Biggest Loser Comming to Town

It is time!!!  The long awaited Biggest Loser camp hosted by Filipe Fa from season seven is finally here.  He will be doing a boot camp for Chase on January 15th here in St. George.  He will be working out with participants in the morning.  Jimmy Johns along with some snacks from General Mills will provide lunch. Then in the afternoon Filipe will be speaking to everyone.  He is a crack up and a great speaker so it will be a lot of fun.  For details on this event and to get registered a website has been set up at http://bootcampforchase.blogspot.com/
I want to say thank you to all of you that have put so much work into this.  There have been many hands putting together the website and posters/flyers.  Those that have donated not only time but things such as lunch, and the snacks.  Anna Marie who is a personal trainer out at the Biggest Loser Camp in Ivans was the one who initially contacted us to put this all together.  Filipe lives in Arizona so this is not just down the street for him either.  All of the friends and family that have bent over backwards to support Chase and our family.  Thanks to you all and you will never even know how much we appreciate all you have done for us.  Make sure you come out even if it is just to tell all the people who have put so much work into this thanks.  They are amazing and I don't know where we would be without all the love and support we have been shown.

Filipe BEFORE Biggest Loser

 Filipe AFTER Biggest Loser

Random Sampling of My Kids

I never got around to posting these pictures before Christmas and they are so cute so I had to get them posted.

 This what we get when we say, "Chase show us how STRONG you are!"

"Chase show us how TOUGH you are!"

I think maybe he thinks someone is going to come steal his toys while he is sleeping because he has to sleep with them all.  And he really does know when one is missing because I try to put a few away and when I come in to check on him he always has it back up in his bed.  When he wont stay in bed we start taking away toys.  He got smart and before he comes out he will hide the ones he doesn't want us to take in his closet or his drawers.  We come in to take it and can not find it (because he does have his favorites and if you don't take one of them then he doesn't care that you take a random toy).

He is still awake in this picture...see that little smirk on his face?

 Cutest brothers watching TV together.  Is Mason to young to watch cartoons?  He loves to watch them with Chase!

 My three awesome kids!  I tried to get a picture with Abby's eyes opened and then Mason started crying so it was either half way closed eyes or a crying baby so this is what you get!

Family Home Evening

Abby knows Monday.  There is no fooling her that it isn't the day for Family Home Evening.  When I am busy sometimes I would push it to another day, but now if I do that Abby goes to bed in tears because we didn't have it.   This is good for me because she keeps me on my toes and makes sure we do it.  It is also good because I stop and think that there is going to be a day that she doesn't want to do it.  I need to cherish this time.  So Monday she told me it was FHE and I was busy doing what I do best this week....making a tuna sandwich.  Last steroid round at the first of the month Chase wanted peanut butter and honey.  Pretty easy, and easy to transport if we were on the road.  This week it has been tuna sandwiches.  I am still not completely opposed to this, but can he get Mercury toxicity?  If it is possible then I am sure that he has it.  I have made more tuna sandwiches this week than I have in my whole life.  He has them for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and bedtime.  At least he is not getting up in the middle of the night for them.  Oh, and the new thing is what shape he wants it cut in.  We were asking him before if he wanted a rectangle (half a sandwich), a square (a whole sandwhich), or little squares (the whole sandwich cut up in 1/4).  Yesterday he started making requests such as circles and triangles which are not too bad.  Well, this morning he asked me for an octagon.  I can say that I have been very talented when it comes to pleasing him on his steroids, but this one was a doosie.
Back to Monday.  Abby reminded me of FHE and I was making my wonderful creation for Chase and told her to get one planned for us.  She spent the next hour and a half making stuff and getting ready for FHE.  I can say that I was excited to see what she had come up with.  I did not help her AT ALL.  FHE was a total surprise to me for the first time. 
Ashton got home and we had dinner, which was also planned by Abby.  After dinner Abby said FHE was going to be held in her room tonight.  We walked back there and the second I walked in her room I had to turn around and go get my camera because she had put some work into this room......

 She then told us that we were having a birthday party for Jesus since it was his birthday.  She had made invitations for all her animals and then put them all up in a circle.  She made decorations and hung them all over her walls.......

 She told us that the opening song was Joy to the World, but she didn't know the words so me and dad had to sing the song so we did a little duet.  Then she had games planed.  The first game was musical animals.  We had to walk around the circle while she sang Silent Night, and when she stopped singing we had to pick up an animal.  Her and Chase didn't participate, but just watched us struggle trying to carry all the animals. 

 The next game was pin the bow on the present.  She made us close our eyes, spin, and then pin the bow on the present picture she had made.

After that game we finished it off with a little hide and seek and then we all made cookies.  We had a blast and I am pretty sure that Abby is going to be planning FHE from now on.  Best FHE EVER!

Christmas Day

Not only is Chase in full steroid mode and mean to everyone, but his counts are super low so we had a pretty low key Christmas.  Abby woke up first (which is like any other day).  I made her stay in our bed until Chase woke up.  I was hoping that Mason would wake up first so I could feed him before we started in on presents.  He did just this and as soon as I finished feeding him Chase woke up.  Talk about a perfect morning.  Abby was so good to wait patiently in our bed with Ashton while I got ready.

 It was fun for Chase this year because I think he actually understood what was going on this time.  Last year he was excited for presents, but still didn't have a clue why it was that he woke up and presents had just appeared over night.

 Abby got a new bike, but she wasn't super excited about it because she still needs to figure out how to do it without training wheels.  We will be working on that when the weather decides to cooperate. 

 Of all of Chase's presents his favorite are his Buzz scooter (which he told us more than once a day that Santa was going to bring him one) and the other was this Buzz laser gun that Abby gave to him.  Chase likes to play Buzz and Zurg with me.  We shoot each other and run around the house.  So I guess dad thought that Chase needed to get me a Buzz gun too. (we did all Chase's shopping for him since the store is not the cleanest place to go).  We have had a lot of fun playing Buzz and Zurg.  Chase follows me on his scooter with his gun as I run around the house as fast as I can.  It is a good work out.  No need for the gym.

 Mason has started to be quite the cute kid.  It is fun when they start realizing their surroundings and smiling.  Just recently we even get him to laugh.

 Abby and Grandpa Prince!

 Mason got a new bouncer from Santa.  He wasn't so sure about it to start with.....

 After just a few minutes he thought it was pretty cool.

We had a really fun Christmas.  We didn't get to do some of the things that we would usually do, but we made the most of it and it turned out GREAT!  I know it is one of those Christmas's that we will never forget.  After watching the video I had posted on my blog called one last Christmas I was just happy to be able to spend it all together as a family. 

I am thankful for our Savior and all that he has done for us.  I was in Sacrament meeting the day after Christmas with Abby and the rest of the family was at home.  It has been hard for me to have us split up, but in a way I think it has made our family stronger.  Anyway, the closing song was Silent Night and I only got about one line into the first verse and then BAWLED through the rest of the song.  I have no idea why.  There are so many things that have me overwhelmed with the spirit right now that I could have picked from a million different things.  But I know that this Christmas has meant a lot more to me and I have had a different perspective on the whole season.  I felt like we simplified a lot (as far as Christmas goes).  We weren't able to just run out shopping, or spend our weekends getting ready for Christmas because we spent most of them on the road to SLC or at the hospital getting chemo.  Seeing all the families at the hospital and wondering what kind of condition their child was going to be in for Christmas or even if they would make it to Christmas made me appreciate all I have even that much more.  I am so grateful for my family.  They are my world.  We do get cabin fever being confined mostly to our house, but what better way to be confined that in your own home with the people you love!!!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas eve was wonderful.  Chase had a little bit of a high temp.  He was pushing that magic number of 100 degrees, but somehow my prayers were answered and he lingered just under it the whole night and all day Christmas.  Our night was a little hectic.  Chase is in full blown steroids right now so he was either crying, whining, yelling at Abby for absolutely no reason, or BEGGING for food.  I had hit the wall and was ready for them to go to bed.  Ashton quickly reminded me that it was Christmas Eve and we still needed to open PJ's, feed the reindeer, and make cookies for Santa. The kids got in the shower and then we all got to open our one PJ present for the night.  We were just finishing our presents and I was telling Ashton how much I LOVED mine.  (He got me my own USC gear, and if you know his family I have been out of place without it)  We heard a knock at the door.  We thought it was Ashton's parents because they said they might come over so we sent the kids to answer the door.  No one was there and we heard Abby yell something so we went over to find three huge gifts......

One for Chase.  It was the cutest little Boo Boo Bear.  It cries when you take it's band aid off and this was soo good for Chase because he HATES having his band aids taken off.  In fact he has one on right now that every time we change his shirt he tells us, "no hurt anymore.  no take off band aid."  It also sneezes and you can listen to his heart.  It is the cutest bear ever.

One for Abby that she immediately wanted to open and put together, but since Santa had to come and we needed to go to bed so we waited till another day.

 We had a lot of fun putting the cheerleader together.  She says she wants to wait to put the other rock star bear together for dad for Valentines day!

And this big box.  Ashton had gone outside to see if he could see anyone and when he came back in I was crying (I seem to do that a lot these days). He had no idea why and gave me one of those looks so I opened the box for him to see.......

I just want to say thanks to who ever it was that did this.  We have been so blessed through all of Chase's treatments.  He has responded so well to chemo and had very few side effects.  We had cancer handed to us when we were not prepared for it (like anyone really is prepared).  We have met so many amazing people.  We have learned patience (especially when Chase is on steroids).  Patience has never been a quality of mine.  I guess this was Heavenly Fathers way of MAKING me learn patience.  One of the things that I have been most effected by is other people.  This gift is one of the many examples of how giving and supportive people have been toward us.  It has opened my eyes to the kind of person I want to be.  I do not feel like I have done my part to help those in need and I hope in the future I can work on this.  I will probably never get to thank the person who left this gift in person and that just kills me.  I wish I could give them a big hug and tell them how much we appreciate it.  On top of my tears that were streaming, the look on my kids faces were priceless.   Abby just kept saying, "is this for me, can I open it?  Is this really for me?"  My family and my kids have been the recipients of so much and I hope I can teach my kids how important it is to give and care for others the way people have for us.  Thank you again to who ever you are.  We love you with all our hearts!!!

Abby's letter to Santa, and cookies that her and I made because Chase's attention span while on steroids is just about zero.  I can be making him a sandwich and he is watching me make it and he says to me (in a very demanding voice), "MAKE IT!"  I think he got his patience from me.

 The font of the ginger pop cookies on her letter is from the box they came in.  She copied it pretty darn good!

Chase and Abby in their Christmas PJ's ready for Santa to come.

We went outside and fed the reindeer and then the kids RAN to bed hoping that Santa was right around the corner and the reindeer would smell the food they left for them.  I just LOVE Christmas!!

The Week of Christmas

Although it has only been a week since I last posted an update on our family I feel like I could write a novel right now, and I probably will.  Our week was a little on the crazy side, but we still had a very Merry Christmas.  One week ago we started our little adventure (well I did).  I cleaned, did laundry, and packed all day so we could get up to my mom and dad's before Christmas.  Because of the weather we didn't leave on Tuesday like planned, but ended up going early Wednesday morning.  So Tues. actually ended up being a fun day with my kids.  We headed up north Wednesday morning and had some pretty decent weather.  On our way up we were able to pick up a new puppy from a guy that had a litter of full bread labs.  His family is a wish family (from Make a Wish) and he wanted to give two of the puppies to wish families.  I told him that we wanted one really bad, but at the point that Chase is in his treatment we didn't feel comfortable having the dog at our house, but that we had some nephews that would think we were the greatest if we gave it to them for Christmas and Chase can visit it any time he wants.  So on our way to my parents we stopped in Springville to pick up this cute little puppy.  Isn't she so cute????

And my nephews are pretty cute too!!!!

We had a great time at my parents house.  Yummy dinner, fun family, lots of games, and the kids favorite part, opening presents.  We had a lot of fun, but it was a way too long drive combined with a way too short stay.

 Abby was so excited to play with Halle.  She is so funny and cracks me up!

 Makye would rather eat the present than open it.  I just want to squish her cheeks!!!

We got up early the next morning and headed down to PCMC to top Chase off with a little chemo for Christmas.  He was so tired because he stayed up way too late the night before, but our nurse was great and got us in and out as quick as she could so we could get home to festivities.  This year our family did a little Christmas service project.  The kids had a lot of fun with it.  Abby and I went shopping together.  She opened her piggy bank and got out ALL of her money.  I didn't expect her to get it all, but she said she wanted to.  She put it in her purse and we headed to the store.  Little did I know that she already knew what she wanted to buy.  She told me I needed to go to a store that was by Target and she thought it was called Michaels.  We went there and she walked all the way to the back where there was a bin full of stuffed animals.  Attached to them were a set of markers and you could color your own animal.  She picked out two of them and bought them with her own money.  Then we went to Target and she helped me pick out some fun toys to buy.  I felt bad that Chase couldn't go with us, but in his own little way he got to participate.  His part starts with the fact that we had soooo many people helping with this that we have boxes and boxes in our room full of donations.  And this isn't everything because we took some on our last trip up so that we could get it all there before Christmas.  That obviously didn't end up happening.  It is going to take a few trips up.  I can not say thanks enough to all of you who so willingly participated in this project.  We really did have a lot of fun!

 Abby's bear, frog, and some of the things she helped me pick out.

It is really hard for Chase to resist pulling out everything in the boxes.  He was so good not to open the toys though.  He just wanted to see all that was in there.  So our Bishop brought over a bag full of stuff.  Chase was loving it and when he got to the bottom and saw 4 different cars form the movie Cars he latched right on to them.  I told him what they were for and that we could not open them.  To my surprise he understood and didn't open them, but that didn't stop him from playing with them.  We had them here for a good week before we took them up and he put them in his little red bag (it was in a picture from a previous post).  He slept with them all week and played with them even though they were in packages still.  He carried them to clinic in his little red bag and when we got in our room he wanted to open them because we had told them they were for the hospital.  We were trying to explain to him that they were not his when the stocking came full of cars (again, this is from the post last week about clinic).  This stocking was a life saver because I knew he was not going to want to give up those toys.

This is Chase on his way into clinic with the cars to donate in his bag.

 This is Chase on his way out of clinic.  We thought he would be leaving with an empty bag, but this lucky little boy left with a bag FULL of cars.  Thanks to the engineering company that donated a stocking for every little kid!!!

Anyway, so this trip we took a few more donations, but still have to take more next time we go up because of how much we got.  Thanks to all of you who donated.  Our family felt very blessed even though the donations were not for us it was nice to have so much support.  I also want to say thanks to everyone else.  I know this is a tough time of year and there are many that wanted to help so bad, but just can not find the money to do so.  Just your willingness is all that matters.  We love you all and appreciate all you have done for us.  My mom told me a cute story of one of my sweet cousins and her kids.  They did not donate to our little service project, but they did their part and more.  Her little girl went around her neighborhood collecting pennies by the inch for PCMC.  In doing this she took around with her a picture of Chase and would show it to all the homes she went to and tell them a little about Chase.  She was able to raise $500 for PCMC.  What a big difference just that one little girl made.  Like I said, her heart was in the right place and she did a huge service.  So again, thanks to EVERYONE!
So back to our Christmas festivities.  Abby took the things she had bought up to the Child Life Therapist and told her how she bought them with her own money because she wanted to give them to the kids at the hospital.  I was so proud of her and it even brought tears to my eyes.  Even though she only spent $10 to her that is a lot and it was EVERYTHING she had in her piggy bank.
Like I said, clinic went well.  Chase's ANC was 600 so he is pretty low and is only going to get lower.  This being the case, we have to be super careful about being around anyone sick.  If he drops below 500 and gets a fever then we have to stay at the hospital for at least 48 hours.  This scared me because I knew we had Christmas coming with in the next couple days and I wanted us to be together as a family at home.  We had a lot Christmas parties this year that we went to as a split family so that Chase could stay healthy so after missing all the FAMILY activities I was hoping to be together as a family for Christmas.
We finished up and headed back to St. George.  We got to about Thanksgiving point and the traffic came to a dead stop.  There were lanes closed all through the construction because of pot holes from the rain.  So we went on a little off road adventure and got off I15 at Lehi and went around the west side of Utah Lake.  That road was like a roller coaster.  I have been on curvy roads but never one so up and down.  Just little hills too so they were more like huge "tickle your tummy hills" or so my kids say.  Ashton and I were about to vomit because of the number of hills.  But after our little side track we still made it home in the same amount of time as if we would have if we went straight with no traffic, and we had a lot more fun too.  At one point Chase told me he had to throw up so I gave him his bucket.  Instead he played peek a boo....much more fun than throwing up.

Every Christmas Eve Eve we have a sleep over at Ashton's parents.  Play games, have dinner, watch Muppet Christmas Carol, and just hang out.  We played Minute to Win it and it was lots of fun.

 All the kids playing the cookie game.

 Ashton's sister Kristin and her hubby Brian.  You can always count on Brian to make a fun game even more fun.

 Jake and Abby trying to catch bottle rings on their noses.

 This video cracks me up.  This is Chase and his cousin Cam.  They are only 3 weeks apart in age.  They play so cute together (when Chase isn't on steroids).  You can hear Chase saying, "oh Jake!"  I have no idea what Jake (another cousin) did, but Chase's face when saying it kills me.

The next morning we have our pancake contest.  What is this you say?  Well, it is the "coolest" tradition EVER!!!  Usually we do whatever we want, but we have been running out of ideas so this year we picked a theme.  It was Toys in Santa's bag.   And there are monetary prizes involved.  Here are this year's entries......

1st Place was grandma

 The skate board above was Ashton's and he got 2nd

This is Abby's Barbie and she tied for 2nd in the kids division.

 Grandpa's train tied for 3rd

 Nate took 1st in the kids division

 Cam's airplane took 3rd in the kids

 Jake's ornament

 Taylor chose to do a small sampling from santa's bag and tied for 2nd in the kids

 Kristin's Rubix Cube

 Brian's Toy Story Alien that got Chase's vote

 Chase started back up on steroids and I was amazed how fast the side effects kicked in this time.  You can see from his pancake how long his attention span was.

 Ben and Chelsea couldn't come home from Az. and we forgot to mention the theme to them. They sent their pancakes over email.

 And last but not least my Jack in the box that tied for third place!!!

So our week leading up to Christmas was a little out of control but we had a lot of fun.  Chase doesn't have to be back up to PCMC for more chemo until Jan. 6th so we are going to enjoy the week off and just stay home.  For not being able to go anywhere because Chase's ANC is so low I feel like we have not stayed home at all.  I am really looking forward to this week.  And Ashton only worked yesterday so we get to stay home as a family.  Christmas Eve and day festivities to come on another post.....