Thankfulness – Page 6

Thanksgiving

So, we are almost at the American Thanksgiving and so I figure that I’m still good to share our family’s Thanksgiving day Celebration.

We arrived home from Angelica’s Wish Trip on Saturday October the 8th. Before we left on the trip, we were throwing around the idea of having my family come over to celebrate Thanksgiving on Monday October the 10th and just a few days before we left, I told my sisters that it wasn’t going to happen.

I had a feeling that we’d be a bit wasted from our trip AND I figured that the “clean up” from the trip would take more than a day. We agreed to celebrate Thanksgiving a week or so later.

I AM SO THANKFUL that I put that off by a week. There is NO WAY that we could have been ready.

Well, I suppose that I could have stayed awake for the next two days and gotten everything done, but I am so Thankful that I didn’t have to. I would have been such a basket case with that extra pressure and stress and UNNECESSARY STRESS is something that I’m trying very hard to avoid in my life right now.

This means that I’m saying no a lot more than usual as I try to balance our lives. I’m thinking twice or three times before I say yes, and trying to live within my abilities and not overstretch myself.

Anyway, I was trying to share our Thanksgiving pictures.

It was such a great day, even if my Mom and Dad couldn’t be there. My Momma was in Romania on a missions trip and my Dad was out in the bush hunting. And so it was the first time “holiday” where it was just us kids and our families.

Even without my parents, it was still such a fun day.

Everybody brought food for the feast and it was all so delicious. I was so busy trying to organize and arrange things that I totally forgot about taking a picture of all of us at the table….oh well!

Everyone pitched into help clean up after dinner and then we relaxed a bit…

Denver looks so thrilled to have his picture taken, no?

There were cuddles with our special Aunty Brynn…she is just so beautiful, isn’t she?

My Love…..

Here Judah thinks he can use two iPhones at once….maybe he wanted to talk to both Nana and Pappa?

The littlest member of our family is getting bigger and he’s just so STINKIN’ CUTE!

Here the boys are just having a friendly competition on Baby Piano! It was AWESOME!

Okay, so that’s probably not what they were doing, but it sounds good, no?

It’s so much fun to have cousins that are your age…it’s like ready made best friends!

It was such a fun day and I can’t wait until we can get together and do it again. I’m so thankful for my family. They are a pretty awesome bunch!

If you’re interested in seeing all the photos from Thanksgiving, click here!

A New Day

Jon started his new job today. He left the house at 7:30 this morning because he has no idea how long it’s going to take him to get there in rush hour traffic and he has to be there at 9am.

This is a HUGE change for us and while a part of me thinks that I’m a lot more ready for something like this to happen in our family (as opposed to a year or even 6 months ago), there another part of me that has no idea how this is going to work.

Obviously we will do what we have to do in order to make it through, but this is the first time in a very long time (approximately 8 years) that Jon will be rocking the “daily grind”,3 outside of the house, on a Monday to Friday, 9-5 kinda deal with an hour of commuting on either side of the day.

This past year has really taken a toll of me and while I used to believe that I could do anything and everything….I now feel like I have no choice in the matter and somehow I just have to survive. I often hope that in the very act of “surviving” that I will be able to heal enough to the point where I feel strong again. At the same time, I wonder if that’s even a possibility. You know how if you break your leg and get it set properly, put a cast on it, rest and let it heal; it will heal better and faster (and almost as good as before) than if you just carry on limping and walking on your broken leg, doing what you’ve got to do. Sure it might heal eventually, but it may heal crookedly or you may not get full strength and/or mobility out of it, but the intensity of the pain might not be as severe as it was as first….

I kinda feel like that second scenario is playing out in my life. I feel a bit broken and tired and like there is no option to re-set, rest and heal and I’m just hoping and praying it will all be okay eventually. I DO feel stronger than before, but I’m so acutely aware of my fragility, compared to the strength that I feel I used to have and that’s……well, that’s tough!

I’m sure that the kids and I will fall into a routine of sorts, and I know that families do this all the time, but right now it feels a bit daunting.

I’m so THANKFUL that Jon was able to get work. In faith, I’m confident that it will work out and that we will be okay. According to feelings, I’m not so sure.

Day 6 – Day At Sea

By Thursday we were ready for a slower day…..we only had two full days of our holiday left. This was a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise that we were on.

I woke up before the girls & Judah did; and headed out to my balcony to sit in the quiet for a few moments.

We had been given two rooms on the ship that were side by side….for whatever reason, we had believed that we would have adjoining rooms and it was a bit of a surprise to find that we didn’t, but we adjusted fairly quickly.

It did mean that we had to split up and so Jon took the two boys into one room with him; and the girls & Judah and myself were in the other. It did require some juggling when putting the littlest boys to bed and….well, it wasn’t ideal but we did work it out. I think that if we’d been prepared for to have two separate rooms that it wouldn’t have been such a surprise, but we decided that it didn’t matter if we had to be in two different rooms, because we were just so blessed to be able to even be on this vacation and we were determined to enjoy every single minute of it and to not waste time over silly things like sleeping arrangements.

Judah woke up and I quickly got him so that he wouldn’t wake the girls and we hung out on the balcony for a while. It was AMAZING to have the balcony. I LOVED sitting out there early in the morning or relaxing with Jon out there after we put the two little boys to bed. It was such a treat to have.

(I only have iPhone photos from this day. So while the quality is not perfect; it’s good enough for memories.)

Finally Jon woke up and went and got me a coffee…..YUM! I stopped drinking coffee back in March, but I had coffee while I was on holiday’s and it was a nice treat….sucked when I had to quit again once I got home…but a nice treat nonetheless…

Once all the kids woke up, Jon took a few of them up to the buffet and picked up some breakfast for us all and we ate back in our room and out on the balcony. It was so nice to not be in a hurry rushing off to anywhere.

It was looking like it was going to be an AMAZING day on the ship and we had a few special treats planned.

Jon had booked a spa special for both Geli and I to have together. We got to choose 5 spa services and get pamperd for an hour and a half. We both chose to have a neck and shoulder massage, a scalp massage, a facial, a hand massage and a foot massage. We walked away from our time at the spa feeling very relaxed and very special.

We had signed up for a babysitting slot in the Flounder’s Nursery and were told on Wednesday night that a spot had opened up between 1-4pm on Thursday for Judah and so we took it. We grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch and then placed ALL the kids into their respective “clubs” and Jon and I had some actual “down time” just for us.

It felt so amazing and yet really weird at the same time. I was quite worried about Judah because he had started screaming as soon as we left him in the nursery and he alternated between screaming and falling asleep in one of the workers arms, but he wouldn’t let them put him down or he’d wake up and start screaming again. Needless to say, he didn’t enjoy his time in the nursery, but Jon and I really did enjoy our time off.

The rest of the cruise we not really a vacation for Jon and I. Taking a trip with 5 kids is not a “holiday” but it is definitely a vacation from the daily grind. But we were just so thankful and grateful for the opportunity and what a wonderful and amazing opportunity it was. I’m not complaining, it’s just the reality with a big family….it’s like we work hard to make it an amazing memory for the kids. And it truly is a MOST AMAZING MEMORY!

I don’t remember too much about that evening, but I’m sure that we headed back to our rooms fairly early because we were going to spend the whole day at Castaway Cay the next day and we were really REALLY looking forward to it.

To see the whole set of photos from this day, click here…

Happy Anniversary… sort of…

On June 16th, 2010, we received a call from our family Doctor that started the most difficult year our family has ever had to deal with. We spent that night in the Emergency Room at BC Children’s Hospital getting asked a million question and getting poked and prodded and at about 1:00am on June 17th an Oncology Resident came into our room and stated that initial blood screen results indicated that Angelica was fighting Leukemia. We were admitted to the hospital, tried to get a few hours of sleep and…

On June 17th, 2010, after a bone marrow biopsy, the diagnosis was confirmed as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – B Cell (with a few other specific gene type annotations). This became Day 0 and a whirlwind of activity began that changed the course of our lives.

June 17, 2010

Tomorrow is June 17th, 2011. One year since all this began and Angelica is still in active treatment. Her counts are very low, so we have an appointment tomorrow to get some blood transfusions. It will take all day in at BC Children’s, and we would like to celebrate.

We are not looking to celebrate a year of leukemia treatment… that is just morbid. We do want to celebrate a year of life, a year of triumph and a year of community coming together. As her counts are so low, and she is not really allowed to be around groups of people, we can’t go and throw a big BBQ in the back yard, but we can celebrate in other ways. I would like to ask you to send in a comment at the bottom of this post or e-mail (to: patti@xangelle.com) and share “something” with Angelica. You may have a moment in this journey that really sticks out to you. You may have a way that this journey has impacted your life. You may just be able to say, “I am still standing with you”. But please take a moment to share something. I would like to be able to share your encouraging thoughts and comments with her all during the day tomorrow at the hospital.

Also, please have a look at the shirts that Angelica is selling (button on the right) and buy one or pass the link along to friends and family. And if you are not interested in using the paypal shopping cart, or wish to pay in cash, please just contact us and we will set it up. We will be placing our first order with the shirt printer on Monday.

Jon

Which is your favorite?

On Tuesday, I briefly mentioned that we had Family Photos done a few weeks ago and that you could go and see a few of them if you went over to the Red Handed Photography Blog.

Tania had posted a bunch of pictures of the kids. On Wednesday, she posted a few of Jon and I together. And today she posted a bunch of our entire family.

I am SO thrilled with these photos. I love to be able to capture my family in pictures. I love to be able to catch moments or scenes from the different points in our lives. Some of those times are amazing and some are a bit tougher, but all those pictures go together to tell a story! Our Story!

As many pictures as I am able to take of the kids, or even of Jon….I am never able to get pictures of Jon and I together and none of our entire family. For Cara to volunteer her winning photo package to us as a family and for Tania to take the photos……I am so SO blessed.

This is such a gift. SUCH A HUGE GIFT to us. I am so thrilled to have photo’s from this time in our lives.

To see pictures of the kids, of Jon and I, and of our family all together, please go and visit Tania’s website.

Red Handed Photography

And if you are thinking about getting pictures taken, I would strongly encourage you to contact Tania. She is fantastic. The shoot was so easy and comfortable. Her ability to deal with all 7 of us and to not get stressed or upset, was amazing. She made this entire process so fabulous!

I’d love it if you would check them out and let me know which one(s) are your favorite?

I love this goofy shot of the kids……

Strawberry Shakes and Pictures

Angelica’s counts came back too low and she’s scored herself some blood. So, her and Jon are in for a LONG and boring day at the hospital today.

I have more to update on how Geli is doing and what’s up in our world, but time is tight right now…so, I’ll just send you over to RED HANDED PHOTOGRAPHY to see the Family Photo‘s that Tania took of us a few weeks ago.

They are AMAZING!

Tania, BABE!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.

Unexpected Blessings

Back in June/July of last year, just shortly after Angelica was diagnosed with Leukemia, my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins got together and bought Geli an iPod Touch.

It was the most amazing blessing EVER! (to those reading this….it’s not that your gifts weren’t amazing too, I just happen to be mentioning this particular gift for a particular reason that you will soon see.)

Angelica spent hours, and Hours and HOURS on her iPod. Playing games, and listening to music and watching movies and looking things up and well, it provided some amazing distractions at times when distractions were so SO needed. She never went ANYWHERE without her iPod.

One day a few weeks ago, Angelica went to school and had her iPod tucked into the outside pocket of her backpack. Somehow, someway, her iPod got stolen out of her backpack. She was SO upset. Its upsetting when the innocence and naivety of your world is stripped away and you realize that the world is not the safe place that you might have thought it was. To have something of yours stolen from you……it’s a rude awakening into reality! It’s even more upsetting when that “item” has memories and key events in your life, attached to it.

We asked if there was any way possible for the school to make an announcement about her iPod being stolen. Geli checked in at the office a few times, but no one had turned anything in!

We got a call two weeks ago from one of the teachers who mentioned that the WGSS Grads were fundraising to get Angelica a new iPod.

We were shocked, in a good way! Once again, we are so touched and amazed at how this community has rallied around us and supported us and loved us…..it’s overwhelming, in such a very, very good way!

I got the call last week that they had the funds in and were able to purchase a brand new iPod for her. This is even an upgrade from the amazing iPod that my family had already got for her. This new one has some new features that her previous iPod didn’t have, like a camera and the ability to Facetime.

On Friday, while she was at school, the principal came down to her Math class and got her out of class and took her down to the English 12 class. We hadn’t told her about what was happening and so it was a surprise for her.

She was BLOWN away! After they presented it to her, she texted me to let me know what had just happened. I had cried when the teacher had called to let me know and I cried again when she texted me and I’m crying now, just thinking about it. She was so SO excited. It was such a HUGE blessing for her. She had basically resigned herself to the fact that her iPod was gone forever. We don’t have the ability to replace it right now and so………….well, that was just the end of it!

The class presented it to her, and they even had it engraved for her. How amazing is that?

In the middle of this crazy, horrid weekend of pain, this blessing could not have come at a more opportune time. In the better moments, she has loaded the iPod with all of her previous apps and music and added new movies and music to it. She’s been able to watch movies while pacing the house or laying in bed or on the couch. She’s been playing games to distract herself and quite honestly, it has been the perfect gift that came at the perfect time.

Thank You! Thank you for giving, for sacrificing, for caring for and supporting!

WGSS Grads of 2011, you have made a HUGE difference in this young lady’s life. She (and we) will never forget you or your kindness. You have given from yourselves and invested in the future. You should be SO proud of yourselves. I am so thankful to you. May your futures be bright and full of hope, peace, joy and love; and may you be abundantly blessed in such greater measures than you’ve given out.

Delayed Intensification Stage 2

Angelica started the final Intensive stage of Chemotherapy last Friday April 29.

Her and Jon headed into BC Children’s Hospital for her 10am appointment and aside from being grouchy because she couldn’t eat – it was a fairly uneventful morning.

She wasn’t allowed to eat because she had a procedure where she is lightly sedated and they don’t want her to possibly vomit and then choke on it…and so, no eating or drinking 6 hours before the procedures. Typically she has these procedures, first thing in the morning, but for whatever reason, this one was a bit later.

So last Friday she received Chemo into her spinal fluid (via a lumbar puncture), and two types of Chemo intravenously into her port. One of them she seems to tolerate with no problem and the other she tolerates ok, but not as well. She is also back on a steroid for a one week on, one week off and then repeated….

The steroid can cause a host of issues – like a diabetic state, increased appetite, flushed cheeks, increased mood swings, insomnia and the worst one for Geli is that (last time) in the first week off, she felt some pain in her joints and then in the second week off she was in a LOT of pain for about 4 days. Even morphine and codeine didn’t take away the pain it only just barely relieved it. Some kids are hospitalized because the joint pain can be so bad…..we are definitely praying that is not the case this time around and that she is able to tolerate everything this round.

Angelica basically spent the weekend on the couch. She felt pretty rough on Saturday and Sunday and by Monday she hadn’t really slept all weekend and was crying. Instead of sending her off to school, I sent her back up to bed with a gravol to try to get her some sleep. She rested a little but didn’t get enough sleep. Stupid steroid!

Then on Wednesday she received the chemo shots into her thigh muscles and that appointment is a looooooong boring, 4 hour appointment. It takes about an hour to get signed in and to process the request for the chemo to be delivered to the clinic. They won’t process the order for the chemo (through the pharmacy) until the patient is physically signed in, and then after the injections, she’s got to hang around the clinic for an additional 3 hours just in case she has a anaphylactic reaction to the drug. Apparently its a possibility with this drug and the more times that you receive the drug, the greater the likelihood that you might possibly have a reaction.

So she goes in and hangs out and watches movies for 4 hours. Fun, fun!

She felt pretty good today and she only has 2 more doses of the steroid and then her week off starts.

The way this stage works out is that there are two parts…..The first 4 weeks and then the second 4 weeks…

The first 4 weeks looks like this….

Day 1 – Chemo via LP and IV
Day 4, or 5 or 6 – Chemo into her thighs
Day 8 – Chemo via IV
Day 15 – Chemo via IV
Day 22 nothing

first half is over…..

Day 29 – Chemo via IV
Day 30 – Chemo via IV
Day 31 – Chemo via IV
Day 32 – Chemo via IV

Day 36 – Chemo via IV
Day 37 – Chemo via IV
Day 38 – Chemo via IV
Day 39 – Chemo via IV

Day 43 – Chemo via IV and Intramuscular

Day 50 – Chemo via IV

and then we wait until Day 57 or until her counts come up enough to start Maintenance…..

There are the steroids and the oral chemo that I’ve not mentioned and well, really it all “seems” like a lot and that’s because it is a lot to deal with and keep straight, BUT……..we’ve done this round before and we are trying to stay focused on the fact that every day we finish, brings us one day closer to the end of this intensive year of chemotherapy.

Today is day 7…we have one week under our belts with only 7 weeks of treatment to go……

Angelica had a decent day today. She stayed at home because she needed to get a bunch of work done for her Homestay Teacher. The biggest challenge today is managing her blood sugar levels by food which is complicated by the fact that all she wants to eat are carbs and high sugar foods, add in the steroid which makes her feel hungry ALL THE TIME and coming up with creative ideas for what to eat is pretty much a full time job right now.

She has her next trip into BC Children’s tomorrow morning.

We are asking for you to pray as Geli goes through this last round before maintenance. She needs to be able to stay positive mentally and emotionally as we make our way over the next 2 months. She is tired. This has been a very long 10 months and just before she started this round she was feeling pretty good. She was feeling very normal, probably the most normal that she has since this journey started and to all of the sudden feel pretty crappy again….it’s a hard blow to take.

And also that she wouldn’t feel so wiped this weekend. It would be nice for her to be able to enjoy the weekends with our family.

Thank you for all your support and prayers. We would not be where we are at now without all of your love and support and encouragement and prayers.

We are SO THANKFUL!

Out With the Old & In With the New

I was talking with my dad the other day and asking how much it would cost to get new carpets put in on my stairs….

The carpet that was there was the original carpeting and the house is 15 years old. There was only one other owner before us, but still….there is 15 years of someone else toenails and dead skin and coffee spills, not to mention that those particular carpets were a lovely off white color.

Old Icky Carpet – GONE!

They probably looked AMAZING when the house was first built, but let’s just say that after almost 2 years of our family trucking up and down those sucker a million times a day and even with multiple steam cleans over the almost 2 year period….off white carpeting (on the stairs, no less) is probably not the best color for a family of 7.

Literally, We’d steam clean them and within an hour, there would be a NEW stain. It was so frustrating because no matter how hard I tried to keep them clean, the stairs just looked disgusting.

So, I asked my dad about pricing and he mentioned that he might have something at the office that would be perfect…

My dad owns a flooring company in Langley, BC – “Kennedy Floors”.

The next day I came home from running a quick errand and Xandra mentioned that Papa had dropped off a carpet sample and that Uncle Tim would be coming the next day to install the carpet if I liked it.

Wow, talk about service. Ask and receive! BAM, just like that!

Thrilled to be getting rid of it

The carpet looked great next to our walls AND, it was a great pattern and color for a high traffic area. So we said, YES PLEASE!!!

My brother showed up the next morning and ripped all the carpet off the stairs. Josiah was LOVING just hanging out with his uncle for the day and my brother is amazing. He worked around having a 3 yr old “helper” who is well….he is just so very helpful!!!

It was interesting trying to keep the baby occupied because I couldn’t put him down on the floor or he would gotten into everything, but to get new carpeting……it was so worth it. We hung out on the couch some and checked out what was going on the back yard….it was really exciting stuff, like watching the grass grow!

Fortunately the baby took a quick nap, and before Tim put the new carpet in, I was able to paint around the edges of the
stairs.

Downstairs Hallway Color – a Dark Grey

Here is a picture of the finished stairs from today…

sorry ’bout the crappy cell phone photo

The lovely piece of wood in the left hand side of the picture is our custom made baby gate. Judah can crawl up faster than you can imagine, but he hasn’t quite figured out that standing or just turning around is not the smartest move and he’s definitely not clued in as to how to crawl down the stairs. I really must work on that with him, but until then…..Jon made the handy dandy piece of wood gate! It’s pretty classy and even has rubber edges so as not to damage our floor or banister. Purdy, aint it?

For about a week after, Tim installed the carpet, Josiah would walk up and down the stair and say to either Jon or I, “I sure love your new stairs. They are the best!”

Using the mallet and the kicker

I think he just really enjoyed the time spent with Tim. I have to admit, it was nice to have a day of hanging around with my oldest little brother. He’s pretty amazing. And I can’t wait for him and Daisy to have their baby. Any day now…….I’m so excited to be an aunt again. I love my nieces and nephews. Family is so much fun!

And new carpet is pretty cool, too! Thanks Dad! I love you!

(part 2 is coming…)

To All Who Stand By Us…….

We are all going through our own things in life. All of us….Angelica, Jon, Me, the kids….my parents, my sisters and brothers…..my extended family and even you. We are all going through things in our lives, some of them difficult, some of them painful, some of them uncomfortable or challenging….we all go through stuff.

While Angelica is weathering her own journey and we are there supporting her, encouraging her, championing her…..it’s her journey. She will continue on, through the good days and the bad days.

She will carry on through the good times, the hard times, the difficult times, the excruciating times and what may seem like the impossible times, but she will carry on….

Sometimes, she may need us to hold her up or even to carry her…..to catch her if she doesn’t feel that she has the strength to go on.

Just like her, we are all going through our own journeys. We have days that seem impossible and yet we know we must carry on and that we will get through this….even if it seems (or worse, if it FEELS) impossible.

I had one of those days yesterday. “Those days” remind me to be compassionate to others who may, themselves, be going through one of those days…..or maybe even a series of those days (or weeks or months)….

Some days are tough. Some days you just don’t feel like you have the strength to go even one more step and yet you must…..and so you do. Your limbs feel like mud. You are so tired and all you feel like doing is crying…..and so you do.

It’s okay. We all go through “those days”. You’re not alone. I’m not alone. We are not alone.

Earlier this week, someone from our community send me this video and I won’t lie, this week has been a rough one for me….and yet the words of this song kept playing on repeat in my head….knowing I’m loved and supported and championed and that I have so many who “stand by me” even when I feel like I’m too tired to go on. Knowing that I have those who will catch me if I stumble or fall….it’s such a huge thing…..Thank you! I pray that each one of you will see and know those who are there for you, in your time of need!

I Won’t Let Go

Itâ€™s like a storm
That cuts a path
Itâ€™s breaks your will
It feels like that

You think your lost
But your not lost
On your own
Your not alone
I will stand by you
I will help you through
When youâ€™ve done all you can do
If you canâ€™t cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I wont let go

It hurts my heart
To see you cry
I know itâ€™s dark
This part of life
Oh it finds us all
And weâ€™re too small
To stop the rain
Oh but when it rains

I will stand by you
I will help you through
When youâ€™ve done all you can do
And you canâ€™t cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight

And I wont let you fall
Donâ€™t be afraid to fall
Iâ€™m right here to catch you
I wont let you down
It wont get you down
Your gonna make it
Yea I know you can make it

Cause I will stand by you
I will help you through
When youâ€™ve done all you can do
And you canâ€™t cope
And I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I wont let go
Oh Iâ€™m gonna hold you
And I wont let go
Wont let you go
No I wont

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