Greg's Surgical Update

Huntsman Cancer Institute is situated atop of mountain overlooking the Salt Lake Valley.  There are large windows here in the family waiting room.  It is beautiful...no, it was beautiful this morning.  Right now it is a little hazy, but I cannot wait to see the sunset!  Each floor is open to the lobby where someone is playing a grand piano - we have had a very comfortable day here.

Hospitals - I am doing fine as long as I stay busy.  I have had schoolwork and a phone call with Mark to keep my mind occupied.  I think that David and I have single-handedly cleaned out the snack basket... eating helps also.  Once I found myself thinking of Greg and surgery and I went light headed and remembered to think of other things.  ...I think that Greg shared some blog-type thoughts recently... need to check the email...

Here is what I found from Greg:

As I walked into the hospital the other day I remembered how I when I was little, going to the hospital meant Mom was having a baby. Whenever we would go to the hospital I only saw Moms with babies, and old people. So I figured you were in the hospital to be born or to be old and sick and die. Kids don't go to the hospital, they go to the doctor to get shots. Plus why would the hospital have to be so big if there are only two groups of people in there (old people and moms) 

We would also go to the doctor when the kids are sick. We would go out to the doctor we liked in Tigard when the other doctor was closed, midnight emergencies. 

I am now surprised to the opposite effect. There are people who don't know how to navigate a hospital or doctors office. They don't know how to get blood drawn, or what tests show what results. Or the basic parts of the body like lymph nodes. 

Its actually an exciting thing to have surgery. It's like a cure all. Go to sleep for a while and then wake up with all the bad parts gone and a week or two of recovery and voila! You're better. 

Well, let's hope that he will be better with those bad parts gone.  Who would have thought that my children would be such experts around the hospital...  I used to love hospitals.  That is why I went into nursing.  I used to love just driving by...  I cannot say that I love them so much anymore, but I love all of these people who take such good care of my family.

 His surgeon came and told us that all had gone well.  We were expecting four hours and it took about 2.5.  She said that they were able to take out the tumor, the lymph nodes and plenty of other tissue to get nice wide margins.  It continues to amaze me that this was all done with laproscopic technology.  Of course they needed an incision to remove the tumor, but it sounds like it was only 2 inches or so.

Laparoscopy was one of the good things that we have learned.  Another was that Greg has an extra section of intestine there in his sigmoid colon (this is where the tumor had grown) and so they could take all that they needed and still have plenty to stitch (or staple actually) back together.  This makes a big difference in recovery.

Well - we are now up in Greg's room.  He is having severe lower back pain.  Probably some of the worst pain I have seen him experience - it is frustrating to not be able to do more.  They just set him up with a heat pad and he has been able to relax enough to fall asleep.  Well - at least close his eyes and relax a bit.  His incision is causing no trouble at all.  He is, of course, polite and kind in his discomfort... knowing it will pass and wishing it would hurry.

I am getting texts asking for updates.  I will publish this blog and update again later...

The Red Badge of Courage

Hmmm, I recently learned that my sweet husband doesn't read my blog, he just looks at the pictures...  So here I am in Utah with my little "school" computer.  The only photos available are family history related... I wonder....  That's really just fine, because he has to live with me and listen to all of my musings each day...

David and I drove to Utah yesterday - it is about 13 hours to my parents' home in Payson.  We arrived 45 minutes ahead of schedule due to dry roads and weather so cold that we didn't even exercise at the rest areas.  (But hey - how about those gas prices!!)  There is a good-size pile of school work for David to do each day, and a car trip was not an excuse to skip school - so we listened to his American Literature book, The Red Badge of Courage.  We had been working together on this over the past couple of weeks.  He was having a hard time getting into the story.  I hadn't read it before, and had to agree that it was not exactly captivating...  so I agreed to read it aloud.  That was kind of a drag for me... so we agreed that on the way to Utah we would listen to it and he would follow along, stopping after each chapter to record a summary.

Two of my soldiers

The Red Badge of Courage is narrated by a talented reader who did a much better job with the southern drawl than I had accomplished.  We both enjoyed the story after all.  A young boy is excited to join the army and fight in the Civil War.  The battle of Chancellorville is the setting.  In a nutshell, the boy wonders how he will handle the battle... will he be brave enough to stay and fight?  An initial burst of excitement in fighting is followed by an cowardly retreat, and then another act of cowardice as he runs from a dying man.  His excuses run out and he begins to feel shame... wishing for a "red badge of courage" - a wound that will prove his bravery.  He gets his wish and is grazed by a bullet in the head.  His regiment greets him with respect rather than the derision he expected, and he goes on to perform acts of bravery.  He is commended by the officers, but he still battles with his initial cowardice...

Photos were always a
traumatic time.  Usually
both sets of eyes were red.

Much of the book focuses on his anticipation of what is to come; scared of the unknown and not knowing how he will handle it.  This is followed by much self-evaluation and he responds to people and circumstances which he encounters.  I drove along with my own thoughts of battles.  As I drove, I found my thoughts/words to be quite eloquent and I wanted to share them.  Tonight I am preparing for bed with thoughts of our own upcoming battle and I am not feeling quite so talented with my words as I felt yesterday... oh well, I will try to remember...

Life was so simple...

Life is so full of battles!  On Monday afternoon, while I should have been packing, I indulged myself in a nice long visit with a friend instead.  We discussed life and its challenges.  I am aware of many of her challenges, and she is aware of many of mine... alright, anyone reading this is aware of our ongoing war and current battle with cancer.  I want to say this... discussing them does not make me discouraged.  Not at all.  Like a soldier facing a formidable enemy, I am pumped and ready - and I want my friend to feel like I do... that we CAN face these things.  We MUST face them with courage.  As we spoke I saw again the big picture... that life here on earth is full of challenges, but overcoming them can bring us strength and joy.  At the end of this life, I want to look back and know that I did my best.
If I say this on every blog post... I cannot say it enough...  There is a God in Heaven, and we are his children.  He will NOT leave us alone.  He loves us and wants to help us.  He also wants us to make our own choices, and would not force himself upon us. He wants us to turn to him and ask. He wants to be part of our lives and get us through these rough times.
If you are reading this, you have probably read my other posts.  You will know that I am a seasoned veteran of the Battle of Childhood Cancer.  I know it feels to pray and receive help.  I know how it feels to have friends, neighbors, coworkers, friends I haven't seen in 30 years and people that I have never met pray for our family.  I often describe to others as a prayer bubble in which I feel peace and strength.  It is so humbling, and I am so deeply grateful.

Soldiers should not go into battle unprepared.  They learn and they train, even during times of peace.  To be close to our Lord we need to also learn and train, even in times of peace.  Learn to be like him and train to know how to call upon him.
We (our family) will face tomorrow's surgery with faith.  We pray for Greg's recovery, but also his spiritual strength and well being.  We pray for his surgeon and oncologist.  The surgery is one step, followed by the stress of waiting for the tumor to be analyzed and staged... then we will know what the chemo situation will be.
We march to battle praying to face the enemy with courage.
Remember, times may be hard, but they do not have to be bad...

Mark and his brother, Danny

...now to find a few pictures for Mark...

Alright, I just have to explain that I found a few young "brother" photos.  Since I have been using this blog as a sort of journal supplement during times that I rarely write in my bedside journal, I will explain.  Today David and I met Greg, Nathan and Jackie on campus and then went to  gather with my parents in the little house in Provo where Mark and I lived as students.  (My mother-in-law still owns it.)  The boys played together as very young boys here, and today I was privileged to sit and listen as Nathan prayed so beautifully in behalf of Greg.  Afterward they embraced and I experienced every emotion that a mother is entitled to feel.  How could I not feel joy?

Stick Together! 100 Years of Family Night

I love this photo!  My one-week-old baby, Kimberly, is nestled in my neck and my other babies are gathered around.  Could anyone be happier?  We are all holding a stick because  I had just finished teaching them about the strength that our family has when we "stick together."   If we hold a single stick and try to break it - of course it snapped in two very easily.  When we put eight sticks together... unbreakable.  Just like our family - on our own we are weak, together we are unbreakable.

Why would a one-week-postpartum-mother-of-six take the time to gather the family for a lesson?  In the words of Tevya, "It's TRADITION!!" (Fiddler on the Roof, of course).   Just by looking at this photo I know it is a Monday night.  Moreover, I know that the children are smiling because as soon as Mom's lesson is over we are all going to eat a treat.  Hopefully Dad bought some ice cream...

The Armor of God

2015 marks 100 years of Family Night Tradition!  in 1915, when most families spent most of their evenings together anyway, our church leaders requested that families set aside one night a week to be together; to sing, learn, play, etc.  They promised that families would be closer, siblings would get along better, children would be more obedient, etc.  At some point in the 1960's, as society was getting so "busy," Monday night was reserved for families.

Mark and I both grew up in families that observed this tradition.  Even when my family didn't have an actual lesson or activity, we were together.  Friends could be with us, but we didn't split up to go to friends' homes.  One summer afternoon I got a call from a boy I liked - he asked me to go to the movie with him that night... it was a Monday!  I chose family first.  Haha, he knew I didn't go to movies on Sunday, but when I told him I couldn't go out on Monday either, I am sure he thought I was making it up to avoid him (not true, but that's ok now).  I guess I could have taken the rest of the family along.  I have also learned that both sets of my grandparents honored the Family Night tradition to one degree or another.

Manners are Magic
Those slips of paper (drawn
from a hat) have good
manner situations to practice.

Family Home Evening is the official title for our Monday night activities.  It has evolved and changed in our little family.  As newlyweds we didn't do much on our own, but at least once a month we would join a cute little group of widowed ladies and take turns teaching lessons, telling stories, making treats, whatever.  I don't remember how well we did when Nathan and Greg were babies, but by the time Jacqueline came along we never missed, and we had such fun times!  Toward the end of 1997 I started taking photos each week and recording what we did.  Sometimes we played games, sometimes we went hiking, sometimes we filled our home with friends... but we were always together.  We made assignment charts with jobs like conduct the meeting(fun for kids), choose a song, lead an activity, teach a lesson, say the prayer, make a treat.  Tracking the photos history it is easy to see that with each child I became less organized.  I think there is one photo of David as a baby, and then a few with all six of them.  Nevertheless, we persisted - our Monday night tradition rarely wavers... we just don't take photos anymore.  I will see if there are some fun ones to post.

Noah's Ark

This is on my mind because I have been working on scanning the photographs/summaries.  I LOVE THEM!  How fun to watch the kids grow - how fun to see how they contributed to make the evenings special.  The title of my book is "Experiment Upon the Word" - because this is what we did.  We were taught to have Family Home Evening, we believed that it would benefit our family, and so we began the Family Home Evening  Experiment - though we didn't really realize it at the time.  What I did know is that my children were precious, and I would make every effort I could to raise them to love one another and love the Lord.

Chocolate Frosting?

Mark flew to Salt Lake City on business today.  He went a few hours early so that he could drive to Provo and see the three kids before his meetings.  He will not be there for Greg's surgery, so he was pleased to be able to visit beforehand.

I think Greg made a game for us to play.

 I have not heard the full report, but I am quite sure he did not leave them without offering a prayer/blessing together.   We are not perfect, but we do love each other.  Regular and consistent family night has paid off.  The experiment works! We have learned to stick together.

Quick cancer update - Greg is feeling fine and in great spirits.  He has dropped down to 6 credits so that he can keep his job.  He will meet with the disability office next week to discuss the rest of the semester.  It is tricky to come up with a list of accommodations when you don't really know what the future holds...

Storytelling and Our Relationship to Happy

Here we go again!

Lori, my sister, and I have been talking about telling stories.  Currently we are both working on getting a second degree - this time we are in the same program and it is fun.  We returned to school last fall (online of course) at BYUI to get an AA degree in Family History Research.  I have a lot to say about this, but right now I am writing about storytelling.  She sent me this link, Storyteller, which is a man named Donald Davis.  He is a storyteller...

The video tells the story of his papa who swung a sharp little axe right into his 5 yr-old knee cap and became crippled.  At 5 yrs-old his Mama told him to tell her the story.  He didn't want to tell the story because it wouldn't change anything.  "You are not telling the story to change what happened," she replied, "you are telling the story to change YOU."
She had him repeat the story over the years, each time with a different agenda.
"Tell the story and tell what you learned from living through it."
"Tell the story and tell what you think your parents learned from living through it."

When life gives you rocks.....

"Tell the story and tell what you think the doctors in Atlanta learned from living through it."
She explained that if he didn't tell the story enough he would be 50 years old, and each time he looked at his knee he would be five again and pitiful.
"Tell the story and tell what you get to do that your brothers don't get to do."  (Stay inside and read while they did the farm work.)
By the time he was 15 he felt that chopping his leg was the best thing that he had ever done.

More of Mama's wisdom: When something happens to you, it sits on you like a rock.  If you don't tell your story, it sits on you forever.  Telling your story helps you climb out from under the rock until eventually you climb up on top of it.

 The story doesn't change what happened to you.  The story has the power to change our whole relationship to Happy.

Most rocks are beautiful.

He is a southern man with a charming accent.  I loved it when he said "our whole relationship to Happy."  Using "Happy as a noun" is great - I made it a proper noun just for fun.  He may actually have used a different word that I understood to be "Happy" and I am keeping it because I like it that much.
As I reflected on storytelling this week, my own story took a little twist.  Actually it was one of those steep drop-offs.  I know from experience that it seems to be bottomless, but there is a bottom - or maybe several ledge along the way.  And then... you climb your way out.  For me it is true that telling the story helps me to climb up.  If what the storyteller's mama says it true - a rock just fell on us, and now we need to climb on top it.  It kind of seems that we are in a bit of a hailstorm of rocks lately - we just begin to climb and another lands on top.... I am envisioning those rock stacks that Mark enjoys creating.

When Kimberly is bored at
piano lessons....

Yesterday afternoon Greg returned to Salt Lake City for more testing.  Mark and I were in Portland at a meeting, but not sitting next to each other.  At one point I had the distinct impression that Greg had just been told he had cancer.  I felt this so strongly that I fought the urge to look at my watch - I didn't want to be rude, but I wanted to confirm the time.  Afterward Mark told me that he had the same feeling; rather than looking at his watch, he glanced at me and knew I was having the same experience.  It was confirmed as I called our doctor.
We have one of those amazing and rare doctors who gives us his cell phone number and asks us to please call him.  He was at home, but took all the time we needed to discuss our new situation and options.  So here we go...
Greg has cancer.  It is not related to his past osteosarcoma (phew), nor to the treatment he received.  There is not a huge rush for treatment, but surgery needs to happen ASAP because of the size of the abdominal tumor.  As I sit here typing I got a text that it has been set for the 22nd of January.  This is actually a week later than I expected, so we have more time to plan.  I will plan to be there, and I believe that Mark has business meetings in Salt Lake around that time as well.  He will have a couple of weeks to recover before beginning chemotherapy.

Why I tell my story....

We don't have chemo information yet.  The biopsy was completed after hours last night, so there was no staging, etc.  Also, Li Fraumeni tumors don't obey the rules and often need treatments to be changed from what the normal population would receive.  The wonderful thing that they keep reassuring us is that he previous cancer, osteosarcoma, is very intense; and the treatment he had to undergo was even more so - so this will not compare.  It is serious, and it will not be fun - but we have a couple weeks to prepare.
Greg is scurrying to make decisions about school.  He was looking forward to completing his prerequisites to get into a business program (no more pre-med).  That will have to wait another semester, but we think that it is important to his psyche to keep doing
something.  Hopefully this will mean a class or two and keeping hours at work.  He had a week to prepare for this news - and he used it well to get over the discouragement.  He will be entering this adventure with a positive attitude, and  that will continue his positive relationship to Happy.

Cancer, Christmas & Cupcake Wars

We almost hosted a Christmas Party.... almost.  That is, we thought of the idea - Mark actually suggested it and I actually thought that we could pull it off.  We were both aware of being on the path back to normal.  Especially after our kids' clean scans in November.  There is a sense of getting our heads above water, breathing normally and especially feeling...  Feeling.... I had an image of myself as a tree that is budding in the springtime.  Still alive through the winter, but now just about to return to a more beautiful and productive state of being.  Feeling the sunshine, wind and rain with an enlivened sense of being.
We weren't quite there - but on our way.  It felt great...
sidenote:  We aren't exactly hermits - we tend to have people at our house quite often and always enjoy it... but it is different than it used to be.
Back to the current story -
The Sunday before Christmas... our congregation was full - the college kids were home!  Mostly.  My three college kids would not be home for a couple days because they each had an appointment at Huntsman Cancer Institute on Monday.  Nathan was being tested for Li Fraumeni Syndrome (he was in the Philippines while everyone else was doing this), Jackie needed an MRI of her liver (follow up from November) and Greg was there to hear the results of his MRI from the week before.
Monday - It was strange to have so many children at the doctor and not be involved.  I finally got my "going good" texts from all but Greg.  The boys' appointments were in the morning, Nathan stayed with Jackie for her afternoon MRI, and Greg was asleep on the Front-Runner headed back to Provo so that he could work.  That was unfortunate because back at the hospital they were trying to find him.  They finally tracked down Nathan - he was in the MRI waiting room.  After further review of Greg's scans, along with his physical exam, they had arranged for further testing.  Obviously he was unavailable.

Here is where it got complicated - I was expecting the kids to leave Utah early the next morning to drive home.  Tuesday morning at 9:30 would set them back a few hours, but I thought it was worth it and didn't really understand Greg's refusal to wait.  His doctor was also insistent that he stay in town until they could resolve it.  Finally the doctor consulted with a colleague who said that another week would not have an impact on the situation.  I was rather unsettled with the whole situation until the next morning when Mark and I returned from a morning walk to find them home!  They had driven through the night to surprise us!  Their car was packed and they simply had to wait for Greg's shift at work to be over so they could leave.

A family (+Laura) temple trip helped
kick off our Christmas!

Back to Monday afternoon - texts and phone calls all seemed to be bringing worse and worse news.  I had been truly looking forward to the "boring year" that Natalie had predicted.  Our lives which had been budding into springtime had hit a deep freeze and I could physically feel myself slipping back into my shell.  I did not feel strong enough to face it (whatever "it" would be).  I did, however, know the way.  I had been reminded just the day before at church.  Our Bishop has spoken on Isaiah 9 - For unto us a child is born... and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God.... the Prince of Peace.  Peace is what I was seeking.  Counselor is what I needed.  Mostly I was numb.  I actually had several youth at my house for lessons on making cinnamon rolls/party.  Luckily they were entertaining themselves as I was getting the news.   By the time Mark came home we had received the "go-ahead-and-go-home" phone call, so the dark afternoon was passing.  Peace was coming.  I knew that we would be able to face whatever we were presented with.  I didn't want to, but I knew that we would.  We would be left with a great unknown through Christmas - but it was ok.
Better than ok - Christmas was wonderful.  This is the first time in four years to have all six children at home.  We were by ourselves and loved every minute.  I'll tell more later...
As I type this I am sitting at OHSU - in the waiting room with Greg while Jackie has yet another MRI.  This one is to check her spine and make sure that gruesome tumor has not returned.  We will see the doctor this afternoon and they will head back to Provo together early in the morning.  Last Wednesday she had blood drawn for her internist, but we had to cancel her appointment because they are leaving town so early.    (Having responsible kids who support themselves through college means that they have to work instead of staying to play with us.)  This wonderful doctor agreed to just call if there are any concerns - we are hopeful that these results are normalizing.  Jackie's Christmas break has been a little hospital-heavy.  We haven't heard anything about her liver so we are assuming that all is well.

The set of Cupcake Wars

Sitting with Greg, I told him that I would be blogging about our current situation and he was less than thrilled.  I am, therefore, leaving our many details.  I will just say that many friends worried that he was rather thin when he returned from his mission last summer.  Take away another 20 pounds or so - and therein lies our concern.

A "fondant" girl playing
at the beach.. My sweet
husband was surprised to find
out she was plastic - as though
we could create something
like that!

Christmas Eve was my all-time favorite.  When the children were young they would dress up and act out the nativity.  During the past few years we stopped dressing up and combined Christmas Carols with scriptures.  This year we watched the movie Silent Night on BYUTV and then sang our way through all of the Christmas Carols in our hymnal.  (It is fortunate that our children can accompany us on the piano.)  At the last minute we decided that we would take turns giving a short, impromptu devotional on the upcoming song - it was great.  One of my favorites was for "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" - it was Natalie's turn and she reminded us that we all need to "Hark" and listen for heavenly messengers... take time to be still and listen.

S'mores anyone?

Making little movies and music videos is something that my children enjoy.  For a family event last Saturday they orchestrated an "episode" of cupcake wars.  Scripts, scenery and scenarios were designed on the spot.  Baking, decorating and creating reality-TV-drama-&-intrigue took all of our energy, but it was so much fun to laugh together.  Everybody contributed and everybody got along... what more could a mother want?

I have been typing along and waiting for some results... We have now seen Jackie's scans and spoken with her doctor.  There is no sign of recurrence and she has the next six months off.

Wednesday - I have also spoken with her doctor in Utah and her liver scans are unchanged.  They will continue to monitor it on an annual basis, but we will be not be concerned.  Greg spent the day back at Huntsman.  They did a CT scan - these are super rare for our family because we have to avoid all forms of radiation when possible.  Even our dentist limits the X-rays for the kids.  I just got off the phone with his doctor... and they will need to do more testing before we have a diagnosis.  Right now it ranges from inflammation to cancer and everywhere in between.  He did remind us that Greg's prior cancer, osteosarcoma, is intense and treatment is extremely intense - so we wouldn't be looking at anything like that.  Phew.  I have spoken with Greg and we will not worry until we have cause to worry.
Another positive - classes begin next week so Greg would be able to change his schedule quite easily if necessary.
When the children left on Tuesday morning I was very sad - more than I expected to be.  I even let Mark know I would begin to save right now for an extended vacation when I became an empty-nester because an empty house will be unbearable. Today I ran into my friend, Gina.  She asked about the kids and I gave her the update.  "No wonder you were so sad when they left!"  The light went on!  Of course I was more upset than usual - I wish that I could be with my son as he undergoes testing and doctor visits!  But who is my Counselor?  From whom do I receive Peace?  The same Source as my son, and all of our family.  Greg will read this and know that his mother has faith and will be praying for him to feel strength.   I am sure that I can add grandparents, sibling and many friends as well.

I Feel His Pleasure & Memories that Matter

   Before Jackie left for college, she had her list of must-do's.  One of them was to watch Chariots of Fire, one of our family's favorite movies.  I love the music, especially when driving through beautiful scenery.  The great thing about that...  you can be a long drive through boring scenery, but put on the Chariots of Fire soundtrack and voila!  Suddenly the scenery is beautiful.  (I discovered this while driving through endless miles of Nebraska.)
   But I digress... Chariots of Fire is set in the 1920's and revolves around Great Britain's Olympic running team.  Eric Liddel is one of the main characters.  His family runs a mission in China and at one point his sister is trying to convince him to stop training and return to China.  He tells her that this is his plan, but not until after the Olympics.  I cannot recall the exact quote but it is something like this,
...he explains his commitment to the mission service but, "God also made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure!"
   I love the line, "I feel his pleasure."  Hopefully everyone has at one time in their life done good deeds, service to family or friends, etc. and known that it pleased God.  You just can't help but be more happy when you follow his commandments, when you put aside your own desires to obey his will --- but when I heard this line last fall, I knew that to feel God's pleasure is even deeper.  Eric Liddel had devoted his life to service, but finding his special gift and using it... this is what he was talking about.
   Everyone must have special gifts, more than talents;  something that is unique to us - something that will somehow enrich our life here on earth.  I began to reflect on my own life - what was there that I could do to feel God's pleasure?   Recently, I heard someone speak on a similar topic.  She said that to recognize our particular gifts we can ask ourselves, "What compliments do I receive that I downplay the most."  Downplay them - not as in false modesty, but because they don't seem like such a big deal; perhaps because they come so naturally?
    Sometimes - those feelings come when we aren't doing anything spectacular.  Sometimes we are just plodding along and happen to find ourselves in one of those experiences that is simple yet significant  
   Anyway, just a few weeks ago I felt a rush of God's pleasure at a most unexpected time!  A family rule states that 12 years old is a good time to stop Trick-or-Treating.   Halloween came -- we had no one under 12 -- we needed a fun activity -- we chose camping.  We watched the weather - it rained, and rained, and rained.   It was cold. Our native northwest children couldn't understand why a little rain would stop us - and so we packed up and headed for the mountains.
   Here's the deal - camping used to be one of my favorite activities.  Then I moved to the country and no longer needed to camp.  In fact, why go to the woods packed-full of other campers when I could sit in my yard and enjoy both nature and solitude... and indoor plumbing.  If Jackie had been home, she and I would have enjoyed a quiet mother-daughter night at home; but she was gone and I had lost my excuse.  Mom was camping.
    What do you know?  October 31 - and we had the campground all to ourselves!

The view was even better
on our night hike.

   Mark and David have a lot of experience camping in the rain and they managed to get a tarp-shelter by the fire for us in the nick of time.  The rain came full force.  The tarp leaked here and there, but we managed to fit almost all of our chairs in a dry spot.   Mark doesn't like to mess with tents, especially in the mud.  He likes to use a pop-up shelter and a cot - so we had a couple of those ready... but the mud!  Across the road from our campsite (#13 in honor of Halloween) was a pavilion.  We scurried over there to eat our foil dinners and play some games - since there was mud under our shelter and cement under the pavilion, we decided to set up cots on the cement.

The dog did NOT sleep with us, she
thought that we were crazy.

   We were dry, but we were so cold.  Nevertheless, as I snuggled down into my cold sleeping bag, my  beanie-capped head on the cold pillow --- it came.  I felt a rush of what I distinctly felt was God's pleasure.  I knew exactly what I was feeling.  We were on a family adventure, making memories that matter.  Not very comfortable, but a family alone in the wilderness laughing about their circumstances - that's good stuff!
  It was a long night, but now we share a story.

Another quick story - We drove to Utah for our annual cancer screenings at The Huntsman Cancer Institute.  A quick visit with our oncologist and geneticist and then a brain MRI and full-body scan MRI for three of the children and Mark.
Results look great - two completely clean, two will need follow-up MRI's for a closer look (the full-body scan is not super clear).  Neither item is of great concern at the moment.  We will not worry until there is a reason to worry...  Natalie saw her neurosurgeon when we got back to town.  He gave her a clean bill of health and a year off from brain MRIs.  Quote from Natalie: "Well, this will be a boring year."
Bring it on!  Boring sounds magnificent....

The Book Whisperer

 

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a Mother who read to me.

My mother read to me.  She read to us at bedtime and in the car.  My mother's mother read to us also - when we got to Grandma's house she often had a book prepared to read to us while we were there.  (My parents now read books aloud to each other.)  

I transitioned from picture books to "big girl" books over Christmas vacation in the second grade.  I had been excited to check out The Grinch from the school library, but one of my friends asked why I was reading little kid books.  Instead, I read Little House in the Big Woods.  That did it, I was hooked on books.  I am still a big fan of Laura Ingalls!  

In high school I was still reading.  During the summer I loved to lay in the sun and read.  During the winter I was often found sitting by our fireplace reading.  I read while I walked home from school.  One of the hardest parts of college?  Not enough personal reading time.   I was still in college as a newlywed, but after Mark's parents took us to see Les Miserables on stage - I devoured the entire unabridged book that next weekend.  

I graduated from college and Nathan was born a week later.  Four weeks after that I was working full-time.  Reading time was fading, but that was ok.  We subscribed to the Dr. Seuss book club and had thoughtful grandmothers who gave books as gifts to the children.   Nine months pregnant with Jackie, I recall finishing a James Michener novel, The Source.  That was my last "big girl" book for a long time.  Three children - no books... or were there?  It was about this time that I ran across the poem "The Reading Mother" and I wanted to begin to read to the children, not just picture books. 
 I started with an old book that I had - a really old book that I had found at a garage sale.  It was set in Colonial America and had something to do with an Indian attack.  It was torture!   It almost seemed like a punishment to make the boys sit and listen.  What was wrong?  We got through the book, but they were in no hurry to do that again... What to do?  I tried a new strategy... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  There is something about that book.  It is silly, it is magical, and we all wish that we could get a tour of that factory, especially that chocolate waterfall!  

Our favorite books.  The children's
books worth keeping are in the attic
(where these Halloween decorations
belong).  We have given away many
books over the years.

Just like that... we were a reading family.  Reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory each time the youngest child was about 4 or 5 years-old helped them to enter our family reading time.  We read through so many books over the years; how I wish I had kept a list.  A few of my favorite reading memories:

• Harry Potter Clean Up:  This meant that when it was time to clean the room, I would sit in the recliner (usually with a baby), and read a Harry Potter book until it came to an exciting spot.  Then I would close the book and choose a number.  If the number happened to be "4", each child ran and put away 4 items.  Then they would hurry back to listen and we would begin the cycle again.  This only works with action-packed, suspenseful books.
• I remember many nights, after Jackie had gone to sleep, trying to rock little Natalie to sleep, while Nathan and Greg took turns walking with Baby David to try and keep him happy until he had his turn in the rocking chair.  Those big boys were about 9 and 7 and I can see them in their pajamas, walking back and forth - so carefully holding that little baby for me.  I would rock and read.
• Once the boys came home from school and caught me reading ahead in Treasure Island.  They were so disappointed!  We made a rule then and there - No Reading Ahead!  I never, ever broke that rule.  It was more fun to discover stories together.
• When the children were older, I usually had one book going in the girls' bedroom, and another in the boys'.  Sometimes I would put them all to bed and sit and read aloud in the hallway so everyone could hear.

Mark's books.  He likes to keep them
where he can see them.  Many of them
are work related and safe from us.

• All time favorite series:   Little House on the Praire and The Chronicles of Narnia.  We also love Beverly Cleary books, especially if they have Ramona in them.  I like the first four Harry Potter books, but couldn't make it to the end of the series.  
• When we were in the car we always had an audio book going.  This became more difficult when the children began to drive because you really cannot listen if someone is missing.  Both grandparents live 13-14 hours away, so long road trips still mean audio books.  Two years ago The Count of Monte Cristo ran for the entire Spring Break and beyond.
• My children each developed a great attention span - so rare in this world of video games!!

Jackie's nightstand.
Her personal collection.

I often had to stop reading because I began to lose my voice so easily.  I blame this on years of high school cheerleading.  Maybe it was too many books.  Going to bed without a book being read was sad.  Greg's chemotherapy treatments were so disruptive to our schedule that we completely lost the habit.  How sad - but this brings me to The Book Whisperer - my mysterious blog post title...
Last  year my Dad was telling me about something he read/watched regarding the way that schools are killing reading.  By making children stop and analyze everything they read - reading has become a drudgery rather than a pleasure.  I totally agree.  I have homeschooled every child for at least one year - usually around 3rd-5th grade.  I could hardly stand the reading assignments I found for them.  I have often wondered why my children didn't read more often... When I looked for information on my own - I discovered The Book Whisperer...

Natalie's favorites on her
nightstand.  The Book
Whisperer is quickly
expanding her repertoire.

She is a sixth grade teacher who expects her students to read at least 40 books during the school year.  Many of them end up reading 60.  Her lowest every was a young man who read only 24 or 25... considering most of them used to read 3-5 books, these numbers are astounding.  How does she do it?  In a nutshell, she provides them with a wide array of choices, and then expects them to read.  It is that simple.

Kimberly's Christmas list - a
bookshelf nigh stand at the top.

I blogged earlier about now knowing what kind of "program" to use over the summer - (none, we just played), and when school came I still had no ideas.  On the way home from dropping off Jackie I listened to The Book Whisperer (audio book) and realized that this would be a fun program for the family.  I typed up a form for each of us and that is all that it took.  We have very few rules, just make sure to cover the required genres and any book over 350 pages counts as two.
The best part?  Mark and I are required to read!  We are so excited.  Reading has been such a luxury over the years (especially for the one of who doesn't travel and spend hours on airplanes).  Now we have a great excuse to sit on the couch and read.  I really don't know if I can pull off 40 books, but I am having a great time trying!!

Here is a copy of our book whisperer forms....

The Reading Mother 

by Strickland Gillilan

I had a mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness lent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-

Stories that stir with an upward touch.

Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a Mother who read to me.