Choir and Cancer

We haven't had choir since May, so it was wonderful to have such a great turnout today! Whether they felt sorry for me because I have cancer or they just enjoyed the long break and were ready to start up again, I'll take it! We went through Thanksgiving and Christmas music and they sounded great!

Counting myself and Suzanne at the piano, we had 20 people! Ed says we might need more chairs next week! I hope so!

Thanks to Ed, who not only set up all the chairs and helped collate the music, but also went on a boxelder bug killing spree before everyone arrived! We're hopeful he forestalled the invasion before the little buggers snuck in with the choir!

More Fall fun with Family

We enjoyed a special meal at Brittany's house Friday night. Brittany made grilled cheese, butternut squash soup and pumpkin pie!

Ed and I contributed a fun, colorful loaf of bread that we picked up at Lehi bakery!

Afterwards we went to the Provo Pioneer Village with our monkey and our pirate!

When it got dark we went down to the Provo River and road the pirate boat! It was magical and I got lots of good cuddles from Mabel, who loves her grandma!

Saturday morning we joined the Nuttalls for the children's concert at BYU. It featured the opera department and soloists from Handel's Theodora. It was helpful that we could read the words onscreen as they sang, but Mabel and Clementine were as good as gold despite the fact that they can't read!

I'm grateful to be able to do so much now! My treatments did not make me as sick as the last time, and other than some itching and a few minor side effects, I'm doing very well!

My WBC went down to 2.9 on Friday, which scared me, as it was below normal. The doctor assured me it would bounce back and not to worry about it! We'll see when I get labs Monday morning!

Halsey Visit

Our friends, Mark and Mary stopped by all the way from Maryland Wednesday. It was fun to see them and catch up on the Eldersburg ward. Mark is bishop there now and was wishing cell phones weren't so efficient at keeping you in the loop!

They not only stopped by, but brought us a pot of chili in honor of the Fall Festival this weekend. We enjoyed a lot of chili cook-offs in our 7 years in Maryland! Thank heavens they brought a piece of home with them!

3 Mile HIke

It felt surreal to be out this morning on a real hike! I was expecting to be bedridden from my treatments. For the past two months I've been wondering if the pear tree had produced some edible fruit! I thought we might have missed the window to find out! But this morning we found some perfect little pears on it! They were a little bit crunchy, but delicious!

This tree on High Bench path is the only pear tree we've found in Lambert Park! I was so happy that it saved it's fruit for us!

We brought a few home to let them soften up a little!

I even convinced Ed to try an apple off one of the apple trees along the trail! He said it was just as good as store-bought!

I was amazed that I was able to walk 3 miles today! I'm cautiously optimistic that the next three monthly treatments will not be making me sick! Maybe the worst is over!

Two days of Treatment

I just finished two long days of treatments at Huntsman. We went in at 7 a.m. and were home by 7 p.m. each day. Besides the unexpected delays, everything went well. I had to get three stabs on Monday to finally get my IV placed. Only two stabs on Tuesday! Then, delays in getting the labs ordered slowed us down, as well as a diluted sample on Tuesday, which had to be redrawn before I could be treated.

On Monday we had a visit from Reggie, the therapy dog, which cheered us up!

On Tuesday the entire University of Utah basketball team dropped by. Jason and Parker, here, gave us coupons for free tickets to see a game!

On even better news, my WBC has stayed in the normal range all week at 8k. My other blood components also look very good! Maybe that is why despite the treatment I am still feeling energetic and good!

I even felt good enough to go to Relief Society last night where I found out Tricia is my 7th cousin through our Swedish lines! That was exciting because most of my matches are through English lines!

First Man Movie

We went to see the Movie First Man with Barbara and Kent Saturday. It was interesting, but a little slow for my taste. I believe the director thought that if 30 seconds of spinning out of control in a space capsule was good, then 5 minutes of it must be great!

The company was great, however, and we thoroughly enjoyed going out to lunch with the Stevens afterwards! It was great to have a fun weekend before I return to Huntsman for my big monthly infusion tomorrow and Tuesday.

Friday Fun at Scheels

Brittany has Fridays off work this semester, as she is teaching a late lab at BYU on Tuesday evenings. This means we get to see the grandkids more often! We thought we'd make a big day of it and take them to ride the Ferris wheel at Scheels sporting goods store!

Sadly, the Ferris wheel was out of order, but we all got a game of roller ball comped to make up for the inconvenience! Mabel was the big winner! Brittany thought she should try the same technique she used with Mabel on her turn next time!

We had a fun evening making music with the Pinyon Rats after that! It felt good to feel good all week!

HIking and Reading

We had day two of our Alpine Nature Hike yesterday, and had another lively group of women join us!

We found some amazing things, including one scrub oak with leaves as big as a fig tree!

We also enjoyed the sun coming out and casting a magical glow on Lambert Park!

The fall colors aren't as vibrant as last year, due to the lack of moisture in the summer, but they are still plenty beautiful!

I have loved these hikes so much. It would be fun to squeeze in a couple in the middle of the winter!

In the afternoon the book club reviewed, The Triple Package by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld. It was a super interesting book based on the theory that some minorities do well in America based on three factors: A superiority complex, an inferiority complex and impulse control (drive). The book talked about Latter Day Saints and Jews, as well as many immigrant groups. It was nice to know Amy thinks we've got it!

Next month we'll read An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, my favorite book from Literary Sojourn. I hope the ladies like it!

Walking, Singing and Eating Ice Cream

We had so much fun walking with the ladies on Wednesday! It was exciting to be able to do Alpine Nature Hike #6 and complete the series! It was all about fall leaves, and we had a great time picking them and identifying them!

In the afternoon Debby Dickens went with Crystal and me to Day Murray Music to pick out some choir music for Christmas. Crystal played and Debby and I sang! We thought we were doing great till someone slammed the recital room door shut on us! Philistine!

We capped off a good day by stopping at Baked Bear on the way to the airport! They build a wicked ice cream sandwich, and are conveniently located right off the freeway close to Costco in Lehi, in case you need a fix!

It was nice having Crystal here for a few days. She and Ed had fun talking about blood! (Mine in particular!) They know much more about my condition than I do! I'm glad I have good caretakers!

Huntsman and Haunted

We took Crystal on a tour of Huntsman Cancer Hospital yesterday. I had labs in the morning, but we also dropped by the infusion center to show her where I've been spending the majority of my time!

Good news on my labs! My WBC was down to 8k! In the normal range! There are still a high percentage of those white blood cells that are cancer, but this is a giant step in the right direction!

We stopped for lunch at the crazy chandeliered Straw Market in the Avenues. You get an omelette, hash browns and a delicious cinnamon roll for only $7!

Just for the entertainment we stopped at some model homes on the way home from the hospital!

In the evening we dropped by Brittany's house to see the girls. Mabel actually can build a tower now! Up till now most of her play has been destructive rather than constructive!

Crystal has made significant progress in winning Clementine over to her on this trip! Hopefully she'll remember her when she comes back at Christmas!

We enjoyed going to the Strangling Brothers' Haunted Circus later! Ed and I were the only old people there. Makes you wonder why....

We finished up the evening with warm cookies and cold milk at Crumbl's in Lindon. Mmmm. A nice end to a good day!

Happy Brittany Bday Dinner

We celebrated Brittany's birthday last night together with the Nuttall clan. She had a special pumpkin spice cake made by Marti!

Happily, she picked nachos for the menu, which were easy, fun and delicious! It was also a pajama party. We should have added scary stories with a flashlight! Maybe next year!

Fall Fun

Crystal came to Utah this weekend, and we took her to see Grandma Saturday morning. We all stopped off in Payson for and Indian buffet lunch. Mabel and Clementine were sufficiently entertained to sit at their own table! They are growing up!

In the afternoon we went to Wilkerson Farms, which had a corn maize and plenty of entertainment.

Both Clementine and Mabel were brave enough to go down the slide by themselves!

Mabel liked the idea of the tea cups, but once they got going she thought better of it and decided not to go again!

Everyone had fun on the giant swing!

Everyone, except Grandma and Clementine. One was too little and the other too shaky!

We all enjoyed the delights of flavored cotton candy!

We got lost in the corn maize, and were proud when we finally got out! I was proud that I got 10,000 steps for the first time in 2 months!

It is fun to have kids to have an excuse to do fun things, like climb the pumpkin pyramid!

It was fun to see how much joy the girls got in checking out the pumpkins, both big and little!

Ed, Crystal and I went home exhausted! We can only have so much fun in one day!

Birthday Haircut

Brittany and I both had our hair cut on Friday. I had made an appointment with my friend, Michelle, and she was nice enough to squeeze Brittany in on her birthday!

Ed gave the real birthday gift, doing double duty at home--watching the kids and making dinner! Thanks, Ed!

Later, my sister, Annette came over to visit. I forgot to take her picture, but she left a little love with a bag of delicious Utah truffles!