Mary's Life with Apocolypse, CPA

I found out I had Multiple Myeloma when my shoulder pain from a basketball injury wouldn't go away (Andy Boyce was right, I am too old for that youngsters game. But I will probably be playing again as soon as I can, Andy). Three months passed before I had it checked by a orthopedic specialist. He looked at the x-ray and thought I either had a torn rotator cuff, or some kind of legion. A legion is basically a tumor, but at the time I thought he just meant I might have a small benign growth of some kind on my bone. When the MRI that he ordered came back, he told me I had cancer as he directed me to an oncologist he had setup for me to see that day. Mary had just moved to Idaho. I didn't want to tell her the first day she had moved in. I toyed with the idea of waiting until I knew more. But I couldn't keep anything from her. I never could. She sees right through me, and knew something was wrong. So I told her at lunch the day I found out, so she could accompany me ...

Meillee had her 2nd birthday. She picked out her own present, a toy car, so it wasn't too surprising to her. But it was the first chance she had to really try it out and GO! (her favorite thing to do). The cake was decorated like a pumpkin. She didn't understand the concept of blowing out the candles, so Lon tried to show her. Lori and Thad gave her a bear with different buttons to push that would make it talk. Brin and Addi were determined to give her something, so they found treasures from among their own things and from items around the house to give their youngest sister.

We took the Jeep to Moab October 1-October 2, 2009. Warren Strong, Lon's friend from work, traveled with us and taught us the finer points of 4-diggin'. We met his friends from his neighborhood, and they took us on some hairy trails.

Addison was baptized on Labor Day weekend. These are pics with her new dress on. I thought it would be nice to buy a nice, new, expensive dress and then have her play in the goat pasture that is full of goat poop! Did you know goats have horizontal pupils? Animals like goats and sheep may have evolved horizontal pupils because better vision in the vertical plane may be benficial in mountainous environments. Anyway, her baptism was lovely. I gave a wonderful talk and told a story of Addison jumping from a high ledge into a pool and asking if I would jump in and save her if she didn't come up. Of course, I would. She is definitely worth saving.

This is our top secret family photo from 2005 in Henderson, NV. I would like to tell you more about our time in Nevada, but then I would have to kill you.

The Apocolypse is nearing. Eat, drink and be Mary! Life is too short, let's HAVE FUN!