Surgery Tomorrow!

Thank you to all who have been holding our family in your prayers! Tomorrow morning is my Dad's surgery here's a clip of my dad's email to explain it all....

"I received relatively good news this morning from the 10 member Kaiser Oncology Board. After each had felt my neck (and cumulatively given me about an hour neck message), I told them this was an awesome deal ... one hour message for $5 fee (my Kaiser plan payment). They laughed...
Result. It appears to them than the skin cancer (from sun radiation) had traversed down to the lymph nodes. Therefore the total path of travel must be removed. So, they plan to make an incision above the ear down to the lower neck to remove all flesh (fat) and lymph nodes (which hide in the "fat"). So, I will have a skin depression in this area. They will not remove the skin but merely fold it back while they remove the "insides". They must remove the Parotid Gland (as that is the "travel" route).... being careful to not injure the facial nerves that go through the Parotid Gland ... (or all I could give you is 1/2 a smile)."

Well there you go! Please keep him and the doctors in your prayers! Don't forget to put on your sunscreen my dear friends and family!!

A journey we never wanted to take...

On September 24Th, my dad called while I was helping the kids with their homework and the story begins... Cancer is the verdict. My initial response was tears and heartache. My next response was tears and nausea. Then I moved onto more tears and just feeling numb. After the waterfall of tears and about three hours of sleep, I start thinking clearer. I came to the realization that God loves my Dad even more than I'm capable of loving him and like me God does not enjoy seeing His children suffer. I haven't been able to update my blog until now to let you all know whats been going on. I think, I've been thinking if I don't talk about it it will go away -dumb, I know! So, here we go on this journey that we never wanted to take. As of right now we are in the waiting mode. Biopsy confirmed the cancer (Squamous Cell), good news the liver test came back clear. We are waiting on the MRI that he had last Sunday morning, then we'll get a surgery date. We are praying the cancer has not spread to more than one module, the MRI will confirm. So, if you all would keep my Dad and Mom in your prayers, it would really mean a lot to me!! God has given my dad and mom great peace in this. I'm trusting God, still occasionally my heart hurts, I'm my dad's little girl.

Back in full swing!

This weekend Fall Baseball, Softball & Club Ball began. Our first game was Michael's he's on the Dodgers this season. Michael's big moment was when he was playing third base and a line drive came right at him and he caught it! Great job Mikey!!!Samantha is playing her first season ever of softball. She is on the Titans this season. She had a great game and Ed and I were so proud of her!!! You go girl, Peace!! FYI, Peace is Sam's nickname for her jersey - cute, my flower child.Robert had a great game today. He is still playing with his travel team, The Fury. Here's a clip of him pitching, let me brag, he is really good!

Just another day

Michael loves to help with cooking, so yesterday after he finished his homework, I asked him if he would peel the potatoes for dinner. This is his work station planted right in front of the TV, what a crack-up! I love his helpful sweet self and the fact that he thoroughly enjoys himself!Since I had my camera out I needed to take a picture of what Robert spends most of his time doing.......Homework! Lots & Lots of Homework!! Robert is a great student and we are very proud of how diligent he works!Up the stairs I went looking for Sam, to my surprise the phone was not attached to her ear! Instead she was contemplating cleaning her room - NOT! Sam is also a very great student and incredibly creative. I've heard that creative minds sometimes like messy rooms because they are so busy organizing the thoughts of the next great story!! Sam, please dedicate your first book to your mom and dad!!

Happy 12th Birthday Robert!!

August 19, 1997, 1:13pm, 21 inches long, 8 lbs 11 oz.


Robert turned 12 years old today - WOW!! Time truly flies by! Robert you are such a blessing and we love you with our whole heart!! Happy Birthday Bud!

Vacation Part 2

We've been home for a week now, so I decided I need to post the rest of our vacation before I forget all we did!!

My last post we were in Billing, Montana. Here's a picture of General Custer's maker where he died at Little Bighorn. All the other markers are where other soldiers fell.
On to Yellowstone, WY where we saw Old Faithful
Morning Glory Pool
On to Beautiful, Jackson, WY
We went to a rodeo and Michael got to participate in a pull the ribbon off the cow chasing contest. He didn't get the ribbon but he got slim (cow saliva) all over his arm - yuck!
Snake River, innertube freak Mom out trip....long story!

Shoshone Falls, Twinfalls, ID

Boomtown, Reno, NV
We stayed in San Francisco, CA for almost a week it was freezing but we really had alot of fun!!
Golden Gate Bridge (don't you love these jackets in July)
Went to an Oakland A's game
Fisherman's Warf
Robert's 1st Cracked Crab, he loved it!
Pier 39 Sealions
Alcatraz
Spongebob and Sammie (seriously!)
Sundaes at Ghirardelli Square
Last but not least, we spent the last week at Pismo Beach. I'm a California girl so I had to have my beach fix!! It was absolutely beautiful!! A super fun part of the week was collecting sand dollars!
Thanks Ed for working so hard to provide us with a vacation of a lifetime! We love you!
THE END

Our Vacation Part 1

We are currently 13 days into our 5 week vacation and having a great time. Yes, it is alot of driving
but the kids have been doing great!
Our first stop was in Cedar City, UT, all I could say is that it was gorgeous and I would definitely go back! Our next stop was Salt Lake City, UT. While we were there we took a tour of the State Capitol which was absolutely beautiful - a must see if you ever head that way. We also walked around the Temple Square and ate lunch and Bringham Young's old home, by the way Mormons don't drink coffee, that it just crazy for someone with my addiction to coffee - I settled for a nice cup of ice water. The grounds were beautiful the temple is off limits to only the chosen people. I thought that was amazing that a "church" could be off limits - obviously they have something to hide. It was really amazing as we drove though the entire state of Utah, every couple blocks there was a church, I don't think I've ever seen so many churches in my life. In Rawlins, WY we had so much fun and I found something I love - Deep Fried Pickles!! We took a tour of the Frontier Penitentiary est. in 1888 - so interesting! They had a gas chamber and a Gallo for hangings - yikes!
We also went to the Carbon County Museum, it was a journey back in time - another must see!!

On to Mt. Rushmore, I don't think we missed much here's a list of where we went - Sturgis,
Wall Drug,
The Badlands,
Crazy Horse Memorial,
The Mammoth Site,
Mt. Rushmore! Amazing, Amazing is all I can say!
Seeing wild Buffalo up close!!
Today we are in Billing, MT. We toured Little Bighorn Memorial and it was - WOW!! It made me sad to see what greed does, how many senseless deaths because the white man wanted more. This trip has been such a great history lesson for the whole family. We are all enjoying every moment. I will try to post more often. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

So far this summer....

We have been nonstop so far this summer. We are getting ready to leave on our 5 week vacation, so life has been happening fast. We brought our trailer home a couple weeks ago to clean it and get ready for our trip, it was fun to have all the kids help wash it! We took it back to storage and will be bringing it home this week for me to load - Yea!! We also went to Disneyland with our cousins, which is always a favorite, we love when they come to Cali! Last week and this week I get to watch Dean and Carries girls who are the sweetest! It's very helpful because it keeps my kids busy so I can get my work done before we leave on Friday! We just wrapped up baseball and I'm in shock - no baseball games for 5 weeks since we are not going to be around. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE baseball but a break from it is going to be really nice! Yesterday, Sammie and I went to, my niece, (Dean's oldest girl) Chelsie's bridal shower in Santa Barbara. Chels is getting married while we are gone so we are sad to miss the wedding. She is going to be the most beautiful bride!! She is marrying Scott and will be moving to Germany, he is a missionary to military youth kids - isn't that neat!! So here's some pics from the last two weeks.