Woah, Long Time No Blogging!

I really can't believe it's been three months since I blogged. As our routine became more "normal" and issues related to Multiple Myeloma became more mundane (and that's a good thing!), the busyness of life just took over. So much has gone on these past three months it's hard to know where to begin!

We had a wonderful Easter celebration with the whole family able to join us at home. We even had a special guest...Nick's girlfriend, Anne. We were all smitten, and very thankful she could join us for church and Easter dinner. Anne has just completed her second year of dental school, and the two of them really compliment one another. We have enjoyed having her at many more gatherings since Easter and already feel like she is part of the family! (She was a brunette with straight hair when we met her, but has gone back to her natural color and curls. All of our curly haired granddaughters are thrilled!)

(Lovely dishdrain,..hostess fail!)

 EZ had his 6 month check-up at Duke (4-4-13) and all is great. No M-spike detected, continue on 10 mg. Revlimid daily, and come back in 6 months. We were thrilled! This August will be three years post transplant. We continue to have confidence in the oncologists that are determining EZ's plan of treatment, and pray that this complete response hangs around a long time. We also attended two seminar/dinners put on by the ABMT Clinic at Duke (in April and June), and were able to hear from them about all the latest research and clinical trials. It is always a blessing to re-connect with other survivors, new and old, and see them doing so well!

Our son Nick was presented with his "white coat" during a special ceremony at the UNC School of Dentistry (4-5-13). This signifies his official entry into patient care at the clinic, and it was quite impressive. We are so proud of all the hard work he has put in studying this first year in order to reach this point. He will be leaving on July 16th for a month in Nepal, to participate in a humanitarian project with four other students and a faculty member. They will hold dental camps providing much needed dental care such as extractions, fillings, cleanings, and sealants. They will then travel on foot in the Annapurna Ranges, providing oral hygience education and supplies to villages along the route. This is an amazing opportunity for Nick and we can't wait to see pictures and hear about his experience.

We celebrated EZ's Dad's 90th birthday (4-11-13) with a visit to the mountains. His father continues to amaze us with how active he is mentally and physically. He loves nothing more than riding tractors, four wheelers, and bulldozers in the woods. We just recently celebrated EZ's Mom's 89th birthday (6-18-13) and feel so blessed to have both of them in our lives, married 67 years!

 On 4-25 we headed for Jacksonville, FL for the wedding of a longtime friend's son. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, seeing friends from our years spent in south Florida. It was a beautiful rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception and we are thrilled for Daniel and Rebecca!

 

The biggest news for April involved all the preparations to list our house for sale. It is sold, and we are officially closing in a month, both on our current home and a new home...yikes! More on all that coming soon, but for now I've got to start packing!

 

Happy 27th Birthday Nick!

Can't believe another year has flown by, and our "baby" is now turning 27! (For a look back at some of his adventures, and to learn a bit more about him, you can visit last year's post here.) His traditional birthday dinner (at his request) has always been Japanese, so this year was no exception. We are planning another celebration next weekend when his sisters and their families can join us. Just glad he could steal away for a night with us. Of course after a busy spring break, fighting a head cold, and a little work around the house with his dad, he needed a good nap first!

Love him to pieces and are so very proud of the young man he has become. He is hard at work in dental school, and anxiously looking forward to heading for Nepal in late July with four other dental students.

Happy Birthday future Dr. Nick! Love you so much!

Christmas Tree Shopping and Jamie's Birthday!

With Thanksgiving Day behind us we pushed forward to celebrate our son-in-law Jamie's birthday, and assemble the troops to head out to a local Christmas tree farm. What's a birthday breakfast without Monkey Bread, which Tara lovingly made this year, along with fresh fruit and maple/black pepper glazed thick bacon cooked in the oven! Yum!

It was a cool, overcast day so we bundled all the little ones up and drove down the road to Big Ridge Tree Farm. How wonderful to be greeted by this sweet Nativity as we arrived.

As we looked out over the hills, there were certainly plenty of trees to choose from!

 Please Mom, can we buy this one?

Sorry Nick, this one it is!

 Look who woke up! Is he a cutie or what?

The steep slopes were a bit difficult for EZ to navigate with the way the peripheral neuopathy affects his left foot, so he and Nick headed back up the hill after picking out our tree. There was delicious hot chocolate for them to enjoy, courtesy of this family run farm. The rest of us made our way down the hill to where the ducks, chickens, donkeys and rams awaited us.

A misty rain started to move in before we all had a chance to take a free hay ride, but the children did have an opportunity to share their wish list with Santa.

What a fun time we all had before heading home to see Gigi and enjoy Jamie's pizza and hot wing dinner, courtesy of our favorite, Capone's!

 It was a wonderfully full day from start to finish. Happy Birthday Jamie!