All Things Halloween

Time for fun!  We always look forward to spending some time with the Gardners.  They know how to maximize every party!  It's been a tradition for years that we trick-or-treat then eat at Wendy's.  Here is our crazy crew:

 Here is Amari, in the outfit she's been wearing since her birthday.  Amanda did her hair all cute and curly before they went to the Primary Halloween party.  She looks so sweet.

                    Here is Ammoriah dressed for the Primary party.  The YM/YW hosted the event.

                            Here are Kyra and Aubrie with Big Blue at the Toyota trunk-or-treat.

 Since Karen and Greg are pirates at heart, it's like they didn't even dress up!  Love it!!

                                    These two seem to always be comparing weapons, ha ha!

                               Uncle Jack Sparrow takes our firebird and princess by the hands.

                       The Kailings (minus Andrew who stayed behind to hang with his buddies).

                                    We had two Snow White Princesses, how stinkin' cute is that??

October Fun!

We've had an eventful week with Mark at the hospital for most of it.  There was an infection in his port,then the port was broken.  This took a lot of trouble shooting to fix, it was so frustrating.  Fortunately as of Monday, October 29, the port is fixed, the infection is gone, and we have re-started chemo round 17.  Here we go!  In the meantime, we still had some Halloween fun these past few days;

 For Family Home Evening, Holly and her kids joined me and my kids for dinner and getting lost in a corn maze.  We had a wonderful night, under a spooky full moon even though we weren't lost for very long.  Here are our children of the corn!

 The kids had fun shooting cans.

 Tough girls.

 Climbing the tall hay bales, and getting lost in the enclosed maze, so the boys could scare us.

 On Friday I took Aubrielle and her friends to a haunted house in Salt Lake, they had a blast!

 On Saturday, Mark, Aubrie and I went to our friend's party and danced and sang kareoke all night!  I was Mother Gothel from the movie "Tangeled" and Mark is a Jedi Knight.

 Here's Jenn, Cindy and I singing "Dancing Queen"

Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

A Plethora of Strange Surprises

      Half of my favorite tree is gone.  Snow has fallen in Cache Valley, so in addition to scraping snow off my van this morning, I saw this sad sight.  I believe the other half will live, but much of the height is gone.  Mark says perhaps it will better our view of the temple.  Maybe.  Our sweet neighbor Johnnie has already called and offered to help take care of the limb removal.  There is another large branch that is torn and hanging down, you can't see it from this angle.  :(

       Yesterday was a hard day.  What was supposed to be a "quick appointment to draw labs and hook up the chemo" turned into a 10 hour commitment, with Amari who was bored to tears at the Huntsman.  She was really good, but it was not a good afternoon.  Relief Society brought us dinner last night, it was leftover from a funeral from a sweet sister in our ward.  It was a sad reminder that I'd often wondered who we would lose first, there are a few very sick members of our ward. :(

     This morning's surprises continued; a phone call from Katie at the Huntsman informed us of bacteria infection in Mark's port.  They instructed us to come back immediately to have the port surgically removed and begin antibiotics.  We're not sure if we'll continue chemo or not.  So here I am in another waiting room at the Huntsman while the nurses draw blood for more labs.  The doctor isn't sure what we'll do just yet, and another long day is in store.    Incidently the nurse here in infusion said our doctor will be in, in a minute.  Mark and I could've swore she said his name was Dr. Kavorki....(sounds too similar to Dr. Kavorkian) but his name is actually Dr. Voorhies.  Phew!  I will be checking the meds administered just in case ;)  We're so tired of this place, and of cancer rearranging our lives so often.  Check out Sardine Canyon this morning:

Pumpkins & Leaves

Amari and Ava at the Pumpkin Walk.

Mark is feeling a bit better, with no fever.  We're still planning on starting chemo on Monday.  He needs to rest up. Saturday morning chores took awhile, but then Grandma Huerta joined me to take my girls to the Pumpkin Walk.   The theme for the displays this year is "Games"



Hunger Games



Sports teams

 

Grandma, Ava, and Amari with the BIG pumpkins!



Clue



Let's TWIST again, like we did last summer!



Madagascar 3, circus/afro, circus/afro, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot AFRO!



Amari eating a cookie, as Ariel



Amari is already dressed like Snow White!




Grandma as Cinerella




Riding a bus together



We love the Pumpkin Walk!

Back at home, Ava and Amari rake leaves!





Best Laid Plans

I like this quote, but there's always hope.  There must be...

     The last 36 hours have been a little bit of a Twighlight Zone episode.  Good News/Bad News/No News and No Control.  We were supposed to start chemo yesterday, and then be sent home to complete the infusion with Home Health.  It took awhile to get this organized, so we stayed in a gorgeous, quiet, large hospital suite.   At first the nurses and assistants came in regularly to ask questions, check vitals, discuss like they usually do.  Then no one talked to us for a long time.  We couldn't get a straight answer, will there be a blood transfusion?  Will Mark be well enough to start chemo infusion?  Is the fever something we need to fix in the hospital or can't we just watch it at home?  Is there any reason to keep Mark in the hospital if we're not doing blood transfusion or chemo infusion?  Why can't anyone tell us when we'll know something?  It was weird how quiet our day was.  We needed to make plans regarding our children and my work (I needed to teach a class tonight) and I didn't know if we were going home today or not.  We didn't know when we would know.  We didn't know who was waiting for what to ask them about it.  We didn't know and no one else seemed to know.  We were frustrated.

     At 6 p.m. we pushed the nurse call button and said we just wanted to know what the decision was.  The intern came in and said, very casually, "You want to go home?  Sure, I'll set up the paperwork."  We had been asking about going home since 9 a.m. to everyone who came in, even housekeeping and room service (OK, not really), but lots and lots of staff.  Then, just like that we're clear to go?  So, we came home. 

     The plan is for Mark to rest up and start chemo on Monday, and tonight unfortunately his fever is back.  It's not high enough to run to the ER (yup, they instructed us to go straight to the ER if it gets above 100.5 F) but it's not good news.  I'll be checking his fever regularly throughout the night.

     I've been thinking a lot about the "Scooby Doo" guy we met yesterday.  I even found his Grim Reaper prank as a video on youtube.  He is a neat guy, on the back of his t-shirt it read, "Uncurable but Undefeated!"  I love it.  I said this on facebook, but when I talked about there being more than one way to kill a dragon, the dragon is not cancer.  The dragon is the fear of death.  Everyone has some of that.  Where does it come from?  Are we afraid of leaving loved ones behind?  Are we afraid of unfulfilled experiences?  Are we afraid of not mending relationships, or overcoming our weaknesses?  Are we afraid of how unfair it is?  We don't talk about death much in our culture.  Over these past 3 years Mark and I talk about death a lot. 

     The "Scooby Doo" guy told me another story that has stuck with me.  He was speaking openly with his 8-year-old son when the child asked if his dad was going to die.  He assured his son that he wouldn't be dying anytime soon, but that sometime the cancer would kill him.  The child thought this over and said, "Dad, you know what you're really bad at? You're really bad at beating cancer!"  This thought made me laugh and cry at the same time.

I found "Scooby Doo guy" on facebook and he had this pic, I love this guy!!

     I do love the quote on this post.  I just really believe there is always hope.  Whatever we are going through, whatever tears at our hearts and rearranges our lives does so providing a way for future growth.  I must believe it.
    

    

Chemo Round 17

     It's been a long day.  We were up at 5 a.m. to be in Salt Lake for several appointments; labs, CT, and evaluations.  There has honestly been more peace today, but it's physically and emotionally straining none-the-less.  There is a long hallway to reach Dr. Gouw's office to hear the important news.  We walked side-by-side in silence, then Mark took my hand.  We smiled at eachother and admired eachother's ability to do this.  Feels a tiny bit like Daniel in the Lion's Den.  There are 16 or so "Lions" inside Mark's body trying to harm him.  We need to know what they are doing.  We wait and wait to discover our fate.

   We got some really, really good news;  most of the tumors are shrinking!  Ifosfomide is working for now!  As a team we've decided that the symptoms are bearable and we will complete 2 more rounds before another CT scan.  Also, in the good news department, we are going to try a slow-dose regiment that will allow Mark to spend much more time at home.  We'll be here 2 or 3 days then they'll let him take his meds through his port, at home for 2 weeks.  The slow dosing is supposed to be more tolerable for patients.  Mark is the first in this hospital to recieve this treatment as an outpatient.  Seems like they are still scrambling to get it organized, lots of coordination with our home health nurses, and the pharmacy.  Another bit of good news; we somehow ended up in the best room, I mean rooms, ever!  We have a corner suite that gives the most incredible views of the Salt Lake Valley through two picture windows.  The sunset tonight was enjoyable.  There is an additional room with a pull out bed (I'm still using my blow up mattress on top, it's just that good) my own TV, microwave and fridge.  I can shut the door between us and not have to be woke up all night long as nurses come in to check vitals and stuff. It's pretty nice.

     Well, there is some bad news to report.  Mark's cancer has spread to the bone.  Our team downplayed this step but it seems like that is pretty crappy news.  Mark has a cracked rib, he didn't even know this.  It is common in Sarcomas.  They will add a medicine to strengthen his bones, and he may possibly have radiation on that lesion, but for now we are just watching it. 

     We met Scooby Doo in the hallway and he gave us Kit Kats.  We ended up talking to him for 30 minutes.  He is a cancer patient, and he has a reputation around here.  This silly guy has done some pretty crazy things in this hospital, like ask his friend to come see him dressed as Grim Reaper, hired a male stripper for one friend he made during radiation when it was her last session, dressed like Cupid during Valentine's day, wrote "Quotes of the Day" on his bare bum for the radiation techs to see during radiation (everyday for 6 weeks), and taped a salami to his thigh during a CT scan.  This guy is a nut, but happy and excited to be alive.  He is terminal, and will leave behind a wife and two young children.  He was thrilled to meet us, hear our story and celebrate our good news.  He received some good news today as well, and he was telling everyone that passed by in the halls (all workers knew the guy by name).  What an interesting person.  The guy who is dying who talks to everyone in the hospital, and underneath the Scooby costume he was wearing a F*** Cancer shirt.  There is more than one way to kill a dragon. 

Happiness in Idaho!

See these happy faces?  This is what a super date night at Downata Hot Springs with a ton of people you love looks like, but back up, this awesome day did not start here...

     See, I like to pretend I'm a musician.  I love music, I have several instruments, I write my own songs, and try to sing them while playing my guitar.  I know I'm not very good, but I love the process.  Today, I was invited to be a part of the music-writing-and-recording-creative-process for a friend, and I LOVED it!!!  After our family got some chores completed, I drove up to Franklin, Idaho, to join Jay Keller and his friends as they jammed and laid down some tracks.

     There were instruments all over the work area.  It was fun as everyone played instruments, talked and laughed and solved musical problems together.

     Here is Jay's son Josh, sitting at Dad's drum set stomping the petals every so often and smiling.

Here's the part where Jay had to "shush" us a lot!  He's at the sound board with Zeke and his son JD is playing some great riffs and joking around. I neglected to catch a picture of the guys playing, they sounded amazing!!!  Excellent job Jay, Dan, Zeke and JD!  I also missed a photo of Elinda and I on the keyboard trying to rephrase a part of Jay's song, and we kept coming up with jingles instead!

After the musical adventure, I drove straight over to meet Mark and our friends for a Super Date!!!  This is all of us in Clifton, Idaho at our friends home, it is thier limo that we took. 

Greg & Karen Gardner

Mark & LaDena Kailing

Nikki & Todd Oswald

Andy & Kristy Clawson

We already have a ton of memories in this limo!  Rock on my friends!!

Downata Hot Springs is perfect during the off season.  Hardly anyone is there, and it feels amazing!  We wasted no time in jumping into a competition guys against girls in volleyball.  To make it fair, the guys can only use thier left hand.  Guys won the first game, Girls won the second game, then we had a very exciting tie breaker game.  Look at the picture below and see if you can tell who won!

We all went out for ice cream in Preston on our way home.  We had the best night!!!

Simple Things

     Everyday is an adventure in our family.  We are always super busy with regular life, get the kids ready for school, drive them to and from Thomas Edison, homework, making sure they do chores, visit and catch up on thier lives, run to the store to grab things we need, oodles of homework, correlating with school teachers, young men and young women activities,  dance for three of the girls, broadway class for Ammoriah, basketball for Andrew, oh, and they also expect me to drive them to and from thier friends' houses.  That's me in thier lives, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!  Sometimes we have a fun adventure together, like go to a Halloween Festival in Paradise, where we sat around a fire pit, rode a hayride, and talked with great friends.  This week was also a quick drive to see the leaves.  We walked around Tony Grove Lake and enjoyed the yellow aspen trees.  

Aubrie and Riah at the Halloween Festival grave yard.

Ava and Amari enjoying the spook alley and displays.

My four girls enjoying the fires before we take a hayride.

Ava at Tony Grove Lake with a cup so she can catch a tiny fish she found.

Mark loves this canyon, and loves to be outdoors.  He is so happy!

What to wear for Halloween??

    I'm having some fun thinking about this.  The kids have been discussing what they want to be for Halloween, and we've been to Halloween City four times last week.  It's fun in there.  Anyway we like to dress up with the kids and I think I know what I want to be (Aubrielle says I HAVE to, but if I do Mark won't be in theme with me, so still undecided.)  I think I'm a cheeseball because I love to dress up. When we were first married we did the disney couples for several years, Belle & Beast, Jasmine & Aladin, Snow White & Prince.  Those pics are harder to find, but I'm having a blast looking at pictures of us dressed up in the past;

Here we are at the Movie Star party, we are Ryker and Troi with Captain Jack Sparrow and his wench. Karen and Greg tend to be in a lot of our dress up pictures, they go all out!!!  :)



Here we are with my sisters and brother as muses, medusa and greeks.



Now we're pirates, aaaargh!!

Dressed up to do I-Fly, this counts as dress up right?

Our guys wore New Year's tophats and we wore tiaras (and mustaches, ha ha)

In the limo at the Music Legends party; Elvis and Janet Jackson

Dressed up ready to tube the rivers in Dominica

Tell me about it, stud.  I'm a Pink Lady, Mark is a T-Bird.

The White Night Marti Gras party on our 2008 cruise

Last year's Halloween costumes, Pan Am flight crew