Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving

Happy belated thanksgiving to my blog readers. I have a lot to thank for in my life. I thank God to give me such a good family and friends in my life. I think them for supporting me, fighting with me, encouraging me, praying for me and even feed me and my family. I could not have done all what i did without the supports of friends, family and coworkers! We had a great family vacation on this thanksgiving. On Thursday morning the whole family, yes including Toby and Joshua, drove to Wiscousin Dells. We stayed at the kalahari resort. The more thank 100,000 sf of indoor water and them parks kept us busy especially the kids. In the two days we stayed there, kids had a blast!. Besides riding all the slides in the biggest indoor water park, they also did multiple rounds of wall climbing, laser tag, mini golf, rope course, go cart et al. The whole family enjoyed two rounds of bowling. Of course Dad beat all of us by a big margin! On thursday night, we enjoyed a wornderful thanksgiving buffet. It was a treat for sure. Here a few photos took from iPhone. Pictures can't capture the impressive feast. Kids said we should come here for thanksgiving every year - to form a new family tradition. Sounds like not a bad idea!....we have to think about:)
deserts
more deserts
my turkey plate
kids love this

more deserts

My roast beef plate

my appetizer plate

Family
On Friday morning, Bert and I drove to Mayo Clinic. It was 2/5 hrs away and an easy drive. There I finished my last Chemo!! It was all uneventful. However, I am sadly miss my chemo partner, Jeanne. She started chemo two weeks before me. Unfortunately she had went through infections first on her finer nails and now on her toes. She now ended up at least two weeks behind. I pray for her. I know how frustrated to have speed pump on the road. But Jean, can you see the light at the end of the tunnel already? Keep up your good spirit!!

So we celebrated with food and fun!
salad and pizza

desrts

salad bar

my salad plate

my main plate

a section of buffet table

Toby and Jenny having fun

Toby and Jenny

one of many phots of Jenni

Lefty handed Anna

Lefty handed Josh

proud to have a strike?

Yeah, that is definitely a strike!

Three men in my life - Love you all dearly!!

Lefty handed Toby

Dad smashed us!

Mom without passing the line

Goof around

Jenni on the wall

Anna and Toby on the wall

Toby on the wall

Anna on the wall

Jenni on the Rope course

Josh and Jenni on the rope course

Got a lot of huges from my kids:)

First family photo

Dad goof around

yeah, another family photo!

Scaring Josh? not really

Anna and Toby


Floating on the lazy river, but I think they make it not so lazy

group ride

floating on the lazy rive

The expressions from Toby and Jenni after they came out the biggest drop slides

Departing the Resorts - We had a great time!!
We left the resorts on Saturday morning. We then met with Wesses in Chicago for some Chicago dogs and burgers before heading home. It was a great getaway and celebration of my last chemo.

Pre-operative tests in one week. Then we will know my surgery plans! Can't wait!!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Small things make big difference in life

Small things can make a huge difference in life. For example, eye lashed and nose hairs, who would think they are important! Because of the side effect of chemo, I lost most of my eye lashes and nose hairs. That is when I realize how important they are in my life. Without these hairs, you would have to deal with constant running nose and tears!! I now wonder what facial hair actually does. It must have a purpose too that I believe I just have not figured it out yet. I think I will have more appreciation for my hairs when they return. I miss having full head of hair to keep me warm in the cold and isolate me from the heat under the sun. I miss nose hairs that would give me protection. I felt silly constantly sucking my nose in or blowing it out. I miss my eye lashes that keep dirts out of my eyes and keep my eyes from running like a water fountain and sparkling from the tear drops. I think police would stop me and give me tickets if they know my tear prevent me seeing the road. I don't miss my other bodily hair yet, but I am sure in an unusual situations, I may find their purposes. It makes your wonder how great God is to create us perfectly.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Happy Birthday, Udo!

Last Friday when I had my second last chemo was my brother in law Udo's birthday. Udo had been with us for 6 weeks helping us talking care of the girls and light house work. He was a great helper. He just left today back to Germany. I hope he will come again in December. We don't always have a chance to celebrate his birthday on his birthday in person so it is quite special for all of us.
Udo's birthday cake
Chemo went uneventfully on Friday. Although my blood counts were low which were the contributing factor for my fatique, it was low enough to require treament or stop chemo. Chemo is a way how I fight with this cancer so I must say that I am looking forward to every one of them. One more to go!!
administrating the "red devil"

"I love chemo" made from the pretzel I was eating while doing chemo
Thanks to my friends for your continuing encouragements and supports. Especially thanks to Sheila and Shelley for the wonderful dinner on Friday and Saturday. They are wonderfully delicious!

Meat Balls

Salad

Scalloped potatoes

dinner roll and brownie (not photoed)
Magarita! Non-acoholic

Enchiladas

Mexican Rice

Beans

Cherry Pie