Happy 1st Birthday

June 25, 2008 - Kenyon received a bone marrow transplant. His donor was his older brother, Brett. You can read about it here.

It was a LONG year. But it is over. The recovery is still a process - kind of a long one - but it is improving. He is still on a lot of immuno-suppressants which require us to be so careful. We do not want any set backs. :) But things are looking up.

We celebrated twice this week. I had a big surprise party for friends and my family on Monday night. We went to this great park and ate and played. But how sad - I didn't even take one picture of Kenyon at the party. He was happy though and we are grateful for all the support. We could not have survived this year without our friends/neighbors. We have been well cared for.

Tonight we had a family party. We went with the One Year Old theme. Very childish but fun. We are also very grateful for all the family love and support.

And how CUTE are those cupcakes. Check out how to make them here. My very talented niece, Lauren, made them.

One Year Ago

I have a couple of these posts coming. We are hitting that one year milestone.

One year ago yesterday - We took the kids out to breakfast at IHOP. Then tearfully dropped the kids off at our neighbors. It was an embarassing display of tears on my part. Then we drove up to our home at the BMT floor of University Hospital. Read about it here.

This year....no tears. Kenyon is improving and we are so grateful!

Next week...the one year from transplant mark.

Another Month Gone By

She is 7 months old. How does that happen? She finally rolled over. I am sure she would have done it sooner if she was ever laying down. She prefers to be sitting up all the time. Like Teague - she wants to know what's going on ALL the time.

And she still growls. The other day, Quinn growled at me while we were in a store. A lady stopped her cart and turned around to see what the noise was. So funny.
Her favorite toy - her toes. It is hilarious how she can grab that foot and pull it to her mouth.
They are twins. All Quinn needs is a dimple and glasses.

And now for a little Kenyon update - I have been putting this off for too long. Can you believe that we are almost to his 1st birthday? I really haven't known what to say. Basically, he has been struggling. But this past week was much better (at least from my perspective). Kenyon's spirits have improved some. His recent visit to clinic showed that he has gained 20 pounds. That is great news! His blood counts look really good (I don't know what they are but everything is looking normal). His hair doesn't seem to be falling out very much anymore. His diabetes are under control. We are also happy to report that his taste is slowly improving. They are tapering the steroids - but really slowly. It is driving us crazy. But there is progress. Unfortunately, he is suffering terribly pain in his knees. They tell us that it is the result of the steroids (lame). So overall it is better. I am just a little nervous. We have had good weeks and then they can get so bad. So I am cautious....

Remember

I am trying to be better at this.

Landslide

Two of my sisters have already posted about this here and here. But if you don't read their blogs (by the way - you should), you might have missed hearing about this awesome group of kids who sing the coolest songs.

Seriously? I want to move my kids to NY and get them in this class. Unfortunately, I don't think they would let Elise in. She can't hit one right note. It is so sad, because she love singing so much.

You can watch all their songs on You Tube but here is my favorite. I love everyone of those kids. They are killing me! I think I have watched it 10 times now.

MS Charity Boutique

If you have a minute on Saturday - please come. Sunni is one of my good friends. We lived by each other in Draper and have had our kids together (except the last). I love Sunni. She is one of those good friends who has always gone above and beyond to help me. And she is so good to my kids. They LOVE going to Sunni's house. She always has something fun to do with them. She always amazes me.

Sunni was diagnosed with MS about a year and a half ago (sorry Sunni - I can't remember exactly when). It is a dumb disease. It takes such a toll on your body, but she is managing quite well. There are some great treatment options out there that help but they don't cure it. Sunni is preparing to ride in the MS100 ride and is raising money to support MS research.

This boutique will be great! Come support MS research and do some fun shopping!

**UPDATE: Jane and Kristine (my sisters), my cousin, my sister-in-law, and probably yours truly will have some items for sale as well.

Rhubarb

Do you like rhubarb? You should. I have too much rhubarb so I will give you some. I got my rhubarb starts from my grandma who got them from her mother-in-law (my great-grandmother). They have been moved many times and it just keeps going.

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One of our favorite treats is rhubarb slush. Teague would drink that every night if I would let him.

But our newest favorite rhubarb treat is Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp. I got this recipes from my Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking cookbook.

For the Filling:

6 medium stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved lengthwise

1/2 cup sugar

For the Topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the filling: in a large bowl, stir together the rhubarb, strawberries, and sugar until will mixed. Pour into 2 1/2 quart glass or ceramic baking dish.

Make the topping: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, rolled oats, sugars, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir in the melted butter until evenly moistened. Spoon crumb mixture evenly over the filling.

Bake the crisp until the rhubarb is tender and the juices are bubbling. 35- 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm. Serve with ice cream, frozen yogurt, or whipped cream.

Seriously? This is so yummy. I have already made it twice in a week.