Swim Team

July 2011

So this Summer Tenlie was able to join the little Swim Team at O'Neal Aquatics.  She is my little swimmer and is very good at it.  It was fun and very low key.  Her Cousin Colby was on it along with her Two Friends Cole and Jaycee.  

This is her at the first swim meet.  She did very well.

This is all the kids who participated in the meet that day along with their Coach Alicia.

Timpanogos Half Marathon

Saturday July 30

So this year I decided I was going to take on running to help release some of the stress in my life.  So far it has been a great one.  At the last minute I decided since I was scheduled to run a 13 miler that weekend I would hurry and sign up for the Timpanogos Half marathon and enjoy the run down American Fork Canyon.  It was very pretty and such great weather. 

One thing that is really nice with races is running them with someone.  I found out that my Sister-in-law Corie and her neighbor Rachelle had signed up so I was able to hang with them at the start.  Then while we were up at the start we ran into Jodie Wimmer and her Cousin Jamie Christiansen.  The race began and we all started out together.  Jodie and I stayed most of the race together which was really nice to help pace each other.  I was able to get a new PR on this race which I was able to shave off quit some time. 

My time was

1:50:47

4th of July

July 4th



So my sister and her family moved  up to Boise Idaho in June and we thought it would be fun to head up there over the 4th to see where abouts they were living.  We had a great time.  They have a neighborhood pool that of course I forgot to take my camera to the pool.  Then although out their neighborhood they have these big beautiful ponds that you can fish in and my kids ate that up.  I do have to say Idaho knows how to create their subdivisions they really are attractive. 

I really wasn't very good with the camera this weekend.  I guess I've been burned out on taking them for awhile.  We went into the park in down town Boise to see the fireworks which were great. 

Back To Chemo

Friday June 24

Well back to the grindstone again.  We are starting another regiment of chemo again this one consists of the drugs Irinotecan and Erbitux.  The one side affect of the Erbitux is a bad skin problem which is a rash that looks like acne.  Cody feels like he is 16 all over again.  His face has broke out really bad with this one and its very sore to touch.  If he touches it very hard or bumps it the little blisters then pop and start bleeding.  Hes starting to get very self conscious of how he looks.  The sun is very hard on him and he will then react with the rash spreading. This will be interesting through the summer. 

His Benedryl is back which he is excited about cause that means that nap time returns.  Not so much for me.  This just means that about 2am hes asking me if I'm asleep.  I was until he woke me up then he begins to say well since your awake do you want to watch a movie with me. 

Ragnar Wasatch Back

June 17-18

This race in not unknown to many since it has become one of the largest races in the area.  Now I can see why.  It is beautiful!! We were in van 2 so all I can say for our van is that there was not a leg that was not pretty.  Our team started in Logan at 7am and the first van ran the first 6 legs then they handed off to us around 1 in the afternoon and we began.  

Here is our first out of 3 legs

Nothing like trying to catch a few ZZZ's around 6pm.  Our longest break was between our first and second leg which was when we needed to get our rest if we wanted any.  Lets just say there was not a whole lot of resting going on.

And now our 2nd leg begins.  Van 1 handed off to us around 10pm and off we go.  I do have to say something about running in the middle of the night is quit joyful.  I have actually become quit fond of the night running.  We were having a great time and I believe this is when we had the most energy.  I believe we turned over the running to van 1 around 4:30 am and off we were to try and catch a few more zz's at the school in Heber.

Then last but not the least our very last and final legs of the race.  These I believe were the hardest ones our our our 3.  Once again no disappointment on the scenery it was gorgeous.  Damon and Michelle had thee hardest legs out of all this last one.  Michelle had the one that is called you have got to be kidding me and Damon's was Ragnar its self.  I was grateful I was not running them especially in the middle of the day.  We started our runs around 10am and by the time we got to these runs it was around 11:30-12. 

The FINISH LINE AT LAST!!  No we had a great time and finished 192 miles if 33hrs.  We had a great team and really had fun.  The kids and Family were there at the finish line to cheer us on. 

Our team van1 and van2

Back row Julie, Gonzo, Damon, Neal, Ryan

2nd row Nickie, Michelle, Rachel

Front Row Amy, Corie, Me, Jodie

 

Going Crazy with the Insurance

June

Now that we are back from our vacation we can get down to business and fight with the insurance company.  It has been so frustrating with them one minute you feel like you have done everything they have asked and then they come up with a whole other list of things.  One nice thing is it is giving Cody a break from the Chemo so he can take care of the spots in his bones with radiation.  We have appealed their decision several times and every time we feel like it will go through since we have jumped through every hoop possible, but yet still a no go.  They are now making us get a second opinion from Huntsman even though they have 3 Dr. referral letters stating that in their opinion they felt like MD Anderson was a great move for us at this point.  So of course we are put off even that much longer since Huntsman cant even see us until the middle of July.  At this point I'm hoping that we are not just waisting our time and letting his cancer start growing again with him not doing any kind of treatment for the liver.  Cancer is such a tricky disease one minute everything can be fine and with in just a few days it can get out of control.  I just wish we had a crystal ball that would show us the whole picture so you knew what you were working with.  I guess this is were your faith and prayers come into affect helping guide you in the right direction which is exactly what we we are doing.  I don't know where we would be with out our Heavenly father to help us through this trial.

Disneyland

Saturday June 4

So we left San Diego and headed up to Anaheim for our Disneyland adventure.  We absolutely love this place.  Its so fun to see the kids and Cody become a kid again.  Again the weather could not have been any better we totally lucked out.  The first day there we staked out a great spot to watch the parade which we love they are always so cute.

This trip was extremely fun cause Stetson was tall enough to ride almost everything.  The only rides he couldn't ride was Indiana Jones and Screaming.  His favorite ride was Space Mtn. and second was Splash Mtn.  These are our pictures from Splash Mtn.  We never got a good one of him on space since he could barely see over the bar.

These next pictures are of us getting ready to enter the TWILIGHT ZONE.  He was supper excited at first, but then wasn't quit sure what he got himself into.  He was so funny to watch during the ride I almost forgot that we were dropping.  After it was all said and done he said he had a great time, but didn't want to repeat it.

Next was over to the Grizzly rapids where I was completely fine sitting out with Stetson.  It just was not warm enough to get wet and as you can see they hit the fountain just right and were drenched.

Our family has fallen in love with the movie Tangled and of course they have added her tower to the park so we had to check it out.  I do have to say they were really cute with the kids.

Out of all our times to Disneyland this is the first time we have rode the tea cups.  The kids had a great time on them and as for us adults we were a little sick.  I do have to say I was glad we were not in the boys cup with them.

We do love our bugs and have to become an honorary bug.  This really is a cute show.  Stetson actually left his glasses on the whole time and it was quit comical to watch him.

One morning the kids were waiting for us to finish getting ready and we walked out to them with their animals all set up to the table have breakfast together.  I just had to take a picture of it.  they had a whole conversation and party going on.  I just love kids and their imaginations.

Then it was back to the airport to return home.  We had such a great time on this vacation thanks to my sister for helping make this come together.  The kids had a great time on the airplane rides.