Monday night CHOC had a Christmas party sponsored by Disneyland. Kelly had her long chemo day beginning Monday morning, so we just stayed at the hospital until the party started at 5:00. Thanks Beth, for bringing Shannon up to meet us! She wanted to share the fun with Kelly. Diana was also at the clinic that day, so she and her mom stayed with us for the party. Her grandparents brought her younger brothers. They also met Cheyenne there. One of the things the girls liked best about the party was that most of the therapy dogs were there with their Christmas outfits!
The girls met some firemen that were there and were given fireman hats that they wore the rest of the evening (over their beanies, of course.) We didn't stay too long since it was chemo day and Kelly was feeling pretty tired. This Saturday is another party at CHOC - this time it is given by Kelly's neurosurgeons for their kids that have had neurosurgery this year. It is fun to have so many fun events this month to look forward too.
Kelly did bring the Gingerbread Hospital to the party. Disneyland brought a huge Gingerbread Castle and they put GHOC inside it. As we were leaving and Kelly was carrying it out, one of the Disneyland pastry chefs stopped her to compliment her on the Gingerbread Hospital. He invited her to come to the Bakery at the Disneyland Hotel where he works. We will try to go next Thursday when we are there! He gave her his card to call him first before she comes. Want to meet us there, Diana?
15 comments:
Hey Kelly love!!!
Im glad that you guys are having fun events at CHOC!!!!! You look like you were haveing a blast, I hope that the party on Saturday is as fun as this one looked lol...... I will talk to you later...
So long, Fair well...
Love,
~Jeannine (8)
Sorry we missed you at the party Monday. We saw your gingerbread hospital...SO AWESOME!! We all took a picture with it! Looks like we will miss you tomorrow at the clinic too...so sad. Hopefully we will see you before we leave for Oregon, if not have a Merry Christmas!! xoxo
Love, Chloe & Family <3 <3 <3
Hi Kelly!
Glad you had fun at the CHOC party - it looks and sounds like it was a lot of fun! What a huge compliment to get invited by a Disney chef to visit! How cool that will be!
We can't wait to be there and see you and your whole family! Emily would really like to skip school and get there earlier!
Lots of love & hugs!
Aunt Tracy
Hi Kelly,
Those are great shots of you guys at the CHOC party. And it sounds like you'll get to tour the kitchens at Disneyland, too. That's great!
It was nice to see the dogs at the party, too. My wife and I sometimes help out with therapy dog testing. Since the dogs go to nursing homes where Alzheimer's patients yell a lot, we go and yell, and carry on, but most of the dogs don't lose their cool.
I have a two-pronged story for you today. I call it "The Power of the Bagpipe." Years ago, I knew a Canadian World War I veteran. His regiment had a few pipers for parades and that sort of thing. Occasionally, he would be part of a raiding party to capture a few German prisoners. They were always happy when they got an officer, because the officer all spoke English. So, they would return to their trench with their prisoner. His lieutenant would tell someone "to go see the pipe major and arrange a liitle concert for our guest." The pipe major would send a couple of pipers. One would just sit there and the other would play for an hour. Then the first piper would rest, and the secon piper would play, and so on. After several hours of this, the German would tell them anything they wanted to know, as long as they stopped playing the bagpipe. So, who needs water-boarding? By the way, do you know the German for "bagpipe?" It's "Dudelsack." Pretty descriptive, don't you think?
Part 2 took place when I was in college. A classmate of mine played the bagpipe. His room mate was on the fencing team. One day, the fencer and the piper went to fencing practice. The bagpipe was in its case, which looked like a wide suitcse that wasn't very deep. The coach was curious. He asked what was in the case. The piper told him, and the coach said: "Play." He played and the fencers lost it. It was the worst fencing pactice they ever had. The coach asked the piper if he could come to EVERY practice. He said he could, and in time, the fencers got to where the pipes didn't disturb them any more than a fire engine out in the street would. So when they had a fencing match, the fencers AND the piper would go, and the match would begin, and the piper might play "Scotland the Bold," or "The Campbells are Coming," or maybe "The Black Bear." The other team's fencers were losing their bouts, left and right. The opposing coaches would object to the judges. Our coach would go to the judges and say "Where does it say no one can play the bagpipe? In fact, where does it even say the word bagpipe?" The answer was, the word "bagpipe" wasn't mentioned in the rule book at all. So, Columbia won the Ivy League fencing championship that year, and the next, and the year after that. "Roar, Lion! Roar!" But it really was a nasty trick, don't you think?
Have fun at Disneyland.
Henry
Sounds like a good time was had by all! Fabulous!!!!
Jacquie
The party at CHOC looked like a blast. The gingerbread house is awesome!!!! How did you meet the chef from Disneyland? What a treat!!!! You look stunning in the pictures!!! Hope you and your family have a wonderful christmas.
Love,
Deborah Smith
Dear Kelly,
Sorry I haven't written but I have no internet at home. Can you imagine that? But I think of you, your sisters, and parents everyday. I'm glad that you get to enjoy some of this wonderful Christmas whirl. It's snowing here with more snow on Sunday. The kids get off school early so they're happy.
All my love (and Nana and Poppie too)
Aunt Denise
How would Mandy look with antlers? If she doesn't like the chin strap, you can either try super glue or maybe a staple gun.
I've got more holiday tips than Martha Stewart!
Love you!
Hi Kelly,
I'm J.P. ( sorry, i haven't been writing to you that much =)) and the picture was great. I saw the GHOC last time and it look cool. Have a Happy new year!! -J.P.
Hi Kelly,
It was nice talking with you today on the phone! We are so excited that we will be in California soon!
We all love the photos from the CHOC party! You all look great and it looks like everyone had a fun time--even the therapy dogs!! Well, hopefully if you do try the antlers on Mandy, she'll go for the chinstrap and not have to use super glue or a staple gun like your crafty dad suggested! :)
Love,
Aunt Jenny, Uncle Bob, Kylie and Ryan
Hi Kelly,
I have a Fergus story for you today. I grew up on Long Island, and in the fall, it is not uncommon to have high winds. They sometimes reach or exceed hurricane strength.
That happend one year, and downed trees snapped the power lines. We were without power for three days.
My mother had a small sirloin steak in the freezer. She didn't think it would be quite safe for human consumption. On the other hand, it wasn't green, it didn't smell bad, and she hated to throw it out. My Dad said: "Cook it for Fergus. Dogs have much stronger digestive juices. He'll be fine." So, she did cook it for him, put it in his dish, and called him. He came, looked at the steak, sniffed it, looked at her as if she'd lost it. She said: "No, Fergus, it's okay. That's for YOU. Well, he ate it, went over to her, sat down in front of her, and licked her hand.
By the way, if the chemo drugs upset your stomach, don't be shy about telling your doctors. Compozine works pretty well. I bet they'd be glad to prescribe it for you.
Have a great day.
Henry
Hi Kelly and family, It was nice to read your updates and see all the photos. You are definitely in our thoughts during this busy season! Kelly - your great attitude and ability to make other people happy is such an inspiration! Have a great December - it is a wonderful month, and you helped to make it so...
love,
Laura and Tatiana Jackson
Hi Kelly,
That seemed like a cool party! I can't wait to hear about your visit with the Disney Chef!!
I lost my tooth today!
Love,
Kylie
P.S. See you soon!
Hi Kelly,
Today's story requires you to go back in time over 100 years, and you have to let your imagination take you to County Armagh, now Northern Ireland, but then it was just Ireland. The name of the village hardly matters, but the characters are my grandfather, Sam, and his older brother, Tom. One day, Tom was just hanging around, and he noticed two pebbles that were very nearly the same size, and quite smooth. He said to my grandfather: "Look what I found, Sam." At first, Grandpa wasn't that impressed. Then Tom said: "If they were just a little more round, they'd be good shooters." Tom liked to play marbles. Then Grandpa said he could see that, but how could they be made any rounder? That seemed to be a puzzler, but then Tom said: "If we could knock a hole in the side of Da's grinding wheel, maybe put some butter in the hole, then roll the pebbles in that for a REALLY long time, it might work." They had no chisels, and they were afraid that if they just hit the wheel with a hammer, they'd shatter it, and their father would NOT be amused. I should tell you, perhaps, that my great grandfather was notorious for his temper. He and the schoolmaster got into an argument once. It turned into a fist fight, and the schoolmaster lost. He had to spend 10 days in bed. So, the two boys wisely decided not to use the hammer.
One of the boys - Tom always said it was Sam and Sam always said it was Tom - remembered that their father had a pair of Sheffield steel straight razors. They were his prize possession. He saved up for months to buy them. When he finally had the money, he walked 12 miles into the city of Armagh to buy them. The boys' thinking was that high quality steel like that would make a hole in the side of the grinding wheel in no time. So, they got the razors and went to work. The blades were thin, and first one snapped, then the other. They kept working, though, and after a while, they had succeeded in making a depression in the side of the grinding wheel. Then Tom sent Sam to the pantry to get some butter. Their project was working pretty well, when my grandfather (Sam)saw the ruined razors. He said: "Tom, what are we to do about the razors? Da will kill us, sure." Tom said "Leave it to me." He took the razors into the pantry, where there was what they called a highboy. It was a high piece of furniture, with lots of drawers and shelves. Tom piled up anything he thought he might be able to stand on and climbed as high as the top of the highboy. Now, between the back of the highboy and the back wall of the pantry, there was a narrow space. Tom dropped first one razor, then the other back there.
The next day, my great gandfather asked: "Has anyone seen my razors?" The two boys kept silent.
Have a pleasant Saturday.
Henry
Hi Kelly,
We have what the weathermen call "wintry mix" today. It's a conglomeration of snow, ice, and freezing rain, and it is treacherous. We took advntage of yesterday's relatively good weather to do some running around, but today we're just staying indoors, where it's warm and dry.
If you like, you can accompany me back to late nineteenth-century County Armagh again, and I'll tell you the story of Joe and the goat. Joe was another brother of my grandfather, Sam. My great grandfather had a goat. She was a good milk producer, and he was glad to have the money from the sale of the milk. He would also enter her in the local fair, and she often won a prize - a blue, red, or yellow ribbon, and a few shillings, besides. So, naturally, my great grandfather was fond of his goat, and he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
The fair was coming up again, and my great grandfather was getting the goat ready to show her again. Joe was out there with his father, and one of the girls called my great grandfather back into the house to help her with something heavy. My great grandfather handed the goat's halter to Joe and told him not to let her get away. Joe said he would do that.
So, my great grandfather went into the house, and there stood Joe and the goat. All of a sudden, the goat saw something and started to take off at top speed. Joe just tightened his grip on the halter and dug in his heels. The goat came to the end of her halter and there was an awful crack, and she fell down dead. Her neck was broken.
A few minutes later my great grandfather came out and witnessed the terrible scene. All hopes of ribbons, shillings, and future milk sales were dashed.
We've already established that my great grandfather had a violent temper. He took off his belt and lit into Joe. My grandfather heard Joe yelp: "Ow, that's the buckle, Da!" Then he ran. He ran next door, to Mrs. Roundtree, who was a kind lady and often hired, Tom, Joe, and my grandfather, Sam, to do odd jobs for her. She put Joe up for a few days, but he decided not to go home. He worked here and there, got to the coast, and took the ferry to Liverpool. At some point, he remembered he had an aunt in Massachusetts. He worked some more until he had enough money for third-class trans-Atlantic passage - one pound. Then he came over here. He figured his father would never cross the Atlantic, and he never did.
There is a postscript. My great grandfather also kept a pair of foxhounds. They were littermates and virtual carbon copies of each other. The local fair also had dog competitions, one of them being "Foxhounds, matched pairs." My great grandfather figured he was bound to win that one, and the prize money. The judge said he would have, too, except that one dog's nose was a tad shorter. Someone well hidden in the crowd said: "Have Joe come back. He'll stretch his neck for you!" My great grandfather never did find out who said it, which is probably just as well.
Have a lovely day today.
Henry
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