Day in Portland - Cancer Update

The most important directive when you have a rare cancer is to find a specialist who sees many patients with your type of cancer.  I have such a doctor in Portland.  I've been seeing him every 6 months for a checkup which includes blood work and an ultrasound.  In May when I made my next appointment, I had no idea that I would be living in Eagle, Idaho in December, so rather than a quick drive to OHSU, this appointment meant a flight to Portland for the day.

My 6:00 a.m. flight was on time and I got on the TriMet train at the airport.  Cheap, efficient and very easy!   It's extra cheap for 'honored citizens' like me....that is a nicer term than senior citizens although it still just means OLD!

 The train whisked me to downtown Portland where a city bus took me to the lower campus of OHSU. 

 From there it was an easy trip on the tram to the main hospital where my doctor's office is located.  Yes it was raining! 

I had plenty of time for a hot chocolate before my ultrasound and office visit with Dr. Madison.  And it was, drum roll please....

My calcitonin, which is the marker they use to see if there is spread of the disease, has actually gone down a little bit and my ultrasound showed nothing unusual.  I still have cancer but for now it is behaving itself.  Yeah!!!!

I'll have more blood work in Boise in six months .  He suggested that my next appointment should be in a year but I talked him into letting me come in September instead.  Flights are cheaper.  Calendars aren't as full. I have the option of driving since there won't be snow on the mountain passes.  And September in Portland is beautiful.  

On this visit I got to enjoy lunch with a few of my good friends.  One of them even took time out of her busy schedule to take me back to the airport.  Next visit we already have a lunch scheduled at Skamania Lodge with our friends the Helmandollars...I'm envisioning other dinners with friends and a visit to Lakeridge Ward on Sunday.

Now all I have to do is ENJOY CHRISTMAS!  That is going to be easy and fun!

Christmas Cookies - It's a Tradition

I've made Christmas cookies for as long as I can remember.  I loved having my little children 'help' me.  We shared our tradition with our neighbors in Spain, went through a time of 'surly' teenagers who only grudgingly helped, and now it is a firm Lewis Family tradition.

I was happy that Monica asked me to help her bake cookies to take to her friends.  Argentina must be a lot like Spain where a family would think nothing of cooking an elaborate meal with multiple courses, but would go to the bakery for dessert.

This was the first time she had ever baked and she was a natural!

Our little helper Isabella enjoyed the tradition too. 

When we were done we had 7 beautiful plates of cookies ready for Monica's closest friends to enjoy her new skill! 

They tasted as good as they looked.

Friday night after Scott was in Eagle, we continued the tradition with a family cookie decorating session.  I had to laugh when Matt said that a friend asked him to come over and he said, "No I can't.  We are having a family cookie decorating night."  He said his friend laughed but I am glad those boys decided to stay home and be with us.  They are master cookie decorators! 

Monica and John had fun too.  Monica has been hiding her artistic talents! 

Isabella was really into it too...looking at the photos you will soon know her very favorite part! I think we would designate her as our taste tester. 

 She loved the sprinkles or as she said, "wrinkles".  Every time she said, "More wrinkles please", it made me laugh!

Aren't Grandmas and Grandpas supposed to hype their grandkids up on sugar and then send them home to bed?  I think it is in the job description!

Ward Party

When a member of the Bishopric comes to visit just after you've moved into a new place, you know that some kind of assignment is coming.  For us it was a request to head the 7th Ward Christmas Dinner.  I don't think either of us were too excited but it turned out great.

We decided to try out a new recipe that was delicious as well as festive.  Cherry Beef Brisket - after cooking the brisket you add a can of cherry pie filling.  Yes cherry pie filling!  Absolutely delicious!  With rice and salads and rolls and lots of desserts it was yummy!

For our theme we choose, "Wise Men Still Seek Him". 

Decorations were easy.  We hung stars on the walls and displayed a large nativity scene.   Thanks to Matt's skill with wood each of the 25 tables had a beautiful wooden base upon which to display a unique collection of 'Wise Men.'  More stars made it all look very 'put together'! 

A framed copy of our theme completed the decorations.

A short musical program ended the evening.  I loved that Isabella insisted on coming up to the front when the children came up to sing.  She didn't know the song but she looked cute and did a little interpretative dance to "Away In A Manger".

And when the 'three kings' came she was enthralled with them. Children add such fun to Christmas!

Story Time

One of the activities I was most looking forward to after our move back to Eagle was taking Isabella to story time!  We've made it a weekly activity and all 3 of us seem to enjoy the outing.  At first Isabella was not sure if she really wanted to listen to the stories or sing when there were lots of toys in other areas of the library but she is finally starting to get the hang of it and sometimes listens and participates.  I love the attitude of the librarian who says, "The most important thing is that she enjoys coming to the library."  And she does, even if she doesn't sit and listen to every story!

Sometimes Isabella is interested in the books. 

And sometimes Isabella loves the songs!

This librarian has a sweet way of interacting with our strong willed little girl!  Here they are trying to decide on a song that Isabella DOES want to sing.  Most of the ones suggested she was adamant that she did not want to sing.  She has a mind of her own! 

A favorite is picking out books to take home.  Although 'going home' is not popular.  After our very first story time, I needed to go to Costco so Monica and Isabella went with me.  Now she thinks we should go to Costco for pizza after every story time.  Her memory is amazing!  As we leave she always says, "Goodbye Library.  See you tomorrow." 

Old Friends

I have to admit that the thought of decorating the house for Christmas was not appealing to me at all.  I had just barely finished going through boxes and putting things on shelves, a LOT OF THINGS!  Delving into the mountain of boxes labeled "Christmas" did not seem like a fun way to pass my time but since it is Christmas and my family does like the decorations, I dove in!  And it was surprisingly fun!  Really like meeting old friends since most things had been stored here in Eagle for the last 8 years!

I am so glad that I decided to decorate.  Although I know that Christmas isn't about 'things', these much loved items are so full of memories and joy that they definitely bring the right spirit!

First my beautiful Catalan nativity set...how I love it and what sweet memories it brings of shopping in Barcelona near the cathedral each Christmas.

Then my Christmas Pyramid from Germany.  I remember buying this and being so excited.  See the 4 Santas in sleeping bags?  When I bought them, each of them reminded me of one of the children in some way.  Isabella loves them and spent a lot of time telling them good night while putting them in their blankets. 

And the Italian nativity that my parents bought in Sicily when I was 6 years old.  Wow!  It will soon be 60 years old!  When my mother gave it to me our kids were young and she told me that I was to let them play with it because she let me play with it.  I followed her council and it was a favorite during the holidays.  I remember one year when I looked at it to see that the stable was under attack from GI Joes!  Now Isabella can play with it!  Hanging above it is one of the banners my mother made and I've inherited. 

I also inherited this beautiful tablecloth that my Aunt Mary made.  She made it for my mother but now it is mine and I think it is just stunning.  That's my mother's centerpiece on top.

Each sequin is hand sewn and there are many, many sequins.  What a labor of love!  I am so lucky to have it. 

There are some 'new friends' among the old in my nativity collection.  I need more shelves! 

A recent favorite is this one from Kenya.  Love the very typical African tree.

And this one from Madagascar complete with baobab trees and a lemur or two! 

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

Thankful that Scott surprised me and flew over for the weekend

Thankful for Matt and George for making that happen

Thankful that I have the beautiful china my Daddy brought back from occupied Japan and the silver that was my mothers.

Thankful that John, Monica and Isabella came over the celebrate with us

Thankful that we get to enjoy our adult children and our granddaughter

Thankful that all the food tasted wonderful.

Thankful that Isabella loves turkey and mashed potatoes.

Thankful that Monica is a wonderful mother to our precious, little granddaughter

Thankful that Johnny took over the job of baking rolls and had great success.  The torch is passed!

Thankful that Monica is adapting so well to our distinctive American traditions.

Thankful that George did the dishes!

Thankful for games of Uno and Apples to Apples. 

Thankful for all the 'stuff' I've collected over the years.

Thankful for all my 'stuff' that makes Thanksgiving even more fun!

Thankful for Matt's help in putting all of the 'stuff' away!

Thankful for jumping!

Thankful that even though Isabella started the day dressed adorably with a ribbon in her hair.  She ended it a wild jumping Tarzan!

Thankful that Mary and Mark have their cute little bundle of joy.  Because he is a foster baby we can't show his face so you'll just have to trust me that he has squeezable chubby little face and an adorable smile.

Thankful that Mary and Mark could celebrate Thanksgiving with Mark's wonderful family since they can't be here with us.

Thankful for Thanksgiving - a holiday that makes us pause to remember all our many blessings.

Goblin Valley on Halloween

What better place to spend Halloween than - Goblin Valley!

There are definitely some spooky looking rock formations. 

Goblin Valley is a Utah State Park and it was not crowded at all on this Halloween Day.

 The hiking was quite an adventure. 

We explored this wash and made our own trail.  There was no danger of getting lost since we had some unusual rock formations to mark where we had started.   

I loved walking on these narrow, sandy trails at the bottom of the canyon. 

This desert lizard didn't seem at all bothered by the paparazzi!  He was just soaking up some rays. 

A longer hike took us around behind the rock formations to see the "Goblin's Lair". 

The Goblin's Lair looked very "Lord of the Rings-ish."  I could picture the goblins up there throwing boulders down on us! 

Great last stop before we started back to Boise.

The drive to Provo was also an adventure.  We listened to our GPS which decided to play a trick on us and took us on a crazy drive on what was barely a road.  At one point the GPS didn't even think it was a road!  No worries though as we made it to Provo to spend the night with Tammy and Richard and then home the next day.  I love making memories!