So many blessings.

Tonight, as I was singing with Rebeka, “I have a joy, joy, joy, joy, joy in my heart…” I realized how incredibly blessed and fortunate I am and how blessed my family is.

Too often, Chet and I reflect on our past year. I’ll see pictures of Gabriel without hair or with a puffy Prednisone face or Rebeka a year younger, and I have to be honest – I’ll break down in tears. It’s so hard to explain how it makes you feel to walk along this path. Chet and I will talk about how much of this last year we missed just enjoying Rebeka as a sweet little two year old girl. Gabriel’s lost so much of his year, friendships, relationships and those types of experiences. I don’t want to say that as a family we’ve been robbed, but in a way, we have.  And, it’s difficult because Gabe doesn’t look sick anymore, but he’s still fighting cancer, and we’ve got a long journey ahead of us.  It’s so disheartening at times.

But, those are fleeting moments that pass almost as quickly as they come. And, I thank God for that.

And, then it is nights such as tonight, that remind me how incredibly blessed we are. How blessed I am. I have two beautiful children. Gabriel, is alive and doing amazingly well. I have a job I enjoy. I have an amazing husband. And I have a wonderful and supportive family. Truly, life does not get much better; and while we may have rough patches in this life, we’ve been given so many gifts that I can’t dwell in the sorrow, pain, or memories. They are the past and water under the bridge.

So, a couple of weekends back we had a family adventure. Kind of like this past year, what was anticipated to be sunny, beautiful and full of fun – instead,  our weekend was filled with unexpected turns of events, surprises with silver linings, ups, downs, and a beautiful conclusion to the weekend.

Now that I’m a dedicated state employee, I get the pleasure of furlough days. Honestly, I do mean it’s a pleasure. For me, it’s been a blessing, as I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get a day off this early in my employment except for the furlough day. So, I actually kind of like it. We planned my furlough day for a Friday so that we could take advantage of a long weekend. We knew we’d head out camping.

Originally, we thought about going to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, but after thinking long and hard, we decided that was just too far to drive for a 3 day weekend. Then we thought about heading to Yosemite National Park, but when we looked at the weather forecast, they were forecasted to get a couple of feet of snow – and that was not inviting to us, considering we were hoping to get some hiking in. NEXT!

Then we started looking at other options: Berlin-Ichthyologist State Park? Lava Beds National Monument? Montana De Oro State Park? North-central California coast? Bishop, eastern Sierra? Chet started checking out the forecast and after much evaluation, trepidation, discussion, and analysis, we decided to head to the Bishop, California area. The forecast was snow Thursday night, cool and sunny Friday, and warmer and sunny Saturday and Sunday. Keep that fantastic forecast in mind.

Friday morning we have the camper loaded, get the kids loaded and head off on our weekend adventure. No real set plans. We had no idea where we’d camp. But the few things we knew we’d do were: (1) stop at Mammoth Brewing and grab a couple growlers of beer; (2) stop at Schatt’s Bakery in Bishop and get some cheese bread; (3) get out for a nice hike.

About an hour from home, Rebeka asks for her nite-nites (blankets). At that point, Chet and I realize that we forgot to grab them. Oy! Rebeka moves into a full-blown fit. I tried negotiating with her (’cause there was NO way we were going to turn around over blankets) and offered that when we got to Bishop, we’d stop and buy her a new SPECIAL nite-nite just for camping. That worked for a little while, but as soon as the distraction passed, it was back to a whining session for her blankets. And, yes, that continued off and on for the whole remaining 2 hours (give or take) to Bishop.

Fortunately, once we got to Bishop, the K-Mart served us well and Rebeka was attached to a new blanket. Whew.

Next, after making the required stops (groceries, Schatt’s, fuel & propane) it was time to decide where to camp. After looking at the maps and a stop to the local National Forest Office, we decided to head up to Grandview campground in the White Mountains. It’s on the road to the Bristlecone Forest, and Chet was told by the Forest Ranger that while the road was closed still for the winter to the Bristlecone groves, it was only a 2 mile hike in from the gate. So, because the hike sounded like a terrific Saturday morning hike with the kids and the campground was just a couple of miles down the road – off we went!

We found this beautifully isolated, and desolate, campground. It was a bit cooler than we expected. But, as soon as we picked our campsite, popped up the camper, Chet and Gabe got the fire going and we got things set up, it started to snow.

Now, it’s time to remember that forecast I mentioned before.

And, I mean that it started to SNOW! And snow and snow.

After a delightful dinner of pizza and Mammoth beer, we hunkered down.  If I haven’t mentioned, I love our camp oven.  It’s AWESOME!!!

Then, in the middle of the night, I wake up to Chet peering out the window. Okay, it was windy, really windy, and all night long in between the gusts you would hear the snow hitting the camper. So, I ask Chet “what’s up.” Chet responds “call me crazy, but I think we should bug out of here right now.” To which I respond “you’re [bleeping] crazy!” and then I rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep.

The next morning we woke up to about 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. Yah, brilliant.

A pot of coffee and a quick pack up, we headed out to drive down the mountain to Big Pine to be lower for making breakfast. As we were driving out, we thought we’d try to head up to the trailhead – just to see if we could make it (and we’re a glutton for punishment). And, we got about a ¼ mile from the gate (by our best estimate), but the snow drifts were just too deep and while we like an adventure, getting stuck isn’t an adventure for us.

No hike to the see the oldest trees for us this weekend.

We headed down back to Big Pine and took a break at the local park. The kids had a blast playing while Chet shoveled the snow off the roof of the camper and I got breakfast cooked.

It was all fun and games until Rebeka went flying off the zipline. Shhh, that’s our little secret – Chet doesn’t need to know that I shared that.

After breakfast, more coffee and some play time, we all headed back up to Bishop and do some browsing at the backpacking stores. At that point, it’s time to decide where to head to next.

Considering there was still a ton of snow in the mountains. Remember the forecast… And it was drizzling in Bishop, we decided to continue north and maybe camp near Bodie State Park. But, then we decided to take Highway 120 from Benton to Lee Vining, because there’s a fantastic 5 mile stretch of road that rolls and is quite fun to drive – especially with kids.

After making out way back to 395, we decided to continue north and Chet suggested camping between Bridgeport, CA and Smith Valley, NV – there’s some fantastic mountains east of the Sweetwater range. And in those mountains we found a perfect campsite with a great fire ring, plenty of wood to collect, and isolated. It was awesome.

We park, we get the camper set up, I get dinner going, Chet and Gabe get the fire going and guess what – IT STARTED TO SNOW!

All I could say was “are you kidding me!” Yes, I really said that – multiple times. Fortunately though, this time it didn’t snow that much or for very long, and we were able to enjoy a nice dinner and Chet and the kids had an amazing fire.

I mean A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

But I will be honest, when it started snowing again (remember the forecast) Chet and I were so frustrated, we almost decided to head back home. I’m glad we didn’t.

The next morning, we decided to head back to Bodie State Park. Rather, instead of taking the direct route (back to 395) we decided to take the back road from Hawthorn.

The mountains were absolutely beautiful in the morning.

Off we went and it was beautiful, the road heads up a canyon and is just awesome. It’s definitely 4×4 required, but it wasn’t too bad (especially considering some of the Nevada mud slick road we ended up driving on for a while). And, it was great, until we hit the sign regarding the road not being maintained (if you’re coming down from Bodie, not from the direction we came). There we encountered a spring, and there was a bit of a stream crossing across a meadow. No big deal, right? Stream crossing to the left, mud bog to the right. Easy choice – keep left and cross the stream. At least, that’s what we decided (and there might have been some taunting not so P.C. words said by me to Chet about being a weenie – but I didn’t use the word weenie). And that was a great idea until the water was …. well …. DEEP. I mean, like to the top of the wheel wells, mid-way up the doors deep. Oh, and our truck doesn’t have a snorkel.

We had an “oh no” moment.

A quick shift into reverse and we were fortunate to get out before we flooded the engine. Whew! So, through the mud bog we went, and that was a challenge in of itself. We almost ended up high centered, as it was deep in its own right.

We made it to Bodie, in one piece, not stuck, and in good spirits. That was a win. Then we got to tour Bodie, which was a very cool experience.

Yes, experiences like this just continue to build on how fortunate and blessed we are as a family. Cancer, what cancer. We kick cancer’s butt and we’re not about to let it beat us!

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

A Continuous Journey

Life this past year has definitely had it’s highs and lows for each of us as a family. Reflecting back, we’ve spent so many months in isolation. And, we do it because it is the “right” thing to do, but that doesn’t take away the emotions and the feelings of loss and missing out.

 No one has felt this more than Gabriel. And, frankly, quite often I think Chet and I have no concept how hard it has been on him. Gabriel has been such a trooper and just tolerated everything so well, we just don’t fully comprehend the hardship on him. He’s one tough kid, emotionally and physically.

 But, there are just things that happen that give you an little insight into his mind and heart. And, well, this is just one of them.

 

 Wow. All I can say is that it made me cry. And well, made Chet mushy too (don’t let him know I said that).

 Our crawfish boil is an annual event with friends and family from all around. And, well, this year we just couldn’t do it. Gabe’s counts were too low, we were too financially strapped, and emotionally, we were just too drained. Little did we realize how much that annual event, which normally also has a bit of a birthday celebration for Gabriel built in, meant to Gabriel.

 Honestly, quite often I’ve felt guilty that we have so often combined Gabe’s birthday with the Crawfish Boil. The timing each year just works out that way. But, it seems like it has been a good thing.

 Gabe’s counts finally came back up. He went back to school yesterday. The bummer is that Friday we head back down to Oakland for a five day hospital admission. So, he’ll be out of school again for a few days.

 That’s tough. He’s missing his class musical. He was going to get a part in it, but he’s missed so much school due to cancer that they had to give the part to another little boy. He’s been okay with it, but I know deep down it has to be disappointing. How can I take that away? I can’t. But, hopefully, the time out of school will get less and less. We’re all ready for that.

 But, this past weekend, Gabriel, Rebeka and I got out for a nice 3 hour tour. No, we didn’t end up shipwrecked anywhere, even though we were close to water. But, we did get about 2.5 miles of hiking in and had a good time.

 We hike on the Deadman Gulch trail in the Washoe Lake State Park. It was a whole lot of fun and I’m so grateful that we’re able to get out and do fun things together and not be stuck isolated at home.

Here’s Gabe looking out a big hole in a fallen tree at the trailhead.

Rebeka was anxious to get going and was impatient to get hiking.

Rebeka was beside herself to get into the water.  See how white her shoes were.  “Were” being the operative word – I failed to get an after photo.

Gabe enjoyed a water stop while waiting for his sister to catch up to us climbing the hill.

Not a bad view or a bad climb.

After taking a long and round about walk up to the lookout, this was the best picture I could get of the two of them.  What is it about getting two siblings to look at you and smile at the same time?

Rebeka was super excited about her backpack.  And she got many compliments on it from others while we were out on the hike.  I think it’s just adorable.

And here was one of the final photo opportunities before the battery was spent.  A great cut-out / exploratory mine out on the trail.

Stay tuned.  Next hike T.B.D.

Read Full Post »

Maintenance.

We made it.  September 16, 2010, Gabriel started maintenance.  We are now one giant step closer to the end.  The journey before us is still long, but we’ve survived the hardest part.  We have crossed that line in the sand.

The word itself doesn’t sound like much.  But, truly, this is a monumental point to have reached.

The maintenance phase of treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is pretty much the same whether it is pre-b, t-cell, or what not.  It is a repeating 84 day cycle that continues for basically 3 years for boys and 2.5 years for girls, based upon the date that the child begins the phase “delayed intensification.”  So, for Gabriel, that means, on April 27, 2014 he will take his very last dose of Chemotherapy medications and on April 28th, he’ll be done with his treatment.

Chet and I are adjusting to a new “normal” now. Once every 84 days he gets a LP (lumber puncture with intrathecal chemotherapy). Gabe is on a daily oral chemotherapy medication.  Weekly he gets another oral chemotherapy medication.  One week every month he gets oral steroids. Twice every 84 days he gets I.V. chemo therapy.  And for the first three cycles, Gabriel will spend 5 days in the hospital when he is given the clinical study drug, Nelarabine.

This is our new normal.

But, with this, we have tremendous freedom.  Starting now, Gabriel is permitted to be a normal activity and is expected to be able to resume the activities he was involved in before his cancer diagnosis.  Monday, his birthday, Gabe will be going back to school.

Life will slowly begin returning to normal.

Once he’s done with all of this Nelarabine treatments, he has the choice to have his central line/Broviac removed.  Once the site is healed, Gabriel will again be able to take baths, go swimming, and be even more active.

Chet and I are currently in Utah for Chet’s 3rd 100 miler of the year – the Bear 100.  I’ll try to pose an update or two.  Gabe and Rebeka are holding down the fort with Chet’s mom and my mom.

Read Full Post »

I’ll Buy You Tall, Tall Trees …

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programing to bring you this virtually live update.

I was going back and forth trying to decide whether to finish up the “Whole Lot of Catch-Up” series or to actually talk about stuff that’s happening now.  And, well, I’ve decided to provide a live and real time post.  Besides, most of the rest of the catching up involves Chet’s running…and that can wait, right?  Absolutely, so the updates on Western States and the Tahoe Rim Trail will come in due time.  Besides, I’m still trying to compile pictures for those posts.  I’m chronically bad at getting pictures at Chet’s running events anymore.

Onward!

As I’ve previously mentioned, Gabriel stared delayed intensification at the beginning of June.  That involved several weekly doses of the “Red Devil” a.k.a. Doxarubacin.  He tolerated the treatments remarkably well as his counts did not drop as we expected.  In fact, they didn’t drop hardly at all through all three of the treatments, which meant that Gabriel was able to be at the finish line at Tahoe Rim Trail, which was a pretty nice thing.

So, given the fact that his counts were holding steady, imagine our surprise last Tuesday when I called down to confirm that all systems were “go” for starting Nelarabine, the next phase in delayed intensification.  And, we were told that his counts were super low (344).  If you haven’t been privy to my detailed explanations of ANC counts or you’ve forgotten, you can get a refresher here.  We were pushed off a week, until today, assuming his counts were high enough (he has to be at least at 750 to start the next round of Chemo).

But, the flip side of Gabe’s next Chemo being pushed off was that we were all home together over the weekend.  And, this was the first weekend in weeks, no, months, that we haven’t had something going on.  Earlier in the week, after finding out that Gabriel wasn’t going to be in the hospital over the weekend, I had thought it would be nice to get out for a drive as a family, like around Lake Tahoe or something like that.

Saturday morning after cooking breakfast, putzing around the house and just generally being lazy, Chet suggested that we go for a drive.  My response was, let’s go.  We loaded up the car with more crap than we’ve ever normally loaded for just a drive.  But, life isn’t like it used to be.  So, now we are loaded with the “kit” Chet’s prepared which includes supplies to do a flush of Gabriel’s central line if necessary, red top wipes (hospital grade sanitizing wipes), Clorox wipes, paper plates, plastic silverware, paper towels, zip-lock bags, hand soap, and more.  We loaded changes of clothes for both kids, blankets, food, drinks, and yes, eventually the children.

We decided to head out and drive over Ebbetts Pass (CA HWY 4).  Just a couple miles before we got to Markleeville, CA, in an open field, Chet spotted a Mamma Bear and three cubs.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a better picture.  But, there they are in all their glory.  We spent a while just watching the bears up in the field.

Ultimately, we continued on our way, but not without stopping for some pictures of one of our favorite roadside sites along HWY 4.

There’s just something cool about this old homestead long the highway.  Then there’s the old trailer, which is a converted bus. It’s one of those things that just begs for pictures to be taken of it.

After the pictures, it was time to continue on.  We stopped at Bear Valley to grab some sandwiches for Chet and I to eat for lunch.  While Chet was in the deli, I whipped up some PB&J sandwiches for the kids.  Rebeka inhaled hers, only to be promptly puked up just as soon as we got back on the highway to head toward someplace to stop for a picnic and to let the kids run around. Ahh, thank goodness Chet loaded the “kit” because we had sufficient supplies to do an emergency clean up.  And, fortunately, I had packed extra clothes, so after a swift wipe down (Chet also packed the bath wipes from the hospital) and change, we were back in business.

While we were looking for some place to stop for lunch, we came upon Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and decided on a whim to stop there.  Chet and I have often talked about stopping here, we just never have.  So, this was the time and it was a very good decision.

We stopped and enjoyed lunch under the canopy of cedar and oak trees.

Rebeka was telling us some story here.

 

Gabriel was being overly dramatic about God only knows what here.

The kids got together for a picture, and it was completely amicable, I promise that Gabriel isn’t trying to choke Rebeka here. They were having a great time just running around and exploring.

Chet and the kids walk along a large fallen tree.

After a nice lunch, we decided to go to the South Grove and check out the Giant Sequoia trees which are the main attraction at the park.

We headed out for the 3.5 mile hike to view the groves and it was the most worthwhile adventure.  We saw hardly anyone out there and the kids enjoyed their trek.  Gabriel hiked the entire 3.5 miles and Rebeka did at least 2.5 miles of it, if not more.  It was awesome, the kids had a blast, Gabriel was so excited to be out there and Rebeka was beyond filthy by the time we made it back to the car, which made me appreciate the second change of clothes I threw into the bag.

Rebeka balancing on a log.

Beautiful big trees.

Amazing burl or stump, or as Gabriel named it, “the brain.”

She’s only hardly filthy in the picture.

One of the first Giant Sequoia we saw.

Gabriel approaching the base of the first Sequoia tree.

One of the larger Giant Sequoia’s we saw.

 

A little perspective as to the scale of the tree.

Looking up.

 

Inside an ancient hollow Giant Sequoia.

 

 

 

 

Getting out, hiking with the kids and just enjoying life was such a refreshing change.  It’s something that we’ve truly needed and I’m so grateful that we just decided to hit the road.  As I said to Chet somewhere along the hike, the $8 entry fee was the best eight-bucks I’ve spent in a very long time.  The kids had an amazing time, I had an amazing time and it was just awesome.

So, after we enjoyed a weekend as a family together, we were mentally gearing up for this weeks hospital admission. Again, we were surprised yesterday to find out his counts were still too low.  He was only up to 610.  Again we were pushed back for the start of Nelarabine, until hopefully Friday of this week.

We’ll find out tomorrow to find out whether we’re on for the this next round of Chemo.  Chet and I are so anxious to get this show on the road.  Once we start Nelarabine, we start the clock to maintenance, a point in Gabriel’s treatment we are all to anxious to get to. The difficulty with this phase of the treatment is that we’ve been able to feel somewhat normal, but not able to fully relax due to the fact that we never know were we are at in terms of Gabe’s immune system.  There’s a lot of uncertainty and associated anxiety.  We’ve tried to live a normal life, but no matter how close to normal we try to get, we just cannot dismiss the fact that we’re not there yet.

We have this hope and expectation that once we get to maintenance, low ANC counts will be few and far between.  At that point, Gabe will be able to start back at school.  We’ll be able to have a bit more of a normal social life as a family.  Life won’t be constantly in fear of an infection.  Now, in reality, Chet and I both acknowledge that our expectations are probably a little inflated at this point in time, but hopefully we’ll get there in time.

Until then, we just continue looking forward.  All will come in due time, and we are working on exercising patience and discipline.

Read Full Post »

Dresses!

Okay, so Saturday I spent some time sewing dresses. I had stumbled across patterns from Tenderfeet Stitches on Etsy a while back (have I ever mentioned how many hours I can waste browsing Etsy and wish I could buy everything I fall in love with).  Anyway, several weeks ago I made a couple dresses for Rebeka from the Bubble Ruffle Dress pattern.

I was inspired by the camo pattern Amanda with Tenderfeet Stitches used and I made this dress for Rebeka.

I LOVE the dress.  It is so stink’n cute.  And after it got washed (i.e. reversing the stretching from sewing), it is even more adorable.  that same day I also made this dress for Rebeka.

Same pattern, just different color scheme.  And, yes, I need to work with Rebeka to be a better model.  She truly has a mind of her own and is very independent, which makes her extraordinarily resistant to posing like a sweet little girl for pictures.  Hahah!

For me, sewing has become a source of relaxation and stress relief.  I have truly been enjoying seeing creations come to life through the joining of fabric with needle and thread.  I honestly just love it.

So, with that first pattern, I feel in love with Amanda’s patterns.  She has an awesome way of just making incredibly cute item very easy to sew with very basic instructions.

I began following Amanda on Facebook, and imagine my excitement when she offered one of her patterns to her “fans” for testing.  I had the opportunity to test her new Classic Crossed Bodice Sundress pattern this past weekend.  And, it was awesome.  Here’s the final product of the dresses I made for Rebeka:

And, here is the back of the dress.

After suffering through absolute brain damage while making Rebeka’s dress (ended up ripping out the hem and waist seems three times), ultimately, it turned out amazing.  It way my incompetence, not the pattern, that caused my problems.

Next, I moved on an made a similar dress for my friend Char’s granddaughter.  I had hope to make a couple more dresses, but only had enough fabric for one more that day.  This time I used some pink tule which I added to the skirt.

The dress pattern has been deemed an absolute hit here at the house.  Chet loved it, I loved it, Rebeka loved it, and Char’s granddaughter loved it.  This weekend I’m going to test another pattern for Amanda, I can’t wait.

I’ll give a comprehensive update on Gabriel tomorrow.  In a nutshell, we’re finally getting out heads above water.  These past couple weeks have been so emotionally trying for Chet and I, and I’ve been struggling to avoid a pity party and I just didn’t feel comfortable bearing all the struggles we’ve been feeling just yet.  I guess, I just didn’t feel like whining.  Honestly, so far in this journey, I’ve truly felt blessed and optimistic with all that we are facing.  However, these past couple weeks, my optimism just wasn’t there.

But, we’re doing well.  Gabe has turned some major corners these past couple days, and things are progressing.  We’re officially 3 years from the end of his treatment (okay, 3 years and a couple weeks).  But, we’ve got an end in sight and come hell or high water, we’re going to be having one heck of a party at the end of May, 2014 – mark your calendars.

Oooh, and I almost forgot – Amanda at Tenderfeet Stitches is amazing in so many different ways.  When she learned of our journey with Gabriel, she placed this dress for auction and is going to donate the proceeds to Operation Leukemia Elimination.  How amazing is that?  We are so blessed, blessed beyond words.

Photo from Tenderfeet Stitches.

If you’re interested in bidding on this beautiful dress, you can do so HERE.

Read Full Post »

Home Again.

Late Thursday afternoon, Gabriel was finally discharged from Renown and he and Chet headed home.  It’s been bitter sweet.  A lot of the same feelings of anxiety, fear, paranoia and uncertainty fill your very being – like when we were first discharged from Oakland Children’s after Gabriel was first diagnosed.

Unlike all the other times Gabriel’s left the hospital, this time he’s not his normal bubbly self.  He’s still sick and miserable.  And it’s heart wrenching.

Every day is a struggle to get him to drink fluids and an even bigger struggle to get him to consume any calories.  For the past week he’s eaten hardly anything, which doesn’t help him feel any better and certainly doesn’t make it any easier to keep food down.

It was encouraging Thursday night because Gabriel asked for food – celery.  And, well, guess what – we’re out of celery.  So then he asked for olives, which we had and after a couple olives, they just didn’t taste good.  That was the extent of food for him last night.

Finally, out of probably what is approaching shear desperation, Chet broke out one of his Cherry Bomb Crank eGels.  Well, Gabriel didn’t want to eat it solid, but Chet mixed it with water and that seemed to be appealing to him.  Well, at least that’s 150 calories and a bunch of sodium and potassium, which hopefully will help his little tummy start to feel better.

In a lot of ways, what Gabe is going through is like what ultra distance runners go through during an event.  Even though he’s not necessarily exerting his body with physical activity, his body is depleted from lack of calories, lack of of nutrients and when the body is low on those nutrients, the body has a hard time processing food.  The result is the difficulty or inability to keep food and even water down, which is really where Gabriel’s at.  So, if we can find ways to start restoring the balance of electrolytes in his system a little, then it should make it easier, and more appealing, to drink and eat.

Over the past couple days we just tried to get as many liquid calories in him through the eGels and tried to get him to drink as much water as possible.  And, today we finally felt as though we made forward progress.

He woke up a little more chipper this morning – meaning he would actually talk in more than grunts.  He spent the day upstairs with me while I sewed (there’s going to be a post on my sewing projects today in the near future) and by this evening, by the glory of God, we actually got him up, walking and outside for a little while.  He’s shaky on his feet to a degree, but he was up and moving, and that was absolutely AWESOME to witness.

After hanging out by the “fire” on the back patio for a while Gabriel explored the yard for a while.

Small steps and R.F.M.

It was just nice, all of us hanging out on the back patio by the “fire.”

Getting Gabriel to the point where we can just keep fluids down and not expel the antibiotics that we have to give him has been amazing today.  That’s a good enough start to recovery for me. It has been an amazingly miserable week.  Gabriel truly has not been himself.  The kid finally got knocked down.  And as a parent, that is horrible to witness.  But, finally we’re making progress.

Nothing like seeing my kids outside together.

Read Full Post »

And The Little One …

Rebeka is often obligated to playing second fiddle around here too often as of late.  Unfortunately, it’s just the nature of the animal we are dealing with at this time.  However, it doesn’t mean I can’t dedicate a little time here to my beautiful little girl.

Before she was born, we didn’t share her name.  Instead, we called her “Rock Star.”  It was awesome, when someone would ask Gabriel what Rebeka’s name was, he’d say “ROCK STAR” in a dramatic rocker sort of way.

From the moment Rebeka was entrusted to us, she’s been full of life and fun.  A little adventurer from the very start.

The one thing that I always find myself doing is just gazing into her blue eyes.  She has the prettiest blue eyes, in my humble opinion.

Over the last two years, I have grown to appreciate this little girl and her inquisitive personality and experience how different she is from her brother.  While they are similar in so many ways, they are incredibly different at the same time.

Like her brother, she is always on the go.  And as of late, it is even more difficult to get a picture of her as she will not stop for a picture for more than 2-seconds.  But it doesn’t deter me, and I keep trying and trying.

As much as her brother is ALL BOY, Rebeka is ALL GIRL (I have no clue where that came from) and she loves to be girly.

She is also the most nurturing and sweet little girl.

Here she was making sure her bear had water.

She also love her Rody Horse…both to ride….

To take care of, making sure it has water to drink.

And to be friends with.

Rebeka is always just being silly and funny and loves to dance, sing, and just enjoy those wonderful experiences of childhood, milking every drop of joy and fun out of every moment she can.

But the best part is that she has her brother who she loves and wants to play with, be close to, hug and snuggle with……..

Except when mommy wants to get a picture of the two of them together.  *sigh*

Read Full Post »

Life Continues On…

Okay, so I’m starting to feel bad that it’s been so long since I’ve provided an update.  So, here is a brief update.

We made it through Nelarabine with flying colors.  My dad and Chet drove over to do the parent exchange in some of the worst weather we’ve had in a while.  Fortunately, they took the “sneak” route and avoided the highway closures.  After a brief exchange, my dad and I headed back over the hill.  Fortunately, our timing was just right to make a window where I-80 was open.

Chet and Gabe made it home safe and sound and after two days back at home, Chet and Gabe headed back over for the last hospital stay for several months – God willing.

Thank God we do not have any scheduled hospital visits until about July.  There is always the possibility that Gabriel would have to go back to Oakland if he got sick, but for the time being we get a break.  And that is very welcomed.

Today, Chet and Gabe went to the clinic and he had a great check-up.  After his check-up he had an intrathecal chemo treatment.  All in all it was a great visit.

Here, well, we are finally having blue skies and warm weather.  This kind of weather just refreshes the soul and spirit.

This week has had its moments of trying times.  Chet and I ask for prayers as our family goes through some transitions and changes.  It’s been another emotional roller coaster of a week, but ultimately, God is awesome in his grace and forgiveness. We are continually reminded that we have to place our faith in his hands and irrespective of the trials in tribulations of the day, we know that we have to utterly surrender our worries, stresses and concerns in Him.  As cliche as it sounds – God is in control.  And, when we make that choice, the choice to surrender our worldly concerns to Him, there is such peace.  The heart is given shelter in a storm.

We’re going to have a couple updates on fundraising efforts, so stay tuned.

Here’s a little photo flashback….from just a few weeks after Rebeka was born when we were camping.  The whole family headed down to Southern California for Chet’s second running of Coyote Two Moon 100 miler.  It was a memorable trip and full of so many special moments.

Read Full Post »

Where Has The Week Gone?

It’s been almost a week since I’ve updated.  Things have been relatively uneventful since Monday when Gabriel received his last spinal tap, intrathecal chemo, and bla bla bla.  We are getting to a point where it is all running together in the brain.

Otherwise the week was relatively uneventful, except Wednesday Gabriel had to go in for his third blood transfusion.  Unfortunately, since it was his first here in Reno, it meant most of a day spent at the clinic for Chet and Gabriel.  They got there at 9:30 a.m.  I took them lunch and hung out for a while and then they were finally released to go home around 4:30 pm.  They say the next transfusion won’t be as long.  We can only hope.

The best part, at least for all of us this week was the SNOW!  Oh, it’s been awesome.  We got about 18″ here at the house, not to shabby.  Gabriel and Rebeka had a blast playing.

Snowshoes ROCK!

It’s been a fun week for all.

This weekend Chet and I were able to get our office remodel almost completed.  We finished up taping and spraying texture on the drywall.  Have I mentioned recently how much I would prefer to pay someone else to do that work.  Oh-well.  Then today, while Chet was running, I got the primer on and the first coat of paint on.  I did not expect the walls to suck up an entire gallon of primer.  Whew.  We had 3/4 of a gallon, and ol’ Murphy was at his best with his law, and I had to make a run to Home Depot for another gallon with only less than 1/4 of one wall left to prime.

But, it looks great.  Tomorrow, God willing, Chet will have time to lay the new hardwood floor and then we’ll have the trim left to do, but otherwise it will be nearly complete.  My job will be to get it set up like an office.  One more project nearly complete.  Pictures will be up once I remember to take some in decent light.  I have to say, the office colors are very masculine – very Chet.  That’s not a bad  thing.

Well, that’s pretty much all there is to report from here.  Things are pretty mellow.  Gabriel goes back in on Tuesday for another spinal tap and intrathecal chemo along with a few other chemo drugs.  Wednesday we’re going to head back to Oakland for the rest of the week and radiation for Gabriel.  Onward we go.

Read Full Post »

The Weekend.

It has come and gone, and truly, it was a pretty good weekend.  I think we got a lot accomplished.  But, looking back now, I’m not absolutely certain of that.

Saturday Chet and our friend Scott went out and did a nice 17 mile (give or take) run on Peavine, Chet’s old stomping/running grounds in Reno.  Truckee was able to accompany them, and his foot seems to be doing much better.  He’s got a bum knee I guess is the best way to put it.  But, he did great and none of the guys, Chet, Scott or Truckee were any worse for ware.  Well, I assume Scott wasn’t, but I wasn’t there today to see how he was feeling.

I felt like I got a bit accomplished yesterday.  I got the kitchen cleaned up (amazing how quickly it can all be undone) and the house picked up a bit along with sewing a comforter cover for Rebeka.  Ahh, yes, that time is upon us and we finally decided it was time to transition to the big girl bed.

Rebeka’s been able to crawl out of her crib for a while already, but it was infrequent.  She also has a very controlled manner of dropping out onto a nice carpeted floor.  But, she was generally content to just chill in the mornings.  But, this past week we were having more incidents of her climbing out coupled with one night her climbing out, leaving her bedroom, and being almost all the way down the stairs to the living room at around 2am.  So, we decided it was time to move into the big girl bed.

Our friends had given us their daughter’s old bed when she upgraded a while back, which we were extremely grateful for.  So, yesterday after Chet’s run he stopped at my parents storage unit and picked up the bed.  Today was the big transition day.

It started with totally repainting Rebeka’s bedroom a bright green color from a pale yellow color.

Ultimately, we’ll replace the trim and I need to clean the carpet, but it’s MUCH better than it was.  Got the room painted and redecorated before noon!  Not too shabby.

I am very happy with how it turned out.  So, once I finish putting a hard coat on the switch plate covers and Chet replaces the sockets and switch, all we’ll have left (besides the trim) is artwork.  But, not a bad room for our little big girl now.

And of course, what’s the first thing you do when your 2 and you get a big kid bed….JUMP of course!

After Chet and I got Rebeka’s room done, Chet headed out to restock our firewood stores near the house, since we might be getting some weather.  Gabriel worked hard with his dad helping him to stack firewood and moved a ton of kindling for us too.

Not only did he move kindling, but he moved some of the smaller logs on his sled.

He is such a hard worker.  It was just awesome that he felt like hanging out with his dad in the yard today.  All in all, it was a great day.

Read Full Post »