Everyone helps with tree

Putting up Christmas Tree

Sat. Nov 29th Today was a very very special day for me. Almost every year (except for last year while I was in Rapid City) on the weekend after Thanksgiving it has been a tradition for me (and the family) to get out the Christmas Tree and put it up. I have been a total Christmas fanatic all my life and my family has “put up with it” in the past but last year we found out just how much it meant to all of us as a family. Julie almost couldn’t put up the tree last year, but with Josh’s help they did get it up eventually but it wasn’t until later in December. So this year everyone asked me if we were going to put it up this weekend and my response to everyone was something like “Well duhhhh.. is there any question?” Unfortunately I was not doing very well physically and had to take some medication to help me through the day and I spent most of the time sitting in my “special” chair in the family room and watching. We got all the Christmas stuff out and got the tree ready but I waited until Josh and Kirby came over before we actually put it up. I took some time to tell him that I was officially making “the putting up of the tree” his “shared” responsibility. This means that as long as I am here, he had to help me and when I am not here (for whatever reason) he is responsible to see to it that the tree gets put up for his mother in my honor (and I assured him I would still be there one way or another). I don’t think any of us ever realized just how important this tradition meant to us all. We were all here today. All the kids at were helping first and Julie got off work in time to do the lights and ornaments). Even though I sat in the chair and just watched there were a couple of things that stood out as really neat experiences. I watched as Julie and Kirby worked together on the lights. It was neat to see how they worked together and Kirby asked about the way that we do it to make sure she didn’t disrupt the tradition. Then as they started putting up the ornaments I saw Julie have moments of remembering experiences and events that each ornament represented. I realized that this tree had more than just a “tradition of putting it up”, but it represented our lives experiences and memories in a box that we relive once a year together. This was quite a revelation to me. What a wonderful day.

Recovery day

Fri. Nov 28th I tried to rest most of the day because I do think I might have overdone it a bit yesterday. Spent most of the day in bed watching football so it wasn’t all that bad. Grandma and Grandpa F. and Alma came over in the evening and they played games (Cranium) and they had a wonderful time. I was a little too tired to play so I watched a lot and just wandered. I still enjoyed having the family here.

We do the WII

Grandma and Alma loved the penguins on the WII.



Grandpa did great with the Yoga.

Thanksgiving and Katie's Birthday

*********THANKSGIVING ********

Thur. Nov 27th Thanksgiving Day: It was a wonderful day and full of good memories. The girls helped Julie get the dinner ready and there was some great bonding time there. They had a fun time with the turkey and Brittany has decided she will never cook a turkey herself. She didn’t think it was all that funny. Grandma and Grandpa Faerber and Alma came down from Salt Lake and got here right at 4:00 and Josh and Kirby got here right after.

We all went around the table and said what we are thankful for. Obviously, this year most of us were thankful for our family and being together like never before. I, especially am thankful to be with the family and actually to just be alive. It was a great traditional thanksgiving dinner with all the usual food including a bunch of pies. Then we played the WII and watched the video of Josh’s wedding. It was really neat. It was especially fun to watch Grandma and Grandpa Faerber and Alma do the WII fit.
tried the penguin game and we all laughed till we almost cried. It was hilarious.

*******KATIE'S BIRTHDAY *******


Katie’s Birthday: Today was also Katie’s birthday and we had a great time celebrating her birthday as well as Thanksgiving. It made it double the fun and also made it so that Grandma and Grandpa and Alma could be here for both. That really meant a lot to Katie. She got a real nice digital camera and has had a lot of fun taking lots of pictures. She got a huge cake, but because there was so much other food (including pies) we will be eating that cake for a year.

The girls are here

Girls from Salt Lake are here....Yippeeee

Wed. Nov 26th Getting ready for Thanksgiving day and for the girls to come down. I have been doing a lot of cleaning the house and helping, but I may be doing more than I should and I may pay the price later. I do feel good though and think I am on the way up which is good since I need to be healthy again by next Tues for my 3rd round of chemo. I am really anxious to get this one done so we can do the tests and verify how well I am responding to it. The girls got down here to St. George in the late afternoon and it was so good to have them here. We all have missed them so much and it was just awesome to have them all here. Katie was glad to have them here too.

First blood transfusion

Tues. Nov 25th Went to the urologist this morning because I have been having some difficulty and it was time to change the catheter. More medication for spasms. Ine more pill to add to my daily medication. Later in the afternoon, I went back to IV therapy for a blood transfusion. I guess my iron is very low and they felt I needed it. After the transfusion, everyone commented on how much better I looked. Color in my cheeks was much better.

Cleared with EKG

Mon. Nov 24th This morning I sort of felt that feeling again with the shortness of breath. It was different than the fluid in the lungs. When we went to Dr. Te’s today I mentioned it and so he scheduled a couple of other visits for tests. In the afternoon we went to the hospital again for another echo-cardiogram. The technician told me he saw some fluid in the heart area again and so they got a cardiologist who said it wasn’t anything to worry about but we will we wait to talk to Dr. Te. Till then it is good to know I am not going to be running to the E.R. again for fluid around the heart over Thanksgiving.

Rest day

Sun Nov 23rd Spent most of the day resting. Not a lot of energy but not as bad as other days. Just pretty tired. It was a nice day.