We had a very sweet Christmas this year, once of our very favorites.  We kept it simple and quiet, surrounded by friends.  At ages six and eight, Isabel and Gabriel are fully participating in all the holiday traditions and their personalities are in full swing. Christmas was fun for everyone and both kids have declared it to be the best one yet (though they say that every year).



 







 

Gabriel had his annual winter celebration at school.  He sang wonderful songs on stage with his classmates then hung the bird feeders he made in class on the trees outside. 






Papa brought home a yummy treat from work.  That's a saw in the middle and  little mushrooms on the sides!



Isabel got bangs!  She said "I'm very pleased with my hair cut!" 
I told her she looks at least ten years old now!

We've had a pretty fun couple of weeks around here. We took a ride in a horse drawn carriage downtown, got together with friends, enjoyed a super sunny and hot Saturday, found the perfect tree and picked out our annual family ornament.









Sometimes I can't believe how tall my daughter is.  Isabel's ninth birthday is next month!

I just got notice that Easy Living Magazine will be using a photo of Isabel and Gabriel in their March issue! Neato!

It's my photo and blurb from the New York Times "Picture Your Life After Cancer" photo gallery http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/04/08/health/cancer-survivor-photos.html

I wish I had written something better!


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Isabel had her one year, 8 months off treatment check up & blood draw yesterday. Her blood counts are fabulous. Once she is two years off treatment we only go to the doctor every 3 months! I really was amused when the pediatrician came in and started raving about Isabel's height and weight. She told me Isabel was in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. I suddenly realized that wow, we're back to being a normal kid at a normal check up, where the only thing to talk about is weight and height percentiles. Wow.

Isabel is four feet six inches and weighs seventy three pounds. She will be nine in five weeks. She is healthy and cancer free and takes no medications. Her hair is at the "it's too long" point and I need to take her for a hair cut this weekend.

Normal.

I still have a dozen pages of the road map outlining the clinical trial Isabel was on, tucked away alongside drawings and school work. Each time Alan and I would meet with the oncologist, we'd form a sort of huddle, all sitting close together, knees almost touching, discussing the next phase of treatment while chemotherapy dripped into Isabel's chest port one chair over.

It's been over a year and I'm still marveling that we're done.