
and amazingly the swelling was gone?? Bizarre, but
then again stranger things have happened. Since we
already had back up drugs at home and most of the
neuro's don't do the shots, they sent us home. We
are hoping her dr. is back in the office on Monday
so we can see what the next step is. This neck/head
pain business is really affecting her entire life..

Devin has an appointment over at TOSH again on MOnday
morning. We are sooooo hoping he can abandon the
crutches and get on with things. He is really limited
in what he can do.......including help with chores
around the house!!! I have missed having my #1
helper able to help me!!

No other news. We've had some more interest in the
house, but no contracts or offers. We did talk to the agent that had an interested buyer last week and that
still may happen. We are keeping our fingers crossed
that we can get some money out of the house soon.

Thanks for checking in. If you've read all of this
go ahead and sign the guestbook. We like to know who
is reading.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I've got cornbread in the oven and have a minute
to update before I run to pick up the kids.

We are doing fine here. Devin is sick of being
on the crutches. He doesn't complain of any
pain, just doesn't enjoy being so still MOST of
the time. He wears the brace 24/7 and is hoping
he can take it off for good next Monday.

We are having Randy's family over for a big
Thanksgiving dinner. I am going to bake a
traditional turkey and Randy is going to smoke
a smaller turkey. We are getting excited about
it, as we all love to cook around here.

The kids get out of school for the break today.
Kara will have her procedure AGAIN tomorrow up
at PCMC, then we will head home for preparations
for the big meal. Her last procedure evidently
didn't work too well as she has been having way
too many headaches. Hopefully this one will
get her pain-free.



Thanks for stopping by. Hope you all have a great
holiday!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Devin is getting along better on his crutches...
he doesn't let much get him down.

Here's proof:



Please don't turn me into the authorities........he's
determined!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Devin went to school yesterday. By the time I
picked the kids up at 3:15 he was worn out!! He
says that crutches are no fun....I can believe it!!

He has NO sense while using them. He is trying to
fly off of curbs..........I forecast another
accident in his future. I think he thinks he is
on some sort of ride where he can put a crutch
here or there and fly into position. What a kid!

When we got home from school yesterday he decided
to try and skateboard while on crutches. He said
he'll need a bit more practice on that one....not
if I'm watching!! Gotta give him credit for trying
I guess!!

Please continue to pray for our friends.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Boy life can change fast.
Devin was attempting to get onto a wet = slick
trampoline last night and fell. In the fall
he really twisted his left leg around. We
had hoped maybe he would wake up this morning
and never remember it happened......no such
luck!!

I called Holly, my old across the street neighbor,
and got in this morning with Dr. Eric Heiden. Not
only is Dr. Heiden a gold medal speed skater, we
are lucky to have him here in SLC as an orthopedic
doc. We spent the morning over at TOSH (The
Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) getting xrays, then
a leg brace and crutches!! Devin fractured his
knee cap and has to keep his left leg straight
24/7 for the next two weeks. The doc said it
should heal up nicely, but he'll re-check in
2 weeks.

So far the crutches have NOT been fun. He's skipping
school today, but wondering how he will manage
tomorrow. Luckily his school is small.....we shall
see.

Thanks for checking on Mr. Devin. I'll keep you
updated on his progress.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

We've had a good weekend. Saturday we kept
very busy..working in the yards at both houses..
We had a 'chili cook-off' Saturday night at the
school...........that was a little different...
I'll leave it at that. We did land up winning a
prize for 'Hottest Chili'.......kindo a nice
surprise.......

Today after church the kids were begging to go
to the movies. We landed up seeing Martian Child.
Devin, for whatever reason, hated the show. The
rest of us liked it. We went to a nice, big new
theatre that was absolutely deserted.......nice
and quiet except for the other family in the
theatre with the 10 kids who all had to visit
the bathroom at least once each during the show.
I was so proud that Kara stayed in her seat during
the entire show.........she usually waits until
I'm into a movie and announces she needs to go...

We've had some renewed interest in the house. We
had lookers on Friday, Saturday and even today.
I am so hoping to get an offer. I really thought
today might be our day........not yet anyway.

The kids are going to start practicing for
the Christmas program starting this next Saturday
morning. Kara is so excited. She loves singing;
especially Christmas songs. I think both of the
kids' Christmas programs are early this year, so
I'm not sure if we'll have any other family make
it to the show. This is the hard part about living
so far away from your family....I just wish my kids had
some family living close enough to come to performances
and enjoy them... GG comes out closer to Christmas.

T-Shirt Grandpa left the hospital today. Its been
over 5 months since his accident and he was past
ready to get home. He has a follow-up appointment
on Thursday so hopefully he can get his home nursing
care set up at that time. When he made up his mind
he was going home he didn't exactly have all his
paperwork in order, but hopefully things will work
out okay...

For some reasons I am seeing reminders of my Nanny
everywhere I turn. Its the small things that get you
so unexpectedly. Today it was a display of chocolate
covered cherries in Sears. It is going to be a very
different Christmas for more reasons than I can count.
As much as I love Christmas I am having a difficult
time getting in the mode....I guess its the fact that
we can't get through one holiday before they are
shoving another one down our throat. Everything
just seems so commercialized....

Keep praying for our friends; especially McKenna.

I'm rambling, so I will sign off. Please sign the
guestbook if you've read this far.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Here are my scary kids.



As usual they received too much candy...

Things are okay here. The housing market is still
very s l o w and we are still taking care of two
homes. Not fun, but not the end of the world. Things
could always be worse. Devin is cancer free and that
is what is important.

Our friend, McKenna, is in need of prayers. She is in
the hospital. Please visit her site and leave her
some words of encouragement. Thanks.

McKenna's site

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Tonight is a big night for the kiddos!!
Nice weather..........!!!


4 Years ago...........We've come a long way!!


Maddie & Willie can't decide if its Christmas or Halloween......



Thanks for stopping by!!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

It was Hannah Montana mania here yesterday. We had
bought 3 tickets the day they went on sale for Sat's
concert. We landed up going downtown early for a
pre-concert party that was sooo much fun. NO, better
clarify that Devin did NOT go to Hannah Montana....
he says he is not a fan. It was me, Kara and her
friend.....we rode down with our old across the
street neighbors; Holly and Sam. We had different
seats than them, but we all had a great time!!!!

IF you have tickets....go, go, go to the pre-concert
party with Radio Disney. It was so much fun. Lots
of give aways, very excited girls....pictures with
Hannah's grandma....a visit from 'Rico'. They said
Emily Osment would be there, but we were chasing down
the flying wrist bands (Kara very excitedly caught one)!!

After the concert we met up with Randy and Devin for
a quick dinner. Devin was due to spend the night
with a friend and Kara's friend was going to spend
the night with her........big change of plans. Once
we ordered our food Devin put his head down and fell
asleep. He was on fire when we left the restaurant
so he called off his sleepover and was sound asleep
way before his normal bedtime. Kara's friend also
started feeling lousy and both sleepovers were
abandoned. Wierd.

Today Dev woke up okay...not great, so we skipped
church and Randy and I raked leaves here and at
the other house........YES, it is still for sale!!
Double yard work is not my idea of a fun Sunday!!

Dev seems better this evening. Kara is still on
cloud 9 from her first concert experience. I will
admit it was a good concert........if you get a
chance to go; GO!! It was full of fun. Even though
we had pretty lousy seats Kara and her friend didn't
seem to notice.........they were intrigued with all
the costume changes and dancers...plus the Jonas
Brothers!!

The kids are excited for Halloween. In keeping with
tradition our (old) neighbors are coming over for
a Halloween feast and trick or treating......this has
been a tradition as long as we've had kids. I'm so
glad it will continue in our new house. Kara will be
dressed as a boxer this year and Dev will be Freddy
Krueger again.....with a new improved glove!! He
is so excited to be scary again this year.

Thanks for dropping by. Don't forget to pray for our
friends; including one of our special angels and daily
signer; Lynn. We're praying for you Lynn.

And yes, Mrs. Pam we did get the Halloween package and
the kids LOVED the stuff. The nightlights were super
cute..........and Dev loves the voice changer. I
would imagine he will be wearing it on Halloween.....
it is pretty spooky!!

Tomorrow is mine and Randy's 28th anniversary.....wow,
who can believe we've been married that long?? NO
seriously, 14 years for him and 14 for me. Happy
Anniversary RR. Thanks for 2 beautiful kids and all
the great times............

Some recent pics:


In front of Hannah's bus


Kara and friends with Miley's grandma...


Hannah Montana


Hannah Montana concert.......

Thanks........please sign the guestbook

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Pumpkin patch on Friday night..


Can you believe October is almost gone? Where is
time going? Time stood still while Devin was on
treatment and now I rarely remember going to bed.

I have been thinking a lot about Devin's cancer days
for some reason. I am so thankful we are out of
that mess. To think back though just reminds me
how much needs to be done for these kids. Cancer
is a cruel disease for anyone, but especially
children. I feel like both of my kids have had
to grow up way too soon. I'd like to think
they could still be innocent if cancer had never
played such a major role in their growing up!!

I think the main reason I am so disallusioned with
the school situation right now is I have been allowed
to see the BIG picture. Little petty things are just
that; petty little things that should be brushed under
the rug. A child's happiness and well-being should
be on the top of the list. I feel cancer has allowed
or possibly even forced me as a parent to slow down
and savor every moment. Life is short and unpredictable.
There are no guarantees and tomorrow has not been
promised. When I get grief from the school over 'hair
that brushes a collar' I cannot really understand
their reasoning.............in my book I am just glad
the kid is alive and thriving!!

After one horribly bad school year he has now officially
taken his spot back at the head of the class...(something
we never even thought possible at times), he is a kind
and empathetic child who gives until he can't give any
more. He is growing up........a simple thing that as
simple as it sounds really shouldn't be taken for granted!
I just don't understand how the school can't see this
child through my eyes......a true, living and breathing
miracle!!

We have days where Devin is a bit 'off' and blame it
on the drugs he took to save his life. NO biggie, we
love him just the same. What if a day comes and he
has to take them again...will we lose a bit of Devin
if more function is gone? We live in the present and
savor the person he is now. He does his best, beats
himself down if he receives anything less than an A,
all the while, we as his parents are just thrilled
beyond belief that we can hold him and hug him, at
least for today. He is a miracle.

If you are fighting the good fight, please don't
give up. Advances in cancer treatments are out
there. There is always hope if you can just
believe. Thanks to the many of you who have kept
Devin in your prayers. We couldn't have done it
without you.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Pumpkin patch on Friday night...

Can you believe October is almost gone? Where is
time going? Time stood still while Devin was on
treatment and now I rarely remember going to bed.

I have been thinking a lot about Devin's cancer days
for some reason. I am so thankful we are out of
that mess. To think back though just reminds me
how much needs to be done for these kids. Cancer
is a cruel disease for anyone, but especially
children. I feel like both of my kids have had
to grow up way too soon. I'd like to think
they could still be innocent if cancer had never
played such a major role in their growing up!!

I think the main reason I am so disallusioned with
the school situation right now is I have been allowed
to see the BIG picture. Little petty things are just
that; petty little things that should be brushed under
the rug. A child's happiness and well-being should
be on the top of the list. I feel cancer has allowed
or possibly even forced me as a parent to slow down
and savor every moment. Life is short and unpredictable.
There are no guarantees and tomorrow has not been
promised. When I get grief from the school over 'hair
that brushes a collar' I cannot really understand
their reasoning.............in my book I am just glad
the kid is alive and thriving!!

After one horribly bad school year he has now officially
taken his spot back at the head of the class...(something
we never even thought possible at times), he is a kind
and empathetic child who gives until he can't give any
more. He is growing up........a simple thing that as
simple as it sounds really shouldn't be taken for granted!
I just don't understand how the school can't see this
child through my eyes......a true, living and breathing
miracle!!

We have days where Devin is a bit 'off' and blame it
on the drugs he took to save his life. NO biggie, we
love him just the same. What if a day comes and he
has to take them again...will we lose a bit of Devin
if more function is gone? We live in the present and
savor the person he is now. He does his best, beats
himself down if he receives anything less than an A,
all the while, we as his parents are just thrilled
beyond belief that we can hold him and hug him, at
least for today. He is a miracle.

If you are fighting the good fight, please don't
give up. Advances in cancer treatments are out
there. There is always hope if you can just
believe. Thanks to the many of you who have kept
Devin in your prayers. We couldn't have done it
without you.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Whew.....cleaning a long forgotten drawer in the
new kitchen and found a big surprise.........checks
for the American Cancer Society......just three, but
three checks that I thought had been turned in a
while back. Oops! Guess I will be making a trip
to the ACS office today. I would imagine they will
take money any time.....

Things are okay here. I say okay because I have
feelings that things could be better. The kids
show no enthusiasm for school and that bothers me.
I always LOVED school and to see them drag out of
bed, go through the motions of doing their homework
and have no enthusiasm or excitment about it worries
me. I just know it can and should be better. I
don't know what to do. We are in the district for
a good public school, but I'm not convinced it is
the answer. Only God knows what is best for these
kids. As their mom, I just want them to be happy..
and HEALTHY.

I'll try to get some pictures on here today. I
found my cord to download, but now can't access
my photobucket account. Its always something.

Here they are:


Kara serving ice cream


Devin & Kara at the ice cream party


Devin skateboarding down the moving truck's ramp......


Devin, GG and Kara last weekend


Devin and GG

Thanks for stopping by. Take a minute and sign the guestbook.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Grandma was here!!

We just had her for a few days, but we packed a lot
of fun into Friday through Monday evening. We spent
a lot of time decorating the house and getting things
in their proper place. It was a fun visit!! I am
so lucky to have a mom that loves to come and see me
and my family!! Thanks Momma for all you do and
taking time out to come see us!!

Friday morning Kara had her botox injections again.
They haven't kicked in yet, but the doctor thinks
possibly these will be the last ones she needs. It
is hard to believe she still has so much pain from
a minor car accident over a year ago.......I can't
imagine people who are really injured......like my
dad......what a mess!!

My dad is still in the re-hab facility and going to
physical therapy twice a day. He is finally allowed
to put some weight on his legs and is learning to
walk again......a walker in the front and someone
with a wheelchair following behind him. He has been
in the hospital/rehab facility since the Tuesday after
Father's Day!! He has completely missed summer. He
is hoping to get released by his birthday......Nov 18th,
but he needs to get some remodeling done at his house
before he can live in it. He will also need someone
to come in and help him out.........he has come a long
way, but still has a long way to go!!

Not much other news. Keep putting signs up at the
"for sale" house and keep getting them stolen....that
gets old for sure. I don't know who or why, but someone
evidently gets some kind of enjoyment from stealing my
'for sale by owner' signs..........wierd!!

Still no sign of the camera cord...............look for
LOTS of pictures when the thing finally shows up. It
needs to show up soon. I haven't been able to download
for what seems like an eternity.

Thanks to all of you who continue to check on Devin and
our family. We appreciate you!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Time for another update.

The kids go back to school on Monday. We've had a
fun break. We got a call on Wednesday that Kara's
shots on Friday had been cancelled due to the dr's
schedule, so we made a quick trip out to Wendover (NV)
for a change of pace. Turns out they were having
some rocket car races out at the Salt Flats. We went
out for a bit and got to see a bunch of cool cars.
We missed the races; too much wind, but got some ideas
for Devin's upcoming science fair project....
We even found some really smooth areas out on the
salt flats and drove really fast.........its hard
to see/tell what you are doing out there. Its
definetly different than driving on a marked road!!

Its been COLD here today. We knew this was coming
so went and picked all of our chili peppers, pumpkins
and tomatoes from the other house yesterday. We have
enjoyed our garden this year.........the one good
thing I can say about NOT selling the house just yet...
fresh tomatoes!!

We had the ice cream party Wednesday evening and it
was a lot of fun. We took turns serving up ice cream
and got rid of most of it. I think there were a
couple of gallons left over which were donated to
the Candlelighters parent break. We only had about
10 Dreyers bowls left over..........so I would have
to guess we served around NINETY people. Patients,
parents, siblings, nurses, grandmas........you name
it. One family with two little ones getting ice
cream and a brother in isolation said that they had
looked forward to the party all day!! That really
made us feel good. I am hoping we can get some other
things set up for these families. It gets soooo
lonely when you're inpatient day in and day out for
so long. I'm just glad that we were able to make
some people smile and take their minds off of cancer
for a couple of hours.

Devin's big news is he got a new long board......
skateboard. He is obsessed with skateboarding these
days. He says when it starts snowing he is going
to try snowboarding this year....he seems to be big
into taking risks these days. Hmm.

We're still working on getting things in their place
at our new house. The camera cord is still missing...
I have NO idea. Probably the same place the printer
cartridges are.......moving is so much fun!! I
will get these pictures on here one of these days.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

We've had a fun and busy week so far.

Monday we went to see a movie. I can't
remember the name of it, but it is about
a football player who finds out he has a
daughter.........pretty predictable, but
the kids enjoyed it!!

Yesterday we drove over to Cache Valley and
went to a cheese factory; Gossners. We were
out of luck in seeing any cheese being made,
but we were lucky enough to get plenty of free
samples and bought some to bring home. After
our cheese tasting we went to the 'honey place'
where it seems most of Utah's honey comes from
and downtown to the Bluebird..........an old
soda-shop/restaurant that has been in business
since 1917. They have great ice cream and hand
dipped chocolates. It was a very tasty day.
The weather was great and the leaves driving
up the canyon into Logan were just beautiful.

Today we spent some time at the old house,
visited dad at the office and went to Murray Park.
Kara has a 'leaf project' due sometime next month
that she needed to work on and all the trees in
Murray Park are identified. She needed 20 different
types, but kept going until she tired at 28. Devin
is hoping she will get some extra credit; Kara doesn;t
think that way and is ready to throw the extras out...
strange how very different two kids from the same
family can be!!

Tonight is the big ice cream social up at PCMC.
I'm not sure how many people will be there, but I
do know that Devin is very excited to be serving
up ice cream and keeps asking when we get to leave.
Its at 6:30!! It should be fun. Depends on how
many chemo kids are inpatient as to how many will
be around to participate.

Thanks for checking on us. Still no offers on the
house. We're hoping it sells before the leaves
start falling and the big time raking begins!!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Good morning from blustery Utah.
It got chilly here last night and is blowing and
raining this morning. The kids and I are having a
'lazy day' while Randy is away at work. He had
another golf tournament yesterday so he is a bit
behind at work.

I got an exciting phone call while I was working in
Kara's class yesterday; a real estate agent saying he
has some clients wanting to make an offer. This
was around 2pm yesterday and I have yet to hear any-
thing, so I am hoping we will get something today.
We have been saying lots of extra prayers to get this
house sold. I'm hoping that a nice family is ready to
call it home.

The kids are out of school this coming week for fall
break. We don't have many plans just yet, except
Wednesday evening is Devin's ice cream party for the
kids up at Primary Children's Hospital. All of the
supplies and ice cream is at the hospital courtesy
of the contest he won through Dreyers Ice Cream.
That should be fun. Its nice that he wants to give
back.

Other than that I have just been keeping busy taking
care of 2 houses. Lots of boxes to unpack, rooms to
organize, yards to take care of, etc., etc.. It has
not got to a 'fun part' yet. Its all just work so
far....with no end in sight!! It will be nice once
we are truly settled and have only one house payment
to take care of......

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Hi! The weather has cooled off here in Utah. I think
we were up around 60 today........very cool!!

The fall festival this weekend was very fun. We made it
through most of the carnival before the heavy rains
started. Kara spent the night with one of her friends
Saturday night and Dev had a friend spend the night here.
I don't think any of the kids got much rest, then we were
up early on Sunday for church. It was a busy weekend!!

I took Kara for her follow-up neurology appointment
this morning. The neurologist was impressed with her
progress, but still thinks that she can do more if he
gives her some more shots. I should be getting a call
tomorrow to schedule more botox injections in her head
and neck. He did say she should be able to get back
into tumbling, as long as she continues her physical
therapy and only does tumbling for fun, NOT competition.
Makes sense. Trying to keep the stress levels down.

Speaking of stress levels, they are running high around
here. We haven't had a call on the house in about two
weeks. It is getting old. We are so ready to have only
one mortgage payment!!! Devin told me I should get a
job so he doesn't have to have his lifestyle changed
until the old house sells..................he is
funny!!

We did go to Chili's last night to help with their
fundraising. They are donating portions of Sept's
profits to St. Judes. All of last night's profits
went to St. Judes/Pediatric cancer research.

Thanks for checking on us.
Rosi........we will catch up one of these days!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Devin's celebration went well. We went to 'The Pie'
for pizza; his favorite, then came home for pumpkin
cheesecake.......another favorite. We made it a
family celebration and both kids got gifts. Devin
got a new longboard (skateboard) and Kara got some
"beauty supplies". I think September is so full of
memories that it is an exhausting month.

It is hard to believe that it has been 4 years since
this all began. I find it interesting that Devin was
diagnosed in "Childhood Cancer Awareness month"....I
find it horribly sad that there seems to be no more
interest/public awareness for this important cause
than when it was first brought to my attention 4 years
ago. I still have big plans to change this.

Tomorrow is a 5K/Fun Run and carnival at the kids'
school. We will be busy volunteering most of the
day. Dev is wanting to go see the 'Dew Tour' that
is going on this weekend downtown. Hopefully we
can fit that into the schedule.

I'll update with some new pictures when I unpack
my camera cord................

Thanks for your support.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

This day 4 years ago we were sitting in the intensive
care unit at Primary Children's Hospital. We knew
that Devin had cancer, but were awaiting him to get
out of surgery and get biopsy results. I can still
remember clear as day Randy and I sitting in the
surgery waiting room praying for lymphoma. I
know it sounds crazy, but like I said, we knew he
had cancer........we wanted a 'good' kind.

We got our wish. Early on the 19th of September we
got the official diagnosis: Non Hodgkins T-cell
Lymphoblastic Lymphoma stage III. He would be
treated as though he was CNS positive (central
nervous system) involved due to the fact he had
a couple of places in his spine where cancer had
wrapped itself around vertebrae. The doctors said
it was a miracle that he did NOT have cancer cells
in his spinal fluid. It was actually a miracle he
made it to diagnosis....he had been seen earlier
in the day on the 17th by a 'specialist' and said
to be fine.................a collapsing lung and
the pain it brought forced us into the emergency
room......

Two full years of chemo, numerous blood transfusions,
brushes with death, hospitalizations and many
prayers from around the world make it possible for
Devin to still be with us today. Tomorrow celebrates
another kind of 'birthday' for Devin...the day he
finished that chemo and went onto a healthy, cancer
free life.

Its been a long road, but well worth it.
We appreciate those of you who have stood beside us;
your prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes have
kept us going. Thank you for being on 'Team Devin'.
You have reason to celebrate too!!!

Three more years of cancer-free scans to go until
he is considered CANCER FREE!!!!!!!!

Thanks.

Friday, September 14, 2007

TGIF!! This new school year has been exhausting
to say the least. Devin comes home every night
with mountains of homework to do. Hours and hours.
We are starting to wonder if he is doing anything
while at school, or bringing it all home? He has
not been happy which in turn makes us all on edge.

I'm wondering if he is having some type of regression
or just too hot at school to work...........the a/c
in his building has NOT been working so far this
school year and it is stifling. He does not do well
with temperature extremes.

Kara's day was better yesterday. She was allowed to
play an entire volleyball game............the first
two she was only in FIVE MINUTES and not at all happy
with the situation. Volleyball (or any sport) is
much more fun to play, than to sit on the sidelines!
Anyway, not only did she finally get to play....but
their team finally won a game!!!!! Yes!!! She was
ready to give it up alltogether and I was ready to
talk to some coaches about being fair.........I
thought part of the purpose of 'team sports' was to
allow all players to play...

Overall, life has been very stressful and busy. I
just keep repeating to myself that it could always be
worse. This too shall pass. It is just stressful in
this moment and I know things will improve soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Hello from Utah. Things are extra busy here, as usual.
We are pretty much moved into the new house.....lots to
do still, but furniture is set up. I'm waiting on Kara
to get her bedding picked out so we can paint/finish her
room..........

Things are s l o w at the old house. We've had a
couple of calls/lookers, but nothing. Now that it
is empty it just doesn't look as inviting. What to
do? I don't know. I'm tired of thinking about it.
I do know I will be glad when its sold (really sold)
and we can get on with our life. Keeping up with
two mortgages, yards, etc. is not so much fun.

Kara's volleyball is keeping us all busy with all
of the practices and games. They lost their second
game today..............the games go by fast!

Randy is back from a quick trip to San Diego. The
kids were mad that they couldn't go too. Hopefully
next time.

Honestly I am stressed to the limit right now. I am
trying to do 100 different things at once and it is
nervewracking. Every time I get on this pity party
I just remember that it could always be worse. Devin
has a clean bill of health and is coming up on 2 YEARS
OFF TREATMENT!! Putting things into perspective helps
me see the big picture here!!

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month....
keep all our friends in your prayers. Hopefully I will
get back to signing guestbooks soon.....

Friday, September 7, 2007

Sorry for the delay in updates. Things are fine
here; just very busy. We have shown the house a
couple of times this week, but so far nothing. It
is a bit overwhelming......but we will manage.

We have been 'living' at the new house with a couple of
chairs and beds on the floor........it has been stressful
to be 'camping' and no end in sight.............Randy
finally decided staging the house was not for us and
arranged for a move today. Most of the furniture is
here at the new house....haphazard, but it is here.
Randy got a little tired of their laziness and got rid
of them before we got beds together. Long story...

Kara had her first volleyball game yesterday.....it went
fast!! She only played about 5 minutes of a 20 minute
game.....but seemed to like it well enough. I think we
have 2 games next week. Between practices and now games
she spends a lot of time with her volleyball friends.

Devin got notice at school the other day to get a hair cut!! He was not impressed. I think he is ready to
find another school before he gets a hair cut......dad
said they will find a good hair stylist this weekend.
We have 'Bikini Cuts' here, so who knows, maybe they
will land up there.......

Thanks for the phone calls and emails........I will get
back to you eventually. Just always one more thing to
get done, go to bed and start all over the next day.
Its a good, exhausting busy though......at least it is
not cancer-busy.

I better go help Randy. Please leave a message.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Thank you for your prayers. The service was very
nice. Lots of flowers and lots of people there for
the big send-off. Nanny lived a good long life, but
it seems very strange to think we won't be seeing
her on this earth again.

I think I am a little numb. I know it hasn't really
sunk in for my mom. It was a week yesterday since
she passed away.

Randy went home Thursday evening. The kids and I
are headed out in a bit. They have had a good time
here despite the circumstances. They've got to see
their cousins, go to Braums.....several times...,
visit T-Shirt and the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum.
Now back to the grind............I'm just glad they
will have a little 'break' tomorrow to recover.

I better get our stuff packed. Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

My Nanny passed away yesterday morning. The past two
days have been a fight for her and she fought until the
end. She was a strong woman.

I flew out to OK last night on the only seat available
on Delta. Randy and the kids will be out here later
in the week when they can get a flight. The funeral is
set for Wednesday at 4pm.

I guess I am a little numb right now and the words are
just not coming out. While I know that Nanny is in a
better place, it is hard to face the upcoming days.
It is nice to think she will be able to breathe freely,
see easily and be reunited with those she has been kept
away from for so long....she has been a widow now for
12 1/2 years.

Thanks for stopping by. I've got a few more days to
collect donations for this year's Relay for Life. If
you're interested in donating here is the link:

Devin's Relay For Life

Thanks for all of the messages. I do believe our family
is in a state of shock over these latest events. Devin
finally mentioned it today and how much he is dreading it.
Me too.

I hate cancer so much. I try to look on the bright side
and pray this is nothing, but still the fear that cancer
has instilled in MY SON alone makes me soooooooo angry!!
The worry and fear that cancer puts in people's lives..
possibly for no reason in this case, makes me sick!!

I finally got a call from scheduling this morning to have
all of these tests done on the 20th.......I told the guy
there was NO WAY we were waiting that long, so he talked
to the doctors and Devin is now scheduled for next Monday,
the 13th. Please pay for peace and comfort for Devin, not
to mention CLEAN scans.

Again, its not too late to donate to Devin's Cancer Warriors Relay for Life (American Cancer Team). Click
here to donate:

Devin's Relay For Life

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a message.

Clownfish has been gone two years. We miss you
Chris!!

Kara's PT appointment went well today. If things
keep improving she will hopefully be cleared for
tumbling soon.

Devin did NOT get his scans today. We went in for
his appointment and evidently the doctor felt some
areas may be swollen (nodes) and wanted to do further
investigation. The scans for today were cancelled so
that we could re-schedule for more invasive scans, some
ultrasounds, an ECHO and bloodwork. The scheduler had
already gone home so I will call back first thing in
the morning. We are hoping to get back in to get to
the bottom of this in the next couple of days. PRAY.

Devin did not say a word on the way home. None of us
did. Luckily he got a phone call to play at a friends
about the time we walked in the door. I know he is
really dreading the upcoming tests.......we all are.

No dreary guestbook entries please.........lets keep
this on the up and up.

Relay was fine. When I locate my camera I can download
the pics and video...........we can still solicit for
money through the end of this month. I'll put the link
up for anyone who is interested. We've got to find a
cure for this damn disease.

Devin's Relay For Life

Thanks for stopping by.

What a week! To say we have been busy is an
understatement!! We never have a dull minute
around here. I bragged to the kids that we had
made it through dad's latest trip without any
major catastrophes, only to find Miss Maddie
throwing up bright red blood!! We spent most of
Tuesday evening in the doggy E.R............not a
good place to be; especially when you are trying
NOT to spend money!!! 6 hours and 5 prescriptions
later we were on the way home!! She is feeling much
better now after a new diet of chicken noodle soup!!

The house listing finally showed up on the MLS
Tuesday night and I was busy showing most of
yesterday. I haven't pushed it too much on my
own this week since Randy has been out of town;
again!! I had a really good feeling that we would
get an offer today, but so far nothing. It is hard
to keep the house 'show ready' all of the time. I
have a daughter who likes to bring the great outdoors
inside with her any chance she gets. Needless to say
our vaccuum has never worked harder. We are due to
close on the new house on the 9th........a week from
today. Seems unreal.

Tomorrow is our Relay for Life. Not all of our walkers
have signed in, and we still have outstanding donations
to enter. We are making progress, but S L O W progress
this year. Devin is due to speak sometime tomorrow at
the event. He is a terrific public speaker!!!! I wish
all of our caringbridge friends, supporters and family
could be there to hear him. He does not disappoint!

There is still time to donate and/or join our team.
Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to
help us out. Its going to take a collective effort
to wipe out this beast called cancer.

Devin's Relay For Life

Just a FYI: Dev's next scans and bloodwork is scheduled
for 8-07-07.................never too soon to pray for continued remission.

Status quo in OK.
The house is FINALLY on the MLS today...but no
calls yet.

Devin made a video last night for his upcoming
fundraiser. I just added about $400 of offline
donations to his site, but they aren't showing up
yet since they aren't 'verified'.....only donations
paid with a credit card are showing up right now.

He'd still like to collect MORE money, which means
we need YOUR HELP.

Here's the video and the link:



Devin's Relay For Life

Thanks for stopping by........

We've finally had some rain in Utah and got some of
the wildfires under control. It has been a horrible
summer for fires......

News in OK is still not good. My dad did get his vent
taken out, but is still on oxygen. He is still in the
ICU unit.....going on the 2nd straight week since the
seizures began. Within an hour of him getting the vent
taken out they decided he needed a "physical therapy
consult" and wheeled him down to the PT unit. Within
10 minutes he was on the floor in a grand mal and was
coding. Unbelievable that they were even taking him out
of his room when his seizure activity has been so non-stop
for so long.

My Nanny is not good. She is eating a bit, but for the
most part knows not where she is or who anyone else is.
My mom said last night she was convinced that she was
getting married, then decided not to at the last minute.
Never a dull moment at the nursing home I guess. I think
her mind is constantly playing tricks on her....either she
takes things she overhears on the t.v. or she's talking
to the dead. Its never 'normal'.

My Aunt Sue is very sick from chemo. Just really having
a hard time. They've cut this last dose into 3 parts and
she is still having difficulties. She will take a one
week break, have a couple more treatments, then start
with the dreaded radiation. Cancer SUCKS!!

The house is still for sale. We had some people come
through on Sunday that we thought would make an offer.
Its a middle-aged couple with grown kids who want to
move her parents in with them. The step-dad of the
woman is dying of, what else, cancer, and they want
him to be comfortable in his last months. I was hoping
for an offer, but obviously something else has come up.
We are putting it on the MLS today through a service that
still allows us to be in charge of the listing, so I am
hopeful that with it being 'out there' we will sell.
We don't want to leave this house empty to move into the
new house.................which is supposed to happen on
the 9th. I'd really like to be moved and settled before
school starts on the 20th.

There is still time to donate for our upcoming Relay
for Life in Sandy, Utah on August 3rd.

Click here to donate to Devin and friends' team the
Cancer Warriors:

Devin's Relay For Life

Things are not good in OK. My dad started
having seizures last Thursday afternoon and
was transferred back into ICU. His seizure
activity has been out of control where he has
basically been in a coma most of the week.
He is not breathing on his own and is still
very heavily medicated. Today he showed some
signs of understanding and opening his eyes..
its been over a month since his accident. His
blood is not good, he is running fever and losing
blood somewhere. They can't move him for scans
or anything because they risk causing another
seizure. He is one sick T-Shirt Grandpa!!

My Nanny is about the same. Doesn't seem to
know where she is or who anyone else is. She is
on hospice and just pitiful. My mom and aunt take
turns going out to check on her, but she doesn't
seem to know who they are. She seems to be in a
good enough mood with them, but isn't making much
sense.

Devin is good. Slow going on the fundraising.
We've been without internet at home for a few days
now so that hasn't helped anything either.........
there is still time to donate.

Devin's Relay For Life



Randy has been gone for a few days to a conference
up in Montana, but is home now. Nope, I did not
manage to sell the house while he was away!! It
is still on the market. Seems I get a lot of calls
from real estate agents telling me they could have
already sold my house. Its been interesting.

Thanks for checking on us.

Things are not good in OK. Nanny is on hospice and
not so good. My dad started having seizures and is
in a drug induced coma in the ICU........also on a
ventilator!! Almost a month after his accident...
car accidents are horrible!!

We made a very quick trip up to Idaho Falls yesterday
afternoon. We saw some of Randy's old friends, ate
some Papa Toms Pizza and visited Yellowstone Bear
World. With all of the events going on in Oklahoma
we don't dare all make the drive up to Glacier.
Hopefully things will settle down there soon.

The house is on the market.....by owner. We've
shown in three times, but no offers. 7 calls,
but nothing. We are impatient I know. Its hard
keeping this house spotless with 2 kids and 2 dogs!!
Hopefully it will sell soon.

Thanks for your continued prayers. We appreciate
you.

Still time to donate for the Relay:

Devin's Relay For Life

Please sign the guestbook.

Hopefully the sign goes in the yard today.
Its always just 'one more thing'......now
I've taken pictures and can't locate my
camera cord.........hmmm.......maybe its
packed away in a box? I wouldn't doubt
anything right now.

Wildfires are still out of control in Utah.
The air quality is so horrible I don't think
there is a safe place to be outside in the state.
We haven't been able to see the mountains due to
all the smoke for days.........we need some rain!!

Nanny is worse again. She is having trouble
swallowing and aspirating food. This is not fun
for her or anyone involved. Poor thing is so past
ready to be done with this life.

My dad is status quo. His infection problems are
taken care of, but the stroke and other injuries
are keeping him down. Who knows when he'll be
able to go home. He certainly can't take care of
himself right now. He is not with it...at all.

Dev is good. Mad because I won't let him be
out swimming all day, but this air quality is
just too bad. He doesn't need any other issues
to deal with.........and the warnings are all
over the news. Stay inside, don't breathe the
air.....

RFL is less than a month away. Thanks to those of you
who have signed up. There is still time for the rest
of you........

Devin's Relay For Life


Donate today!! Thanks

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I am finally
feeling decent again. I was really sick, but
just glad no one else here managed to get it
too.

Things are status quo in OK. My Nanny is hanging
in there. She has been moved out of the hospital
into the nursing home attached to the hospital.
She is ready to go. She has times when she is
somewhat with it, but more times when she is not.

My dad is not so good. He has some problems from
the stroke that appear to be permanent. He is
having some paranoid episodes that are making it
difficult for him and everyone who deals with him.
It sounds like his infection is under control. Its
going to be a long road for him.

We've been busy packing up our house. In a month
we can move to our new place. Hopefully we will
get the sign up in our yard by Wednesday (tomorrow).
Me being sick really got us behind schedule. I
think we are almost ready to list it.......hopefully
it will sell fast. We are trying the for sale by
owner route first since houses in our area are
selling so quick.

Today is the anniversary of Ryan Brown's passing.
Please go and offer his family some extra support.
I know they miss him like crazy. I never met him
and I miss him, so I can't imagine how they are
feeling.
Cutest Kid in Kentucky

Just a little less than a month until our Relay for
Life. Donations are slow coming in and we haven't
been beating the pavement like we should. You can
still donate online by clicking here:

Devin's Relay For Life

or you can send a check made out to ACS (American Cancer Society) to Devin. You can email me for the addrress: tiredofcancer@yahoo.com

Also, if you're in the area and would like to join our
team we would love to have you, or I can help you get your
own team started. Let me know.

I better get to sleep. Its 1am and way past my bedtime.

Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Can you believe its July already? I slept through the
last couple of days of June and on into July. After not
being able to speak or swallow; in addition to the fever
I allowed Randy and kids to take me to the dr. Diagnosis:
strep throat!! I guess there is a first time for every-
thing. I'm just hoping the kids don't get it. I cannot
remember being this sick since I was a teenager. Uugghh.
Luckily none of us really got too sick while Devin was so
down and out with the big c.... boy was that lucky.

Devin is looking good. He's finally rid of that darn
cough, so if I can keep him from getting strep I will
consider him one lucky kid!! We got notice a week or
so ago that he won a short essay contest for a "Dreyer's
Ice Cream block party" for 100 people. He wrote a short
essay, then found out it was for people 18 and older so
I submitted it for him. He wanted the ice cream to share
with cancer kids and that is what he is getting. The party is scheduled for
the 1st part of Sept. up at PCMC. He is
always thinking of others. I am just so proud of him.

He's also been asked to speak at this year's Relay for Life
in Sandy, Utah. Maybe some one will want to pay to listen
to him speak...........our donations have been s l o w
this year. As soon as I start feeling better I think we
will be hitting the pavement.

You can donate here:


Devin's Relay For Life

We get Kara's neuro-psych results on the 6th and just
moved Devin's 3 month appt. to either the 5th or 6th.
Oh, and in the few days between me getting home from
OK and getting sick we bought a house; still in Utah.
Just a few miles south of where we are now.

As soon as I get better Devin wants us to pack up our
bikes and team up in 2 people teams and race into some
other state......................I guess he is looking
at some of those older pictures of his parents when they
used to take care of themselves and were in shape.....
poor kid has some high expectations!!! I don't think I
could make it to the end of the block today.

Update on my dad AKA T-Shirt Grandpa.....better..He was
moved to the VA where they have begun researching why
he had the stroke.........This was not his first and he's
a youngster!! Update on my Nanny: c-diff infection, plus
pneumonia, very lethargic. Not going home anytime soon.
I think my mom is playing musical hospitals along with her
regular work schedule...........musical hospitals at
hospitals that are about 40 miles apart that is....good
thing she's got that buy a gallon, get a gallon of gas
free card. sarcasm here......

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Where are the days going?

The kids have been in VBS this week and having a
great time. They didn't go yesterday because Kara
had her neuro-psych testing and Devin opted to hang
out with me. We spent a lot of time waiting at the
hospital and running into old friends......Devin has
plenty of friends up there!!

My dad is doing better. They've been working at
adjusting his meds and he just seems so much better.
He is starting to heal and was able to have his
surgery early!!! I don't know all of the specifics,
but I do know he won't be passing through a metal
detector anytime soon!! He is hoping to get transferred
over to the VA soon........maybe as early as today.
The drs are saying he'll probably need about a month
over there. I think he is realizing how lucky he is
to be alive!!

Nanny is sick now. It seems like its always something
with her. She became mentally better after I left and
even remembered that I was there, and details I had
told her about my dad's accident. Last night and today
she is just plain sick. Seems like if she gets the
least bit dehydrated she really gets 'off mentally'.
Hopefully the dr. can get her figured out. Its so hard
to know what to do with someone when they seem mentally
fine one minute and don't know who you are or where they
are the next.

I've been reminded that our relay for life is just over
a month away and we don't have much money raised. If
you are interested in making a donation you can do so
online by clicking here:

Devin's Relay For Life

OR

you can send a check made out to ACS (American Cancer
Society) to Devin's post office box. Here's the address:

Devin
PMB #429
6914 S Redwood Road
West Jordan, UT 84084

Remember, every $ counts!!

Thanks for your support.

Whew.........
Where does the time go? We have spent a great
deal of it in the pediatrician's office lately.
Devin has been one sick kid. You would think
I would have plenty of time to update, but Kara
seems to need constant attention; plus I have
been doing a purge of the house. What a mess we
are living in........one half of our garage is
filled with things that need a 'new' home....

Back to Dev.....he started his 3RD round of
antibiotics yesterday. Every time we think he
is doing better he adds another symptom to his
extremely BARKY cough. No fevers as of now,
but lots of trouble with his Crohns stuff....the
doctor thinks the high dosing on the last anti-
biotic probably got that started, so we took a
'3 day break' from drugs.........ugh.

He does sound better though. Randy had a tee
time for 6AM yesterday morning for some Father's
Day golf. I was suprised to see Dev up and semi-
ready around 5:30..........I think he'd have to be
in a coma to miss a golf opportunity!! He loves to
get out and play. It was a three generation golf
game yesterday with Randy, Gpa Ross and Devin. They
had a good time.

Kara still is on schedule for Friday. She hasn't
said much about it. Hopefully we can just kindof
'sneak it in' and don't have a lot of anxiety about
it.

Thanks for continuing to check on our family even
when we're not so good at updating. We appreciate
you!!

There's still time to donate to Devin and friends
upcoming Relay for Life. Here's the link:

Devin's Relay For Life

Greetings my loyal readers. Ha ha ha.

I am home from camp. I had a really good
time while I was away. My friends Tuli and
Riley were both in my cabin this year. One of
my counselors was named Scott, I had two more
named Kyle and Tanner. I called Tanner the
'Princess'.

My favorite thing at camp was the dance. A lot
of people were cheering me on. I was busting
some dance moves they have never seen before. LOL

I took LOTS of snacks and silly string to camp.
I brought enough stuff to fill up an entire bag!!
That did not include my clothes and things! I
brought 12 cans of silly string.

I took lots of pictures. I will put them on here
later. Right now I am sick. I got sick before I
left for camp, got better, but now am sick again.
I threw up the other night and have a bad croupy
cough and fever. I am going to the dr. in a little
bit. My mom says no swimming for me until I get rid
of this wierdo rash on my arm where I had the reaction
to the shot............................!!!!!!!!@@!!!!

Get your checks and credit cards ready I am collecting
money for my Relay for Life coming up in August....

Here's the link:


Devin's Relay For Life

Sorry for the delay in updating. I have just been
overwhelmed with our trip to St. Louis. We had so
much fun with such great people!! It was sad to come
home. It is hard to explain, but there was such an
overwhelming sense of love while we were there that I
didn't want it to end!!

Kara, Devin and GG


First off we met GG in baggage claim in the airport,
then found our hotel where Kenny & Rosi and Mrs. Pam
were waiting for us!!! Hugs all around, then off to
Mrs. Pam's house for a cookout. Mrs. Pam's home and
gardens are just breathtaking. Her yard looks like
you are in a park.........just beautiful!! Later that
evening our friends; Sheila, Rickey, Rickey III and
Aryn met up with us for some swimming!!


Mrs. Pam, Kenny, Rosi and Kara at Pam's...


Rosi, Kara and GG


Mrs. Pam, Rosi and Kenny


Blurry picture at Pam's house


Preschool pen pal patio party at Pam's....say that 10x fast

Next day Mrs. Pam had a PRIVATE tour set up for us at the
beautiful St. Louis zoo.....what a place!!!!! Just a top
notch facility........

Pictures from our private zoo tour. We rode on two
special trams around the zoo, then stopped off for
some private time with the giraffes!! The kids and
adults enjoyed feeding the giraffes a snack of honey-
suckle. A little trivia for you: However tall a
giraffe is, his tongue is that long in inches!!

We did a lot more walking around the zoo....Aryn
added to the excitement by losing her shoe in the
rhino area........lucky for her, her inventive
brother was able to fish it back up for her!! Way
to go Rickey!!

That night we had another party at Pam's to meet lots
of her friends. Luckily we had beautiful weather the
entire time we were there. It was a fun-packed day!!

Saturday we took a drive around town, found some
"Churches Fried Chicken" and went to the park that
surrounds 'The Arch' and had a lovely picnic. Devin
is convinced that Churches is his new favorite......
we'll have to make another trip south to pick some up!!

Here's a slideshow of pics from the picnic, the
Arch museum and the ARCH

That evening after finding 'croc style' shoes for the
kids back in Glasgow most of us went out for Mexican food.
Kenny and Rosi's first time, so we had to do it up right...


Lots of good food and drinks..

The next day we spent at Grant's Farm. (www.grantsfarm.com) It was fun...but
we had to say good-bye to Sheila and her family here...
Aryn was not thrilled!!

Thanks for meeting up with us guys!!!


Kara feeding the goats at Grants Farm



The goats like Aryn!!

After getting cleaned up from Grant's
Farm we made a trip to see Ryan Brown's
family before GG had to go home. We
just stayed for a bit, ran to the airport, then came back for more visiting and dinner with the cutest
kid in Kentucky's family!!

It was so
nice to meet them after all these
years of signing guestbooks and praying
for Ryan. What a precious family!!
Elizabeth is just turned 3 years old
and is just as cute as she can be...
Mr. Lucas is a little over a year and
is already a flirt. It was sooooo
nice to finally meet them all. We
really enjoyed seeing them and visiting. The adults got to visit
while the kids played in the pool...
we actually had to trick Elizabeth
into getting out for some pictures..
she LOVES the water!!! Lucas is just
cute as he can be too....reminds me
so much of Ryan....of course so does
Elizabeth...just beautiful kids.
(ky/ryanbrown)

div style="width:480px; text-align: center;">
Thanks Brown Family and Nana Sherry!!

After meeting with the Browns, we went
back to the hotel and began packing....
what a job....between Mrs. Pam, Grandma
and Rosi & Kenny we were taking home
far more than we came with....lots of
loot!!!! Thanks to everyone for the
goodies!!! The next morning after
breakfast we visited the Preschool
Pen Pals. What a cute bunch of kids...
they were soooooooooo excited to see
all of us!!!


The Pen-Pals....in person!!!!

After school was over we headed to the
Science Center where we convinced Mrs.
Pam that science is FUN!!! We had a
quick trip........I think the kids
could have spent a few more hours in
there exploring. There is a bridge that goes across the interstate to the
planetarium too, but no more time.
Kenny & Rosi took us out to St. Louis
bread co. for lunch, then we sped
away (literally) to meet our plane.
They were going to take Mrs. Pam home
and head toward Kentucky........hopefully they had a
good time there as well.

I'm sure there is plenty I have left out, but its late and I figure this is better than nothing.........we did listen to Mrs. Pam sing in choir before Grant's Farm on Sunday.....not sure what else I left out....those that were there can fill in the blanks.


Devin, Rosi, Kenny and Kara....the kids
are gaining on these 'wee' folks!!

Thanks to all of you who made this trip so special. We love you all.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The situation with Kara is frustrating. We continue
to wait to hear from the original neurologist she saw
while in the hospital the first time. I did get a
phone call yesterday from his receptionist trying
to set up an appt. for Kara for 'botox injections'...
when I asked WHY she had no clue. I think perhaps
the dr. got Kara mixed up with some other patient??
Makes one feel ultra important. I am HOPING to hear
from the dr. himself today.

Kara is still going to physical therapy and massage
therapy at least once a week. It seems any improvements
are too short lived. She feels good immediately after,
then does something she shouldn't.............like a
cartwheel or fall off of her bike and we're back to
square one yet again. To say it is frustrating is an
understatement.

She has PT this morning, then another MRI of the neck
and brain this evening. I'm just hoping that someone
actually looks at the scans and makes sure there is
nothing obvious causing all of this pain. Waking up
with headaches every single day is NOT right. Falling
asleep every time you get still is NOT right. Yes, she
looks 'good', but trust me, looks can be deceiving.

We are due to fly out on Thursday morning for St. Louis.
We are meeting up with Mrs. Pam, Rosi & Kenny (hi/kayla), my mom, the Bohannons and Ryan Brown's family (ky/ryanbrown). We are really looking forward to it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

A frustrating weekend and into a frustrating week.
Kara seemed better today. She was in massage
therapy yesterday, then saw the chiropractor after
school today. The chiro. thinks we should get Kara
into a different neurologist and hope for some new
insight. He agrees things are not right and gave a
listing of tests he felt should have been done while
she was in the emergency room....not to mention the
time she sat waiting/wasting in the hospital.

Dev went to his exercise class tonight. He has a
class at the local rec center to get certified for
the work out room. This is super exciting for him..
I am not so sure if he's really excited about the
possibility of lifting weights, or all the interesting
people(girls) in the class. He is a cutie.

Thanks to those of you who continue to check on the
kids and sign in. It means so much to know that
people care.

Here's something I was reminded up the other day.
Maybe you might want to see it too.

Cancer Survivor Movie

Saturday, May 5, 2007

We are home again. We have absolutely no answers;
probably just more unanswered questions and a new
disbelief for the inefficiency at PCMC!! I cannot
even go into details right now.........I spent 3
days with a migraine and don't want to get that
started up again!!

Kara had a 'follow-up' appointment in the neurology
department yesterday morning. I don't know how they
call it a 'follow up' when you see yet another doctor
who knows NOTHING of your child's history and has
NEVER seen your child..........and furthermore acts
like they don't care. This doc did seem to 'think'..
that there is a blood flow issue.............???????
so he scheduled Kara for another MRI of the neck and
brain on May 15th.........nothing quite like getting
straight to the bottom of things..........!!!!!!!!!

Randy and I have discussed it, and if Kara has any
more problems or new wierd symptoms between now and
then she will NOT be going to sit and wait at PCMC...
we will take her to a different hospital. Surely
there has to be a doctor in this state that has a
clue as to what is going on...........heck 3 out of
the 6 neurologists she saw in the ER thought she
needed either a CT or MRI to check blood flow, yet
we LEAVE THE HOSPITAL without getting that checked!!!
I think if we ever saw the same doctor twice in a row
maybe something could get done!!!!!

Thanks for the continued prayers for Kara. Her
headaches are again too frequent, sleeping way too
much, lethargic, blank out episodes, as well as the
right eye dilating when her head is turned to the
right............other than that she is just fine.

Happy Cinco de Mayo from rainy Utah.

Thursday, May 3, 2007 11:58 AM CDT

Hi Everyone,

Alisa asked me to update the site today. She had to take Kara up to the ER yesterday, and they spent 11 hours there before the Doctor decided to admit Kara. Today they have seen several neurologists, and an ophthalmologist and she had an EEG as of this morning. They will be bringing in the Neuro-Ophthalmologist soon and are talking about getting an MRI done soon.

Dad is on his way home early from Alabama and should arrive there soon. Devin helped keep the fort down at the hospital last night. I will keep everyone posted as I get any recent news from Alisa. Thanks for checking in and please keep them in your prayers!!!

Love,
Mary
(Alisa's friend in Florida)

Sunday, April 29, 2007

April is almost over. What a month it has been.
It has gone by very quickly, but has also been
extremely hectic.

Kara's PT yesterday brought up new issues. Kara
has been waking up with headaches again and of
course the neck pains. I purposely did not take
her to massage this week so that the PT could see
how bad Kara can get. Anyway, when Kara moves
her head to the right, her right eye dilates very
big if her eye is open and becomes very twitchy
if closed. Wierd. It doesn't do this on the
other side. The PT says she believes Kara has
a vertebral artery injury. This is something
NEW..........something we can thank the previous,
haphazard physical therapist for.......also, I
don't even think this is legal, but my health
insurance is now refusing to pay for ANY PT
done at the 'old' pt place regardless of who
does it.................??? This seems unfair,
but right now we are pleased with this PT and
just paying out of pocket so that Kara can
get the services she needs. The PT is writing
a letter to Kara's neurologist and pediatrician
to see about getting some other testing done.

Dev is still having leg pains. Wierd leg
pains. Let me tell you this kid never complains,
so the fact that he has said anything is big.
Today his legs buckled under him for a minute...
he was right, it does remind me of vincristine
too. What a mean drug...........that is the
one they are saying probably caused that d**n
Crohns as well.

I'm still working at this pediatric cancer
research fundraising project. Sometimes trying
to get an organization to allow you to raise
money takes longer than one would expect. I
refuse to give up though. Pediatric cancer
needs to be recognized..........everywhere.

My brother is in the hospital in OKC. Hopefully
he will be getting his meds figured out and
be on the road to recovery. Nanny is home and
glad to be there. My aunt is still off chemo,
but hopefully will qualify this next week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

My Nanny was sent home today. The doctors never did
find the source of her blood loss, but then again they
didn't look too hard either. I spoke with her tonight
and she made some sense. Hopefully she will not land
up back in the hospital again soon.

My brother is having a hard time right now. He has
had kidney disease all of his life and evidently it
has gotten out of hand. He is awaiting some test
results to see what the next step will be. He needs
to take drugs, but unfortunately they don't usually
clear his body the way they should and become toxic
to him. Hopefully he can get things squared away and
feeling better soon.

My mom is stressed to the limit. A mom who needs
round the clock care, a son who is very ill, a sister
who did not qualify for chemo this week, another
cousin just diagnosed with breast cancer, a new job
and her favorite grandkids 1120 miles away!! Hang
in there momma, you have got to catch a break soon!!
We love you and appreciate all you do for so many
people!!

Devin is fine except for complaining daily now of
leg pains. He says "like vincristine pain, mom".
This is not good. I don't know what to do for him.
I know our oncology will not take him seriously, so
we'll hope for now its growing pains. He is almost
5 foot tall!!! He only grew wider while on chemo..
(steroids) and now he is really growing UP. Hopefully
these leg pains are just a normal part of being a kid...

Kara has PT and MT this week. The nerve block helped
her headaches, but her poor neck is still very weak
and can still cause her to have pain. She has been
doing her exercises every day in hopes of becoming
pain-free very soon. She goes back for her neurology
follow up next week.

Randy seems better, but now Willie is feeling bad. He
has only been up for a bit today and not eating. Heck,
if its not one thing its another. At least he's not
throwing up.

Thanks for stopping by. If you've read through this
go ahead and sign the guestbook.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

No good news to report.

My Nanny, mom's mom, is in the hospital and
not doing so well. At 92 years young there is
not a lot they do for you other than keep you
comfortable. She is losing blood and they
are trying to figure out why; possibly colon?
Also, she is having some problems knowing exactly
where she is and what year it is.....

This morning, our sweet friend, Taylor passed away.
She is another cancer fighter down in
Florida. This girl put up quite a fight. Not
something kids should be doing; fighting for their
lives. CHILDHOOD CANCER NEEDS TO BE STOPPED!!!

Another friend, Savannah, a seven year old Utah
girl is on hospice. Savannah has been fighting
a recurring ependymoma for the past couple of
years. Her latest MRI showed new tumor growth
and her body is slowly shutting down. We just met
this family in clinic a few weeks ago and were
hoping to get Savannah into a new clinical trial,
but it wasn't meant to be...........cancer is so
cruel. Poor Savannah and her family are waiting
for the end. Her mom says it is the worst thing
she has ever done. I can only imagine.

People..........cures don't just happen. It
takes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and lots of it for research.
The drugs these poor kids are taking are toxic drugs that
were approved for adult use in many instances 20 0r
30 years ago. There are relatively NO NEW drugs for
children!!!! Help us raise money for a cure in this
lifetime..............there has got to be a stop to
this dreadful disease.

Donate to American Cancer Society Cancer Warriors Team

Thanks

Friday, April 20, 2007

Its been a L O N G week. Randy has been gone and
I have been sick all week. We finally get to pick
him up tomorrow!!! Things are always a little
'different' around here when dad is out of pocket.
In the past we expect something totally off the
wall to happen, but so far, so good.

Kara's been having fewer headaches since getting
the nerve block, but still having a lot of unexplained
sleepiness. I'm supposed to start her on the baclofen
twice a day over the weekend. We'll see if she can
stay awake for that; something tells me that may be
tricky.

Dev has been full of energy and quite a helper while
dad has been gone. I'm trying to talk him into a
haircut over this weekend, but so far he's not buying
into it. He is beginning to look a bit like hippiekid
again.

Unfortunately we have not done anything with our
Relay for Life fundraising yet. We've got to get
busy on this. We've got a few other projects
dealing specifically with childhood cancer that
we are hoping to get the ok to fundraise for as
well. There is simply not enough awareness for
CHILDHOOD CANCER.





Donate to Cancer Warriors team

Thanks for stopping by

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Its been a busy week already. Devin stayed home
sick from school yesterday, but finally felt well
enough to go today. He seems good tonight. Full
of energy and glad to be feeling better.

Kara's first appt. at the new physical therapist
went well. The new PT could not believe what
horrible shape Kara's neck muscles were in, but
feels optimistic that with enough physical therapy
things CAN IMPROVE. Its not going to be cheap or
easy, but is anything worth it ever?

When I was taking Kara back to school after PT I
started aching all over. I have spent the past
36 hours in bed with flu like symptoms. I feel like
such a baby when I get sick, especially since its
probably the same stuff Dev dealt with, and didn't
complain. He is a lot tougher than I am.

Heard back from Kara's 24 hour urine test...negative
for Cushings. They will re-check her thryoid levels
in a couple of months. Hopefully it was just the
neurontin that was causing the weight gain and
cushinoid symptoms.....?

In other news, tomorrow (Wednesday) is Mrs. Pam's
birthday!!! I think most of you 'know' Mrs. Pam
from her postings on Devin's and all of the other
caringbridge kids' sites. She is quite a lady.

Hope you have a great Birthday!!





Thanks for stopping by. Please take a minute
and sign the guestbook.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

An update! Things are going well at our house.
The kids have enjoyed their spring break and we
kept very busy. Devin had his party on Wednesday,
we had pictures taken on Thursday, got Devin's
eyes checked and then met up with friends for pizza
and bowling on Friday, then the boys went to a
haunted house for 'Friday the 13th'. Late Friday
night Dev started sniffling and sneezing. His
symptoms continue to progress and now he has a
horrible croupy cough as well. We've had a very
quiet Saturday and Sunday.

We finally talked to Tuli's family on Friday and
got an American Cancer Society 'Relay for Life'
team set up. The WJ date was not working out,
so looks like we will be participating in the
Sandy walk once again this year. As soon as
Devin feels better he'll hit the pavement for
donations. Of course he also has a website
available for his loyal readers to donate,
donate, donate to this cause. He is hoping to
get as many childhood cancer survivors and
families to come out and join him as possible
on August 5th.........so if you're interested
please e-mail me.

Here's Devin's RFL Donation Page:
Please donate

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

What an exciting day we had yesterday......sarcasm here.

I got up early to fight with our insurance company
over benefits for Kara, then made a couple of calls
regarding getting her records from the previous
physical therapist. I want them for my own curiosity,
plus I am thinking whoever takes Kara on as the new
physical therapist may just wonder what was done....
got nowhere on that.

So onto a successful massage therapy appointment. Kara
says her head is feeling sooooooooo much better since
her shots. Her neck, is not so good, so I am working
like a mad woman trying to get her into physical therapy.
I have come to the conclusion that we are going to have
to pay out of our pocket for any physical therapy she
gets. Our lovely insurance only wants to pay for her
therapy at PCMC facilities and we've been down that
road before!!! Not to say there are not good therapists
there, but the last one we had, was a bit questionable.

Ok, next stop was a 'quick stop' to drop off Kara's
24 hour collection of urine. After much deliberation
I have finally figured out who I dealt with while in
the outpatient lab yesterday................remember
the secretary 'Roz' from Monsters, Inc.??


She now works up at PCMC.....where they always put


Anyway, we go up to the check in desk, interrupt
her coloring and ask to drop off Kara's specimen.
She looks at me blankly and asks where my 'order'
is. I tell her I do not have a written order, just
the discharge papers and the supplies. She then
asks "well, if your child was just discharged from
the hospital, then why didn't they do this test
while she was in the hospital?" My response:
Thats a real good question.....I asked that several
times myself. She then asked who ordered the test
and I told her "VanBlarcom" She proceeds to tell
me that "NO SUCH doctor has ever worked in this
hospital....are YOU sure you are at the right
hospital??" I am in disbelief over this question..
of course I'm sure I'm at the right hospital. Do
I look insane? Do I look confused? Do people
routinely come into her lab with gallon jugs of
urine accidently? She then tells me I need to go
and "register Kara"........."Register her for what?"
I ask. "Well, I'll need to send you a bill." "No
need for that" I tell her. "If this doctor doesn't
exist, no need stirring the pot now and getting charged
for that 3 day hospital stay." She does not find me
amusing so I go across the hall to register Kara to
drop off her pee........

So back from registering I notice that the TWO nametags
registration handed me say "VanBlarcom" as the doctor
on them. I show this to her and ask "if this means
anything to her?" Her response, "well, you don't know
how to spell!" "What??" I had spelled the name out to
her and she insisted he did not exist...........now
magically he was appearing in her directory!! Still no
order..........so she says if she can't get ahold of this
doctor to say he ordered this test within 3 HOURS that
she would THROW OUT the specimen.............I tried
calling the pediatrician to see if she could call in an
order, but no luck there either.............sooooooooo
we can imagine what happened to the specimen...

I have not heard anything today..........nothing, so I
am assuming the worst.


Devin's party went great today. Most of SLC schools are
in session so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Lots of bumper boats, go carts, laser tag, video games,
miniature golf and pizza. It was fun and the kids are
worn out. I'll try and get some pictures posted soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Thanks for the encouraging emails and guestbook
messages for Kara. She seems to be feeling a lot
better since her hospitalization. On Saturday
morning the neurologist did an occipital nerve
block. This was done under concious sedation...
which Kara does not do well. The procedure itself
went well, but Kara gets VERY weepy on anesthesia.
We had no idea this would happen, but its actually
quite frightening. Her eyes were open during the
procedure (I was in the room as she would not let
go of me) and tears were streaming out of her eyes
the entire time as the dr. put shots into the back
of her head. After he finished and wheeled her back
to her room she continued to cry for about an hour
and a half...........whew. That was not so much fun!

She left the hospital feeling better than she has felt
in months. She is taking baclofen at bedtime right now
and will begin taking it twice a day if her body allows.
She has a follow up appointment with neurology on May 4th
to see how she is doing. Right now I am trying to get
her into physical therapy and massage therapy. We are
definetly looking at a different physical therapist than
the last one...............

Due to lack of communication the 24 hour cortisol studies
NEVER got underway at the hospital, so we have started that
today. They are still worried she may have Cushings or some other endocrine problem. I'll turn in the 'specimen'
tomorrow morning.

Easter was a beautiful day here in SLC. Nice, sunny and
unseasonably warm!! Here are some pictures from Kara's
hospital stay and Easter day.


Kara at admission


Kara and her balloons from dad and Dev


Kara and dad in the playroom


Kara on Easter morning


Kara and Maddie all dressed up for Easter


Kara, Devin and Maddie


Kara, Devin & Maddie


Kara

Thanks for stopping by.