OCT-DEC 2010

Wow, how time flies when life is busy and things are going well! Casper has continued to gain strength back and has remained in good health (knock-on-wood) despite the fact he is on a two-year, daily regimen of taking powerful immuno-suppressing drugs. It's been a very busy last couple of months for the family, but I'll go into that in a minute, first to follow up on Uncle Louis and his ride.

As we had posted in our last entry, Casper's Uncle Louis generously decided to tackle and succeed in completing an unbelievably difficult ride up Maui's Haleakala Highway, the to raise money to cover medical expenses for Casper. Uncle Louie must be quite the guy, because so many people came forward to support him and generously donate to Casper without ever meeting him/us. We continue to be mind boggled by the goodwill of others. Please be sure to check out Louis's web page to read about the ride and see pictures. We are also posting some on our page. Way to go Uncle Louis!!!

We finally set the date to make our long anticipated move to California, and decided upon November 15. The idea was this would give us time to get settled in before Christmas and Spencer could get a needed head-start on studying for the California Bar exam which takes place at the end of February (this of course, we've discovered was wishful thinking). October finally brought some good weather, which allowed us to soak in some local sights before leaving the beautiful Northwest. We even managed a long weekend trip up to Vancouver and Seattle, forgetting that we would be traveling on the days that Casper was due to take his monthly steroid dose. I think the kids have some good memories of that trip, seeing polar bears and a lumberjack show at Grouse Mountain in Canada, visiting the Seattle Children's Museum, etc., but Spencer and I returned home completely exhausted from four days of closely escaping many potential 'roid induced disasters. Handling Casper when he's on steroids is a delicate and skilled job that requires an amount of patience that I am not ordinarily accustomed or interested in possessing, and it also requires one to have lightning fast reflexes as at any moment he's likely to physically attack or strangle whomever is closest to him, the target generally being his poor little sister. And as has been mentioned before, Spencer and I have had to additionally develop an almost intuitive ability to respond to food requests almost before they are made. So yes, when we arrived home, after four days of that, we felt like we needed a holiday.

November was busy, busy, busy. I started to wrap up my business in Oregon, Casper said his goodbyes to all his friends at school, and his best friend Mae Mae. We were lucky to have an unexpected army of helpers emerge. "Yia Yia" and Auntie Lissa flew up to Oregon, and Auntie Lissa offered to drive one of the cars down with our dogs. During their stop over in San Francisco, Diablo expressed his appreciation by marking his territory on every piece of furniture in Auntie Lissa's house (Sorry again for that:0/). We were also blessed to have Marrieta in our lives who helped with everything during the move. She also has been so wonderful with Amelie and has often over this past year been single-handedly responsible for helping us maintain a sense of order and security amidst the craziness of everyday life, we will miss her dearly. Audrey, (who shaved her head earlier in the year to raise money for Leukemia research), generously agreed on short notice to come down and help us out during our first week here in California. Our moving truck broke down and was delayed almost a week and showed up Thanksgiving morning, so she graciously gave up her Thanksgiving to help watch the kids while we moved in. She will also be sorely missed by all of us as.

And then of course there was "Uncle Tas" who arrived in superhero form, in a new black "race car," thoroughly impressing his nephew. In addition to just looking so darn cool, he also came bearing a toy toilet which opens and has green slimy goo on the inside which is intended to be prodded and manipulated against the edges to make the sound of "pookies."(family name for farts). If the race car wasn't enough to make Tas seem like a superhero to Casper, the "Pookie toilet" definitely did it. In fact, that toilet was a hit throughout the household, and even last night (a month later) as I sat watching a film with Spencer, I had it in my grasp, and peripherally enjoyed the sounds emanating from it as I watched the TV screen. The TV incidentally, along with all other electronic equipment was installed by Uncle Andy, who was also present during the big move-in. Uncle Andy, the silent magician, who stealthily creeps around fixing, building, installing, doing 100 jobs without anyone really knowing, we are additionally truly grateful for his unique skills and constantly under-appreciated generosity.

Gosh, this sounds like an Oscar speech, but it really was quite the production getting here to Ojai. So about two days after we arrived, we took Casper to Santa Barbara for his first treatment at Cottage Hospital. In addition to monthly visits for intravenous chemotherapy, every three months he is scheduled to be sedated and have methatrexate administered intrathecally. The staff was so good with him, that after he woke up from the sedation, Casper didn't think he'd had anything done to him. It was only later that night while he was in the tub when his hand discovered the band-aid on his back, that he looked up at us with a puzzled face!

Both the children are now officially in "school." Casper is attending an adorable pre-school called Monica Ros which is located up in the Oak groves at the base of the mountains. Amelie is not quite as fortunate yet, Monica Ros only accepts 3 year-olds and up, so as seems to be the trend right now, she's getting the short end of the stick and attending Noah's Ark pre-school which is located at the back of the Methodist church across the street from the grocery store and pharmacy. Despite it's less pristine location, both kids seem to be lucky enough have lovely teachers, and are adjusting well. Amelie is turning into a very sweet and spunky toddler. She loves to dance, and has taken a special liking to monkey's, so she carries a little Curious George doll wherever she goes. Casper's school just put on a Christmas performance on Friday which was so amusing and poignant, I found myself laughing and crying through it. Santa showed up at the end, and asked the children if they had been good. One little voice rose up projecting above the rest and the room got silent. The voice said, "Hey, I was being nice [this year]...but...I was being mean to Amelie at home," and the whole audience broke into laughter.

So that's about it, I don't even know if anyone really checks this page any more since the recent updates have been few and far between. I suppose this is also thankfully because at this point things are going well, and we just continue to hope/pray that the New Year brings continued good health. We appreciate everyone who has been interested in Casper's journey. We love comments too, it helps me think I'm not just writing into a personal diary:0). Happy Holidays everyone, and we'll be in touch in the new year!!!