Dr. Visit

Odette has to go to the oncology doctor once a month.

We check labs.

See how she is, or isn't growing.

Visit our friends.

Get to GO HOME after each visit!

This visit we found out:

Odette didn't gain weight, but she didn't loose any either!  (Pretty good considering her diet is ranch dressing, chocolate and mac'n cheese.)

Odette's counts look wonderful and she is almost "normal".

Odette isn't a baby anymore.

Odette's hair is about an inch long.

Odette is still loved by lots of wonderful people.

Odette doesn't like the hospital graham crackers.

Odette still likes to empty the box of gloves all over the floor.

Odette gets to get her port out on Wednesday!

Hurray for our little fighter...who is probably a lot bigger than me in many ways.

Vacation

When Odette got sick, we were told to not go further than two hours from the hospital. This meant that we were not going to be going on any vacations further than our own backyard for a while.  (Fortunately there are a lot of things to do in our "backyard" for the older kids.)  So when Odette got the all clear and my parents called and said they wanted to see the kids, we were on our way to Arizona.  Yes, even the heat of that place wasn't enough to make me turn back!  We were going!

ARIZONA WAS WONDERFUL!

(I could go on an on about it, so here is a quick recap.)

WE:

• SWAM A LOT!  (At least twice a day.)
• did some artwork
• played with a gigantic ball
• decorated Grandma's library at school
• played the Wii
• ate lots of yummy food--even Odette did!
• went to the movies
• had sleepovers with cousins
• made forts
• read some books
• a little bit of shopping for school clothes
• got lots of hugs and kisses
• rode on an airplane for the first time (Odette)
• slept a little bit
• learned how to make the biggest splashes in the pool
• "cliff" diving
• played with a dog
• Bahama buck's snow cones--the best!
• did dishes
• tried to dunk the uncles in the water without much luck!

We had so much fun, we can hardly wait to go back for Thanksgiving when everyone will be there!!  Hurray for family and a much needed vacation!

ITS A CELEBRATION!

It’s a CELEBRATION!

Come and help us celebrate the end of one “rocky road” and Odette’s good news of

CANCER FREE!

Tuesday, August 17^th

7:00 pm at the park on Lake Mountain Drive

(3663 Lake Mountain Drive, Saratoga Springs)

We will be having ice cream with ALL imaginable toppings!  If you have a favorite topping you would like to bring and share, please do. 

Otherwise, just come and enjoy!

This is our way of saying Thank you.  Thank you to everyone who did so much to help us over the past 14 months.  There is no way I could ever write enough thank you cards.  There are so many of you that have done stuff that I don’t know who you are.  Your prayers and thoughtfulness have not gone unnoticed! 
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

The Last

Friday was Brandt's last swim meet of this summer.

It was the Silver County Meet.

He Swam in five events.

They were all very close races.

All the kids there were very fast.

Hence the Silver Meet.

Medley Relay

His team was DQ'd because one teammate missed touching the wall.

Too bad. 

Freestyle

Not his fasted, but he did terrific!

Backstroke

He was in the top 5!

Breast stroke

He was in the top 5!

Freestyle Relay

His team was in the top as well!

He did so amazingly well!

I am so very proud of him!

He also had so much fun.

He brought his best friend to hang out with in between races.

Some waits were nearly an hour!

A friends dad was decorating the swimmers.

So Brandt and Stetson got dragon tattoos.

It sure made it nice to figure out where Brandt was.

Especially since the boys all look alike in their suits!

Hurray Brandt for doing so well!

Now, we get to sleep in past 6am....

...at least until school starts!

Snakes

It seems that every time I go outside to try and be useful, I get scared off by none other than a SNAKE!  (They must like my raspberries and rhubarb as much as I do!)  I have only seen a snake once in our backyard since we moved out here.  However, I think I have found the problem.  The snakes are getting tangled up in our netting that we put over the berry patches so the birds don't get to eat all our yummy fruit.

This snake the kids wanted to see it and have me take pictures of it.  They were scared at first, however when the neighbor boy started helping to untangle it, they all braved up and touched it!  Yes, even Brandt held it in his hand and of course Josselyn wasn't ever scared by it at all!

Kids Cancer Crusade

Today we got a box in the mail from Kids Cancer Crusade.  Of course everyone was very excited because the box was BIG!  We opened it and inside found the makings of a party.  To do what you ask?  To celebrate Odette being a HERO and being CANCER FREE!  I think that is a good reason to celebrate!!  So we put Odette's princess crown on her head, gave her her trophy and broke open the pinata!  (Josselyn was the one who ended up pulling the right string to get it to pop open.)  And within minutes all the candy was gone and the kids were trying to figure out how to repair the pinata so that we could do it again.  Thanks Kids Cancer Crusade for such a fun package!

Getting Healthier

Odette is starting to eat a little healthier

Favorites:

1. Dark Chocolate (I know that is the healthiest kind!)

2. Graham Crackers

3. Ranch Dressing

4. Corn

5. Guacamole  

and something new as of today...tootsie rolls 

Now to get the fruit in there and we are good! 

Play we Have

While Odette was really sick, I would always wonder how I would feel when we got the all clear.  Would I still freak out every time her temperature started to climb?  Would I even dare to take her shopping anywhere?  What if someone coughed in the same area as us, would I run away?  I know, pretty cheesy, but those are things I would do when she was sick.  However, I have found that I have relaxed and my mind is at peace and we have been able to play.

WE DID FIREWORKS

A couple of times.  The best ones were the flashy ones.  The kids could dance around and their shadows showed up on the house.  It was cool!  And of course watching the fireworks from our porch is always great...you can see the entire Utah county doing them!

PLAYED IN THE WATER WITH FRIENDS

We have done this at least three times, I just was too lazy to take pictures each time.  I think we need to invest in the big blow-up water toy.  The kids sure do love them!

WENT TO THE POOL

Odette didn't get in since she was still on her feeding tube and who knows what is in public pools water!  She didn't seem to mind as long as she had one of the water toys to play with.

HUNG OUT WITH SOME AWESOME COUSINS

Our cousins got a new playground for a surprise.  They were nice and invited us over to try it out with them.  It was way fun!

ODETTE SURE DOES LOVE OREO!

Oreo is our cousins dog.  He is just the right size for Odette.  She was so soft playing with him and feeding him grass.  She even gave him kisses.  I am sure they will be good play buddies, until Odette gets bigger!

WENT TO THE ZOO

Had to go before our pass expired that we got since we "lived" so close to it.  Now, I think it will be good enough to visit it just once a year as we have done in the past.  It was fun to see the baby elephant out playing this time!  All the kids loved the elephants.

MADE THE BIGGEST SNOW CONES EVER!

They sure were yummy and yes, the boys ate it all gone!

And there is still a long list of things we want to do.  Guess we better hurry since school isn't too far off!