Seasons

There is a time and a season for everything, and fortunately lately I've had a season of joy.

Last week we celebrated my son's sixth birthday -- something I (literally) live for. I always go crazy with his parties. (Chuck E. Who? We do homemade parties because they are super fun!) His first birthday had a circus animal theme. #2 was a train theme. #3 was a crayon theme. #4 was a race car theme. #5 was a baseball theme. This year was a Star Wars theme, and more than a dozen kids came. I was up until 4 am the night before the party, making an R2D2 cake. It was awesome! We designed the party around the Jedi trials (Trial of Flesh = lunch and birthday cake; Trial of Skill = games; Trial of Self = get-to-know-you activities; Trial of Courage = defeat the Darth Vader pinata). We gave each Padawan-nabe (guest) a little brown tunic and clipped a yarn Padawan braid in their hair (my husband was up until 2 am braiding yarn in various hair colors), then sent them to make their own light saber (using long balloons, glow sticks, and cardboard tubes wrapped in foil). They reported to the Island of Tattoo-ine, where they got little temporary Star Wars tattoos, and then they reported to the Cantina for Han-burgers, double light saber hot dogs, Ton-ton Tots, Galaxy Fruit Salad, and Yoda Soda. After the trials each Padawan was promoted to Jedi Knight status and got a certificate with their picture on it. It was a lot of fun!

Last year, after the baseball party was over, I wondered if it would be the last time I would get to celebrate like crazy. Thankfully, it wasn't. This year was especially joyful because it was another chance to celebrate with my boy.

We also celebrated his "Homecoming Day" - the day we brought him home to our family. We always celebrate by taking a family picture. I'm having trouble loading pictures onto this blog, but one of these days I'll figure it out and put some on here. Another happy thing to celebrate.

Yesterday my mom reported that my book finally appeared in her local bookstore. It's still on its way to my neighborhood. It will be here any day now. Last year I wondered if I would live to see it on store shelves. As long as I keep my seatbelt on in the car, I have a pretty good chance! If you want to see it, too, you can check it out online at: http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4982045

Today is the first day of Spring -- a change of seasons. Hopefully the "season of joy" will continue. My next MRI has been moved to April 2, hopefully kicking off Cycle 7 of the season of successful chemotherapy. During today's chemo infusion I met a man who just had his first tumor recurrence -- a slow-growing one -- TEN years after his initial surgery! It's always nice to meet long-term survivors, because they are a great source of hope. It's especially nice to meet them at my doctor's office, because it reminds me that I am in good hands. Of course, doctor or not, we are all in good Hands. But this patient and I also talked about how our kids keep us alive. He has been able to watch his children grow, and that naturally tugged at my heartstrings. My little six-year-old and my soon-to-be-two-year-old need their mom. This needs to be my season of raising up acorns into Mighty Oakes.