Christmas Eve

Just realized that I forgot to add in a posting for Christmas eve. The 24th was a great day. We got up a little later than usual, got some coffee and "hung out" for bit. Then it was off for some last minute "things." Maddie and I headed downtown while Steph and KK went to the Grocery Store. We were out the door by 4:30 for 5 o'clock church. After Church we made the annual visit to Grandma Carmen's on the beach. We had just about everyone there with the exception of Pat and Shelly...Uncle Pat had come down with something during the day. Merry Christmas guys...missed seeing you!

One really cool tradition that we started after my Grandpa passed away was to adopt a family through the church and make their Christmas a little brighter. This year we had a family who had just recently moved to the areas, and the father lost his job. To make things even more tough, the dad recently experienced a heart attack.....even more tough was the fact that during treatment the dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Pretty ironic that this family with their challenges would be put in front of us...look at what our family has experienced this year with Amy and Uncle David. It is such a great feeling to put our energy into this and to make Christmas a little brighter for another family.



Well, here are some pics from the festivities. Again, Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Today we woke up around 7:00 and headed out in the living room to see what Santa left. Kenzie scored with a new Pink Kitchen set...Maddie went high tech with an iMac (daddy likes this one too!) Here are a couple pics...The first of KK with her Kitchen Set...The second a retro picture of Maddie using the "effects" feature of the PhotoBooth application on the iMac.

They of course "love" playing with each others gifts. The Channers and Perrys then headed over around 9:30 for breakfast. We exchanged a number of great gifts and had a great AM watching the kids tear into their things. Around Noon, we noticed that some strange white stuff started to fall from the sky...yes, a white christmas. Now, it hasn't stuck to anything, but it was coming down pretty hard. Here is a picture to prove it.

We will post some more pics of all the festivities later. We are off to Nana and Papa J's for dinner. Again, Merry Christmas!!

Santa Visit

Today was our annual santa visit. We got in line at 8:30am (they open at 9) and waited for nearly 3 hrs! The kids were great. Baby Haas did awesome....it wasnt until the 10th picture that he started to cry. Maddie was all smiles with Santa. KK...well...she was fine telling santa what she wanted, but didnt want anything to do with sitting on his lap. She decided to sit on the rocking horse. After Santa Pics, we headed to Tulio's for brunch. It was a great day...a little wet with the rain, but a fun time. Here are some pics.

The Performers

Had a little fun with the Xbox tonight...Might have some future teen pop stars :-)

Let the festivites begin

Today marked the start to all the Christmas festivities. We headed over to Mom and Dad J for a Christmas Brunch. Grandma and Ray, Grandpa and Barbara, us and Mom and Dad J were there. We had a great time. Afterward, we came home and rested up a bit then had Ryan, Stacey, Haas and Mom and Dad C over for dinner. It was fun to see "baby" Haas...now 7 months...play with his cousins. The girls love him!

Here are some Pics! Tomorrow, it is off to Nordstroms for Santa Pics and brunch downtown. We will get a post up tomorrow night as well.

The Stretch Run

We are officially in the stretch run of the Holiday season. We have had a variety of Holiday parties, family gatherings, christmas performances, etc.

This coming week marks the arrival of Ryan, Stacey and baby Haas. Maddie and KK are already taking about reading stories, and sharing toys with Haas.

Sunday we will mark Steph's 34th visit to see Santa (minus one year - but I guess we dont ever talk about that) We have Maddie and KK's pictures out and it is cool to see how they have changed over the years. We think that KK will be ok with Santa this year...we shall see. Kenzie's wish list is comprised of "a dolly and a chocolate bar" while Maddie would like "anything Hannah Montana."

Anyway, that is it for now. Hope everyone else is enjoying this busy time of year. We will have some more Holiday posts in the coming days.

Nice Lights Clark!

The weekend we finally got out lights up. There hasnt been a free weekend since Thankgiving, so this was really our first change. We switched it up a bit with red and white lights along the gutters, then our traditional white lights in garland. Anyway, here is a pic to share. Also, we finally got hooked in "Elf" dance. Click Here to see our family "elfed"!

Holiday Lights

No, this isn't the jensen house. This is a picture of the famous
Menashe family house on beach drive. This was our first drive by this
season...but probably not our last.

Downtown Weekend

This past weekend the whole family made the long 15 min trip to downtown Seattle. Every year we have made it our tradition to stay at the Seattle Downtown Sheraton for fun downtown weekend. This year was extra cool for a few reasons. First, the big renovation at the hotel was complete and we got to stay in the "new tower." So brand new room, 32 LCD Digital TV, etc. Second, it was our first time with snow downtown. As you may have heard, it has been a bit wet here in Sea-town. This all started on Saturday with a bunch of snow. It didn't really stick downtown, but boy was it coming down. Unfortunately, it disrupted things enough that a number of things closed early or didn't run at all. For example, our annual carriage ride...didn't happen because there were no horses out. Oh well, we still had a great time. I think the kids just love hanging out in the room, playing store, pretending to call nanas and papas, etc.

One cool thing that the Sheraton has is "Gingerbread Lane"...This is a set of extravagant gingerbread houses that are very very impressive. I took a picture of each of these for you to look at. These are totally real, and 100% made out of candy. Pretty cool!

Vegas Baby

In the post from just a moment ago, I ended on Sunday. Well come Monday, I was off to vegas for a data center conference. A co-worker and I went and stayed at the MGM Grand hotel. Conference was good, but it was a conference...and a busy one. Started at 7am...ended at 5:30. Tougher than is sounds. I have to thank Steph because I know how hard it is/was with the two "angels", the dog, the car issues, etc. Thanks kiddo!


I took a few pictures with the iPhone....Lions at the MGM, NY NY, The Strip, etc.

Thanksgiving Recap

Sorry for the delay in posts....It's been a bit crazy the last week...and here is why:

Thanksgiving - Had a great day with our friends (The Doerrs). Mom and Dad J were in Long Beach, while Mom and Dad C were in San Jose. We had a fabulous dinner and enjoyed just taking it easy. We did mix in a little Turkey Bowl at the viewpoint. Thanks Cary and Julia for a great Thanksgiving.

Black Friday - Well, normally I have ventured out on black friday for one of the sacred bargins. However, this year nothing really jumped out at me. So, there was no waking up at 4am to get that bargin. We did venture out to a mall, but it was to Bellevue for a movie. We took the girls to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at the new Lincoln Square. Maddie invited her friend Makalya along as well.

Saturday - This was reunion night...Reunion of the Meyers, McAllisters, Doerrs and Jensens trip to Vegas for Dave's BDay last October. We enjoyed a great dinner at Racha Noodle, then headed to Chopstix Piano Bar. We had a awesome time hanging out, singing songs, etc. Good times for sure!!

Sunday - After a late night on Saturday, we laid low at home on Sunday. Ran a few errands here and there, and found ourselves back at Bellevue Square. On the way home, the kids fell asleep (no nap) so Steph and I improvised for dinner. We picked up Angelinas chicken parm and ate dinner in the Suburban at the Hamilton viewpoint. While there we had the opportunity to see a super cool "moon rise" over the city.

So, that was the holiday weekend...never a dull moment. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is the day....The day where we fill out stomachs with so much food that we feel ill :-)

Actually, this day is about much more than that. It is about giving thanks for all the blessings in our life. This post is a group effort. We decided to sit down after breakfast and list out all the things we are thankful for...see if you can determine who is thankful for what (and who got on the computer).

Friends and Family
Josie's Treats
Beautiful Sunny Crisp Day
House
baby haas's first thanksgiving
kabbbbbbiin
toys
mommy
Job
School
Daddy
Sissy
Health
Maddie loves to read
The Pee Pee Dance
Playhouse
God
...and All of you.

We truly feel blessed and are extremely thankful. We wish everyone a happy thankgiving. Safe travels to everyone that is on the road.

Gobble Gobble!

Launch Night = Late Night

Well...10:30pm...25 1/2 hours since we started our upgrade process, and I am....still at the office :-(

Unfortunately things haven't gone like we planned so we it is taking us a lot longer to get the job done. In the software world, and especially in the daptiv.com world this is just how it is. I have to say thanks again to Steph for her understanding and patience. I have been gone all day, and I know that our two little "angels" are not always that.

P.S. - A milestone for the jensenfamily blog...our 100th post!!

Launch Night

Tonight, my company is releasing a new version of our product/service. Might not sound too exciting, but this is a pretty big deal. We have been busy writing this new version, and building a new data center. Anyway, it started about 9pm and will go all weekend. Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow. This doesnt happen all that often, but is stressful none the less.

Part of the team that is performing the update live a ferry boat away, so rather than make them travel at wee hours in the AM, we put them up in the hotel that is right by our office. The Hotel 1000. This is cool, upscale hotel that is worth checking out. Here are a few pics of the room that I took with the iPhone.

Anyway, wish us luck. Also, thanks to Steph and the Kids for their patience :-)

Happy Haircut

Well, it was bound to happen sometime. Our "crafty" little Kenzie used her "safety" scissors to do some work to her hair. As you can see she is really proud of her work. Now, KK isnt the only guilty one here (surprise surprise)...Big Sister Maddie did the first little clip, then KK did the big one!

Halloween Slideshow

Prayer Request

One more thing...


Special prayer request for my Uncle David. We got a call late last night from my Mom after they had left from Halloween and she had learned that my uncle went to the ER complaining of chest pains. Might not sound too major, but my uncle had a multiple bypass surgery when Steph and I were freshman in High School. I remember that night pretty clear as I had a basketball practice and was waiting for my ride home...This was in the days before cell phones, so I could just dial up one of my 5 Faves :-)

Anyway, he went to the ER on Wednesday evening complaining of chest pain. They did some tests and found that one artery from his original bypass had collapsed and another had some blocking. They did an angioplasty to clear it out, but it sounds like there is still some blocking. At this point he is in ICU and is awaiting words from Doctors on how to proceed. The hope is the blood thinners will help make the blood flow easier through the 1 artery that has some blocking, however, there is a chance they may need to implant a stint to widen the artery.

Either way, this isnt a fun situation to be in. Please keep him, and the family in your prayers. We will keep you posted.

Week Re-Cap

Well, the week is finally coming to an end. Here is a quick recap.

Last Friday we were putting the final touches on the SLHS auction. This wrapped up on Saturday with the event at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott. About 275 people attended and we hope to eclipse our mark of $75k raised two years ago. All indications show that we will do that, but keep your fingers crossed. A cool surprise this year, our good friend Sean Buck flew out to be the emcee for the event. He did a fantastic job!

After a long tiring weekend, Monday hit with the Hannah Montana concert. I posted a couple pics on Monday and will try to post some more later. Maddie and I went with Rob and Makalya and had a great time. We hit Jaliscos for dinner prior, and then made it to the concert. I have a couple videos with sound that will demonstrate the noise level of thousands of screaming girls. It was a lot of fun, and Maddie loved it.

Tuesday was a big day for my work. Effective Tuesday, eProject became daptiv. Check out our new website www.daptiv.com. We are expanding our capabilities to be much more the web-based project management (thus the e-Project)...we want to/can allow companies to create robust business applications. Anyway, after 7 1/2 years here, this is probably the biggest change (among many) and is very exciting.

Wednesday, of course, was Halloween. The night before, the girls and I carved our 3 homemade pumpkins (grown in Nana J's garden). Trick or treating got kicked off with a visit to my work. A number of kids came by the office, and a number of the "big kids" i.e. the employees, got decked out in costumes and decorated their offices. They came away with haul#1. From here we met up with the Doerrs in the Admiral district for trick or treating. All the merchants handed out goodies. This was haul#2. We headed home for a nummy homemade dinner of sloppy joes with Papa C and Nana/Papa J, then it was out for a trip around the block. We literally only made it up 1 side and down the other, and made it home with a ton of candy. Whole candy bars, buckets of candy, etc. It was crazy. It feels like we have a small candy store on our kitchen counter.

Tonight, with the help of Nana J's ability to win radio/TV contests, we got pre-release tickets to the Bee Movie. We headed up to Oak Tree after work, had a drive-in dinner at Burgermaster, then headed to the movie. KK was a bit tired, and wanted to be with Mommy all movie...Maddie was pretty intent and enjoyed ever bit of the movie...Afterward we asked if she liked it and she said, "I loved it!" It was a cute movie with a good mix of humor and fun.

So, busy busy week. To top it all off, Maddie has been out of school since Wednesday as there is a teacher's conference in Oregon. Steph has been working hard to keep the girls from tearing each other apart...too much :-) They are definitely Sisters!

Hannah Montana encore

Well...rob and I made it. Here is a pic of the hannah Montana
encore! Maddie loved it!!!!

LIVE from hannah Montana

First of a few live pics from the hannah montana concert. This is
the jonas brothers...more to come

Responsibility

Well, after trying to rack my brain to remember the company that has come out with a cool set of commercials, I finally saw it again while watching some football with Kenzie (napping).

I am a huge fan of these new commercials by Liberty Mutual Insurance. They are titled "Responsibility" Take a look at a couple...pay close attention:

1st Edition


2nd Edition



This is a great example of how just doing something for someone, could have an impact on someone else, who in turn does the same...and so on. Notice how they tie it all back to the first character in the commercial.

Introducing Quicksilver

Here is Maddie's 2007 Soccer Team...They are named Quicksilver! As you can see they have a lot of fun!!!

Not quite there

Well, it is 10:20 and I "should" be back in Seattle. However, I am in
a hotel room in east Rutherford, NJ. After 3 long hours on the Tarmac
in white plains, our flight was cancelled. We scrambled to figure out
a new way home. We were able to find tickets on a direct flight from
Newark to Seattle...now we just had to get to NJ and find a hotel. We
contemplated a rental car and even the train but decided on a town car
for the 1hr ride.

So, off to bed so we can get up at 5am est to catch our new flight
home. Hopefully the thunderstorms get out of here!!

Sent from my iPhone

Cuttin' it close

Well...travel is fun isn't it? I left Monday am at 7:00am for NYC for
a 6 he meeting today. Got to the airport in plenty of time and are
now stuck on the tarmac. Normally not a big deal, but we only have a
45min lay over.

Wish me luck that we take off in time to make the flight.

Sent from my iPhone

Father/Daughter Weekend

Here is an early weekend update on father/daughter weekend. Steph and a few of her girlfriends headed over to Miracle Ranch for the Hope Women's Retreat, so Maddie, Kenzie and I are hanging out. We kicked off the weekend with Dinner with nana and papa J at Elliott Bay in the Junction. After that we headed up to a stamp signing at Friends Craft store. I am not 100% clear on the details around this, but basically there was a 7 year old that designed her own stamp. Everyone loved it, so they produced the stamp. This night was her "stamp signing" event! Maddie really enjoyed it. Here is a posting on westseattleblog about it. We headed up, watched a movie, made some crafts, read some books, and then went to bed.

KK woke up a bit early :-) and so I climbed into her bunk with her and she dozed off again for another hour. About 7, Maddie got up and we read one of her new library books then maddie said, "Dad, can we go out for breakfast please?" So, we packed up and headed up to Charleston for ""Minnie" Mouse Pancakes. After getting my morning Ladro, the girls wanted to just play in the garage with their bikes and scooters. I was surprised to see that KK can now pedal her tricycle now. Probably time for a helmet for her! I let them run wild in the garage for a bit, then Maddie came to the door with her baseball mit, "Wanna play catch?" Tough to resist that. This was the first time the gloves have been out since T-ball. First throw was a fastball, up and in! Serious, she really had some juice on it. For anyone that has seen t-ball, throwing is a challenge, but she has really improved.

Well, that is it for now. Next stop is Barnes and Noble story time....Peter Rabbit. Hopefully after that it is nap time :-)

New Blog Alert!!!

Over the weekend, we received an email from Jeff and Amy that they have made the leap into blogger world and have setup their own blog site. You can get to their site at:

http://thelakewoodjensens.blogspot.com

It has been our pleasure to post update on Jeff, Amy and family over the last year. The blog really opened our eyes to see how effective the blog site can be to get the word out. We will probably still have a post from time to time about the relatives down south, but feel free to bookmark their site as well to get all the latest info. Sounds like they are planning some updates in the next week after Amy has another MRI.

Enjoy!!

Meow

We cracked into the Halloween decorations and kenzie found a new look!

SLHS Auction

4 weeks until the 2007 SLHS Auction!!!!

Steph and I, as well as our brother and sister, all had the opportunity to attend SLHS. I think we can all say we are so grateful to the school (and our parents for sending us) for the education we received. It definitely prepared us for the different phases of our life.

So, back to the auction, Oct 27th is the day. We are still looking for people to attend as well as donations to help raise more money for the school. We contacted our favorite local blog site (http://www.westseattleblog.com/) and they were gracious enough to post this notice to the community. You can also check out the SLHS auction page for more info.

Steph and I are co-leading the effort with other Alumni and we could sure use anyone/everyone's help to make this successful. If you want to attend, or donate, or just want to hear more about what is happening at SLHS, let us know.

-Mike and Steph

KK on a Mac

Had to post this pic of kenzie at the apple store..she is a natural on
the computer!

First Test

Well...Maddie had her first test today and she has set the bar high. A perfect 5/5 on a reading test! She was pretty excited to show off the results. School is going great for her. Every night we spend 10-15 minutes reading and she has come a long way and does a great job sounding all the words out. Of course, by the end of the day she is also tired and it is tough to keep her focused, but hey, so am I.

In other Maddie news, we had our first soccer game on Sunday. Maddie did a great job. Format is bit different than last year being 4 on 4, and playing for 10 min straight. Needless to say she was tired by the end of her "shift". We will post some pictures after the big double header this weekend.

Jeff and Amy to Paris

Here is a belated update from my mom on jeff and amy's trip to Paris.
They are actually back now, so I anticipate an update from jeff soon.

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

>
>

> Hi-hope you get this-I thought i'd send an update for the blog on
> Jeff & Amy's trip.
>
> They were up by 3:30 Saturday morning and out of the house by
> 4:30.Steve took them to the airport.Jeff called from Boston where
> they had a 3 hour layover-trip was going well so far.
>
> He called again at 10:30 this morning-7:30 p.m.Paris time.The flight
> from Boston was bumpy-but
> Amy was able to get some rest.

> They had some trouble getting a taxi-it seems that just about the
> time they got to the front of taxi line it was closed down because
> of a possible car bomb threat.They're pretty sure it turned out to
> be someone's lunch!! Anyway got to the hotel-LouisII
> and checked their bags in.Did a bit of exploring while waiting to
> check themselves in.They said that their room is small-but very nice
> (amy had a website for it with some photos}
> Last night they went to Cafe Fleur-for anyone who knows Ina Garten-
> The Barefoot Contessa-from the Food Network or her cookbooks-this is
> where she and her husband Jeffrey{!} like to eat.So Just like Ina &
> Jeffrey-Amy & Jeff had ham & cheese omlettes-Amy had hers with a
> glass of French champagne while Jeff had his with -what else-a Coke!!!

> They were resting a bit then thought they would go out wandering
> this evening.They sounded great-just suffering a little jet lag.

> The kids and I are doing really well-Amy has a Paris Live website on
> her computer-so every morning and evening we all look at it and see
> some of the things Mom & Dad are seeing-especially the Eiffel Tower.

Fishing Trip

This past weekend I had the chance to catch up with some old friends on a Fishing trip to southern WA. Sean flew in from Chicago and we headed down on Sunday. We met Nello and Mike on the Kalama and setup camp. The Kalama is really cool right now because it is Fly Fishing only which is right up my alley. Sunday night we fished on the Kalama until dark. Mike caught a nice Steelhead, then we had some hot dogs and chili. We then adventured out on a first for me, Night Fishing on the Cowlitz. I didnt know what to expect, but it was interesting. I was really surprised to see how many people were there...probably 50 or so. This was a bit different kind of fishing as we used glow in the dark lures and spinning gear. Except for Maggie Lake, I have only used Fly Fishing Gear so I just wasnt that good at it. In the end we didnt catch anything that night, so I am still not "hooked" on spin fishing :-)

The next morning we got up early and started fishing on the Kalama. Nello landed a nice fish, then we headed out to the Toutle. This again was spin fishing and we got totally shut out. The only thing we got was wet! We were caught in a rain storm and I decided to camp out in the car while the other three crazies exercised their arms some more. We headed back to the sunny campground and after some lunch fished some more on the Kalama. Nello, Mike and I worked our way up to what they call the Parking Lot hole and at about 7pm, the fish started biting. Mike had 5-6 fish on in about 1 hour, Nello hooked into a couple and I landed a Fall Chinook. I am not a good judge of weight but it was a big fish. It took me all the way into my backing and I finally landed it. We headed back to the campsite and enjoyed a great night by the fire. We burned through a bunch of wood and a box of paper I brought down.

The next day we got up and had breakfast, another fire, and toyed with fishing or not. The day before was a long day and I for one was sore. We decided to break down camp and go to the "Beginners Hole." It was sunny and the fish were moving in. With polarized glasses you could see the fish coming into the pools. Nello and Mike fish this a lot and they said this was nothing compared to when the fish really come in. However, that also means a lot more people. Mike and I were upstream to start and joined Nello and Sean a little later. When we arrived Nello said that the fish were biting...I scaled down the rip rap bank to find a spot. Lucky for me on my second case I hooked into a nice Silver (Coho). It was a hatchery fish so we kept it..Before it was cleaned up (thanks Hopper) we got a picture. I felt lucky to fair hook the fish as everyone was hooking into fish, but not in the mouth.




All in all this was a great trip. Really enjoyed hanging out with old friend and trying to figure out where all our high school mates are now. I caught and landed my first salmon on the fly so that was great. Thanks to Hops and Nello for being the guides...Thanks Buck for coming out.

The Edgefield Experience

A couple weeks ago Steph and I had the opportunity to get away for a couples weekend to Edgefield near Portland, OR. Edgefield is a McMenamins property that used to be a nursing home in they have restored into a very cool destination. We were invited by Party organizer extraordinaire Ryan Perry. Us, along with the Perrys and two other couples made our way down there on Thursday and Friday and stayed until Sunday. Lucky for us the Nanas offered to watch the kids. Maddie and Kenzie went to Nana and Papa J's while Baby Haas was with Nana and Papa C's.

Rather than driving, we decided to take the train and leave after I got off work on Thursday. The four of us had entire Amtrak train car to ourselves and we had a relaxing trip down I-5 to portland. From there we grabbed a Cab out to Edgefield. Wow, what an experience that was. You thought NY cab drivers were strange, this guy was a doozy. Ryan got him talking about politics and away he went. We got to Edgefield around 10:30 and spent a couple hours just wandering the complex. There are about 5 different bars, 3 different resturants, a movie theatre, a brewery, a distillery, etc. The next day we got up and the guys hit the 17 hole pitch and putt. We started about noon with Hammerheads in hand, and didnt stop "partaking" until the wee hours of the morning. Good times :-) Oh, almost forgot...I had to be on a "short" conf call at 9am that turned into a nearly 2 hour ordeal...so it was a nice break. The next day was kind of tough for everyone...The guys laid low in the sports bar and watched the UW vs. Boise St game...while the ladies ventured on the bus to downtown Portland. Without a car, the option was bus or cab....at $60 one way, they went with the $2 per person route. Public transportation is always an adventure and by the sounds of it this was no different. Our last night we had a great time going from bar to bar with our group. We had dinner outside (BTW the weather was Awesome...high 70's), played a little LCR, and just hung out. Sunday came around and we had breakfast then headed out to the bus stop to make our way to the Train Station...yep, the ladies convinced us to use to get to the train. We had the opportunity to share the bus with a number of interesting characters...one of which kept saying outloud..."It never happened...It never happened....It never happened."

Well, this weekend did happen and it was a ton of fun. We highly recommend Edgefield if you are in the portland area. Thanks to our parents for watching the kids so we could enjoy this time!

Update from Long Beach

Passing along an update from the Jensen Clan in Long Beach.

 

------------------------------------

Greetings from Lakewood, California, where the weathers hot, the kids are back in school (and happily so), and the city of lights looms in our future. Amy and I are leaving for Paris on Saturday yep, the passport arrived and we couldn’t be more excited. Please pray for our safety as we travel, and please pray that our kids will have a safe and sane time at home with Nana J (Jeff’s Mom), who has flown down to take care of the kids, for which we are very, very grateful. Which reminds me: please pray for Nana J's safety and sanity, as well!

On the cancer front: No updates since our last very positive report, except to say that the positivity has only increased. Amy’s hair is growing back; a very cute short hairstyle is emerging. Her spirits remain bright and strong the best they’ve been since this all went down back in January. (Has it really been the long/not long? My sense of time is all warped.) We are grateful for this season of optimism and restoration of strength. Of course, the cancer journey is still ongoing. The only way we will ever know for sure that Amy will be cancer/tumor-free is if she never gets another tumor again. We are thankful for the good health we have today, and we pray for good health tomorrow. And so it goes

But cancer, shmancer we’re going to Paris! We can’t wait to experience it this is our first real vacation we’ve taken alone since the kids were born--and we look forward to sharing some of our adventures with you when we get back. We are thankful for your continued love and support, which in various ways have helped make this long-held dream of a Paris trip come true. Thank you, and God bless you all.

Love, Jeff and Amy

1st Grader

As we posted breifly before, Maddie started 1st grade a couple weeks ago. So far she is really enjoying school. They have like 12 girls and only 5 boys, so there is drama almost every day....and of course Maddie has nothing to do with it :-) She is learning very quickly how to read, which it the main goal of first grade. The great thing is that she really enjoys reading and actually picks up the more challenging books. Knowing her, she will have it nailed by Christmas.

We also shared that Maddie's teacher, Mrs. Gruenhagen, is the same teacher that Steph and I had a long time ago. We dont remember a lot from that time, but when Maddie brought home her first set of paper, we immediately remembered those red stars on assignments!

Here are a few pictures:

The sisters before heading to school

Maddie in her desk

Maddie and her 1st Grade Teacher Mrs. Gruenhagen

The class!

Major Catchup Needed

The intent of the blog was for "frequent" updates on things, but sometimes life gets in the way! No problems to report, just a lack of time to post updates. We have a few key things we want to share, but here are few sneak peaks:

- Maddie started 1st Grade - Wednesday, August 29th was her first day of school at a 1st grader. She has the same teacher that Steph and I had 28 years ago...Yikes!!!!

- Maggie Lake Cabin Trips - Steph's parents found a great lake property near Hood Canal and there have been a number of fun weekend trips.

- Great Grandma Cook moving - Their apartement complex is being converted to Condos, so an emergency search was on for a new place for them. Luckily they found something close.

- Birthdays - Today (9/5) is my Dad's B-day (Happy Birthday Dad)....My Birthday was on 9/2.

Thought of the day

No, this is not a "Jack Handy" moment, but just an experience that I thought I would "jot" down and share. I'll be quick since it is Friday.

As most you you know, I work for eProject. We are located in downtown Seattle and have the 5th and 6th floors of a cool brick building. Anyway, we are growing like gang busters...now at around 120 people. This kind of growth is challenging because it is difficult to still "know" everyone. There are occasional names that I don't recognize, but I at lease can place a face....I know if I see someone that they are a part of eProject.

A few months back, MySpace took over the 4th floor. Talk about growing like gang busters...they are filling a relatively small space with over 100 developers. Today as I was walking into the building and waiting for the elevator, a guy (techie looking) approached me and asked if I was going to the 4th floor, because his card key wouldn't work.

Seemed like a harmless encounter, but as I put the pieces together, I realized this is pretty sad and how lucky I am. Here is guy who cant even recognize if I belong on the 4th floor....doesn't know if we even work at the same company. They are growing so fast, and probably have enough turn over that they don't know who works where. I am very thankful to be where I am at and this is just one of those little reminders to make sure I try to know all the people that work at eProject. I may not be buddy buddy with everyone, but I need to know that the person waiting for the elevator is going to my same floor and we are a part of the same company.

Have a great weekend!

Part of History

Not sure how long it will last, but I can say I was a part of history today. With all the I-5 contsruction, everyone is being encouraged to take alternative transportation. As a result, there were 191 of us on the 7:30am water taxi. It was PACKED.

When I got to the dock, I thought there was no way I was getting on the boat. But after pushing and shoving I made it :-) Just kidding...they just got approval for increased capacity to 250 (from 150) so we had some room to spare. Either way it was cool to be a part of the new record. Records are meant to be broken, so my guess is that it will be short lived.

Camping Video

OK...Dabling here with some technology....Back in June I blogged about our Camping trip with friends. Well, with the help of OneTrueMedia.com I uploaded our pictures and created the "montage." Let us know if it doesnt work.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Seafair Weekend

Well, seafair offically has come and gone now with the Hydros and Blue Angels. Believe it or not, even though we are lifelong Seattlites, neither Steph or I have ever been to the Hydros or down to see the Blue Angels. I guess we had a sheltered childhood :-)


So, this weekend we were invited by our friends Cary and Julia to their seafair tradition of watching the Blue Angels perform on Saturday. We met in WS at 11:30, grabbed some food for a picnic lunch and headed down to Seward park. The place was crawling with people....thousands at least. We ate or lunch and then the show started with the roar of 4 jets over our heads. Cary and I had our cameras and we caught a few pictures of the "birds". My camera has a decent zoom lens, but either way, to get a picture like this they must have been close! Sorry the 1 is clipped a bit...remember, this things are going pretty darn fast, so just to have it in focus is an accomplishment.

Here is a cute pic of Maddie and her friend Gavin watching the Blue Angels go by.

Thanks fo the Doerrs for including us in their Annual tradition and for the introduction to the Blue Angels in person. It was a really cool experience and great fun!

New Amy Update

Howdy, family and friends. The Jensens of Lakewood, California wish you a swell summer and hope you're staying cool.

We have a short and sweet update on Amy's health. And it is very sweet. Amy had an MRI last Wednesday and the doctor says it's the best picture she's taken to date. That weird, unnerving anomaly in her brain has actually SHRUNK which is a very good thing. Because while no one really has any idea what this thing is, the fact that it's getting smaller means that it's probably NOT a tumor, and more likely that it's merely irradiated brain tissue that's on the slow track to healing. Again, we have no idea for certain. But according to neurosurgeon, shrinkage is a good thing.

I must say that since receiving this news a week ago, Amy's spirits have been noticeably lighter. Contributing to this, no doubt, is the fact that her hair is really starting to come back at least, on one side. The other side is growing more slowly but it IS growing. She's really jazzed about that. Amy's been taking care of herself in many other ways, as well. She's on the right medications, getting the right kind of help, working hard on visualizing herself getting healthy. She's doing her part, and doing so with a great measure of grace.

The doc now has Amy on an every-other-month MRI schedule instead of monthly peeks. So we won't have another update for you until late September after we get back from our trip to Paris. I think we deserve a trip to Paris, don't you? Of course, this is all contingent on Amy's passport getting here in time. We applied for it on May 1. Still hasn't come. Gulp. Please pray for that, as well as continued healing for Amy and grace for our family.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Much love in return,

Jeff, Amy, Ben and Lauren

Another Parade in the books

Well, we are finally home. Another parade in the books. This years seemed to go on a bit longer than others...it didnt help when the fire station had some activity that held up the hydro semis for a bit. Anyway, everyone had a great time. The kids did great. Maddie did kind of freak out when the Pirates came by. She was crawling under our chairs to avoid contact with the crazy guys. Kenzie on the other hand got 3-4 handouts from them. Oh well, Steph and I did the same thing when we were 6.

Oh by the way, Steph made the news. While on her "shift" she was interviewed by KIRO TV. It was the iWitness grouop off the website. When we got home we found the clip. Here is the link:

http://www.kirotv.com/video/13776233/index.html

If that doesnt work, go to iWitness Video then click on the "Excited Spectators Light Up Torchlight Parade" link. They only used a few seconds of a longer interview.

Thats all for now. Happy Torchlight!

Mobile torchlight parade post 1

We successfully scoped out our spot at 8:30am at the corner of 4th and
wall. Steph did first shift from 12 to 3. Nana J and nana C took
second shift from 3 to 5. All of us arrived at 5pm with dinner and
ready for the show. Biggest thing we have seen so far is a marriage
proposal in front of the pirates. We think she said yes, but she got
taken away on the ship :-)

More later.....

Sent from my iPhone

Where have we been?

Hard to believe that it has been 3 weeks since our last post. Unfortunately we have been going going going, and go figure...no time. Here is a recap of whats been keeping us on our toes:

- Over the 4th of July we were lucky to have Jeff, Amy, Ben and Lauren in town. It was great to see them and hang out. One night while the grandparents watched the kids, Jeff, Amy, Steph and I headed out to Matador in the junction.

- The next weekend Steph and I had a great opportunity to attend the PAO Coach's Time Out conference in Redmond. We almost didnt get there as the SS Jensen (aka our Suburban) started having some transmission issues. We had to turn around on Mercer Island and get our other car. We finally made it out to the conference, and really enjoyed the weekend. The conference is very motivational and helps put a lot of things in perspective...both in life, as well as in coaching. We will definately try to make this an annual event.

- During this same weekend, after a week on the market, I broke down and got the iPhone...


Everyone that knows me, knows that I love gadgets and this is the ultimate Gadget. Before the iPhone I was a blackberry guy....I liked that a lot, but as Steph woudl say, I was pretty much addicted to my email. This phone isnt a "Push email" device, so it has curbed my addition a bit :-) It is pretty darn cool!!!

- Last week we were lucky to have Ryan, Stacey and Haas in town. They flew up for Haas' first Seattle visit...and Ryan and I went to Wentachee with 6 other guys for a Guy Golfing Weekend. We played Desert Canyon on Friday afternoon, then Highlander on Saturday morning, followed by Bear Mountain Ranch Saturday afternoon. The final round was at Leavenworth on Sunday before heading home. Of course we had quality "guy time" on both Friday and Saturday night. The topper was walking through the Taco Bell drive through at 1am. Thats about all I can share :-)

So, that is what has been going on. Coming up, Maddie is in swimming class next week. After that, Maddie has VBS the following week. This year Steph is going to be the "Craft Leader" and she is excited about that...so is Maddie!

4th of July Recap

"Wow...That's all I can say about that is Wow!"



Our day started out early, with a 7:30am wake up call. After getting our stuff together, we headed down to Krispy Kreme for Red/White/Blue sprinkled donuts. From there we headed to the Doerrs to decorate our scooter/bikes for the annual Admiral 4th of July Kids parade. Our "vehicles" were decorated with ribbon, cords, etc. Thanks to the moms for all the great decorations. The parade was bigger and better than ever. Rumor had it that there were over 800 kids there with their bikes. As you can see from the picture below, that might be about right.



After the parade, we walked "all the way" back to the Doerr's house (it is like 200 yards from the end of the parade) for Popsicles, pool time and lunch. We played a little hoops and just hung out. The weather was awesome...sunny and over 80 degrees.




After lunch we headed home to prepare for the 2nd part of our day. The kids went down for a nap while we made brownies and some secret baked beans. We headed over to Nana and Papa J's house for a BBQ. All the great grandparents were there as well. It was quite the feast with Red/White/Blue Jello, chips, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, etc. The kids had a great time playing as well....almost too good of a time :-) But it was great to get them together...they really enjoy their time.



After things settled down at 9:15, we thought about going home, but then Maddie asked about watching fireworks...So, we made our last stop at the Landskov's 4th of July bash. We got there just in time for the impromptu fireworks show. Technically fireworks are illegal in the city, but from the sound of things on 49th street, that must not be the case. It was great to see everyone there and the kids loved their 4th of July Finale!

Thanks to the Doerrs, Mom and Dad and the Landskov's for hosting all the festivities!!!

BUSY Summer....

Wow....It has been a long time. Since the first week in June it has been..ummm...CRAZY! Between business trips, end of school year parties, vacations, etc. there has been almost no time to sit down and post some updates. Not sure I can really do all the event justice, so here are few highlights:

- In early June, I had two business trips...One to KC and the other to Phoenix. With the visit to Phoenix, I was able to see cousin Ethan and played a round of golf.

- Maddie officially graduated from Kindergarten and is moving on to 1st grade. She passed all her classes with high marks. She will be in Mrs. Gruenhagen's class at Hope next year...The same teacher that Steph and I had...

- The day after graduation we went on a visit to San Jose to see Baby Haas. We had a great time hanging out with the new parents and the new addition to the extended family. Mom and Dad Perry are adjusting great.

- The day we got back from San Jose, Maddie wrapped up the T-ball season. We finished 0-0-12 :-) The kids were great and I really enjoyed coaching them. We will see what next year brings. Maddie might move on to Softball with other girls....we'll see.

- We spend the last weekend in June on a Family camping trip. The Doerrs, McAllisters, Meyers and Jensens headed up to Denny Creek for a fun filled camping weekend. Friday was tough with a big rain storm that forced us under the tarp, but the weather cleared for Saturday and Sunday.

- Finally, this week, Jeff, Amy, Ben and Lauren are in town from Long Beach for a the 4th of July Holiday. They leave on Friday, so we have a few days for some quality Cousin time. Today we made the traditional visit to Spuds, followed by a quick stop at Whale Tail park, then off to Husky Deli for some Ice Cream.


So, that is the long/short of it. We will try to keep up on the blogs more often. Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Amy update

Good news? Bad news? Sometimes in the cancer business, it's hard to know.

What's for certain is that the circumstances surrounding Big MRI 2 (the sequel to last month's mostly positive/slightly ambiguous brain X-ray) were nothing short of frustrating. On Tuesday morning, around 3 AM, Amy woke up with a partial seizure—the same kind of seizure that she had throughout February following the surgery, the same kind of seizure that she hasn't had in over three months. If you recall, these unsettling tremors last about one minute and involve lots of muscle spasms in the face, much drooling, and slurred speech for several minutes after they pass. To have one now, after three months of not having any, left us both rather dismayed. What happened? What could be causing this? A question for our doctor. And fortunately for us, we were seeing our neurologist later in the day. Seizures are unwanted visitors, but at least this one had good timing.

The MRI later that morning was uneventful. Aftesaw our neurologist, who explained that this new seizure was pretty much nothing to worry about. What could have caused it? Most likely, he said, something happened that diluted the potency of Amy's anti-seizure medication, a drug called Keppra, which she takes every day. What could have impacted the drug? A change in diet—and as it turns out, Amy hadn't had much to eat or drink that day. But stress can do the trick, too, and the doctor suggested that Amy's recent struggles with mild depression could have produced the kind of anxiety that could have undermined Keppra's effectiveness. Finally, our doctor pointed out that Amy has always been on a rather low dosage, so he advised her to take some more.

That was yesterday. Today, we again trekked up to Los Angeles—a 30 plus mile drive each way, an hour up and an hour back—to meet with our neurosurgeon to discuss the results of the MRI. When we got there, we learned that… we didn't have an appointment! Apparently, the scheduler screwed up. She never inputted our appointment in the computer. Oh, well. It happens. But the appointment most definitely wasn't: our doctor was in surgery. We had come all that way for this big news, only to learn that our newscaster was in the field on assignment. We were pretty irked. And all we could do was trek back home and wait on the good doctor to call.

Which he did. The big news: No news. As it turns out, Big MRI 2 looks EXACTLY like Big MRI 1—a healthy looking brain, no new tumor growth, but an small ring-shaped spot on the perimeter of where they removed Amy's original cancer mass. This ring-shaped spot—exact same location, exact same size. Now, based on what we were told last month, we were expecting that spot to be gone, or at least smaller; our doctor suspected the spot to merely be the result of inflammation caused by radiation. Now, there are three theories:

1.    We're stilll looking at radiation damage—which is fine. No worries.
2.    We're looking at a pool of contrast—the dye used to take the MRI photo. Fine. No worries.
3.    We're looking at one weirdly shaped tumor. Worrisome.

Our doctor was "very pleased" with this MRI. In his book, as long as that ring doesn't grow, Amy is "healthy." Moreover, as long as that ring stays exactly the size and shape that it is at present, then Amy will live a very long life. Still, this wasn't the news we wanted to hear today. We wanted to enter this new phase of Life With Cancer with a clean picture. The ambiguity of Amy's condition is challenging enough as it is. To have this ring—well, it's like someone decided to underline the "ambiguity" part of this whole business, like, 50 times, just in case we had missed the point--which we hadn't, by the way. And so it goes that Amy will have another MRI next month. It would be cool if you guys would ask the big guy upstairs if he could use his magic eraser and wipe that spot out of Amy's head. And if He could buck up our spirits, and teach us how to live graciously, thankfully, and wisely in this protracted state of Not Knowing, well, that would be even better.

And so, life goes on. Lauren is sitting next to me, flipping through baby photo albums and recounting today's episode of "Dora The Explorer." Ben is building a spaceship with his Legos and fighting the Clone Wars. Amy just left to go see a movie with some friends.

Could life be a lot worse ? Hell yes.

But right now, I wish it was just a little better.

We are thankful for your love and support. All of you are truly blessings from God. Thank you—for taking care of us, and for listening.

Much love,

Jeff, Amy, Ben and Lauren


--------------------
Sent via blackberry

Continued prayers for Amy

As I finished my last post, this just came to my blackberry. I'll let you know if they toss me in jail for using my electronic device while the doors were closed......shhh, don't tell.


------

Dear friends and family,

We hope this finds letter finds you all well.

In the time since our last update--in which we joyfully informed you that Amy has responded well to treatment and that an MRI showed there has been no new tumor growth—we have been coming to grips with the fact that life with cancer is more complicated than we first thought. Naively, we kinda assumed that once we reached the MRI and got a thumb's up from the doctors, The Jensens of Lakewood, California would be allowed to return to "the way things used to be." But that has turned out to be a case of wishful thinking.

First of all, Amy has begun her year of monthly chemo treatments. For five consecutive days every month, she takes a pill that's not quite double the dosage of what she was taking when she was on the daily regimen of chemo after her surgery. This new treatment leaves her totally wiped out. By the third day, she startreally worn down. And after the last day of pill popping, she needs 2-3 days to recover. I'm helping out by working from home during these treatment windows. Please keep Amy in her prayers; the physical ordeal of her experience is not yet over.

And then, there is the emotional aspect of her experience. Over the past two weeks, Amy has struggled with emotional weariness and something that someone like me might imprecisely call depression. The old, ordinary things feel daunting, even getting ready for bed, which ironic, considering that her overwhelming desire right now is to just lay down and sleep. Amy also finds herself thinking about her mortality and worrying about new tumors growing in her brain. The nature of her cancer is such that the only guarantee of never getting a brain tumor again is… never getting another brain tumor. We know the cancer cells are in her head. They may be irreparably "injured," or they may be only stunned—there's just no way of knowing for certain unless they start doing something. Something bad. And so, what Amy has realized is that she's stuck in a state of scary ambiguity—like living life waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The good news is that our family is doing well amid this trial, and overall, Amy's will and sense of humor remain strong. She's getting the help she needs and has the support of her friends and family. Still, we ask for a renewed round of directed prayer for her. (If you can also toss in a request for extra energy for me and extra patience for the kids, that would be awesome). Specifically, we ask for God's blessing on her the morning of Tuesday, June 5, when she goes in for a follow-up MRI. We hope to see a clean picture—no new tumors, no residual swelling from the radiation, no strange "blips" that leave our doctors going "Huh. I have no idea what that is." We will learn the results of this new MRI the next day, and I will post a new update at that time letting you know what we know.

We thank you all for your love and support. For our friends and family in Portland and Seattle, we look forward to seeing all of you in a few short weeks, when we make our annual summertime swing through the Pacific Northwest.

 Love to all,

Jeff, Amy, Ben and Lauren


--------------------
Sent via blackberry

On the road

Today I headed out on the road for a quick 3 day trip to KC. I am traveling with a co-worker for some customer visits. I enjoy seeing and talking with our customers, but it is hard leaving steph and the kids, even for a couple days. On top of that with a bunch of Monday meetings, I had to leave on Sunday.

I am currently sitting in the plane in denver waiting to pull away from the gate. The Seattle to Denver leg may have been the most uncomfortable flight I have ever been on. The only good thing was that I had an asile seat. Everything else was bad. I had about 1 cm....yes cm of legroom. I think I might have permanent "dents" in my knees from the seat in front of me. It was totally full....not a single empty seat, and I was in the 2nd to last row. Meanwhile my travel mate, who has been a road warrior and accumulated thousands of miles upgraded to first class.....wine, cheese, pillows. I'm not really bitter....really.

Oh well....gotta remember that they just don't give you those miles, you have to travel a ton to have them. That means more time away from steph and the kids. I'll take the knees in my face, and permanent dents for their three big smiles any day :-)

Well better go, all electronics need to be off, so I don't want my blog post messing up the communication system.

--------------------
Sent via blackberry

Husky Deli T-Ball

Team photos are in! Here is the 2007 Husky Deli T-Ball Team. We had another great game today...A solid tie against the intimidating Menashe & Sons Team :-) The weather was nothing short of awesome today for the game..Sunny and 70...at 9am!! Maddie hit 2 coach pitches, and the one from the tee went all the way to the outfield. The kids are doing great and continue to get better every game.

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, time to play catch up....It has been a long time since we blogged, so I thought I would take some time to publish some updates.

The big activity recently was the memorial day weekend. Before kids we would often venture out on a camping weekend, but now we stay home and enjoy a nice long weekend. We kicked off the weekend with Spuds (aka Fishy time) for dinner on Friday. We setup a picnic across the street in the grass and fed all the dozens of seagulls with our left overs. After dinner we walked the beach looking for "sea glass" and shiny rocks. Everything we found went into Daddy's short pockets. We finished the night out with a visit to whale tail park where the kids swang, went on slides, etc.

On Saturday we had a break from T-Ball and hung around home...worked in the yard, etc. That night we had plans with Doerrs where we went to our local "steak house" JaKs. Julia's brother had flown into town the night before so he came along as well. We had a great time like we always do, lot of laughs, good food, good times. We finished the night off with a few drinks at Taliricos. Thanks to Mom J for watching the kids :-)

After a late night on Saturday we didnt have any intention of heading to church, but when Maddie woke up she got dressed and came into our room asking if we were going...kind of hard to turn that down. After church we tried to get into Easy Street for breakfast but it was packed..45 min wait, so we headed home and Chef Mike cooked up some Egg, Bacon and Cheese breakfast sandwiches. Once the kids got a nap we headed over to the Landskovs for a summer BBQ kick off. There was quite a spread with salads, wings, beans, burgers, hot dogs...you name it. The kids loved playing in their fun filled back yard. As the night went on, we fired up a small fire, made smores and just chatted. It was a ton of fun. Special thanks to the Landskovs for a great party!!

So, after 3 busy days, you might think we would lay low on Monday...Naaa. After sleeping in we checked movie times and headed downtown to see Shrek 3. We went out on a limb and took Kenzie with us...It could have gone a lot of different ways, but Kenzie did AWESOME. The movie started and she was kind of into it..even blurted out a few "Shrek!" for the audience, and cracked a few laughs. After about 30 minutes, right on Q, she konked out for a nap. Meanwhile, Maddie loved the movie. She (and Dad) are big Shrek fans. A lot of the humor is more for the adults than the kids, but it was great. We ventured over to Cheesecake Factory for a late Lunch, and the finished the day/weekend off with an Ice Cream cone on the beach.

It was a busy, fun, weekend! A great way to kick off summer.

P.S. - Forgot to mention that we squeezed in a WebCam conference with Ryan, Stacey and Haas. So we were able to see the new guy (virtually.) Everyone is doing great!

Finally...a picture.

We finallly squeezed an a picture out of the new parents :-)

Here is the latest:

Haas Caliway Perry arrived Saturday May 19 2007 at 7:58pm weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and measuring 21"

He is healthy, hungry and happy. We are all doing fine and can't wait to introduce you soon.

- Ryan and Stacey

We have a little nephew

After nearly 24 hours of labor - our new little nephew, Haas Caliway Perry is here.  He was born at 7:58 pm 8lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long.  We haven't talked to the new mommy and daddy yet but my mom said that Stacey sounded great!  I am looking forward to a call from Stacey once the activity settles down a little bit.  We will get a picture on our blog as soon as we get one - probably morning. 

-Steph  

Perry baby watch

Just thought I would pass on the below to those of you who have so kindly
been asking about baby action! What a fun email to wake up to this morning.
I guess contractions started last night around 10 and then went to the
hospital this am around 6. So, a long night! They are going to give her
potosine sp? to try and move things along because the Dr wants to move
things along. My mom just talked to my sister and she his having labor in
her back - poor thing.

Maddie is running around telling Kenzie their cousin will be born today! We
are all excited. Please pray for a speedy delivery from here on out!

-------
Stacey is doing great. 3cm and 4min contractions.
-------

--------------------
Sent via blackberry

Lost Tooth

As you can see from the picture below, the latest news from around here is that Maddie has finally lost her first front tooth. It has been loose for a number of weeks now, but it was that bite into a chocloate chip cookie at the WS Farmers market that sealed the deal.





The other tooth is loose as well, and she is working on it all the time...When that one goes, we will post another fabulous portrait :-)

Amy--the long version

Ever since the seizure of January 24 that revealed the existence of a tumor growing inside her brain, the unfolding saga of Amy's health and continued survival has been building toward a pivotal if not final moment. May 2, 2007—The MRI. I've likened this progression to a season of really cool television building toward a shocking, cliffhanger finale. Of course, my example of choice would be Lost. The MRI would be The Hatch. May 2 would be the day we open it up. The final shot would be of Amy and I with torches and flashlights in hand, peering inside, hoping for wonder, yet girding for horror, and then… fade out until next season.

Fortunately, we won't make you wait three months for the resolution.

Were we nervous going into the appointment? No. Or at least, I didn't think so. The night before, Amy and I were treated to dinner by the staff at Entertainment Weekly at a real swanky place in Long Beach—"The Last Supper," I joked (it was hilarious, trust me!)—and we discussed our respective dread quotients and discovered they were relatively low. Maybe we were kidding ourselves. But we just felt… confident. I'd like to think we were buoyed by all of your prayers. Maybe we were in denial. It just seemed impossible to either of us that we were standing at the beginning of the end. But I also felt that whatever was waiting for us at 11:15 AM the next morning, I would be ready for it.

Boy, was I wrong! When the nurse called us into the doctor's office to discuss the results of the MRI, I stood up and felt a little wobble in my knees. It hit me like a ton of bedrock that in the next 10 minutes, I could be hearing the words, "Amy, the tumors have come back. You have one year to live. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a noon tee time at the country club."

But our amazing neurosurgeon, who to my knowledge does not play golf, did not say what I feared he would say. He said what I hoped he would say. He said, "I am very, very pleased." And then he complimented Amy's "pimped out" purse. Yes, he used the words "pimped out." It was that kind of day--an exciting, faith-affirming, prayer-answering day, and yes, totally pimped-out day. (He also quoted from a rap song by Tupac Shakur-or 2Pac, if you prefer--to characterize the way cancer cells replicate. Times, they are a-changing.)

Of course, one month from now, I could be telling you something completely different. See, there's one glitch—"the only bit of rain on an otherwise glorious parade," in the words of the hip doctor. The MRI detected a very small circle-shaped… "something," located on the periphery of where Amy's tumor was removed. He called this something "very strange." But we think this is a good kind of "very strange." He says it's unlikely that it's a tumor. Not impossible, but unlikely. More likely, he says, is that it's just swollen brain tissue caused by the radiation, which will heal over time, no worries. Just to make sure, we're going back in one month for another MRI. And even if it's still there, it probably won't require major surgery—maybe just a biopsy, maybe more radiation.

 So please, keep praying for Amy, and pray that this strange little thing is just some harmless swollen radioactive brain  tissue. And pray that the tumor cells that remain in her brain which the MRI can't see will never grow again. If the MRI can't detect them, that means they're not big enough to do any damage.

That's the full update for now. Amy remains a little tired—a side effect of the radiation that will stay with her for a couple more months. There will be one year of chemo, but she'll only have to take the pills five times a month. We feel very anchored by our family and friends. I can't imagine what it would be like to make it through all this without you. Thank you to our parents, who sacrificed time and resources to help us and come down and take care of us. Thank you to all our extended family of relatives and friends for the care packages filled with love. Thank you to my brother, Mike, for checking up on us and posting the updates on the blog. Thank you to all those who are reading this that we actually don't know personally, but have somehow heard about our story, and felt compelled to pray for us and even reach out to us in the form of payers, emails and letters filled with encouragement. Thank you to our church family and our community of friends, who have taken care of us and our kids with food, transportation, child care, fellowship and faithfulness; your love has changed our lives. Thank you to my good friend and colleague Dan Snierson and the entire staff at Entertainment Weekly for their unwavering support. And thank you to our pastor, Lou Huesmann, and my good friends Steve, Dennis and Dana, who earlier this week offered some sage spiritual counsel as Amy and I struggled with some anxiety about the news to come, especially if we found out that the news was not good. Happily, the news is good, but I'd like to hope the lessons we have learned would have been just the same. This has been a life-changing, orientation-shifting experience, one that has taught us much about trust, about community, about the everyday blessings we take for granted. Our pastor forwarded us some words of wisdom from someone who had lost a battle with cancer, and they resonate with us now: "We live and pray one day at a time.  We pray each day and say, 'Thank you God for the healing you gave me today.  Please heal me tomorrow.' [I]f we were truly spiritually sensitive, we would have prayed that way all of our lives but it took the threat of imminent death to bring us to this point." And then, he quotes an anonymous author:  "Our favorite distinction between the spiritual life and the practical life is false.  We cannot divide them.  One affects the other all the time; for we are creatures of sense and of spirit, and must live an amphibious life." I guess you could say the last few months have been lessons in swimming for us.

The story is not over. There may be trials to come. Regardless, we face the future with renewed hope and with the confidence that we are not alone.

Thank you, and much love,

Jeff, Amy, Ben and Lauren



--------------------
Sent via blackberry

BREAKING NEWS FROM AMY'S BRAIN.

We got the MRI. We saw the doctor. The doctor said, "I am very, very
pleased."

The bottom line is that Amy has responded very well to treatment. The only
hitch is that the MRI detected a very small, curiously round anomaly near
the space where her tumor used to be. There is a small chance that this is a
new tumor. But what's more likely is that this is merely swollen brain
tissue caused by radiation; the shape of this anomaly seems inconsistent
with tumor. Still, he can't rule it out, so there will be another MRI in one
month to check if it's still there.

We were sent away being told this was a happy day. This good news and
reason to be very hopeful. We feel God has really heard all those prayers
you've been praying for Amy and has responded. I have more to say about all
this, but that will come in another email. But I know you've been eagerly
anticipating this news, so wanted to get a newsflash out to you ASAP.

More soon,

and Much Love!

Jeff and Amy

--------------------
Sent via blackberry