August MRI Results and Catch Up

Since I have been so lax in updating this my first comment will be yes, in August Kyla had another scan which was clear. I am sorry for not keeping up on this but with Jill's wedding and other things all summer I never took the time to sit down. I will try to be better about that because we know how important it is to keep everyone informed in Kyla's progress. She is feeling very well and is working part time and working on their home.

I will try to remember what has been happening for the past several months. Over the summer Wade had his bachelor party which was a trip to the Water Park in Seattle. They all had a lot of fun even if it was a few months early. Everyone pitched in and gave him a new surf board for his gift. We had a huge load of bark dust delivered and blown in around the back of the house and in the blueberry patch and garden. Dave put up my deer fence and we planted a garden which we got to enjoy all summer. We tore the old deck off the back of the house and one of Brian's friends, Todd, helped Dave and Brian build the new deck. It turned out fantastic but was barely finished two days before Jill's wedding. Dave also built me a grape arbor for Mothers Day and we planted two different kinds of grapes.

We had a dress up birthday party for Jill in July and Barb, Rick, Dave and I went to Bandon to watch the fireworks. There was a Burt family reunion which Kelli attended with her grandparents in California and several day trips to the coast to finalize plans for the wedding. Brian and Charo went to Baker for the Miner's Jubilee with friends and we had our annual "sisters vacation" in Sun River. Jill had two wedding showers, one put on by the ladies at her church and one by Kelli and Kyla.

Brian graduated from college in August and there were lots of last minute details in for Jill's wedding and of course the big weekend (Labor Day weekend) in Newport. Her wedding was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We came home from that and had brothers David and Jay, sister Kristi and their families as well as mom come stay with us. Lots of people but very nice birthday present for me to have them there. Kyla and Jed brought a birthday cake and I think that was the first time I have had siblings and my mom sing happy birthday to me in years.....I don't even remember the last time. Made my birthday one of the best. Thanks everyone for a memorable weekend....not just for my birthday but for coming to Jill's wedding and spending time with us.

A week later we had a going away party for Charo and Brian who are now living in Spain. September seems to have gone by in a blur. College has begun again, work is becoming busier now and Dave and I are now alone in the house. No kids living at home.....first time ever. Kind of an adjustment but we get to see them all the time.

Last note.....Jill and Wade spent three weeks in Australia for their honeymoon and are now home. They had such a great time and have lots of video and pictures. Even the small gnome made it all the way and back.

The bride and groom......stunning!

Wade with his groomsmen

Jill with Kyla and Kelli

Wade on the way to his bachelor party.....note the ball and chain

Jill, the beautiful bride holding Lexie

Brian at this college graduation with Kyla, Jill and Kelli

Brian and Charo with their friends at the going away party

MRI Results, Feeding the Ducks, Birthday and Gnome Business

Kyla's scan was clear today......two years this month! We are so blessed....and we found out some exciting news. The IL-13 treatment she was so blessed to receive is now being pushed through to a Phase I trial for first time brain tumor patients. It will be a while until it is up and running because of nature of protocols, but it is so exciting that perhaps radiation won't have to be used and newly diagnosed patients could be treated right away.

Kyla with her "Our Gang" DVD's

Kyla celebrated her 26th birthday last week with a family dinner. Brian and Charo gave her a pear tree to plant and GG and Grandad Max gave her a lilac bush as well as Jill giving her a gift certificate to buy what she likes in a garden store. She is loving spring time planting in her new yard. She also got a set of "Our Gang" DVD's from Kelli and a start on her collection of theTaste of Home annual cookbooks and money.

We had a little face off with the gnome after her birthday. Uuuugly! Emmy spent two days with us while Kyla and Jed were in San Francisco. Grandad took her to feed the ducks and geese in Alton Baker Park. She is so much fun right now.

All

The Faces

Of The

Traveling

Gnome

Scan Date, Birthdays, A Baptism, Birds, Art and Play

Kyla has a new date for her MRI on May 7th. As usual our prayers are for a continued clear scan.

We have had a lot going on lately. Kelli celebrated her 19th birthday in March with a family party and ended up with two guitars. She was happy and decided to keep both. A few days later Dave and I celebrated our anniversary with a nice dinner out at Jake's. Then Jill was baptized in Wade's church the following Sunday. Charo's sister and two friends were here visiting from Spain and came for cake at Kelli's birthday. They spent most of their time on the go visiting Crater Lake, the Oregon Coast, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon before returning home. They treated Dave and I to a lovely dinner while they were here.

Kelli celebrates nineteen years

Jill and siblings following the baptism

Charo and her sister enjoying Crater Lake

Emma's fourth birthday was celebrated with a Nemo theme party. She had several little friends over to help her. Kyla and Jed did a great job decorating the house to look like under water and I decorated the cake. Easter brunch was celebrated at our house with everyone including Grandad Max and GG. Emmy had the usual egg hunt on a beautiful spring afternoon.

Emma's "Finding Nemo" birhday cake

Emma's birthday party

Easter eggs

Jill and I woke to find a little finch on our deck just sitting there. He seemed to be OK but he didn't fly away and when Jill picked him up he just sat in her hand. We put him in our gazebo and left the windows open so he could escape and he flew up to the rafters and so we knew he could fly. Later he was gone so we are assuming he flew away.

The turkeys have been hanging out a lot this spring and we got some really great shots of the males with their tail feathers all fanned out. On Tuesday Barb and I visited Emma at the "Meet the Artist" event at the UO where the children in the preschool had their art exhibited. Emma was pretty proud.

Little finch

Proud turkey

Emmy the artist

Our little rebel 11 chicks are doing fine and are now able to roost in the chicken house. They are really funny to watch. I forgot to mention that Brian and Charo as well as her sister and two friends played a game of hopscotch at the Oregon coast and that Kelli was trying to teach Kyla and Jed at her birthday party how to do the "caterpillar". Here are the goofy pictures.

Chicks on a bar

Kyla and Jed have a learning curve

Brian in his hopscotch mode

New Job for Kyla, Peck and Gnome Business

Kyla just found out she got the job she applied for in the the Linguistics department. It is a half time position and she is pretty happy. Congratulations to Kyla!!!! We knew you could do it.

Jed spent Saturday and Sunday putting in new gutters on their rental with a friend, Scott. Kyla spent the time running errands and cleaning up the yard a bit and then came out to eat dinner with us. Jed came a little later. You should have seen Emmy's face when she saw the new black chick. Her eyes were absolutely huge and she was so excited. This particular chick would hop on Jed's arm and run up to his neck. Here are some pictures of that chick and Jed.

Emmy named her "Peck"

Peck "pecked" Jed's neck

EEEEWWWW, Peck pooped on Jed's neck

The gnome appeared in my car in the drivers seat this morning all buckled in with a note attached saying "I wanna go for a drive with you, baby". Made me laugh. That Jill! I hate that gnome...it is sooo ugly. But Dave won't allow me to get rid of it because it was a gift his aunt had painted for him years ago. The gnome has appeared in many places, but my favorite was the time I, naked, opened our shower door and there he was gazing up at me. Scared the 6:00 a.m. wits out of me. He has kind of a leer on his face.....slimy is all I can say! He is now in Jill's back pack in the back seat of her car waiting for her to figure it out when she gets out to go to class tonight. Apparently Jill tried to sleep with him last night....that will teach her for not making her bed. She couldn't tell the difference if there was a lump or just bunched up blankets. Obviously she eventually figured it out. But we are telling Wade about her cheating ways.

New Chicks and a Trip to the Coast

Kyla, Jed and Emma spent Saturday at the coast visiting the aquarium. Sunday evening they came to visit and have dinner with us and got to see the new baby chicks that Dave brought home. They are very cute I have to admit but they are living in a large cardboard box with a heat lamp, food and water in my utility room for now. We have to let them be here until they are big enough to go out to the chicken house because those hair brain hens we already have are not willing to take them as their own. So between kicking up cedar chips in their water and food and pooping everywhere in the box, we are kept pretty busy right now. But they are cute!

THE THREE........

FACES OF...........

EVE, ER EMMA

Emmy and Kyla at the coast aquarium

Valentine Cookies, Wedding Cake, Bats in the Belfry, Bump on the Chin and the Flu

One thing Dave always liked to do was buy those huge cookies that were decorated for each of the kids on their birthdays etc. The place that used to make them closed long ago so we decided to make them for Valentines Day. We delivered them to the kids on Saturday and then Dave took me to dinner at the Electric Station and gave me some very beautiful roses.

The large cookies

Emma's cookies

Monday Jill, Wade, Wade's mom, Liz and I went to the coast to look for a person to make their wedding cake and order the flowers. Something must have been in the air on the coast because the day was not very productive. One lady was called away to a funeral so we had to meet with her catering partner, who did not do cakes. So we didn't get a huge amount of information from her. The second person never even showed up or called to let us know. We found out later on our way home that he was called away for an emergency. But with an appointment set up you would think these people would let us know before driving to the coast. We did meet with a nice English lady but she doesn't think she has the skill to do what Wade and Jill want. The flower store was closed so we struck out there also. However, we had a very nice lunch and toured a lovely Bed and Breakfast. I think Jill and Wade are going to go with Sweet Life Bakery in Eugene to make the cake even though it is a little more expensive to deliver because there seems to be few people on the coast that can do this.

Thursday evening after we arrived home, Jill said there was a bird flying around in the house. Well the bird turned out to be a bat. After chasing the poor thing with Dave's fishing net and catching it three different times, Dave and Wade finally released it outside. We are having two of our chimneys repaired and there is tarp over both of them so I guess the bat was in one of them and could only come in the house.

Dave and Wade, the Bat Busters

Poor Emmy had the stomach flu all weekend. Friday she had a nasty fall at preschool and hit her chin. It swelled up and turned black and blue so she looks pretty pitiful. End of our week!

Happy Valentines Day, New MRI Results

Kyla and Jed returned from San Francisco last weekend and her scan was clear again. Now she only has to go every three months instead of two. She was very excited about that and so are we. Emmy spent the night while they were away and we picked them up from the airport and then had dinner at Marie Calendars. Last Saturday Emma and her friend Alex, painted hand prints on her new bedroom walls. It turned out very cute.

Emma and Alex the Painting Pros

This morning Jill and I saw the most beautiful pink sunrise....just in time for Valentines day.

February Sunrise