Trip to California

We had a whirlwind week of fun in California last week. We drove out to Anaheim on Thursday, went to Disneyland on Friday, went to a wedding in LA on Saturday, took Eric to the airport on Sunday (poor guy had to fly home to work), drove to San Diego to be with my family, went to Sea World, the beach, and reunited with old friends. It was a packed week, but we had a blast. Here are some highlights!

As we were leaving the park, we tried to get a pic in front of Aurora's castle, but somehow the castle was omitted from the photo. At least everyone was still smiling after 12 hours of Disneyland fun!
The whole Borgquist clan, even Erika flew in from DC to go to D-land with us.
The sisters plus Paige and Andrew (they are 6 months apart, but Andrew is way bigger)

The only picture we got with a character was this one. Where are all the characters these days? My kids were disappointed not to see more.

I love that Disney doesn't have lame ride restrictions. My kids were able to go on everything except Indiana Jones and even Paige rode a lot of rides. Logan even braved Space Mountain, but he still talks about how it was so fast and dark so I think it kind of freaked him out.
My dad and the kids the day after Disneyland when we relaxed at the hotel. That afternoon my parents took my kids to SD while Eric and I drove to LA for a wedding.
Eric's co-resident at Temple, Ina Kim, was married at the Grand Wilshire hotel. It was beautiful and we were so glad to reconnect with all the other residents.

More of the Temple endo crew.

After Eric flew back to GJ, the kids and I spent a few days in San Diego. Sea World was at the top of their list of things to do. Paige really loved all the animals, it was really hard for me to get her to take her eyes off this seal!

She loved the starfish too!
The boys and their cousin, Morgan. I could never get Zack to agree to be in a picture with them!
We had an awesome view of the polar bear and even got to see him swim!
We went to the beach, but sadly it was not very warm! I kept my tank on the whole time because it was never hot enough take it off, and way too cold to brave the water! I met up with my good friend, Lisa, and her 3 kids who just happened to be in San Diego for a couple days on their trip from New Zealand back to Wisconsin. How random is that?
It was great being with my sisters and my kids cousins, I wish we could do this everyday!
Paige loved the beach and surprisingly only ate sand a couple times! I was worried it would be in her mouth constantly since her favorite activity at home is getting in the garden to eat dirt!
Paige loved her cousin Andrew and would talk in the cutest voice to him. She loved to cuddle him and give him squeezes. It's rare that we see her being gentle, so we enjoyed seeing this side of her when she was around Andrew.

Whew! That was long, but I didn't want to leave out any of the fun. Now we just have to figure out when we are going back, and I find myself asking, "Why in the world do I live in Grand Junction?" I guess because I love my hubby!

Survivor Man

Yesterday was a very emotional day. I was driving home from San Diego when Eric called to tell me that he had part of the results of his bone marrow biospy - NO SIGNS OF LYMPHOMA!!! His sample is still being tested further, but the initial histological report indicates that Eric is CANCER FREE. We are so happy and so relieved to have this news. For so many months we have tried our best to be positive and look to the future with hope and optimism, but now we feel certain that all will be well.

The icing on the cake yesterday was that I was registered to participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. In the opening ceremony, they have survivors wear purple shirts and walk a lap as people cheer for them. When I asked Eric months ago if he wanted to be part of that lap, he told me no. But yesterday I was able to convince him to join the survivors and together as a family we walked the victory lap. I was so proud to see him in that purple shirt and had to fight back tears the whole time.
He stayed with me for a couple hours and then left to take the kids home to bed while I walked laps most of the night in symbolism of the endless fight against cancer. I raised $815 towards cancer research, way over my goal of $100. Thank you to everyone who supported me!
I was part of a team of women who all had loved ones who had suffered with cancer. Our team was called A League of Their Own (the ACS theme this year was movies), thus the baseball jersey like shirts. We had a great time walking together and sharing our experiences with cancer.
There was also a Illuminari ceremony to recognize the lives claimed by cancer. White bags lit by candles lined the track that we walked. I made one for my grandmother who is currently suffering from lung cancer. She is not going through chemotherapy and we know that she does not have much more time.

So when my legs were tired of walking, I thought of her struggles. I thought of Eric and the pain he endured for 8 long months. I thought of Eric's cousin Kelsey, who at the young age of 21 was just diagnosed with testicular cancer. I thought of my uncle Chuck who is waiting to hear if his prostate cancer is in remission. And I prayed that the money raised yesterday would go towards the creation of many more miracle drugs, like the drugs that made my husband a Survivor Man.

Good News!

I just returned from Eric's appointment to review his PET-CT scan, and am so glad to tell everyone that there is no evidence of his once rampant tumors! All his abdominal organs are back to normal size and appear to be free of disease. Although we are celebrating this news, we still have to wait for a bone marrow biopsy to see if the cancer is completely gone. The biopsy will be on June 16th.

What now? If the biopsy comes back negative (free of disease), he will start his Rituxan maintenance therapy which consists of getting 4 doses (one each week) of Rituxan every 6 months for 2 years. He will also get blood work and PET scans every 3 moths to check for new growth. If the biopsy comes back positive, he will need a bone marrow transplant.

We are so happy to share this good news and know the Lord has answered prayers. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders today and it is a good feeling! Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern and love for our family during these difficult months. We feel so blessed to have such caring friends and family who were praying for us - thank you!

Bring on the chocolate cake...it's time to celebrate!

The Good Life

We just returned from Mexico and wish we were still there! We were gone four days, which was really too short with all the travel time. But those four days were fabulous! We didn't do anything but read, sleep, swim, and eat and we enjoyed every second of it!





After we returned from Mexico, we had a couple days to spend with my parents before they flew back to CA. We went to a place called Rifle Falls about an hour from our house and were really impressed with it. There were 3 big waterfalls and paths that led you both behind and above the falls. There were also a lot of caves for the boys to explore, which they loved.






It was a perfect week, it just went by too fast. Now we have to wait for the big day this week. The PET scan is Thursday and hopefully we'll get results Friday morning. Keep your fingers crossed!