The Herrick Adventure

Trip to Ranch Memorial Day Weekend 2009

2009-05-24T14:32:00.000-06:00

Snow Day in March

2009-03-28T13:42:00.000-06:00

Fun in the Snow

Tax Loopholes?

2009-03-10T09:07:00.002-06:00

For those that don’t know, Obama’s budget proposition includes a $30 billion revenue creation effort by closing the “loopholes” on oil and gas companies, namely through the elimination of the ability to expense drilling costs and removal of the depletion allowance. While this sounds great to many people – under the guise of let’s punish “Big Oil” – my personal opinion is that it will decimate the domestic natural gas and oil industry by restricting the ability to raise capital in a risky business where traditional financing is not available.

This whole issue is wildly complicated because it involves tax law and specifically the treatment of expenses/revenue (is it an expense versus a capital item? or is it revenue versus a capital gain?). Because of the complexity - it is too easy for the general public to boil this down to talking points that ignore the essential details of the proposal.

I thought this was a very good explanation of why this is a monumentally unfair proposition regardless of your politics.

Open Choke Blog

Ultimately, we need a energy policy that encourages investment in all forms of energy.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T22:37:00.004-06:00

Landry had decided two months ago that she wanted to be Dorothy. I really don't know why she got that in her head. She has only seen about 10 minutes of the Wizard of Oz. But anyway by the time it was all done she had assigned out various parts that the family would be. We had a great time. The look on the folks faces when our whole family hit the door was classic.

From 2008-10 (Halloween)

Landry Dance Class

2008-11-01T21:15:00.000-06:00

Landry is taking ballet class this fall. All of the practices have been closed session, but they finally had a parent observation class last week. It was super cute.

From 2008-10 (Oct) Landry Dance Class

Here is a video of their dance.

Trip to Dallas - Neil Diamond

2008-10-25T21:27:00.000-06:00

We hooked up with our friends Nellson and Melissa Burns and went to the Neil Diamond concert. We had a great time and got to see one of the all time greats at American Airlines Center.

From 2008-10 (Oct) Dallas Trip

Our whole family then got to head to the Dallas Zoo. The kids had a great time. They have a great kids area that they had fun in.

From 2008-10 (Oct) Dallas Trip

Then we got to see my grandparents. It was their first time to meet Ian and it was great to see them!

From 2008-10 (Oct) Dallas Trip

Finally we got to catch up with the Slaughters and the Denisons. The kids had a big time in the bounce house. Landry was so excited that the big girls played with her. She got to wear one of Cleo's High School Musical outfits.

From 2008-10 (Oct) Dallas Trip

Tri-State Fair

2008-10-14T21:51:00.003-06:00

Jason and I took Landry and Ian to the Tri-State Fair a few weeks ago. We met our friends the Gleasons and had a great time. Landry and Caroline had a blast riding all of the kiddie rides. Landry even rode the mini-roller coaster! We found out Ian loves pickles (especially fried ones) while we were there.

Ian's first birthday

2008-10-14T21:39:00.003-06:00

Ian turned one on September 25th. I can't believe how fast the past year has gone. Poor Ian is the runt of the family. He barely weighs 17 1/2 pounds and he is definitely a shorty. He can still wear 6 month old clothes without a problem. His pediatrician says he takes after me....but I hope he goes through a growth spurt soon (for his daddy's sake!).

Trip to Kauai, Hawaii

2008-09-20T09:00:00.004-06:00

We just got back last weekend from Hawaii. We went with our good friends Chris and Rebecca Gleason and had a great time. The weather was great while we were there as was all of the food.

A couple of highlights:
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt on the island which was absolutely gorgeous. They have some unbelievable manicured grounds with lagoons, pools, and some of the best restaurants on the island.

From 2008-09 (Hawaii) - Favorites

We went to a official laui at the hotel which was actually really good. I thought it would be cheesey, and it started out that way. But the food was great and they did a lot of traditional dances from the area - so we had a great time.

Next day we went on a snorkel, sunset dinner catamaran up the Na Pali coast. We got to see some great coastline - with some of the most dramatic coastline you will ever see. Downside - it was really choppy! So much so that we couldn't stop to snorkel - also there were some tiger sharks in the water, as evidenced by the sea turtles beaching. Jason was the only one that took full advantage of the all you can eat and drink option on the boat, as everyone else stayed near the back and close to the rail.

From 2008-09 (Hawaii) - Favorites

We spent at least of couple of days exploring the islands. We had a great hike to some waterfalls in Wiamea Canyon, drove around to the north side of the island and hit some beaches, and viewed the numerous waterfalls on the island.

From 2008-09 (Hawaii) - Favorites

The girls took a whole day and hit the spa toward the end of the week and Chris and I played golf on a great course at Poipu.

From 2008-09 (Hawaii) - Favorites

Of course, we spent alot of time hanging at the pools, sleeping on the hammocks, reading and relaxing. The hotel even had a great waterslide that we probably collectively hit about 78 times.

From 2008-09 (Hawaii) - Favorites

Here is a slide show of some of my favorite pictures:

Landry "bouncing" Ian - literally

2008-07-23T09:03:00.000-06:00

This one just makes me laugh.

Nothing new just some pics

2008-07-22T21:17:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted in a while so here is a slideshow of some recent pics . . .

PPROA Inaguration

2008-07-06T10:37:00.005-06:00

In May I was selected as the new Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owner Association (PPROA) president. They just issued a nice newsletter that highlights it all. Also, a nice picture of the family on the first page.

Artist -> Princess

2008-06-28T16:15:00.004-06:00

Landry told us today (while outside painting with Mommy) that God had made her into an artist. We agreed that God had, in fact, made her quite artistic. She then told us, "Yeah, but pretty soon God will make me back into a princess." Also true.

Cow Creek Adventure 2008

2008-06-27T07:33:00.002-06:00

Our entire family went up to Cow Creek this past weekend and spent time fly fishing, horseback riding, shooting skeet, and telling stories around the campfire. It was a great time - and a great chance to spend time together. Cow Creek is in New Mexico just north of Santa Fe near the Pecos Wilderness.

Instead of posting pictures, I will post this videa that my brother David put together. He did a great job editing on this one . . . you can check out the link to his blog here .

Landry's 3rd Brithday Party

2008-06-20T20:28:00.002-06:00

Landry had her 3rd brithday on May 25th. We had a big party at our house.

Link-to-Cell Bluetooth Phone System

2008-05-26T20:29:00.003-06:00

I bought this set sweet phone set for the house. I am super impressed by the panasonic KX-TH1211. Here is the review I wrote up for Amazon . . .

The KX-TH1212 is a great product. As far as phone features it has everything that I was looking for and needed:
1.) DECT 6.0 - my previous 2.8 gHz was interfering with the baby monitor and wi-fi.
2.) Call Waiting, Caller ID, Phone book, Intercoms
3.) Speakerphone
4.) Expandable (we needed 4 handsets for the house)
5.) Phones just need a plug

We did not need or want an answering machine. We use the Call Notes feature on our phone so an answering machine was unnecessary and bulky.

I LOVE the cell phone feature. I always leave my cell phone (usually by accident) on vibrate or in my jean pocket, or placed in the bathroom etc. Now once I am home, the home phone rings when I get a call on my cell. I set it up for a different ring tone so that I know it is coming from my cell.

The other bonus I hadn't thought about when I bought this is that the base unit can sit on its own. All of the handsets are independent. So I actually stuck the base unit in my computer area plugged into the land line. The phone units are spread around the house with only their charger nearby.

This is perfect to use at the ranch because we don't have a landline there, only cell service.

Very powerful service

2008-05-26T09:14:00.003-06:00

This was from a service at our church a few weeks ago. Choked me up when I saw it live and did it agin when I watched this back.

Color of Ian's Eyes

2008-05-13T19:36:00.001-06:00

Hmmm. After much debate over the little man's 7 months of life, We still don't really know. Sometimes they are green, sometimes hazel, sometimes grey. You be the judge!

Landry's Imaginary Friend

2008-05-12T10:23:00.004-06:00

Landry's imagination is kicking into high gear. She now has an imaginary friend named Kurla. (this is spelled with a "K" as I was told very emphatically by my daughter).

We continue to find out more and more things about Kurla:
- She has pink hair (which is Landry's favorite color)
- She is Landry's sister, but they do not have have the same Mommy or Daddy
- She has a baby brother
- She likes to swing and go down the slide
- She has a doggy that has been sick lately

Landry's New Swingset

2008-05-07T18:33:00.003-06:00

Landry's birthday present came a little early. I somehow conned my Dad into helping put together the Trailblazer Adventure Playset that we bought at Walmart for $299. Overall, I am very happy with it. The wood is good quality and the instructions were very detailed. Overall, it took us about 8 hours to put it all together with a couple of breaks for lunch, etc. The holes were all in place and the parts seemed to all be there. The overall swingset is very sturdy once you put the anchors in the ground.

And, as you can see, Landry is thrilled with the swingset. She keeps telling us how much she "Loves" her playground. She will literally swing for a hour straight if you let her.

Ian's Baby Dedication

2008-05-04T18:41:00.000-06:00

Ian was dedicated at Hillside Christian Church this Sunday. There were probably 25 or so new babies at the service that we went to, at least double the number that were there at Landry's dedication. It is mostly a ceremony for the parents, our promise to raise our children with Godly principals, with a love of Jesus Christ and an open request for prayer from the congregation. I personally thought is was very well done and we got a little plaque and the end of it the says "Ian, Precious Gift of God Dedicated this 4th day of May, 2008"" It quotes James 1:7, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights."

The family:

Momma and Ian:
The Kids:

Shannon locked out of house

2008-04-15T22:12:00.001-06:00

I don't have any pictures but it is too funny of a story to pass up. Landry has recently taken to acting like a "doggy", which basically involves, crawling around on her hands and knees, barking, rolling over, etc. Pretty much acting a fool. As part of acting like a "doggy" you of course have to use the doggy door at every opportunity. So she thinks it is hilarious to go in and out the the doggy door. So, Landry and Shannon are outside on the the patio this morning. Landry decides to go back into the house via the doggy door. She comes back around to the back door, pulls it closed and locks it - leaving Shannon locked out of the house, with no keys, or way back in the house. Apparently, it took some serious coaxing to get Landry to unlock the door and let her back in the house!

I will also add this video from a few nights ago with Landry blowing a horn and making Ian belly laugh. Ian thinks that his sister is the funniest thing ever, and just beams when she is around. Landry continues to pay little to no attention to him, but seems to be getting better - especially when she gets a reaction like this one!

Afternoon Bike Ride

2008-04-14T19:18:00.002-06:00

We loaded the kids up last week in the trailer that Shannon got me for Christmas. This was an adventure in itself. I had to go get my moutain bike worked on since it was in some amount of disrepair and put the trailer together. But the kids loved it. May try and make it a weekend ritual. It was good exercise too!

Somebody always has fun reading her books!

A shot of Ian on the close up!

Snowy goes to time out

2008-04-09T22:36:00.000-06:00

Landry informed us that Snowy had been mean to Giraffe and she had been placed in time out. Apparently, she gets the idea of the consequence. She is getting much more creative in the crazy stuff that she comes up with!

Updated Easter Pics

2008-04-02T19:16:00.001-06:00

These are from our trip to San Antonio, plus some favorites from the easter egg hunt, plus a funny video right after Ian and Landry got their Easter baskets. Landry was trying to be sweet and show Ian his new book, but I can't help but laugh when she yanks the book out of his hands.

Easter Sunday Message

2008-03-24T15:27:00.004-06:00

We went to church with the Laissle's at Bandera Road Christian Church(The church that rocks!) and they lived up to their name. They have an rocking band that was a lot of fun.

They played this video which I tracked down on the web. Pretty good stuff.

I think this is done be a group called Igniter Media.

Isn't he cute?

2008-03-13T21:19:00.003-06:00

Ian is now five months old and getting so big so fast! He is trying to sit up and is very busy. Now, if he would just sleep through the night......

Greenways Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-09T08:34:00.003-06:00

Easter is almost here and the kids got to enjoy a fun neighborhood Easter Egg hunt on Saturday.

Santa Fe

2008-03-09T08:28:00.004-06:00

We took a great family trip to Santa Fe last weekend. Shannon parents flew in from San Antonio and my parents went with us a s well. We rented a house Just north of the main square area that was absolutely gorgeous. Big bay windows and great views of the city.

We had great weather for the weekend. We were able to mess around in town, do some shopping, and of course the art galleries. Jason skied on Saturday on a gorgeous day with now clouds in the ski.

We were surprised by a little bit of snow before we left so we got to play in the snow at the house as well.

A slideshow of the rest of the weekend!

4 months of maintenance down . . .

2008-02-13T11:55:00.003-06:00

Lots of folks have asked how my Dad is doing and I haven't been very good about keeping an update on this site. We are officially in the no news is good news state so there is not a whole lot to report.

The good news is that it has been 4 months since he started his maintenance drugs. There are some side affects during the time he is taking them - general nasueau, itchy skin, but all manageable. 4 months down also means 4 months of monthly blood checks where all of the lab work is looking normal. He will continue this course for the next 8 months and then do a full reevaluation.

Overall, Dad looks great. He is back playing raquetball every day at the athletic club and doing a lot of travleing with my Mom. Most of the time he has a normal appetite. Although, his hair has come back for the most part - he opted to keep it shaved, sporting the bald look around town. I think it is more that he realized his bald spot was bigger than he thought!

Thanks to all for the many prayers for our family. We are ever thankful for the amazing support that we continue to recieve.

Daddy's Little Girl

2008-02-11T09:37:00.001-06:00

Ian rolled over

2008-01-12T22:51:00.000-06:00

Ian is starting to roll over, which is kinds cool. Here is some new pics of him.

Landry reading to Ian

2008-01-12T22:35:00.000-06:00

Landry is turning into a great big sister. She really wanted to read him a book last night. So we loaded him up on her lap and she tried to "read" him a story. She got very disappointed when he wriggled out of her arms.

First day of preschool

2008-01-12T22:29:00.000-06:00

Landry started preschool this week at First Baptist. She was very excited and it was all she could talk about. She had a big time and we think it will be really good for her to interact with the other kids. They actually already moved her into a little bit older class because she is ahead of the curve - can we say prodigy?

Christmas Pageant "The Journey"

2008-01-08T21:52:00.000-06:00

Jason and Ian were both in the Christmas pageant this year. It was a revamped version that folks could walk through and experience the journey of Christ. Jason was a Roman soldier and had a great time playing the part even though it was outside in the freezing cold. Ian was Baby Jesus in the birth scene.

Chick Band

2008-01-08T21:36:00.001-06:00

Ok - I know we have been really bad about updating the blog. So New Year's Resolution to get back into it!

To start it off with a bang - check out these pictures from our party over at the Barrick's House where we played games. The debut of "Rock Band" on Playstation 3. Here are some pics of the chick band.

Christmas pics

2007-12-30T22:31:00.000-06:00

These are some pics from Christmas day (and around) . I am putting htem in a slideshow but had to pull out my favorite pic from Christmas morning.

Some Pre-Christmas Pics

2007-12-20T22:40:00.000-06:00

Joann Kolodejcak Pics

2007-12-15T21:46:00.000-06:00

Shannon had a family friend and photographer take some pics of Landry and Ian while they were home over the holidays. There were some great ones out of the bunch these are some of our favorites.

You you ever have picture needs please give Joann a call - we can get you her number. She is super talented and did a great job.

Sunday at the Park

2007-11-04T16:02:00.001-06:00

Shannon and I took the kids to the park this morning to run around and play in the newly fallen leaves.

Halloween

2007-11-01T18:36:00.000-06:00

We went over to the Gleason's house and joined a troop of kiddos to trick or treat through the neighborhood. Unfortunatlye about 3 houses into it all Ian was screaming and Lnadry was ready to go home. So we called it early and headed over to Gigi and Pop's house to say hi.

Trick or treat

Bonus video - The Fairy (Landry) chasing the Tiger(Caroline) and Spiderman (Walsh)

Picking out pumpkins

2007-10-28T18:59:00.000-06:00

We strolled through the pumpkin patch to pick out everyon'e pumpkin. Landry pulled the wagon through the maze and picked out pumpkins for "Mommy, Daddy, Landry, Ian, Grandma, Papa, Gigi, Pop and Murphy" !!
Pumpkin Patch

Ian at 2 weeks

2007-10-15T20:41:00.000-06:00

Here are some new pics of Ian

2007-10 (Oct)

The things children say......

2007-10-14T12:48:00.000-06:00

Over the past two weeks since I've been home, Landry has said some very cute and funny things that I wanted to share. Last week, I was watching a young couple get married on the Today show. The bride, of course, was in a beautiful wedding gown. Landry was intrigued by this princess in her Cinderella dress and Landry promptly wanted to put on her Cinderella dress. She understood that the bride was getting married like her mommy and daddy did. However, she wanted to wear her dress so she could marry her daddy!

Landry has been very interested in watching while I change Ian's diaper. Ian absolutely hates getting his diaper changed and screams throughout the entire ordeal. The other day while I was changing him Landry apparently felt sorry for him and kept saying "poor little guy....poor little guy." Where does she come up with these things?!

Bathtime for Mermaid

2007-10-13T11:05:00.000-06:00

This is kinda long and probably only funny to me but . . . Landry wanted to give her Little Mermaid doll a full bath today. So she took Mermaid's clothes off and took her to go potty, wiped, flushed. Then got her bath ready, washed hair, body parts. Dried her, put a diaper and jammies on her. Basically went through the exact same routine that I do with her every night. I got most of it on tape until I ran out of memory for the diaper/jammies part.

Laissle's go home

2007-10-03T08:31:00.000-06:00

Shannon's Mom and Dad are going home today so that is the end of our free playmate for Landry. We will see how she does now. So far she has been pretty good, but it helps having Grandma and PaPa here to entertain her. They have been a big help, but I am sure Rudy is ready to go since he has been sleeping on the couch all week. Thankfully, our Sunday school class is bringing food over for the next few nights that will be very welcome!

Shannon is feeling pretty bad these last couple of days. Very achy and sore. She is actually going to go to the doctor today and see if there is anything going on.

Landry's bottom tooth looks like it is going to be ok. It is out of place but not too bad. The top touch is loose to the touch so we are going to have to watch that one.

Landry's Traumatic Experience

2007-09-28T09:51:00.000-06:00

Landry needless to say is not coping well with her little brother. She has generally gotten very clingy to Mommy and Daddy especially when they are holding Ian.

I got a call from Shannon about 2:30 yesterday, that Landry had fallen and hit her face on the granite surrounding our fireplace and was bleeding. She had knocked a couple of teeth loose. She was dancing (trying to garner some attention) and slipped on a blanket and fell.

I hurried home and rushed her to the pediatric dentist to have her checked out. She seemed fine in the waiting room, but once we hit the dentist chair it was bloody murder. Shane Moore's office was awesome by the way. Very patient with us and gave her lots of toys, balloons, stickers and attention diverters. We finally got an xray (I had to hold her in my lap with the lead blanket over both of us). Sure enough both her top left front tooth and bottom left front tooth is knocked out of socket. Time will tell if they will live or not. Hopefully we won't have to pull the tooth. At least they are baby teeth.

Ian Gregory Herrick Arrives

2007-09-26T20:00:00.001-06:00

Ian Gregory Herrick was born at 1:35 am on 9/25/07. He weighed 5 lbs 14 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. "Ian" is just a name that Shannon and I both liked and "Gregory" is from Shannon's grandfather. Ian is a very Scottish/English - so I everytime I say it feel like I am inviting him over for "bangers and mash" or to grab a pint.

Shannon went into labor at about noon on Monday. She called me at work at 2:30 and said that the contractions were five minute a part and intense. She went and took a shower and tried to relax but by 3:30 she called me back and said "This is it!" We showed up at the hospital at about 4:00 and were put on a monitor. We stayed on the monitor for the next 2 1/2 hours (contractions still about 5-8). But she still wasn't progressing (still dilated 2.5 cm). Shannon looked like she was about to cry. The doc gave us the option of going ahead in checking in or going home. We decided to check in and get some pain meds. GOOD THING! As soon as we were settled into a room, things started to move a lot faster . . . contractions were quicker and more intense. They checked her around 9:30 and she was dilated to a 4.5. Shannon screamed "Get me an EPIDURAL STAT!" Two hours later (seriously) the anesthesiologist showed up and gave it to her. She was crawling up the walls by this point. But as soon as the epidural hit it was go time. She went from a 6 to a 10 over the next hour and the doc was setting up shop by about 12:45. She pushed literally on three contractions (three times it) and Ian was here!.

We got almost no sleep that night. After delivery, they assessed and weighed him in the room. Shannon got taken care of by the doc and we got to enjoy some time with Ian in the room. But it was almost 4 before everyone was out. An hour and half later it was up for the day. Ugh.

Landry is getting used to the idea. She brought flowers for Mommy and Ian to the hospital. As she was clutching her Little Mermaid figurine her first words about the baby were, "The Mermaid is mine, the baby can not have it." Well how that we have set the ground rules. She eventually warmed up a little bit to the little man and gave him a kiss when she left. This should be interesting.

We are so excited that Ian is here. We are so blessed! Here are some more pics for those interested:

2007-09 (Sept) Ian Birthday

Dr. Landry

2007-09-21T09:21:00.000-06:00

Landry is getting into the playing doctor! Guess she wants to be like Mommy - or maybe a vet since she checks out Murphy too!

Last Round (hopefully) of Chemo

2007-09-19T13:29:00.000-06:00

Dad started his last round of chemo today. He was actually supposed to start last week but came down with a mild case of the shingles. It was a little painful, and indicated an immune system that was down. A week of anti-biotics got it under control and he was cleared. So two more days and hopefully he will be on to the next stage, REMISSION!

A test in patience

2007-09-19T10:35:00.000-06:00

This past week has been very trying for me. Last Thursday, I started having contractions about 10 minutes apart after I got off of work. They lasted that entire evening all the way through the next day. I saw my OB on Friday; he felt I was in early labor, but couldn't tell me if this would last for a day or for weeks. I was dilated 2 cm at that time. I tried to rest on Saturday, but early Sunday morning I woke up with contractions five minutes apart. I thought this was it....Ian was coming. Jason and I went to the hospital at 2 am and were promptly sent home at 4 am because I wasn't progressing. I've been on partial bed rest since then. The contractions have slowed down (thank goodness......I don't like to be in pain if I'm not going to have a baby!) I'm no longer working, and I'm supposed to sit on the couch all day. This is obviously impossible with a two year old so Jason's mom and our nanny have been watching Landry all day. This is very difficult for me. I'm used to being very active and I'm having a hard time sitting still. Of course, as soon as I start doing too much, I have more contractions. I'm trying to enjoy the rest before the baby comes because I know I will be totally sleep deprived in a few weeks!

Tea Party with Caroline

2007-09-08T08:24:00.000-06:00

Landry had her friend Caroline Gleason over and they had a fun tea party and dress-up party!

A little scare

2007-09-07T08:26:00.000-06:00

Tuesday was a little scary. Shannon called me about 2:30 pm and had not felt the baby move all day. She had tried all the normal things (eating, drinking a coke, lying on her side) be he seemed to be unresponsive. She was very upset so we dropped everything and headed to the doctors office.

We spent 2 hours on the monitor checking for heartbeat and movement. The heartbeat was normal speed but not variable? He was also still not responsive. The doc called this "not ominous, but not reassuring." What!!?!? They gave us another sonogram to check things out and everything looked good. However, the doc had us check in the hospital to monitor the baby for a few hours straight and make sure. After an hour or so, and dinner in the hospital, Ian started moving around a little bit. Everyone felt good enough to let us go home that evening. Thanks goodness everything was ok! By the next day all was normal (lots of movement).

Shannon had her normal OB appointment this morning and is already dilated 1 cm. She is having some contractions maybe 1 or 2 per hour. Guess I better get busy prepping the baby stuff!

Gymnastics

2007-09-07T07:58:00.001-06:00

Landry had her last gymnastics class so I got to come and see how the class goes. She is actually really good. I thought way ahead of the other kids (championship!) and much farther than when I saw her at the first fo the summer. She loves it, for about 45 minutes and then just wants her stamp and is ready to go home. They just have the kids walk backward on the beam do front rolls, donkey kicks, etc. Pretty funny.

Landry Gymnastics 2007-09

The belly is growing . . .

2007-08-21T20:44:00.000-06:00

We have had some requests for some pics of Shannon prego so here we go. Here is one. We are 33 weeks on Friday. We got Ian's room painted last week blue (of course) and it looks really good. Carpets were cleaned today, so crib consturction should start tomorrow. Mommy is nesting big time so Daddy's got to get to work!

Ian Gregory at 30 weeks

2007-08-15T20:57:00.000-06:00

We went and had a 4D Sonogram done at the OB office. It was fun to see what Ian is going to look like. We think that he probably looks more like Shannon. He definitely doesn't have the cheeks that Landry has (or Daddy)!

Ian Gregory 4D 30 weeks

Good news from the oncologist

2007-08-13T10:06:00.000-06:00

The results of a follow-up bone marrow biopsy were received this morning. It looks like the first round of chemotherapy resulted in a total remission of the cancer cells. Even at the molecular level all things look to be back to normal. The oncologist said this was as good of a result as we could hope for!

Dad will go in starting tomorrow for 3 days of further chemotherapy but with only one of the drugs from the cocktail. It will be done outpatient (which is a relief). This will probable be one of a couple more rounds but they should be less intense given the state of the cancer at this point.

Thanks for all your continued prayers!

Meterologist?

2007-08-10T08:11:00.001-06:00

Wow. Our computer hardrive burned up a couple of weeks ago and we are just now getting back connected. I have some catching up to do. That will be a weekend project.

Last night we were having dinner and Landry was telling me about the rain and thunder she heard today. I asked her how thunder was made, and she told me very matter of factly, "The clouds bang together and make a loud noise". I am not sure where she got this. But I repsonded, "Very good Landry . . . Are you going to be a meterologist?" "No, I'm a girl" , she answered.

Finally Home

2007-07-25T09:23:00.000-06:00

Dad finally got to go home on Tuesday morning! His blood counts were sufficiently up to let him go home. He is still pretty tired but looks good overall. They will probably give him a couple of weeks off before starting the next round of treatment.

An excellent wekeend

2007-07-23T09:46:00.000-06:00

After a rough week most of last week, by the weekend Dad was visibly felling better. Finally, his blood counts started to come up as well! As of this morning, the doctor was very happy with his response, so much so, that he was taken off of the IV antibiotics and switched to an oral antibiotic.

All of his counts were up, WBC and platelets were back up to normal, and the red counts (still low) but are trending up all weekend.

What does all this mean? Dad may get to go home in the next few days! They want to watch him for a couple of more days on this new antibiotic and make sure that no infections pop back up. But a light at the tunnel.

We know there are a couple of more rounds of treatment to come, but the thought of at least getting to go home after a full 4 weeks in the hospital sounds pretty good right now!

Slow battle back up the hill

2007-07-17T07:10:00.000-06:00

These last few days have been fairly rough. Dad's blood counts hit bottom this weekend. That is part of the plan of chemo, but it obviously makes him very prone to infection as well. It also calls several infusions to keep the blood count up. He had had 3 infusions as of yesterday. One thing he was in need of late was platelets. He had a nose bleed that just would not stop over the weekend. Most people are CMV positive and Dad is CMV negative, so it took a little while to track down some platelets.

They have also started started him on a drug (newgen?) to start rebuilding the white blood counts. It is a daily injection that is fairly painful and one of the side effects is bone pain.

In the meantime, he started having some serious pain in his right toe (the opposite leg as the other infection). It looks now like it may be gaut caused by the guild up in uric acid in his system. The added a new regiment of drugs to try and fight that.

He fought a low grade fever all weekend while the docs pumped him full of antibiotics all weekend to to try wane off any infections. He got through most of the weekend ok, but spiked a high fever last night and they running some new blood tests to see if they can determine an unseen infection. They are also changing the regiment of antibiotics up to try and fight this stuff off.

On the good news side, his blood counts have gone up (slightly) over the past two days. We are hoping that maybe this means he is turning a corner. If we can keep the infections at bay here for a few more days and give the white blood counts time to recover, he may get through this first round and get to go home in a couple of weeks.

Got through the weekend

2007-07-10T13:58:00.000-06:00

Well we made it through the weekend. It turned out that a nurse forgot to change out a IV bag at some point during the weekend, so Dad had to tack 12 more hours onto the end of the treatment so he finished up at about 11 p.m. last night.

It was kind of tough weekend. He had a lot more nausea from the drugs, and got sick a few times. They gave him some Phenergan to fight the nausea, but that basically knocked him out. Apparently, it stops nausea by completely shutting down your whole body. He said that even his mouth was numb. They could also give Zofran for that type of reaction, but the Oncologist said it would react to some of the other drugs he is on. So they cut the dosage in half and trying it again.

The drugs have seemed to help. He was feeling alot stronger yesterday. We know this is the tough week, because the chemo drugs will basically drop his white blood count (and everything else) no nothing. But hopefully, he can start the road to recovery next week.

One drug down, one to go

2007-07-06T14:01:00.000-06:00

Dad is starting Day 5 of his chemo, which means the end of one of his drugs. Still has three more days to go on the second drug. Overall he is still feeling fairly good. He has some nausea and has completely lost his appetite. But the docs gave him some meds to help the nausea (which made him pretty sleepy) and he feels a lot better.

Blood work was still about the same, which as the doctor put it "Boring is good". We should start seeing the effects of the chemo over the next week as the cells get killed off.

Polo Shirts

2007-07-05T11:12:00.000-06:00

I guess with summer here, I have been wearing a lot of polo shirts lately. Everytime I wear one Landry points at the Polo symbol on the chest and gets excited and says "Polo, Daddy".

Yesterday, I was wearing some other sort of shirt, with no symbol on it, and she had a very distraught look on her face ans asked me "Where'd Polo go?".

Still feeling good

2007-07-04T14:40:00.001-06:00

Well, Dad has two and half days of chemo down. So far so good. He is still feeling good with little or no side effects from the treatment. We know that it is a matter of time before this catches up, but it is great that his body is able to withstand the treatment regiment that was chosen. Obviously, this protocol is the top choice, and they would have altered it if he was having a strong reaction to the drugs.

The Raines came up to visit today from Dallas today which was very nice to catch up with them. I think Dad really liked talking to to Ronnie since he had to go through a lot of this not too long ago.

Luckily his room is facing almost directly south, so Mom and Dad should be able to see the city fireworks tonight from the room.

Also, for the next two weeks we expect his immune system to drop to virtually nothing. In order to protect him during this time, we are going to try and limit his visitations to give him the best shot at a full recovery. Too many times, we may be carrying viruses/bacteria that we don't even know about until later. Feel free to call him, post a note to him, or send an email.

Starting Chemotherapy . . .

2007-07-02T07:23:00.000-06:00

Dad is starting chemotherapy this morning. He will be on on a continuous intravenous drip 24/7 for the next 7 days. Over that time he will get daunorubicin for all seven of those days, which is a type of anthracycline. For the first four of those days he will also receive a second drug (I can't remember the name).

The doctor describe this like fertilizer. We will spread this fertilizer out for a week or so, but it will take up to a week for all of the bone marrow cells to die off (which is the idea). It will take another two weeks to rebuild his cell count. He will be in the hospital all of that time. Ugh.

The freakiest part of this is the toxicity of these drugs. The nurses glove and smock up, to avoid any contact with the drug. It can be very corrosive to the skin. They also warned my Mom, that if he vomits to treat it like toxic waste. In otherwords, don't touch it, glove up and dispose of it in plastic baggies. One treatment that we have talked about involves pumping arsenic into the blood stream. ARSENIC! What the hell!

iBible Video

2007-07-01T12:55:00.000-06:00

David's church in Naperville puts together some great video snippets that they run as part of their services. This was one they ran when I was there (I am sure to take advantage of the iPhone hype). Hilarious.

Back from the Beach

2007-06-30T20:11:00.000-06:00

Shannon and Landry got back from Fort Walton Beach, FL tonight. They had a great time, considering all the craziness that was going on. Landry got to experience the beach for the first time. She loved it! She also loved the pool at the condo we stayed at because it had a waterfall. Shannon's Mom and Dad met us out there last Sunday and spent the week with us as well. I stayed until Tuesday morning and headed back early to be with my family.

Each day Landry wanted to make a sand castle and sand cakes. With the sand cakes she would make the cakes and insist that mommy find some candles (Shannon substituted sticks). Then the whole family would sing "Happy Birthday to _______" (fill in blank with Pop,Daddy, Murphy, PawPaw, etc.)

She loved playing with the big girls in the pool (some other kids that were staying at the same complex). They loved her too. She would sit there and yell "Big Jump, Big Jump" and then swing on the bar that was in the pool.

For more pictures check out our web album:

Beach Trip 2007

New blood

2007-06-30T20:00:00.000-06:00

Since Dad's hemoglobin and overall blood count continues to drop the doctors went ahead today and transfused 2 units of blood. It went pretty smooth, with no major reaction to the new blood. We joked that if he started speaking with an accent then we would be able to narrow down who's blood that he had!

Yesterday, the doctor had a central line put in . This ought to make the every day taking of blood and eventual treatment easier than continued IV's. The Lynches and Gleasons have brought dinner the last couple of nights which was very welcome since Mom and David had been eating out every meal for a week.

My Aunt Chrys (my Dad's sister) is coming in from Phoenix tomorrow to visit. We are all looking forward to seeing her.

Some Good News !!

2007-06-29T07:49:00.000-06:00

After several days of bad news, our family received some good news today from the Doctor. They have further narrowed in on the type of leukemia that he has and believe that he has what is called Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL).

As the doctor put it, if you have to get leukemia . . . this is the one you want. APL is a form that responds very well to treatment. APL has a complete remission (CR)* of 90% much higher than the other types of leukemia.

APL is unique among the leukemias distinguished by its sensitivity to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a derivative of vitamin A. Basically, the ATRA is going to make these cells that are stuck in between cancer cells and white blood cells progress. He is going to start a regiment of the ATRA today and take it over the weekend.

Depending on how that goes he will start chemotherapy on Monday or Tuesday next week. He will take chemo for a week+ and it will take another week for the full effect to take place. He will stay at least two more weeks in the hospital after that to give him time to rebuild his bone marrow (white counts), fight infections (which are likely to occur), and check progress.

The doctors spent nearly 30 minutes with the family this morning, Chrys and Shannon both conference called in since they are out of town, and he went over all the options, the plan, etc. There are going to be several rounds of this over the next 6+months and the whole process is well over 2 years (the last 1.5 years being continued maintenance regiment and mostly oral treatments).

Truly, we praise God for this diagnosis today. It gives us all great hope to know that the battle that is about to be waged inside my Dad's body will be worth it.

*The term complete remission (CR) is reserved for patients who have recovery of normal peripheral blood counts; fewer than 5 percent blast cells can be present in the bone marrow, and none can have a leukemic phenotype.

Narrowing in on a type

2007-06-28T15:00:00.001-06:00

The doctors have ruled out chronic leukemia and are narrowing in on an acute form of leukemia. His blood counts are still unchanged, quite low. His hemoglobin is continuing to drop so we will probably be starting some blood infusions in the next week or so.

We are all doing better today (emotionally) than yesterday. The heavy burden of yesterday took its toll on our family. But it also gave us a chance to share some special time together with a very honest open view of our love. Today, we have all learned more about leukemia than we ever wanted to know.

We know this is a marathon not a sprint so we are buckling in the long haul. It probably will be at least 4-6 weeks in the hospital on this first go around.

A sad day

2007-06-27T14:57:00.000-06:00

This morning my Dad was diagnosed with leukemia. He returned from a fishing trip last week and was complaining of a pain in his leg and had a low grade fever. He went to the Urgent Care center on Friday afternoon and blood samples taken showed extremely low white blood cell counts. He was immediately admitted to the hospital and put through several tests the latest and most definitive being a bone marrow biopsy taken on Monday morning. The hematologist shared the results of those tests this morning and confirmed that he in fact has leukemia. Several more tests will be run over the next several days to determine the particular strain and treatment procedure that will be taken.

I ask you for prayers for my family, particularly my mother, as she stands by my dad in the next several difficult months. I ask you to pray for wisdom and judgment for the doctors and nurses that are caring for him. I also ask that you pray for peace and strength for my Dad as he deals with a new and difficult journey to recovery.

Cookies

2007-06-20T02:38:00.000-06:00

The other day, I brought home some iced sugar cookies from work. I decided I would let Landry have a "treat" after dinner and I gave her 1/2 a cookie. She immediately licked the icing off the top of the cookie and promptly told me "ooh mommy....delicious bread". I have no idea where she picked up the word delicious, but I guess I need to give her goodies more often since she is so cute when she gets them.

Car Wash

2007-06-19T09:36:00.000-06:00

Landry and I went and got my Truck washed this weekend. Landry was amazed by the entire process and has been repeating for the two days straight . . "Daddy's truck got a bath, with green soap."

Fly Fishing at Cow Creek

2007-06-12T09:07:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I had a chance to go on a bank boondoggle and go fly fishing at Cow Creek ranch. http://www.cowcreek-ranch.com/

It is a really fantastic place that is about an hour north of Santa Fe close to Pecos, NM. 4.5 miles of stream and 6 or 7 lakes make this a fisherman paradise. We caught a ton of fish, shot a lot of shells and drank a lot of whiskey. I would highly recommend this place for some great secluded (no cellphones, tv, etc.) scenery.

Egg in my Belly!

2007-06-10T21:15:00.000-06:00

Landry is convinced that I have an egg growing in my belly. First she picked up her shirt and said that her belly was growing like Mommy's. Then I asked her what was growing in Mommy's belly and she calmly replied, "an egg." Almost right!

David to Chicago: Part Four The Final Chapter

2007-06-07T19:51:00.000-06:00

Downtown Naperville is what every town in America is striving to obtain. It is honestly a totally cool downtown that is probably 6-7 city blocks filled with shops, restaurants and bars. It was buzzing with people when we arrived at about 8:30. It was almost impossible to find a parking spot, we cruised the entire parking garage and finally lucked out on the street. Bordered on one side by a 5 mile brick walking path down the Dupage River it is a just perfect.

We chose, what else?, a Chicago style pizza place called Lou Malnati's. This pizza was great. Definitely recommend the butter crust deep dish style. http://www.loumalnatis.com/ We enjoyed some Sam Adams and and the pizza then cruised around downtown for a bit.

Next day we headed back to David's place and got him unpacked, went to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc to get him all hooked up. He even picked up some new furniture. We had lunch at Portillos, http://www.portillos.com/portillos/look/, a must stop while in the Midwest. Portillos makes great hot dogs. We went to the Naperville location where the line was around the block to get a dog. We opted to go inside and the service was quick and food terrific.

We picked up, Shawn and Lindsay at O'hare who were flying back from Amarillo after visiting the family. We stopped off for Italian food that night at Carrabas and it was good as usual. Only funny part was the waiter, who basically insisted that he was the best waiter we would ever have , and refused to write down our order, only to screw up Lindsay's order. To compensate of course, he stared at his book and blamed the kitchen!

Next morning we headed to Davids new church Community Christian Church (CCC), http://www.communitychristian.org/. This is a forward looking church that has several campus locations but teaches the same message at each campus. David is going to be working at the Romeoville location which was the first official satellite location. They have a very nice facility for the youth programs and then have the services in the community center there. The service was a lot of fun and everyone was very friendly and seemed excited to have David there. We had time after the service to hit the "Yellow Box" service back at the main campus back in Naperville. There we got to meet some of the staff and check out the service there for comparison.

We grabbed lunch and wrapped up back at David's apartment. It was already time to head back to Amarillo (Southwest this time!!). So onto the next adventure!

David to Chicago: Part Three My Kind of Town!

2007-06-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

We hop in the truck the next morning and trying to get to Omaha. Immediately we notice that the trailer is pulling all over the road if we got anywhere over 55 mph. Not good for a 15 hour trek. After about an hour we had had enough and decided to pull over and re-stack the the trailer which involved pulling about 3/4 of the trailer out and then putting it all back with a little more weight balance. A painful process but luckily it worked and we were able to top 70 for the rest of the trip.

Nebraska is boring. No doubt about it. So I won't go on about the grass and cornfields. We stopped for the night in Omaha and had a great steak at the a place called The Drover. It is a little hole in the wall place on 73rd street. There Whiskey Steak is the bomb. Served with no frills this marinade that the use is excellent.

That night we stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites which has a great bar called FireWater Grill. We were luck to get to hear a really talented performer named Monica Eby. Check her out here : http://www.monicaeby.blogspot.com/ Sang some really fun covers, but has a super original lineup as well. David and I got a chance to talk to here after the set. She actually started out in gospel at a local church that is a sister church to Trinity Fellowship in Amarillo. She even adopted her twins from a family in Amarillo so we had a small connection. Anyway lookout Nashville, this one is going to be good.

Next day we headed through Iowa and stopped in Davenport. We had lunch at The Machine Shed. This great home cooking chain was started at this Davenport location. http://www.machineshed.com I had a pork sandwich that was awesome. Great home cooked meal. I got Shannon a John Deere T-shirt that says "Country Girl". How appropriate!

We drove through a nasty rain storm (that spawned lots of tornadoes along the Iowa/Illinois border). But we made it to Aurora just in time to get David's keys and find his apartment. Got David moved into the 3rd floor apartment (I will not forget that David!) just before the rain came in.

We headed over to Shawn and Lindsay's place to shower up and headed to downtown Naperville . . .

David to Chicago: Part Two Uhaul Up!

2007-06-05T20:00:00.000-06:00

Beautiful Denver at last! Denver really is a great city and I know David is going to miss Golden and all the friends he met there.

When I arrive I find out that David hasn't been able to secure the Uhaul. Apparently the Uhaul was promised to be ready at 12 noon but when he arrived they informed him that the guy that had it rented had not returned it. We decided just to show up at the rental facility and find out for ourselves. When we got there the trailer was sitting on the yard so we filled out the contract. We questioned why they hadn't called us when it came in, where we found out that the UHaul had been promised to two people on the same day. Right as we finished the contract work the other guy came in mad as a hornet nest asking why his trailer wasn't ready. We scurried out the door and on top David's apartment.

David was mostly packed up so we moved most of the boxes, bed, and some furniture down to the UHaul and packed it all up. His friend Lee and Colleen stopped by to help out. We got most everything packed and went over to his storage facility to get the rest. David had gone by earlier and removed the lock on the storage facility. However, when we got there, a new lock had been placed on the unit. We called the owner and he in fact had put a new lock on the unit. We had to wait about 45 minutes for him to come by (two trips since he brought the wrong key the first time) and unlock the unit.

After all this we decided to get some dinner. On the way there we noticed something scraping on the wheel, it sounded like the front right tire was rubbing. I hopped out but we couldn't determine what was making the noise and we couldn't repeat the problem. We decided to watch it and check it out later.

David, for his final meal in Golden, CO , chose a burrito (I have now idea). So we ate out on the patio at Qboda. After all this we were pretty tired so we decided to call it a night and just head out the next day in Golden. We grabbed a beer at the local pub and plotted our travel for the next day.

We wanted to try and get at least half way of our long journey. The whole route was about 980 miles and projecting to take 14-15 hours.

David to Chicago: Part One American Airlines

2007-06-05T07:15:00.000-06:00

I flew to Denver last week to help move David out to Chicago. He is moving up there to take a job at a really neat church that is doing some very innovative things (more to come).

Anyway, this trip was cursed from the beginning! I flew on American to get there. So I awoke at 4:15 am to catch my flight to Dallas. No problems so far. I trek from Terminal A to Terminal C at DFW to make the 8:15 a.m flight to Denver. But as we get on the plane to go to Denver the waiting begins. After pulling onto the runway, the pilot comes on the announcer and says "The flaps don't seem to be working, maintenance is on the there way." In the meantime, we pull into an empty gate at Terminal C and wait about an hour before they tell us that the plane is unfixable, and they are going to try and find a replacement. We unloaded the plane and waited at the gate. About 15 minutes go by and they announce they have found us a plane, its back over in terminal A gate 15. So we all head to the train and take it over to terminal A.

While in route, ominous clouds are waiting our arrival as a huge squall moves across all of North Texas. The rain comes (with the lightning) and all of the flights are grounded. I glance up at the screen (our flight is not listed because it was supposed to have left already) but all of the other flights to Denver are canceled. But we are assured that our plane was there and the crew was available and as soon as the clouds cleared we were on our way.

We wait about 2.5 hours at the new gate. Finally the rain clears and we are ready to board. They call the first boarding group and WHAMMO. The electronic check in rejects the boarding pass. The attendant announces that apparently the flight has been canceled. WHAT? They couldn't tell us this two hours ago. She says that due to the new airline "Bill of Rights" American doesn't allow passengers to wait four hours. The mob grow restless as this point. Half of the people sprint out of the gate to the terminal to rebook, many grab cellphones to rebook, a few of us hang around the gate to see who gets punched!

After 30 minutes, the attendant says that we definitely can not reinstate the plane, so I also leave the gate and head to the ticket counter where as soon as I leave security join several the line wrapped around the terminal and appears to be at least a 45 minute wait. I get on my cellphone and amazingly get a AA rep on the line. He mentions that the next flight to Denver is 10 pm. UGH. I contemplate going back to Amarillo and regrouping when he says that the flight I was on looked to be back reinstated with a 12:30 department time. A look at my watch, reveals 12:15. I hope back in the security line and work my way to the front.

As I approach the TSA personnel, glory is only a few short steps way. She reviews my boarding pass and tells me, "Your boarding pass is past the time to board so I can't let you through. You have to get a new boarding pass from the the ticket counter." WHAT!?? I peer over my left shoulder at the languishing line and think you have got to be kidding. I ask her to get an AA rep over to ok this cause there was NO WAY. She asks me to step aside and wait. At least 10 people behind me in line also have a similar fate, and we are herded to the side. 15 minutes pass and finally the AA rep gives the ok to let us through to the gate. GLORY AT LAST!

After a scoot through security, I get back to A15 and nobody is around. NOBODY. One of my fellow security hold ups, is on the phone with his wife and passes on the information that we have been moved to A10. So we scurry down to the new gate, new plane and new crew.

After about 20 minutes we finally look to be getting on the plane. We board with literally about 1/2 the people that we started with on the first plane. I am sure many people just gave up or went home. Engines rev up and the stewardess takes drinks orders. Nothing. A solid hour passes with no movement. A steward comes on the overhead and announces that we are waiting on the luggage to be delivered from Terminal C, along with some sarcastic remark like "It doesn't do you any good to get to Denver with no luggage!". Are you kidding? We had over 4 hours to deliver that luggage but it is just now being sent over. Unreal.

But the plane did take off and we made to Denver only 7 hours behind schedule. On to the move . . .

Landry Turns Two!

2007-06-04T20:04:00.000-06:00

Landry had a great time at her second birthday. She had a Curious George birthday party with all of her little friends. They got to eat cake and play in the sprinklers. It was a beautiful day and everyone had a great time.

The Sadlers, the McLemores, the Thomas', the Lynches, the Gleasons and our family (Uncle David, Cousin Kelsi, The Laissles, The Herricks) all came out to enjoy the day.

More pics can be found in this album!

2007-05 Landry's Birthday Party

Here we go!

2007-06-04T19:59:00.000-06:00

After seeing some great friends do this with their own adventures, we have decided to get on board and ty this out! We will see how it goes!