come sit awhile

the front yard at the cabin

we headed north this past weekend...me, jeff, j and his cousin, my mom and dad

 

there was work to be done at the cabin...my dad keeps telling us that "one day we will come up here and not have to do any work"

that doesn't even happen at our own house.

just recently, my dad had a landing strip driveway put in and a huge retaining wall...it was a TON of concrete! 

which scared my mom half to death...

apparently, rome was NOT built in a day

 

the guys got right to work 

 

jeff graded the front yard...which he loved

 

and the smaller guys...well, they played until they couldn't play anymore!  jackson and aaron made atleast 15 trips to the creek the very first day, and trust me...it's a haul!

 

these boots were filled with water no less than 25 times  

 

after one tractor rental, 4 loads of dirt and 299 bags of mulch...here is the finished product!  

and let me just say that I DID SPREAD SEVERAL (like 8-9) BAGS OF MULCH MYSELF regardless of what my dad says

i paid for it the following morning...evidently, the muscles that i use to run and the muscles that i used to spread mulch are not the same

happy thursday!

 
 
 
 
 

the snowman with a plaid scarf

i don't even know the last time...if ever...i have built a snowman!  most likely due to the fact that we live where we do and when the opportunity comes around we don't get the good powder-y stuff

it's mostly ice

 

jeff started this guy which would explain the fact that he may or may not need jenny craig...

or the sun 

all we could find were skinny little sticks which soon became his eyes, a nose, a mouth and some pitiful things we called arms

and a plaid scarf, of course!

happy snow day! 

the 5th of july, cabin hunting and chiggers

it was a pictureless July 4th for some reason??  we never even made our way to see fireworks!  what kind of people are we?  i do have these that i happen to get of jackson under complete duress

he was a bit squinty

     

we did however, have a great 4th...it was very relaxing...ate some yummy ribs, made homemade ice cream and played wii

on sunday, we headed north

remember the cabin that my parents were interested in buying?  well, unfortunately they didn't get that particular one (and we're over it now) but there was a back up l-i-s-t with plenty of options for us to see

we made a day of it 

one of the neighborhoods that my parents had previously looked at has this huge river where jackson could play

 

this is mr bruno and his wife ann that met up with us for the day...my mom and dad met them last year at the transplant clinic, he is currently undergoing treatment for AML  

 

the covered bridge at the entrance

 

the water was COLD

 

 

it was alot of fun and the river was absolutely beautiful

look what else we saw...

   

this guy and gal came right up to the house we were looking at!  nothing like a salt block and a bit of corn to help out...but they were not afraid of us at all!

i took these very slowly and carefully with my 50mm and i was literally about 20 feet away!

you see all of the trees around?  that would bring me to the chiggers, but let's not go there...this post is quite long enough, don't ya think?

no big decisions were made in the making of these photos...so i think we're going back soon!

celebrations!

we celebrated my dad's 62nd birthday on saturday!   we had take out...lame but easy!  he had requested ribs and that's what he got! 

my mom made her famous pound cake with a partially eaten crust on top because "to me" that is the best part!  and we had sparklers instead of candles...

why not?

it looked really neat even if we couldn't get them all lit at the same time!

it's his favorite...to have pound cake topped with strawberries and whip cream! 

jackson...thinking we are trying to burn him,

intentionally.

jackson...when he sees the camera.

usual.

is it me or does he really look older here?

then we waited until "dark" and had more sparkler fun, threw "pop its" and caught lightening bugs! 

we did let the lightening bugs go...

and per my mom's request i made this...

and i couldn't leave it out of this post!

some gave all...

today i had the opportunity to visit the "traveling vietnam memorial wall".  i almost actually forgot about it but my mom reminded me...unfortunately of all times it visits our city, my dad can't make it. 

so i went for him and to take pictures.

even though it wasn't the "real" thing...

the names were.

every single one of them.

i tried to be respectful while taking my photos...but i just couldn't help this one.  i didn't even know these people...but i figured they "lived and breathed" it.  it was sewn on their vests and tattooed on their arms and evidently they had a connection...a different one than me.

 

ALOT of bikes around...alot.

 

thank you to all of these men.

transplant #2

my dad begins #2 today...

getting his port put in and a good dose (his only dose) of chemo.  the actual transplant will be on thursday.  

his last biopsy a week ago showed only a trace amount of the myeloma at .4% (when he was diagnosed it was 90%).  this second transplant is a scheduled one...they have better results with "tandem transplants"...back to back.

praying that #2 will kick it's butt!

guess who's coming home?

much sooner than expected!

my dad has done remarkably well..he should have had daily visits to the clinic for "up to" 50 days after transplant BUT since he's been such a hot shot and done so well, his visits will be up next week...about 30 days!

he will begin his second transplant sometime in june and of course we hope that one will go just as smoothly!

even though you can't see his "baldness" (it was a little cool and windy on easter) i think he just might keep his hair a little shorter from now on!

saturday recap...

we went to visit my parents yesterday (my dad is doing great and has had very minimal side effects from his chemo) since the weather was nice we stayed outside and worked a bit in their yard...i mean jeff did and i just took pictures of it! 

here's the "big helper"...jeff almost threatened him (we'll, not really) not to tip the wheelbarrow over!

 

of course you get to ride...

i mean who has time to go inside for something like that?  a part of being a boy and playing outside...when you live on some acreage, that is...and not a cluster home community, like we do!

it was so nice to have some good weather...i hope it continues!  jackson is out of school this week for "mid-winter break"...

what to do?  what to do ?

must go now...the natives are getting restless.

7 months ago...

i've pondered off and on about sharing this part of my life...not really sure why, maybe because i don't just share everything on this blog anyway, maybe because it's pretty personal and i'm not that good at putting myself out there for all the world to see...literally. 

but as i took jackson to school this morning i heard a local radio station asking for donations in an effort to further cancer research.  that was a good sign to me that i needed to do the same.

in july 07 i found out that my dad had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma a somewhat rare (atleast to me) incurable cancer of the blood.  this was someone who took excellent care of himself but that didn't matter.  cancer doesn't care how well you take of yourself, atleast i don't think so.  and that's not to say you shouldn't either.   he was diagnosed after a series of tests and a trip to the dr for what he (my dad) thought might have been apendicitis.  the pain in his side was actually nothing to worry about but his blood tests showed that he was extremely anemic.  he was then sent to an oncologist and after more tests he learned of the multiple myeloma...and at that time those two words became a familiar part of our vocabulary. 

90% of his blood contained the cancer, stage III, statistically 3-5 years.

he immediately began an oral chemotherapy...which fortunately just about the only side effect he had was dizziness.  he was to take 4 rounds of this (4 months) and then see if a stem-cell transplant would be next.  stem-cell transplants are very good in treating this type of cancer.   so we were pretty sure that would be on the agenda. 

we were correct.

he was transferred to a cancer clinic for more tests and after completing the oral chemo his blood showed to contain only 5% of the myeloma.  AMAZING!   partial remission.  however the benefit of a stem-cell transplant would be to prolong the remission for as long as possible...and these doctors have had great success and there is new and promising research just on the horizon.

today, as i write this my dad is getting his first chemo treatment of his stem-cell transplant.  the transplant process is long (about 3 months) and boring and he will have two transplants back to back...."tandem" they call it.

during his transplant he will receive blood products for various reasons and the clinic asks that family and friends give blood...this blood wouldn't go directly to my dad but it would replace the blood in the bank and go to others just like him.  i don't like giving blood.  i don't do needles...at all.  that is what kept me from becoming a nurse!  it's a wonder i actually had a baby...i was so thankful for a c-section AND an epidural.   so my thing is...sometimes you have to do things for others, even if it's for those you will never cross paths with. 

so go give blood...or just give...and encourage others to do it too.

i have also decided to give proceeds of my Sterling Silver Hand-Stamped Jewelry and Photo Tiles to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society .  they use donations to fund their research and without individuals they could not make that happen.  it's so important to give.  (you can also click on the leukemia site directly and donate via paypal if you wish!)  if you have any questions just send me an email and i'll be happy to answer!   

and if you're still reading (and this was a short version)...thanks for listening!