Lucy's Surgery Date

We got a message on our machine while we were out today - Lucy's surgery is set for February 25th. They will be doing her pre-op stuff on Monday, February 21st. We will have more information then, and will keep everyone updated throughout the process. She is so amazing how she is handling it. Tonight, we talked some more about her hair being shaved, and she made jokes about it. We know she is nervous and scared, but she is so amazing!! We are so grateful to have her in our family, and love our dear Lucybug!

Mom Updated

OK, so some of you keep asking me about how Mom is doing. She is still waiting for a 4-phase ultrasound of her liver before we will have any new information. She was set up for an ultrasound, but then found out the day before that it was only a 3-phase, and had to cancel. That lab didn't do the 4-phase, so she is having her doctor refer her to a lab that does. As soon as we know anything new, I will blog and let you know. :-)

Emmie's Exciting News!!!

We have all been so caught up with Lucy and her surgery, that I haven't posted yet about Emmie. She was nominated to be a People to People Student Ambassador, representing the United States in Australia. We aren't sure who nominated her, a teacher or a coach.

The People to People Ambassador Program was started by President Eisenhower in 1956, in the hope that bringing young people together throughout the world, would bring about future global understanding and world peace.

After the referrals and interview, Emmie was accepted into the program. She will get to travel to Australia this July for 17 days. A few things she will be doing is going backstage at the Sydney Opera House, Snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef with a Marine Biologist, learning about the ecosystem, spend time with the Jawoyn people and learn ancient traditions of the Aboriginal people, meet with a member of Parliament in their meeting place, and learn of their governmental system, help meet a local need through a group service project, etc. I could go on - but it is a great educational opportunity for her (as well as a thrilling and fun adventure). She will receive college credit for it, helping her start early. She is so very excited.

The tough part (aside from letting our baby go so far away), is that she has to raise the money for her trip ($7,000). She has applied for a scholarship for $1000, and is applying for a few more. She is doing babysitting, getting business sponsors, and doing fundraisers. One of them is making these adorable flower hair clips (the ones that are popular now), and we have made over 200 so far. I will post a picture as soon as I take one and upload it.

Also, she is doing a Razmatags fundraiser. If you go to www.razmatags.com/?org=Emmie and place an order using the code: Emmie - at checkout, she will get earn 25% of each sale towards her trip. They are really cool tags - that are Personalized, Water-proof, Dishwasher-proof, Laundry-proof labels (for clothes, dishes, sports equipment - you name it) as well as luggage tags and other cool stuff. You just go online, place your order, pay, and they will ship it directly to you. So no matter where you live, you can get them!!

This is what we are starting with (I'm a little swamped right now with everything going on - so I can't take on more than this). So if you start getting emails from Emmie with her fundraiser ideas, please check them out and see if it is anything you can use.

Still Waiting for Lucy's date

We want to thank everyone for keeping us in their thoughts, hearts and prayers. I keep getting many emails asking the same questions, so I am going to answer them now. We still don't have a date for Lucy's surgery. We were told it would be in February, and we would know by now. I will call and bug them again on Monday. It was after months of careful consideration of all the options (waiting, chemo, clinical trial drug, etc). After we talked again with the Neurosurgeon, Dr. Boggan, at UC Davis (check him out on the web - he is amazing), we knew we needed to do the surgery. At this time, her brain has shifted functions to other parts of her brain, and is actually moving away from the tumor, creating a pocket. Also, the tumor has become encrusted with a growing cyst. So the risks of paralyzation are very low, and the chances of getting it all are very high, not to mention that the cyst itself could cause problems, and needs to be drained/removed. Of course, there are no guarantee's, and any surgery is risky, brain surgery not excluded. There could be tiny, microscopic particles that we cannot see, that would be missed and still pose a risk to go malignant and shorten her life span, but that's only a maybe, and can't be helped.
Lucy is so cute! We were fasting as a family on Sunday, and after church, Lucy walked out eating a piece of chocolate. I explained to her that just as we start our fast with a prayer, we need to say a prayer to close our fast, and ask for the confirmation we were seeking. I told her she could say a prayer in the van on the way home, and listen for an answer. Upon arriving home, all the kids were hungry, so we told them we would say a family prayer to close their fast. When I called Lucy in, she told me "It's OK Mom, you don't have to pray or fast anymore, because Heavenly Father told me to have the surgery". I asked how she felt about it, and she said she felt calm and happy about having the surgery. I explained that I was happy that she had a confirmation for herself, but we still needed to close our fast as a family. She didn't get it, since it was clear to her that she already had an answer. Our entire family had a peaceful feeling and confirmation to our prayers. We are so grateful for the gospel in our lives to guide us and give us peace during difficult times. We are also so grateful for such loving and abundant support from friends and family. Thank you!! I will post as soon as we have a date!

Tough Decision

Hello all. Well, I was waiting to blog this, so I could add detail - but time hasn't allowed for that. So here is the short of it. After much thought, research, talking to multiple doctors, etc... Ryan and I have decided to go ahead and let them remove one of Lucy's brain tumors. It is a huge decision, that we haven't taken lightly, and have done our diligence in studying it out before making the decision. At this point we told the surgeon that we wanted the weekend to pray about it, and we would let him know for sure on Monday morning. We have been praying, and will be praying and fasting tomorrow for confirmation from the Lord, to make sure it is the right decision. This was not an easy decision, yet we are still remaining very positive and confident that it is all in God's hands, and we can just love each other and be grateful for everyday we have together. May it be more than we hope for!

Torture Loving

Yes, you read it right! Tonight, during family scripture study, Nathan, in his usual form, decided to go wild. So after chasing him down, I gave him to Ryan to hold. He did NOT want to sit still, so he turned it into a full blown temper tantrum - to which Ryan responded by lovingly hugging him on his lap. This just made Nathan even more angry - and he screamed and struggled to escape the hug. Then Abby, who was sitting next to him said, "I can't believe Dad is torture loving Nathan!". We all had a good laugh over that one (except of course Nathan).

Blogging Isn't So Easy

OK - so blogging isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I know - you awesome bloggers are thinking I must be some kind of stupid; but let me explain. I had figured that it would be great to be able to share, vent and archive our lives. But here is where it gets hard:

1. Time - I don't know what this word means anymore. It flies, and it eludes me at a supernatural speed. My kids (as I did when I was young) think that time drags, and are bored (until you mention there are chores that can be done). I think that someone hit the fast forward button, and forgot to stop it. I haven't blogged since February, or even read my friends blogs (which brings me great joy), since April.

2. Speech - I am not very eloquent. My friend's blogs are all so witty, clever, fun and heartwarming, and I can't seem to get it from my life to the page in a precise and coherent blog. Besides the fact that Ryan always laughs at me for mixing up sayings. An example of that is when I was writing the previous blog, I put that Nathan was in a full blown out temper tantrum. Ryan was reading over my shoulder and started laughing. He knows what full blown, and blown out mean respectively, but not together. I laughed at myself and changed it. I like to tease him by saying that "A rolling stone gathers no moss on the north side of the tree".

3. Privacy - OK, before you start laughing - it's not me. I am an open book. I will say it like it is, and feel that it is being honest. My husband, on the other hand, is an extremely private person. So I want to blog about everything, but Ryan feels our life should be private. I'm not very good at censorship. I'm not a gossip - except about myself. If something is shared with me privately, it stays in the vault. But with my own life, it's different. So I feel I am not being honest, without sharing all that is going on, which makes it hard to blog.

So you see my struggle. I am having the same problem writing my annual Christmas letter (as if it wasn't hard enough that I missed last year, and am trying to play catch up for the last two years).