Friday, December 13, 2013

Thanksgiving and nearly Christmas

It has been a month already since the last post on this sight.  So much has happened and we have had a very busy social life in the interim.  

After the last chemo therapy session on Wednesday we left for Glen Mills on Thursday to visit many of the friends we left behind in the westward trek.  Our good friends, Pat and Harry, hosted our visit inviting friends and neighbors for dinner and taking very good care of us.  Anne and Martin hosted a wonderful evening with friends and former colleges  It was marvelous to see everyone again and catch up on everyones changes and progressions.  

Unfortunately, all the infectious risks associated with travel caught Barend on our way home.  It began with a viral throat infection which created a racking cough.  Narcotic cough syrup and pills were the only help the doctors could offer until it mutated into a bacterial lung infection.  This just in time for Thanksgiving and the arrival of Jacqueline, Adam, Naomi and Julia for the holiday.

Sara and Josh hosted the Thanksgiving meal and Mike (my brother), Lee (his wife) and his youngest daughter Abby, joined us Wednesday and Thanksgiving day.  It was an exceptional feast and wonderful party.  Four of the five grandchildren returned to the lake house with us for more fun and games until the California family left for home on Saturday.  My afternoon with the wee ones was going to the cinema to see Frozen.

Frozen was an applicable theme as the weather turned to deep freeze soon afterward.  The lake was frozen over then came snow on top of that.

This made the start of Christmas preparations somewhat difficult except for the Elving (shopping) which is mostly my entertainment along with interior decor.  With the help of Sara the tree was cut and brought home and the exterior lighting was begun and later completed.  We are now more or less prepared for the grandkids from California and their parents too, of course.


The most recent chemo was this past Wednesday due to the delay caused by the recovery from infections.  Back on schedule now.  The same day our Ithaca family began their arrivals with Aafke.  Tammo and Jelmer will arrive tonight from California and NYC respectively.


The next chemo at the end of the month will include the results of a CT scan so there will later be a better picture :) of the status of the cancer.



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Of Moles and Voles and Donut Holes


A lot has happened since the last post on November 4th.  That was two days before our oncologist visit and infusion chemo.  As it turned out, there was no chemo because the scans taken on November 5th revealed that the maintenance drug was not working to hold the line on regrowth of the lung tumor and a new lymph node tumor in the abdomen was spotted as well.

We went off with a game plan for starting a pill therapy to later be followed by another round of infusion when that failed to prevent a cancerous first down.

Barend, of course, researched the financial aspects of this since it fell under the prescription drug plan rather than hospital costs.  Ouch, double "DONUT HOLE" time, since we would have reached the limit before the end of this year and within a month in 2014.

Avenues of subsidy were investigated but bore no fruit in our case, so on to the next plan.  Luckily the doctors involved agreed that it would be better to spend the $10,000 on a vacation than line the pockets of Genetech and their partners in Tarceva so we moved to infusion again today.  

Whole new set of side effects with this one; hair loss which you might think is not problematic since he has so little but it will involve his mustache and chest hair so.....
This is the last chance to see "Hairy Barry" 

We are heading eastwards to Pennsylvania tomorrow for a long weekend to visit our good friends and former neighbors.  The weather forcast for Glen Mills is about the same as it is for Beaver Creek so we will not be reminded of the extreme cold and snow that Pennsylvania winters can bring.  A good time willl be had by all.

Monday, November 4, 2013

A Sunny October in Oregon

Bonnie and Hans
The first week of October brought us more overcast days and showers. Fortunately our lives were brightened by a visit from Hans who came all the way from Singapore.  Hans and I go way back: We both grew up in Wassenaar, went to the same grade school, high school, college and both lived in the infamous Ferry Street house in Eugene. Hans used to live in Portland and still has a ton of friends in the area whom he visited while staying at our house. In between visits we had fun catching up on our lives and reminiscing about good old times. Hans could not profit from the nice sunny weather which we had the rest of the month, though people living in Singapore and Sydney may actually enjoy cooler temperatures.

Sunny Fall weather in Oregon
On the medical front there is not a lot to report. The maintenance chemo is easier to take and it is certainly easier than Bonnie’s failed tooth implant, for which she needs at least three procedures to correct the situation. Ouch!  While the health may be stable, the golf game is deteriorating and getting to the point of being embarrassing.  Actually, it is embarrassing:  on a bright sunny day I managed to get my worst score in the Oregon City Golf Club daily tournament.  I don’t quite know what to do about this, other than putting the blame on the oncologist.

Jacqueline, Bonnie and Grand Kids at the
Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate park
Family visit to the Science museum in San Francisco
With two free weeks between hospital or doctor visits, we now have the opportunity to do some traveling, so we flew to the Bay Area to visit Jacqueline, Adam and the California Grand Kids. The girls had a school free day on Friday and we visited the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. We visited the Japanese Tea garden and the Science Academy museum, which are both located in the park. On Saturday the girls worked on their Halloween costumes with some help from Oma while Adam and I watched the Oregon Ducks game in the local pub. (yep, won again: Go Ducks). It was a fun weekend, and if Bonnie had not discovered that our flight home was booked on Monday, rather than Tuesday as I thought, we may still be there.


Emmett and Oma at the pre-school Halloween Party
We were invited to our grandson’s preschool Halloween party on Wednesday morning (very nice!) After the party he took us to his favorite restaurant for lunch.

On Halloween itself, Bonnie had the first of her implant surgeries and had to rest the remainder of the day. I went to Josh and Sara that afternoon and enjoyed all the kids’excitement of calling on the neighbors and collecting tons of candy. Even Kellan, just one and half years old, quickly got the hang of this event and grabbed hands full of candy to fill his Halloween bucket. (way to go, Kellan!)

Sunday, September 29, 2013

The End of Summer

This week brought us an early start of the Fall with the remnants of a Typhoon causing storm winds and dumping tons of rain across the Pacific Northwest. It was also the first time the lighter one-drug maintenance chemo had been scheduled. Prior to infusion, the Oncologist reviewed the CT scan which was done the previous week. The results were encouraging and showed that the tumors had not increased and neither had the amount of fluid in the lungs. It confirmed previous scans showing the effectiveness of the cancer drugs. The infusion itself was much easier to take and much shorter: we were out of the hospital before noon and the only downside to that was that we missed out on Sara’s lunch visit to the hospital.


While the medical results are remarkable, Robin’s visit to Oregon easily surpassed that. He made a quick and very much appreciated visit to Portland as part of a whirlwind tour across the USA that included Portland Oregon and Portland Maine. We attended the same college and lived in the same Brussels neighborhood. The last time we were together must have been some 20 years ago. We had one and half day to catch up on what has happened in all that time. We also stopped by to visit Sara who knows Robin from her formative years in Belgium. Well..... Belgium definitely, formative maybe.
Robin, Sara and two grand kids.
The time was limited but we managed to see some of Portland, visit the house on the lake, and have a nice dinner in town next to the theater where we had tickets for a concert of Opera highlights. When it was time to move from dessert to the theater Bonnie discovered that the performance I booked was in a totally different venue but a quick taxi ride got us seated on time. Oops, another senior moment. We all stayed downtown for the night, and Robin was off early the next day for a flight to Boston. 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Major Milestone

I just completed the sixth cycle of  chemo infusions, which means that from now on I will be on a one-drug maintenance regimen. This will be done on a three week schedule and takes only about 2 hours.  The hope and expectation is that it will be with fewer side effects. The first six rounds of the infusion took 7 to 8 hours. There will be an additional CT Scan in the coming three weeks to determine the progress followed by an oncologist visit before the next infusion.
So far everything is turning out much better than the medical profession had anticipated. All my vital signs are normal, I can walk normally, my weight is back to normal, and most of my pants don't slide down to my ankles immediately. Due to a partially collapsed lung, I do tire a little faster which unfortunately shows up on the scores for the second nine holes. Other than that I consider myself a medical wonder, and we are grateful for everyone's support that made healing through positive thinking possible.
Sara, whose office is close to the hospital, usually takes her lunch with us when we visit the infusion room, and this time she was accompanied by Alexandra's Chinchilla, who was sent on a field trip to her Mom's office. For the benefit of my granddaughter, here is the proof Chinchilla was really at the hospital.
Amy, the manager of the infusion room, cuddles
Chinchilla

Unwelcome Visitors

Living on Beaver Lake is gorgeous, but it also has it disadvantages. There are really beavers in the lake and right now is about the time they forage for winter. Unfortunately that involved two of our trees that are now missing. One disappeared in the lake and resides wherever the beavers have their lodge, and the other one turned out too big for them to handle and the gardener removed the remnants.
The first tree that went in the lake
This was a two night job

The job was finished the second night. The beavers
dropped the tree of course right on top of
the beaver trap.

Welcome Visitors

Pat and Harry at the Resort at the Mountain
Our good friends from Philadelphia, Pat and Harry, came to stay with us for a nice long weekend. It was a wonderful visit that brought back memories of golf games of old and PF Chang dinners on Sunday night (a tradition we continued on this visit). We caught up on lots of news, and played at the Stone Creek Golf Course nearby (advertised as the best value in the Pacific Northwest, and that may well be true). We, of course, had rain the minute Pat and Harry arrived but, as is common for Oregon, there was enough sunshine later on to relax while gazing at the lake with a beer in hand. The last day we had a golf and spa day at the Resort at the Mountain, about an hour away near Mount Hood.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Life on the lake and treatment update

Since the last post about the short but sweet visit with Nico and Wyp, Camp Beaver Lake has undergone some retooling.  Barend discovered a leak in the water main coming down the hill to the house which needed attention.  A very large hole was dug in the yard in attempts to find the bit of pipe that was leaking and in the meantime a pipe under the kitchen sink started leaking.  Fortunately, this was discovered before any real damage was done.  Not so the pipe in the toy garage which broke early enough to drench the carpets and toys.  Barend had two days of major cleaning and drying out to restore the space to it's original splendor (this too is an indication of his increased strength and stamina).  Since then, most repairs have taken place and we discovered that the pressure valve coming off the water main had broken and caused all of the above problems.

The weather continued to be warm and beautiful as we restocked and prepared for our next visitors, our good friends Anne and Martin Kybert from Pennsylvania.  They arrived late on the 30th after some flight delays and mechanical failure of the navigation system driving from the airport (thank heavens for cell phones with maps and navigation).

After a day of catching up on family news, relaxing and lunching at the Stonecliff Inn on the following  day, Thursday, we toured Portland downtown, visited the Rock Bottom Brew Pub and the Lan Su Chinese Garden.  
 

Friday Anne and Martin began their tour of Crater Lake, Bend and the Columbia Gorge returning on Monday afternoon to relax and visit before their early departure the following day.

That was yesterday and after they left for the airport we prepared to report to the hospital for chemo and the oncologist visit.  Again, the news was very positive.  The scans showed further decrease in size of the lung cancers and since Barend is doing so well with the chemo we will do one more round of the two drug therapy before we start on maintenance.  Dr. Sanborn is very pleased and, in reply to our question regarding revising the timeline, she was confident that we would be visiting her much longer than her original estimate and that new therapies would likely be available to us as we progress in time.

Today, Barend is preparing to play golf in preparation for the tournament this weekend.  I should say that that is an indication that his quality of life has greatly improved since the beginning of this journey.


Monday, July 22, 2013

The nieces visit Oregon

Our awesome nieces Wyp and Nico, as they are known for short, honored us with a short and very pleasant visit. They arrived last Thursday evening after hopping around the US on three airplanes each coming from Ithaca NY and Colorado Springs CO. Amazingly, both arrived more or less on time at PDX airport with their luggage. While the rest of the US was melting away in record heat, Oregon was blessed with cool mornings and pleasant sunny afternoons.

Nico and Wyp took full advantage of the Pacific Northwest by sampling nearly every beer available in the region, drinking the local wines, doing some sight seeing in the short time they were here, relaxing and swimming in the lake. In good family tradition plates of food were photographed and shown to the world. The reason for this tradition is unknown, but it does prove one gets fed at our house.
A cool morning at Vista House in the
 Columbia Gorge

The nieces at Multnomah Falls



Waiting 45 minutes in line to
 purchase the world famous Voodoo
Doughnuts in Portland Oregon
Amazingly, old Ithaca friend Katie and her husband
 Ryan managed to find us at the Saturday Art Fair
in Portland and we enjoyed a pleasant
 dinner at the Bridgeport Brewery in the Pearl.















Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Round Four Update


Yesterday Barend completed round 4 of Chemo and received the results of the brain MRI.  The brain lesions (spots, tumors) have nearly disappeared so the laser knife surgery will not be necessary at this time.  The chemo went, as it usually does, slowly. Still this is made bearable by the good news that it is working well.  Side effects have also diminished so it is also less dreaded than the earliest experiences.  It was an unusually busy day in the infusion room, so for the first time I had to vacate my cushy patient lounge chair for a visitor upright during the second half of the day.  I opted for errands and have a very clean car.

Since Barend is fairing so well on chemo, it was decided that if all went well this time that two more rounds would be completed before transitioning to the maintenance regimen of one drug every three weeks.

Our next visitors, Nico and Wyp (nieces) arrive tomorrow for a short visit which includes Alexandra's birthday party on Saturday.  So time again for fun, family and life on the lake.



Friday, July 12, 2013

Summer Camp Opa & Oma




It is the first week of July, the weather is still gorgeous and we enjoyed the company of Jacqueline and Adam and their kids, who flew in from California for an extended 4th of July vacation. Alexandra and Emmett joined the party for the first couple of days, and we had a houseful of happy kids and adults. 




Bonnie had arranged Pony Camp for the girls, and the next morning they went to the stables at the end of the road in their brand new cowboy boots. They had riding lessons, pony grooming, arts and crafts projects and pic-nics.


The afternoons were spent on the lake. Sara had provided us with a six person floating raft which was a gigantic hit, despite the absence of the six cup holders we had expected. The biggest attraction for the grandkids was not the leisurely float in the middle of the lake, but Life Guard Adam who would suddenly appear out of the depths of the lake, and throw everyone in the lake.





While the girls were at Pony Camp, Adam and I went to the neighborhood golf course and managed to complete 18 holes. The course was in nice shape and the Oregon weather is total perfect for this game. The results were more than satisfactory because I came home with the same ball with which I started and managed to (just) break 100. Adam did a lot better at 90 while getting used to the course and this was only a prelude to what happened the next day: He scored a life time best of 79!






Jacqueline meanwhile stayed in shape in the local gym, Emmett was entertained by Bonnie or built a gnome house with only a little help from Opa.



We celebrated the 4th of July in Molalla Oregon where we visited the Molalla Buckaroo, the annual rodeo and fair. We did all the things one would expect to do on the fourth of July, including the rides at the fair (Bonnie and I skipped that part), ate gourmet festival food such as pulled pork, fries and funnel cakes, cheered the cowboys at the rodeo, and watched the fireworks that concluded the show. It was a lot of fun and it felt like the real American 4th of July celebration. 






Adam and Jacqueline had invited their Portland friends Bruce and Vicky to visit us the next day. They also brought their two kids and we had a capacity crowd on the 6 person float.







The parents went home on Saturday while the grand-kids stayed on for a couple more days.  We had a fantastic time and were glad everyone was able to join us.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Cat Scan result was good.

Somehow the CAT scan got organized in the nick of time. Our Oncologist appointment was Tuesday morning early, and I had the last scan of the day on Monday. Phew! We can now confirm that the improvement in well being that was taking place was confirmed by the scan.  The results showed positively that the tumors have stopped growing and some have even shrunk. The previously collapsed lung continued to deploy and there has been no additional fluid build up in the lung. The current regimen of chemo will continue for another two to three times after which yet another scan should confirm if a lighter mix of chemo should be sufficient to keep tumor growth at bay.
Texting in the oncologist's office.
Notice the new
2013 US Open golf outfit. Who knows I may
be using it one of these days. 
The insurance company is going to have a fit with all these scans, because the oncologist is planning an MRI of my head to check if the small tumor in the brain is shrinking as well or has to be removed with a non invasive gamma knife: they zap your head and that's it.
This is all very good news and it obviously adds some more time to this beautiful life. The oncologist carefully answered "I hope so" when we suggested this should add one to two years. But what the heck, some survive 5 or more years and my permit to park on the reserved spaces for disabled people is good until January 2020.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Family Visits

Summer Picnics
In the past two weeks we enjoyed family visits. Tammo and Aafke arrived on Saturday, after visiting their daughters in Colorado. Sara and Josh and the grand-kids joined us on Sunday. We had a stretch of unusually good summer weather and everyone was playing outside, pic-nicking or looking for gold coins the gnomes had left for us. No-one has, as yet, swum in the lake though  Alexandra has had both legs dunked in to test the temperature of the lake. 






In Lake Oswego and in front of the Dutch Brothers' Coffee House.  
Hendrik Jan and Tine arrived the following Monday on the direct flight from Amsterdam. They had some delay at customs and an off airport car rental, but managed to make it to the house for beer time. 

It does not happen very often that all three brothers end up in the same place at the same time, so we were determined to get a photo record of this event in front of the Dutch Brothers’ Coffee House. The chance of getting all three brothers to flash a smile at the same time is about as good as winning the Mega Millions jackpot. Even the “Group Photo” app couldn't fix this. With or without the smiles, we had a fun time and were glad that we had the chance to be together
Stone Cliff Inn

Tammo and Hendrik Jan provided some free labor in the yard and with the help of my new Easter Chainsaw (it is yellow and I thought it was customary in rural Oregon to give each other chainsaws for Easter, so I bought one), fallen trees and dead bushes were cleared away, even though some of them were underneath a hornets nest. Hendrik Jan got stung, but the work continued. Thank you, the view of the lake has greatly improved.

Tammo and Aafke left on Thursday while Hendrik Jan and Tine explored the Oregon Cascades together. Fortunately the nice summer weather continued after a bit of rain and they experienced Crater Lake in full sunshine.

Gardening Outfit?



Jacqueline honored us by arriving Friday for a Father’s day visit. I asked her if that included a Father-Daughter activity in the yard and she responded that she had indeed brought her gardening outfit. I never knew Lululemon made gardening outfits.

On Sunday, we drove to Hillsboro for a Father's Day lunch with Sara and the opening of Peter Rabbit, a musical in which our granddaughter Alexandra had an important role. She was of course spectacular, and we enjoyed the play very much. This was followed by Alice in Wonderland for older kids, in which our granddaughter did not star. It was very well done but one and a half hours of sitting was bit of a challenge for our behinds considering a 55 minute drive home. 


Saturday, June 8, 2013

When no news really is good news.

After Barend's post on Wednesday relating tales of theater, meals and a day of chemotherapy everything has fallen quiet.  This is due, not to a lack of energy or feeling bad, in fact, the opposite is true.  Barend is driving his "sissy wagon" again, with no difficulty, thus regaining his freedom from me and the family vehicle.  

The struggle with nausea after chemo was greatly diminished this time due to precautionary medicating and the addition of a new drug minimizing stomach acid.

The result is fairly miraculous, the garden gnomes have had someone to look after them and the rabbit down the hole at the top of the road has new visiting bears.  Lots of preparation has gone into setting up the yard to take advantage of our miraculous week of summer weather.  We have family coming to stay, so we want to make the most of our beautiful surroundings.  Barend hung the hammock we received from Santa

We have been taking our afternoon rest time on the lawn and then adding drinks to make it cocktail time.  All the hours are 'Happy Hour' and the consumption of alcohol is severely limited for one member of this family and I take longer than one hour with my wine consumption.  This is also the chosen location for after dinner coffee 

So folks, if you don't see us on this blog, you know the no news really is good news!

 

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Chemo Date Night

On Monday afternoon, June 3rd, Bonnie and I went to Portland for an evening with Khaled Houseini, the author of "The Kite Runner", in the Newmark Theater downtown Portland. It turned out to be delightful, as evenings with Bonnie usually are, but the nice weather and the witty and inspiring interview with Houseini made this a particularly good one. We checked in at the Hilton across the street from the theater (Thank you SCA for providing all those HHonors points), and then had an excellent dinner on the side walk terrace of The Heathman hotel. The dinner was exquisite. Since my objective is to eat 3000 calories a day, Nouvelle Cuisine was perhaps not the most sensible choice, but it was a fantastic meal in the open air. The next morning I ate a big breakfast that must have added at least 1000 calories and also scored 3 extra muffins from the buffet for lunch (the waitress got a good tip). That put me back on schedule.
We checked in at the Cancer Clinic at 10:30, the Nurse Practitioner checked all my vital signs, and they were all perfect : blood pressure 120/70, 97% oxygen, right temperature, no infections. If it weren't for the cancer (which you cannot see on the outside) I would be the picture of perfect health. I walk with a bit of a limp but do not need a walking stick and the limp will, hopefully, disappear soon.
The chemo infusion process takes about 6 to 7 hours in all, and by 5:30 we headed home. The next session is scheduled in three weeks, but prior to that I should have a CT scan  to check the results of the radiation and chemo treatments on the progress of the cancer.  To check who is winning, go team!
We spent the evening on our terrace enjoying the warm summer evening and had some local Pinot Noir with our nice neighbors. The wine was excellent but we better get some pillows for the teak dining chairs or no one will ever visit us again.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

A Pleasant lunch instead of Chemo

Early yesterday morning we drove to the Providence Hospital for a consult with our oncologist prior to the scheduled chemo. While the oncologist was totally impressed with the rapid recovery after the radiation and the surgery on my hip and leg, she was not totally convinced that I was free of any infection, and wanted to wait a week before the next load of chemo. So chemo was rescheduled but that fortunately still gives a week for recovery before the first of the summer guests will arrive: my brother Hendrik Jan will fly in on June 10th on the direct flight from Amsterdam. After some more chest x rays (by now I glow in the dark), we had time for a lovely lunch with Bonnie and Sara in downtown Portland.
Lovely lunch companions downtown Portland
After lunch we went to surgeon's office to have the staples removed (it is no longer needle and threat but ordinary staples just like in the office). The surgeon was equally impressed with the rapid recovery and told us to skip the next appointment which would normally take place after a month. So far so good!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Our New Normal


As Sara posted yesterday, we reached a milestone yesterday completing radiation therapy.  Today was our first day without medical appointments or related activities.  We started on daily living taking into consideration our limitations on mobility and energy.  First on the agenda was a haircut

From there we made our way to the bank, 250 yards (meters), loading the walker and ourselves into the car to get there.  We needed our proof of life certificate notarized so we can collect pension money from Europe.

The notary was glad to see us and duly noted that we were alive so we motored on to the store for some shopping (nearly retracing the former 250 yards in the car).  Hot Rod tested the garden furniture while I picked up a few supplies.

Lunch followed at our local Italian restaurant and then a stop at Home Depot to buy a new washer and dryer.  We felt it was a very entertaining and rewarding day so contented naps were taken.

We are counting our blessings as we begin to see some good days in all of this.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Woot! Woot! We hit a milestone

Today was the last day of radiation!  This came with a certificate and as H Rod says 'hugs from all the cute attendants'.  Keep in mind when you're chronologically enhanced like H Rod those cute attendants might be well into their 50's.  Either way, hugs were given and the milestone is complete. 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Guys Day Out

Even on the best of teams the members occasionally need to take time off from each other and  have some fun with other people.

Thanks to our wonderful neighbor Tom, Barend had a fun day away from me, The Spice.  Tom had committed to get Barend to his radiation appointment today because I had a dentist appointment, which sometimes runs longer than expected and creates residual discomfort.  This favor turned in to lunch, some cheerful conversation and laughs, then returning a chipper Hot Rod to his couch for a late afternoon nap.

Even though I kind of missed being at the center of the action, I enjoyed the leisurely schedule and managed a few extra things I really wanted to do which included a late afternoon nap after H Rod had settled on the couch.

Thank goodness we have such great friends and family.

Keep the fan mail coming!



Monday, May 20, 2013

A Parade of Doctors Appointments

Barend is continuing his stint in radiation this week after a weekend off.  Over the weekend there was a mild fever and Barend's cough came back some, so after radiation they went back to the oncologist office for stronger antibiotics and an x-ray. 

Lately it has felt like the never-ending parade of doctors appointments and we're all hoping that we get over the hump soon and get to start enjoying life a little more.  The good news is that Barend is walking much better now that the rod is installed and once he gets his strength back in that hip he should be moving better.  Obviously the goal is not to have a walker, if for no other reason than getting his daughter's comments to stop. 

After Wednesday we should have a break from radiation too and hopefully some time to rest, catch up and get back into the swing of things.  After the 5 days of radiation there should be a long break from that and then it just becomes the regular three-week chemo appointment.  I think I see the top of the hump!

There's a new kabouter in town

A reminder for those of you needing an incentive to travel this summer!
This weekend three of the grandkids went to visit Opa and Oma.  To their delight a new gnome was visiting with Mr Bubbles.  He's from The Netherlands and shines a light, or as Emmett tells me, he's fixing the light. 
One of the weekend projects was checking all the sprinklers to make sure they were operational after the winter.  We lucked out that only one needed major repair and the kids had a blast enjoying the sprinklers even though the sun didn't come out until later. 




This kid will find kitchen tools anywhere...