Nine Months and One Day Ago...

So, here's my problem.  I can't figure out whether, when I come back to my blog (and believe it or not, I come back often) I should just pick up and go forward without any mention of what has happened in the interim time, or I should do yet ANOTHER brief history of the happenings.  Then I decide that I'll decide tomorrow.

We are now about 270 tomorrows later.  So, I'm choosing door number two.  Try and keep up.

On Dad...2 weeks back in NY and 4 months later, we finally get a diagnosis(and I won't go into my opinion of the absolute clusterfu@k I thought that process was):  cancer.  While originally he had wanted to do the Whipple and take his chances, the fact that he as pulmonary fibrosis and could possibly end up on a ventilator the rest of his life changed his mind.  So, treatment wise he has gone with radiation and continuous chemo for 35 days.  Today he starts weekly chemo and will continue til before the holidays when another MRI will be done to make sure that the tumor has ceased growing and reduced in size.  At 80, the Drs have been amazed that he has handled a difficult treatment with very few side effects.  So, we're back to the waiting game.  For now.

School:  the boy (I really need to find another term for him but 20 year old habits die hard) returned for a short 10 days from NDSU before heading to Keesler AFB to do his ANG training.  13 weeks of it.  In Mississippi.  In the hottest part of the summer.  He survived, came home for 4 days then headed right back to school.  Here is he the day he got home:

The pride I have in him...words simply cannot express.


My oldest daughter went to her prom:

Then she graduated from high school:

Then she did a lot of fun summer things and nannied before heading off to St Thomas:

My middle daughter, well she's had a tough 270 days.  She had all 6 wisdom teeth pulled (yes, she had 6) three days after she stabbed herself on a very sharp Cutco knife requiring stitches in her hand (I'll refrain from posting those pictures, but rest assured, I DID take pictures).  She did some nannying this summer too and made bank.  But mostly, she worked towards this:

Which means, with 3 licensed drivers in the house in addition to me and the husband, I may not have to pick up a child again.  Like EVER.

The youngest daughter danced in her 9th recital:

Then made her third donation to Locks of Love:

Spent some time fishing:

And danced for the first time in the Derby Days Parade (do NOT adjust your computer terminal, the video you are about to see is all the fault of the incompetent operator.  That would be me):

And basically having the dream summer of any teen.

Of course, the school year has started up with my older two at their respective campuses and my younger two partaking in the yearly banner tradition (I won't get into how difficult this has become, but as God is my witness, I will continue this for 4 more years):

For the adults, it was pretty busy as well.  We went and saw Tesla:

Someone had the bright idea of running a 5K (I DON'T RUN) on my birthday:

I don't think technically you can call what I did "running" but for argument's sake we'll say I ran.  Then the husband did his 6th Earth Day Half Marathon and clocked a personal best (1:51:27).  
We did a little Three Doors Down action at the MN Zoo:

The boys decided to purchase an ifloat that got put to good use all summer:

Spent Fourth of July up at Bay Lake where more running Nisswa Firecracker 10 K was done, this one with his brother.  He's such a happy runner, amirite?

Hit Dan Patch Days for a little Hairball action:

And of course Derby Days.  What would Derby Day's be without the Derby Day 5K (6th in his age group...and YES, there were more than 6):

And the bag tournament.  They figured out that the top 3 teams don't drink beer while tossing bags.  Which, IMO, defeats the purpose (unless, of course, you WANT to win):

And the obligatory picture with some kind of advertising mascot at the parade:

We took the girls to Boneyard in Uptown:

And managed to get an adult trip out to Captain Jacks:

Guess who we saw while finishing up our summer activities at James J Hill Days in Wayzata:

There you have it.  A not-so-quick synopsis of the past 270 days.  I have purposefully left out one event simply because it is just too big of an event to give just a one picture blurb.  It needs to be its own post.  So, stay tuned. (That was kinda cool how I set the hook, right?)