It's December and we have snow! The kids are very excited that we have snow on the ground and are ready to go out and play in it. I promised we could venture out after naps.....Ethan is sleeping, but Ava fell asleep on the way home from town so I'm struggling to get her down for a nap.
We had a very nice Thanksgiving Holiday. We actually got to stay home Thanksgiving morning and didn't go anywhere until 6:00 that night. It was really nice out so we went for a horseback ride on our neighbor's trails and then took a trip down to the winery too. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. Dusty did much better for me this time. She is a rather sassy horse and doesn't always cooperate, but she is getting better....slowly though. Sonador was good as usual. He is just a really good horse and is especially good around kids. Ranger was quite jealous that we left him behind so I think we are going to have to figure out a way to bring him along one of these times. We're thinking Ethan might be big enough next year to start riding Ranger by himself.
Thursday night we headed to Grandma and Papa Klusmeyer's for Thanksgiving. The kids had a ball playing with their cousins. "Grandma" Donna got to put a puzzle together with Ethan too....he's really good at puzzles.
Friday I got to go shopping.....yes in the wee hours of the morning I ventured out. It's pretty much a tradition to go anymore and we have a lot of fun. The kids stayed home with Dave and he got to take Ethan to get labs and then they visited with Great Grandma Weiman for a while too. Our day was full....when they got home, our friends from Wisconsin stopped by to visit and then it was time for the kids to go to Grandma and Papa Klusmeyer's for a sleep over. We went to play pickleball and the kids were really excited about staying all night.
Saturday was fun too. I picked the kids up mid-morning and then headed to Schaffnit's house and the kids got to play for a while. Ethan and Ava had a really good time and were definitely not ready to leave when we did. It's just so nice that Ethan can be out and about playing with his friends and family. Saturday night we headed to Dave's Aunt Barb's house.....she wasn't home, but Steve hosted a party! Ethan was very confused why Aunt Barb wasn't there. The kids outnumbered the adults so it didn't get too out of hand. Ethan and Ava were running all over the house and had a ball playing with all the girls. They were worn out by the time we got home.
Sunday we headed to church in the morning and then to Grandma and Papa Weiman's for Thanksgiving. It was so nice spreading everything out this year. We got to relax and enjoy ourselves at each place since we didn't have to rush off. The kids played non-stop and ate Grandma out of popcicles. They fell asleep on the way home so we made a pitstop for groceries since they usually don't stay if we carry them inside, so they got a nice nap in the van.
We finally are caught up on laundry from Philly. I know we have been home for a while now, but getting everything unpacked and back in order takes a while at our house. We do have our tree up, but no lights yet. We're planning on doing that as a family activity tonight. The kids have a lot of fun decorating our tree. Ethan pulled the first day off of his Christmas calendar, so the countdown has begun.
That's our weekend in a "big" nutshell. We were busy, but we packed a lot of fun into a few days. Ethan is doing awesome. He had labs today and his hemoglobin is around 8.6, platelets 133 and his ANC is still 650. Ethan will start GCSF shots tonight until his ANC is above 5000. He usually reacts quickly to the shots so I am guessing that he will be off of them by Thursday. We'll just play things by ear and see.
We just keep praying that this MIBG is still working and killing any lingering neuroblastoma. We just confirmed our trip to Philadelphia in January. Ethan will get scans and several other tests while we are out there next time in preperation for this new medicine. Ava will be so excited as she gets to come this time. There shoudn't be any overnight stays in the hospital so we are letting her come along. The older she gets, the harder this is on her, so she will be so glad that she isn't getting left behind.
Please just keep praying. The prayers and meds are working and we are so thankful for that. Thanks for checking in......GOD BLESS!
