MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

What a wonderful and relaxing day! A perfect present after a month of crazy activities.

Samantha is doing fantastic. Monday came and we met with Dr. Heare so the dressing could be changed. Samantha once again lived up to her nickname of 'Super Sam'!

She watched the whole thing - as the doctor removed the heavy dressing and checked the incision. She didn't complain at all as they put the new cast on... Dr Heare had to hold onto her big toe and under her knee while they worked. Remember she doesn't have a bone in her lower leg right now. Anyone who has watched the second Harry Potter movie where the bones of his arm were removed will be able to imagine how her leg looked - totally weird. At one point the doctor lowered her leg to let her rest and her ankle and leg flopped a bit. I definitely could have done without seeing that ! Anyway we made it thru that appointment and hurried home to meet Grandma Tina and George.

Tuesday we did some running around later in the afternoon. Mom got to experience our mall during Christmas time. I tell you I often wish that there was a little wine bar attached for times just like this... I remember the mall in Billings Montana (where I grew up) had one and it was so fun to stop there to relax after a day of Christmas shopping. Needless to say we made it home in time to just relax the evening away.

Then on Wed morning we got everyone up and took them into work for the Avaya family Christmas party. It is always nice - the kids get to see a magic show, do crafts, color and eat muffins and doughnuts after they see Santa. Jeremy volunteers as the elf. While most parents complained that they couldn't get their teenagers out of bed to stop by - I just smiled because I didn't have that problem. Daniel and Samantha didn't want to miss the opportunity to see Jeremy done up as the elf. After meeting with Santa we had a great lunch out and headed home to prepare for Christmas Eve.

We like to have our family and friends over then and prepare a big seafood dinner. As usual it was super fun. The kids ran around crazy (the younger ones) watching for Santa while the grownups enjoys some wine and whiskey. Everyone got their fill and then we exchanged presents with those who had to leave. I got to bed around 1 am.

Christmas morning was perfect - while Daniel stressed heavily the night before that I should NOT wake him up under any condition - he was actually the first kid up! Jeremy was up and made breakfast and coffee and cleaned the kitchen when we finally decided that we should probably wake Isabella up so we could get started.

All in all I believe everyone enjoyed their gifts. Every time Isabella met Santa she asked for the High School Musical dolls and Santa remembered! Sam got items to decorate her room PBTeen style and Daniel finally got his own laptop. (this was as much a gift for me as him - now I don't have to listen to the kids fight over the computer and complain how slow it is)

The big kids headed over to their dad's for the next round while everyone here continue to relax and watch movies. Mom and George have to return home tomorrow but it was wonderful having them here to celebrate our craziness.

I am going to finish off with a pictures of Isabella playing with her makeup (thank you Grandma Liz) and dressed as a cheer leader (thank you Heath and family!)

PEACE AND LOVE to everyone!

Freaky Friday

So we got off to a rough start this morning. I was proud of myself because I felt like freaking out on the home nursing company, but I kept my cool - complained to the management and all turned out ok.

The plan was to have Samantha get her first home antibiotic treatment last night. We were told that the nurse would be at our home at 8 pm then they said between 9 and 10. At 10:30pm last night, I called. Apparently no nurse was scheduled - a miss communication between the hospital and nursing company. No problem there - I thought I could just administer the first dose. But here is the kicker... Samantha has not had this particular antibiotic before, so it is a good idea to have an epi-pen available in case she has a reaction. After talking with doctors we decided that Sam could wait until 8 am this morning for her first dose.

I woke up early and guess what - 8 am came and went. The nursing company tried to cancel again - I of course got a bit upset and we finally got a nurse with an epi-pen out at 10:30 am. Dr. Heare wasn't too concerned so I feel ok now. But I tell you what - my imagination was flying this morning.

Samantha had another pretty good day. She ate well and can't really do much yet - but when she does move she does it pretty well.

I took some pictures so you can see how big the dressing is and how beautiful she is a mere 4 days after a major operation.

Isabella was actually excited about going to school - it was pajama day. Bedtime this evening went super smooth.

We finished the day with a movie - I say 'we' but it was really just me. Samantha was doing something on the computer and Jeremy fell asleep on the couch.

Samantha needs to get her antibiotic 4 times a day - her evening dose is at 10:30 pm and I need to stay up until it finishes - so say at least another hour. Then I will need to get up at 4:30am for the next one. I am regressing back to the baby schedule days. :)

Good thing tomorrow is Saturday and I can just work on the house and Christmas stuff a bit at a time.

Another side effect of waiting for the antibiotic is that I was finally able to upload Isabella's Winter Program performances to You Tube. Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQRtQI1XKRE - This is Isabella singing 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBbLeHcTXcQ - This is her Country Christmas Dance

A couple tips for You tube - when you click on the link it will bring up a screen, on the bottom right - just under the volume control, is an option to 'watch in high quality'. It helps. I wasn't the best photographer - I was trying to watch with my own eyes instead of thru the camera and we were back a bit. Also on the left is 'More from Layergal' - you can click on this and see all the videos I have posted without having to come back to this page for the other link.

Thanks to everyone who has posted encouraging words for Sam and the family. It was a tough week but we got thru it just fine and we will handle the next challenge just as well I am sure with the help of every one's thoughts and prayers.

Night and Love to everyone!

Home Sweet Home

Well we made it home today. It was snowing and cold but home is so nice...

Samantha chose to come home today. She is feeling good and managing her pain great.
The doctors have arranged for a nurse to come to the house and show us how to care for her broviac and administer the antibiotics. We are waiting for the nurse now.

Samantha is taking a quick shower, Isabella is sleeping after we giggled a bit and read a couple of books. I missed putting her to bed!

Daniel is at his dad's tonight, relieved that finals are over and looking forward to a nice break.

Jeremy and I are both looking forward to some quiet times at work (knock on wood!)

It was so familiar leaving the hospital today, but I realized on the way home that we don't have to go back for another 4 weeks - just enough time to start to feel normal again. I felt at home at the hospital but there were so many new faces - a lot of younger kids this time - but the parents all look the same.

It is time to get back into the Christmas spirit, I plan on listening to some of my favorite music and start wrapping packages. I think I am pretty much done - but some will get their gifts late (some things never change). :)

Tomorrow I will probably have to do some grocery shopping and a quick one two on the house.

I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them tomorrow evening - Samantha is looking fantastic, just a big splint on her lower left leg.

Take care!
Love to everyone!

My Daughter Super Sam

Today will be another quick update. Samantha had a pretty good night - she woke up a couple of times but the nurses are great - not stingy with pain meds at all. I think we have a great combo of meds. There is this one - a liquid form of ibuprofen. It is fantastic for bone pain and swelling. Unfortunately, she can only take it 48 hours at a time.

PT came bright and early and Samantha decided to try and move. She wasn't really happy about it but she did it. She got up and sat in the chair with her leg lowered a bit for quite a while. She tried to use the crutches - but she her right breast area is still tender from the broviac placement. Her leg is also pretty heavily bandaged and awkward. With her weak hip it wasn't realistic that she would be able to crutch down the hall. So the bottom line is that PT agreed that she is doing well enough to go home when she is ready. Dr Heare agreed - if she decides she wants to - we will go home tomorrow.

In the meantime, we continue to watch Gilmore Girls during every waking minute and try to find something that Sam will eat. Good Times... :)

I hope everyone is happy and healthy!
Love to everyone!

Day 2 - Quick update

So today was ok. Samantha had a pretty good night after giving me the low down on all her friends and the characters of the show "The Hills". There was a lot of turning her and watching her blood pressure.

Dr. Heare wanted the epidural out today so she was transitioned to oral pain meds. This afternoon they removed it for good and she seems to be managing the pain ok. Even though the Dr and physical therapist really wanted her to stand or at least sit on the side of the bed, she would not do it.

I think it is a bit harder for her because she has been here before and knows that it is going to hurt when she finally does move that leg. She is resisting. Tomorrow she won't have a choice and I have a feeling it will be a hard day. Then I am thinking we will be able to go home on Thursday.

Isabella is doing ok - a bit of a rough start this morning but she had a blast playing in the hospital playroom this evening. She remembers this routine as well. She just wanted to make sure Samantha and I would be home before Christmas.

Daniel was actually nice to his sister today - played some x-box video game with her for a while. He had part of his Calculus midterm today and he finishes up the rest of his tests on Thursday.

The weather is still cold but at least the sun came out today so the roads are improving.

I think that is it for now - sorry for the short report tonight - but I am beat.

Until tomorrow - Love to everyone!

It's About Time

I am so sorry about not updating for so long. Life has been busy and long story short, Samantha's infection in her ankle was getting bad and so we decided to move up the surgery. It was today.

During the time between Thanksgiving and now we have been meeting with doctors and preparing for this day. Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing - my very favorite holiday! Food, good wine and most important - friends and family.

Samantha has been working at keeping caught up at school and even took a couple of her midterm tests early. She has been doing wonderful at school!

After careful consideration she decided to try and save her ankle. If you remember - she had to chose between a below the knee amputation or 3 to 5 surgeries and another year of healing. No one should have had to make this decision - but my bright beautiful daughter took on the challenge and did what she felt was right. She woke up this morning happy she made the decision and now that she is resting comfortably this evening - I am happy.

We packed our hospital bags this morning and listened to Sam's favorite music (super loud) on the drive to the hospital. We checked into the hospital and fell right back into the old routine. It is kind of scary how easy it was - even though it has been 9 months since we have been back for an overnight visit, it is very familiar.

As I waited for Samantha's surgery to finish, I was thinking that last time this year we were here for one of Samantha's hardest times. I remember being upset because I wasn't able to do Christmas shopping, I remember the small Christmas tree set up in the corner. I remember Samantha's swollen lips and all the pumps pushing food and medicine. That stay was 10 days - and we can be glad that this visit should only last 4 days.

At least this time I was prepared. I am almost done with Christmas shopping - we visited Santa yesterday (as you can see by the picture) and the kids baked 'grandma's cookies' yesterday. Perfect timing, since they help settle Sam's stomach after being under this afternoon.

Samantha received an epidural to help manage pain - I am grateful for that. We have to watch - move her around a bit and monitor her blood pressure, but she is comfortable so for that I am happy.

Today's surgery was to remove all the hardware and the cadaver bone, put in an antibiotic coated rod as a place holder and a broviac for her antibiotic treatment over the next 4 to 6 weeks.

The next surgery will be in 2 to 4 weeks. Dr. Heare and a plastic surgeon will try to repair the muscle and tissue around her left ankle. To do that, they move a muscle from her back to her ankle. They hook up the veins and arteries - this will help get good blood supply down to her toes and allow Dr. Heare to close the wound better once the new cadaver/rod is placed in her leg. She will also have to have a skin graph. It seems like a long hard process and it is - but Samantha knows and is ready for the challenge. At any time during the next few months, if she decides that it is too much - she can opt for the amputation or if it looks like the infection won't go away... But for now, we are all just hoping for the best. So far it is good and Dr. Heare says we have a 60 to 70 percent chance of success. As always - we will take it a day at a time.

Daniel is doing well. His favorite class is graphic arts - he is really good at it - his teacher is pushing him since she sees his talent. He is preparing for his midterm tests and will take them this week. I think he is pretty excited for Christmas and the break.

Isabella has been on a Santa 'high' the past couple of weeks. She loved decorating for Christmas and was super excited to see Santa. She had a upsetting dream the other night - she woke up and was pretty upset because in her dream, she wasn't on Santa's 'good' list and only got a rock in her stocking. I forgot how nice it was when the kids are this age and they work extra hard at being nice... But I think her favorite is the advent calendar and she hasn't forgot to get her candy once all month! :)

She also had her winter program at school last week. I took some video and will try and get it uploaded to You-Tube soon.

Let's see - I probably am missing a whole bunch of info from the last few weeks - but it has been a long day. I promise to update more often and let everyone know how we are doing.

Until tomorrow - take care - stay warm - and lots of love to everyone!

PINK is everywhere!

Where do I begin? We woke up this morning to absolutely beautiful weather. Jeremy took off for a quick mountain bike ride, while Isabella and I loaded up the chariot and headed out on my bike. We rode up to the coffee shop, had some breakfast and coffee (of course) then stopped at the park on the way home. It was so beautiful and the wind had not kicked up yet.

The rest of the day we spent doing chores. Jeremy finished some shelves for Isabella's room which just had to be pink! They turned out beautiful and we loaded them up with her books. We cleaned and organized her toys, now her room looks comfy! Originally we decorated with frogs, fish and flowers, but slowly it is turning into a 'princess' room. First Isabella found a princess light switch plate, then the pink shelves and now she is going to ask Santa for a Princess light.

Last Saturday we went out to celebrate Samantha's birthday with the uncles and Donna - Sam's friend. It was a wonderful dinner - but we probably won't be going back soon - it was gourmet so that meant really good food but really tiny portions and big prices. :)

Then on Sunday (Sam's actual birthday - Sam had a couple of friends over and we had dinner and birthday cake.

This past week the big kids were with their dad. Normally it would be a bit quiet but Samantha was not feeling well so she stayed with us until Thursday night. I took her see Dr. Miller and it looks like she just had the normal crud that is going around. Nothing special ... We laughed about it. When Samantha found out that she didn't even have strep - she said, "nothing special or amazing? I don't know if I know how to handle that."

The infection in her ankle is looking a bit worse so we decided to see if Sam could have the surgery sooner than later. As of now it will be the week of December 15th. I don't know the exact day or time yet. She is happy and sad - she knows that she will feel better but she is still a bit angry that she has to do anything. She felt a bit overwhelmed last week and had a little breakdown. After things settled down, she said how she hates having the emotional outbursts. I just laughed and said - get used to it - with or without cancer/amputation, you are still a girl and that just is part of the package.

We finished up painting her room on Tuesday. Jeremy put her TV back up and moved some shelves. Once Samantha has it all put back together I will take a picture and show everyone - needless to say it is pink as well.

In between painting Sam's room and getting the shelves up in Isabella's room - we managed to get Isabella a haircut (short like Snow Whites was her request) and I had my eyes checked (I am getting old) and I also got a haircut. I did what Samantha recommended - she likes it but Daniel does not. I am still making up my mind. The haircut would make me look a bit younger if my eyes didn't have the dark circles and eczema around them. It actually made me decide that I need to start focusing on myself a bit more. I now have to fix my hair, I can't just put it in a pony and head out. I also need to drink a lot more water. My eye doctor commented on that as well as the lady who took my blood the other day. So I am trying to drink more water and less coffee.

The reason I had my blood taken was to check my thyroid levels again. It turns out that I am way out of whack again. The doctor was surprised that I felt as good as I did. She increased the amount of medicine I take and after a week - when most people start feeling good and loosing weight - I gained 5 pounds - figures! That combined with my haircut has motivated me to start focusing on eating better and exercising more. I found a website - livestrong.com - that is a lot like weight watchers just free! You can keep track of what you eat and how many calories as well as how much you exercise. I think I will try that for a while - we will see how long I can go...

The wonderful weather helps - I can get out and ride my bike. It is a 2 for 1 - I get some exercise and stress relief. :)

Until nextime -
Night and Love to everyone!

So I woke up yesterday - looked at myself in the mirror and just shook my head. My eczema had flared over the evening. This didn't surprise me. I just pulled out the cover up and moved on. Samantha tried her best to sleep in but ended up getting up around 7:30 am (still better than 5:30 am) .

We left the house and arrived around 11 am. She had her left leg and pelvis basic x-rays. The old bone scans that she usually gets consisted of in injection of some kind of radio-active fluid, then a 2 hour wait and the 1 hour bone scan. This time she got a PET scan, it is more detailed and she only has a 30 minute wait until the actual scan.

The result comes out in a 3 dimensional image of her body - we looked at it beginning at the top of her head all the way down to her toes - kind of like her body as a tube that we look into. All areas of high metabolic activity show up colors from blue (cool) to red (hot). Of course her brain is mostly red - lots going on there as it should be - then down to her lungs which were nice and blue with no hot spots. Further down there were a couple of expected hot spots in her left leg where she is healing and then a bit lower where she has her infection.

The good news is that she is still cancer free - took me long enough long enough - huh? :)

After hearing that great news from the docs we then turned to the talk of her ankle and the options. Not much has changed, however, Samantha had an opportunity to actually look at a prosthetic and she again asked extremely insightful questions. Dr. Heare was proud of her.

I believe after all is said and done - she is leaning back toward the amputation. The infection in her ankle has gotten a bit worse so we will definitely be taking care of things in December. Samantha wants to be able to enjoy Christmas so I am thinking it will happen on the 31st... of course this all depends on Dr. Heare.

Samantha wants some time to talk with her friends about it and then she will give me the final ok to let Dr. Heare know.

I know the next few months will be hard but we will just do it.

In the meantime - I am going to try to start sleeping again hopefully without dreaming. I have had a couple funky ones this week - from flying in an airplane when the door is opened mid flight to getting lost in an extra large parking lot where I wander around looking for my car. You don't really have to be Freud to figure those out, huh?

Isabella is finally back to normal, Daniel is trying to figure out Calculus and Jeremy is trying to find a way to deal with the stress of his job on top of all the family stress.

I think we have good game plans in place and we are looking forward to the holiday season.

Samantha has detailed the plan of her room to me and we will be working on that tomorrow. Hoping to have dinner with the uncles on Sunday to celebrate her birthday and then she is planning a party next weekend at her dad's house with her friends from school.

Back to normal! :)

Love to everyone!

Ups and downs

I am very proud to be an American today. I voted after researching all the issues and I feel hopeful - the first time in a long time. Voting is such a rush - no matter which party you align with - participating is power and a privilege. Ok - enough on that.

The big kids were with their dad over the weekend, but Samantha stopped by to trick or treat at the house and said hi. Isabella was excited to go out - but even more excited to stay in and hand out candy. She sat on the mat in front of the door and every time someone came toward the house she would call out 'MOM'... totally cute.

The weather here in Denver has been fantastic - just about perfect, so we decided to head to the zoo on Saturday.
Here is Isabella and Jeremy posing on the Hippo sculpture.

We hung out at the zoo for a few hours.
The carousel is an Isabella favorite. She also enjoyed seeing the giraffes - they had 2 babies (who are much taller that Jeremy and I).

Other than that we had a pretty quiet weekend. Jeremy got to go for a mountain bike ride on Sunday - I got to clean the house - yahoo!

Isabella took some time riding her scooter and her bike. I didn't get a picture of her on her bike but maybe next time.

I loved the dress and snow boot combo - of course everything is pink - ug - just kidding! :)

Monday both kids came home and it was crazy like normal.

However, when Isabella woke up this morning - she was hot. She stayed home from school today and we have been battling a fever. Isabella doesn't get sick so it is hard to see her white and lethargic. I am hoping that the fever will break soon - but I have a feeling I won't be sleeping a bunch tonight.

Samantha is feeling good for the most part. She admitted that she is back to feeling torn about what to do with her leg. She has more questions to ask Dr. Heare on Thursday. The ankle infection did break thru the skin this past weekend so it is good that we are meeting with the doctor soon. At this point I am flying by the seat of my pants. As I have said before - I will support either decision Samantha makes, however, I have to admit I don't know how I will do it - I only know I will.

Samantha's scans are on Thursday as well. I am recognizing a sort of pattern developing. This will be 8 months cancer free but the knot in my stomach has not gotten any smaller. I recognize that I am a bit more teary, less focused and that I won't sleep well until after we get good news. Friday will be an easier day.

Samantha turns 15 on Sunday. I usually take her out to lunch and we do some shopping. This year we may be decorating her room instead of her body. We will see... I know she has plans - again I am just along for the ride (wink wink!).

Well I am going to try and stay up to find out who our new president will be - we will see if I can make it. Whether your candidate wins or loses, I hope you are proud that we live in such a great country that gives us the privilege to participate.

Love to everyone!!

Life is Good

I don't know if I have used that title before - but I know I feel it often. I was certainly feeling it tonight as we drove home from a fantastic dinner. Good food at a downtown oyster bar, good company with friends and a happy Isabella and of course good wine - even better because it was happy hour. As we drove home looking at the city lights with echos of Isabella's laughter ringing in my ears - Life is good popped into my mind.

I think I am going to recount event backward tonight - I know it has been a while since I posted last. We had some running around to do downtown tonight so we decided to eat out. We had a gift certificate to a great oyster bar and decided to use it. Noah met us there and we had a really nice time. The past week has been productive for me at least. The big kids are with their dad this week so I decided to try and work from the office instead of from home. It was a bit hard since I am so used to noise and the office is quiet - but I put on my headphones and listened to some music. I recently bought some new music - Bittersweet... It has a retro easy listening sound and it really makes me feel good (always a plus!). I actually worked out 2 times this week - wow!

Yesterday we met with the prosthetic (I want to say doctor - but he really isn't a doctor) dude for lack of a better word. The whole family showed up to learn all about a below knew prosthetic. It is really amazing what is available. Samantha was a bit uncomfortable but I believe Chris and I asked all the questions she wanted us to ask. She has more questions for Dr. Heare when we meet with him Thursday, but overall she has been feeling good and doing well in school.

Last weekend the kids and I hit the pumpkin patch. Isabella was able to enjoy the jumpy slides and obstacle course, some rides with Daniel and the maze.

Both the big kids were fantastic as usual - really good sports hanging out with Isabella.

Here Samantha is following Isabella as she exhausts every possible path in the maze. Samantha so cool in her sunglasses and Isabella barely peaking up over the straw bales.

Daniel went on the mini roller coaster with Isabella - she screamed the whole time. Daniel caught some video on his phone. Once I figure out how to get it off his phone - I will post - it is pretty funny.

He barely fit into the seat - I think it is funny that he is as big as the dragon.

Samantha is part of the freshman class government. They had a booth at a trick or treat event hosted at the high school for the younger kids later Saturday night. She went as a 'Fallen Angel' - is that great or what!

She looked beautiful as usual - she and Isabella had a great time.

Sunday last, I made a spaghetti and meatball dinner from the last of the garden tomatoes. I also made a couple pumpkin pies from fresh pumpkin - it was my first time and they turned out great. Much better than pumpkin from the can.

After dinner the kids carved their pumpkins. Uncle Ike tried to be a spectator but Isabella needed some help so he jumped right in. I will take a picture Halloween night when they are all lit up with candles. We had bunches of fun gathering the seeds and designing the pumpkins.

I decided to add this picture as a bonus. Isabella played dress up this morning while I was getting ready for work. She looked so adorable I grabbed a quick picture just before she brushed her teeth.

Tomorrow, Isabella's school is hosting a Fall Open house. She is super excited for Jeremy and I to visit her school - no matter how often we do it - she never gets tired of having us visit.

It has been such a wonderful week weather wise as well. The temp has been in the mid 70s - so we are thinking a visit to the zoo this weekend will be the best thing to do before the weather turns cold.

Last weekend Jeremy and I cleaned up the garden and tilled the soil - cleaned out the composter and mowed up the leaves. The yard is sort of ready for winter. This Sunday I will probably take advantage of not having the big kids around and try to get the whole house cleaned up instead of just a few rooms here and there.

After reading about our life this past week, you can understand why I think 'life is good!'

I hope everyone else's is the same - Love to everyone!

Glad to be Home

Well we left Denver on the 8 am flight on Wednesday. Isabella was full of energy but well behaved on the airplane. When we left it was 28 degrees and we arrived to a sunny warm day in San Fran.

We took the train downtown and hung out around the Embarcadaro and Pier 39. We tried to find a spot to store the luggage while we did some sight seeing - but there was nothing available. Unfortunately we had to haul the luggage around with us. As you can see from the picture - Isabella hitched a ride.


We had an oyster lunch and checked out the sea lions then hung out at a park to rest a bit. One thing I love about San Fran are the colors - there are so many beautiful plants and buildings - everywhere you look is life exploding. Even the people are colorful. I love the diversity.

I may steal the idea of the little vine cottage and create one for Isabella at our home. She loved hanging out in it!

We hopped back on the train and headed for the Oakland/Alameda area. We stayed with Ashish (Jeremy's boss) and his family. It was really nice - Jill - his wife - took such great care of us. We were totally spoiled.


On Thursday, we hung out in Monterey at the aquarium there. I think we spent close to 5 hours. Isabella checked out all the fish and there was a lot of interactive exhibits just for kids.

Here she is at one of the many touching pools. She not only got to feel seaweed and kelp, but also starfish, sea sponges and coral to name just a few.



Here she is hanging out in a big clam. One play area she was able to put on flippers and hold a fluke to see how it may feel to be a whale and move.

We watched the sea otters eat and train as well at learn about how vast and important the ocean is.

After we were able to drag Isabella out of the aquarium we headed up the coast and had dinner at a place called the Fishwife. We had a fantastic and very relaxed dinner. Our reward was this breath taking sunset. I felt really lucky that I got such a beautiful picture. Cars were stopped all along the road and folks were just hanging out watching the sun as it slowly set.

Friday we decided that we wanted to hang out at the beach since that is not something we get to do every day in Colorado.

We hung out with Jeremy's friend from college - Sonny - and his son Oliver. Oliver is about 4 and a half. He and Isabella played wonderful together most of the time.

As you can see - Isabella had a blast in the sand and water. She and Oliver played fetch with the dogs out getting exercise, tag with each other, they built sand castles and fish cars for Izi's mermaid dolls.

The water was cold so I didn't bring Isabella's swim suit - expecting her skirt to get wet but thinking that she would still be able to wear it. We were at the beach for about 20 minutes when it was too wet and we decided to take it off and let her run around in her panties.

She loved to run in and out of the waves and look for sea shells. We even saw some seals playing just beyond the surf - how cool is that?

When we were getting ready to leave, Jeremy and I took the pail - filled it with water and washed all the sand off of Isabella. We turned around to pick up our stuff and head to the car. As I looked back - there was Isabella - burying her legs in the sand. We eventually gave up - wrapped her in a towel and strapped her in the car seat. Then headed to Sonny's house to hose everything down.

We made it back to Ashish and Jill's just in time to help make a few pizzas and drink some wine. They have 2 kids as well. Nikhil is 5 and Ajay is 3. They all played so well together. Isabella misses them already.

Saturday Ashish took Jeremy and I to Sonoma for some wine tasting while Jill took the kids to a school fall carnival. California wine country is so beautiful. Their colors are changing as well. We came home with 5 bottles of wine. We had lunch in a little town close by - I had some of the best heirloom tomatoes - man! I will be picking up some seeds soon and starting them so I can have some next summer. I have been hearing a lot about them lately - but nothing I can say will match how good they taste.

We headed back to pick up Izi and then we had to head back to San Fran. We had dinner with Sonny, Sasha and Oliver then called it a night.

Here is a picture of Isabella all tucked in at the hotel bed - it is about 10 o clock and she was still wide awake.

Our flight out of San Fransisco was at 6 am Sunday. Isabella thought is was so cool waking up at 'night'.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. Jeremy finished his book and I almost finished mine. Once I have a chance I will tell you all about it. I think a lot of folks use their blogs to share their favorite music and books - I don't know - maybe someone can share their favorites with us as well.

The big kids came home tonight and it was crazy like normal. Samantha's hair is getting long and curly. Every time I look at her, her beauty takes my breath away. Daniel is still on restrictions but he is happy enough. He got to hang out with his girlfriend a bit and he was bragging how he got 2 Bs on his Calc tests. He is doing well in school (knock on wood).

I have more to say - but I am getting tired. It is almost 11 and now that the kids are home - the days start early.

I hope everyone is enjoying their fall weather (hopefully the snow is melting up there in WY).

Love to everyone!

Brrrrr

We have had a misty chilly weekend here in Denver. Each night I have been going out and covering my tomatoes and herbs. I am trying to stretch our season out as long as possible. It is supposed to be mild next week - I have so many tomatoes almost ripe...

This past week has been nice and quiet for the most part. Last weekend Daniel decided he wanted to have a party at his dad's house since it was empty. Well he got caught and was grounded this past week. Chris made it home from India yesterday and added a few more restrictions as well. It was nice having him home for a change, although he may disagree.

Samantha is doing much better. She is back in the swing of things with school and has adjusted to the new pain level in her leg. It is still red and tender but she is making it thru school with out too much Advil. She was excited to see her dad and Sharmi.

Jeremy and I will be heading out to San Francisco Wed thru Sunday. It will just be the 3 of us. He found some cheap tickets a while back and to tell you the truth I am looking forward to a relaxing vacation. His boss Ashish lives in the area and we will be staying with him and his family for most of the time. We are planning on hitting some wineries, the beach, the zoo and the aquarium. Doesn't that sound like heaven?

Last week I mentioned that we went to the wedding reception of a friend from work. His wife couldn't make it because her son was sick after a chemo treatment for Leukemia. Well the he developed a pretty serious fungal infection in his lungs and just couldn't fight it. He died yesterday. Even though I didn't know him personally - it still hit me hard. This was Leukemia - one of the highest cure rates of most children's cancers - but it was the side effects that did him in - not even the cancer. There has to be a better way to cure this stuff. Every day I hear of another child diagnosed or lose the battle... I just hope that awareness starts ramping up - I really don't understand why it is not already there.

I feel truly bless that we made it thru the past year and a half. Hug your kids, families and friends - that is all that's really important.

Tomorrow I promised Isabella that we would decorate the house for Halloween. I will try to take a some pictures and post later.

Night and love to everyone.

My Favorite Time of Year

Fall is my favorite - the weather is mild and the nights are cool. The trees are starting to change colors. Here is a picture of my last crop of roses. The wonderful smell carried thru the whole main level of the house.

Well we had Isabella's "friend" birthday party this weekend at the Denver Children's Museum. She and 4 other girls played in the many exhibits. There was a full size firetruck with pint size fireman outfits and hats. There was a big tree house with tunnels and nests so that the kids could play as squirrels (Isabella) or rabbits or birds. I think this room was the favorite. There was also a grocery store and restaurant - an art center (See Samantha's work below) and a dress up and dance room. We will definitely have to go back. There was just too much to do in the time allotted.

There was also a workshop where kids could build things out of recycled wood and plastic. Isabella just liked wearing the goggles but Samantha and Bob really got into it and built a helicopter.

After the kids had some time to play, we all gathered back in the birthday room for pink cupcakes and presents. It was still quite a bit of work to bake non-artificial cupcakes (the only thing bad in them was a bit of sugar...), put together healthy munchies, goodie bags and decorations - then load everything up and get to the museum in time to set up in the 15 minutes they give you before the party starts. But the great things was at the end of the 2 hours we got to go home to a quiet house. At least for 30 minutes or so... Grand Bob stayed with the kids and Jeremy and I had to run out to a friends wedding reception. It was really nice but a sad in a way. The brides son has been battling Leukemia for a few months. They planned the wedding around it - but her son ending back in the hospital with a pretty serious infection so only the groom was present. Keep them in your thoughts - he isn't doing well at all. It still makes me cry a bit - I remember my frustration when cancer interrupted our life so many times the past year.

The week was a nice one - no commitments on any of the school nights. Just the normal routine - dinner and homework. Sam has missed some school, however. The pain in her leg is increasing. We are starting to see some redness up near the top of her incision now. I talked with Dr. Heare and he said it is not uncommon for the infection to spread thru the cadaver bone. This may rush Samantha's decision. We were hoping to make it to Christmas break and do the surgery then - but I will be surprised if that happens. She won't walk on her leg much and it hurts to wear her brace. She is determined to get back to school, missing even a few days puts her so far behind. Her dad returns from India this weekend and we will probably meet with the prosthetic doctor next week. Then once Samantha has made her decision to either fight to keep her foot or not we will meet with Dr. Heare and hammer out the rest of the details.

As I have said before - I don't have a preference, either choice will be a rough road. We are just committed to supporting Samantha's decision the best we can. She is leaning toward the amputation so she can just get on with life and I thought I was just fine with that until last Thursday - watching the infection spread and realizing the decision date was coming sooner than later. My stomach flips just thinking of her going thru another surgery. But I will follow her lead and be strong! :)

Jeremy's dad has to go home tomorrow - Isabella is sad. She has had a blast hanging out with grandpa and daddy so much. She just tags along - helping them with their projects in her skirt and fancy new jewelry. She is four now - next year she will start kindergarten - jeez!

Daniel is his same self only pushing the limits a bit more. If I live thru the next couple of years without drowning myself in wine - it will be amazing.

Samantha of course is strong and fighting to feel better - I think this time of year will help with that. We have Halloween and her birthday - then the holidays.

They are forecasting snow for Denver later in the week, so I will be picking all my veggies tomorrow and bringing my plants inside. Always stuff to do - but this time it is stuff I like to do!

I know this month is breast cancer awareness month which is great - but please think of our cancer kids every time you see the pink ribbon - maybe someday we can have a mini gold ribbon tagging along!

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather - Love to everyone!

A Dance and a birthday

Here are my girls - posing like normal. Samantha was so excited to go to her first High School Dance!

She and her friend Donna went out to a sushi dinner all by themselves and then I picked them up and we went to another friends house for pre-dance pictures.

Sam tried a new hair style. She straightened her bangs and poofed up the curls in the back.

Here are all the girls. They felt like they were on the red carpet. All the parents were taking pictures - the flashes were non-stop.

They all looked so wonderful and they were all so excited! None of them had dates, which I for one think was wonderful. They all went and danced with everyone.

Daniel went as well - he got ready at a friends house and had bunches of fun. They all went out to Bucca De Peppo's (a family style Italian place) then to the dance and then to another friends house for after the dance. He has promised to bring me pictures. When I get them I will post.

Today was Isabella's birthday. She woke up bright and early and got dress and asked when her friends were coming over (this was at 7:30am).

We had a pretty good day and picking up the house, cooking up some pork green chili for dinner and making a chocolate 'Little Mermaid' cake.

Here is Daniel making the cake.

Poor Ariel has quite a tan - but we did our best.

She picked a chocolate cake - the funny thing is that she really doesn't like eating cake.

She was just excited to open her gifts.

Look at my beautiful 4 year old! Here she is posing with her new jewelry box from Grandma Liz.

Isabella also got the 'Camp Rock' movie from Sam, a guitar and microphone from Daniel and an kid friendly MP3 player from mom and dad.

All in all she made out.

Her 'friend' birthday party will be next weekend at the Children's museum. I think it will be fun - the best part is that I can leave the clean up to someone else!

Well - sorry for the quick update tonight - I am tired and 6am comes quick.

I am looking forward to a nice quiet week - we will see if it works out or not...

Until then - Love to everyone!

80s Day during Spirit Week

It was 80s day at the kids high school today. Samantha was all excited to wear her pink tights! Daniel also showed his spirit wearing the short shorts and tank tops that totally fit in when I was growing up. However, today Daniel reminded everyone why they are NOT in style any more. I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of him - I prefer to forget what he looks like in his outfit.

Sam fit right in at school, but she felt a bit different when we were walking thru the hospital going for her checkup with Dr. Heare today. She told anyone who would listen that today was 80s day at school. I don't know why she was so self conscience - she looks absolutely adorable!

Speaking of that - the appointment went as expected. Her ankle is still red and tender. Dr Heare is pretty sure there is an infection in her ankle. It doesn't look worse but also doesn't look better.

He and Samantha talked again about her options - either the below knee amputation or the 2 stage reconstruction surgery. Samantha asked a lot of really good questions. Dr. Heare said he is looking at the surgery to happen in December over school break unless the infection gets much worse then we would have to make the decision sooner. He wants to see Samantha again in a month to evaluate and in the meantime he is going to arrange for her to meet with a prosthetic specialist to see the a real prosthetic - see her options and ask questions.

If she decides for the amputation - the recovery would be much shorter - she would begin walking 6 weeks after the surgery and probably be walking just fine without crutches before summer.

If she decides to fight for the foot - the first surgery would involve removing all plates, screws and the cadaver bone. Then put the place holder in - during this time she would be in a cast - non weight bearing for 6 weeks. Then he would go back in and start over - we would be looking at 1 to 2 more years before being able to walk without crutches.

Samantha has been talking with one of her cancer friends who has an above knee amputation and was prepared for her conversation today. I was so proud of her!

We don't have to make the decision now - but Sam is leaning toward the amputation and getting on with her life.

Either way - nothing will happen for a while yet.

I have been dreading today - even dreaming of what the doctor would say and how Samantha would handle it most nights for the past few weeks. But on the way home (which, by the way, took over an hour because I got lost trying out a new route...) I came to the conclusion that I really don't want Samantha to have to do either option. Sam asked Dr. Heare what the chances were of her healing up and not having to chose one of the above options - he said about 1-2%. But since that is not realistic, I told her that either way, we would support her decision. Both roads will be hard. Sam seems to be much more in control now. I think that having the power to make this decision will help the emotional healing if amputation turns out to be the answer. She is such a strong and amazing young woman - she told me tonight - she just wants to get to a point where a persons first impression is of her - not her crutches. She really just wants to get past this.

After the doctors appointment and the adventure getting home - I had to turn around and leave immediately after dropping Sam off at home. It was parent/teacher night at Daniel's tech school tonight. I both dread and look forward to these nights. Most teachers like Daniel and appreciate his unique view of the world but I still get disapproving looks from a few. He is taking Graphic Design and is just loving it. Once I introduced myself to his teacher, she went on and on about how talented Daniel is and how much she loves having him as a student. His physics teacher was polite but I know that Daniel is a bit of a challenge for her.

This week so far has been kind of busy - Tuesday night was parent night at Isabella's school, Wed Jeremy had to work late - today of course we had the dr appt and more teacher meetings. Tomorrow Jeremy's dad is coming in and the kids have their homecoming game and then the dance is on Saturday night. Sunday we will be celebrating Isabella's birthday with a family and friends BBQ.

I am so looking forward to sleeping in a bit this weekend. 6 am mornings are hard for me - even harder when I don't get to bed until 11:30 pm...

Night for now - Love to everyone!!!

Music, School Spirit and Cauliflower

The title of this blog gives you a taste of what my day has been like today.

It is 'spirit week' at the kids high school. Today was c0llege day and Sam is super proud in her Gonzaga U t-shirt.

Daniel is at the Powder Puff game - where the girls play football and the boys are the cheer leaders.

Samantha spent most of the weekend planning out her outfits for the week. She is prepared...

I went out to my jungle of a garden to get some tomatoes for salsa and I was so excited to see a cauliflower!!! How fantastic is that? You also can see some broccoli, tomatillas (a Mexican tomato) and my one and only cucumber.

I made some fresh salsa - just waiting for chips.

It has been a while since I have used tomatillas - I decided to cook them a bit. I will let you know how it turned out. The last picture is my first fall picture - appropriate since today is the first day of fall. The pumpkin is a casualty - I was trying to get to my broccoli and I pulled up what I thought was yellow squash - but it was my one and only pumpkin plant. Oh well - we will have one green jack-o-lantern ...

Only one of my burning bushes is changing - the other 2 are still green. I don't think this pictures does it justice. The red is beautiful and vibrant!

Ellie and Leah were visiting tonight and the girls were singing - here is Isabella doing Demi Lovatos 'This is me' on You Tube. Too cute!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRc5MHg6IyU

Remember that you probably won't be able to watch this thru your VPN. But take a look when you get a chance.

Jeremy missed his connecting plane so we just got home and I am ready for bed.

What a day - life is good!

Love to everyone!

Miracle Party

What a wonderful night! We were a little bit late since Samantha had Paige's birthday party which ran until 5 pm. We picked her up a bit early then she quickly donned her party dress and we were off...

Just as we were walking into the party - they called Samantha's name. She went up for the introductions along with all the other cancer kids being recognized. There was music and dancing all evening.

All the kids had banners hanging thru out the room!

Here are all the kids looking so beautiful! Donna and Samantha wore masks (Donna took a break), while Isabella was a princess and Daniel was a pirate.

Notice the short hair on Daniel...

There was a lot of fun things for the younger kids to do... They had jumping castles, a dress up corner (Isabella spent most of her time there) and a pirate chest. They also had face painting. Both Samantha and Isabella took part in that...

I will put all the pictures from the party into an online album and post in the link section of the main blog page.

Pirate Daniel - he was a good sport. The music wasn't really his cup of tea and he would not dance with me at all - but I think he had a fine time any way.

Daniel got to see some friends from the cancer camps.

We also saw Dr. Ball and a couple of our favorite nurses. They were all amazed at how wonderful Samantha looked with her thick curly hair and pretty pick dress. She wore the same dress to her cancer free party although that is when she was super skinny. Now that she has filled in a bit the dress looks a bit different. (Dang it anyway!)

I can't wait until next year - I am hoping this will become a yearly event. What a wonderful opportunity to raise money and awareness as well as dance and party!

I know I talked last blog about the first ever National Childhood Cancer awareness day - but I thought I would post some of the pictures from the day.

Here are all the survivors that made it that day. Kori is giving a speech - she is the one who started Gold Ribbon Families - my mom's cancer support group.

Allison, Samantha, Jimmy and Kohl posed for a quick picture at Jimmy's lunch. He just graduated from the Young Marines program. He was a bit upset because he had to cut his hair. I think that is a re-occurring theme - after being bald for so long, they don't like getting it cut!

The next picture is all the survivors at Kyle's benefit concert - Mallory and Kennedy were able to join in this time!

Samantha is getting ready for her high school's spirit week while I once again tackle the house. Daniel asked today while Sunday is always cleaning day and I said - look around... :)

Jeremy comes home tomorrow evening and this next week we will plan Isabella's 4th birthday party. Grandbob comes in on Friday... Isabella is so excited - every day she wakes up asking how many more days until her birthday.

Well I am signing off for now - got to get to work. Happy Sunday!

Love to everyone!