MaeLynn

My good friend, MaeLynn, was diagnosed with terminal neuroendrocrine cancer in June 2009. They gave her a year to live. In her specific case, treatment was not the best answer. It would only slightly prolong her life and come with not too pleasant side effects and added medical expenses. So MaeLynn has endured a year with terminal cancer.

I first met MaeLynn back in our college years. I was roommates with her sister, Jamie. MaeLynn and I (along with several other college buddies) stayed in the valley after graduation. We got married and started having children. We were in the same Family Home Evening group for a couple of years until it started to become too complicated to manage with our families growing in numbers. We've always stayed in touch. I have to admit that MaeLynn was much better about calling and getting together than I was. She loves people. That is one of her gifts. Whenever we were out and about, she would always run into old friends. Everyone loved her.

Mae's condition has rapidly deteriorated in the last few days. I spoke with her on the phone a little over a week ago and she was her normal, happy self. I went to visit her yesterday, however, and the old Mae was gone, and the dying MaeLynn was in her place. She was skeletal. Her eyes wandered and she didn't make much sense when she was talking. She recognized me when I walked in, but she had a hard time communicating otherwise.

On Sunday MaeLynn's oldest daughter, Kendall, will be getting baptized. MaeLynn really wanted to be there for that special occasion. I'm praying that she'll be there. Only God knows if she'll be there in person, or if she'll be there in spirit.

Death doesn't scare me. It will happen to all of us someday. The separation is what saddens me. I'll ache for her laugh, her visits, her funny sneezes, and her compassion. I'll mourn for Mae's children who will grow up without their momma. Andy is going to be a single daddy, raising these young children on his own.

MaeLynn is 30 years old and has a great husband and 5 beautiful children. I just wanted to tell her how much I love her and what a great friend she's been these past 10 years.

I was able to hold it together during our brief visit yesterday until it came time to say goodbye. I was saying goodbye to my friend until we meet again in heaven. But that's the good news, I guess... it's not a permanent goodbye. We'll see each other again. MaeLynn I love you so much! Goodbye for now. Until we meet again, my friend.

Happy Birthday Laurie

Little Laurie turned two today! She is a joy to have in our family. Laurie is extremely active and mobile. Her primary method of transportation is the beloved butt-scoot. However, she is using her walker often and will crawl occasionally. She absolutely loves climbing up the stairs and is starting to cruise along furniture. We love you Laurie!

Laurie on her bike.

Laurie on the move with her walker.

Our nephew came to celebrate with us! He's a bit crazy... (We love you Hunter!)

Laurie had her favorite meal on her special day... lasagna!

Laurie with Kali (Kaliyana). Laurie's middle name is Kaliyana. Laurie was even born on Kali's "arrival day". Kali arrived to the United States from India on June 15 when she was one year old. These two share a special connection!

With regard to her health, Laurie is doing very well. A couple of weeks ago she had tubes put in her ears. Well, she had one tube put in her right ear. The doc wasn't able to fit the tube into her left ear because the canal was too narrow. 2 mm to be exact. Apparently she has some sort of ear canal stenosis that is getting worse as she grows. We see the doc again tomorrow and I'm sure we'll discuss when she'll need surgery to open that canal up.

Laurie also recently saw a pediatric geneticist. Several of her doctors have recommended that Laurie get genetic testing done because of her abnormal head size and other anomalies. We saw the doc and she is pretty sure Laurie has some type of syndrome. I'm not sure what to think. They want to do DNA testing. I'm kind of dragging my feet to get it done. I'm just getting tired of people (mainly doctors) telling me something is wrong with Laurie and getting myself all worked up over something that may not matter that much. It's really hard to explain. To me, Laurie is thriving! She is healthy and improves every day. I know it will be important to know if she does have a genetic disorder and I'm sure we will do the testing eventually. {sigh}

Laurie currently weighs 18 lbs.! Since getting her tube in, her vocabulary has increased rather quickly. We still consider ourselves the luckiest parents because of her incredible sleeping schedule. 6 pm to 6 or 7 am!!! She doesn't like to be rocked or cuddled at night. Just put her in her crib and give her the pacifier and she's happy! Haili and Laurie are starting to play with each other. I think as soon as Laurie can walk independently that will be even better. Laurie is just starting to want to play dress up and use her imagination more often. It's so dang cute.

Happy Birthday Laurie! We love you and will always be grateful that you are part of our family!

Look who's crawling!!!

Today, completely out of the blue, Laurie figured out how to crawl! We tried and tried and tried to work with her on crawling and a couple of months ago we decided to put our focus more on walking. I figured that she'd learn to walk before she crawled... I was wrong!

Last week Laurie also got her foot/ankle braces. I will post pictures and video footage of her walking with her little walker later.

Miracle Mason

Please remember little Mason in your prayers today. He is rejecting his new heart. Click here or on the button on the side to learn more about this sweet little boy.

Laurie's sick... but it's good news!

Hey everyone! Last week Haili came down with the croup. And because she loves to share everything with her sister, Laurie also got the croup. I was certain that it would quickly develop into pneumonia... I've taken her to the doctor twice now and her lungs are clear! She is on oxygen at nights but besides that, she's acting like a normal sick child. It's pretty exciting. Never thought I'd be happy to have a sick kid. A normal sick kid. Awesome!

At this last appointment, Laurie weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs. 10.5 oz.! She is currently 20 months old... She will be two in June!!!! Laurie knows about 6 words and at least as many signs. She can pull herself up to kneeling and can stand with the assistance of a table or couch for 4 minutes. Our little girl is growing up!

Haili is 3 1/2 years old. She has an incredible imagination and currently has a good imaginary friend named Melly. Melly is a little baby who relies on Haili to everything for her. When we sit down to eat, Melly needs a plate, too. Thank goodness she doesn't eat much!

Kevin is loving his job. I'm a big fan of 4-day work weeks! He gets most Fridays off. Kevin also has taken up running... For those of you who know Kevin, you know is an avid road biker. Spandex and all. However, this summer Kevin and I will be running in the Wasatch Back Relay.

Basically a team of 12 people take turns to complete a run from Logan to Park City... 188 miles! Awesome. Kevin has gone crazy with training. Yesterday he ran 7.2 miles and felt like doing more - but he didn't have more time (he only gets 45 minutes to an hour to exercise at work). Yes, he gets PAID to exercise at work. Sheesh. I figure with Kevin being a super strong team member for our relay, he'll be able to make up for what I lack! I am a distance runner, but a slow one. I ran a marathon several years ago, but again, I am slow.

That's what's going on in our neck of the woods. Here are a few recent pictures for you to enjoy!

Trying out our new RedOxx bags.

Little Laurie

Princess Haili

Laurie's favorite hangout spot.

Holiday Happenings

Haili with her new princess accessories.

Laurie with her favorite gift - a glow worm!

Haili really enjoyed opening gifts this year!

Laurie enjoyed eating as many candy canes as she could- wrapper and all!

Grandma Barb and little Laurie

Kevin and his dad.

Haili and Laurie's fort. It provided hours and hours of fun and entertainment!

Kevin's birthday cake. Notice a piece missing... while I was getting everything ready, Kevin stole a piece! He said he couldn't wait until after we blew out the candles! He got away with it only because it was his special day.

Caught in the act...

The good news is she was actually trying to cut her hair correctly. She has been asking me to cut it for a couple weeks now. I thought that she would forget about it... I was wrong!

Haili with her new "do"!

The Butt-Scoot