Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Maddie's Graduation

Maddie graduated from Skyline High School on June 2, 2011. Top 10% of her class, Honors at Entrance scholarship at the University of Utah just like Chase. We're pretty lucky to have 2 great kids and I can't help but say I'm very proud of them both. Craig's goal was to be here for this and he definitely was. He's doing very well and we feel so very lucky.
Shelby, Maddie and Emilie at the Huntsman Center

Faces in the crowd of graduates

Graduating friends

Best buds

Our high school graduate, Maddie!

Megan, Shelby, Maddie, Jane and Emilie

The family

Best friends

Cute dad and mad

Cousins!



Hawaii

To celebrate Maddie's graduation, our 28th Anniversary, my birthday and Craig's birthday, we spent the last week of May on Oahu, Hawaii. 4 days in a condo on Waikiki and 3 days in a beach house on the North Shore. I celebrated my 51st birthday snorkeling in Hanauma Bay.

We ate dinner at the Hula Grill in Honolulu

Visited Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial
Chase celebrated his 1st birthday! (or some kid named Chase)
Father and son on the North Shore by the McDermott's house
Cute Maddie on the beach at sunset
Here's Craig boogie boarding on his almost 56th birthday! We spent the early morning hours of his birthday sleeping on benches in Portland's airport and the rest of it recovering from our night sleeping on benches! Oh what we do for cheaper flights!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Zions + Me

Chase and his friend Mason Brewer entered a contest by Zions Bank to create a 1 minute video with the title "Zions + Me".
He just found out he won 2nd place, $1,500!! The first place video was the pirate one (in case you looked at them before). That guy must have a lot of friends on Facebook.

Way to go Chase!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Maddie's Last Assembly at Skyline

Maddie had her last big assembly yesterday at Skyline. She created the Skyline Officer Winners (SOW) video based on the movie Jumanji. It was amazing and she did a great job on an enormous project. The auditorium was decorated in a jungle theme. This year's officers were celebrated as they walked down the aisle. Maddie's escort was her dad, Craig. Here's video of their "walk down the aisle". It brought tears to my eyes and Maddie's!

A few more pictures from the day. Can't believe we're almost done with high school. On Monday we're heading to Hawaii for a family trip. Back on June 1 for yearbook day and the next day is Maddie's graduation. Craig's goal was to make it here and he has and we're so grateful and happy.


Happy 28th Wedding Anniversary to Craig and I today!


Thursday, May 5, 2011

The Tumors Are Stable!

Wow, I had such a foreboding feeling that today’s doctor visit would not be good….but it was great!! The tumors are stable and there is really no progression of the cancer!

They scanned his chest also to see if there is something obstructing or pushing on the esophagus and there is no evidence of metastatic disease. Dr. Jones said his digestive problems are typical for pancreatic cancer and she made some suggestions to try and help with that. The tumors, for some reason, like to make it hard for the small bowel to do its job so food gets stalled there and comes back up. For now he just has to eat small meals more often. He also has an allergic condition in his esophagus called eosinophilic esophagitis for which he'll see an allergist. This condition also contributes to the problem with food motility. He started experiencing these symptoms the end of last year and they've just gotten worse. We'll do all we can to figure out solutions but we're relieved it's not because of new tumor growth pushing on the esophagus or stomach.

Craig has really been blessed and the treatment they are giving him is working. Cancer is not winning this battle so far. Thanks for everyone’s support. We couldn't do it without you. That sounds trite, but it’s true! We have such great friends and family surrounding us. We feel very loved and very blessed today.

This was our last visit with Dr. Jones. She is moving to Oregon which is sad for us. Craig gave her a big goodbye hug. She has helped us so much through the last 2 years. We will really miss her!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Scanning tomorrow

Craig will have a CT scan tomorrow. It's been since last October so we're a little anxious to see what it looks like in there and if the Sutent is still working. He's been experiencing a lot of digestion problems and the food is not going down too easily and likes to come up quite often. Let's hope everything is static and the tumors are stable. We'll find out on Thursday at our last visit with Dr. Jones before she moves. Anyone know a good pancreatic cancer doc?

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Senior Prom

Maddie's last dance at Skyline with Walter Hoggan. She'll be graduating in one month! Cousins!
Darling Heather helped with hair and makeup.
They drove in style!