Easter 2009

 
Hope your Easter was a time filled with family and good food. Ours sure was! We were so happy that Darrell came home from the hospital to be with us. Happy Easter to all 2009.
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Double Happiness

This is the symbol for double happiness - which describes me & Darrell now that he has been released from the hospital. Although he is on a PIC line and gets IV's of antibiotics twice daily, he feels great, looks great and we are all happy! Amazing how humble you get when you really get down to the heart of things. As long as my honey is OK, I am doing great. Stuff like the house not perfect, my hair or weight not perfect, etc seems really silly. Good to always progress and strive for excellence, but not good to obssess and let it depress you. When you have your family, you have everything.

Parotitis

You may think parotitis has something to do with:


But you'd be wrong. It's an acute bacterial infection of the salivary glands (think mumps) and my poor honey got it over the weekend. We are at day 3 at "glorious" Club Bannner, but I think because he is responding so well to treatment he will get out today or tomorrow.

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Darrell is a trooper! Between hospital stays he appeared in court at a pretrial hearing, and was hospitalized again a few hours later. I am so impressed with my husband and his committment to providing for his family. We are grateful to all those who helped us.

Bryanna's Soccer Party

 

We had so much fun today at the end of the year soccer party for Mesa Soccer Club Girls United 96 Team! The best part was the parents versus players game. And the feet were flying! Darrell played goalie with another mom in the box and he was rocking! He slapped four or five balls out of the box to keep them from scoring - once the ball hit him in the knee and down he went. Bryanna ran over to make sure Dad was OK - what a sweetheart - she is so protective of her Dad. Darrell got right back up with some help and received a much deserved round of applause.

We really enjoy watching Bryanna play soccer and the friends she has made along the way.

Max & Lucy

I have the pleasure of watching a cute little girl named Lucy. Don't you just love that name? When she comes to play, Max has such a good time. He instinctively knows to be careful, and he has taken great pleasure and pride in sharing his toys and trying to make her laugh or play with him. He told me last time she was here that he wondered if she would let him sit with her and snuggle in the bean bag chair. That is precious, because he only does that with me. I am encouraged to see this nurturing side of him. Thanks to Lucy's mom and dad for trusting us to take good care of her. We sure love having her!

You are What you Eat?

I have a cute little friend that I love to hang out with. She is beautiful and tiny - but of course she doesn't know it! We had a chance to escape to our favorite fast food spot, KFC. After we ordered I looked down at our drinks:



Guess which one is mine? It's just a coincidence, right?

Milestone #1- Celebrate with Us

We are celebrating! This is the longest that Darrell has been out of the hospital AND the lowest dose of prednasone that he has been able to tolerate since his diagnosis in July 2008! He fought off a cold (this is big, because it means his weakened immune system is still fighting) and is feeling "pretty good".

I just wanted to post how grateful we are to our friends and family and all those who have sent good thoughts and prayers our way. We are especially grateful for the priesthood blessing given by Bishop Curtis and the promises made. Darrell and I have clung to that blessing as we have moved forward. As a family we want to express our love to Bishop Curtis, Bishop Merrill, President Bradshaw, Bishop Walker, Brother Brown, and all those worthy priesthood holders that have blessed and guided us through this challenge.

I have read that a trial is when you really have to decide where you stand. You simply can't sit on the fence when you make life decisions. This has strengthened our resolve, fortified our faith, solidified our marriage. And we have the gospel as our roadguide to help us through. Without it, Darrell's illness would just feel like an unfair break without any hope of survival. But we have hope, we have strength and we have resolve. If you have any questions about our faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, please click on the picture of the Temple on the right-hand side and get your information straight from the source. It will change your life, if you let it.

Check back for Milestone #2 - 1 year post diagnosis on July 3rd....yes we can.