On June 13, 2009 Grace's wish was granted....

On Friday night our family met some amazing individuals. With our driveway full of wood, crushed limestone and a covered pallet we began to grant Grace's Make-a-Wish wish. Individuals we had never met came to our house shovel in hand and spent more than 12 hours working to build Grace's dream. We were amazed at their kindness, their generosity, and determination for a cause that involved our sweet daughter Grace. From a 15 year-old high school freshman to veteran contractors and business owners, and everything in between, we poured our sweat into making a playhouse that Gracie spoke about months earlier in our living room. Since that day when we met Sue and Marlene, her two Make-a-Wish wish grantors they had been working to make sure all of Grace's wish came true. From a loft full of soft pillows and bean bags, an ironing board and an iron, a pink interior, to stepping stones all was included. In the end........well she was amazed and we enjoyed a memorable night with old friends and some new ones.

The Beach

We had a great time at Rockaway Beach with Omi. A little wind and rain couldn't keep us from playing in the ocean. The kids love the condo and loved getting sandy, looking for shells, and making forts. They also loved visiting one of their favorite places, Flamingo Jims. For those of you who have not had the fortune of visiting such a classy place it is everything tacky from yard sculptures to dream catchers. Of course it has lots of cheap toys, candies, and gag gifts. One of the greatest things the kids found to take home to Kim was a Chuck Norris magnet which read, "Only two things will sruvive doomsday... cockroaches and Chuck Norris.. The roaches however, will not survive Chuck Norris."

T....an amazing little ball player

T had a great tournament this weekend. He is an awesome ball player and so much fun to watch.

Field Day

Tanner had field day at school and we went along to watch the fun. But, how can you stand by just watching? The girls readily joined in and they all had a fabulous time!

Today's chemo

Something on the night before chemo is amiss at our house. JR and I can always tell when chemo is the next day, because for some reason no sleep is to be found. Sweet Gracie couldn't sleep much because she had such bad aches. Ever since chemo first started, her Vincristine makes her muscles and joints aches. But, we found it strange that she hadn't had chemo in a month and it still affects her. It makes me wonder if it's something she'll suffer with the rest of her life, or if (hopefully) it will pass in a year and a half when treatments are finally over. Eva woke up with the roosters at the crack of dawn, and today managed to jump out of her crib. The thud on the floor was rattling!

Chemo went pretty well today. Her blood counts are higher than the doctors would like, because during maintenance they want them to consistently be between 750 and 1500. But, they think the month's worth of chemo will take care of that. She has been fighting a stomach bug, so that's most likely the reason for the higher count of 2500. Her numbers spike a bit when she's not feeling 100%. Otherwise chemo went very fluently. Grace set a new record today!!! Accessing her port (needle into her chest port) is really tough for her, but she did it in 8 minutes flat! WOW! We have a system for accessing her port and so that she can be in control-the nurse doesn't come near with the needle until Grace counts to 3. When she got to two she was having trouble and I said "all I know is any girl who can ride SPlash Mountain (thank you Disneyland!) at the age of 5 can do anything!" She shouted out 3!!! She constantly amazes me with her fortitude and bravery! Her nurse was cheering. So awesome! She starts her monthly round of steroids tonight. Things are going pretty well for little Grace. By the way, highlight of the Disneyland trip (thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa!) besides all the wonderful things, was to hear Grace state, "I don't even feel like I have Leukemia." Music to our ears!