We returned
home FINALLY in May after the Valley started HEATING up and it was so wonderful
to be back at the higher elevation in the cool pines with their fragrant scent and where we are surrounded by picture
postcard mountains and lots of s-p-a-c-e--not houses stacked on top of each
other and side by side. The bright sky at night lights up with twinkling stars
that aren't visible often in Mesa. We love being back among our good friends
and neighbors--best anywhere. Frank and I decided we are definitely country
folks, not city folks--yes, bumpkins, not slickers!! So be it--it's in our
blood. There is no place like home.
After having
a month of unseasonably warm weather here with no frosts at night, a cold front
came through and hit us with 20 degrees or lower temperatures for several
nights and our blossoming fruit trees really took a hit as did the new 6"
long growing tips on our many beautiful Colorado Blue Spruce. The trees are
pretty sad looking now. Hopefully they'll recover by next year.
We have been
excited to have our daughter Wendy and her family move here the end of May and
living within walking distance of our home and do so frequently. They are also
in the same ward with us, so nice. They have three boys registered in school,
Clay in 7th, Hunter 10th and Skyler a senior. They're fun boys and seem to be
fitting in well here.Autumn is 21 and trying to figure out what she wants to do
in life. Summer, their oldest, is married and living in Las Vegas( actually Henderson)
and expecting a little boy in August, our first great grandchild.
Frank's
myeloma has become active again, his M-spike rising ( that's the indication of
the malignant protein in his blood) so the doctor has added another yummy (not) drug to his regimen. It's called cytoxin
(cyclophosphamide) in addition to the thalidomide and Dexamethasone he already
takes. The Cytoxin he takes 6 huge pills every Monday morning along with the
steroid, and then the Thalomid every other night. It takes he about 4-5 days to
recover and feel half way decent, just in time to start over again. It makes
him often feel nauseated, no appetite, extremely weak and no stamina or energy
and pain throughout his body. He could possibly lose his hair but hasn't so
far. The literature said his skin and hair could change color--?? I keep
watchful waiting to see if he turns green, purple, black, orange, . . . Looks
the same to me as of present, thankfully! He will have a lab test soon to see
what effect the "cocktail--CTD" is having--hopefully doing more than
just killing off his immune system but also the malignant cells. We'll see his
Myeloma Oncologist on the 8th of August at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.
He gets out
and about when he can which isn't too often and enjoys visitors and phone
calls. He enjoys attending church
meetings on Sunday and always says he wouldn't feel any better if he stayed at
home so he might as well go and feel the spirit and have a chance to hear
inspirational messages and see friends.
One of the
best family reunions with our kids and grandchildren we had ever was the first week
of June in a little town called Junction in Utah where we rented a huge mansion
that had been remodeled/restored from a hundred year old + courthouse that
retained that flavor. They had turned the county jail room, judges quarters,
Parks and Recreation office, etc. into bedrooms including two rooms with 4-6
bunk beds in them each where cousins liked sleeping plus a huge kitchen/dining
room with all you'd need for cooking and the original courtroom with the judges'
bench still intact. You can see details at Kandra's blog where she posted about
it including lots of pictures: kandjowens.blogspot.com
or at this site: courthousevacations.com or utahfamilyreunions.com
The kids took turns cooking yummy
food, went on successful fishing trips
with the little ones, we learned how to play "Cornhole" and had a
successful tournament that everyone liked, had a bouncy house that was popular
with the little ones. and had a courtroom drama re-enactment from our personal
family history.
In August
after his doctor's appointment, Frank and
I are planning to go to BYU Education week in Provo, Utah for a week of
motivational wonderful speakers and hope to see our children as we stop at
their homes on the way up or home. We also got tickets to go to the Conference
Center in Salt Lake City to help celebrate President Monson's Birthday with the
Tabernacle Choir and other special guest performers. We're looking forward to
an exciting week.
1 comments:
It's always good to see you guys back here! Heber is just not the same without you:) Your family continues to be in our prayers...this cancer stuff really STINKS!!!
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