09 You're Mine. 1 date a week.

It's that time of year again. I made this goal last year for my mom but didn't do very well. Now that she's gone, I really need to stick to it. Being in a family ward and working with mostly males, it's hard to meet girls. I am really needing your help with Blind Dates, Setups, Line-ups(Preferable not police lineups), etc. I am going to go on at least 1 date a week on 09. I'm not very skilled in the asking girls out "game" so please help me:) If you're interested, let me know. I have alot of people say they're going to line me up but then I don't hear from them again. Please let me know if you have someone in mind. I'm Game. Thanks Everyone....

P.S. Does this sound desperate? I just may be....:(

My Mom's Funeral Service

For those of you that weren't able to attend the funeral, here is the audio of it. It was so hard but good at the same time. All of the talks were very well done. It was a great tribute to a wonderful woman.

Our loss is Heaven's gain. :(

As most of you know, my mom has suffered with a brain tumor for the last year. She is suffering no more. My dear, sweet mother passed away this morning in her sleep. That is how we wanted it. So many of you already know how great a woman she was(is) but I just can't explain how truly unique she was. She made everyone she met or came in contact with feel like they were the most important person in the room. She touched so many people here in Utah in such a short amount of time. Person after person would come up to me an tell me how much they love my mother. More than one person has come up to me with tears in their eyes expressing their love and appreciation for my mother. Those of you in Grants Pass understand this but those in Utah didn't know her as her fun, exciting, loving self. There were glimpses but she was never really herself here in Utah. The nurses at the Huntsman Center loved her as well. One nurse was talking to the hospice nurse about mom and she started crying saying she had never felt that way about a patient before and expressed how great she was. She truly was. I love her so much. She looked so beautiful today when I saw her in her bed after she had passed. Such a beautiful woman inside and out. Our loss is truly heavens gain. She will be such an assett to Heavenly Father and those she will be teaching the gospel to. There are souls up there that only my mother will be able to reach. I know Vance, my grandpa, Uncle Doug, Uncle Bob, Aunt Sherri, and other loved ones met her there and gave her such a huge hug. I'm not sure the doctrine here, but it could be possible that Heavenly Father was there waiting as well with such a big smile on his face. "Well Done thy good and faithful Servent". I love you mom more than you will ever know. Out of the billions that have lived on this earth from the beginning of time, how was I so lucky to have the mom that I did. What are the odds? Why was I so blessed. What a perfect woman who proved her love of the savior and the gospel. She truly loved it and lived it. Families can be together forever. I know this to be true. I can't wait to be with you again someday Mom. I will do my best to be who I need to be do be where you are when I die. I will do the best I can to find a good wife who you would like and who has many of the same qualities you do. I love you mom.

The funeral will be Saturday, October 25th at the Highland West Stake Center.
11605 N 6000 W
HIGHLAND , UT 84003

The viewing is from 9-10:45 A.M. and the funeral service is at 11:00 A.M. She will be buried in the Providence, Utah City Cemetary.

Hospice

Hey Everyone. As a family, we have made a very difficult decision to move forward with Hospice care for our dear, sweet mom. She has fought so hard to beat this cancer. Her Doctors told us tonight that she has outlived the average life expectancy of this kind of cancer. They all love her at the Huntsman Center and say she has never complained once. Everyone on the floor knows who she is and love her to death. She is such a happy, cheery person.

Lately, she has gone downhill. As most of you know, she has pneumonia... A severe case of it. She is recovering but still has a hard time breathing. The MRI shows that the tumor has returned and is very aggresive. The doctors said that if she makes it to Christmas, it would really be a blessing. Obviously they can't give us a time but it won't be long before we will lose our precious mom. Tonight she wasn't doing so well. She was seeing things and people that none of us were seeing. She was there, but not there. She kept trying to reach for things that just weren't there. She also said she was seeing lights and also saw Grandpa Bischoff among others. She would just say things that didn't make sense. The Doctors don't think this is a result of the tumor but that it could be her lack of oxygen or medicines. Either way, it's so hard to see her like this.

The doctors are recommending Hospice care. We are going to choose a Hospice care the next few days to help with the daily care of her. We are all trying to be the best we can be so that my mom doesn't have to go through this in vain. That we will learn what we are supposed to learn from this. We really are sad and concerned for our great dad. He loves her so much and it kills us to see him so sad. He keeps saying he's at peace with it but that he's sad and he hates to see her like this. We could all use your prayers, but especially my great father. We truly have been blessed with great parents. I love them both so much.

Update on my Mom

It's been awhile since I've posted an update on my mom. Here's the latest.
Becuase of her weakened immune system, she has contracted pneumonia. They have placed her on oxygen until she is better. Her last xray shows it is getting better but she still has a deep cough.

She is also back at Huntsman for her every 3 weeks Chemo treatment. We met with Dr. Glantz (World Renown Brain Cancer expert and great guy) last night and we talked to him about our options. They took her in for an MRI yesterday to see the latest with the tumor. Once they get the results back they will know more of a time frame and what our options are. Dr Glantz and his colleague want to try something else now. Her current Chemo (evastin) worked for a little while but doesn't seem to be doing much now so they want to stop that. There is a new drug, Herceptin, that has show good results fighting breast cancer as it targets only the cancer stem cells and not the good cells. Huntsman is the first Cancer center to try this drug on Brain Tumors and they are hopeful that they will have some success with it. It's strictly expiramental so we aren't sure what to expect. She had to take her current Chemo every 3 weeks for 3 days straight intraveniously. With this new treatment, she only will have to go in once a week for about 30 minutes.

Here is an article that talks more about the new drug Herceptin.

http://www.ufscc.ufl.edu/Patient/cancernews.aspx?section=cancernews&id=36779

We are still hopeful of a miracle. She has been very weak lately and can only take a few steps at a time without needing a rest. She requires a walker and a wheel chair and can't go anywhere by herself. Simple things like sitting up are extremely hard for her. She sleeps most of the day as well. We have to force her to get up on occasion so that she can eat and move around a little bit. She also has therapists that come a few times a week to help her get her strength back and work with her strength. The doctors have thought that this was a result of the chemo drug Evastin. Now that they are taking her off of this drug, they expect her energy level to increase. We will see.

Happy Birthday DAD

It's my Dad's birthday today. He's is such a great man. I love him so much. If there were ever a man that I want to be like, it's my dad. He has such a gentleness, humility, and geniuneness to him that people just love. I love you dad. Happy Birthday.



Also, most of you know by now that I'm dating someone. She is a great girl and we've hit it off from the start. Hopefully I don't screw this one up:)

Special Fast for MOM

Hey Everyone. As many of you know, my mom had an MRI yesterday. Another tumor has come back and it has spread to other parts of the brain. We are down to our last option with my mom. There is one last experimental treatment they can do that has had good results. If that doesn't work then we basically have to play the quality of life game for her. We love her so much as do many of you. We are going to fast for her on Thursday(May 8th) and invite all who want to participate to do so. If you can't fast, we understand, but please keep her in your prayers. My dad could use some prayers as well. We as a family appreciate all of you and are grateful for your support.