It must be springtime...

The snow has finally melted and it's departure marks the arrival of that harbinger of spring...the muddy armed boy. Today after school, Cameron and Jacob came in through the front door, hung up their jackets and backpacks, and went out the back door. I was working on homework, so I didn't pay much attention. I checked on them after awhile and saw them playing in the backyard. An hour later, I decided I should see what they were up to. I was greeted by the sight of two boys with mud up to their elbows and multiple splatterings covering their once-pristine, fairly new school shoes, in addition to their shirts and pants. The sound of the back door opening sent them scurrying around the side of Paul's workshop...they knew they were busted! Before letting them in the house to get cleaned up I took pictures, as I always do (for evidence, I mean, posterity). Their children will thank me later...

What I've learned so far...

Winter semester is over and I have a little more than a week before Summer semester begins. I thought it might be a good time for some self-assessment. Here's some of what I've learned:

Number One - The heroes of the Book of Mormon were ordinary people. The thing that set them apart from everyone else was their reliance on the Savior to accomplish the great things that they did.

Number Two - William Shakespeare was a literary genius with an incredible sense of humor. But, then you already knew that, right?









Number Three - There's no such thing as an original line...they're all stolen from Shakespeare. For example, when John Wayne says, "We're burning daylight" in the Cowboys,he's quoting Romeo and Juliet and the Merry Wives of Windsor.




Mr. Spock from Star Trek is not the originator of "Live Long and Prosper", he swiped it from Romeo and Juliet. Okay, so he changed it a little from the original "Live, and be prosperous", but not by much. Any parent who has told a child they couldn't go with their friends is giving a nod to Shakespeare's original "Be patient, for you shall remain with us.--"
When you say "I hope we don't get caught", you're just rephrasing the Bard's "I hope they will not come upon us now." And the ever popular "Go, girl"? Shakespeare.

Number Four - The Law of the Harvest: You reap what you sow. If you work hard, attend class and do what's required, you get good grades. It took me several decades to embrace this philosophy, but I am reaping the dividends.

Number Five - As a man (or woman) thinketh, so is he (or she). If you think you're too old to try something new, you probably are. If you think you can't learn anything new, you probably won't. If you think you can't be successful, you won't be.

A Grand day at Targhee...

Lynn, Brent and Cory came up Friday night so they could go skiing with us on Saturday. The day started off kind of snowy, windy and cold. Lynn told me he'd been skiing at Grand Targhee two times(including this time), and both times were horrible. Someone must have heard his complaint because the sun came out, the skies cleared and the wind calmed. It turned out to be a great day. Everyone had a good time and there weren't any serious injuries (how's your thumb, Lynn?).



Today I presented my final project in English. I think it went well. Everyone laughed a the right moments and clapped at the end, so I guess that means they enjoyed it. I'll have to wait awhile to find out what grade I earned. Thursday is the last day of classes for me. I have a six page paper to hand in for my Book of Mormon final. Then I'm off until April 21, when summer semester begins. I'll be taking the second half of Book of Mormon on campus and a Sociology class online.

Everyone is doing well and staying busy. Paul is feeling pretty good and working hard. He, Parker and Hayden are going to do baptisms for the dead on Friday night with the youth from our ward. I guess Cameron, Jacob and I will have a party. Speaking of parties...Paul will be turning 45 tomorrow, so feel free to call him and wish him a Happy Birthday!

It's A Girl!

...a slightly distracted, sometimes absent-minded one. Okay, I admit it...I don't know my own phone number! (In all fairness and in the interest of full disclosure, it is a new phone with a different number). Twice in the last week-- come to think of it-- twice in one day, I was called upon to share my digits with another person. On the first occasion, I confidently wrote my phone number on a work order for some copies I was having made at the University. I then proceeded on my merry way, oblivious to the fact that the number I had written down was not even remotely close to my actual number. Well, the last four numbers were correct. When I returned later in the day to pick up the copies, the girl told me they had tried to call me, but the number was wrong...oops! Then I was making a phone call for work. The girl I was talking to asked if she could get back with me. I said,"Sure", then suddenly realized I couldn't remember what my number was. I quickly asked if I could call her right back. I then looked my number up on my phone and called her again. I eventually printed it on an adhesive label and stuck it firmly to the back of my phone...problem solved!

2008 Lincoln Elementary Fairy Tale Ball



Today marked the last time I will be in charge of decorations for the 2nd grade Fairy Tale Ball! I have done them for Hayden, Cameron and now Jacob's class. It was fun, but now it's time to pass the torch to some other unsuspecting, I mean, deserving mother. Jacob went dressed as a King and did an awesome job dancing! He even waltzed with an older woman with two left feet (a.k.a. his Mom). Lots of parents came to support their children and everyone had a great time.

Thou almost makest me waver in my faith...

How is it possible for such a tiny bit of metal to hold full-sized people? Parker took us over to the Blackfoot lift today. Paul said it's about 50 years old. He may have been exaggerating slightly. But it did not inspire greater confidence in the welds that hold the thing together.



Well, at least now I've tried all of the lifts at Targhee. Just don't ask me to ride that particular one again. Not only was the lift a little dicey, but the run Parker chose was NOT GROOMED. Call me high maintenance, but I like my runs to be manicured. As you can see from the photos, we had beautiful, blue skies today. No serious falls or broken bones to report...all in all a great day on the slopes!

History repeats itself...

What is it about seven year old boys that compells them to try walking home from school instead of riding the bus? When Parker was seven, he and a friend agreed to walk home from school together. The only problem was that Parker's friend lived about a block and a half from school, whereas we live about 2 1/2 miles from school. Parker made it home alright, he was just very late and very cold. When he didn't show up on time, I called the school and was told that yes, the bus was running late. Parker walked in the door a few minutes later, so I didn't think anything of it. He then told me he had walked home! Needless to say, I called the school and had a chat with them.

Fast forward nine years...Jacob came home yesterday and told me that he, too, had decided to walk home with his friend. He lives about a mile from the school. The bus driver saw Jacob walking down 5th West and gave him a ride the last half mile to our home. Later that evening, she called to make sure I knew about what had happened. I guess there needs to be a standard "no walking home from school" speech given every year.

Paul to the Rescue

The boys didn't have school yesterday because of District teacher inservice, so we decided to go skiing. Tyler and Brandi came with us. Paul brought his snowboard and skis so he and Tyler could trade halfway through the day.



Just after lunch, Paul and I were coming down a run when we came upon a girl in obvious distress. She was about 12 years old. She was standing in the snow next to her snowboard, with her gloves on the ground, crying. Paul asked if he could help her. Between sobs, she told him that she had gotten into deep powder and gotten stuck. The group she had been with kept on going, not realizing she wasn't following. She had taken her gloves off to get her board off, but her fingers were so cold and stiff that she couldn't get them back on. She didn't know where her group was, or her parents, for that matter. She was pretty upset. Paul tried to get her gloves back on for her, but they were soaking wet. Paul took his gloves off and put them on her. He asked her if she could make it to the bottom of the hill, but she was too cold and didn't think she could. So he picked her up and skied down, carrying her in his arms. I grabbed her snowboard, his poles and mine, and followed them to the bottom. When we got there, the lift operator came over, thinking that she was injured. Paul explained to him what had happened. The guy took her into the lift shack to warm up while they found her group. Who says chivalry is dead?

Keep it Coming!

Winter is still hanging around, but we aren't complaining. This morning Paul and I went to a wedding, then raced home, changed our clothes, grabbed the boys and our gear and headed for the hills. Parker hitched a ride with friends earlier in the day. We got a good couple of hours in before Targhee closed. They got 14" of snow in the last 24 hours and almost 500" this year. We got about 4 inches here at home from this last storm. The snow was fablulous! Paul took his snowboard this time and loved it. It was his first time back on a board since last year. He's feeling pretty good. He starts round 3 of the oral chemo a week from Monday. His next PET scan will be at the end of April.

The boys are doing well in school. Parker says he's starting to think in Spanish, so I guess the immersion class is working. They are only allowed to speak in Spanish and the teacher uses no English. Hayden has found a new series of books that he enjoys reading. Jacob has been busy practicing for a play and learning to dance for the 2nd Grade Fairy Tale Ball. The kids get to choose any fairy tale character and come dressed like them. Jacob has decided to go as a troll. Is a Yoda costume close enough? I get to be in charge of decorating the gym, again. I did it when Cameron was in 2nd grade, too.
I recently started working part time as an office manager for a friend of ours who owns his own company. The best part of the job is that I can do it from home and pretty much set my own hours. I'm learning alot and enjoying the challenge. School is great. I have about 4 weeks left of the semester. I've been working on a major project for my Shakespeare class. We get to choose one of the plays and develop a film adaptation proposal, complete with budget, cast, advertising and merchandising ideas, etc...It's been alot of fun. I've made a trailer for my "movie". Maybe I'll post it later on. After Cameron watched me putting a movie together for my project, he's decided he wants to make one of his own. He has been busy getting footage ready to edit and add music to. We'll let you know when the world premier will be held.

College is easier when you actually work at it!

Well, midterms are over, and I am pleased to announce that I aced both my tests! I got the top score in both classes. It's amazing what can happen when you're going to school to learn, rather than socialize! Just after I got my midterm grades, I got an e-mail from the Registrar's Office stating that I was in academic peril. It seems that my past poor performance had come back to haunt me. Fortunately, there is this lovely program called Academic Renewal. In a nutshell, it makes it possible for you to petition to have the University ignore a semester's grades where your GPA fell below 2.0. They're still on your transcript, but it doesn't affect your cumulative GPA. I had to write a paragraph explaining why I was making the request. It was approved and now everything is okay. I thought it was funny that at the bottom of the e-mail it said that a letter would be sent to my parents. Be watching the mail for that one, Mom and Dad. I promise, I'll do better this semester!

We got more good news today. The company that makes the chemo drugs that Paul is taking has a Commitment to Care program where they provide you with the medicine for free. We went through the application process, but were denied. They said we hadn't paid enough out-of-pocket yet, but should fax them our receipts after another month. I did that today, then followed up with a phone call to make sure they had gotten the fax. They said a case worker would contact us if there was anything else they needed. About an hour later, a woman from the company called to say we had been accepted into the program for 2 years! That will save us over $19,000, our portion of the cost. We are so happy and grateful that we won't have to worry about how to pay for Paul's medicine.

Hey, Cameron! Where'd you go?

We spent the day at Grand Targhee yesterday. We had decided that it was time for Jacob to start skiing without the help of an edgie wedgie (two clamps with a piece of rubber hose in between, used to keep ski tips together). We let him make 2 runs with it on, then took it off. The first run after removal was a little rough, with 3 crashes. But then he got it figured out and did great the rest of the day. Cameron had a new experience, too. Only his wasn't quite as much fun. We were waiting to get on the lift and the chair stopped a few feet in back of us. The lift operator had us back up and have a seat on the quad chair while we waited for the lift to start again, which we did. When it started, Cameron must have stuck the tips of his skis down, because he disappeared from the chair and landed, plop! into the snow under the lift (not as bad as it sounds, he fell only a foot or two). The lift guy helped him up, had him move to the side while the next chair loaded, then stuck him on a chair by himself. He wasn't hurt, just a bit scared. He'll probably make sure he keeps his ski tips up from now on! Parker did an accidental backflip on his snowboard, too. He probably won't repeat that either. Look for ski photos later. Cameras work better with fully charged batteries, a fact I discovered yesterday after going to the trouble of hauling mine up the hill, telling the boys to wait at the top while I skied down to get into position to capture some excellent action shots and then finding out there was just enough juice in the battery to open the telephoto lens, but not close it again. No pictures. Someone should check these things out beforehand, don't you think?

Rexburg Temple Dedication

Sunday was the dedication of the Rexburg Temple. Paul, Parker, Hayden and Cameron and I went to the 9:00 session that was broadcast to our stake center. It started about 40 minutes late. President Monson, Elder Nelson and Elder Bednar were supposed to fly into the Idaho Falls airport, then drive to Rexburg. But the fog made that impossible, so they landed in Pocatello instead and had to drive from there. And President Eyring was planning to come, but he broke his ankle and had to stay home. It was a great meeting, anyway. President Monson was quite a character during the cornerstone ceremony! Paul and I were also able to attend the 4:30 p.m. session in the temple. Then on Monday morning, we went to the temple marriage of the daughter of our friends. It was neat to see alot of people we know serving as the workers in our temple!

The weather has warmed up some, enough for the roads to clear off (finally!) The boys had school every day this week! Yippee!!! We are planning on heading to Targhee tomorrow and Monday. They got 8 inches of snow yesterday.

Everyone is doing well. School is going fabulously! I have my first test in English sometime in the coming week (depending upon when the professor gets it posted to his webpage). We've finished Henry V - play and movie - and will start on Romeo and Juliet next week. My midterm test in Book of Mormon class was to write at least 5 pages about what I have learned so far in my reading. I wrote about what I have learned from the righteous women in 1 Nephi. I can't believe that the semester is almost half over! I am working on my class schedule for summer semester. I plan on taking the second half of Book of Mormon in the first block (which ends in early June)and something online so I can be at home with the boys during the summer.

Well, hope you all enjoy the weekend. I plan to!

Enough, already!

Well, we are on week three of a shortened school schedule. The first week we had Monday off for Human Rights day, followed by Tuesday for Twenty-five-Below-Zero-Day. The next Tuesday, it was Frostbite-Inducing-Windchill Day. This week, we observed Forty-Mile-An-Hour-Wind-Blowing-The-Snow-And-Drifting-Over-The-Roads-So-No-Buses-Can-Get-Through Friday. The boys are enjoying it, though. Hayden and Cameron have spent the day digging snow caves into the mountainous drifts in the backyard. I prefer to stay inside, wrapped up in a blanket. I finished reading Henry V for my Shakespeare class. Paul is working, and Parker and Jacob are "cleaning" their room. I haven't been upstairs to check, but I suspect the "cleaning" involved quite a bit of PSP-playing.

Last Saturday, Hayden went to the Klondike Derby with his scout troop. They came in first place in the sled race. Their prize was a wooden warchest filled with sugar in one form or another, which they divided among themselves, to spread the cavities and dental bills out evenly. They were so proud!

Paul started on Temodar, the oral chemo medicine, on Monday night. So far, so good. He has noticed that he feels a little more tired, but it hasn't kept him from doing anything he wants to do.

The temple dedication has been pushed back a week to accomodate President Hinckley's funeral. I feel happy that he has finished his mission here and can be with his wife again. But I will miss his goodness and optimism.

Br-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!!!!!!!

We spent Saturday up at Targhee. They got about three feet of snow last week. It snowed most of the time we were there, but we didn't mind.



Parker took me on a new(for me) run up the Dreamcatcher lift. With all the fresh, deep snow, it was quite a workout. My legs were pretty burnt by the time we got down. Parker was very patient with this old, slow skier/mom. Hayden, Cameron and Jacob are improving every time we go. Jacob gets off the lift and takes off down the hill. He could care less if anybody is with him.





After a break for lunch and hot cocoa, we hit the slopes again. We all slept well that night! Sunday we had our interviews to get our recommends for the temple dedication. We are going to the 9 a.m. session that will be broadcast on February 3 to our Stake Center. It will be our only Sunday meeting on that day. Jacob is about three months shy of eight years old, so he won't be able to go. But he is very understanding.

The boys were blessed with an extra long holiday weekend. In addition to having Monday off for Human Rights Day, they also got to stay home on Tuesday. It was 20 below zero with a windchill factor of -35! I, on the other hand, did not get the day off. BYU-I never closes. It took trying three different vehicles to find one that wanted to run and wasn't buried under three feet of snow, to get to school. I had Parker drop me off and come pick me up when I was finished. Turnabout is fair play! He also was privileged to be in charge of his younger brothers while I was gone. No E.R. visits were required, so all in all, I'd say it was a good day! School was back in session today, although it was still very cold. It's supposed to warm up for the weekend (25 degrees) so Hayden and his scout troop won't freeze to death at the Klondike Derby.

Paul went to the doctor today to look at his PET scan results and to make sure the infection in his side has cleared up. His scan looked pretty good, just a couple spots lit up. The oral chemo should take care of them. His blood counts are all within normal ranges, so the antibiotics did their job. Dr. Hancock gave Paul a prescription for some medicine that should help with the neuropathy pain in his feet.

Everybody else is doing well. Jacob is going to be in his class musical. He will play the part of the Wombat King. Parker and Hayden just got home from church ball. They won 35-33. Cameron is learning French in his Discovery class. Tyler got a haircut. The rest of the boys need one. They are getting rather shaggy, Paul included. Maybe we'll wait until it gets a little warmer. They could use the extra insulation to protect against frostbite!

"Your mom goes to college..."

Well, the anticipation is always worse than the reality. I started back to college after a twenty-three year hiatus. Thankfully, I'm not older than my professors. I am easing back into academia slowly, just two classes this semester. I'm enjoying them both. I start my day with Book of Mormon and finish with a bit of Shakespeare. I haven't been offered a senior citizen discount at the bookstore, so I guess I don't look too old. I'm looking forward to a midwinter thaw, since the cold, windy walk from the parking lot brings tears to my eyes every morning. Welcome to Rexburg!


We had a nice visit with Lynn and Carol and family last week. They came for the temple open house. Before they left for home, Lynn took Carol for a spin on Paul's snow machine.
You can tell by the grin on her face that she's hooked (ha ha ha!)


We also saw Cathy and Brian and their family when they came to the open house on Tuesday. As luck would have it, our kids were home because school had been cancelled. So Cameron and Brandon got to play together.

Paul is making good progress with his recovery and rehabilitation. He is working full time so he comes home pretty tired. But he is feeling much better than he was even a month ago. The rest of the family are well and look forward to Saturdays so we can go skiing. We're hoping for good roads and blue skies. If not, then we'll settle for halfway decent roads and anything but tornados. We may try and sneak in a few runs on Monday, too, since there's no school! If any of you would like to join us, come on up!

Happy New Year!

We thought a day at Grand Targhee would be a perfect way to start the new year. Apparently, so did half the free world! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but there were alot of people. Fortunately, it's a big resort with fast lifts, so the lines weren't too long. We all had a great time. Hayden decided to ski instead of snowboard this time and had some major equipment failure...that's what happens when your boots are nearly twice as old as you are...but Mom came to the rescue with the belt off her ski pants. Problem solved! We also learned that the cat track isn't alot of fun with beginning skiers who have a hard time keeping their momentum going up the hills. Paul was pretty tired after dragging Jacob most of the way. We'll save that run for a time when Jacob has a bit more experience. The weather was perfect, blue skies and not terribly cold and best of all, no wind. Parker enjoyed it so much, he turned around and went back again yesterday with his friends. I think he's single-handedly trying to make sure we get our money's worth from our family pass! He's been seven times already.

The boys were able to drag themselves...with some assistance... out of bed and catch the bus for school this morning. Tomorrow might be a different story, since we changed the day and time for our Rexburg Temple Open House tickets to tonight at 9:30 p.m. It'll be late by the time we're finished, but it's worth the sacrifice. If any of you would like tickets, they've opened more spots for most weekdays. Go to www.lds.org/reservations for information. We hope the New Year has started well for you. If any of you are planning on attending the Open House, give us a call. We'd love to see you!

Mission Accomplished

Paul had his surgery at Huntsman Cancer Institute on December 17. He had to be to the hospital by 11 a.m. so we spent the night before at Brent and Angie's home in Layton. The surgery was supposed to begin at 1 p.m., but they were running behind schedule. They finally took him back to the operating room just after 2 p.m. Paul said he still had to wait for a while before they put him under. There was a doctor in a different surgery who wanted to sit in on Paul's surgery. So they waited for him to finish up so he could watch the master surgeon, Dr. Andtbacka, at work. Brent and Angie took the day off work to come and wait with me. They took me to lunch and kept my mind busy. Mom and Dad Carling came at about 4:30 p.m. so Brent and Angie could get to Cory's concert on time.

The nurse called my phone at 5:30 p.m. and said the surgery was finished, they were just sewing him back up. Dr. Andtbacka met with us at 6:15 p.m. He said everything went well. He removed 32 lymph nodes, two of which were the size of his fists, from Paul's arm, underarm, and neck. The lump we could feel and thought was a tumor was actually one of the lymph nodes. There was no cancerous tissue except what was inside eight of the nodes. And that cancer was dead. None of the arteries or nerves that he was concerned about were involved, so everything went smoothly. Paul did get a bit nauseated when he came out of the anesthesia, so he stayed in recovery longer than the usual hour. They brought him out to the room at 9 p.m. and we left the hospital at 10 p.m. We drove to Mom and Dad Carling's, spent the night, then drove home to Rexburg the next morning. Paul and Tyler drove back down on Wednesday afternoon. Paul had a post-surgical appointment with Dr. Andtbacka on Thursday morning. He said everything looked good and he didn't need to see him again until April. When Tyler asked the doctor how many stitches Paul got, Dr. Andtbacka said, "about 30, but you can tell people 200."
Paul has a drain in his side that he has to empty twice a day. It will stay in place until the amount of fluid is below 30 ml in a 24 hour period. That will probably be another week or so. He is feeling a little better with each passing day, but it's going to take a while for him to regain full use of his arm and to build up his strength. Our staff Physical Therapist, Lynn, gave Paul some rubberbands and pulleys along with some exercises to help. Paul worked part of the day yesterday and today.

We had a wonderful Christmas! Santa came on Christmas Eve and left some packages on the front porch. The boys were very excited. Santa really knows what they like! We have been blessed by kind and generous friends and family who seem to know when we need a little help. You know who you are. Thank you! We hope someday to be able to repay your kindness. It has been a very humbling experience to be on the receiving end of things. We are grateful for a loving and knowing Heavenly Father who blesses us through the hands of those around us.

Parker and Hayden were able to serve at the VIP day for the Rexburg Temple Open House yesterday. They helped by putting shoe covers on the people who attended. Parker put booties on Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve. He addressed the 20 or so youth volunteers in the chapel before the tour. Afterwards, they got to have a tour of the temple themselves. It was a neat opportunity for all of them.

The boys go back to school on January 3rd and my first day at BYU-I is the following Thursday, January 10th. We are all anxious to get back to work, especially the boys (ha ha ha). We hope you have a happy and healthy 2008! Stay warm and safe.

Christmas comes early

Paul had another appointment at Huntsman Cancer Institute with Dr. Andtbacka yesterday. This time, it was an actual pre-surgical appointment. He checked Paul out thoroughly. He said the tumor is definitely smaller and the progress Paul has made was "fabulous" (his word). When he asked when we could come for surgery, we said, "We're free right now." He went and checked his schedule and came back and asked if we were available on Monday the 17th. We said YES! We went to lunch then went back to have bloodwork done and to fill out all the pre-op paperwork. Paul will have to go back on Friday for an MRI so the doctor can get a more up-to-date picture of the tumor and what surrounding tissues may be involved so he knows beforehand what to expect. He and Tyler will drive down Friday afternoon (the MRI isn't until 8 p.m.) then come back Saturday morning. Then on Sunday afternoon, Paul and I will drive down. We won't know what time his surgery will be until Friday afternoon, when they have the schedule finished. We are in the process of lining up accomodations for the boys to stay here in Rexburg. The surgery is out-patient, but they may want to keep Paul overnight. Either way, we will stay over Monday night in Utah to give him some time to recuperate before driving home on Tuesday.

We know our prayers have been answered. We appreciate all that has been done for us. We don't have words enough to express the love and gratitude we feel for our family and friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And it came to pass...

Paul has finished his fourth (and FINAL!) cycle of chemotherapy. His doctors have decided that since he is responding so well...actually the cancer is responding well...Paul still got just as sick from the treatments...that he won't have to go through a fifth round. We have another appointment with Dr. Andtbacka at Huntsman Cancer Institute on Wednesday the 12th for a pre-operative exam. We are hoping and praying hard that he will be able to have the surgery this year instead of after the first of next year. Paul hasn't had another PET scan since the one on Halloween, but the tumor under his arm continues to shrink and it is more mobile, meaning it isn't attached to his chest wall like it was. The doctors are very encouraged with the progress. He still lost quite a bit of weight this last cycle, but he is slowly getting his energy and appetite back and is able to work some.

We are so grateful for all the faith and prayers and generosity of our family and friends. It means alot to us!

The boys are as busy as ever. Jacob and Cameron are going on a school field trip to Idaho Falls to see the Nutcracker Ballet today. Cameron did a great job on his Japanese culture book report. He learned sumi (Japanese calligraphy) to share with his class. Next Monday, Jacob has a presentation about how Christmas is celebrated in the Netherlands. He was practicing on Paul last night. Hayden had a dance recital(?) last week with his 6th grade class. The teacher taught them proper etiquette and several dances. Then they performed for their parents. Yes...he had to dance with girls. I have video, if any of you want to see it. Parker was in heaven last Thursday or Friday...I forget which. He didn't have school since he didn't have to take finals, so he went with friends up to Grand Targhee for some snowboarding. He still has a silly grin on his face! Speaking of finals, grades are in and everyone did well. Parker...all A's, Hayden...A's and a B+, Cameron...A's, Jacob doesn't get letter grades yet, but he's doing fine. Tyler is working with Paul and will be moving to a different apartment next week (cheaper rent). If any of you have a couch and/or dresser you want to get rid of, contact Tyler.

Thanks again for your love and support!

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We had so much fun visiting with everybody that came to Idaho. The kids had a great time playing together and getting to know their Utah cousins a little better.


















Thanks again, Darla and Scott for opening up your home to all 46 of us! The food was great and the company was better!




I hope those of you who were crazy enough (see picture above, person on left) to hit the early sales had good luck and the hassle was worthwhile.


Paul is trying to get rested and ready for the next round of chemo, which starts on Monday the 26th. I registered for school this week. I was able to get the classes I wanted. I am starting out slow with just two. They are Book of Mormon and an English class that covers several plays by Shakespeare. I will have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Jacob asked me if I would be living in an apartment with roommates. I guess he thought that if you go to college you don't live at home anymore... hmm...I wonder. Nah, I would much rather live with a bunch of boys than hormonal females any day. Besides, I like my roommate. And he never wants to borrow my clothes.

Round 3

Paul finished his third round of chemo last Thursday. He was able to work in the morning most of the days. The weekend was pretty rough again, but he toughed it out until his appointment on Monday. He lost 20 pounds in 4 days. On Tuesday, we got a phone call from the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They wanted to know if we could come down for a consultation with Dr. Robert Andtbacka at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He is their Oncology Surgeon, specializing in Melanoma. We quickly packed, farmed Hayden out, and took Cameron and Jacob to Utah with us Tuesday night. Parker stayed home. The appointment went well. He recommended that Paul complete the last 2 chemo treatments to try and get the tumor as small as possible. Then he wants to take it and the lymph nodes in Paul's right arm out after the first of the year.

Thanks to Lynn for driving us to Salt Lake (and for lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory). We stopped by Cathy and Brian's house and saw their new baby boy, Zachary. He is very cute! We also figured out that one of Paul's doctors used to be Cathy and Brian's home teacher! Small world. Thanks to Mom and Dad Carling for room and board. Sorry everyone else that we didn't visit, it was such a quick trip. We'll see you next time.

Paul gets a break from now until November 26, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving. Hopefully he can build up his strength and energy levels by eating lots of pie and Turkey.

Hayden finished his merit badge Pow wow at BYU-I last Saturday. He was able to meet Del Parsons, the artist. He has done some paintings for the Church. Parker is chomping at the bit to go snowboarding. Grand Targhee opens on Saturday. Cameron and Jacob had a good time in Utah. They got to play with Brandon and Grandpa and Grandma. They were good company on the drive down and back, since they actually talked to us instead of being plugged into headphones the whole time! (Does this sound like anyone you know?)

I will be registering for school on the 20th of November so I am trying to narrow down my choices for classes that I will take during my first semester. I sure hope my brain can remember how to think!