Dear Family and Friends, 

We’re wishing you a cozy holiday season and a healthy and joyful 2022.  Thank you for being part of our lives.   

Christmas came early for our family this year; it arrived on December 15, 2021 - the day we learned that symptoms Julie is experiencing are NOT due to metastasized tumors in her spine as her oncologist (and our family) feared.  The weeks prior to the results were scary.  We isolated ourselves from friends, not wanting to taint the magic of the season, as we got imaging scheduled, plead for insurance preapprovals, and waited for results.  While we consciously agreed that we shouldn’t get upset until we had conclusive medical results, our subconscious kept our whole family on edge as we waited to learn more.  Julie was making all sorts of weird mistakes, driving worse than usual =), putting things that should go in the refrigerator in the freezer, etc. Christian had terrible dreams for several weeks, and the kids were extra emotional and spontaneously broke into tears.     

We are reminded that health and time with loved ones matter more than anything, and we imperfectly try to balance that with modern life… making a living, getting kids to school and sports, etc.  

Christian continues to write for his web site, Hollywood In Toto, where he covers news and entertainment from a right of center perspective.  He has some weekly TV spots on Real America’s Voice and has his first book coming out in January.  In October, he got to spend a few days on the ‘Terror on the Prairie’ movie set in Montana and meet Gina Carano.  Christian misses his weekly radio appearances that ended when COVID hit in 2020, but he re-started his weekly podcast. 

Julie oscillates between immense gratitude to be alive and mostly healthy and accepting the losses that came out of her cancer journey (mostly relating to health, strength, ability to do certain physical things, brain stamina, pain, etc.).  Being a cancer survivor has helped her align her time with the things that are most precious to her.  She is currently working a part-time temporary job with the CO Department of Public Health and Environment and hopes to find a similar permanent part-time position.  When she is not working, she can be found JuuuUbering our kids all over town.  She continues to try to fit in walks with friends and is starting to ramp up yoga to help her find some relief from some bone, joint, and disk problems that have likely been caused by chemo and her anti-cancer medicines.

Eli is a seventh grader and loves sleep overs, video games, TikTok, roller hockey, his parakeets Teddy and Snowball, and any food that has “flaming hot” in its name.  Eli is great at finding both funny and revolting videos and has alerted us to important content such as Dr. Pimple Popper and My Strange Addiction. The best part of his summer was YMCA sleep away camp.  Seeing as though he is nearly a teenager, we are eager to send him back for a week or two this summer.

Ben continues to be obsessed with hockey of both the ice and roller persuasion.  He moved into our basement bedroom so that he could practice shooting on the tile floors.  His desk has been transitioned into a makeshift hockey goal.  The constant cacophony of puck handling on tile floor can be heard most times when he is home.  Ben also recently started sewing small felt stuffed animals and objects.  We continue to remind him of the importance of putting away his sewing needles.  It turns out there is something worse than stepping on your kid’s Legos!       

Our goals in 2022 include keeping our kids alive and thriving (as much as one can thrive in middle school), spending time with family and friends, and doing work that we enjoy and find meaningful.  We hope to connect with you in 2022 and wish you peace, love, health, and an abundance of blessings.  

 With Love, 

 Julie, Christian, Eli, and Ben Toto