Hello!

Hey everybody! It's been a long time.....a really long time since I've updated and I'm really going to work on getting things caught up this week. So expect a lot of posts with a lot of pictures! I just want to quickly update on my dad right now. He's doing pretty good. He's good, other than his feet hurt really bad. That is one of the side effects from the chemo that he is doing. He first started his new chemo meds after he went on his Alaskan cruise with my brother Matt. After a few days on them, he got a horrible rash from head to toe that itched like crazy and just made him miserable. He couldn't really sleep and he'd get up in the middle of the night to shower to help relieve the itch for a little while. He had the rash for about 2 weeks and then it finally started to go away. After that, his feet started to hurt and he started to lose his hair. It started coming out pretty quickly. Last weekend, the 17th - 21st he went to Lake Powell with some buddies to go fishing and he said it was great, because when he showered he didn't clog up the drain with hair like he usually did while he was at home. With all the driving around the lake doing 55 mph it help blow out the hair and thin it so he didn't just lose it all in the shower! He cracks me up! So I went to see him, Amanda and my new nephew Noah last Wednesday and dad asked me if I would just shave his head for him. He didn't want to look like he was trying to do 3 different comb-overs on his head! So I obliged. He was cracking jokes the whole time and was just having fun with it. He wanted me to give him a mohawk, because he knew this would be the one and only time he'd ever do it. He wanted lots of pictures, so pictures we took. I'll load them up later....I was using my mom's camera. I think he actually looks pretty good bald. If you're on facebook, I have all the pics on there. After I shaved his head, he went and showered and what not. After coming back out he wandered around for a minute before stopping and thinking for just a second. He then told Amanda and I that he was looking for a comb! Till he just remembered he didn't need one anymore! We all laughed pretty hard then! He's really a trooper with everything that is happening and trys to see on the bright side of life. He is such an inspiration to me! He makes me want to be a better person and to just be a better me! I want to take care of myself so I can help him if he needs it. This life is too short to not try to be the best you can be! Anyway....much more to come soon!

Update on Dad

So for all of you who have been asking how my dad is, here is the latest. He's been recovering wonderfully from his surgery. He's looking and feeling better. So, the big news is that they found 2 types of cancer in his thryroid. The 1st on is called papillary, basically it is the most common, easiest to cure kind of thyroid cancer around. The 2nd one is called anaplastic, it is the least common, no cure for kind of cancer. With the diagnosis of anaplastic, most people are given from 1-3 years before the cancer completely takes over and there's nothing else to do. The only problem they've really had with the diagnosis is they weren't sure if what he has on his lungs is part of the anaplastic cancer, or from something else. The biopsy that they did do on his lungs was not good enough for a definite anwer. So he had another CT scan on his lungs to see what's going on with the nodules they found. They told us that if there was a significant amount of change with the lungs, they knew that it was the anaplastic cancer that was affecting the lungs. We had been waiting for the results on the CT scan. The outcome of the results would determine the course of treatment that he would follow. If the anaplastic cancer isn't affecting the lungs, then they can start radiation treatment for the thyroid cancer. If it is affecting the lungs, they can't use radiation, because you cannot radiate the lungs. They would have to use other kinds of drugs that can work on both the thryoid and lungs at the same time. So, Tuesday dad went in to Dr. Dixon to get the results of the CT scan. It's not great news. They have confirmed that it is anaplastic thryoid cancer that has moved to dad's lungs. With this diagnosis they have started him on some very new, experimental pills. They are basically the radiation medicine, but in pill form. He's going to take these for the next six weeks and then do another CT scan on his lungs to see if it's having any effect on them. So for now, we sit back and wait yet again to see what happens. Dad is bound and determined to enjoy every day that he feels good. For him that means lots of fishing, an Alaskan cruise in a couple of weeks, and lots of good times with his friends and family. We love him so much and all hope and pray that this medicine will help him feel better. We really appreciate all of the love and support from everyone out there. Anyone willing to put his name in any temple is sure appreciated. Every little thing helps! If you have any ?'s, don't be afraid to ask. I'll get back to you as quickly as I can. Thank you again for your love and prayers.

Quick update

Dad was able to come home on Friday. He and mom came up to the farm on Saturday and ate dinner with us and visited for awhile. He wasn't sure if he was feeling up to coming to visit, that is till he heard that I was making my homemade honey barbeque pork ribs! ;) Those are his Favorites! Anyway, he's feeling better. The scar on his throat is not very pretty. It looks like a small rope right now. Mom kept teasing him that she was going to color it gold and hang some bling from it. Too funny! Anyway, he'll get his stitches out tomorrow and we'll hopefully have some results from everything in the next couple of days. I'll update with the fun things soon. Lots of pictures! So anyway, so far things are going pretty well for now. When I learn anything new, I'll be sure to let you all know. Thank you all so much for the prayers and love!! They are all heard and felt! We really appreciate it!!!

Another update on Dad.....

Okay, it's been awhile, I know. But it's been getting busier and busier. Plus the cord for my laptop died and I'm still waiting for my new one to arrive. Needless to say, I'm next door "borrowing" my neighbor's computer for a little bit. (Thanks Mandy!!) So dad went down to the Huntsmans Institute on Sunday. Monday morning he had surgery so they could remove the thyroid, yes, the whole thing. It was beging to attach itself to his voicebox. Weird, I know, but it really was affecting him and how well he could talk. He was really becoming hoarse. He's feeling much better now and says that it's a lot easier to talk. It's not as hard for him as it was. He's sounding much better. He was supposed to be released on Wednesday, but his scar was still draining too much. As of right now, they were still waiting to have someone come back in and check it to see if it's getting better or if he'll have to stay another day or two. Also, his back is starting to hurt pretty bad where they took the biopsy from his lungs. He's supposed to be getting an x-ray of his back to see what's going on there. The Drs. are still fairly positive that his thyroid will come back positive with cancer cells. They are also pretty sure that is what all the nodules on his lungs are from. As far as I know, we should have some definite answers about it tomorrow sometime. I do know for sure that dad, mom and amanda are all gettting stir crazy down there and mom is enjoying the traffic and road rage around S.L.C. a little too much! ;) If you haven't heard the whole story of how this all began, just scroll down and you can read all about it. I will update some more next week when we get home from camping. I hope everyone has a Wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!!

Road Trip to Blackfoot Reservoir - May 19, 2009

So that Sunday was warm and sunny and just beautiful. After we got home from church, we packed some picnic stuff and went for a drive. I wanted to go up to Bone and see where Camp Comorah was. We are going there for Girl's Camp in August and I wanted to check it out. So we headed up there and found the camp, but the gate was locked so we couldn't really go see it. But I do know how to get there now! Well, since we were already on the road, we've been wanting to see how far it really is to the Blackfoot Reservoir on the Bone road. Neither of us had been there before, so we figured why not. Well, when we got there it was really pretty.
There was a great little spot there for the kids and their Grandpa to explore around a little bit. Threre was a stream and rocks and mud.....some of their favorite things.

Most of the pics that I took of Joe that day are kind of like this one......him ALWAYS on the move, running or jupming across something. That boy has so much energy, I wish he'd share one of these days!

Taking a break for some lunch.

Emma really loves her Go-gurts! Even if half of it ends up all over her!

Joe loves the water. This is one of the "still" pictures of him. ;)

Sierra testing out the water with her toes. It felt really good, not too cold, just right on a warm, sunny weekend.

Gary is herding the kids back across the bog. It was really muddy over on that side.....you'll see in just a sec.

If you look carefully at the kids running across there, you can see the mud splattering across Grace's back.

Grace's backside after running through the bog. We got most of it rinsed off, but had to wait for some of it try just dry on her clothes before we could head back to the car to continue our journey.

My Miss Grace. She really is growing up......such a beautiful girl! Not that I'm biased or anything! ;)

Heading back down to go to the car. Time to start the way around to home. It was a great day!

First Camping Trip of the Season - May 1-3, 2009

Just a warning.....there are lots of pictures! This first one is of the farm at the point, one of my favorite places! I just love it up there.
Here we are at the point....a little different view point. Going for a walk. It actually turned into a hike, for everyone but Emma and I. They walk around that draw and up and around to the point. I took the pickup over there and kinda followed them and picked them up to take them back to camp.So here is our target. We bought a .22 that week and took the kids out to let them shoot it. They had a great time! They would all get so many shots, then we would all walk out to the target and see where all the new holes were.

Here's Gary teaching Sierra the proper way to hold the gun and sight it in on the target.

Gary and Grace.....

Gary and Joe......

Even Em had to get in on the action. She thought it was great!

Everyone checking out the target.

This is the old sistern up there on the old homestead where we are building our campground. If you don't know, a sistern is where they stored the water that they hauled up from the creek.

Joe sittin' on some of the old farm equipment still up there around the farm.

More old farm equipment.

Here's the moose we saw while we were at the point.

We saw this beautiful owl while we were on our way to go shooting with the kids. She was trying to lead us out of there. She acted like she couldn't fly and was hoping around. I did get some pretty good pics of her.

I really liked this one of her in the branches. She really blends in well. So beautiful!

This is our cute little tree growing out of the rocks up at the point.

And to end it with some pictures of the Awsome sunsets that we get to see up there!

Sierra's Violin concert - April 23, 2009

Okay, finally.....here are some pics and updates from the past couple of months! Sierra had her big end of the year concert at the end of April. It was down in I.F. at one of the old elementary schools. She did a great job! Doesn't she look so grown up?! I can't believe it!

Here she is with her group, the "Twinkles". This is her first year playing the violin and she loves it.


Wow, such enthusiasm! LOL! You think she concentrating a little bit?



By the end of the concert, everyone was on stage playing together.....and I mean 1/2 the audience!!! I bet there were up to 50 people up there!




See....I couldn't even get everyone in one shot! No panoramic lens on my camera! ;)