Our cute kids....

A little preview of the "Christmas" cuteness to come!!

This picture was once again courtesy of my cousin who now has her business up and running.
Check out her website at Kalin Brook Photography

The perfect cure for the long winter ahead........

A JUMPING CASTLE.....
that now takes up 2/3 of our play area!!

During our cold/snowy spell in October I could hardly imagine how long our winter was going to be.....the kids needed to burn energy and getting outside with 4 kids, one being an infant just doesn't seem as plausible this winter.....so we are bringing the fun inside.....


We bought this for the kids....and then there was a "steal" of a deal on the same one on black Friday....so we bought another.....and got a good chunk of change back....it's all worth it now!!



This would be our no fear child....(could we finally have one of those) - Ema loves it in the castle!!


The three crazies......it's so wonderful - Ana even knows how to turn it on and off!


One of Eli's favorite things to do is catapult himself off the slide.....




Ema seems to think that every slide she goes down needs to be head first.



It sure has provided us with some good naps and early bed times!!!

Cookie Helpers....

Tonight we attempted our first "cookie bake" of the season.....not that they were even really cookies, nor did I even really have the so said "recipe".....but we attempted...I am not sure they look entirely like they should....but they were good and no one was complaining. And well the whole point of these were that Ana and Eli could pretty much do everything. Basically it was placing a "kiss" of some kind in the center of a pretzel and melting them in the oven and then topping it off with an M & M.....I don't think we used the right kind of pretzel - oh well.


Ana gave up after the first round....but Eli stuck around and was a big helper...although I think he had a hidden agenda, the more he helped the more he got to "snack" on the treats.

Cheesy Smile.....

If you ask Ema these days to give you a "Cheesy" smile....this is what you will get!!


Check out all those teeth she is finally getting.....I think my kids have got to be the "slowest" teethers around....


Even so talented as to give you a "cheesy" smile under her nuk!

Update on the Update.....

Just a small update to let you all know - Eric ended up not having Chemo today.....after a visit with the Dr. and reviewing his lab results today it was determined Eric's blood count was way to low....Eric woke not feeling the best this morning and we now also have one child down with a fever and ear infection....so there is an obvious "bug" going around our house...please pray that this clears quickly and Eric is able to beat this bug without any other medical intervention.

Yes, were still here.....

I know, it's been a long time since I posted anything....and truth be told...I really don't even have much to post tonight....other than to let you all know - we are still here! I don't even have any cute pictures of the kids to post.....I blame it on the "end of pregnancy lack of energy/motivation syndrome"!

We had a nice low key Thanksgiving in Montana and we are now back in South Dakota getting ready to embark on two busy weeks....with the hopes that a baby just may decide to show up in there sometime too!!

Eric has his second round of Chemo tomorrow - please remember him in your prayers and all of us as we tackle this one without the help of family staying with us.....but we will have the help from great friends this time around!

You know you just shouldn't cook when.......

1. Your 33 1/2 weeks pregnant.....

2. You've had 4 1/2 hours of sleep.....

3. Your dealing with "cancer" in the house......

4. Or when you actually attempt... almost 3 of the 3 things you made for dinner turn out to be a total disaster.....and what you've worked so hard on all afternoon ends up looking like this.....


So tonights dinner menu consisted of this.....Potato Soup, Homemade bread and pumpkin bread for dessert....this was actually a meal that was graciously delivered to us last week by a good friend and I decided today to try and replicate the entire meal so we could enjoy another round of it.....
First order of business was the pumpkin bread....the batter is enough to be divided into 2 loaves....which I did....I proceeded to bake the first one...and after realizing I read the actual amount of time it needed to cook wrong....I adjusted the time and let it continue to cook....but it still came out of the oven a complete "flop"....so I realized it really just must have been my pan because I followed the recipe exactly.....the second batch was placed in the oven in a different pan and there was great hope that this loaf would actually be edible....it started out quite promising....but again after the allotted cooking time it too "flopped"......When we actually started "cross examining" the bread and what possibly could have gone wrong...I realized I forgot to add the flour....probably one of the most key ingredients.....

Second on the menu - Homemade bread....I again followed the recipe to a "T" - bread dough was actually made in the bread machine and then I formed it into two loaves and let it rise before placing it in the oven...easy!! Well after 25 minutes of baking - just like the recipe said - again my bread wasn't done...and I began to realize again - what could possibly be wrong.....ah ha! - I forgot to turn the oven back on.....so the bread really had just cooked in a warm oven that had been turned off when the pumpkin bread was done baking and never turned back on.....We did remedy the problem - the bread cooked for about another 10 minutes at the "correct" temperature and turned out for the most part......

And finally onto the Homemade Potato Soup.....once again I was very careful to follow the recipe...and truthfully even had the thought "I can't possibly screw this up"....Everything was going so well.....2 steps remaining.....thicken the soup up with a little corn starch and add some cheese.....I made a nice paste of corn starch and water....even added a little extra corn starch....just to make sure it thickened nicely.....mind you we had been letting this soup already cook on the stove for the last hour.....I then proceeded to dump the "paste" into the soup that was simmering ever so nicely.....and suddenly the soup "ERUPTED!!!" - Total volcano - soup everywhere....usually turning off the burner makes the "boil" simmer down....not this time - there was no stopping it....what did I possibly do this time??? - Ah Ha - the recipe called for me to thicken it with corn starch...and I so absent mindedly made my lovely paste with BAKING SODA!!! - Soup ruined!!

Dinner tonight - Leftovers for the kids.....Qdoba for the adults!

Do we even dare try again???

What HAVE they been doing......

Since mid-October to now it seems life has just kind of been a blurrrr........Between extra Dr.'s appointments for myself starting in mid-Oct to all of Eric's doctor dealings up to now.....I can honestly say I think I've taken the camera out once - Halloween night....but thank goodness Grandma Doll picked up where I have left off....so finally some new pictures of the kids....or at least Ana and Eli....


Eli decided to paint his fingernails with markers....I guess it's better than actual fingernail polish



Ana enjoying what she enjoys the most...pen & paper....endlessly drawing or writing something down.


While on a trip to Home Depot with Grandma and Papa...Ana and Eli got in on their own building project.....


Today's project was Trivets.....


Eli getting a little assitance with his project....


Eli trying his best to use his "knocker" - that is what he so graciously calls a hammer....


No trip to Montana would be complete without a trip to "Build a Bear" - Eli has actually had a gift card to this store since his second birthday....but of course has been too scared to actually go into the store to make one....Grandma was determined to try again this time....it was talked about for over a day...Eli was brave and ready to go.....but of course froze right in place the moment they got to the front of the store.....thankfully the store was empty...so the lady working was willing to bring all the "dogs" to the front of the store so Eli did not have to go in...and he finally picked the one he wanted....once the "Dog" was stuffed - Eli had no problem going into the store and finding all the accessories for his "soccer dog".....I guess it was something about just not wanting to give the Dog a "bath" - the noise was "too scarey" - which is why he didn't want to go into the store - Go figure!



The finished result.....Eli and his new dog - officially named "boom boom Eli Shmeeeli".......


And Ana with "Ana Banana" - the pink monkey she made on her 2nd birthday....


This past week - these three attended the Veteran's Day Parade with Grandma in Rapid City


And then when Grandma Judi arrived, both Grandma's braved the task of taking all three kids to the Swimming pool during open swim time....THEY LOVED IT! (the kids that is...)


And if that task wasn't enough...this morning both Grandma's had the joyous task of taking all three kids in to get there flu shots.......that's always a lovely experience!

Lemons, Lemons, & more Lemons.......

Or maybe that should be titled Dr.'s, Dr.'s, & more Dr.'s.....

There have definitely been plenty of Dr.'s appointments this week.....Eric has and will be going to the Dr. every day this week - just lot's of tests to be done prior to starting Chemo....which we have a date...Eric has a port put in tomorrow (another surgical procedure - hopefully a little more minor though), Monday one more Dr.'s appointment and training and Tuesday is the big day - his first Chemo treatment...we are both very anxious to just get this process started - so please pray for these days ahead - still lot's of unknowns and some anxiety.

Our kids are back....we were so happy to see them - Ana and Eli spent a week with Grandma and Papa in Montana and I am quite sure came back with double the amount of toys than what they left with....Eric's Mom is with us now for the rest of this week and all of next week - which we are both so thankful for our families and how much they have stepped in to help - it's definitely taken the burden off of having to worry about our kids and who will care for them.
And hopefully I can get some cute pictures of them up real soon......

On to the more humorous side of things....(we have to be able to mix some laughter into all of this right??) Eric, my Mom and I had a conversation downstairs the other night that went something like this....
Me: I'm hungry, did we even eat dinner tonight?
Eric: Yes
Me: I think I need a snack....
Mom: I bought some ice cream bars.....we could have those, but I can't go up and get them my ankle hurts too bad.....
Me: Well I can't go up and get them...I am too pregnant
Eric: Well I can't go up and get them - I have cancer!

We all got a good laugh at that...Eric has just been waiting and wondering when he would get to play that "card" - needless to say my Mom - who we deemed her "injury or condition" being the oldest....so graciously went upstairs and got us all a snack.

A Lemon Update......

Eric and I met with the oncologist today - and all I can say is wow - that's a lot of information for one day!!

So without going into every last single detail......here is the shortened breakdown of the plan for now....

Eric has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma Stage II B - if you really want to know what all that means - you can google it...

The Dr. we met with was very good and we both really liked him and felt very confident after leaving his office today. He wanted us to be sure to understand that this disease is not just treatable but also curable 80-85% of the time.

Eric has a whole host of required tests/appointments this next week actually leading up to Chemo - so once all that is done we hope to start his first Chemo treatment sometime next week. He has 4 rounds/months of Chemo basically - but that actually breaks down into receiving Chemo treatments every 2 weeks. (One complete round is given twice over the course of a month - if that makes sense).

As we go forward you can continue to pray for our family - it's A LOT going on....when you add a new baby into the mix in just a number of weeks - a little overwhelming at times to even think about but we will just take one day, one week, one month at a time and we know we will get through this.

When life hands you lemons......

UPDATE: We have received official word this afternoon that is in fact
Hodgkin Lymphoma
(we don't know any other specifics beyond that but will be meeting with Dr.'s later this week)

I guess you make some lemonade.......

When you call out me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. - Jeremiah 29.12

Some of you are aware of what has been transpiring in our lives over the last week and others of you are not. Eric and I have nothing to hide and we would welcome all the prayers we can get.

One week ago today Eric went in for a routine physical - nothing alarming other than his extreme amount of weight loss over the last year and a swollen lymph node that has been on going for a over a year now. In Aug. of 08 Eric went to the Dr. for this swollen lymph node and it was assumed it was something viral - he was given antibiotics and we went on with life. The swollen lymph node never went away but it also never bothered him - so we just didn't do anything about it. This swollen lymph node however was very alarming to his Dr. last Wednesday, she scheduled an immediate CT Scan of his neck which he had last Thursday and those results came back as very alarming to both the Dr. and Radiologist. It was determined that the swollen lymph node looked very much like lymphoma a type of caner in the lymph nodes. On Friday Eric had a more extensive CT scan and those results showed us that it has not really spread much further than his neck - GREAT NEWS!!

Yesterday, (Tuesday) Eric had a biopsy of the swollen lymph node - which required surgery on Eric's part. The Dr. again felt pretty confident that the tissue was what he would expect to see with lymphoma. So today we begin the waiting process, waiting for the "official" diagnosis of Lymphoma and where will go from here. We hope to have some answers by the end of the week and hope to have more definite answers early next week so we can meet with an oncologist and begin a treatment plan for Eric.

How are we doing: - Well Eric is doing pretty good, obviously yesterday was not such a fun day, recovering from surgery and anesthesia is never fun as he experienced for the first time yesterday.
His spirits are high and he feels very strongly that all of this is treatable.
Me - I guess you could say I am doing better - I guess the hardest part has been taking this all in stride and being 32 weeks pregnant and not wanting to go into labor too soon.
Kids - They really don't grasp the full magnitude I suppose and they don't need to. They know Eric is sick and has a battle wound on his neck right now....but it will heal.

Our families and friends have been a huge support system to us already and we are so thankful for that because we couldn't possibly do it without them right now.

The Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer.
Psalm 118:14

And because Eric gave me permission..... for any of you that would like to take a visible glance at his current battle wound....here you go!

Halloween 2009

Despite having snow this past week - Halloween turned out to be a pretty nice day. We spent the evening with friends and 9 little munchkins.....



Ema and her friend Elle.....



Our Monkey (who just never stops talking), Our Chicken and Our Butterfly!



8 Adults and 9 kids set out to just a few houses for some candy.....


Ema enjoying her ride....


Our little monkey - Wowzers has Mr. Eli suddenly become a handful these past 2 weeks - Eric and I really just keep hoping it's a phase that will SOON pass.

Carving Pumpkins

Ana right before we dove in to her pumpkin.....



Eli was quite excited to get started.....


Ema really had no idea what was going on....but she was all smiles none the less.....


Surpisingly, both kids were willing get there hands inside the pumpkins and dig the "goods" out.



The finished products!!

Fall Festival...at Bear Country

Last Saturday was probably our last "taste" of summer/fall weather - so we ventured out to Bear Country for the Fall Festival. Since we had a season pass there this past year we got the privilege of riding on an open air bus through the wild-life park vs. driving through with our cars where we are supposed the keep the windows closed up.
After spending 25 minutes in line convincing Eli the bus was nothing to be scared of we carried him onto the bus screaming and within 20 seconds he calmed down and precisely said "this bus isn't scary, I like this bus"........ahhhh!!!


Our "happy" boy - who is still scared of everything!!





Within a few minutes Eli was even convinced to get up from Eric's lap and come sit next to me so he could be right next to the window.








When the bus tour was done, we wandered around "baby land". Ana and Eli spent a little time organizing pumpkins that were randomly placed about to be used as chairs.


Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum!


Funny - they were all willing to smile for me - but I couldn't get them all to look at me!

And finally the baby bears - not such babies anymore.