My mother-in-law was diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago. It’s been a struggle with ups and downs. They were very aggressive when the time came for chemotherapy. Of course chemotherapy itself brought along a slew of additional complications but with time, medication, and prayer all of the symptoms have been curtailed.

This past week she underwent a bone marrow aspiration, an extremely painful procedure similar to a bone biopsy useful in diagnosing bone diseases such as leukemia. Lo and behold, her oncologist found no signs of leukemia anywhere! It will be several years before she’s pronounced in remission, but this is the first sign of her victory over cancer. And in this family, cancer victories are extremely rare. So we’ll chalk up another Christmas miracle and thank God for our blessings. They are truly greater than we know.

Closer and closer. And with every passing day preparations get more and more frenetic. We’re foregoing the traditional “Christmas in Louisville” foray in lieu of a hosted Christmas on the homefront. The little guy’s 3 now, and it’s time we started having Christmas at home. He needs to have Santa Claus make deliveries to his house, to play with his new toys in his room. Not have to pack everything up and drive home. Of course, that also means we’ll be Clark W. Grizwalding it with the in-laws on the scene. I had to make a halfway trip to Beaver Dam yesterday to pick up the first load of presents. And as feared we’re still waiting for some shipped presents to arrive, hopeful they’ll make it in time. 11 days til Christmas and already I need a drink. Bring on the egg nog!

Happy Birthday Liam! We were so excited so many of our friends and family were able to celebrate Liam’s birthday with us. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s a little something to make you feel like you were. Click on the Photos link up top to visit our family gallery for pictures from the event as well as all of the other adventures we’ve shot.

Liam (now 2) just called for Daddy to come see his star. Imagine my surprise to find a perfectly drawn star on his MagnaDoodle. (Okay, not perfect, per se, but perfect to Daddy.) He had been playing alone In his room and came up with this all on his own. I didn’t even know he knew this shape! Totally amazed.

Talk about a great day. The Newport Aquarium in Newport, KY, just across the river from Cincinnati, is amazing. It’s a great medium-sized aquarium with some really wonderful exhibits. Sharks, rays, turtles, frogs, penguins, lorikeets. An aquarium with penguins and lorikeets! Wow!
There was so much to do Liam could barely focus on one exhibit before racing to the next. But I think if he had to choose, shark petting would be his favorite exhibit. Shark petting? Let me say that again. SHARK PETTING! I’m telling you man, these aquarium folk are nuts. I mean, how many fingers should you lose before you decide this particular exhibit may not be the best of ideas? But boy did he love it. Danger is, after all, his middle name.
Afterwards we waited in line for a balloon animal from a guy who looked a lot like Mark Twain. His appearance was apt, as he told stories about the animals as he created them. This guy could make amazingly intricate creations from a little latex and air. I saw a seal bouncing a ball on its nose, a palm tree home to a monkey eating a banana. He even made a seagull with a fish in its mouth. Like, inside the balloon mouth. All of that amazing talent and what does Liam want? A butterfly. I mean, it was a great butterfly and all but come on, kid, lets challenge the guy. At least ask for a space butterfly with rocket ship and cosmic death ray. Not just a plain ol’ Lepidoptera Rhopalocera. (Yeah, I looked that one up. Sue me.) Whatever makes you happy, son. Check out the set on the Pictures page from our adventure.

…I hear banjo music.
Today was a fun day. I can’t imagine a much better time than paddling the Elkhorn Creek with your beautiful wife, your best buddy from high school and his wife. 4 people, 2 canoes, and the open air. Yessir. Not much better. Well, maybe if the creek had WATER in it! No rain in 3 weeks had caused the creek to drop from its already low summer state an additional 7 inches last week. That made for a lot of portaging and scraped knees, but it was still a great trip, one we’ll definitely repeat once the water level rises. Even got a couple t-shirts before we left.
Jump on over to the Pictures page for a few pics from the trip. Tomorrow’s adventure: taking Liam to the Newport Aquarium! Stay tuned.

Liam and I played out in the Water Wiggle on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes we need to be reminded why we became parents. This should do the trick.