A silver lining in the cloud.

Today we received good news.  The doctor said that the chemo is having a positive effect.  He did say that it was kind of comparing apples to oranges since the first scan was a PET scan and the second scan was a CT scan.  We will stay the course and have another CT scan after 4 more rounds of chemo (8 weeks).  We will take it!

Scan Results and Chemo #5

Yesterday Kevin went in for his first CT scan since treatment has begun.  We have not heard the results yet.  They mentioned that we would probably hear tomorrow during his chemo appointment.  Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers as we go through this journey.

Chili and his really close call.

The tales of having a chiweenie.  Gah!  As you may recall, we adopted Chili last May from the humane society.  We had never owned a small breed dog before and had a few early learning's.  The first learning was how to keep him from crawling under the gate.  The second big learning came in November.  During the summer and fall, Chili spent his days outside with Cooper.  During the night, he slept in Kendall's bed.  Everything seemed to be working out nicely.  We did not seem to have any potty training issues.

 

Then...the really cold spell hit!  Do you remember that one?  I do!  It was right around Thanksgiving.  It was the time that all things "little dog" went south.  Chili had decided that our house was his own personal restroom...anywhere...anytime.  There was no stopping this dog.  We tried everything (or so we had thought).  I was at my wits end.

 

The last straw came late one Sunday evening, or should I say during the wee morning hours of Monday morning?  Kendall came down to our room crying.  Chili had PEED and POOPED on her cheerleading outfit.  Would I PLEASE wash it so she could wear it the next morning?  I managed to drag myself out of bed.  Kendall proceeded to clean up the mess while I tossed Chili outside.  Who cares if he gets cold, right?  Gah!  I put Kendall's outfit in the washer and fell back to sleep.  I am certain that I threatened to take Chili back to the humane society.  At this point, I am also pretty certain Kendall was in full agreement.

 

The next morning, I calmed down a bit and called my sister.  She seems to know all things pet.  As I recall, she wanted to be a vet somewhere along the way during our childhood.  She instantly informed me that we should be crate training Chili.  What is that?  She said Chili should only be allowed three places:  in his kennel, outside, or sitting on someone's lap.  Sure enough...I went on the internet and it informed me that we were to blame for Chili's terrible behavior.  But, of course...why didn't I realize it was all my fault:)?  That night we dusted off the crate that we had purchased last May and had stashed somewhere in the garage.

 

The first night was awful.  He whined and he cried.  I pulled out my handy dandy earplugs and tried very hard to get some sleep.  Night two went a bit better.  By the end of the week, we were in business.  We are now a few months into this thing and peace and harmony have been restored.  Thank goodness for Auntie Stephie's doggie wisdom or Chili would have been exiled.  That would have been sadness for all of us. 

 

About the comforts of the crate, Kendall donated a few of her baby blankets.  For the first few weeks, the girls would arrange the blankets and sleep mat neatly.  Chili would then proceed to fix it just how he liked it.  The girls have given up on a nice and tidy bed for Chili. 

 

When we had company for the holidays, we noticed that Chili really preferred to be in his kennel.  It seemed to be his safe haven.  How can you not resist that sweet face?  Read the above paragraphs again if you have already forgotten.

 

Yes, those are doggie clothes off to the right of the kennel.  Never in a million years did I think I would be that person, the one that buys clothes for their dog.  Now chili has several t-shirts, at least 2 sweaters, and one bright orange parka.  Spoiled dog!

Though I believe we have largely figured out this small dog thing, I decided to enroll Chili (us, really) in a dog training course.  Kevin and I went to one with Cooper when she was a puppy and in hindsight it paid dividends.  As the man at the pet store told me, "We are really training you guys, not the dog."  I thought it would be a great experience for the girls to participate in.  Kendall will take the lead with Chili at the class.  I think we will have Sid just watch the first class and determine her level of participation after that.  The class starts next month for 6 weeks.  The girls are very excited.

Having a bit of fun with the BSU cheerleaders.

I had a great coupon, but no real need for pictures, so I decided to let the girls go and have some fun.  I tried to talk them into wearing their attitude glasses, but they wanted to dress up as cheerleaders without the glasses.

 

 

 

 

My Trip to Florida and a Visit from Family.

During the first week of January, I traveled to Florida for 7 days.  Some people may have been envious, but I was on the fence.  It was a fantastic trip and a great time meeting new people and learning from some amazing people.  However, it was my first trip since Kevin's diagnosis.  Spouses were invited to join us, but given the circumstances Kevin stayed at home.  I left while he was still hooked up to chemo.  I was given the option to go or not, but Kevin strongly encouraged me to go. 

 

The hotel was gorgeous (Ritz Carlton Golf Resort).  The food was so delicious and desserts were served at every meal;  Rice pudding, Pecan Pie, mini cheesecakes, and the list goes on.  Each day, my housekeeper wrote me a special note and did something nice in the room.  One day it was extra chocolates, the next is was lavender and mini white roses in a water bottle, another day I walked in to this.  The hilarious thing is that I thought everyone was getting this kind of treatment.  As it turned out, that was not the case.  That nice lady made it an extra special trip for me with her thoughtfulness.

Jason had to make a one day trip to Boise last weekend for Legion Baseball.  My sister, along with Dylan and Hallie, decided to join him.  It was so incredibly awesome to have them here, even if it was only for a day and a half.  We made the most of out time.  We went swimming, shopping, ate great food, drank some Bailey's, went for a long walk and decided to recover the craft room chairs.

My mom sent down some gorgeous new bedding sets for the girls.  However, it was way too hard to part with the old ones.  Steph and I used the bottom solid colors of the old duvets for the seats of the new chairs.  Kevin and I had picked out some colorful fabric for the back of the chairs.  They turned out pretty awesome.  I would call this a Pinterest win!

January Birthday Girl!

It just does not seem right that Kendall turned 8 years old this year.  Where does the time go?  She celebrated with a hotel, pizza, swim, lego, family party!  We decided to get a king suite and all pile into one bed.  It was quite an adventure.  I am not sure that Kevin and I got much sleep that night, but the girls sure did.

Kendall and Sidney spent a lot of time in the pool.  I dub it "creating Mountain Dew commercials".  I recall my sister and I doing the same thing when we were little.  For those of you not following, I am talking about crazy jumps into the pool that feel way cooler and way more daring than they actually look.

Sidney resurrected her digital camera and spent the evening taking super blurry pictures of everyone.

As mentioned it was a LEGO birthday.  Kendall had been asking for legos and receive she did.

 

I am not sure who was more excited about the Legos...Kendall or I?  The two of us stayed up all night putting the tree house together.  Here is the thing though, I am only allowed to find the pieces.  Kendall gets the joy of actually putting them together.  I am not sure if that is a fair deal or not?



Sweet, sweet, young lady!

I thought I would do a little birthday interview with Kendall this year (My comments are in parentheses).

1.  Who is your favorite person in the whole world?  It is not a person.  It is a dog...Chili.
2.  What is your favorite color?  Purple
3.  What is your favorite television show?  K.C. Undercover
4.  What is your favorite outfit?  The one I am wearing in the picture above.
5.  What sport do you like best?  Basketball.
6.  What song do you love?  22 (Taylor Swift)
7.  What is your favorite cereal?  Apple Jacks.
8.  Who is your best friend?  Kaylie, Katenee and Hannah  (too many, she cannot decide...extrovert maybe?).
9.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  A pop star.
10.  What is your favorite book?  Anything Junie B. Jones
11.  What are you really good at?  Math
12.  Where do you wish you could go on vacation?  Hawaii (Random...?)
13.  What is your best memory?  When I was adopted.  I cannot remember that far, but it is still my best memory.
14.  What would you buy if you had $1000?  A huge house made of gold and stained glass windows (apparently $1000 goes pretty far nowadays)
15.  What vegetable do you hate the most?  Radishes.
16.  If you could have a wish, what would it be?  To be famous.
17.  What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl
18.  Who is your biggest hero?  Daddy.
19.   What do you like to do best with your friends?  Tell secrets.
20.  What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday?  Die my hair (yeh, that is not happening).