Gone Fishin’
Well, we’re still fishing… as often as we can. The bass boat has proven to be one of our favorite toys, although time and circumstances haven’t allowed us to use it as much as we would like. Bob had done a LOT of studying and shopping to best position us for catching the most and largest bass… some days it has been amazing! We had a 49 fish day on the Pitt arm of Lake Shasta this spring, so we can’t complain. I say a bad day fishing is better than a lot of days doing something else…
On The Road Again…
Yep, still traveling as much as we can… After a good checkup with the oncologist in January we said, “let’s hit the road while we can!” So, we loaded up the trailer and headed to the southwest for about 5 weeks… we had few reservations and no planned return date. It was heaven! You can read all about it here.
Some of our other planned trips were preempted by hospital or other doctor visits, but we managed a lot of great family visits at home and TWO trips to Trinidad in the 5th Wheel to our favorite spot, Azalea Glen RV. We even got to share one of those with Ian and Kai… tons of fun!
In September we spent 12 days in the 5th Wheel in Sacramento… it was for radiation treatments, but we managed to turn it into a vacation and had awesome visits from cousins and our kids. Sometimes you just gotta make chicken pie out of chicken sh*t…
Health News
In May Bob started having some odd symptoms with cognition and vision… we ended up in the ER in Redding in early June where they diagnosed a brain tumor… Ack! After a speedy (and white-knuckled for me) ambulance trip to Sacramento we were in the capable hands of UC Davis. They removed a 1 cm tumor from the left side of his brain which was followed a few weeks later by radiation. After a quick recovery he was completely back to himself. Hooray!!
In September/October Bob underwent 5 days of targeted radiation to his left lung to deal with two small tumors adjacent to one another. He sailed right through and is feeling great. So far nothing else has appeared on his regularly scheduled scans. Yippee!
Still Grateful…
In 2018 we embarked on a new protocol of an organic, vegetarian diet combined with natural immune system boosting supplements and a few other health boosting items… we’ve done a lot of listening, reading and meditating and truly believe this healthier lifestyle will be the key to thriving despite having encountered the C word.
We remain grateful for all of our friends and family who have been so supportive through the past two and a half years… your good wishes, thoughts and prayers make all the difference.
Jimmy & Amanda
Jimmy and Amanda are still happily settled in Concord and have been spending a bit of time doing home improvement projects. This year’s big one was interior paint… the place looks awesome!
They are both doing well in their jobs and love every moment they can spend as a family doing fun things with the boys. Jimmy has become an avid mountain biker and is out hitting the dirt whenever he gets the chance.
We just booked a five day family vacation for next year with Jim, Amanda, the kids and Dave near the Trinity River… can’t wait!!
David
Dave landed his dream job this year at Portland Parks and Recreation… his official title is “Botanic Specialist – Natural Areas Stewardship Program”. What does that mean??
He coordinates various groups that volunteer to beautify the parks areas for which he is responsible. This means he is able to reach out to different groups of people who may be under-represented and bring them into the fold… he loves what he does and is making a real difference for some of those in under-served areas. We are so very proud of him!
Ian & Kai
Ian and Kai are both growing so fast! They are so much fun to spend time with. We even got brave and camped with them in Trinidad in May. We can feed them s’mores when Mommie is not looking!
Ian turned five this year and is busy with swimming and basketball and soccer and everything a precocious little boy can get into. He is a great conversationalist and rides a bike like it’s nobody’s business.
Kai is our little contrarian. “No, no, NO!” is his mantra. But he is a cute little bundle of love and is so very smart.
The boys love coming to visit Grammie and Poppie and we love having them.
