Monday, April 28, 2008

Fun Weekend

We really had a nice weekend !! Friday night Johns dad and step-mom arrived for a visit. This is Dad's first real "trip" in a long time. He has been going through chemo for liver and colon cancer. He finally finished the last of the harsher treatments and is getting a "maintenance" treatment every 2 weeks. If he does not do this the cancer will come back. Right now though he is clear and his markers a good. He is looking much better too and gaining some weight back (he was down to 139 and he is 6'1")



Anyway Dad wanted to see Michael march in the Holland Happenings parade Saturday. Whidbey Island was settled by dutch settlers and they celebrate every year. Michael is the handsome guy playing the blue sax!!


After the parade James and Emily wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel. They really liked it! They had never been on one before.
After that we went to Coupeville WA, 9 miles down the island, and went to a farmers market, had lunch and ice cream cones ,and looked in the shops. That was quite a bit of walking for Dad so we went home so he could nap. Emily and Michael took grandma Joyce down to the beach. The rest of us napped and read until time to eat dinner. After dinner we had a yummy birthday carrot cake Joyce had bought for an early celebration of James and Johns b-days which are next week.



Sunday the boys took grandpa across the road to the woods to shoot BB guns . Joyce and I sat on the porch and drank coffee and enjoyed the view. They headed for home around 11 am . At little later the family went to a soup fellowship lunch at our Sunday School teachers house. They were glad we made it since we didn't go to church earlier in the day. We had a nice time getting to know everyone. There were some really yummy soups too!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Scottie part 2

This is one of Scottie's B-day presents . Now that we are back in the NW John wants to take the boys hunting again. We will have to see if they can find the time. The next two pictures are from the lip sync contest Scott was in at his school on his b-day. He did a good job. Sorry the pictures are not very good! I can't remember the song title. I think it was a Muse song. He likes Muse alot! All the kids did a good job. It was a fundraiser for the class of 2010.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Scottie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTTIE!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!
Today 16 years ago at 4:20 am, my first born came into this world!! The day I offically became a Mommy! I can't believe he is 16 already! How time flies! He came into this world at 7lb11oz and 19 1/2" and is now a strapping 6'2", 210lb man child. He is an amazing young man, full of creativity and imagination, loving ,respectful, and smart! He blesses our family daily!!

I wanted to post some baby pictures of him but I am not able to figure it out for some reason. I scanned them in but they would not post.I'll keep trying!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET SCOTTIE!!!!!!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Bonding



My parents were here for a visit this past week. We had a great visit!! One of the special things about the visit is that my Mom was able to do some bonding with Emily. Because we have lived so far away for almost 7yrs. ( she was 8mos old when we moved away) Emily has not been able to be around my parents much. My boys all were around them more when they were little. Anyway Emily is kind of in a shy stage right now also and so it has been hard for us to get her to interact well with others. This week she had some quality time with Grandma and I think we turned a corner. They read together every night and Mom did some sewing for her. The activity she really enjoyed was planting flowers and strawberries. I am glad they had so much fun doing this!!

Monday, April 07, 2008

Baby Heros

I saw the following article today on Focus of the Family web site. Anyway my baby making days are over but if I were still having babies this is something I would do. Donating cord blood or saving it was not an option when I was having babies. At least it was not an option readily offered, I never heard about it then, but it is now becoming much more popular and well known.

Anyway just though I'd share this! Enjoy!


by Sherry Graf

No parent forgets bringing a child into the world. I remember feeling elated to be a part of the miracle of new life. As I held each of my children for the first time, I knew that they, too, only minutes old, were potentially giving life to someone else. Months before they were born, my husband and I decided to donate their umbilical-cord blood, which is a rich source of stem cells.

Those stem cells could save someone’s life.

1. Donating umbilical-cord blood is a small way to take a stand against embryonic stem-cell research. Though we couldn’t stop researchers from destroying embryos at the local university, we could show our community there is another way to treat diseases. More than 70 diseases are being successfully treated with cord-blood stem cells. Researchers have been unable to do the same with embryonic stem cells. In fact, there has yet to be a single human disease successfully treated with embryonic stem cells.

2. It is free and easy to donate. Before delivering our baby, we completed some medical history forms to ensure the cells would be safe to use in research. Minutes after the delivery, my husband cut the cord and the doctor collected the blood using a kit provided by the company receiving the donation. Then we contacted the company to pick up the donation and a sample of my blood from the hospital.

3. Cord-blood stem cells provide hope for patients suffering from life-altering disease. The company we chose to receive the donation registered the stem cells on several international donor lists. We are excited that someone can have hope for a cure because of a simple, painless procedure done in the delivery room.

At my post-delivery checkup, I gave my doctor a stack of brochures on donating umbilical cord blood, hoping she would inform other patients of this option. After delivering my second son, I sent another brochure to the doctor who delivered him because she was interested in learning about donations. I also wrote an article for my church newsletter, and I share my experience when friends become pregnant.

This journey started as one way I could take a stand against the destruction of young human life for research. It ended with the birth of two boys who I hope someday will be somebody’s little heroes.

Sherry Graf is a mother of two in South Dakota.