Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Once again, we have been remiss in updating the blog. I will therefore endeavor to write what has been happening with a semblance of accuracy. I promise that my imagination will not contribute. I also promise that I will leave at least half of the information out since that is what I do, my calling as a man, my station in life. Poor Amanda married down heh heh. Anyway, we have had a good couple of weeks. Elijah is off of the steroids and his actions and emotions are much less of a roller coaster. He also has thinned down again because the steroids made him gain quite a bit of weight. He was eating for awhile during the steroid regimen, but that was as short lived as the steroids themselves. It did think it was pretty funny that Elijah, while he was puffed up and chubby, had a rather large belly. We were swimming and he looked at his tummy and looked up to me and said "I have a big belly like Dad's." How tender and sweet! We are almost done with the most intense phase of his steroids and will soon be going to the doctor only once a month. We did find out that he would be taking a low dose chemo every day in pill form for the next 3 years. We foolishly hoped that we would not have to keep giving him medicine every day but alas, that is not the case. Michelle is doing very well and getting ready to start school. We went and bought school supplies for her and I felt like an old man. I kept saying "This isn't how things were in my day. Why, in my day all we needed was a pencil box, some pencils and paper." Apparently I also walked to school uphill both ways in the snow carrying all of my siblings. She is pretty excited and I must say that I am so happy that we were able to get her a Hannah Montana folder for her. Oh joy. Hallelujah. Yippee. She was also excited that she was able to buy a backpack. It is kind of a luggage piece because it has wheels on the bottom and you can pull it. It seems to me that they should be able to carry their stuff, otherwise they might get fat (says the fat dad to the skinny hyper youth). I must confess that I was also pretty excited to get my first eye roll from Michelle and I could see the thought flashing across her face "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard and will not dignify that with a response." At least she is smart enough not to actually say that. All kidding aside, she is excited to go to school and we love having her as a part of our family. Alivia is still doing well. She is the one that we might have to worry about when she is older. I find it mildly amusing (very mildly) that if you try and grab her hand to lead her where she wants to go, then she will jerk her hand out of yours and sort of run away. It is hilarious when she does it to Michelle, not so hilarious when she does it to us. We are still unsure as to what to do with her since our other children are all mellow. I always come home and am prepared to see her walking around the kitchen, right arm swinging wildly, going for Elijah or Michelle to annoy them in some way. It is kind of fun also to watch her grab Elijah's blanket, juice, toy, food, or anything else he might have and look up at him to see how long it will take him to yell at her. She does it with a smirk on her face, and all I can think of when I see that is "My poor parents.". How fun it must have been for them to see me antagonize Isaac until he smacked me full force in the back with a broom handle. Or watching me push Zach around because he was too skinny to hurt me. Or watch me put Angela in my movie for school and call her a serving wench. Or watch me make Melanie cry because I told her that she was faking her vibrato when she sang. Or watching me slap the glasses off of Jenny's face (she got the best of that one, she can punch reeeeeeallly hard). Or watching me convince Jordan that it was ok to slide off of the roof on a saucer because the 6 inches of snow would pad his fall (this was a failure because I went off first with Zach and couldn't hide the pain when I thought I pushed my coccyx into my throat). Or . . . I couldn't do anything to Woody because he as an evil imagination and would win. Period. I digress. The point is, I shall reap what I have sown as a youth and am not looking forward to the harvest. Tysa is doing very well. She is finally sleeping through the night which is great! For Amanda. I must confess that I didn't get up very often, but I think I commiserated well her when she told me about it. She is a cutie and we love her. Also, a big thanks and a large hug to our friends the Hancocks who moved to Idaho this week. Bill (Beeeaal) and Georgia are our long lost (he would say bastard) southern brother and sister. It is hard to describe how much they meant to us and how we will miss them. Bill was so very thoughtful and did Elijah's adoption pro-bono when he first starting out as an attorney. He is a spiritual giant and we will miss his sense of humor, his humility, and his love for god and the gospel. He would tell us about how the lord had to make do with him in the callings that he was in, but everyone who knew him knew that there wasn't another person as diligent, as kind, and as thoughtful as Bill. Georgia was always next to Bill with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face. I will always admit that my wife is the one who does all the work and makes me who I am, and I know that Bill feels the same way about Georgia. She is a great woman. Bill and Georgia, we love you more than we can ever express and hope to see you soon. Also, thanks to all of you who are too numerous to name that have helped us. All of my family (and I mean all, even those that I am not able to talk to much) thank you for everything you do. All of Amanda's family. All of our friends. Thanks for all the help, the prayers, the thoughts, the calls to see if we are ok. Thank you from the bottom of our heart. I am going to stop before I start crying (all who know me very well know that it is a distinct possibility, especially if there is an opossum who is dying). We love you all.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Levi, quit trying to impress us with your big vocabulary (coccyx, digress...etc). Although I do love your stories.

Also, speaking of crying, I have to bring up the great 'crying' moment I was a part of. At the hospital... 'I just love you guys sooooooooo much' (now let me roll over a give you a show!).

Glad to hear you guys are doing well. Take care.

Leslie said...

We are glad to hear that you are doing well. Good luck with Alivia - that is what Isaac does when you try to hold his hand and he adds "Do Self" I enjoy reading your blog and it just brings back some fun memories. We miss you!

Marye said...

You are a great family who deserve the best and you have it. You have each other and 4 wonderful children.

Mark, Holly and Boys said...

I liked the update! I have to admit that I think I giggled out loud a few times, Levi. I enjoy your writing. Give the kids a squeeze for us...

Sylwia said...

we love reading your blog. Levi you are so funny!! we sure miss all of you!!!

sylwia and josh hardman

tonya said...

I feel like I cannot leave a mushy comment now that Levi is writing. So I will just say that we are happy that your family is doing well. We miss you and hope that things will continue to improve in your busy (I can only imagine) life.

bridgette said...

I love the updates... they put a smile on my face. and the family photos... amazing! look at tysa's hair! so cute:)

couplabz said...

You have a beautiful family. How lucky y'all are to have 4 adorable children.