It has been forever since we have posted anything but I think we needed a break for a bit.  Not from posting, just from everything….make sense??  Our air went out in the house and if you live in Arizona, you know how awful that is!  It was 110 out and we decided to ditch AZ for CA for a week and a half and it was well worth it!  We stayed with my parents for most of the trip and it was great!  We went to Sea World with the the kids and they really enjoyed it.  The beach is by far their favorite place to be and I wish we could have gone there more but weather was not the best for the ocean.  We had a good time just getting away from everything.

We came back Sunday night to a cool house because of a new air unit and it is much better in here!  Jack had two doctors appointments today…he had to get an Echo and a EKG as well as do a pulmonary function test.  He did good with both and I am sure we will hear from Dr Eshun in the next couple of days with results.  I don’t anticipate them being any less than great so let’s just go with that!

Tomorrow Jack has to meet with a urologist.  During his last set of scans they saw that one of his testicles has moved back up and not descended.  After seeing Eshun and his pediatrician, they both wanted him to go see a urologist to see if he needs a procedure to bring it back down.  Most of the time they will just wait it out to see if it falls on it’s own, but with Jack’s past we will probably opt for the procedure.  The treatment that Jack has gone through may affect his chance to have kids when his is older as well as increase his odds for secondary cancer so we want to always do everything to prevent all we can.  When a testicle is not in the proper place, the temperature is not accurate and can be damaging for his future for both kids and testicular cancer.  Of course these are worst case scenarios, but like I said, because of Jack’s past we will do everything to prevent any more damage to his body….sooooo off to the urologist we go.  Probably more info than you needed, but it is what it is!

Today marks the beginning of International Neuroblastoma Awareness week…do us a favor, take the time to share Jack’s story with someone you know who you haven’t shared it with.  Send them his website…let them know how awful this beast is and how we need to do everything we can to help spread awareness and raise money for research.  Let someone know how many children are affected by this disease every year and how we need to do something to change this.  Here are a few facts:

Neuroblastoma is a cancer that develops from nerve cells found in several areas of the body. Neuroblastoma most commonly arises in and around the adrenal glands, which have similar origins to nerve cells and sit atop the kidneys. However, neuroblastoma can also develop in other areas of the abdomen and in the chest, neck and pelvis, where groups of nerve cells exist.

• Neuroblastoma is a common and often difficult to treat cancer, the most common cancer in infancy.
• In the United States, about 600 children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year.
• It is the most common tumor found in children younger than 1 year of age.
• Neuroblastoma is the most common extra cranial solid tumor cancer in children.
• Every 16 hours a child with neuroblastoma dies.
• There is no known cure for relapsed neuroblastoma.
• Nearly 70% of those children first diagnosed with neuroblastoma have disease that has already metastasized or spread to other parts of the body. When disease has spread at diagnosis and a child is over the age of 2, there is less than a 30% chance of survival.

We will share more facts as the week continues because we want to do all we can to help fight this disease.  As always, thank you so much for all of your support.  One day we will find the words to tell you how much we appreciate it…

We are back from CA and we had a great time, but we are so very tired!  The plane ride out there was pretty uneventful on Friday if you don’t count the fact that Braden does NOT stop moving at all.  Seriously.  He jumps, spins, throws toys and binkies, yells “Oh my ga” the entire time, and thinks it’s funny to head butt.  The plane ride was smooth, but “Oh my ga.”  Once we got to CA we were off to the beach with my Dad and sister and her family.  Jack and Braden had a blast.  Jack was screaming every time a wave came and wanted to spend every moment in the water.  He has no fear at all anymore.  Braden thought the water was alright, but he was more interested in stealing everyone else’s balls and toys on the beach.  He runs so fast that he is very hard to keep up with!

Saturday we all went to the aquarium and it was so very cool.  It was huge and the kids were great taking their time walking through.  They saw a bunch of different sea life that we didn’t even really know existed and Jack really loved it all.  We wanted to go to lunch some place that was within walking distance so we ended up at Bubba Gumps…not exactly something I would recommend, but interesting!  Jess, Zac’s brother, drove up from San Diego to come and see Zac on Saturday evening so we were able to catch up with him for a little bit.  It was good to see him and we wish we could have seen the whole family, but I am sure we will sometime soon.

Sunday came and off to the pool we went.  Jack was able to “swim” with arm floaties on and we for sure need to get him swim lessons!  He really enjoyed himself but since it has been so long since he has been in a pool he was a bit out of sync.  We are looking now for a place to take both him and Braden.  Braden wasn’t such a huge fan of the pool.  Not sure if it wasn’t warm enough or if it was too big for him, but he was not wanting to be in the pool at all. Our friends, Chloe and Kameron, were able to drive up to visit and came with us on a Duffy boat ride after hanging out at the pool.  We had tons of fun with them and were able to spend some adult time later as all the kids stayed with my parents that night.  It was so great to see them and be able to catch up after so many months!

Come Monday..the 4th…another day at the pool hanging out and waiting around for a BBQ and then the fireworks.  We were all excited since the firewors were literally right by my parent’s house and since they are on top of a hill we were also going to be able to see about 7 other shows from their place.  While waiting for the fireworks we all played out in a big grassy area by my parents house.  The kids had so much fun just running around and attempting to flip and do cartwheels.  Zac showed us his skills and my mom swears she can still do a roundoff…hahaha! I am still waiting to see those pictures.  Unfortunelty the fireworks didn’t start until after 9 so Braden was asleep and Jack fell asleep right as they started!  So much for that!  We did actually hear them though if that counts!

Tuesday, our last day in CA, Zac, the boys, my dad, and I spend the day togtether. We hung out at the house for a bit, went out to lunch and then to Jack’s Surf Shop.  Zac had never been there before and he is now a huge fan.  We were able to get the boys a few things, including new Tom’s shoes for Braden.  If you haven’t seen them before, you need to!  They are the cutest things ever now that they come in toddler sizes.  We had another good flight home (if you don’t count Braden’s outbursts of total joy!) and made it home literally seconds before the huge dust storm hit our house.  That dust storm was out of control.  It felt like it was the end of the world or soemthing with how dark it was out there!

Needless to say, we are so tired today.  Zac had to go back to work out in the awful heat and the boys and I ran some errands and then tried to do the endless loads of laundry and unpack.  We had a good trip and will be planning another visit out there soon.  I will include a few pictures, but as you will be able to tell, it was very hard to get a good family shot because Braden doesn’t stop moving!  He is blurry in half of the shots!  I haven’t seen the pics from my Dad’s or brother-in-laws cameras yet, so maybe they will have one that will be better.

in awe:

Duffy boat ride

Happy 4th!