Best Seattle Surgery trip ever!!

Our cousin, Kiana, came to visit last weekend so she could go to Girls' Camp with Kelly.
The girls spent time together in the front yard, just talking girl talk.

Anthony loves to open the laptops (we have 2) and start typing...just seeing what screens come up. Sometimes we end up with extra things on the screen.

The girls made Andy a fun tie for Father's Day. :)

Andy seems incapable of having a nice smile for me for pictures. Oh well. At least he's keeping his sense of humor through all these stressful times.

Daniel took this picture to show us that the scriptures even use emoticons.

Our art line is filling up even more!

I love it!

On our way to Seattle.

We brought Brian to his sister's house.

Anthony kicked Brian's arm the whole time he was turned like this to play Scrabble with the kids in the back seat.

While Anthony and I were at the hospital, Andy took the kids to the Science Center again.

And, they were able to bring Brian, his sister, and her husband!!

Surgery went great!!!

Anthony now has a new port, on his left chest.

I'll have to take a picture of his chest sometime so you can all see his new "face" of scars on it. :)The girls will go nuts for him when he's older.

What am I saying?!! They go nuts for him now!

After we were released from surgery, Andy and the children met us back at the Ronald McDonald House for dinner.

John L. Scott provided dinner, and it was sooo good! Anthony ate a BUNCH too!

I loved their apple crisp.

We stayed longer to watch a magic show.

Anthony got stinky, so we went into the bathroom to change his diaper.

He preferred sliding down into the sink and talking to himself in the mirror, and showing himself the bag of wipes through the mirror. :)

Maggie got to be an assistant for one of the tricks.

She got a hat out of it.

The girls with Lilly, another patient friend, and Devin, the comic, magician, Jenius!

If you're looking for a kids party entertainer, I would definitely recommend Devin.

He was hilarious, and his jokes were clean.

Clean jokes are important to me, and it's hard for me to actually laugh out loud at jokes when I've been exhausted for 2 years. I seriously LAUGHED OUT LOUD many times during his routine.

That night, we stayed at a hotel in Seattle.

On the bridge from U District to downtown, we saw a TON of sailboats.

Gorgeous day, gorgeous view.

Not the greatest pictures, they were taken while driving 50mph.

Yesterday, we went back to the clinic for chemo, ultrasound, and checkup.

Andy took Josh, Lilly, and Maggie to the beach, then Kung Fu Panda 2 so I could concentrate on Anthony's appointments.

The ultrasound showed that the clot in Anthony's neck has SIGNIFICANTLY shrunken, but we still need to continue the lovenox shots twice a day until mid-August.
The checkup was great, and chemo was fine.

It was the BEST Seattle trip we've had in a long time. :D

I saw these stickers in the lab area and had to have a few.

I love the top one that says, "I'm a big boy. I got my shot and didn't cry."

Everyone was wiped out.

This was 20 minutes into the drive home.

Stopping for dinner.

Once again, I was struck by the sheer number of new families at the Ronald McDonald House. That is a LOT of families who have been handed a big enough diagnosis to need at least a 4-night stay at Children's Hospital. That is a LOT to deal with.

If you find yourself with change jingling in your pocket, PLEASE consider donating at the boxes at McDonalds. Or, send a check to Children's Hospital. These families need the support we were so lucky to receive.

I am still grateful for our leukemia diagnosis.

In a recent post about Anthony being a survivor, I neglected to mention the heroes that we have had the privilege of knowing, who were taken far too soon from cancer. Most of the following list were friends we met within the past 18 months. And, if I missed any, I'm sorry!

Papa

Matthew

Melonye

Susan

Ken

Nolan

Drew

Christopher

Christopher - different Christopher :(

Henry

Rhema