Guess it is time to update

Sorry about the delay. The big kids have been with their dad and aside from over doing it at a birthday party for Jeremy the home front has been pretty quiet - busy but quiet.

I am too old and I got another reminder bright and early Sunday morning. Too much wine - not enough food or sleep makes for a long recovery period. Once a year I am reminded why I don't like drinking too much. It took me all of Sunday to recover and I am just now having a glass of wine. Those that know me - now realize how bad I was to go without wine for 4 days. :)

Well enough about that - the kids are all doing well in school. Samantha seems to be enjoying it - she has been doing PT and homework. Daniel's X-box had a problem so he has been without it for 2 weeks so he has actually been getting out and hanging in person with his friends.

Recently we got some really exciting news! Samantha's Make-a-wish came thru - very last minute. We finally got all the details down and will be getting our packet tomorrow. Samantha, Daniel, Isabella, Chris and I will be flying out of Denver this Sunday at noon to State College, PA to attend a Jonas Brother concert (that's right another JB concert - but this time I won't be driving and should be able to have a glass of wine!) and then Samantha and 2 guests will be escorted back stage to meet all 3 Jonas Brothers! Samantha is on cloud nine!! ten even!! We went out today to get a dress for the special occasion.

While this is very exciting for Sam - it means that I will have an extremely busy couple of weeks ( like it wasn't already). Here is the plan - Jeremy and I have dinner tomorrow night with the Kapoor family then we leave about 1 pm on Friday for Winter Park for Ajay and Gina's Wedding. There is a dinner Friday night - the wedding on Saturday - another simple brunch on Sunday morning. We may have to leave Winter Park a bit early on Sunday because we need to be back at the house by noon. The limo will be by to pick us all up and take us to the airport where we will fly out to PA. The step parents would be able to go but we would have had to buy their airfare and on short notice that was not cheap. Samantha will only have eyes for the JBros anyway and only 4 can go back to actually meet them so Jeremy or Sharmi would not be able to see the meet either. Both elected to hold down the fort in Denver.

The concert is on Tuesday evening and then we fly back to Denver on Wednesday. Thursday Samantha has her full day of scans and then if that is all ok I will be flying out again but this time to Seattle to see Dianna! Yeah! We have been planning this for a while and I had just bought the plane ticket a couple days before all the Make-a-wish stuff came up. The good news is that my week of jet setting will end with a relaxing visit and a massage.

I don't know about anyone else - but I am not going to move in October - no events are planned (other than Halloween) and I am not going anywhere unless I can get there via my bike!!!

I don't think that is realistic - but I can dream!

I will take as many pictures as I can over the next week and post as often as I can.

Love to everyone - it is bedtime and I will need my rest!

Nice and Relaxing

As I mentioned in the earlier post - the kids and I took off bright and early Monday morning and drove to Cody to visit the family. The drive was ok - 8 hours in the van with 3 kids isn't fantastic - but the kids were!

It was so nice to spend some down time with my mom. The kids and I got to see my Grandma and Grandpa H and both my aunts - auntie Rae and aunt Becky. I wish we could have seen auntie Rae a bit more but she worked during the day and has a bum shoulder and needed to rest in the evenings. I also got to see my cousins Steph and Robin for a bit. It is so weird - I always feel so young around them - it is hard to believe that we all have children in high school...

We had a fantastic BBQ at my cousin TG's house. Heather was away on business but Brian, her husband, Mariah and Gabe stopped by. TG's house is really cute and they are starting to make it their own.

On Wed we spent some time with Keegan (his 2 year old son). Isabella had so much fun. She loved spending time with Grandma and Keegan. She is so good with younger kids - every time she says "see how nice I am mom - can we get a baby too?"

On Thursday we drove into Yellowstone National Park. I have been there a few times now - but I forget how beautiful it is - it takes my breathe away. Mom and George took us into the park - it was fun listening to all the places they hung out when they were younger.

Here is a buffalo on the side of the rode. We didn't see any other animals - but we saw so many beautiful wild flowers!

We saw Old Faithful - Isabella was amazed and excited that when it went up some of the water came down on top of us because of the wind. We ate some lunch - picked up some souvenirs and then piled back into the van and headed for home.

I know my mother loves having us visit - but I also thinks she appreciates her semi-quiet life much more after we leave. Isabella hung on her and the volume level is always high with her around - she talks and talks and talks.

Our ride back to Denver was wet - it rained almost the whole way. We didn't get to see Jeremy right away - he was the support team for one of his friends who was running the Leadville 100 - that is right - running 100 miles above 10,000 feet elevation - is that crazy or what?

Meanwhile - I took Samantha to get a first day of school outfit and Isabella got a new pair of school shoes.

I can't believe that school has started and summer is almost over. It flew by... We still have a couple big events coming up. First we have our friend's wedding then I am hoping to get up to see Dianna for a weekend. Then we have Sept 13 - the first National Pediatric Cancer awareness day- events. Then on Sept 20 - we will get all dressed up for the Miracle Party. Check out the website - http://www.miracleparty.org/ - Sam is on it. If anyone wants to buy tickets or to just donate - you can do it there.

We finish up the month by celebrating Isabella's 4th birthday. She asks daily about it - it is so cute. I think she wants to ride her bike but has decided that she needs to be 4 before she can do it - lol.

Before you know it, fall will be here (my favorite time!) and the holiday season - man time just flies.

I am going to sign off for now but I will post tomorrow with info on how the kids first day of high school went - stay tuned!

Love to everyone!

Jeremy Raced Lance Armstrong

Sorry it has taken so long to update. We have been busy busy busy. First we will start with Jeremy's Race. I think he did fantastic. We started the day early - up at 5am so we could get him into town and ready to start his ride at 6:30am.

Can you believe Daniel got up and came with - of his own accord? He was a great help!

Here is Jeremy at mile 40 - looking good. Isabella sat by the side of the rode with her pom poms until Jeremy rode in - but didn't want him to leave.

Shortly after Jeremy passed thru - Lance and the leader Dave Wiens flew by in the other direction. They went thru so fast but it was really cool getting this picture and being so close to such a strong athlete - even if it only lasted a second.

Here is Isabella and Reno - patiently waiting.

Ya hoo! Jeremy crossed the finish line in 11 hours and 31 minutes. His goal is to beat 12 hours. He was super tired and wanted to sit and eat. Needless to say he slept well that night.

The next morning we went to pick up his belt buckle - hand made - beautiful. If he can do the race in under 9 hours he gets a really BIG belt buckle.

Lance finished second - Dave Wiens did the race in 6 hours and 45 minutes.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend - not too much rain and not too much sun. We made it home Sunday afternoon. Just in time to unpack his smelly clothes and for the kids and I to pack up for Cody. (see the next update!)

Sam is out of Surgery

Sam is awake and watching Family Feud - we are trying to get a hold on her pain and then we will be able to go home.

Dr. Heare loosened up some scar tissue so that the skin won't pull as much. We are hoping these last 2 small sites will heal up.

All in all she is looking good. Dr. Ball (her oncologist) stopped by to say hi just after she got a dose of morphine - she started crying and said how much she missed him! It was cute.

She will be taking it easy for about 5 days and then should be back to normal.

I will post again in a bit - love!

Just a Touch Up - Sam's Surgery

Well Samantha is in Surgery now - just a quick touch up. She has been going strong with her physical therapy and overdid one of the exercises. Her leg was a bit swollen so we decided to have Dr. Heare check it out. When he did he also removed the last of her stitches. Well once the stitches were removed - the scabs fell off and she has a couple of places that did heal up together.

So Dr. Heare scheduled a quick surgery for her this morning to close them up again. It will be relatively quick - 30 minutes or so for Dr. Heare's part and then about an hour in the recovery room.

We are expecting the after surgery pain to be way less than she has experienced in the past - she may be a little sore but not for long.

It is such a weird feeling being back in the hospital waiting room - drinking hospital coffee. Everything familiar, even the old worries. I don't think I will ever get used to seeing Samantha go under.

I will post again as soon as I have a chance after she wakes up.

Love to everyone!

Fun in the Sun

Not too much to update - Thursday was Fair Days at Isabella's school, Adventure Montessori. They had one big end of summer blast complete with popcorn, snowcones, cotton candy, jumping castles and lots of games. Jeremy worked on putting the most of the games together and then went into Isabella's school and he and the kids drilled, glued and sanded.

Here is Isabella getting ready to race on her hobby horse.

Cowgirl Izi Lizzy!

Plinko game - That is Isabella's head peaking up!

Cowboy Dad!

Bean bag toss - the kids and teachers decorated all the games Jeremy and Iz created.

Below you see Jeremy and Isabella in the sack race - Isabella left Jeremy in the dust - She is just a blur in the second picture. Amazing!

Samantha super excited to be hanging with the kids.

The first place Isabella went was the cotton candy.

Then we finished up in the face painting room - Isabella chose a butterfly on her face and for her balloon animal as well.

What a fun afternoon - Jeremy did a fantastic job on all the games - the teachers loved it.

Friday Jeremy did some last minute running around to prepare for Ajay's bachelor party. Samantha had another physical therapy appointment and she is doing wonderful (although she has been a bit sore over the weekend).

Then for Friday night - Sam, Iz and I went out for Sushi and then I dropped her at her dads for the week.

Saturday I was able to fit in a bit of shopping - Daniel broke Isabella's Jasmine doll so one of the stops was to the Disney store. It was Isabella's first time and she thought it was the best. She had such a big smile - I have many birthday ideas for her now.

Saturday night I went to Gina's bachelorette party which was nice and relaxing.

Sunday was chores for me - but Daniel went mountain biking with his friend. This is his first time in almost 6 years. He really wanted to go - but really doesn't have all the gear needed. He improvised... He is wearing one of Jeremy's bike jerseys and under his pajama bottoms he has some bike shorts at least. But the funny part is that he doesn't even have tennis shoes - he is wearing his Vans.

Needless to say - his feet slipped a bit when trying to pedal up the trail. He came back confessing he puked once and proudly showing me his scraped up knee and elbow. (he didn't come close to winning - my 4th of July crash looked way worse!)

He has not been a real big fan of exercise so I think he was a bit surprised that biking was so hard - but he had fun and is planning on doing it again soon. We will be getting him some appropriate gear so he doesn't have to work quite as hard.

Boy - I guess I did have a lot to update. I am hoping this week will be quiet - I plan on trying to get out and ride my bike a bit - keep caught up on the house and wash. Jeremy's 100 mile mountain bike ride is on Saturday and get this - Lance Armstrong will be riding this year! I probably won't see him because I am there to support Jeremy - but I plan on bringing one of Sam's Flashes of Hope pictures for him to autograph just in case.

Then we are off to Cody to hang with the grandparents.

Ok - night and Love to everyone!