An update on Roy's cancer.

I'll start with the difficult stuff:  Roy does have cancer, as I mentioned last week.  His PSA count is fairly high, and out of the 12 samples taken to biopsy, 6 of them were cancerous.  It's pretty certain he'll have to have his prostate removed.  The only question is, when?  They are doing some more tests on the biopsies that have already been taken to see how quickly the cancer is growing.  If it's slow, then Roy will probably wait until summer ends so he can enjoy boating, camping, etc.  If it's faster growing, then we'll schedule surgery for late May or June.  To be on the safe side, we're having a 2nd opinion.  The appointment for that is on Tuesday.

Caitlyn had her MRI on Tuesday and she definitely has arthritis in her jaw.  Now that this has been determined, we can discuss treatment with her doctor.  We have an appointment also on Tuesday to discuss her treatment.   

On St. Patrick's Day I went out to lunch with my good friend, Jamie.  We decided that since the restaurant was noisy we would take it to go, so we placed our order and sat down to wait.  Jamie saw someone she knew and began talking to her.  I was sitting by a pretty lady who was obviously waiting for her party to arrive.  She was thin and fashionably dressed, and I thought to myself she probably had money. I turned to her and told her I liked her blouse a lot, and since it was green, I asked if she was wearing it in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  She immediately smiled and engaged in conversation with me.  She told me she was meeting her brother and his wife and they were richer than ________  (not a swear word, she just didn't have a good adjective to describe how rich they were).  She said, "They have like 5 kitchens in their one home, as an example."  She confided that her blouse was a "hand-me-down" from a friend and she chose it because it was green (for the holiday), she was wondering if she was okay to wear it out to lunch with this rich brother.  I told her she looked great and she didn't need to worry.  I share this story because it made my day that she was so willing to have an honest, happy conversation, with me, a stranger.  She was willing to share her smile and I left the restaurant feeling great.  By the time we got our food and left, my friend had returned and entered into the conversation as well.  When we walked out I said, "I liked her."  Jamie said she was thinking the same thing.  It's amazing how being friendly can make people feel so good.  It's true in the reverse as well, an unkind comment or even a negative look can ruin someone's day.  

The group Vocal Point from BYU came to the Bountiful Regional Center to do a concert for the Young Single Adults Stake.  Roy was an usher, I got to wear an usher badge, too, but I didn't end up helping.  I just visited with an acquaintance I knew nearly 40 years ago, from High School.  

The picture below is a "selfie" taken at the concert.

I think the little girl behind us Photo Bombed on purpose.

Roy and I went to a Book of Mormon Conference down in Utah County on Saturday.  It was put on by Book of Mormon Central.  There were a lot of interesting presentations, but my favorite was when they awarded Jack Welch the "Lehi and Sariah" award for contributions made to Book of Mormon study.  They showed this 10 minute video, and it was amazing.  I have known about the literary form Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon for many years, but I had never heard the story of how it was discovered.  This video tells the story.  It was very uplifting to see how the Lord led this young man, Jack Welch, to discover that this literary form, known among Bible scholars, was present in the Book of Mormon. Watching this video is well worth 10 minutes of your time.  If you haven't heard of Chiasmus, then you'll learn something.

 

Some of my kids sent photos of their kids to me during the week.  

Swimming lessons

Andy got a new bike, Max and Mav loved it!

Greta

Dojin

Bad news and good news

We have had an interesting week.  Should I start with the bad news, or the good news?  I guess the good should always win out.  The good news isn't great news, but more hopeful news.  We finally got Caitlyn into the Rheumatology specialist on Thursday--well, let me back up a little.  We have been looking for answers to Caitlyn's jaw issues.  Dr. Guinn, the jaw pain specialist that she's been seeing for 6 or 7 months determined that Caitlyn is still losing bone in her jaw and is not stabilizing.  He said that because he can't stabilize her bone loss, there's nothing more he can do for her.  He then suggested a specialist who deals with arthritis--in this case, arthritis of the jaw.  We called the specialist and the soonest appointment we could get was nearly two months out.  While waiting for that appointment, I called a chiropractor that had been recommended to me who does some heat laser treatments for pain. He was willing to work with Caitlyn without cost unless she felt that the treatments were helping her. These treatments did not help, but he mentioned that we should call the Dr. back and tell them we wanted to be on a waiting list for cancellations, which we did.  Caitlyn and Roy both received blessings from our home teachers on Sunday; and on Monday or Tuesday, I had a call from the Dr's office that there was a cancellation, which we felt was an answer to those blessings and also our fasting and prayer.  Roy and I took her to the Dr. on Thursday morning.  We still have no definitive answers, but the specialist is pretty sure that she has arthritis in her jaw (and only in her jaw, thankfully).  She goes in for an MRI on Tuesday morning.  She also had a battery of blood tests to check her for anything that could be causing her pain--such as thyroid issues, Lupus, etc.  The hopeful news is that this Dr. will be able to start treating her for more than just her symptoms. Hopefully she can get to the root of the problem and start treating her.  She did say that arthritis drugs usually require a lot of trial and error, but at least we have a direction to pursue.  

The bad news: Well, I mentioned that Roy also had a blessing from our home teachers.  He had a biopsy last week on his prostate and we were awaiting the results.  He received kind of a courtesy call from his doctor since his next appointment wasn't until next week.  He does have cancer.  That's all we really know at this point until we talk to the doctor, but he made it sound like it is a slow growing, highly treatable cancer with a high cure rate.  Glenn, if you're reading this, I'm sure Roy will be calling you.

I put these things at the first of the letter because they pretty much consumed my week, but we did have some fun, too.  Roy and I went to St. George Monday and Tuesday--Roy had business.  We began the business with the French meal at Jeremiah Johnson's (Roy's co-worker) parents restaurant in Santa Clara. The Granary.  This was the 2nd annual dinner for clients and prospective clients.  Again, it was super delicious and very rich.  We started off with our own Brie pastry with cherry preserves.  It was delicious.  Of course, we didn't eat it all (if we had, it would've have been our recommended calories for two or three days).  We also had pork roulade with blue cheese, avocados and spinach inside.  Dessert was a little lighter, poached pear with cream.  

this is the brie pastry.  It doesn't look very appetizing
in the picture, but it was delicious

Tuesday, after Roy's conference he had to attend, we went hiking at Snow Canyon, and then went to dinner and a movie (Passengers).  The movie was entertaining, but not fabulous.  We stayed one more night and headed home Wednesday morning.  I was in charge of book club at my home on Wednesday evening, so we had to get on our way fairly quickly.  For book club we discussed the book "Queen of Katwe"  A non-fiction book about a girl in Uganda who was born in the slums and had very little hope for a life outside of these slums.  From a Christian ministry, (the mentor also began life in the slums) she learned to play chess, and it changed her life.  Roy and I rented the movie and watched it over the next couple of nights.  It was very uplifting and I recommend both the book and the movie. The book was more detailed, but the movie made it real.  

Saturday we continued the move-in process.  We're pretty well settled, but the garage hasn't been taken care of.  Caitlyn helped us to store the snow tires and all the extra carpeting. 

Today in Relief Society we talked about women role models.  I didn't comment, but I thought about what I would say if I did.  I can't think of a better role model than my mother.  She was everything a woman should be.  Kind and tolerant, always serving, always giving.  I asked my mom once, "If you had it to do over again, would you still have seven children?"  Her answer: "I would have had 9 if I could have. One between you and Phil, and another between Phil and Nan." This answer really affected me and probably helped me in some of my decisions when I was having children.  Children are undervalued today.  I think if we knew how important our posterity will be eternally, we would all be more willing to bring children into the world.

 Of all the women in the world--famous women, accomplished and intelligent women...I can't think of any woman in the world that I would rather be like than my mother.

I also have a bond with grandmother Cook.  After Thomas died, I read her book, "He left us with a Smile."  I knew that the poem of the same title was about her son, Glenn, but I didn't realize that the entire book was probably written as she dealt with her grief.  Every poem seemed to point to that pivotal moment in her life.  I grew closer to her as I read her book, than I ever could have in life.  I was only 10 when she passed away, and though she lived with us for a year, I only have vague memories of her.  She truly was a woman that I would want to emulate. And then there were my mother's mothers.  Her own mother died at 33.  I can't even imagine how it would have been for Henrietta, as she knew she was dying and leaving behind four children.  Her sister stepped in to care for the children, and was later married to my grandfather.  She was amazing to take on four of her sister's children, and her sister's husband, and give them all a happy and fulfilled life.  As I was thinking of these things, I realized we have come from a long line of truly wonderful women, but I don't know much about any of them.  I guess that's something I could work on in the future.  

We ended the week as we end many weeks--dinner with the family.  Everyone was there but Elise and Andy, Max and Mav, whom we missed.  Below are a coupe of pictures from the evening.

There were enough eggs in the coop for each grandchild to bring one in.
(dangerous, I know)

These three couldn't carry eggs yet.

I just realized there are no pictures of Ruby or Finn--they didn't get eggs either :(

The chickens are laying!

 Our hens started laying eggs this week.  So far it's only the "Easter Eggers" that are laying. The white eggs in the picture are store bought, the designs on the colored eggs are dirt.  Roy and Caitlyn ate them for breakfast the next morning.

We can almost say our home is finished.  The carpet layer came on Wednesday and finished the stairs with a carpet runner.  It looks really nice.  However, our tub won't be installed until tomorrow.  Then-I think we'll be able to say it's done- On to the yard...

Hyeji and Doyeon were the lucky kiddos to go with Roy and I to the play Mary Poppins.  As we were walking up to the building, Hyeji informed Doyeon, "This is where I saw the real Belle." (We'd previously taken her to Beauty and the Beast with Gunnar).  A child has to be 5 to be permitted into the theater.  I think I know why :)  Doyeon, at 5 was thoroughly excited and entranced--and she had lots of questions.  She doesn't quite understand "the whisper" however, because when she knew I wanted her to be quiet, she'd put her hand to the side of her mouth to indicate she wanted to whisper to me, but the volume of her questions didn't really ever change.
At the end of the play, I asked Doyeon how she liked the play.  Her response: "It was wonderful, can we go to it again."  I asked if Hyeji had enjoyed the play.  Roy said, "She says she's tired."  Some of the actors were in the foyer as usual at the end of these plays, there was Jane Banks and Mary Poppins, but who did Doyeon want to see? The statue.  (If you've seen the play Mary Poppins, you know that the statue comes to life in the park).  She was very interested in the statue.

Thursday afternoon Roy had a doctor's appointment.  He needed a biopsy to check his prostrate.  His PSA levels are a little high.  We aren't too worried, yet, but he won't know the results for over a week.

Last week when I wrote the newsletter, I was pretty exhausted, so even though it was my mother's birthday, I didn't take the time to write anything about her.  My brother did, though.  His letter was complete with pictures that didn't copy when I tried.  Here is what Philip said about my mother.
   "It is my mother’s birthday, so I thought I would share something about her. The problem is I don’t know if I’m just repeating what I’ve written before. Forgive me if that’s the case. Because mom never talked about herself, I never really felt the heartache she experienced when her first husband, Gene Bird, passed away approximately six months after their wedding. She had starting dating him during her senior year of high school, but they went to different colleges (he BYU – she U of U). My mom had either graduated or was close to graduation from college when they married. Ila was so quiet that I didn’t know she had been married before she married my dad until I was nine and my cousin C. A. Salisbury told me. After mom died, someone – I think one of my sisters – found a package covered with brown wrapping paper in the fruit room of the Sherwood Drive home. It contained memorabilia from that time, including mementos from their wedding and Gene’s military life. I was amazed that it had not earlier been discovered. There was a diploma memorializing completion of the course of instruction of the Army Air Forces Advanced Flying School, newspaper articles about earning his “wings” and promotions in the Armed Services. There was also a Western Union telegram addressed to his father. WUX WASHINGTON DC. 558PM 5 DEC. JOHN E. BIRD SPRINGVILLE UTAH. THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES THAT I TENDER HIS DEEP SYMPATHY TO YOU IN THE LOSS OF YOUR SON SECOND LIEUTENANT GENE E BIRD REPORT RECEIVED STATES THAT HE DIED ON TWENTY NINE NOVEMBER IN SOOKERATING ASIATIC AREA. LETTER FOLLOWS ULIO. THE ADJUTANT GENERAL . My mom received a letter just before her birthday, on February 20, 1944, from the commanding officer, Brigadier General Earl S. Hoag, U.S. Army, extending his sympathy but noting that “reasons of security prevent me from giving you any details at this time….Your husband’s personal effects will be sent to you eventually through the Government agencies handling these matters.” They were married on May 7, 1943, and he shipped off for Florida shortly thereafter and left for the war on November 7, 1943. A newspaper article dated December 9, 1943 says that his wife “accompanied him during most of his advanced training and was at Miami, Fla., until he left for oversees duty.” He died three weeks after leaving the states in a crash landing of a C-46 cargo plane he was not flying, but was an observer. Interestingly, he was born July 31, 1921. My father was born July 30, 1921. Mom wrote a poem in the form of a letter to Gene. It is undated. To Gene: "You cannot tell what happiness or sorrow lies in wait behind the screen of hours yet to be. Nobody knows. We can’t anticipate tomorrow’s sun, nor its apostrophe. There was no way for us to look ahead and see that you so quickly were to go; there are so many things you would have said, so many things you’d like to have me know. How could we guess that you’d so soon be gone, without a chance to even say goodbye, that all the lovely things we had planned on so confidently were so soon to die. And you who love to help so very much would never leave me thus. I know you long to give to me some reassuring touch to show the way; to teach me to be strong. I ask to understand the why and how, so, knowing as I do, your thoughts so well, the hardest part for you must be that now you know the answers for me and you cannot tell." Years later (1989), she wrote a brief biographical sketch, including the following. “His death was a complete shock. I had always believed he would return. My father and Aunt Jen were wonderful in helping me adjust to this tragedy. They encouraged me to return to teaching immediately. I was advised to keep busy and occupied, not to question why this had to happen. It took me some time to accept his death. One night was especially hard and I prayed for guidance and inspiration. Gene came to me in a dream and told me everything was great for him and I must adjust and go on with my life. I was hindering him from doing the things he needed to accomplish. I accepted his death after this personal revelation and began to make plans for my future.” My mother would have been 96 today if she were still in this mortal realm."

I really like that Phil included that poem that my mother wrote.  I'd not seen that before.  She was a beautiful writer, but she didn't write very much.  Her mother, as you all know, passed away when my own mother was 18 months old.  My mom always said that she wished her mother would have written more, so she could have known her better.  I guess my mom didn't really take that lesson to heart--she didn't write very much; or maybe she was just too busy caring for her many children and her husband.  If I could say just one thing about my mom it would be that she was selfless.  She was always serving her family and loved ones.  Even when she had Alzheimer's disease, she didn't stop giving--it was in her very nature.  She had three recipes she loved: One was a shrimp/crab cocktail in the form of a drink, one was the minestrone soup recipe that I make often still, and the other was broccoli salad (the one with raisins and pine nuts or sunflower seeds).  I have to admit, she made that one so often it kind of ruined it for me--especially because she always wanted to give it to us to take home.   We never knew if it had been in the fridge or in the garage to chill (too warm in the garage in the summer), and we didn't know how long it had been made.  The same went for the other two recipes, but I still love those.  She would go with Nan to Costco and get two watermelons, one for Nan and one for her.  Nan had a hard time because my dad would have sent her with explicit instructions not to bring home watermelons.
Dave also wrote about my mother in his letter last week:
"My mother was born on this day in 1921. She left us a legacy of love and caring and is most likely the reason my brother's and sister's still get along today (I'm sure our Dad had something to do with it as well).  She showed us unconditional love and acceptance.  I know this because I tried her patience to the maximum.  She always wanted her children to succeed and gave us many opportunities to improve.  She put me in tap dance, piano, clarinet and voice lessons.  With these opportunities I found I couldn't dance, my piano teacher told my mother I had no aptitude to play the piano, and my clarinet teacher kept grabbing my horn and showing me how to play it, which grossed me out since he was a smoker.  Mother admonished me to be active, cautioned me against laziness, and encouraged me in the things I was interested in (which in high school, was drama).  It took me 49 years to get past the notion I didn't have the aptitude to play the piano.  Playing the hymns of the Church has given me many hours of satisfaction and peace of mind.  Mother also expressed her testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I asked her why she didn't do more with her master's degree in business,  She told me she just wanted to be known as one who loved her family.  All mother's children and children-in-law, knew they were loved.  This love extended to the grandchildren as well."
Also, just so you all know, Dave's granddaughter Natasha had her baby last week.  Dave writes: Evelyn Ila Hodges, born On February 25, 2017, at 9:17 a.m., 19 inches, 7 lbs 4 oz, to Stefan Hodges and Natasha Hall.  Evelyn started life with breathing problems.  She was flown by helicopter from the Toole Hospital to Primary Children's Hospital.  Her lungs are trying to revert back to pre-birth condition, which means her lungs are collapsing.  Her heart is working extra hard to make up for the stress she is under as doctors treat her with medication.  The medication is to relax her heart.  Today [last Sunday] she was diagnosed with pneumonia and will be in NICU for the next seven days.
Conrad Moore (Liz' little boy) has been admitted to the hospital a couple of times with Croup in the past couple of weeks as well.

Today I asked for an update.  Conrad is home from the hospital, but Evelyn is not.  She is improving, though.  Keep her in your prayers.

On a happier note, Christine let me know that she is going to have another granddaughter (Nathanael and Whitney's 2nd).

I saw almost all of my grandchildren this week.  Adrienne and  her kids are notably absent from the pictures below because I didn't see her.  I didn't see Elise or the boys, either, but she sent pictures.

Effie and Dojin (Sara sent me this pic) 5 months makes a big
difference at this age :)

Max and Mav at the zoo.

This picture was sent to me as well.  I guess Friday
Ori went to play with Dan's girls.  Then, after dropping off to my
house for an hour or so, they all left and went to Korean for dinner. (below).

Roy and I drove up to Logan on Saturday to visit our newest grandchild, Greta, and to visit Ruby, an oh, okay--Crista and Matt, too. We took them to lunch at Herm's.  It was delicious, as usual.  Ruby loved the big pancake we all shared.

Ruby was able to navigate to Netflix on Roy's phone (as well as mine)
She only needed help to get the phone unlocked.

Crista and Matt

All in all, another great week.  Love to all!