Mountain Getaway

We had a wonderful weekend in the San Bernadino Mountains in Running Springs near Lake Arrowhead. Thanks again Marilyn for letting us use your cabin. We had such a nice time together and it was nice to have such a great place to stay. There was a little bit of snow left when we got there, so Shannon and Kelly made a little hill with it so they could ride their sleds on it. There was a treehouse in front of the cabin, which the girls are in below.

We did go for a drive and found a good place to go sledding. Kelly really enjoyed being able to play in the snow, like a normal kid. Shannon had fun with her too.

We visited a garden near Running Springs where thousands of daffodils have been planted and cared for by one family. It was beautiful and we're glad we went there. Thanks for telling us about that, Marilyn. We would never have known about it.

Kelly at Daffodil Garden

Megan and Shannon in the garden

As Kelly mentioned in her last post, she really wanted to go skiing. She got her wish and she and Kevin spent one morning skiing. It was pretty warm, so the conditions weren't great, but she had a lot of fun. They were happy that there were hardly any other people there, as you can see. That made me feel better, since my biggest fear of her skiing was other people running into her. After the year she has had, she just loves to get out and do things that she used to like to do and just feel like she is normal. It is so nice when she can forget about cancer, hospitals, doctors and treatments.

We also went to Lake Arrowhead a couple times for lunch, browsing through stores and enjoying the beautiful views. We went on a boat ride around the lake that was really nice. It was fun to see the shoreline from the water, and it was narrated so it was interesting learning about the lake and the famous people that lived there.

We are back home and school starts again tomorrow. Kelly also has a long day at the clinic. We usually have her labs done the day before chemo, but since we weren't here on Friday, we are going up to the clinic early to have her labs checked, then when the results come back and her counts are high enough, (which they should be) and she is checked by her oncologist, she will start her chemo. So we'll be there longer than we usually are. But it was worth it to get away together!

We have a special prayer request. There is a family we keep in touch with in Washington and their ten year old boy, Kasey, has the same tumor Kelly does. His MRI was supposed to be the same day as Kelly's, but it was moved up since he was having awful headaches. His tumor that was just resected in January is recurring again. Kasey and his family could really use the extra prayers as they face decisions in this next phase of their journey. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaseyradford

One other family that is facing a very difficult time is eleven year old Katherine Barnard and her family. She has been fighting a brain tumor also and they have just found a mass in her liver since she hasn't been able to eat or drink. This is most likely unrelated to her brain tumor, and they get biopsy results tomorrow. www.caringbridge.org/visit/katherinebarnard

Thanks, we know all your prayers have helped Kelly so much!