Mammoth Lakes Trip

We had such a great time in Mammoth this past weekend. Last night Kade said, "This is the worst vacation because it's the best vacation ever and we have to go home." Here's a little glimpse into how we spent our time....

We had a great time at Convict Lake, even if the water was ice cold.

(so we didn't have swimsuits,but we improvised)


Like the boy he is, Eric was climbing trees again...until...

the tree landed on him!

We got in some park time,

I felt great enough to bike the Uptown/Downtown trails. And I wish I had the pictures to prove what an animal Eric is. He put in 12 hours on the bike, riding to the top of incredible mountains.


There was tons of beautiful sightseeing!


We got in more water time at June Lake,


Went to the skate parks at least once a day,


Check out Kade's kick flip action!

There were even some waterfalls we were able to climb to at Twin Lakes.

We have a whole list of things we want to do on our next venture up there, but all in all, it was time well spent. Nothing beats a family getaway, coupled with the peaceful surroundings of God's country! A big thank you to the Piurkowsky's for allowing us to use your condo and adding some great memories to our photo albums!

Results! Results!

Today was the big day…Scan day!! I had PET & CT scans, neither of which showed any definitive signs of cancer. It did come back abnormal with an enlarged spleen (whatever that’s indicative of, I don’t know) and a long black region on the liver. Dr. Bilchik wasn’t able to determine whether or not the blackened region was fluid, scar tissue or tumor. He’s ordered the scans from my last stay at Cedars Sinai to compare them. Hopefully we’ll hear back by next week what they’ve found.

Because I’m CEA sensitive, or in other words, since my CEA level has proven to be a significant indicator of the amount of cancer in my body (which was at 0.6 four weeks ago), and because I feel so good, we are going to stop all treatments unless they find in future tests that the darkened region is cancerous. The plan is to go back in six weeks to test the CEA level in my blood, and then I’ll return for more scans in three months to see if there’s been a growth of the black region on the liver.

I’m surprised my spleen was enlarged and not my heart, because it feels like my heart could burst with joy. I am so lucky to have had Eric here by my side every step, heartache, tear and moment of joy along the way. Could I have married a better companion? I don’t think so. My family gave me purpose to live, my friends and doctors gave me the courage and know-how to persevere, my faith in the Lord gave me understanding and patience. I owe my strength and success to all those who prayed, fasted, cried, sent cards, brought in meals, watched my children, and so much more unmentioned, on my behalf. I’m grateful for this life we get to experience and hope to not let any wonderful experiences pass me by.

Now…who’s going to join us for Hawaii in December????? It's time to make some reservations!

Stephen Family

Forgot to post pictures of when Cory came out to visit. It was great to see the entire Stephen family together. Joan was so happy to be surrounded by all her kids.

Are You Kidding Me?!!!!

So I'm in my bedroom folding laundry while Gavin and Leyna are playing so well together in the girls' room. They're laughing and having a grand ol' time. When it comes time to pick up the older kids from school, I walk in to get them and this is what I see on the floor.
"Leyna, I can't believe you cut your hair AGAIN!!!"
"Sorry, Mom," she says as she starts to cry.
"Why did you cut it?"
"I didn't. Gavin did."
"Did you tell Gavin to stop?"
"Yes, but he wanted to cut it anyway."
"Gavin, is this true? Did you keep cutting Leyna's hair even when she told you not to?"
"Yes."
"Did you know what you were doing was wrong and going to make me upset?"
"Yes."
"Alright, if I can't do Leyna's hair, then I don't think you should be able to do your hair either. I'm cutting yours so you can't do a mohawk anymore."
"No, Mom. Please. I won't cut her hair again."
"Too bad so sad. You mess with Leyna's hair and I'm gonna mess with yours."


Needless to say, Gavin was not happy about getting his hair cut. The little stink looks absolutely adorable, though, anyway. Leyna's hair was cut so short all over that I don't know how to fix it. It took so long to grow back from her other cutting fiascos. Just give me some bangs to work with at least. Aaaargh! (Marcella, I need your hair cutting expertise! What can we do?)The funny thing is that Leyna could care less. She thinks it looks great. As you can see, she's all smiles and just glad that I'm not mad at her. (Eric's out of town and is going to freak out when he sees her hair! Maybe I should give him some advanced notice.)

1st Day of Preschool for Leyna

Gavin is 5!

A few months after Gavin turned 4, his primary teacher at church gave him a belated birthday present, and ever since then he's thought he was 5. Finally, the day has come where we can say, "Yes, Gavin. You are 5!" We love him for all his desire to serve, for his hugs, warmth and independence, but most of all his infectious giggle that makes the world around him smile! Gavin, we are so lucky to have you in our lives! Love you, G-Man!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Flashback to the 80's

In lieu of our wonderful friend Marci's 40th birthday, she threw an 80's party. I wish I had pictures of the night so you could see the rest of the partygoers. There were some totally radical fads! I especially liked Eric's $3 velcro shoes he got from the Goodwill store.

Surprise!

I was hoping to let this birthday slide without recognition from many, but it was not to be. The young women and other youth leaders threw me a fabulous surprise party, where they crowned me and made me queen for the night. It was a lot of fun with games, stories, & junk food. A tremendously big thank you to all who helped in making my 30th birthday a special one! I love you!!

Final Chemo Session!

I went in for my final round of chemo today! Well...it's not official until Sept. 22nd when I have my scans, but I have no plans of going back. The medicine weakens my system anyhow, so that coupled with being overjoyed at the prospect of being done, I couln't help crying as I left my oncologist's office today. I'm still connected to my chemo-to-go bag until Thursday, but we're almost there!

I'm sure I've mentioned before that they want my white blood cell count to fall between 4 & 11. To this point, I believe that the lowest they've treated me at is 2.4or 2.6. Today my white count was at 1.6. My nurse said, "I'm sorry. We can't do chemo today." I was crestfallen. "No, Patti. Today's my last day. I don't want to prolong it anymore. I don't care if I get sick. Please call Dr. Menco." She took pity on me, called the doc, who came in to see me. "Okay, he said, "I really don't think you should have chemo today." "But Dr. Menco, I did a 10-mile hike yesterday. I feel great. Please...as a birthday present?" When he consented, I had to constrain myself to not hug him to pieces.

I may be sick, but as a family we're just to relieved to be moving on!!

What is this?!!!

We're driving home from the movie theater last night. (Took the kids to see G-Force...pretty cute.) I look in my visor mirror to apply some lip gloss and what to my utter dismay do I find? A white hair! Like that wasn't bad enough, this hair had the gall to stand on it's own, flying free from my ponytail. I'm still in shock about it. I couldn't throw it out. It's zipped up in my purse as a reminder that my 30th birthday is approaching. Did my hair turn white from age or stress? Certainly I can't think of any reason to have been sressed in the past year. ;) I'm not old. I'm attributing it to that. I can be as stubborn as my hair!