It's Friday Again

• Some days it feels like life is passing by quickly and other days just seem to drag on. This week has gone by quickly but it's been a really wierd week. We've had some really good stuff going on and then wham life hits you smack in the face again hard.
• Ric is doing really well. He told the doctor today that this is the 5th straight day that he has felt really good! His treatment last Friday and again today went well. He did have diarrhea this last round. We are hoping it won't happen again this week. It wasn't really bad just made things uncomfortable. Other than that the appetite is great and he's feeling good. His stamina is increasing day by day. Took him on a couple long shopping trips and he lasted way longer than I expected and wasn't exhausted afterwards. He really needed some new clothes since his others are soo big on him with all the weight loss.
• We had visitors over the weekend - my niece Aimee & her family. Her kids Karissa, Cameron and Carson kept Ric entertained as they played on the Kinect. Aimee lost her Dad Randy (my brother-in-law) a little over 3 years ago to brain cancer so this has brought back alot of memories and has been tough on Aimee and her family. We were very happy to have them come visit!
• Our daughter Holly volunteers for Starlight Children's Foundation www.starlight-washington.org - they work with seriously ill children and their families. She was at their luncheon on Tuesday (which we had hoped to attend but unable to) & Jim Lambert - former UW Football coach - was also in attendance. He was there to introduce Lawyer Milloy - former UW Football player - as Starlight was honoring Lawyer for the work he does with them. This was awesome as it gave Holly an opportunity to talk to Jim and let him know how deeply grateful we were that he called Ric to encourage him in his battle with cancer. Jim and his wife are cancer survivors. Holly was able to get a picture of her with Jim.
• Found out that my stepdad Jim got another clean bill of health and doesn't have to go back to the doctor for another 6 months. Last year he was battling sinus cancer - had surgery to remove it and did not do chemo nor radiation and is cancer free.
• So lots of good things happening that we are very grateful for. Unfortunately it seems that our family is having more than it's fair share of mountains to climb. We just found out that my sister Becky has been diagnosed with stage 2 colorectal cancer. Becky is actually my stepsister but because my mom and her dad have been married to each other almost 40 years I really hate the word "step" but use it to not confuse people who know other parts of my family. Becky & I joke that we are twins seperated at birth because we are soooo much alike. I am 6 months older than her. We were also considered the "good" ones in the family. Actually we were just smarter than the rest and never got caught for the things we did :) Between my mom and "step" dad there are 9 children. Our oldest brother (stepbrother) Alan was also recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer. So we currently have 3 members of our immediate family battling cancer.
• So what Ric & I truly request from all of you - our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers is your thoughts & prayers for healing for Ric, Becky & Alan and for peace & comfort for all of them and our whole family. I specifically request prayers for our parents Jim & Dorothy Hoots as this must be so difficult for them. Becky lives in Boise, Alan lives in Montana and with us here in the Seattle area there is no way our parents can be present for all of us. Our parents live in Othello. What's wierd is that the majority of our family lives near our parents - it's mainly Becky, Alan, me and our youngest brother Brad who don't. This makes it difficult for all the rest of our family members.
• Again we thank you all for your love & support and thank God that we have such a support system. It would be so difficult to be going through this if we did not have all of you! WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!