Christmas, family and snow

Christmas is almost over and it is now 2011! We had a wonderful Christmas filled with wonder. I was actually nervous about Christmas this year because I didn't know what was going to be happening in our cancer journey. It is hard to plan things, but everything worked out. We had a great Christmas extending over quite a few days. It was a whorl wind of dinners and family fun.

The day before Christmas Eve we took the boys to see a 3D version of the most recent Narnia movie. We looked great in our funny glasses and watched the whole thing including the credits. We then had dinner together with Faye and family.

I sang in both the 8pm and 10pm Christmas Eve service at church. Both services were candlelight and during the 10pm service the moon was rising in the large windows behind the balcony. We in the choir were mesmerized by the magical moment, celebrating the birth of Christ in candle light with the rising moon outside. Christmas day was delightful. We mostly made gifts for each other this year as money is tight for everyone. I have to say that it was the most memorable Christmas in a long time. It reminded me of the Christmas when I was growing up when we gave each other gifts of promises written on paper that we then put in a jar to complete later. It touched me in a way no other Christmas did during my childhood. We were opening gifts this year, Mum had knitted me a tea cozy, I knitted fancy dish clothes and grew snow peas for Faye, Jules gave me some slippers and a promise of a watercolor to come, Faye and Javier made cookies and gave a framed picture of baby Jules with her own art work in the background, also Christmas tree ornaments with pictures of the kids,etc. Geoff and Annie our cousins in Australia had sent a package with totally unique Australia cut out cards and Aussie books for the Grandchildren. It was so great having a bit of Australia showing up at the perfect time.

Kirsten, Rob, Rowan and Dylan came on the day after Boxing Day and just left a week later. We really enjoyed their visit. The kids loved having a back yard to play in and spent many hours out there. Dilly is almost 4 and Rowan is 5 1/2. They enjoyed the Australia books which they requested we read many times.

This was taken Christmas day, It was nice to have Nick and May join us. We've been spending more time together now that we share a Grandchild. Nick brought his guitar and we sang Christmas songs around the piano. We sang a lot together as a family when Nick and I were married.

The high points of Christmas for me were playing and singing Christmas carols with family, singing in the choir at church (seeing the moon rise in the large east windows during the 10pm service), playing with grandchildren and most of all remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I put this picture in of Jules eating smashed blueberries just because it is so cute. It reminds me of when Ryan was starting to eat solids. He couldn't quite figure out how to swallow food, so he would stick his thumb in his mouth between each bite, then he would put his hand on his head while I gave him the next bite. HE became a carrot top with orange hair when I fed him carrots!

Jules just finished his 3^rd chemo treatment on December 30. They premedicated with benadryl IV, etc to avoid the severe symptoms he had last time. He still had numbing symptoms starting about 20 minutes after chemo was over and the reaction to cold was worse. However, he didn't have to have an ambulance ride to the hospital because we now know that he isn't having a stroke. We got to go home and have dinner with Kirsten and the kids.

We took a drive on Saturday (Kirsten left on Friday) to see the snow on Four Peaks, northeast of Phoenix. We had almost 2 inches of rain here and snow as low as 2000 feet around the valley. Here are some pictures I took on that drive. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking Saguaro Lake. It was a great few hours and really nice to do something together not connected to our cancer journey. They talk about a "new normal" when someone is fighting cancer. We have missed going up to Flagstaff this winter (cold and the chemo meds Julian is on don't mix). So this little trip was great to take our mind off that and get out and enjoy nature.

Childhood friends and good days

Today was a good day. We had Jules all day and my childhood girlfriend Janice and her husband Dave visited us from Tennessee. I showed her the irrigation ditch by our house because it really reminds me of South Phoenix when we were growing up. There were open irrigation ditches with cottonwood trees just like this little area by our canal here. We walked on the canal bank remembering how often we walked and rode the horse and donkey along the canal when we were kids sometimes riding into the canal even though we weren't allowed to. This is a picture of our donkey Henry. Dad brought him home in the back of the car one day. He opened up the door, and lifted him out. Henry was little enough that Dad wrapped his arms around all 4 legs and carried him out of the car to his new home, our south Phoenix ranch. Jan and Dave are bike riders and are interested in all our bike trails in Phoenix (500 miles of bike paths). Julian felt really good and walked with us. We put Jules in the stroller and she loved it also. We stopped by Mom's house on our way home, visited her and then we all went back to our house and had lunch. We had egg salad sandwiches with lettuce etc and watermelon. It was a great time and a good day. Jules connected with Merlin today. She was on the couch and Merlin was sitting on the couch back purring to beat the band. I said, "Jules listen to Merlin purring" and held her close to him. She then spent a long time squealing with glee, getting real close to his face as Merlin leaned in as if to give her a kiss. She would grab his fur and Merlin didn't bat an eye, just kept purring.

Cancer Connections Walk 2010

Well, the first round of chemo is finished, Julian is now on his week break. We went to the Walk for Hope at the Wellness Community for cancer families yesterday. This is where we go to our support groups each week. He was feeling pretty well and we walked with many other families fighting all kinds of cancer. Notice all the different colored balloons in the pictures. Each color signifies a different kind of cancer. The balloons signify hope and strength for the journey. We walked 3 K which I think is over 2 miles, seems easy, but for someone fight cancer and going through chemo it is tough. All programs are free here and there is everything from support groups to classes about fighting and dealing with cancer, nutrition and exercise and stress management. If you would like to donate and sponsor us go to www.thewellnesscommunityaz.org. Click on Cancer Connections Walk, 2010 and type in carol & julian under the search for individual or group. He did fine although he might have overdone it because he has felt really bad today. We take it a day at a time, supported by prayers, held up by each other and God. God is good and gives us many moments of joy together. We enjoy simple things like being able to wake up and eat breakfast together each day. This is new for us because we have always had to rush off to work at different hours. Today for breakfast we had scrambled eggs with cream cheese, 1/2 apple blossom (Trader Joe special) with whipped cream and hash browns.

Baby Jules is a joy to us. She is with us all day Tuesday and for about one and a half hours Friday mornings. Here she and her Papa are spending quality "hang out" time. She is amazing in so many ways. She is learning very minute she is awake and wants to be a part of everything. She is eating solids and likes to eat from the table while sitting on someone's lap. She had little bits of scrambled eggs and bits of banana bread. She loved it. She opens her mouth like a little bird and makes "mmmm" sounds like she is really enjoying it! She really lives in the moment. When she looks at someone, she totally focuses her eyes and her attention on you like for that moment you are the only person in her world. She is funny and makes us laugh.

Jules Baptism

Julianna was baptized last Saturday. Here she is looking happy and angelic in her baptismal dress. She was joined by 12 other babies, but as Julian said, "I looked at all of them and Jules is the most beautiful." He is not at all partial I'm sure.


This is St Frances Xavier Cathedral in Phoenix which is their church. You can see all the families up front. Notice the small stained glass windows overhead in the dome, Jules couldn't keep her eyes off them. We were waiting for the ceremony to start and there she was looking straight up focusing on those blue squares of light.
Here are her Godparents, Jess and Matt
Faye, Javier and Jules
Javier holding Jules for the christening. I wonder if there is a reason that the priest used a shell?? Part of the water came from the Jordan river in Israel. It was a beautiful service.
This is a delphinium. I saw it at the nursery and thought I'd try growing it. I got 2 and put them in pots, so I can bring them in when it gets too hot. There is a poem by AAMilne about delphiniums and a dormouse which Mom read to us many times when we were little, so I was excited to see what delphiniums look like. They are really beautiful. "There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red). And all the day long he'd a wonderful view of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue). A doctor came hurrying round and he said: Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed. Just say Ninety-nine, while I look at your chest....Don't you find that chrysanthemums answer the best." Anyway it is a long and sad story about how they replaced the geraniums and delphiniums with chrysanthemums (yellow and white) and the dormouse was very sad, but the doctor really thought he had recommended the right change. Anyway, I really love AAMilne poems and that was the first thing I gave to Jules.

Talking about Julian, he is doing pretty well all things considering. He had IV chemo yesterday and will take chemo pills, Xoloda, for the next 2 weeks. Then he will have a whole week off till he has to start another 21 day cycle. He will have 5 of these before they reevaluate (probably with another PET scan).