Change in Plans

On our way to the Blazers game, we received a call from one of Hunter's doctor's, Dr. Thomas. He was letting us know about a change to the phase that Hunter had just started. There has been a study going that is looking to see if the way the interim maintenance is now. Verses having the kids get a high dose Methotrexate instead. The finding shows that there is a better response to the high dose Methotrexate compared to what Hunter is getting, the escalated dose of Methotrexate. The down side to the is that Hunter has to be admitted for 3-4 days for the high dose.

I thought Hunter was not going to be very happy about this. He took the news in stride. It reminds me of part of the blessing that Aaron gave Hunter before we knew he had Leukemia. In the blessing Hunter was told he would have the patience to endure this trial. We thought then that Hunter had a stress fracture in his knee and it would be about a year for recovery. Little did we know that patience would be a huge factor in this trial. Hunter has certainly given us a great example of patience.

So next Friday Hunter and Aaron will head up to Doernbecher for 3-4 days. Hunter does have to start over with this phase. Luckily he was only 3 weeks into an 8 week phase.

Hunter has been saving up for a PSP for awhile now. He finally saved up enough and found one on sale last week.

He has definitely been enjoying it. I love seeing the kids saving for things. How proud they are that they had the patience and endurance to save.

Blazers Game

Last night Aaron and I headed to Portland to attend the temple. Hunter came with us and hung out in the car playing his new PSP that he has been saving up for. Hunter was going to stay home and babysit the kids for us. On Wednesday afternoon Aaron got a call from one of the counselors from Doernbecher about some Blazer game tickets. We were so excited to go. Plus we were already going to be in Portland. We had a great time in one of the boxes. We were with 4 other families with children with cancer. Two we had seen before and the other two we hadn't met yet.

I chatted with Rachel's mom who's daughter is having her last chemo treatment next week if she passes counts. What a fun way to celebrate that by going to the game.

During halftime there's a car blimp that floats around. It was dropping Great Clips gift cards.

Hunter enjoying a soft pretzel. He loves these and has been asking me to find a recipes so we can make them at home.

I see 3 googles.

Celtics during a timeout.

Blazers during a time out.

Towards the end of the 4th quarter we were able to move to the seats in the box and the guys loved using the binoculars to see a little clearer. It was really so much fun.

As we were waiting at a stop light to get on the freeway. The wiener mobile pulled up beside us. It was pretty funny. I had to snap a picture of it. We have also seen it at Doernbecher.

We didn't get home until midnight. Aaron's mom is so sweet and watched the kids so we could go to the game. The kids love it when Grandma comes. She ended up stay the night because of the thick fog. What a blessing to have her so close.

Hunter was very tired this morning but manned it up and went to school. What a kid!

Time With Cousins

Alice and Carter came over this morning. Dawn had some errands to run before they leave on the trip to Disneyland Friday. It is so much more efficient to run errands when you don't have to unload and load up the kids at every stop.

Alice and Graham enjoying some Playdoh.

Carter loving the baby toys box I got out of the garage just for him.

We had a great time with the kids. It's always a good time with cousins.

After school this afternoon we headed outside for some fresh air. It was a gorgeous day. We are enjoying this weather while we can.

Nerf Guns

Yesterday I walked into the family room to a bit of a competitionng going. Imagine that, competition with 4 boys in the house, unheard of. Well this one involved Nerf guns and a Playmobil guy. They boys were trying to knock the Playmobil out of the windowsill with the Nerf gun. I was just happy they weren't shooting each other. That usually ended in someone getting hurt. This was pure fun. Gretchen did join in but I missed getting a picture of here.

And my brother Shannen stopped by. The kids are always so excited about him dropping by.

After the competition was over we headed outside for another walk. It was warm yesterday than Saturday. I do appreciate and love these warmer days in the middle of the winter.

Sunny Day

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The temperature was still chilly, but we got outside to enjoy it.

This morning we went a walk down by the river.

We saw a salamander along the way.

The river was so full. The kids wanted to check out their fishin' spot but couldn't. The water was covering it.

This afternoon we headed to the park.

It was so nice to be out in the fresh air even if it was chilly.

Back on Track

Yesterday Hunter, Graham and I headed to Doernbecher. Hunter's Kidneys were function was back to normal. So he was able to get his chemo and get back on track. It has been really nice for him not to have chemo last week. But there is a draw back, he still has to get the chemo that was missed.

It took along time for the chemistry's to come back. These tell us how Hunter's kidneys and liver are functioning. We were in the room for about an hour and a half. We decided to head to the playroom. Soon after the chemistry's came back and Hunter's chemo drugs came up from the pharmacy.

Graham loves playing with the police car in the playroom. He loves riding around and getting the bad guys. Hunter loves playing the PS2 because there are games that he doesn't have at home.

Hunter was getting his chemo in the pictures above. It's nice to have a distraction while getting the chemo. He doesn't have to think about how crummy he is going to feel later. Hunter did feel crummy about 1:30 a.m. this morning. Aaron and I heard him getting sick to his stomach. Afterwards he went right back to sleep. Hunter is still asleep right now. He definitely needs the rest.

We are glad to be back on track. It means that much closer to Maintenance and an easier schedule.

Family

Yesterday my brother Shale came over to hang out with us. We had some dinner than headed to pack meeting for Gavin. When we got home, Shale got out his computer to show us pictures of his family. It was so fun. We haven't seen their kids for about a year. It is so amazing how quickly kids grow up.

After looking at the pictures, we headed up stairs and Skyped with Shale's family back in Idaho. It was so fun to see their faces and talk to them. My sister-in-law Carmen read the newest letter from my nephew Karsten. He is serving a church mission in Arizona. We all enjoyed hearing about the things Karsten is learning. He has only been out about 2 months.

I love the time that we have to spend with our extended family.

Bobcat

Gavin is in Cub Scouts now. He has been so excited to be with his friends. Last night was his first pack meeting. He has only been in for about two weeks.

Which was enough time to earn his Bobcat award. There he is getting his award. His fellow Cub Scouts are doing a cheer for him. Gavin was pretty excited to ear this award.

Pinning the mother's pin on me. Gavin was very nervous to do this. Especially in front of so many people. Good job Gavin!

I was realizing that for the next 9 years our family will have some one in Cub Scouts. It seems kind of crazy.

No More Stitches

Tonight was the night. The stitches came out. I had been putting it off for a couple of days. Hoping that a couple more days would give his knee some extra time to heal. I took the stitches out. I wasn't sure if I was going to. Taking them out really wasn't so bad. It sure beat going back onto the doctors office.

Harrison was so excited to take a bubble bath tonight. He's been waiting for over a week. What a trooper!

His knee certainly looks much better than before.

Fun Day

Since the kids had the day off from school, we planned some play dates.

Gretchen went to her friend Erin's and I picked up 3 of the Stenson boys.

First it was building some things out of Legos. The three other boys were running around with light sabers. I didn't get a picture of them. Then it was time for the Wii.

It wasn't raining outside and the sun was out. So I sent them out to play. Then were out for over an hour.

Then back inside for a Nerf gun war and fort building in Harrison and Graham's room. The boys had a great day. Gretchen did too. I think she was glad to be out of the house filled with boys. Although she does have a great time with them too.

No Chemo

Hunter, Graham and I headed to Doernbecher bright and early this morning. We dropped the other kids off at the Dewey. Stephanie is so great to take them to school when she takes Isaiah.

Hunter didn't have chemo today. His numbers were great, but they send the labs downstairs to get checked on a more high tech machine. Hunter's kidney numbers were at 1. Normal for him, I guess, is .5. The elevated numbers shows that his kidneys were affected by his chemos from last week and he doctor didn't want to give more chemo without letting the kidneys bounce back. So chemo was postponed until next Thursday. I was looking forward to have the week off next week. I will just have to look forward to the week after. We are glad Hunter is feeling better than the last phase.

He's 6!

Harrison turned 6 today. It is hard to believe that that much time has passed since he came into the world. It was a crazy day when we left for the hospital to have Harrison. I had had contractions all day and Hunter had gotten sick with the flu and was throwing up. That evening we when we were heading out the door to the hospital, Gretchen started to throw up. I felt horrible for having to leave her when she wasn't feeling so good. Gavin soon followed in getting sick while we were at the hospital. Aaron and I were so grateful for his mom being there with the kids. We knew they were being well taken care of. On to the birthday details...

Harrison had many requests for his birthday. He wanted to eat at McDonald's. Which we did.

Of course after eating the kids headed to play on the play structure. Afterwards we headed home for some singing, cake and presents.

Harrison had requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with Batman on top. He was so excited when he saw what I made. Thank goodness!

Hunter helping by lighting the candles.

This was recreated. He blew the candles out before Aaron was done playing the end of the birthday song. Hunter suggested that Harrison pretend that he was blowing the candles out again. It works.

Harrison has wanted a puppy pillow pet.

He also requested another Lego set.

Harrison had a great day. He was able to take in Zingers to his class. Several of his classmates made pictures for him. By the end of the day he was exhausted and excited to climb into bed with his new pillow pet and snuggle to sleep.

Brotherly Love

We were in a hurry to get to church on Sunday morning. In all the rush Gavin wanted to wear a non clip-on tie. He learned 6 months or so ago how to tie a tie, but had forgotten. This is the scene I happened upon while I was rushing around getting shoes on and hair combed.


Hunter checking to see if it was done correctly. Yes, it was. I love to see these moments. It seems the are few and far between, unfortunately. I definitely talked it up to Hunter and Gavin about how nice it was to see them helping each other out.

Gavin's Baptism

Yesterday afternoon Gavin's was bapitized by Aaron. It was such a great service. Gavin was very excited and is acting more grown up. We had such much support from family and friends. We are so proud of him for making this decision.