It's bound to happen...

Last home volleyball game, 2nd serve over and Maya couldn't resist diving for the ball! What this all adds up to is a broken arm (her radius, to be precise). The docs in the ER decided to do "conscious sedation" in order to set her arm. I know, it's a strange term because you are not awake at all during the "sedation" period. It took an anesthesiologist, an ER doctor, 2 nurses, an EMT, a radiologist and an orthopedist 10 minutes to put my gal back together.

Our Weekends...

Most Saturdays it is just Lea and Sage home with us. The rest of the girls are out of town with their sports. This past weekend we decided to make some caramel apples. Yum!

Something's just not right...

Yes, it's October 1st and this is what I woke up to...SNOW.

Lea's Birthday

yes, Lea has had another birthday...she's a whopping 22 years old! And yes, you are seeing right..those are sugar cookies...not cake for this girl.

Serve...Spike...Set

It's volleyball season and that's where Mari really shines. She's the captain of the varsity team this year. Nobody and I mean nobody can jump like this little brown girl! She amazes everyone with that ability. The not so good "picture" is actually a picture I took from off the front page of our daily paper...Mari looks like she's in pain...but actually they had just beat another team!

The last day!!!!!!

Yoo hoo, we are done and back home in Jackson now. Kirk's last treatment was on Thursday morning at 5 am. As we were coming out of the hotel and crossing the parking lot to the car, another car came out of nowhere and was coming towards us and flashing their brights--I honestly thought they were trying to run us over! NO.....it was Mark and Francisco and they had driven from L.A. (yes, they got up at 2:45 am to do this!) to take us to the hospital for the final treatment! The party was on with balloon hats, cards and flowers. We had quite the party waiting for Kirk to get his treatment and he surprised us by modeling his gown before he got his balloon. Mark, it was so thoughtful of you and Francisco to come and bring the party. I get a lump in my throat when I think about it. You were there for the first balloon...and the last. We love you and will always remember your thoughtfulness.

Our last week...

We drove to Malibu on Sept. 11th to have a fun weekend with Mark. On the way there, we passed Pepperdine University which had a touching tribute to the victims of 9/11. There was a flag placed for every victim on the large grass lawn in front of the University. It was quite a sight to see. We also enjoyed a dramatic sunset over the Pacific. Other things we did our last week there was to visit the Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, CA. I found these statues quite amusing...I was taller than most of them! We also visited an orange grove in Redlands and bought the sweetest oranges ever. Incidentally, this grove is kitty-corner to the Redlands Temple.

Two more balloons...

Just two more balloons for Kirk! Yep, only 2 treatments left to do. About 10 days ago, he became the #1 guy in gantry 3. That means he is the first guy to get treatment for the day...at 5 am! Which means we get up at 4:15 am so he can drink his water in time for treatment. Which also means we go to bed at 8:15 pm every night, so he can get a full 8 hours of rest. It is exhausting to get up so early...after treatment, we head to the gym...if we're lucky it's open (5:30 am ) or else we wait with the masses to go inside. Then to Jamba Juice for his wheat grass shot and then back for breakfast. By this time, we are ready for a nap...ok, I am ready for a nap.

We've had a great time while here. Loma Linda was definately the right place for us. Southern California was the BEST. I will admit, I love being close to all sorts of shopping and cultural experiences. The produce here is so fresh and good. Can't beat the weather either. We've met some wonderful people that have become good friends through this experience. We've cried, complained and laughed together. I will miss my gaggle of girlfriends I spend time with each morning while waiting for Kirk. I do not believe that Kirk will miss any of the technicians he spends time with each morning! (don't get me wrong...they are unbelievably kind and compassionate...but you know what I mean) And I don't think he'll ever let me buy another balloon...

Final countdown...

Kirk and I are headed back to Ca today after he came home for the weekend. He has only 8 treatments left to do! Let's hope for the machine to work everyday... The girls are all back in school and everything has gone very smoothly. With a senior, three freshmen and one new middle schooler, I am amazed at how nice this school year has begun. Join that with 2 volleyball players and two swimmers and it makes for one very busy household. Ty and Kara are back at BYU, where Ty is set to graduate this coming December. Lea is working full time now five days a week, three hours a day.

Kirk and Melanie's adventures

I flew back with Kirk last Sunday to spend the week with him in Loma Linda. Besides treatments at the crack of dawn and working out in the gym each day, we had a fun week full of adventures. We visited the Huntington Library and Gardens which was absolutely beautiful. They had over a 100 acres of gardens and libraries full of incredible art and collections. We went to the Newport Beach temple on Tuesday and walked around Balboa Island and naturally had to stop at Fashion Island as well. Wednesday is always our "work" day. We stay in Loma Linda and get our stuff done which consists of doctor visits, laundry, support group meetings and etc... Thursday, we drove to the Los Angeles Temple and took in a session. The outside temperature was like 105! We stayed indoors the rest of the day! A couple of times this past week we've socialized with several other people receiving treatment as well at Loma Linda. After talking with a lot of these other guys, Kirk is doing really, really well. We feel blessed.

Our Weekend

Kirk came home for a "visit" after being in California for almost 6 weeks! We are happy that he hasn't missed any treatment days due to the machine going down. His treatment time these days is 5:30 am. He is drinking his water at 4:45 am. (ugh!) So, what is he doing on his weekend home? His favorite past time....working in his garden! I, on the other hand harvested a small bounty from my garden and cooked it all up for lunch.

Kirky

Kirk has just completed treatment #23.  He is halfway done!  You need a total of 45 treatments to graduate from the program.  He is feeling a bit fatigued these days as well.  He will tell you if you ask him how he feels with his prostrate being "fried" each day.  He now has the tell-tale marks on his hips--sort of looks like a sun tan about the size of a baseball on each hip.  I'd love to say that he is getting more comfortable with treatment, but I'd be lying to you.  Does he get "used" to receiving a balloon and filling it with water?  NO.....NO....and NO!  He is lucky that he for the most part is feeling great.  We have met a lot of other guys that have numerous other problems.  We feel so blessed.  I drove home and arrived on Saturday.  It's nice to be home, but after not being home for almost a month....well, you can all imagine.

Happy Birthday Star and SKy

So, where do you go on your birthday when you are in southern California?  Of course, this year you go to Disneyland because you get in FREE!  When I heard about getting into Disneyland free this year on your b-day, I never dreamed we'd take advantage of the offer....well, we certainly did.  Of course, going in heat of summer it was HOT and CROWDED!  And since, we'd just been there in January of this year, we made it a point to see those things we couldn't do on our earlier trip....like Small World and the Haunted Mansion.  We'd never taken the pirate ship ride around the island either.  Happy Birthday Star and Sky!

Venice Beach

Monday, we decided to head over to Venice Beach and check out the strange people that inhabit that part of Los Angeles.  We all loved going to the beach and playing in the water and soaking up the sun.  If we lived in California, I could totally go for the beach every Saturday.

Family Reunion

Sunday we drove to Van Nuys to pick up the girls from their fun weekend with cousins.  My Auntie Eleanor was there as well as my cousin Sandy Kay and some of her kids.  Galen and Jackie just spoiled my girls and they didn't want to leave.  We all had a great time and enjoyed some yummy food.  

24 years down....here we come eternity!!

My cousin, Galen and his wife Jackie from Van Nuys invited the girls to come and play with them for the weekend.  So, Thursday night we met halfway in San Dimas and gave them the girls.  They had a great time going to the beach and playing games and going to see G.I. Joe.  It was also our wedding anniversary that weekend (24 years!) and so we decided to get out of dodge and go to our favorite place in California....LaJolla.  We thought we'd drive there and go straight to the temple, but we found it closed for cleaning...bummer.  We enjoyed our time at the LaJolla Shores Hotel (our favorite LaJolla Beach and Tennis Club was booked!) and thoroughly enjoyed the cool beach weather.  But alas, we had to go back to Loma Linda on Saturday, so we attended a spanish session at the Redlands Temple.

Trying to cool off...

We are constantly trying to find ways to "cool" off here in Loma Linda.  It is SO hot here!  So, one day we decided to drive to Big Bear and "cool off".  It was a pretty winding road and I felt bad for the kids in the back of the car facing the cars behind us.  We had a picnic while up there and enjoyed walking around this little village area we found.

Adventures on the RED Line...

We drove to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and bought tickets on the subway for the "red line", for $5 a person.   Walking around Union Station was an adventure in and of itself.  Just the people watching and seeing all the trains and what not was cool.  We got off on most of the stops and checked out all the touristy stuff.  We walked Olvera Street and saw the first hacienda in Los Angeles and checked out the stalls of Mexican stuff.  We went to Universal Citywalk and walked around and had lunch there.  Hollywood and Highland was pretty exciting stop as we visited Grauman's Chinese Theater and watched all the freakazoids walking around.  Next stop was Pershing Street where we explored Grand Central Market and saw the cool "Angels Flight" funicular. (which is closed for whatever reason?) After our long subway ride, we drove through Chinatown and checked it out as well.

The BIG BAD XCELERATER!!!

Kirky-pants, Mari, Star, Sky and Maya actually rode this wild thang! It accelerated from 0-55 in only 3 seconds!

Bumper Cars!

Mari and Maya on the Ghostrider!

Our beautiful bushel of babes