Why the Redwood Forest slideshow?

Judy had always loved trees, and in 2008 we spent some time among the California Redwoods. Some of the ingredients in Judy's chemo cocktail were derived from trees (not Redwoods but Yews). We always knew that Judy loved the trees, and the trees got their chance to repay her affection.



Sunday, November 23, 2008

Celebrating Emily's 18th Birthday


Last week, Emily celebrated her 18th birthday, and yesterday we threw a surprise party for her here at the house. We had invited a few close friends, and all of us had a great time. Judy had decorated the house with balloons and ribbons, and of course she had found a birthday tiara for Em. On the menu were hamburgers, hot dogs, and cup cakes, and lots of good fixins'. The adults had margaritas and beer, but Emily didn't want to be that adult.

Judy had a ball preparing everything, and with a grand total of 11 guests (four of them under the age of 10) and a fairly simple menu she didn't work herself into the ground.

Our little party was a nice way to end the week. Judy worked 6 hours every day, and everything worked out quite well. She continues her daily antibiotics treatment, which is a little bit of an inconvenience, but otherwise much of our life has normalized even more. Her appetite has returned to much more normal levels, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, her hair has decided that it wants to start falling out, so these photos may be the last for a while showing her with her hair intact.

On Tuesday Judy will receive her second chemo treatment. We're hoping that she will stomach it as well as the first round, and our plan is to join her family in the Marble Falls area in central Texas for Thanksgiving, if at all possible. We'll make that call Wednesday or even as late as Thursday morning.

Here are a few more pics from last night's celebration.

Jürgen

Wes, Susan, and Emily


Emily helping cook the burgers


Yummy fare

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Judy! How do you do all this? I'm embarassed to be so tired. I wanted to remind you that I'm now on Leave of Absence, so can go with you for chemotherapy if you want me to. Don't get overly tired with all the work and caring for other people. Your body has extra (internal) work to do.
Love,
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, I forgot. Happy Birthday to Emily!
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Good grief! You cooked for 11 people! Amazon Woman! Mountain Mama!! I'm impressed! It shows we can never underestimate the human spirit and body! You go, Girl!

Don't overdo yourself, ya hear!

Love,
Priscilla, David, & Elizabeth