So, Canada, Eh?

Some would consider embarking on a 1900 mile road trip with a 6 month old as courageous, some would consider us stupid- both are probably right. But Ruby did beautifully as we headed up to Pentiction, British Columbia for a family reunion. The town sits between two lakes so Ruby had a ton of beach time & loved it all, especially the water- proving yet again that she is more Jeff's child after all.

Chef vs. Handy Ma'am

It seems some people are surprised by Jeff and me, but we make an odd but good match.

Example: As mentioned before, Jeff has become quite the chef- and I love it! He's finishing up an 8 week series of classes entitled 'the fine art of cooking'. I've loved eating his homework, such as the steak with roasted asparagus and bernaise sauce shown above. So Jeff's birthday was last week and mine is today (happy birthday to me!)

Jeff received for his birthday: a digital cooking scale, meat thermometer, a long apron to go with his chef's coat, bamboo cutting board, and citrus zester.

Rachel received for her birthday: new screwdriver set, new level (my old one is lost somewhere in a wall of our basement), and a big old Home Depot gift card- YES!

Happy Birthday Chef!

A big Happy Birthday to Jeff! We love you!
From Rach & your Ruby Sous Chef

grass!

ya know how most babies hate the feel of grass? i thought i'd let ruby sit on the grass and be entertained as she cringed and hated it (i'm an evil mom, i know). but did she hate it? nope- she loved it. that kid never ceases to surprise me.

it's all downhill from here

this afternoon ruby would not be pleased- by anything! she didn't want to eat, sleep, play, jump, sit by herself, didn't like her toys, books, exersaucer, swing, floor gym, bouncy seat... nothing. and she definitely didn't like me. so in a moment of desperation i resorted to clifford. the large canine happened to be on pbs and calmed ruby right down. this is the beginning of something bad.

random ruby photos

well then...

It's been an odd couple of weeks. One of those twilight, out of body confusion, wierd times.

3 weeks ago: my mom emailed us from her mission that she hasn't been feeling well. In two months time she had lost her appetite and a bunch of weight but had some sort of mass in her stomach.

2 1/2 weeks ago: Tuesday: mom had a CAT scan, saw her military doctor and spoke with the mission doctor. He was very concerned with the results and sent my parents home early from their mission the NEXT DAY.

Wednesday: Mom and Dad came home. Yeah their home! Oh no, what was it that she needed to come home for?!

Thursday: Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Usher in all the feelings of sadness, anger, confusion, frustration, you name it.

Last week: Surgery. Surgery that went 3 hours longer than planned. Stressful! Thankfully the surgery went really well, but there were many more tumors than expected. Doctors removed a bucket worth of tumors, her ovaries, appendix, gall bladder, half of her colon, and part of her diaphram. Ouch. Thankfully the surgery went well and removed almost all of the cancer. This makes it very likely that chemo will be sucessful with the remaining cancer.

Now Mom is recovering well and expected to be released from the hospital soon. In six weeks she'll start chemo. So with as crazy and difficult as this has been, it's good to look for the silver lining. My mom and entire family has been very blessed throughout this experience, it's great the cancer was caught when it was, my parents flew home before the volcano grounded people in Europe, I've been able to hang out with my dad, my cell phone is full of calls and texts from family and friends, Ruby got to meet her Oma and Opa sooner, and last but not least, I'm going to go wig shopping with my mom.

So, hopefully all will continue to go well. If you want to read updates, my mom has asked that my sister and I update my parents' blog with clever progress posts. So how do you make cancer clever?