First Day of School

So here are my kids. Daniel is a Senior, Sam is a Sophomore and Isabella started kindergarten today. She is so proud of her clipboard and blue folder. We all have been doing great. Last Thursday Samantha had her 3 month scans. She is still cancer free and her leg strength is improving by leaps and bounds.

Samantha has been working really hard - doing her exercises regularly and going to PT weekly. She recently added a water workout and it is helping. I bet she will be crutch free by Christmas!

Daniel finally got his school schedule dialed. We had a bit of a problem - it seems that no one checked his options last year and at first he didn't meet minimum requirements. He thought he was going to sail thru the last year only taking PE and Art classes. But now he has a full schedule including the Art, PE, gov't, speech and journalism. He is a good sport about it and is really happy that he could keep his Art classes.

Samantha's main concern now is to get her driver's permit so she can start driving. I am not too excited about it but it is something I know must happen. - UG

GrandBob just spent a week with us and Isabella had a blast. She prepared for school and when I dropped her there today - she was glowing. Pretty soon she will have homework like the big kids. I wish they could keep the excitement for school for all 12 years :)!

One really important note: September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It still is not getting a lot of attention - but everyone can help by letting other folks know. We will be going to the Miracle Party again this year. We will be thinking of all the kids who have been diagnosed this past year and some who have had their cancers come back. It has been a couple rough months. A son of one of my cancer mom's had his cancer come back and he has been going thru chemo again for a couple months now. Samantha also has a friend from her cancer camp that just started chemo when her cancer showed up again. Another boy who we know from treatment and cancer camps had a spot show up on his lung this past Thursday on scan day. All these stories are a constant reminder how lucky we are and how fast everything can change.

Until next time - Love to everyone!

Still Here - Just really Busy!

So let's see - the last blog was back in June - right? It seems like I just updated but it has been almost all summer and not a word. Sorry!

It is mainly work's fault (there ya go - I knew there was something to blame). Part of my job is to handle escalations and I had my very first BIG one. I can usually keep them under control for the most part, but this time it just was not in the cards. I worked thru June and July on this - sometimes up until Midnight, but this is what I get paid for. So I do it - but the blog doesn't get updated....

We had a great time back east - visiting family and celebrating Hannah's graduation. We got to visit the Statue of Liberty (in the poring rain) and show the kids some of Jeremy's old haunts.

Samantha and Daniel have been pretty busy all summer attending camps. Their first is Wapiyapi - their favorite. It is a cancer camp for patients and their siblings. Next year Daniel will be a volunteer!

Then Daniel did a Graphic Arts camp out of the Art institute here in Denver. It was an industrial art camp - he designed and created, from scratch, a pretty creative clock. Once he has it completely finished, I will post a picture. His design was a bit ambitious for a 4 day camp...

Sam got to go to another Jonas Brothers concert and then it was time for Sky High Hope camp, another cancer camp that also invites siblings. This one is a bit more structured but still A LOT of fun. Some of Daniel and Samantha's closest friends are from their camps.

We also did the Courage Classic again this year. Daniel did it too. The first day he had to ride alone and he kicked butt! Jeremy had a respectable finish in a 50 mile off road race while I recovered from working all night and a stomach bug. But we were all fresh and ready for day 2. It was a beautiful day riding the mountain trails from Copper to Frisco to Keystone over a small mountain down into Breckenridge and then back to Frisco and Copper. Samantha made a fantastic (garlic rich) Spaghetti and meatball dinner for us to top off a wonderful day. Day 3 is always the scary one for me - we climb to the highest elevation of the event from Copper and finish back in Leadville. I did better this year than last ( a bit quicker) and we all had a great time. Daniel and I crossed the finish line together which was the best feeling in the world. Samantha, Jeremy (who rode back after the climb and picked up Sam and Iz) and Isabella were there waiting for us!

Then we were off to Cody for a family visit. It is always nice to go back and get a chance to relax and see my Grandma and Grandpa Hedderman as well as everyone else. I wish I could hang out more with the cousins but such is life. I am super jealous of my mom - she is getting her dream greenhouse, but I came home with gobs of plant cuttings and some seeds to start myself.

We were home for a day and then off again to Leadville to cheer Jeremy over the finish line of a 100 mile off road mountain bike race. It was super crazy - Lance Armstrong competed last year and since he didn't win - came back again this year. Jeremy didn't beat Lance but he finished after battling hours of rain - then super high elevation sun - then more rain and sleet even... I am always amazed at the amount of people participating. It is such a great accomplishment.

Anyway we are home - for about 8 hours now. I have piles of wash to do and a house to clean - but that can all wait. I also have over 1000 emails to go thru from my week off - but instead of working I decided to update - am I forgiven? I know that I haven't added any pictures this time, but they are all loaded onto Facebook. Here is the link for those of you not on facebook currently - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015049&id=1247830976&l=6fe52ac425.

The kids all start school this week - Daniel is a Senior, Sam a Sophomore and Isabella starts kindergarten. I know that I will live thru all this but I anticipate many glasses of wine over the next school year. I had to order Daniel's cap and gown and I even have the graduation date.... (May 19th or so). Samantha is doing fantastic with walking, she is still on one crutch but is looking great! She will be able to handle full days this year. Daniel will probably cruise thru since he is only taking Art and PE classes to finish up his requirements.

Jeremy and I will continue to plug along with work and I almost forgot to mention.... We are adding onto the house. I am getting a Sun room! It will be a pseudo home office for me with a great view of my front garden. To save money we (mainly Jeremy) are doing most of the work ourselves. It is fantastic - in fact I am sitting in my unfinished room right now! :)

Well - I am off to bed - the first day back after a vacation is hell....
Wish me luck! :)

Love to everyone!