Yawn...

I just woke up. Have I missed anything? Just kidding! We've been gone for a few days over at Desert Aire. Jake was still at school, Amy attended a 30th birthday party for her old college roommate Jessie (Happy Birthday Jessie), so Angie rode over with Rick and I. The 3 of us got a bunch of work done in the yard and house so, it's now ready for regular visits. Between our household and our cousins houses, there were about 10 of us at D.A. for the weekend. We got back home around 5:00pm today. Do you think it's too early for me to head back over? Ok, I'll wait a bit.

I'm sitting here with a smile on my face as I hear Jake rustling around the house, putting his room back together and unpacking 4 years of incredible college memories. When he called us this morning to let us know he was on his way back to Stanwood, you could hear the crackling of sadness in his voice as he pulled away from his "home away from home". Megan is still over in Pullman until graduation, as are all of his fraternity brothers and his friends in the WSU education program. Rick and I aren't the same, but we'll do our best to keep him laughing. I'm sure Amy and Angie will do their share of entertaining as well. Our family is all back together again (or at least within 20 minutes from each other). Life is good!

As I was getting ready to say goodnight to you, it just dawned on me that today is April 1st. APRIL. APRIL 2007. It was a year ago yesterday that I heard the "C" word for the first time. I had gone in for a routine x-ray to see if the pneumonia was going away. Instead the Dr. told me that this x-ray looked worse than all my previous ones. At that time, they set up an appointment for the following morning at 7:00am for a CT Scan to rule out a tumor in my lung. They didn't find a tumor, but the next few weeks were a blur... spring break, mom's weekend at WSU, an Athletic Director's convention...then the news that would forever change our lives. It has been a bittersweet year to say the least. I've learned more in these past 11 months (about life, love, faith, happiness, loyalty & friendship) than I'd ever thought possible. Who knew that some of life's biggest lessons would come after I thought I knew it all?

Love you more than all the April Fool's pranks that were pulled today.

Dream Big,
Dor