Cancer Update

I already posted this on Facebook but in case you missed it and wanted to know, my 6 mo. body scans came back clean of cancer. We finalized the end of November as my chemo end date. Also worked with the doctor to reduce my chemo dose by 25%. He even called another Dr. down at M.D. Anderson, in Huston to get his opinion while we waited. So overall, a very good visit.

Sophie and Rhys Quirks

Rhys, at one-year-old, is only outweighed by his 3-year-old sister by 4 measly pounds! He's hefty.

He has two bottom molars that have broke the surface.

Rhys loves to give kisses, fake sneeze, and screech at our cat.

He enjoys throwing his food on the floor. When we give him a stern "No!", he likes to hold his food over the floor and give us that "Just watch me!" look. It's really hard not to laugh at that face.

Keri tries to nap when the kids nap. Today, after about 10 minutes of sleep, Keri woke up to Sophie marching around Keri and Neal's room with Keri's prescription glasses on, chanting quietly, "I see everything!" over and over. Huh?! Get back in bed!

Sophie found her way into a Frisbee. Needless to say, it went on easier than it came off.

Ice Cream Social

Well, tonight we dodged a few raindrops and headed to our local city library. Recently, a lovely bronze statue was stolen from our library grounds. The losers had broken it into pieces and attempted to sell it to a recycling yard in Dallas.

We attended an ice cream social to raise money to replace the statue. To have the statue remade it cost $5,200. The thieves would have only gotten $250 for it at the recycling yard but they were not paid.After licking the last drop of melted goodness off our spoons, we had a chance to pet some therapy dogs that were at the event.

Then Neal took Sophie to story time while Keri and Rhys perused the books. It was a great night.

Sophie Turns 3!

Our little girl is already turning 3! We sang "Happy Birthday" to her and dad made a big blueberry pancake breakfast for the family. We all had to brush really good so we didn't have blue teeth for church.

When we got home from church, Sophie opened her cards and presents. She was particularly happy with the bank she got which came with a little ziploc of loose change to put in it (brilliant!). She was so happy. Thanks to all who acknowledged her birthday.Then after naps and dinner, we invited a few friends over to enjoy birthday cupcakes. She has been telling me she wants candles on her cake for weeks. She got a whole 3 of them. Happy Birthday, Sophie! We love you SO MUCH!

Acts of Kindness

Keri got an unexpected package in the mail yesterday--several cards and a blanket! Neal's mom, Susan, sends get well cards often and has random people write in them. Susan works at an elementary school and when she found out a 6th grader, Ruby, also a Latter-Day Saint (LDS), she handed her a card.

Ruby took the card and apparently shared the circumstances to someone from church because the girls from the Activity Days program went to work and made this blanket and beautiful cards for Keri, and handed that to Susan, who sent it on its way.

Also, today, the boy scouts came over and soon we had 3 flats of zinnias planted in our front yard. It looks great. Thanks to everyone who blesses our family and home. We appreciate your kindness!

Sophie Visits the Salon

Sophie got her first "real" haircut this past weekend. She was excited about going to the "sawong." She got to watch Dora and got a sucker for good behavior. It took less than 10 minutes and her vision was completely restored.

Quiet Time Equals Severe Tornado Damage

When I haven't noticed that Sophie has become quiet, it's going to be bad. I gave her once neat room an F3 on the tornando level today.

The Cockroach Hall of Fame

Oh yes we did. Need a nice, little summer outing for the kids? The Cockroach Hall of Fame. Michael Bohdan, a pest control specialist, started up this little gem years ago in his Plano, TX retail store, The Pest Shop. Years ago, Michael didn't have sufficient money for a good advertising campaign for his new pest control business so he paid $1000 for a cockroach mounted on a drawing of the state of Texas. He figured doing something as ridiculous as that would get him on the news or something. It did. He got on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Business took off.

He breeds Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and will show them off to you. Keri actually held one for 2 seconds! Sophie and Rhys were content just to look on. He says he feeds them dog food, beer, and bananas.

There is, in addition to the "live" roaches, several "roach art" displays of "dead" cockroaches dressed in costumes to portray a variety of themes.

"Roaches at the Beach"

"Santa Roach"

There was also Liberoachi, Elvis, and Brittney Spears roach displays.

Michael does not make roach art as a pass time but people send them to him. Isn't that lovely. Michael was a great guy, informative, and obviously takes pride in his Hall of Fame and business.
Oh, and yesterday we kept cool at a local sprayground. Talk about an abrupt transition!"Strike a pose. There's nothing to it...."

Welcome Clara June

Our friends, John and Carly, had their third child, Clara June, on Friday morning. We stopped by after church today to pay them a visit. She is a very good looking baby and Carly is getting around well after the planned C-section. Good job, John and Carly!Neal getting a kick with one of his camera phone applications. Who's a Reagan fan?

Summer Concert in the Park

We love going to the concerts in the park even though it's getting warmer quick. It's good, clean family fun! This particular night they had a Blues Brothers tribute band--Briefcase Blues. Thanks to Dave for these pictures.

New Do

Keri has lost approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of her hair on the chemo. It was looking pretty sad so today she finally went for short. Hopefully, this will be kinder on the shower drain too.

Before:After:

Getting Out

Kari invited us along on a day of fun last week. We enjoyed Story time with Miss Genie at the Interurban Railway Museum. She did a great job. Then we were off to the Las Colinas Mustang Sculpture to have lunch with Carter, Kari's husband. Kari had just told her daughter, Kenzie that she could not get in the water when she looked up to see this...Yep, that's me schlepping my Sophie through the fountain! At that point she knew she would not win that argument with Kenzie, so Carter took her in.

What a Chunk!

The pediatrician actually said "What a chunk!" after looking at Rhys' stats. She quickly followed up that he was healthy and proportional and fine where he was at. He weighed in at a whopping 27 lbs., 8 oz. placing him in the 94th percentile. His length/height was 32.25 inches placing him in the 96th percentile. And his head is just bursting with brain matter and is in the 98th percentile.

He is wearing 24 month clothes and is only a year old. Rhys is about to pop out some molars because they are all swollen but he hasn't gotten too cranky about those yet.

Today, for the first time, we are noticing that he is waving bye-bye. Way to grow, Rhys!

Sophie and Rhys Quirks

Rhys has become quite the biter. He pulls himself to standing using mom's pant leg and then bites the back of her thigh. Both Neal and Keri have had their toes bitten while they were sitting on the bed with their feet hanging off. And today in church, Rhys bit the heck out of Neal's finger and all Keri could see is her husband with the most awful expression of pain on his face--but he didn't yell and interrupt the service so good job, Neal!

Rhys can make the best face. He puckers up those lips and sucks them up to his nose. Very bizarre but talented.

Sophie HATES wearing dresses. Unfortunately for her, her parents LOVE her in dresses. Usually we only fight the fight on Sunday for church. It really puts us all in a good mood for the meeting.

Sophie pulled a thread out of Neal's shirt pocket and told him she found a Wocket.

She looked in the toilet bowl after finishing her job and told me it looked like an Easter bunny. Believe it or not, she was right.

She has also found another use for her shoes when not wearing them. We came upon this in the kitchen...Yes, those are avocados. No, we do not understand her thinking.

Memorial Day

We attended the dedication of the U.S. War Memorial at our local park and rec center today. We wanted to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice so many have made to protect the freedoms of ours and others.

After the ceremony, we ate at Freebirds (yummy burritos) and napped. We ended the day with a get-together at Oma and Opa's house. Thanks for the kabobs and fruit salad--delish!Rhys is a splasher!Becky has two beautiful whippets, Tracer,and Tango.Neal freaking them out.Rudy caught this great action sequence.Doesn't Neal know I am weak from chemo? Who feels like the big man now? No, actually, we were having a lot of fun! I love you, babe!