Ole.

We are HUGE bean and cheese burrito people.

Our clan loves to roll anything up in a tortilla,

that is pronounced tor-till-a in our neck

of the woods.  Anyhow, tonight was no

exception.  In preparation, we went all out

and prepared a chicken, chopped onions,

grated cheese, cut up tomatoes, and 

avocados.  . . . yep, we are guac lovers also.

Nothing says Saturday night better than

burritos for dindin except popcorn afterwards.

We are also hooked on watching the

Olympic trials. It was fun to eat our Mexican

entrees in while watching some of our

very favorite sports on television.

Dream Team.

Super de duper excited as our family

met Dr. Fadi Braiteh.  He is an

amazingly brillant and caring 

oncologist specializing in not only

adrenal cortical cancer, but Lynch

Syndrome also.  He spent TWO HOURS

with our family today and was so 

excited to tackle our case.  Dr. Braiteh

says that Mike is not a zebra, but a

purple zebra.  According to the latest

data that he has, there is only ONE other

man in the entire WORLD that has 

both adrenal cortical cancer and Lynch

Syndrome.  He is ready for the challenge 

and so are we.

Mike's liver has to calm down just a

wee bit, but as soon as it does, we are

going to begin a clinical Phase 1 trial

that targets this beast.  Although I wanted

to begin the treatment TODAY, he assures

us that July 26 will be the PERFECT day

to begin the trial as we need testing and

labs before we can begin.  All of this takes

time.  The labs also have to reveal that the

liver is not "hot".

Prayer project:

*Pray that Mike's liver numbers will 

decrease.

*Pray for continued hope.

*Pray that we will remain eligible for

this clinical trial.

*Pray for our doctors and nurses.

. . . I just love HOPE!

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient

in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Crazy For You.

Kevin and Donna.  Oh, how we love these

two!!  Good friends for sure!  They are

THE bestest and we are so thankful that

we were able to have SO.MUCH.FUN.

with them tonight.

 'Crazy For You' is the play that is currently

showing at Spring Mountain Ranch.  We

had tons of fun picnicking and laughing!!

The play was absolutely amazing!!!

 The Spring Mountains are so beautiful.  You

tend to forget that places like these are only

moments from Las Vegas.

 There were lots of people there in with their

food, blankets, and lawn chairs.  Even

though it was 104* and windy in Las Vegas,

it was absolutely gorgeous up there.  It was

cooler and not a breath of wind.

Spring Mountain Ranch . . . definitely one

of my very favorite places.  Kevin and Donna

definitely some of my favorite people!!!!

Love, love, love you two!!

Tick. Tock.

 Progress on my pressing project today . . . 

 A box of scraps is a good thing . . . It means

that we are moving much closer to the 

final product . . . 

 Yep, I depend on these puppies to guide

me through quilting and writing.  Getting

older, as Gram would say, "Isn't for sissies".

I have Grampa's clock right next to my

computer.  I look at it many times during the

day and it reminds me of him.  I really don't

need a reminder, as I think about him all 

of the time.  I have been dreaming about him

since he died, but know that he had a 

great journey and is definitely happy to be

in Heaven with Jesus and all of his family

and friends who went to Heaven before him.

This clock also reminds me how precious time

is and how fast is goes.

New Project and SMR Approval.

Hello . . . it has been so long since we have

worked together!!!  I was so excited to

FINALLY sit down at my sewing machine

today and begin to crank out a special

birthday gift for one of my very favorite

peeps.

10 things . . .

*Grateful that my sweet husband is

feeling good.

*Thankful that the boys are getting

"hooked up".

*Missing Grampa . . . do.not.like.it.

*Excited for Grampa!

*Loving reconnecting with old friends.

*Excited that my dissertation SMR 

paperwork was approved today!!  I will

be speedily moving onto chapters 1-3

out of 5.

*Excited for visitors.

*Loving being home in Las Vegas.

*My new sewing room is awesome.

*Home Goods is my new hang out.

*Whole Foods in Las Vegas does not

carry my favorite soup.

Back in the Swing.

 With all of the Grampa goings

on and being in Laguna, we have

not been at golf clinics for the past

two Mondays.  Tonight Luke was

able to attend his clinics in 

preparation for his golf tournaments

that are looming on the horizon.

Besides being a great golfer,

our Luke is one great guy.  We

are SO THANKFUL that he is 

ours and that he is such a 

dedicated hard worker at anything

he puts his mind too.  He is

excited for his upcoming tournaments.

These will be the first tournaments

that he has to carry his clubs all

eighteen holes . . . 

New Sewing Room.

Yippee!  We set up and organized my new

sewing room today!!  I am so excited to 

have my office, dissertation writing room,

and sewing area all ready to go!!  

It is so fun to have this back, out of the

way room where I can work, still be a

part of the hub, and shut the door when

company comes to visit.  I so love 

working on my projects, but hate 

picking them up in the middle of things.

It is so difficult to get started again.

I already started a project today . . . 

Someone is turning 13 in 12 days!!!

Home Again. Home Again.

Keeping it real!!  After five days at the beach

with six peeps . . . oh, yeah!!!

We had a wonderful time!!  We ALL talked

about this memory-maker all the way home!

Sandy, Sunny, and Lovin' It.

 Today marked another glorious day out on beautiful

Laguna Beach.  We ate way too much trail mix,

laughed too hard, and played Angry Birds all day long.

 Mike has totally relaxed this entire vacation!  It

has been a great time of respite from our usually

hectic family schedule.  We have had some great

food and TONS of family fun!!!

 Did I mention that I never.moved.from.this.spot?!?  

Seriously, it is so unlike me, but when I get to

the beach . . . I totally chill out as in DO NOTHING!

It feels amazingly wonderful.  It is so fun to watch

the boys body surf, swim in the ocean, and

ride their boogy boards.

We love to dig our toes into the sand while eating

chocolate chippers, drinking Snapple, and thumbing

through a good book.  It is a tough life, but someone

HAS to do it!!  

LB . . .

Yes indeedy, this was my view all.day.long.  I did not move for EIGHT

straight hours except to roll over to my awesome little restaurant

that makes amazing goat cheese omeletts.  I then returned to my

little cabana, took out a fork and tabasco and remained in my

special little spot for another THREE hours.  Today was 

wonderfully relaxing!!!  We had so much fun recouping

from our marathon Disney trip!!!  Some things that came

to mind today:

1. I sure do miss Grampa.

2. Grampa must love Heaven.

3. I have the cutest crew on the planet.

4. Laguna Beach is THE best place to vacation.

5. Reality is coming back soon.

6. I have a quilt to finish for a special birthday.

(SOON!)

7. I have amazing friends that check up on me.

8. God is AMAZING!!

Wednesday, June 20 - Disney

We opened and closed Disneyland and

California Adventure Land today!

Our family had a total blast!!

We laughed, joked, and carried each

other to the car after the park closed!!!

We are exhausted beyond belief, but

had a memory-making day for sure.

The only pick that we could manage

the.entire.day was the turkey leg that

the boys ate in Frontierland next to one

of our all time favorite rides, Thunder

Mountain!!  I do not think that six

people could have had a better time

if we had tried!!!  We are so counting

our blessings for sure and grateful

for this fun family time together!!!

. . . beach time tomorrow!!!

Laguna, Baby!

 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!  Laguna Beach . . . totally awesome!!

It took us a total of about . . . 2 minutes to be laughing,

joking, and having a TON of fun!!

 My sweet Luke is such a Cali boy!!  He loves the

ocean, the sand, and the sun!!!  He is totally

in his element and is having a wonderful time!!

 Bros having a wonderful time together.  Our

tradition the first night we are in LB is to head

to Gina's for the most a.m.a.z.i.n.g. pizzas . . . EVER!

 Luke loves the tidepools, the sandcrabs, the starfish, the little

fish that swim everywhere . . . 

 The temperature is totally perfect!!!  The beaches

are NOT crowded!!  We are ready to rumble!!!

 My guy and I have been coming here for twenty-eight

years!!!  We so love, love, love it here!  We love

bringing our family here!!  Our hotel has an amazing

heated pool and hot tub!!  Luke was at the beach

until dark!!!

 Our photog actually let me take a few pics today!!!

Tim was actually with us!!  He had a gig last night

and was up until 2:30a.m.  He was getting some

zzzs before dinner!!!!  Pics of my cute Timbo to

come tomorrow when he has had his beauty rest!!!

Here is to the beginning of a much needed family

vacation!!!  We are already having a TON of fun!!!

P.S. We are are totally digging our curly hair!!!

Headin' to Cali.

 Our crew is most definitely ready for

a little family r & r.  What better

way to accomplish this then head to

one of our favoritist places . . . 

LB Baby!!!  

Our beach bags are packed and 

ready to hit the road tomorrow

for five days of fun in the sun!

I have been going to Laguna since

I was three years old!  We have

carried on this tradition with our

boys and it is always a fun time!

I can already hear the ocean and

feel the sand between my toes.

Of course, going to the beach with

a houseful of boys means bringing

along a TON of food.  We have our

ice chests chuck full of enough 

yumminess to last our guys several 

days.  Homemade peanut butter

and chocolate chip cookies top the

list. 

 We have our very favorite spots to

eat in Laguna, but we typically like

to hit the beach early in the morning 

and laze around ALL day long.  We

can barely drag ourselves across the

street to Johnny Rockets, but we will

do our very, very best.  I can hardly

wait for a carmel apple . . . covered

in nuts and chocolate jimmies . . . 

SoCal . . . ready or not, here we come!!

Happy Father's Day.

 Happy, happy Father's Day!! While

we celebrated quietly after all of the

goings on this week, the huge

celebration memorial yesterday, and

heading out of town tomorrow . . .

A huge thank you and special

appreciation to all of the wonderful

dads in my life.  

I am so thankful for Bobby and his

commitment to our wild and crazy

bunch.  It seems as though we have

not had a dull moment the past

year or so and I am ever so grateful

for his love and support.  We love

him dearly and are so thankful for

him!!!

 My crew are a blessed bunch to have

this special man for their dad.  He has

devoted his entire life to our boys

and is dedicated to their hope and

dreams.  He is the best chauffer, cook,

listener, scoutmaster, waiter, 

vacation planner, and coach.  We are

so grateful for all that he does and

cannot imagine how we would do

it without him and his constant

support and willingness to go the 

extra mile for our crew.  

We love our dad so much and

are thankful for him each.and.every.day.

Father's Day did not seem the same

today without our Grampa.  This is

the first Father's Day that I haven't

made a golf ball cake, cooked

millions of chicken wings, or

purchased a button up shirt with

two pockets.  We are so thrilled for

him as he is with his Lord and Savior,

but still miss him terribly.  We each

have our moments during the day

when we truly cannot believe

that he is not right here with us!!!

We love our dads and are so thankful

for the example that they provide

for our boys!!!

I'll Fly Away.

What a legacy!  Today we celebrated Grampa's

memorial service at our brand new home!

 It was awesome to have so many wonderful

friends and family members come to 

pay tribute to such an awesome Dad and

Grampa.  We will certainly miss our

amazing Gramps, but it was wonderful to 

celebrate this day with believers who are

so thrilled for him.

 The day began at Pahrump Family

Mortuary where we had a wonderful

memorial service where everyone heard

so much about a man who truly loved the

Lord.

 We then went to the Rose Garden and were

able to sprinkle Grampa's ashes on the 

fourth rosebush . . . That was Gram's rosebush!!

As we reflected upon the many activities

of the past several days, our boys stated how

much they are really going to miss our

Grampa.  We KNOW that we will see him

soon and are grateful that he was such

an important part of our lives.

We.love.you.Grampa.

Thumbs Up for Flip Flops!

The boys and I were busy running

errands in preparation for tomorrow's

festivities.  In the parking lot of the

print shop, a sweet lady saw that I

had flip flops on!  She told me that if

we went into Tropical Smoothie Cafe,

today was free smoothie day.  You 

would have thought that they were

handing out golden coins, I ran, ran,

ran to the smoothie store with Luke.

We were able to get free smoothies

for EVERYONE!!  

As we put the finishing touches on

our preparations for tomorrow, we 

are still in shock and it is difficult

to adjust to our new life without our

Grampa.  We have spent much time

in prayer and reflection.  We are 

excited to celebrate Grampa's life with

our friends and family and ready to

experience what God has for us next!!!

Quick 775 Trip.

Between ALL of the goings on,

Sam was able to make a super quick

trip back to Reno to hang out at

beautiful Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe

and then attend a golf banquet with

his golf team buddies.  We have been

slammed around our household lately!

I was thrilled when we were able

to purchase totally cheap tickets two

days before the event.  God totally

orchestrated that as we looked the 

week before and tickets were double

the price.  Just another hallelujah!!

I must say it seems impossible that

Sam is old enough to be navigating his

own travel and making quickie vacation

arrangements . . . It all goes by WAY

too quickly as far as I am concerned.

We are so blessed that we have such

wonderful boys!!  I am grateful that they

can be trusted and have chosen awesome

friends.  I am sure that this is not the

last time that one of our guys will be

hitting the friendly skies without us!!!

Back to memorial prep and planning!!

It is going to be a fun-filled blowout

for Grampa!!! . . . can't wait!!!

Strawberries and Preparations.

Summertime means strawberries at our

house.  It is rare when I can beat Luke to

the strawberries.  He can eat an entire

bushelful in one sitting.  However, tonight

I was lucky, I actually ate some of these

yummy babies while winding down from

the busy activities of our day.

While we are adjusting to life as it will

be in our home without our Grampa, we

have been busy preparing for the events

of the weekend and still trying to 

somewhat move into our new home.

It has seriously been a wild ride

since we have arrived back home

in Las Vegas.  It is hard to describe,

but sometimes we truly do not realize

that we actually live here.  I am sure

that as the days, weeks, and months pass,

we will become accustomed to our new

home, surroundings, and adjustments that

we must make without our Gramps

rattling around our home!!!  It is totally

different for certain, we do not like it

one little bit.  That darn shaping and 

molding . . . 

Day 2 1/2.

I know that time heals all wounds, but

this is certainly a toughy for me.

Being totally selfish, I wish, wish,

wish that my Grampa could be here

with me right.now.  I do so miss him

as I am used to living with him day

in and day out.  We have been through

so very much together and his leaving

this earth has been more than 

difficult for me.  Grampa was my

person and it is going to be a process

getting used to living here without him.

As each day passes, I become more

Heavenly-minded, focusing on things

that are eternal rather than that which 

is so very, very temporary.

I am, however, very excited for him and

know that he is getting things in order

in Heaven . . .  Our family is so very

excited for his celebration this weekend

and can hardly wait to pay tribute to

such a wonderful man.  Days are most

definitely easier than the nights!  I

popped a couple of Grampa's Milk Duds

and am getting ready to hit the sheets!!

See you soon Gramps.  I really, really, really

do miss ya!!!!

Let the Celebration Begin!!

We spent today getting ready for

Grampa's BIG celebration weekend!!

It all started here with Tim our

amazingly friendly and kind

funeral director at the mortuary!

As the day progressed through visits

to the florists, newspapers, restaurants,

and visits with the pastor who will be

conducting the service, it became more

and more apparent that God is in control

of the planning and has amazing things

in mind for this weekend as we plan

to honor our wonderful Grampa!!!

Stay tuned and keep your seat belts

fastened as we prayerfully prepare for

a truly grand celebration of a wonderful

man!!!  As a matter of fact, I am now

excited that it is on Father's Day weekend

that we will be given to privilege to 

pay tribute to Gramps!!!

There's No Place Like Home.

Today as I miss my sweet,

sweet Grampa so much, I know 

with all my heart and soul that

he is in the loving arms of his

Savior, celebrating with Gram and

all of his many, many friends and

family that were believers in our
Lord and Savior.  Through the tears,

we could not help but smile and

have peace and assurance that 

"absent in the body is in the presence

of Christ".

Grampa is most definitely one of the

most.important.people.in.my.life.

as well as in the lives of my husband

and children.  What an awesome feeling

to KNOW that we will all be joining

him soon.  Lately, it is becoming much

more clear to me that I am an alien

here . . . I so realize that there truly is

"NO PLACE LIKE HOME".