We had a lovely day visiting with friends recently. We got to meet one month old Monroe and swim in the Russian river. I wish we had more days like this one!

Tonight was back to school night for Gabriel's 1st grade class. Each child drew a picture and described an important event in their lives. The parents were to try and guess which was their child's drawing. Ha!

Every other child drew in full color and wrote about things like going swimming or visiting their grandparents or going on vacation.

I like that the only color in Gabriel's picture is the bright red blood transfusion.




This is over one year off all chemotherapy treatment. Isabel only goes in every 2 months for a blood draw.

I am both surprised and not at all surprised at how many details Gabriel remembers and that this is the important event in his life he chose to share.

The other children had one liners to describe their pictures like "this is me swimming!" or "I like baseball!"

I fully admit to tearing up right there in the classroom. So did Alan.

First day of 1st and 3rd grade!! Isabel and Gabriel go to year round school so they start a bit earlier than most. They were VERY excited and had a great day back. Gabriel is now in 1st grade and goes for a full day just like his big sister.

New backpacks!

Gabriel's has flames on it!

Here is Gabriel's cubby name tag he designed himself, complete with peace sign hearts and a couple of Saturn planets above the race cars!

Isabel has her first paying job! She has been hired by a family friend to walk a plethora of dogs each day while the owner heals from rotator cuff surgery. Isabel is in heaven! It's so fun to see her take her responsibilities so seriously (she snaps on a hip pack filled with dog treats and poop bags each day before taking them to the dog park) and really delight in these fun dog personalities.

She gets five dollars a day and being such a sweetheart, has decided to split it with Gabriel who has also started to earn it by creating his job as "Poop Patrol". They've made quite a bit so far! Isabel has bought a tiny silver fish in a pretty up cycled bowl made out of a silver candlestick with the small round fish bowl on top. It looks like a fancy wineglass! She is saving up to buy a mini greenhouse. Gabriel has no idea what to spend his on but is learning the value of saving.

Isabel had her post chemo check up and blood draw today. She's been off treatment for one year and four months!

The phlebotomist was awesome and the blood draw was painless. Isabel still has anxiety over it, especially when we have to sit there and wait, the needle laying on the table in front of her. I was very grateful that her anxiety was the worst of it and there was no actual pain involved.



The check up was easy as pie and the pediatrician signed off on all the paperwork involved in sending Isabel to Camp Okizu in August.

Ta-da! Done and done for another two months! Isabel's blood counts came back with perfect numbers across the board, just the way we like it.

Actually, this time came with unexpected milestone. The day after her blood draw, I got the phone call from the pediatric oncology clinic with Isabel's blood results while Alan was at work. I tried giving him a call to let him know Isabel was doing great but couldn't get a hold of him. By that evening when he was home it had slipped my mind. He never asked and I didn't remember to tell him until the next morning. Never, ever did we think we'd just up and forget something like that!!! These days we just assume that Isabel is in the clear and we never obsess on her blood count numbers the way we used to. What a huge deal it is to be like this now, compared to us mentally pacing and checking our phones every twenty minutes, anxious to hear the results. I remember once we even paged the oncologist at the hospital because we hadn't heard the results and we were freaking out. Nowadays we don't even need to hear the results to know deep down in our hearts, that Isabel is perfectly fine and will stay that way.

We made it through, we really did and we're just basking in the sunlight outside that long, dark tunnel. Life is sweet.

I haven't updated in a month! I've been so busy enjoying all our summer time activities I just couldn't seem to devote the time to upload and post photos. Tonight is the night! I have to share the news of Isabel's big win! Isabel entered her art in the county fair on a whim, and was surprised to find she won first place!

Here she is with her blue ribbon. I'm sure it's the first of many to come. She loves art so much and is always so creative. Her winning art work was made entirely out of leaves she ripped and placed to created a fox!


We spent all day at the fair and had a great time.



Of course, we had to go back later that night to snap another photo of our blue ribbon winner!

What a perfect summer day! We swam the afternoon away at the local pool where Isabel ran into many of her school friends. We lounged in the shade eating juicy watermelon then walked back home to fall fast asleep to the hum of the fan. Once up, we were delighted to see papa had set up the barbecue and had a feast for dinner that included barbecued chicken, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, marinated steak brochettes, french bread and flame broiled red peppers. After the delicious dinner Isabel and Gabriel rode their bikes along the river trail, while Alan and I followed behind enjoying the sunset. Welcome back, summertime! Oh how we've missed you!