One year post treatment!

 Gracie last June

 Wow! It is crazy to think it has been a year since Gracie finished treatment! sometimes it doesn't seem that long, and other times it seems much longer. When I think of all she has done in just a year it simply amazes me. to think where she has come from, and to see her now is nothing short of a miracle. We are so blessed to have her healthy and happy! Our Heavenly Father is so mindful of us. Our faith has played a major role in getting us through these past couple years. I don't know where we would be without our knowledge of the gospel and the power of prayer! Prayers are heard and answered, even when it's not the answer or time frame we have in mind.

 We drove down to Ft worth on Sunday night and got there about midnight. Brandon was able to come with us this time and we brought all the kids. we stayed in a hotel and headed over to Cook's at 8:30 am. and got registered and all checked in. First up was the Ct scan, so she started on drinking the 2 hours of gatorade with contrast. We played on the new playground in the meantime.

 They saw this wishing well that said "wish a child well" and she said "I am going to wish Briley well" She is always thinking about her.

 waiting in the radiology waiting room. She sat on daddy's lap and even had him go with her to get the IV and scan. She adores her Daddy and it was fun to have him come and I was grateful to have his help.

after the Ct, she had and Echo and EKG done, then an appointment with endocrine and lastly an appointment with oncology. Dr. Granger could hardly believe her eyes! We are so grateful for Dr. Granger and the amount of love and compassion she has shown to us. She said this is why she does what she does and this kind of thing is what keeps her going. We would love to continue going to Cook's even after our move. we will have to see if our new insurance will allow it. Gracie has grown 2 inches in the last 3 months! She is playing catch up I guess. :) She is 43 inches and 42 pounds! Amazing.

 Well, as you have probably fihured but now, the news is great! The scan was clear. No evience of disease. The day went smoothly even though it was busy! We were able to get into all appointments on time. After that we headed over to Seymour to visit Briley and her family. They cooked dinner for us and we had a nice visit, although it was much too short!! We hope to come back down for the curesearch walk in September! We thank you for continuing to pray for Gracie. Now we will only go for scans every 6 months. big sigh. :)

Overdue Update

So, I haven't been on in 3 months and they have changed the blogging on me! sorry for the messed up pictures, I can't quite get them where I want them! lol. anyway, Im so sorry I never posted about her March scans!! Hopefully you assumed that no news is good news, as that is generally the case! and it is in this case also!! Her scans were clear once again and we are grateful! Gracie has enjoyed being in girl scouts and Kindergaten this year and has done really well. She got all dolled up to walk the red carpet for the 100th bday of girl scouts. That is the pic in the turquise dress. She looked like a princess :) also there are a few other pics of easter and selling cookies!The other picture is Chloe and I with our 10 inch ponytails we donated to http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us
The picture below is when we were sitting in the car waiting for Chloe's piano lesson, and we found her hair that he had saved from when she first started chemo. My mom had wrapped it in a paper towel and it has been in the console ever since. She held it up to her head and it is the exact same color as before! Later that same day, she lost one of her top front teeth by taking a bite of a doritos locos taco! She lost the other top tooth about a week later. She is so cute with her little toothless grin.

This is an outfit our friend Michelle bought in Europe. She is always traveling and sending Gracie fun things!! Gracie loves to wear it and even wore it to church today! She dances around like a real spanish dancer. We looked up videos on youtube of spanish dancers. :)
Gracie is doing well and will graduate Kindergarten on Wednesday!!! What an amazing year it has been post-treatment. She goes for her 1 year post treatment scans next month! We are planning on stopping to see Briley since we will be moving at the end of June. Also, Briley was in an awful car accident with her brother and Grandmother last week. Her grandmother died instantly and Briley suffered two broken femurs and a broken pelvis. She was able to go home from the hospital yesterday after 9 days in the hospital. She will be in a wheel chair for a couple months. please pray for her and her family and donate if you can!! http://www.teambriley.blogspot.com

February Fun

We took a family trip to Colorado for skiing. Gracie hadn't been feeling very well a few days before, and decided to just play in the snow, and not ry skiing. no problem with me! I was perfectly happy to stay with her and Von. :) I only tried skiing once 10 years ago and i was very bad at it. maybe next year :) well, she loved the snow! We had a great time.

i love this picture of her laying in the snow, she was so happy and making a snow angel.

Gracie at her Kindergarten class valentine party.

Gracie and Chloe at the girl scout slumber under the sea. She wasn't feeling very well this day either, so she just stayed a couple hours.

Gracie had some back pain earlier on this month that was intense and lasted 8 straight days, it just went away after that. we had an MIBG scan done to check for neuroblastoma but it was clear, thankfully. then she has had random times of pain and puking. It seems to be related to the adrenal insufficiency. she does a lot better, once she gets the hydrocortisone. We go back for her 9 month scans next month.

December scans and Christmas

Gracie's hair is long enough for french braids. I'm not the best at it, but it is cute enough :) she loves it.

Gracie had a wonderful Christmas and was happy and healthy. She got a new baby and vanity, a play ironing table and lots of other fun stuff! We felt so blessed to be together as a family and everyone was healthy and happy.

We went down to Fort worth for her scan and Dr appointment. I took all the kids, since we had to stay overnight. We went to radiology at 8 am and she started the 2 hours of drinking the gatorade contrast. The other kids were all great waiting. They had to do an IV for the CT and they left it in for later that day for labs with the endocrine office. They were testing her cortisol levels. They came back as low but not too much. The doc said she didn't need daily hydrocortisone, but would need stress doses when she was sick. The CT scan was clear! It is always a huge relief, although we hadn't anticipated anything different since she is doing so well. :) We had the clinic appointment in the afternoon and made it back home around 10 pm.

Halloween and other fun

Gracie was a ladybug for halloween! she looked so cute! she had a great time trick or treating.

we went to the church trunl or treat a couple days before halloween and it was a little cold that day, so she wanted to wear her warm butterfly costume from last year. Gracie at daisy scouts.

On the swing, when we went camping in October with friends. The weather was perfect and we had a great time!

more disney pics

MAKE A WISH TRIP TO DISNEYWORLD!

sorry the pictures are all out of order!!

We woke up at 415 and got Ready to go! We got to the airport at 510 and all
checked in by 540. The flight didn't leave til 715 so we had plenty of time. The
kids loved watching the planes. We hadn't flown in 5 years. (shad and brandon
went a couple years ago for hunting) The last time we flew all together was from
Watertown to salt lake for shaylas wedding and Christmas in 2006. Gracie was 5
months old. So this was her first time to remember it. She loved it and so did
Von. The flight went well and we arrived around 1215. After we got off the plane
there was a volunteer from Give kids the worlds with a sign that said Gracie.
She showed us the way to baggage claim and Avis car rental where they had
arranged a minivan for us and carseats. They gave us a map and told us how to
get to gktw. It was a 30 min drive from the airport and disneyworld is only 10
min from there:) when we got to gktw we were given a packet of info and told
where everything was. Gktw is a large area in and of itself with fun things for
kids. Games pony rides pools water fun movies etc. Plus free dining and ice
cream all day. U can even have it delivered to your villa. Our villa is really
nice. It is a 2 bedroom 2 bath with pull out sofa bed and rollaway bed. Kitchen
Lr and laundry room stocked with everything. We had some lunch and ice cream.
We unpacked and there was a note from mrs schaefer that she told me to put in
Gracie's suitcase since she had been telling Gracie to take her in her
suitcase. :) she said that way she really did come in her suitcase. Gracie
thought that was so funny. Mrs schaefer was pretty sneaky! Lol then we had the
kids take a little nap while Brandon went to the orientation. They were out like
a light within minutes despite their protesting beforehand of how "not tired"
they were! At orientation he got all the info and our attraction tickets. 3
days to Disney, 2 to universal studios, and 1 to sea world! She has a button to
wear showing that she is a wish kid and it gets her special things. We also got
a fast pass for the family to go to the front of the lines. Tuesday night we
spent at the pool and splash pad area. They were having a big splash bash BBQ
with games and cotton candy and snow cones. Shad got second place in the musical
hula hoops game. When u got out u got a bucket of cold water poured on your
head. Chloe got out toward the beginning. They all had a lot of fun. We went to
bed around 930 and woke up on wed at 730. We went over to the horse rides right
at 8 and the boys didn't want to but Chloe and Gracie did and loved it. They all
got a cowboy hat, although they only fit Gracie an Von. Lol . Then we had
breakfast and then rode the carousel at gktw. Then we headed to Disney at 9 for
a 10 o'clock appointment to meet the princesses. We thought we had enough time
since it is only 15 miles away but it was quite a process to get inside magic
Kingdom. We got there right at 10. Gracie loved seeing the princesses and giving
them a hug. They gave us a photo card that they scan and they have prof
photographers and they scan your card and u can get a cd of all the pictures of
your trip. Really neat. She met aurora, belle, and Cinderella at the first
place, and tinkerbell and vidia at another spot, and finally rapanzel at another
place. We were given a special pass that gets the whole gaily to the front of
the lines. That saved us an amazing amount of time. The place was crowded for
sure. We rode 5 rides in one hour. We rode a lot of rides, had lunch and dinner,
and then I took the girls tothe bibbidy bobbidy boutique for a makeover while
Brandon took the boys on another ride and then saved our seat for the parade.
They waited there for almost 2 hours, what good sports :) the girls LoVED the
makeover. They both chose to be belle and got a beautiful dress and their hair
and makeup and nails done. They will always remember it I am certain. It was
great. after that we watched the amazing parade and fireworks. That got over
around 930 and we didn't make it to the car til 11 because of how crowded it was
but we were glad we had stayed to watch. It was really cool. The kids did really
great for such a long day. we all finally got to bed at midnight and decided to
sleep in a little on Thursday. We woke up at 8 and I gave the kids baths and
then we went to breakfast and the carousel again at gktw. They also had some
Disney characters visiting to get pics taken with. The little ones especially
loved it. Von was so cute giving them all hugs! Except belle of course lol he
had no interest in seeing her. We headed out to universal studios at 1030. It
was much easier to get inside and much less crowded! Except the Harry potter
area! We rode some rides in the dr seuss area that were cute and fun. Then
headed to Harry potter area which was way crowded but really neat. The kids all
chose a wand at the wand store. We ate lunch there and all drank butterbeer in a
collectable mug. It was yummy. Then we rode some rides there and headed to the
Jurassic park area. After that we stopped by blahjhjkk for some treats. Then
rode the carosel and headed out. We decided to stop at the bathroom and Gracie
was running to catch up with Chloe and I and she tripped over some guys foot
and face planted it. I called to Brandon cause her nose was bleeding everywhere.
She got a big bruise on her knee and a knot on her forehead. She was mostly
concerned with gettin the blood off of everything, after she was cleaned up she
was back to happy. Brandon had mentioned the other day about her being pigeon
toed and she really is. I think we will have to do some physical therapy thanks
to All those months in a hospital bed : /we ate dinner at gktw and then went
swimming and shopping at the outlet mall. Friday we went to breakfast and
carosel at gktw again. Then we headed to epcot. The Nemo rides etc were pretty
fun. Then we went to Hollywood studios and had a lot of fun there. That night
They had a show called fantasmic and it was neat with lights and fire and water
and a lot of Disney characters and fireworks. We got back to gktw at 9 and
ordered pizza since we had an early dinner. Saturday we had breakfast and then
ice cream! The kids thought it was so cool that they let u get ice cream for
breakfast. After that we headed to the castle of miracles for Gracie to sign her
name on her very own star. Then the star fairy hung it up. Then we headed to
universal studios and had a lot of fun. They had a fun play area and also a
Barney show that the little ones loved. Try had a special meet and greet w
Barney for us and another little boy w make a wish after the show. We also saw
Dora and Diego. We went back to the Harry potter part and also dr suess area
that we liked the first time. Also jaws and Jurassic park and shrek 4D . That
night we went to a dinner show in Orlando called medieval times. We all really
enjoyed it. Sunday we woke up and ate breakfast and rode the carosel. Then we
headed to disneys animal kingdom. We rode a few rides and saw a couple live
shows. Te lion king and finding memo musical. The lion king was pretty cool but
none of us really cared for finding memo as a musical. It was kinda lame lol but
the costumes were good :) then we played at the Dino dig. We ate lunch in Asia
and it was really yummy. It was nice to have a different kind of food than the
norm.After lunch we were opening our fortune cookies and Gracie opened hers and
it said " you are brave and strong" when Brandon read it out loud I couldn't
believe it. It was too true :) the rest of us had lame fortunes but hers was
totally true! I was just looking at her and thinking that you'd never know what
she has been through just by looking at her. She looks so good and is doing so
good. we went on an African safari in Africa and it was pretty cool. We really
liked how we got to be so close to the giraffes. We came back to gktw for dinner
and one last swim and one last trip to the ice cream shop :) we had to buy two
new large suitcases to fit all the souvenirs and things we got. Good thing we
only came with 4 bags in the first place. Then we did laundry and packed
everything up so we could enjoy our last half day at sea world.