Garage Sale

The garage sale scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled!

Due to the wonderful spring weather we are experiencing, we have moved the garage sale to Saturday, May 21st. The location has been changed too. More details will come as the date gets closer! So, start your spring cleaning! If you would like to donate items, please get a hold of me or Amy Baker! Thanks :)

12!

Tim had a busy day Wednesday! He left the house early with Cory to visit some job sites, then to go sky diving! A friend hooked us up with Dusty at iFly in Ogden and both Tim and Cory got to do some indoor sky diving!

Tim loved it and did a great job! He really liked go high in the tunnel with the instructor:)

Thanks Dusty for a great start to a memorable birthday!!

Early evening, we had Tim's family party. After dinner, we opened gifts, then had cake and ice-cream. With Tim turning 12 and getting the priesthood, Cory and I figured it was time for Tim to get a "nice" set of scriptures with his name on them and a new scripture tote.

Tim's last gift was a huge surprise for him!

Lego Star Wars' "Death Star!" Tim has had his eyes on this bad boy for quite some time now! We figured it was a good time for him to have it with all things considered! There is 3800 pieces, almost 200 steps in putting it together and the instruction manual in about an inch thick and spiral bound!! That should keep him busy for a day or two:)

Here are 12 things that I love about my "bug!"
1. His bald head!!
2. His contagious smile :)
3. He is my oldest child.
4. His passion for learning!
5. He is crazy on the tubes when we go boating and how he knocks adults out of the tubes.
6. His love of riding motorcycles, with all his gear on too!
7. His love for Legos and that he puts them together so quickly!
8. When he makes an awesome tackle in football!
9. His goofiness:)
10. His love for the outdoors-camping, playing with a campfire!!
11. His strength!
12. His courage!!

Happy 12th Birthday Tim! We love you so much!!

Early Birthday Present

Tim's birthday just wouldn't be the same without a gift from Primary Children's Medical Center! Tim received his gift yesterday, a day before his birthday! Take a look!


Tim is in the process of getting another blood transfusion in this picture-transfusion #4! He ate about 7 Otter Pops during his 3 hour, 2 unit transfusion! It wasn't all that bad. Tim joked around with the nurses and got even with one shooting her with a nerf gun after she froze his stomach while accessing his port! Tim also had Cafe Rio for lunch-his favorite place to eat besides Joe's Crab Shack! Oh, wait a minute, he got to eat dinner there as well. My Dad came to visit for a couple of days, and he treated us to dinner after our little visit to the hospital!

Here is Mak and Tim at Joe's! We just love Tim's new BYU hat with hair! Thanks Wrights for going "blue" for a minute while purchasing the hat :)

We woke up this morning to this in our front yard! A neighbor family decorated our yard with "12" and "Happy Birthday Tim" signs!

Tim's face lit up and he and Cory pulled out of the drive-way for their day together. What they did will come later!

Laser Quest

For Tim's friend party, we went to Laser Quest. We had a group of 13 for the afternoon. We played two games of laser tag in the huge maze, ate yummy pizza, had cake and opened presents. It was a fun afternoon, even though Tim was tired from a week long chemo treatment!

Our group of kids for the afternoon: Braden, Bryson, Mik, Kelli, Mak, Katie, Tim and Luc!

Between the two games of laser tag, Tim and the other birthday boy there got wrapped in toliet paper and sung to by everyone there!

Tim and his yummy chocolate birthday cake!

Tim and Mik racing while Mak watches!

Having so much fun! It was a great afternoon, and Tim was so happy that he got to go and not be in the hospital!!

Easter

Easter Sunday has come and gone with the rain we had yesterday! All of us attended church and Tim was sustained to receive the priesthood when he turns 12 later this week! So much is happening so fast :) Last night as I reflected on the busy day filled with sugar filled kids and an Easter dinner with family, I thought about our Savior. His atonement is so real and means so much more to me. Because of it, Tim will be "whole" again. A scripture in the Book of Mormon says this about being resurrected:

"The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time. . .Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame. . . and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil." (Alma 11:43-44)

Some words that stick out to me are limb, joint, hair! Tim will be whole again!! Such a huge comfort as his surgery gets closer and we tackle another step in this process.

Last Pre-Surgery Chemo

Tim is home again after a 5 day/4 night stay at the hospital. He had his last round of chemo before surgery! He handled the treatments well, throwing up 7 times and advancing the start of chemo each day by 3 hours! Also during this stay, he had a CT of the lungs, an MRI of his left leg and a bone scan of his entire body! It was a busy stay:) We feel so blessed that the cancer is not in his lungs or in any other bones and that the cancer has not gotten any bigger on his left leg. If all goes well, and his counts are high enough, surgery will be Tuesday, May 3rd! (Note-before it was scheduled for May 2nd.) We are planning to fast Sunday, May 1st for the surgery. We will start Saturday around 4:30 and end Sunday at 4:30. We will break the fast at our church building for those who would like to join us!

10 Years!

My Makayla is 10! I remember like it was yesterday, watching her sleep in the hospital the day after she was born and being so excited to have a girl and of all things, to be able to do her hair. That didn't happen until she was 2 years old, but now she has long, blonde, beautiful hair for me to play with. Here are 10 things that I love about my Mak:

1. Her contagious smile :)
2. Her beautiful slate-blue eyes.
3. Her cute little laugh.
4. She likes to play volleyball.
5. She loves to read, especially the Book of Mormon.
6. Her blonde hair.
7. Her creative/artsy side.
8. How she loves to have Mom & Mak time.
9. Her innocent sense of style.
10. She is my oldest daughter!

Friday night, we had a family party for Mak thinking Tim was going into chemo on Saturday. It was a small event with the six of us, my Mom and Grandma in attendance. But Mak had a great time and got some really nice gifts: books, clothes, a volleyball, knee pads, crazy socks and a bedroom makeover! She was so excited to sleep in her room that night! I can't blame her:)


Happy Birthday Makayla! We love you so much:)

Round 6!

We finally made it! After really low blood counts, a mild-grade fever, blood and platelet transfusions, and just waiting, Tim went in for his last pre-surgery chemo treatment this morning! And it started out good too. The minute I hung up with the hospital this morning confirming a time to check in, I had Tim drink lots of water. In order for chemo to start, "stuff" in his urine has to be a certain level. Today, Tim was at that level after 4 hours of being checked in. In the past, it has taken him 6-8 hours. However, this meant that he threw up while I was still with him :( But then he fell asleep! This round is a 5-dayer. Tim should be back home Friday or Saturday, depending on how well he does with the chemo.

We had a beautiful spring weekend that all of us enjoyed! Saturday was spent working in the yard, pulling weeds, applying fertilizer and getting rocks out of the garden. The kids built this fort in the backyard with an old tarp and some bungy cords. Then they sat in it for the longest time and got along so nicely! Just what we all needed before a week long hospital visit.

Blood

Monday night, as usual, a nurse came and drew some of Tim's blood to see if he could go in for chemo Tuesday. Tuesday morning, the hospital called early and said that Tim's counts were very, very low, thus explaining it taking us an hour to stop a bloody nose Monday-twice! So, we quickly got ready and headed to Tim's favorite place in the world-PCMC:) NOT!!

Not only did Tim need two units of blood, but he also needed a unit of platelets!

This picture is not very good at showing you what platelets look like. The darn flash turned the platelets a yucky "pee" color! They actually are more the color of lemonade and the consistency of a slushy! So, Tim has lemonade slushy inside of him now! At least there is some color to his skin and no more unstoppable bloody noses :) Looks like we will be going in for his last pre-surgery chemo this Saturday!

Mak's Party

This past weekend, we celebrated Mak's birthday a little early-Airborne style! We decided to let Mak have a friend party this year and she choose to go to Airborne Trampoline Arena!
Only three friends could go, but they had a blast jumping all afternoon!

The girls up in the loft! (Abby R, Mak, Ireland and Avi) We had the best "birthday" room ever! It was upstairs and overlooked the entire warehouse that the trampolines are in! Plus, it was private, quiet and had a tv and couches for all of us to rest on.

Mak jumping into the pit! All the girls jumped into the pit. They loved it:) It is full of big foam cubes that are a little difficult to get out of! K&K and Tim also liked jumping into the pit! Also at Airborne, there is a Dodgeball area with trampolines and a whole bunch of trampolines in another area with some leaning up against the walls to jump off!

Pizza and drinks were included in the birthday package. See, isn't our "loft" just the coolest?

Mak and her birthday cake! Tim was pretty worn out by this time of the party :(

The girls decided to eat their cake without using a fork! They had so much fun getting cake up their noses and into other crevices of their face:) K&K even tried to eat their cake this way. They gave up after a couple of bites!!

Happy Early Birthday Mak!

Surgery

On Monday, May 2nd, Tim will have the following procedure:



Tim will spend 4-5 days in the hospital after the surgery. The doctors will allow Tim to heal for about 3 months. Then Tim will get fitted for a prosthetic and rehab will start. All the while, he will also be going through 8 more rounds of chemo treatments. In about 6 months from the surgery, Tim should be walking on his own! However, the doctors think Tim will be walking before that time:) In about a year, Tim will be back to full activity-football, running, jumping, skiing, boating, basketball, riding motorcycles, etc.

This was not an easy decision to make for us. But if Tim is to have a full, active life, this is the way to go:) Along with talking to parents of kids who have had this procedure and doing research, we fasted and prayed as well. This is the right thing for Tim, no matter how hard it will be for the next year. But a couple of years from now, Tim, and the rest of the family, will look back with no regrets. We just have a long road ahead of us.

We plan to have a ward/family fast Sunday, May 1st for any who are interested in joining us. More info will come as the surgery gets closer about that. Please keep Tim in your prayers as the time gets closer for our little "bug" to have his life changed-again.

Volleyball

For the past couple of weeks, Mak has been playing volleyball at Riverton High School! Every year, the school holds a spring league for 7-9th grade girls, and this year, they did one for 4-6th graders. Of course, I signed Mak up since I would be helping out now and again! The first night after sign ups, the Utah Valley University Volleyball team did some drills with all the girls. The next three weeks consisted of practice time with a team, then a match against another team. And the last night was the tournament. Mak's team placed 3rd going into the tournament and took 3rd in the tournament!

High five from coach before a match!

Mak making sure she looks her best :)

"I think I got it!"

Mak's cute and very loud team! Her coach (Kori) is a senior and played on the high school team this last season!

Speaking of Riverton Volleyball-I will not be coaching this fall. I need to take care of my family and Tim first. But, hopefully next year, a spot will open up for me again. Pec, Ape and Em - I love you and will miss you so much. We will have to do lunch every once in awhile to catch up. NOT IT! (thumbs up!)

Our Weekend

This week has been crazy busy, and it's only Wednesday:) WOW!! Saturday, Cory took Tim to Priesthood Session of General Conference. Tim's birthday isn't til the end of the month, but Cory and I felt that Tim needed to go. We practically had to pull teeth to get Tim to go. But when he came home, Tim was in good spirits and was very talkative about what was said at the session!


And then Sunday morning, we woke up to this:And this:
That's right, snow! And a lot of it too - about 6 inches! But, that's Spring in Utah for you. It is all melted away, but another storm is coming in this weekend and we could wake up to snow again :)

Round 5

Round 5 of chemo is in the books! I took Tim in early Thursday morning, and Cory brought him home late Friday night. Usually, Tim does well with the 2 day treatment. However, this time, he struggled a bit. He threw up three times and just sat and watched a lot of tv. Tim was pretty drugged up around the clock so he wouldn't throw up. We think that somewhere along the way though, the nurse missed a drug or two, thus all the throwing up :) But before all of that, Tim had quite the sense of humor! Take a look at the following picture!

That is a battery operated fart machine taped to the underside of the sink in Tim's room!


And this is Tim holding the remote control to the fart machine! (This is right before the chemo started and he has some anti-nausea drugs in him. Thus the "drugged" look!)
Every time a nurse came in the room, Tim pushed and pushed the button to make the machine "fart!" I was in tears numerous times and Tim couldn't stop laughing or pushing the button. It's too bad we got the machine out after all the doctors came to visit Tim. One was leaning against the sink during a visit. Can you imagine if the machine was in place? There's always next time, right? And in the words of a friend - "Tim is going to fight cancer hard, with sound effects!"

Thank you!

The bake sale was a huge success thanks to so many who donated goodies and their time helping us out! It would take me forever to personally write a thank you note to all of you, so I am saying THANK YOU this way!

A huge shout out to those of you who made goodies for the sale: Becka S, Sarah O, Anna K, Katie A, Rochelle E, Amanda P, Barb S, Ashley B, Sarah M, Jennifer B, Tiffany C, Kristen J, Heidi F, Stacey P, Stacy S, Stacy L, Lyndsey F, Ann E, Krista M, Karen P, Carlye W, Debbie C.

Thanks to local businesses who also donated yummies: Carrie's Cakes, Chick-fil-A, Beyond Glaze Doughnuts and Utah Food Services!

Thank you the Young Women who came and danced around on the corner with signs and helped sell goodies: Jessica S, Amanda H, Corrine H, Emily P, Sammy P, Nikki G, Cierra T, and Hannah B.

Thanks those of who who helped set up, clean up,& sell goodies and let us borrow a canopy and/or a table: Taggarts, Fausetts, S&S Baker, D&G Christenson, Kalmas, Polly & Taylor, Butlers, Millers.

And thank you to Munchkin Radio for the music and Goldenwest Credit Union for use of the parking lot!

Thank you so much Gary and Amy for the wonderful fundraiser. Your family is the best and always there for us! We love you:)

I can't forget to thank my Mom for handling the money and raffle tickets! Also, thanks for taking K&K for the night, making sure we were all warm and that our tummies were full after the event :) Love you to the stars, Mom!

And one last thank you to all of you who came and supported the bake sale either by buying something or just donating. You have no idea how much we appreciate the support and love! We love you all!