I've got GREAT NEWS!!!! Nick is CANCER FREE!!!! He had his CT scan taken on Friday and his appointment with his Oncologist today. His doctor said that the chemo killed all of the cancer cells and that his lymph nodes were back to normal! Which means no surgery!! I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am for Nick and how proud of him I am for him going through these last few months and trying to stay so optimistic and positive. I know that he has inspired so many people to live healthier, happier lives, including myself.

I added a couple pictures, one of Nick on his first day of treatments and one of Nick reading to Owen, after the hair had gone. I know many of you don't live near by and have been curious as to how Nick looks bald. :) Here's to settle the curiosity!!

So, I wouldn't necessarily call myself a Halloween Hater, I just wouldn't call myself a Lover, either. And it's not like anything ruined it in my child hood, I just think it's more work than it's worth. So Nick had asked me what Owen was going to be for Halloween the day we went to the Pumpkin Patch, and I said I had no clue. Then we went and carved pumpkins with our friends The Simpers, and they had a costume one of their boys wore last year that fit Owen, so I was sold! He was the cutest little FIREMAN I'd ever seen. :) I was very surprised that he kept the hard hat on, since he won't ever keep anything on his head for more than 2 seconds.

These pictures were taken at our church on Halloween night for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. For those of you who aren't accustomed to the tradition, a trunk-or-treat is when everyone opens the trunk of their car and decorates it for all the kids to come around and "trick-or-treat" for candy. It's fun and safe for the kids, and early enough to where families can still go out through the neighborhoods on their own.

I love his facial expression in this one!! What a GOOF!

Looks like someone already put the fire out, Buddy.

My little baby has officially become a big boy!! Nick and I FINALLY decided to take Owen to get his first hair cut. It was getting really shaggy looking in the back, especially when he got up from his nap and his curls in the back was just a fro of a mess. I didn't get an offical before picture, but this is the night before.


Drum roll, please...

TA DA!!! Instant Big Boy!!

I swear that from the moment he got his hair cut, he has acted more and more like a toddler! He is saying tons and starting to put small sentences together and man, does that boy have an arm on him!! He will definately be put in tee-ball, although Nick says he will surpass tee-ball and go right into Coach-pitch, just like him! Not that he was trying to brag or anything.

The weekend before Halloween, we took Owen to a "Pumpkin Patch" to pick out his FIRST pumpkin! I put pumpkin patch in parenthesis because it wasn't a true pumpkin patch. There was no farmer, no hay ride, no mud or vines to walk through or over. Just a local corner that had a bunch of pumpkins brought in, which were sold for WAY too much!! Not that Owen will ever remember this Halloween, but next year, we are doing it right!!

So, we got there and Owen ran right to the first bunch of pumpkins and picked up a small but pretty decently shaped one. And... that was the one we took home for him. So the rest of the hour we spent going in the mini corn maze, playing in the blow up toys and climbing the hay stack.

Owen's first PUMPKIN!!!

Climbing up the Hay Stack, not that you couldn't tell by the hay in the picture!

Owen and Mama havin' fun!

Okay... this was super cute!! After Owen had been pulled around in the wagon squeezed in between our pumpkins, he decided that he wanted to do what daddy was doing.

Let me do it, Daddy!!

Okay, here we go. This is gonna be sinch. One...

Two... No really, piece of cake!

Three... okay, maybe I was wrong. Daddy, you must be super strong! ;)

If there were one word to describe the current mood in our house, it would be RELIEF. Last week was Nick's last week of treatments, and with that, brought us much needed relief. You can feel less tension in the air and less weight on all of our shoulders, and there are more genuine smiles. Nick still suffers from quite a bit of acid reflux and nausea spells due to the meds, but we are hopeful that it will pass, just as the last 9 weeks have... quicker than we thought! Although some days (and weeks) were very challenging, emotionally and physically, in the end, it seems as if it just flew by.

So, at the end of the month, Nick will have another CT Scan that will determine if the Chemo did it's job and to rule out surgery. We are all very optimistic, and know that the Lord has blessed us these last few months, and we continue to have faith that He will continue to bless us. :) We will keep you all posted when we know more! Thank you all for being our greatest cheerleaders!

There are a few posts, so don't just stop at the first one!! :)

I know that many of you follow Nick's blog, but to those who don't, I felt the need to post an update on how he is doing. This week marks the end of his second cycle. So, 6 weeks down, 3 more to go. Nick keeps referring to this time as a "Wednesday." You know the feeling, half of the week is done, and part of you feels like "how is it already Wednesday, and then the other half thinks, "it's only Wednesday!!!"

Over all, Nick has been pretty nauseous throughout this whole process. And to make things worse, it comes in waves, so one minute he is fine, and the next he is in a lot of pain. Especially the first day or two after treatment days. The chemo he gets on the weeks he only goes once, is more toxic than the others and usually gives him a spiking temperature of 104* but causes him to feel extremely cold. So, he is burning up, but demands the hottest bath, hot chocolate and then proceeds to bury himself under a bazillion blankets. Luckily this only lasts for an hour or two and his temperature gets back to normal.

The last few weeks Nick has gotten used to being bald. He is so cute because he will look in the mirror and say, "I don't look half bad bald, do I?" Always with a smile!! He has been such a trooper through out all of this and I am so proud of him for not letting it defeat him!

So with 2 cycles down, we finally feel as if we have most of the side effects under control and manage them a lot better and know what to expect when things happen. I hate how once you finally get to feeling as if you have everything under control and understand how things will go, is when they will change again. I know that is life...but come on!

Now, we are keeping our sight on Monday, October 5th, which marks Nick's very last day of treatments!! Once that day arrives, our minds can switch to vacation mode, as we have booked a much needed relaxing and fun trip to Hawaii the first part of November!! Wahoo!!!!!

Nick has been feeling a bit cooped up in the house and wanted to go somewhere... Can you guess where we end up? Yep! The beach!! ;) Instead of the typical sunny weather Labor Day weekend usually brings, we were graced with rain, thunder and lightning- the whole weekend. All except until we were leaving on Monday morning of course. Isn't it ironic how that tends to happen? We were still able to relax and have a good time despite the weather.

Owen is definately the outdoorsey type, and sometimes it's hard to contain him in the house. So we put on his shoes and jacket and out we went to check out what Grandma Linda was up to. It had just quit raining so the grass was wet and there were puddles of standing water throught the lawn. I am sure by now, you are imaging what I am about to say. Owen immediately found the biggest puddle and jumped up and down in it for a bit, long enough for me to run back inside and grab the camera. This is what I was able to catch...

see how full the puddle is above?

again...all the water IN the puddle

now see how the puddle has diminished in size?

wonder where all the water in the puddle went? you should have felt how heavy his diaper was!!

and now, wondering where all the water went... what a boy!!

And just about as fast as the puddle was soaked up, so went his 20 month attention span. Soon enough, he found a big pile of leaves to jump into, of course, not without Grandma!!

I love the leaf that landed on the top of his head!! What a goof!!

Well...Nick is officially 2 weeks done with chemo!! Last week, being the first week, was full of anxiety and fear of the unknown. Days were long, and at times, fuses were short. Throughout the week, Nick was very nauseous and slept a lot. The good thing is that he was drinking fluids like crazy and his appetite remained normal, maybe even increased. To no surprise to many of Nick's buddies, his meal of choice has been a big bowl of TOP RAMON!! I added peas, carrots and corn to balance out the weeks worth of sodium he was taking in on a daily basis!! :)

Nick has started his own blog to give weekly updates on how he is doing and the experience he is going through. To read more, go to: www.shared-strength.blogspot.com

We are so grateful to all of you who have gone out of your way to show such great love to us. All of the many emails, phone calls, dinners and taking Owen off our hands have meant so much to us. We THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts! May the Lord bless you as you have blessed us!

Here they are...more of our family photos!! There were so many good ones, but these were the ones that Nick and I were both smiling together and that Owen didn't look like he was crying, which he was part of the time. We didn't know when we picked the day for pictures that it would be our record breaking 107* day, which it was already in the 90's at 10am. YUK!!

I was thinking that it was about time I gave the blog a new look! You like?? ;) My good friend Bethany whom I've known since we were 5 is now a photographer, so she recently took our first family photos. She did such a great job!!

Phew... I think I have spent the last hour and a half updating this blog. Life has been going non stop most days and I always have "update blog" on my list of things to do, but I never have enough time to do it. And I always want to get caught up rather than doing it a little at a time, so here we go!

As you know, we are back in our house. We have been working on some projects that I will take pictures of and add to the blog soon! You know, in 2 months. Than seems to be my average! I promise to try and blog more often so you don't have a ten minute novel to read when I post!

Owen is growing like a weed! Every day I can see the changes in his face or hair or feet. It's so crazy! His forth molar is pushing through the gums and his hair doesn't seem to ever stop growing!! I need to get it cut, but know that when I do, he is not going to look like "baby Owen" anymore. :( He has inherited my natural curl, so his hair is super curly in the back. Our friend Jeremy says his hair style is "Business in the front, Party in the back." That cracked me up for days!!

Well, scroll down and catch up with us! The last blog is the one with the video! Miss you all!!

This year was Owen's first official 4th of July!! We went to Nick's parents' beach house for a long, nice weekend. The weather was beautiful! Not as hot as it turned out to be in Portland. I was glad for that. I don't like when it's in the mid 90's. So the low 80's with a breeze was exactly what I liked! Since we have been back, we have tried to get out to the beach at least one weekend a month to enjoy the ocean and relax... Or try to at least.

Owen's first sparkler! Mommy's favorite. It's amazing how mezmorizing fire is...

Blowing kisses... I love this age! Every day seems to be something new.

Here we are looking out at the water...

And here we are just seconds later, running from a very sneeky wave! ;)

Nick's younger cousins had a bunch of different kinds of fireworks, and one of them were the ones that the parachuttes fall from the sky. Owen saw one land on the sand and picked it up. Then, every time a firework went off, he looked around to find more parachuttes. What a smart cookie!

Cuddling with daddy while watching the sky... What fun!

Three generations of fun!! I love the expression on Owen's face. This is what he looked like most of the night. You can just see the excitement!!

Man this guy loves the ocean! I honestly believe that if I let go of him long enough, he would just keep running into the ocean and get soaked. It's so fun to stand back and watch him and to see all the little things that he chooses to do. The one thing he will never willingly choose to do is leave the beach. Every time we head back to the trail that leaves the beach, he cries. We are now smart enough to strap him into the stroller first so we don't have to deal with all the squirming up the hill. Poor guy. He's never quite ready to leave the beach when we are.

Owen has learned how to put his sun glasses on, and he will only do it by himself!! If I help him, he takes them off and has to do it again, but on his own. Stubborn little man... Wonder which parent he gets that from... I'm thinking both!! :)

What a HAM!!! Owen LOVES bath time. You'd think that he would get sick of playing with the same old bath toys that he would get bored, but every bath, he acts as if he is doing it for the first time. It's so funny how their little minds work. I love bath time, too. It's a short 15 minutes that I don't have to chase this guy around everywhere and I can get ready in the morning while he is playing. Two birds with one stone!! Love it! :)

The other night, while we were eating dinner, Owen, like most toddles, chucked his fork onto the floor, which i am convinced is no longer an "accident." So I was giving him a bite and he decided to steal my fork!! When I saw how funny he looked eating with such a large fork, I had to video it!! My favorite part is when he puts the fork down and goes to pick up a piece of hot dog with his hands and then it downs on him... duh, I've got the fork, and starts eating with the fork again. Too cute!

It has been a few weeks now since most of you, as well as us, found out about Nick's second bout of testicular cancer. We just wanted to let you all know that he is doing well and is expected to have a full recovery!! :) He had surgery 2 weeks ago and has been doing weekly blood labs to make sure the tumor markers are diminishing like they should and that his normal hormones are balancing out. All looks well, so his oncologist feels that there is no need for chemo!! We cannot begin to stress the relief and joy we felt when hearing that news.

Did I mention that Nick's oncologist, or cancer doctor, is the same doctor that treated Lance Armstrong?? He also serves on the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Board of Directors. We feel confident that he knows his stuff!! We want to thank you all for your continual thoughts and prayers throughout these last few weeks. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family members and friends!!

On a lighter note, Nick's business is off to a very good start! He is liking what he is doing and is continually picking up new contacts and shipments. Before his surgery, he taught me how to do his invoicing and now calls me his 'Freight Monkey." I don't mind... I think it's kinda funny! As for me, I just landed a 2 day a week dental hygiene job here in Vancouver. It is going to be sooo nice not to have to drive to Portland any more!! Or pay income taxes!! SaWeet!!

Owen is growing like a weed!! His vocabulary is starting to flourish and he is having more "conversations" with himself and us, although we have absolutly no idea what he is saying. He is waving goodbye, blowing kisses, giving hi-fives and is currently in training to do 'knuckles.'

We will be moving back into our house throughout the next few weeks. Our friends decided to buy a house, which gave us the ability to move back in a few months quicker. We are excited to paint the house and start a few more projects! All in all, things are going great. We hope life is treating you all well and look forward to seeing many of you in the following few months!!

Nick's parents have a beach house in Ocean Park, Wa- just north of Longbeach. We went a couple weekends ago and it happened to be a nice day for once, so we decided to take Owen down on the beach. He absolutely LOVED it!!! His first few steps in the sand he made a few "hmm" faces, but soon realized that he liked the feel of the sand between his toes and went running! Although it was sunny, it was still cold, as many of you can imagine going to the beach in late March around here!! Brrrrrrr. :)

One, Two, Three... SWING!!!

Cheese!!!


Hi there!!

Ok, I'll wave again!! :)

Not the greatest weather for a family photo, but it will do for now...

We couldn't pass up this shot...

...Way too cute!!!

He is just SOOOO cute!! This is our fav!!