Mid-Summer Post

Ok, this blog update is criminally late (at least the Flickr photos are all up to date).  Since the last post everything has been going great and we’ve had a busy summer. 

First off we’re expecting a Baby Boy in Nov!  Melissa’s doing fine and is showing quite a bit these days.  He’s an active boy and so far loves nothing more then rolling around and kicking the belly.  He moved so much that during the ultra sound the nurse thought he had extra arms and fingers.  His appendage counts were normal and we’re confident that there aren’t twins, though as a Rothe boy the extra fingers could have come in handy.

Also all of our checkups have been going good.  For me a couple of moles removed but nothing out of the ordinary.  My six month appt with the oncologist went well.  I’ve gained back all my weight and have long ago lost all the side effects from the Interferon.  I still have some swelling in my ankle from the lymphedema but haven’t had too many problems with it.  I still wear my prescription compression socks from time to time and the lymphatic massage helps quite a bit.

Snowshoeing at Crystal Springs Sno-Park

Brandon and I went snowshoeing today at the Crystal Springs Sno-Park on Stampede Pass with my sister Jenny and her family. Alden, our 3 1/2 year old nephew got a chance to try out his new mini snow shoes! He did a great job keeping up with the big kids. Click on photo below to see more photos of our snow day.

Thanksgiving Update

We’re back online, it only took a month and a half to get internet service at the new house. Not too bad actually, our old ISP told us we’d have to pay to dig a new phone trench to the house. Luckily before you could say ‘HelloClearwire’ Qwest felt differently about whose responsibilty it was and started right away.

For Thanksgiving we went back to Colorado for an important first family holiday without Ed and to see Meggan & Jon’s beautiful baby girl Macy. That was one bun that wanted to get out of the oven ASAP. There are some pictures of her on our Flickr account and lots more on Bug’s blog.   Here Lucy and Nessa are preparing with Melissa’s help to take an inappropriately adorned Conor on a creekside snipe hunt by the old teepee.   We always love spending time with these two trouble makers but need to make sure that he doesn’t get too caught up in their princess parties.  Poor boy, too many girl cousins.

We all enjoyed a big Thanksgiving meal and a great turkey day, the first I’ve seen that didn’t involve clay pigeon shooting off the back porch and possibly the last one at the old house. Although Luie’s new place does back to a golf course so I guess we can shoot golf balls out of the air? Have to check with the local police on that one, that is if they aren’t over there shooting too.  At least Hygeine Fire Dept won’t complain..

Hopefully you all had a great Thanksgiving too with lots of friends and family.  Now for Xmas with Melissa’s side of the family and our first guests in the new second bedroom.

RIP Casey

Sadly my cousin Casey passed away Nov 20th in Las Vegas after fighting leukemia for several years at many of the best medical institutions including Calgary, UCLA and the SCCA. After much more pain and hardship and with greater character and humor then anyone I’ve known, he lived past the doctors’ conceptions of what a leukemia patient can live through. Many called him the miracle patient and after the mutliple rounds of chemo and bone marrow transplants, some books on the subject will probably need to be rewritten about what leukemia can do to the body over time. A lot of it was unchartered territory due to what he’s been able to live through and experience as the cancer progressed.

Aside from being a great blogger he certainly inspired and set an amazing example for me and numerous others, he was a great patient’s advocate and he also taught all of us, including his doctors and nurses, that anything is possible and no one can be written off easily (in his case this may be due simply to being Canadian or praticing a Kimball tricks based life-philosophy?). He was a great tribute to our family and will be dearly missed by any who knew him and were subsuquently helped by him. Any honorary doctorate degrees in Oncology for teaching so many doctors can be directed to his family.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!!

It was another year of change, challenges and new opportunities that has given us new eyes and a new look on life.  I’m so glad that you have been right at my side through all of it and am excited to continue it with you.

Our nephew Bryce turns 6

This last weekend we took a trip up to Camano Island, about 60 miles north of Seattle, where my sister’s family lives to help our nephew Bryce celebrate his 6th Birthday! It was a good chance to play with our niece Sabrina, visit with my sister and my mom who flew in town for the party. The skies were clear and on the way home we stopped to view beautiful Mount Baker and watch the amazing fall sunset in Everett. Click here for more photos from that day.

Camping on Olympic Peninsula

Sept 5-7 we joined my side of the family and some friends Camping at Dungeness Recreation Area on the Olympic Peninsula. Dungeness Spit is the longest natural sand spit in the United States. Extending 5 miles into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was a relaxing weekend of hanging out, playing with the kids and a little hiking. Brandon had a hard day Saturday (little sleep on Friday night) with some stomach issues, headaches and fatigue so after a leisurely brunch he took a nap in our nice new, spacious tent while the rest of us headed down to the beach. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather all weekend and on Saturday night we witnessed a breathtaking sunset that seemed to go on hours. After s’mores and some bedtime songs and snuggling with the kids, Brandon and I had a very restful sleep (one of his first good nights sleep in quite a while). On our way home we stopped at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Center to view the artwork and then took a slight detour to stop in the town of Seabeck on the Kitsap Peninsula. Enjoy more photos by clicking on the photo of Brandon and the girls.

Bear Lake Reunion

Labor Day weekend we went to a Family Reunion for Brandon’s Mom’s side of the family. We flew into Salt Lake City early Friday morning and first thing met up with Meggan and Luie to visit Grandpa Dan and Grandma Luene. We enjoyed a nice lunch then got a chance to see their new place. We then drove about 3 hrs to  the Reunion at Bear Lake, Idaho 1.5 miles from the Utah border. It is a beautiful place and the weather was perfect! It was great to see the family and for me to meet a few of the cousins I’ve never met. There was lots to do, Swimming, ATVing, Waterskiing, Caving, Hiking. Brandon and I explored the Minnetonka Caves on Saturday and went hiking at Bloomington Lake on Sunday. We had so much fun and feel truly blessed to have such a loving family and look forward to next year’s reunion!

Hiking at Olallie State Park

Today we went for a short hike at Olallie State Park (“Olallie” is the Chinook Jargon word for “berry” and park is rich in huckleberries).  It was a warm and sunny day and we wanted to get outdoors and enjoy it! Jenny, Alden, Gavin and Katie joined us. When we arrived at the entrance we found a cute self-serve raw honey stand. I couldn’t resist and promptly picked up a pound for us. Once on the trail our nephew Alden did a great job of keeping up and entertained us with his singing and questions about the sites and sounds on the trail. Brandon’s fatigue, headaches and stomach aches are still hard to handle but he kept good spirits the whole way. After about 45 minutes of hiking we were getting tired so Jenny, Gavin, and Alden continued up the trail to the Falls and Katie, Brandon and I headed back home. To view more photos of our hike click on photo link.

A day at the Zoo!

Since my parents are in town we decided to enjoy the day with the family. Mom, Dad, Brandon and I had a delicious breakfast at Louisa’s Cafe in Eastlake before heading up to the Woodland Park Zoo. We met up with Jenny, Ben, Alden and Gavin. We saw Gorilla, Tigers, Emu, Wallaby, and a kookaburra bird. We then went to the rose garden to enjoy a picnic lunch under the shade while Brandon took a short nap. Again the crowds and excitement were a little much for Brandon but taking rests and keeping hydrated helped a lot. We also tried a Acai Energy Shake which was delicious! I was happy to find that the zoo is using compostable cups and utensils made from corn. I didn’t feel as guilty about using disposable items. After lunch we wandered through the rose garden to look at the many colorful varieties of roses which brought back memories of our beloved Ed. Enjoy our photos of our zoo trip. Click on photo for more.