Familiar But Foreign

For 25 years our church has served a family style Thanksgiving dinner to our community. We have about 500 volunteers and they help serve more than 1400 meals.

Well obviously we couldn't do that this year so we decided to make it a drive-through the day before Thanksgiving so people could just heat it up the next day. We spent a week cooking everything, putting it into containers and then on Wednesday, a few volunteers packed it all into bags and we put it in peoples trunks. When all was said and done, we gave away 2300 meals.

 Picking up the pies at Costco. This is one of two pallets plus about 20 additional pies.

Walking into church on Wednesday morning I felt that old familiar excitement, knowing you were a part of something so much greater than yourself. But the day sure was different!

Chuck put the turkey in our oven before he left for church, then Sharaya and Ally came over and made mashed potatoes... then we had our family Thanksgiving when we got home.

We FaceTimed with Diana, played some board games, and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol - that's a tradition at our house!

This was the only picture I took:

 Was your Thanksgiving different this year?

Last Minute But Really Needed!

We decided to drive down to Portland on Saturday. The weather was supposed to be sunny and Chuck had the day off and we were ready for a change of scenery! Sharaya and Ally (she wants it spelled with a 'y' now) 😊 decided to come with us and we had such a great time!

First stop was a viewpoint overlooking the Columbia River.

That little dome was our next stop

This is Vista House, built in 1917 and it was so pretty up there but SO windy!! We could actually lean into the wind!

The trees were all like this, branches facing one direction!

 

 Can you see the one branch wrapped around the trunk?

 Next we were off to the waterfalls ~

Sharaya and I walked up this little path to get a better view

I needed a bit of nature this weekend.

Then it was off to the next one ~

I hope you all get a much needed break this week!

Some of us need them more than others!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Chuck Update - Adding a Second Medication

Did you know there are a lot of different doctors when dealing with cancer? There's the Skin Oncologist and the Surgical Oncologist and the Medical Oncologist... I had no idea we'd be seeing so many different people on this journey. They all talk to each other and share information and updates, and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight.

We met with the Skin Oncologist last week and have decided to add a second medication to Chuck's treatment. The original medication has stopped the growth of the cancer but it's not shrinking it.  

The Medical Oncologist said Chuck could live with this (continuing with the original treatment) for many years but also said he was a good candidate for this new treatment. Chuck said he didn't want to live with cancer for many years, he wants it gone.

So now Chuck will go in every 6 weeks for the infusion and every 2 weeks for an injection that will go directly into the tumor. So far with just the infusions he hasn't had any side affects and he feels really good. I'm concerned that adding the second medication will cause side affects and change his quality of life. Right now the doctor is checking to make sure our insurance will pay for it and once he finds out, then Chuck will start getting the injections.

They also did a biopsy on one of the areas to see if the cancer is still there or if it's just leftover pigment. We're hoping for pigment!

Would you pray with me that adding this second medication doesn't cause any side affects? It needs to kill the cancer while allowing Chuck to go on living like he has been. Thank you!

A Few Random Things

 I'm looking through my pictures and trying to remember what I haven't told you about yet.

 Beth's boyfriend lives about 20-30 minutes from us, depending on traffic so his parents and I met half way and let the kids see each other again. It's the first time since February! We went out for lunch then the two of them walked around the mall for a while.

While we were in Denver with Chuck's sister we took a day and drove about 2 hours south to see my sister. They live in the middle of nowhere and are in the process of building a house. They're literally 22 miles off the main road and there are very few houses around them!

Then you come up to their driveway

My sister said that on a clear day they can see Pikes Peak! 

 

Beth and I took part in our church's Trunk or Treat as Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. We usually have a huge Harvest Party with about 1300 people going through the hallways and classrooms playing games, bobbing for apples and sliding down giant inflatables set up in our gym. Obviously we couldn't do that this year so we did a drive-by trunk or treat and it was so much fun! Everyone thanked us for doing it. The community was so grateful there was someplace for their kids to go that night. And we had fun doing it! There were so many cute ideas!

I hope you had a wonderful week!

Sparkle!

 I bought Beth a new mask this week.

On Sunday she came upstairs ready for church.

A perfect match!

Long Distance Celebration and a Big Ooops

We celebrated Beth and Sharaya's birthday's before we left for Denver and I ended up buying Sharaya something she already had (a membership to an art museum.) Ooops! I should have known better! She loves art! And the art museum actually contacted me to tell me she already had a membership. So they refunded my money and now I'm looking for another gift for her.

We were in Denver on Beth's actual birthday. We got a text from Diana while we were at the hotel and she wanted to have some donuts delivered for her. Beth ended up eating a donut for breakfast every day we were there! She loved it!

She turned around to show me what she got!

Here she's saying, "Thank you Chickenbutt!"

 

We went to Red Robin for dinner but they didn't sing, no candle or anything but that was okay. We all wished her a Happy Birthday and she got her sundae!

What do you do to celebrate birthdays? 

Are you low-key or a big party person?

Took The Pressure Off

Diana sent me a text today reminding me how long it's been since I've posted. I know it's been a while. I keep thinking about it. But honestly I took the pressure to post off my plate and it was so nice! I thought about the blog - and all of you - a lot but realizing it was okay not to write was so freeing. Many of you are posting about your quarantined lives and how you've slowed way down... but that's not how it is here.

I've been at work 6 out of the last 7 days. We have so many events coming up.

We have to get the Mason out here to fix our chimney. The weather is already getting cold and wet! And the gutters too! I've got to get up there and clean the gutters.

I'm trying to plan a time to go to San Diego to help my sister sort through our dads things.

Chuck has another scan this week to see how the cancer is doing. Personally I don't see good progress... but, I guess I'll wait until we get the results on Thursday.

Denver! I forgot that we were in Denver. We didn't get as much 'work' done as I thought we would. First because the girls and Chuck did so much before we went. But also we found Rose just wanted to sit and talk. I think she really misses the companionship. She lived with her mom her whole life and now mom has been in a convalescent home for many years.

But! We were able to schedule an outdoor visit! At first mom didn't want to get out of bed (she's been bedridden for a year!) but the doctor's and nurses insisted. It was only 15 minutes but it was good to hear her voice and spend time with her. That's Rose in the wheelchair.

 

At Rose's we cleared out part of the back bedroom, finished up the living room, we bought lights and hung them in the laundry room, we put a clock in her bedroom, we gathered all the receipts we could from around the house and she spent days shredding them. We'd empty the shredder and she'd start again. But mostly we sat on the couch and talked about game shows, what she likes to eat, we went through old family photos and she and Chuck relived some of their childhood. One night we were headed back to the hotel and as I was going out the back door she was still talking... I think she really enjoyed the company.

There's a lot more to tell you but I'll close for now. It's good to be back and to read about what you've been up to! Take care! 

HD, DSW, OMG

I'm not even sure where to begin. I feel bad that I'm not commenting on your blogs or even posting on mine. We leave tomorrow for Denver. We're going back to Chuck's sister's place to hopefully finish her house and all the work that Diana, Sharaya and Chuck did earlier this year. Not sure about the weather in Denver; we're basically spending every day cleaning except for two days that we're going out... so I'm really not sure how to pack. We've tried to cover all the bases!

I took Beth to DSW for new shoes. She tried on a few pair before finding some black sparkly ones.

 We took back the damaged refrigerator and brought home a better one. I say better because the second one had a scratch on the front and one broken shelf. But Home Depot gave us a discount so we were happy with that. We'll be able to order the new shelf on-line, and she just covered the scratch with a magnet. 😁 This fridge will be SO much better for her!

 

 

Tonight we're celebrating both Sharaya and Beth. Their birthdays are 2 years and 4 days apart so we usually let them choose a restaurant and then we come back here for cake and presents. 

Beth

Sharaya

I hope you're all doing well. We're into fall and headed toward all the holidays... I can't believe we're close to the end of this year! Who else is ready for it to be over?!