...just wanted to share...

...just a quick digital page of Mr. Mason from the beach...I used Sweet Summertime by Crystal Wilkerson.

...oh I just love this little face SO MUCH!

Friday Sketch

Well it's Friday...and that means it's time for another sketch over at Let'sCaptureTheseSketches. Today's sketch was made by Susan...

...so recently, Camryn had a loose tooth...a very loose tooth...for two weeks...we ended up having to go to the dentist to have it pulled because I feared it was getting infected...well I thought these photos fit Susan's sketch perfectly so here's what I did with it...

TFL =) Have a great weekend!

Some GOOD news...

...finally we got to hear some good news...Last Thursday, Stuart and I drove my Dad up to Spokane for his 4 week follow-up MRI...yes...its been 4 weeks already since he had his GammaKnife procedure...he had 3 appointments scheduled...the 1st one being the MRI at 9:30 am...so we were on the road at 6:30...it made for a VERY LONG day...and lots of extra time in between appointments...because heaven knows we couldn't have them all back-to-back...

Stuart and I sat in the hospital waiting for nearly two hours for my dad's MRI to be done...Stuart starving the WHOLE time... I swear that man CANNOT miss a meal!
To help the afternoon go by fast we took my parents to Manito Park...but my dad was less then enthused...he would have much better like to spend his time at the golf course...next time we are bringing his clubs and then at least his can hit balls!

...I should probably back up 4 weeks and share some of the story...on that day and what GammaKnife is for those of you who don't know...

My mom and dad and I drove up the night before because we needed to be in Spokane EARLY that morning of the procedure. GammaKnife is a non-invasive surgery for brain tumors...GammaKnife is the most accepted and widely used radiosurgery treatment in the world...but it surprises me that so many people have never heard of it. GammaKnife is a device that treats brain tumors with a HIGH dose of radiation therapy in one day. The device aims gamma radiation through a target point in the patients brain. The patient (in this case, my dad) wears a specialized helmet that is placed to fit their skull so that the brain tumor remains stationary at the target point of the gamma ray. A dose of radiation is sent through the tumor in one treatment, while surrounding brain tissues are relatively spared.


...excuse my photos they were taken with my cell phone ;)...
I know some of you are thinking...really what does this do to the tumor and what's going to happen next? The radiation doesn't remove the diseased tissue...but it DOES damage the individual abnormal cells. Brain tumor cells lose their ability to multiply and blood vessel malformations close off and they will eventually stop growing and start to shrink. So from that day on...we continued praying...continued to have HOPE...I am not afraid to admit that I still wish that a miracle will happen...I know this is not curable...but I have HOPE that it will happen...so that brings us to now...4 weeks later...MRI has been done...and its 5 hours later...and I can not believe what I am hearing...

...the center is dying...thinning core....it appears the GammaKnife is working! There is nothing abnormal in the scan...and some improvement even from last time...no swelling...

Though the tumor is still there...it is NOT getting bigger...I am so afraid to even be happy...but this is really good news! My dad will have another MRI in 4 weeks...my dad is still on double the dose of chemo 1 week on/1 week off...but he manages that pretty good...we have been told he should start another chemo drug here pretty soon which will be done by infusion....whatever it takes to keep him with us! Family is everything...its a shame that some people just don't see that...

...another day and NO MORE WIGGLY TOOTH!

...first I'd like to share my latest card that I made this morning for a friend. Hope it brought a "smile" to her face...and gave her the courage she needs to head down the road on a new adventure. She knows everyone is rooting for her!

Paper: Bazzill, Homespun Chic...Embellishments: Homespun Chic, Machine Stitching :)

...for the last couple of weeks Camryn has been dealing with a wiggly front tooth and she's looked like this...

...she's tried to pull it out...I've tried to pull it out...her auntie has tried to pull it out...her dad threaten to pull it...but it just wouldn't come out the rest of the way!


...it wasn't long before the tears started falling...and there still wasn't a tooth ready to be delivered to the tooth fairy :(

...by the weekend it was still dangling...and food was getting stuck...she wasn't wanting to eat too much...she was hiding out in her room because she was tired of me asking her if it was out yet...and the gum was beginning to get quite red...so it looked like it was time to call the dentist. I kept telling Camryn if it didn't come out we were going to have to call him and he was going to have to pull it...I was wondering how that was going to work since she wouldn't open her mouth for me...so we headed to the dentist looking like this...

...feeling very nervous with LES in hand...(really its LPS but Dad misread it and it stuck lol)

...she wouldn't take her eye off the hygienist...she really wanted to see what she was up to and what she was planning on doing...

...she prepped Camryn's gums and got her all ready to pull that tooth out!

...6 months ago we had these xrays taken and you can see where all her BIG teeth are getting ready to make there way up...I am kinda surprised that so far just this one has gotten loose...the other top one is not to far off though...



Now I finally have a "happy" little girl again :) ...new tooth already poking through!

cards CARDS cards

These last few days I've had to make several cards for people...





...the ones that could be hand delivered are...and the ones that needed to be mailed were stamped and dropped off this morning...feels so good to have more marked off my to do list!