a few of my favorite things

reading on the hammock




Toothless grins




Cute Aprons

fresh homegrown tomatoes

the view from my kitchen window

the view from my front door

My garden

Family

recovery and the next step

Troy has had a great recovery from surgery. He is really doing well. He can eat pretty much anything he wants. It is best to avoid stuff that has too much fiber and has too much sugar. So far mashed potatoes and gravy is his favorite. He is adapting and feeling good. He has lost some more weight and seems to have stabilized at 155. It is where he will probably stay. He needs new clothes.

Next up is radiation with some chemo. Starting tomorrow Monday the 10th, he will have 4 days of chemo with radiation and then 4 weeks of just radiation.

So when he gets his radiation he has to be in the same position each time. To make sure that happens he was put on a big blue bean bag. The bag is full of air and small pellets. Slowly the attendant lets out the air and shapes the beans around his body, making a cast of his body. Once all the air is out the bean bag is as hard as a rock and in the shape of his body. He will lie in the cast each time they give him radiation.

He also is now sporting three tattoos. Little dots, the Dr said he couldn't do stars. After radiation they will give him a two week rest and the awful 9 weeks of chemo will start. WE figure he will be done about Thanksgiving. We are all looking forward to that day. Maybe we'll have a party! Everyones invited!

Surgery

We arrived at the Huntsman Center at 11:15 by 11:30 we were in a pre-op room. Troy was getting poked and prodded for surgery. By 1:35 we said our goodbyes and the wheeled Troy into the operating room. At 2:30 the OR nurse called the desk in the waiting room to let us ( Troys mom and Dad were there too) know that things were underway.

There were several other families in the waiting room. We made the acquantence of Walenen Flannigan from Montana. Her husband was in surgery for a cancerous jaw. His surgery included grafting of bones and skin to remake the jaw they were removiing. People come from all over the west, to the Huntsman for cancer care. We feel fortunate that it is so close to us.

Every couple of hours the Or nurse would call and give a small update. The operation was supposed to last about 4-6 hours. We were wrong. At one point we hadn't heard from the Or nurse in several hours and were starting to get worried. Everyone else had left the waiting room. We were all alone. No nurses, no volunteers, no one. It felt very odd. Finally we got a call. They had taken his whole stomach and now were going to start working on the esophagus. It had at this point already been 6 hours. They had to go through his side to get to the esophagus. It was the scenario that the surgeon wanted to do.

By going through his side they broke a rib and had to deflate his lung. At about 11:30 the nurse called. They were almostdone. We waited for another hour for the DR to come out. She was positive they got all the cancer. The net day we got to talk to the DR more extensively about what happened in the surgery.

The cancer had gone through the walls of the stomach. They could see it when they first went in. They looked extensively for any matasis any where. They couldn't find any so they proceded with the surgery. The extensive amount of cancer is why the had to take his whole stomach. The good news is the cancer is gone! One more step in our journey is completed.

Redwoods part two

Along the Avenue of Giants are old kitchy places like this one. for 4 dollars you can drive your car through a tree!

One amazingly huge tree. Unfortunatly it fell a couple of years ago.

The Avenue of Giants, Humblodt State Park.

Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse

The Redwoods Part 1

I have always wanted to see the Redwoods. Troy and I decided for our 20th anniversary and before his surgery to take a small trip.


This is in the State Park that is also part of the National Park. It is part of the Prairie Creek Trail. We hiked for 6 miles! It was about two miles too long but the scenery was incredible. We were amazed that there were so few visitors to the park. We saw very few people on the trail. It was incredible to walk among those huge trees in the silence of the forest.

We actually stayed on the coast in the small town of Trinidad. This was an early morning hike that we did in Trinidad at Patrick's Point State Park.

The view from our incredible Bed and Breakfast, The turtle Rock Inn. There is a den of sea lions that live on the beach and sun themselves on the rocks near our inn. It was really fun to look out our windows and see them out there.

The marvelous Turtle Rock Inn. If your going to Northern California this is an awesome place to stay.

Kelly Ann Studio: Giveaway Tuesday~ 1 5x7 Heart pages from Kelly Ann Studio

Kelly Ann Studio: Giveaway Tuesday~ 1 5x7 Heart pages from Kelly Ann Studio You need to see this awesome photo

Crafting with the Girls

Mariah needed to make something for her secret sister at Girls camp, so we headed to Ben Franklin for inspiration. We had no idea what to make. We found these cute unfinished boxes. As we were getting paint, paper and other goodies Clarissa and I decided that we needed to make one too. They turned out so cute!


Here is Mariah's for her secret sister



This one is mine, I made it for a friend and filled it with handmade cards that match.



This is the one that Clarissa made for her friends birthday! She is going to fill it up with candy.