Concerts at the Park

When I was little Polliwog Park was a special park because it had a pond with ducks and this really neat (and huge in my memory) wooden ship in the play area. The wooden ship is gone, probably because it didn't have safety rails, but the duck pond is still there and now it also has an army of turtles to compete with the ducks for food. Also, they do free concerts in the park on Sunday nights during the summer, and while the music is not always really fantastic, the kids had a great time rocking out because they aren't always that discerning. They made it to three concerts this summer, but these pictures are from the night the "Beatles" played. You might notice that the kids are jumping all over a guy resembles my dad but is not my dad in one of the shots. That would be my dad's brother, Uncle Jim, who is a great sport. He let them jump all over him until they were all worn out, and that is no small feat.

A Walk on the Beach

This blog has been too quiet lately - I've had limited computer access since we came back to Illinois and a huge huge pile of boxes to attend to...and of course keeping up with three boys, adjusting to cleaning and maintaining a much bigger house and yard (overall yay! but a few bumps along the road), and getting the school year started. However, I am scheduling a few weeks of back-posts from our trip to CA, so I can promise with absolute certainty that there will be pictures and updates this week and next.

Today's offerings are from a walk we took with Mom and Dad in Redondo. It was a beautiful evening and the kids were going crazy running ahead of us, then turning around screaming and running full speed every single time they saw a dog. If you've every walked that stretch of sidewalk you know that it is dog-central. So, basically they spent a great deal of time running back and forth and jumping up on my Dad so he could save them. It was cute, but probably pretty hard on his back...

Update on Mary: No Change

The good news is that Mom's tumor has not gotten bigger or spread. The bad news is that neither the main tumor nor it's smaller offspring have shrunk any since her last CT. Considering that chemo has been hit or miss for her for the last few months, we are very grateful that the cancer is still contained. Her chemo dose is being lowered in the hope that this will allow her to get chemo every single time she is scheduled. Please pray that the chemo will be effective and that her blood counts will be high enough for her to get chemo every week during this next round (which starts a week from Thursday).

Thank you so much for praying with us. Your prayers and support are so valuable to us. We treasure them (and you)!

Update on Mary: Chemo Struggles

Mom wasn't able to get her chemo today, because once again her blood counts were too low. Despite a recent drop in the strength of her chemo, her body continues to struggle to recover every week. This is really discouraging. She would really like to be able to get her chemo every single time. Please pray for her body to rebound more quickly, and that she would be able to take her chemo next week. Also, please pray for wisdom as she discusses her chemo schedule and dosage with her doctor next week.

She has a CT on Friday to check on the spread of the cancer, so please pray that she would get through the procedure and that the results would be positive. We will not hear any results from the test until next Thursday, so pray for peace for all of us as we wait.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! We appreciate them all so much.

Kenny Eats a Lime