Birthday Wishes

? ? Steven had his moment in the spotlight today--maybe more than he wanted!  He won an essay contest that he entered along with his class and was one of four first place winners in the United States.  He won a laptop and a visit from Sharon Robinson, the daughter of Jackie Robinson.  His teacher also won a laptop and autographed copies of one of her books.   If you get a chance to watch the news, he will likely be featured tonight.  We were a little stunned by the cameras in our faces and attention, so if we sound a little dense, don't judge!   Sharon was just an amazing woman and it was such an honor to meet her and have her share a little bit of history with us.  Her father was an amazing man and she has carried on his legacy so well.  The essay contest was to share how you had overcome a barrier using some of the values that Jackie Robinson lived by.  Steven wrote about cancer (big surprise!) and told about how he needed courage...

Here are some pictures of the new leg.  This first one ought to be side by side with his old leg to show you how cool it is without the loads of velcro straps.  This one has a fitted plastic thigh piece and then his prosthetic sock is folded over it.   He also got a piece of elastic over his heel--that seems to work well too. The leg is made of carbon fiber.  Eric, the man who made his prosthetic, took us around his shop and showed us how it was done.  It is so cool--maybe I ought to do a whole post on it.  Steven had requested a thermometer in his leg and so Eric made a mold of this little keychain.   He had of course, made a mold of Steven's leg as well.   He put the carbon fiber over the foot mold and then he took the thermometer mold and adhered it to the leg in the place where he wanted it.  Then he puts resin over the carbon fiber.  He cut out the thermometer mold (had he used the actual thing, it would have melted).  Then he ...

Life has been flying by these last few weeks.  Laura is up and going--the cast is itchy, but she can still get around just fine with it.   She only needs the cast for three weeks--and that is quickly approaching.  Today in church we figured out that we could color on it with crayons (twistables to be exact) and she was quite distracted all through sacrament meeting.  She didn't get to perform in her gymnastics showcase yesterday, but they gave her a medal anyway.  She was so proud:     We said goodbye to my youngest sister who left this week to serve an LDS mission in Spain.   We are going to really miss her!  Once Addie told me that Kirsten is her favorite person in the whole wide world.  Kirsten was six when I left on my mission!  Where has all the time gone?  ? ? And then we have my cute doggie who loves the dirt and mud as much as my kids do (is it possible?)  We have a giant garden area in the middle of our ...

Tomorrow Laura will get her cast, in the meantime, she is trying the make the best of her video time.  (Her siblings are, too.)   I think she is ready to get up and move again. 

I wrote the title and now I feel pressure to actually write details.....hmm..  We'll see.  First of all, Steven had scans today and they looked good.   All his appointments were quite early and very back to back and so the doctors could see the chest CT scans but no radiologist had submitted a report by the time we left.  The doctors couldn't see anything troubling, so I guess that means there is no obvious cancer anyway and that is good enough for us. We were all very happy upon leaving the hospital--it kind of feels like someone just promised you three months to live and that is kind of cool.   I know it isn't that way.   There are no guarantees and most likely he will have a whole life to live, but for some reason, good scans feel like a gift. And all that happiness dispelled all the fear and gloom surrounding our latest drama--Laura broke her leg last night.  She was jumping on the trampoline and nothing very dramatic happened--...

Wow, two years ago yesterday, Steven was diagnosed with cancer.  I only thought of this because I was thinking I ought to log on to the blog and then it hit me that we are approaching anniversaries.  Weird.  I guess I thought that I would not forget that day and yet it came and went uneventfully and with nary a thought of cancer.  This is a good thing, I think. We've had some super busy weeks just doing normal things mixed in with the fun and the not so fun extras.  For one, Steven got his new leg over a week ago.  The bad part is that he hasn't been able to tolerate it very well.  We keep going into Shriners to get it adjusted and leave with hopes that it is fixed, but then hours later he is limping again.  We spent all afternoon at Shriners on Friday and finally his new prosthetist suggested we just start over and cast him for a new leg.  Steven was sick and tired of being there and so he said, "No, let me try it over the weekend, mayb...

Three months ago, Daniel was born. It feels like I've lived a lifetime since then. A baby was blessed a church today. I didn't even cry this time, but then when it was over, it struck me that today would have been Daniel's blessing day too. And so I skipped Sunday school and went to Daniel's grave to say a little prayer for my baby. I have been gathering some pictures and thoughts about Daniel for a scrapbook. I came across this one that Alisa took of Addie at the graveside service that I love: She is trying to catch a snowflake on her way to lay a flower down on Daniel's casket. It looks like hope and beauty and optimism, all the things I am seeking as I try to find some meaning in his death. I've come a long way in three months, but I still miss my little baby.