Update

Well, my dad is still fighting and fighting hard but it has been the hardest thing I have ever had to watch.  As a quick update, he did qualify for a stem cell transplant and is almost through the first phase.  Dad has had two round of extensive chemo so far, after the first round of chemo they collected as many of his stem cells as they could so that they could do two possibly three transplants.  He is almost through the first transplant.  He went through his second round of chemo which they say if it wasn't for the transplant would kill him.  He is in so much pain and misery.  I cry almost every day because I feel so bad for what he has had to go through.  I can not even begin to describe the pain and anguish I see in his eyes when I visit.  His treatment has been an outpatient treatment but mom and dad have had to live in Salt Lake for the past couple of weeks.  Because of the risk of the treatment, patients have to live close to the hospital in case they have to be rushed to the hospital for complications.  They have been living with a friend who lives close.  Dad actually was admitted to the hospital last night and will be there for a few days because his body is too week to fight and his transplant has not taken yet to help his body fight.  After his new cells start working he will be able to come home and it will take 6-8 weeks for him to recover from this treatment at which point he will begin the second chemo/transplant treatment which is said to be more intense.  I do not know if I can watch him go through this again and cause him even more pain and anguish.  We have been keeping a blog for him to keep friends and neighbors updated on his condition, it is cancerreallyreallysucks.blogspot.com.  The hardest thing he says is the fact that he is going through all of this and there is no surety that it will put his cancer in remission.  Because some of his cancer cells are said to be resistant to treatment no one really know what the outcome will be.  I think that it will devastate him if he fights so hard only to lose the battle.  I think that it will devastate us all!!  Thank you so much to all of my family who have been so supportive and thoughtful.  Your thoughts and prayers have meant so much to me. 

Hallie Jo really loves her Grandpa and she really misses him.  She writes him notes of encouragement every day!

So now an update on my own family - - It is that time of year again, TAX TIME, so my sweet hubby is busy as ever and has been running on only 3-4 hours of sleep every night since mid February.  This year as been harder and more hours for him than years past because his firm lost a few tax seniors at the beginning of the year so he has to carry a heavier load.  I have been really struggling to take care of the gym, take care of my sweet children, and take care of mom and dad as well.  Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors and a wonderful Relief Society Presidency.  I have really gained great respect for the Relief Society Organization lately and hope that I can return all of the favors some day.

Hallie Jo has been participating in quite a few gymnastics competitions lately and has done really well.  She is a born performer but competes because it is fun.  She is not super competitive which makes it even funner for me.  Here are a few pictures of some of her competitions.  Her next competition will be on April 29th or 30th at All American Gymnastics in Lindon.  She has also recently switched ballet studios to the Barlow Arts Conservatory (the one she did the Nutcracker with) and is absolutely loving ballet.  They placed her in a Level 3 class and she seems to fit in very well.  They will be performing Alice in Wonderland on May 13-14 at the Covey Center for the Arts.  She sure has a love for life and has sure enjoyed making friends at school, she even has a few boys chasing after her, but she has bluntly told them that she can only be friends with them and that is all and that her mom said that she can not get married until she is twenty.  They seemed to be okay with that and now are just her friend.  I hope that this attitude will continue into her teenage years.

Having a good time!

Some of her Team mates!



Hallie Jo and her cousin Harlee compete in the same Level.  It has been fun for them!




My Level 4/5 Team



Happy as Ever!

Cody is sure a handful, and with all the things that are going on right now I feel like I have not been able to give him the one on one time that he is so in need of.  He runs from one mess to another faster than my feet can run.  I feel like all I do all day is chase him around.  He has figured out how to unlock doors and tries to escape.  I am going to have to get a lock to put up high so he can't reach it.  He still loves his sister so much and he is learning how to interact with other children his age.  I hope that I can tame his craziness a little.    

So Mischievious!