Merry Christmas!!

Hello from Branson!

Sharing a few pics off the phone :) Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just want to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We are headed off to the cabin in Branson for a weekend of relaxing, shopping and eating! I love their old time Christmas! Really gets you in the spirit of Christmas!
Eat lots, love lots!
Kasey

Future Anchorman?

Possibly!

Halloween Fun

Just our usual Halloween fun! Even Howie and Maggie, our cats, got into it this year lol! Ok, so maybe they were not EXACTLY into it hahaha, but they looked cute!

Happy Halloween!

Have you seen the clip of Michael Jackson ghost?? SPOOOOOKY!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqrFuPT56gg

NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE!!!

Those four words are what every cancer survivor LOVES to hear!!!!! Every report was NED!! Praise God!
We do not have to come back for 6 months.I received my last round of immunizations and my flu shot---6 shots total. I am so relieved an happy!! I love MD Anderson. We are off to lunch, then off to the airport and hopefully will be back home in time to catch a bit of Larson's football practice. Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts!

Scanorama Time

The months, although they are longer in between scans, seem so much shorter. Next Sunday, we go back to Houston for my TWO year post stem cell transplant scans. Luckily, I have lots of work to keep me busy this week. I hate the week before scans. Very nerve wracking. After this visit, my scans will be every 6 months. It will be nice to have a longer interval without thinking about them.
Please keep us in your prayers next week! Thanks!! :)
Kasey

Beautiful Rainbow!

I hope all of you in Coffeyville got to see this BEAUTIFUL, big, double rainbow tonight!

~OPENING NIGHT!~

Tonight is opening night for The Jungle Book!! Larson is playing Mowgli, the main little boy, and Raisa is playing Akela (a wolf) and a vulture.
The cast and crew have worked so hard this past month on this!
BREAK A LEG, everyone!!

Best wedding procession--EVER!

OMG--I just LOVE this hahahahaha!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Swim Meet

I finally brought my camera to the meet tonight to snap a few of Raisa and Larson in action!





And, I chose the first image in this post to use for Larson's Hot Shot. I do a 10x20 for him in every sport and have them on his wall in his room.

A letter to the editor.....

(Ok, I admit, I rarely read all the forwards I get in my email, but this one caught my eye and the meaning is so great, I thought I would post it here. Thanks, Sarah, for passing this along!)

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back.

Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall.


When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.

The complaint:
'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base:
Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely
9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately
500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we
need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special?
Any response would be appreciated.


The response:
Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four- ship fly by of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadronat Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt.Jeremy Fresques.
Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at
Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.

At 9 a. m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend.
Based on the letter writer's recount of the fly by, and because of
the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt.Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured..

A four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.

The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you....Jesus Christ and the American Soldier.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. USAF

Larson as Curious George!

Mr. Sportsman

He keeps us busy!

Look who's driving....

And, he's a darn good driver (well, usually, lol, that's another story!
He wasn't the only one driving today though......I took Raisa out for her first driving lesson! My little girl behind the wheel now! When we were done, I asked her what she thought and all she had to say was it made her feel powerful.....mmmmm alright lol
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Where am I???

And what day is it?? Those are two questions I have had to ask alot lately lol. We left for our Houston trip and were gone Sunday-Wednesday, had Britt's graduation Thursday, left for Branson on Friday, came back from Branson on Monday, went to Kansas City Wednesday, came back Thursday. I keep losing track of what day it is.

Houston scans were AWESOME (as stated earlier)! I even got a hug from my doctor! We got the Circulating Tumor Cells test back (the one that measures cancer cell in the blood) and they were at ZERO, again! YA!

Branson was ehhhh, so-so. Nice to get away. We stayed at the Grand Country Inn and LOVED the indoor water park. I swear, we were all running around like a bunch of kids haha! Kevin banged up his elbow on the water slide, but we had loads of fun there. Larson ended up pretty sick one day and then Kevin got it, so we didn't do a few things we were hoping to, but, we will go back.

The kids have lots to do this summer. They have swim practice (with meets every Wednesday), baseball (with games on Tuesday and Thursday), volleyball camp, basketball camp, theatre camp, totus tuus, etc. Not to mention, eye doctor visits and dentist visits. WHEW! I don't think we can squeeze anything else in our schedule! Yep, they will stay busy!

Tomorrow we have the funeral for Kevin's uncle. He will be missed.
I still have some photos I have been meaning to post on here. Hopefully I can find some time soon!
Until next time!
~Kasey

Scan results.....

Every scan....ALL CLEAR!!!!!!!
We are at the Airport now waiting for our flight home. We are ready to come home!
Thanks for all they prayers!
Kasey

Recuperating after Raisa's party

We had the best 13th birthday party for Raisa last night! We sent her and 6 of her friends on a photo scavanger hunt around town! It was so fun. We split the group in 2 (I had 4 girls and Kevin took 3). Each team had their own digital camera and had a list of about 20 different photos they needed to get.
They needed photos of their team at a welcome to coffeyville sign, with a firefighter, with a headstone of the last name of "Smith", at a laundromat, in a shopping cart, with a Disney movie (and what was weird, is both teams took photos with the same movie, but one team found it at blockbuster and the other team at Walmart!), working behind a cash register, waving to traffic, with a stanger in front of Walmart and behind bars (which was fun to see them use their imagination on this one! My team choose to have it taken behind "bars" as in Ceasars and the other team took it behind metal bars.), just to name some. They also needed to collect a few "items" like an empty bucket of chicken box from KFC, a business card from a hotel, a takeout menu from a restraunt and other things.
It was so funny. The other team went to KFC before we did, and they told them to give our team a hard time about the bucket lol, and so they did! We wasted like 10 minutes there haha!
We all met at Pizza Hut at 6:30 for pizza and cake. I took their cards from their cameras to Walmart and had 7 copies of each of the photos taken and am putting them in a little 4x6 photo book for them to keep. I have one teams photo on the top and the other team on the bottom of the same shots so they can see what each team did for each shot. It was hilarious listening to them talk about where they went for their shots when they finally met back up. I would not let either team text or call anyone on the other team so we had no idea where they were at.
I think they were all just the perfect age to do this.
Then, today, I took them all to the mall. We just got back and I think everyone is BEAT.

So, I am going to go rest up as we are heading to Houston tomorrow. Just routine scans. We will be back on Wednesday evening. I will be updating my twitter (which also updates my facebook). Then, Thursday is graduation and Friday we are heading to Branson for the weekend. I could use a vacation HAHA!

Take care,
Kasey

The Gray's

Hey my prayer comrades......

A fellow parishoner of ours, Joe Gray, has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Here is his blog to follow along on his journey (a journey we never wanted to take, but nonetheless are on.)

Prayers to you Joe and Vicki!!

http://www.thisjourneyispavedwithprayers.blogspot.com/

Testing mobile posting

Ok, ignore the photo haha! Just trying something out!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Prayers for Brent Blagg and family

We found out this morning that Brent's wife, Amy, and their son, Kyler, were killed in a car wreck last night west of Wann. Their young daughter, Tara, is still in the hospital. Brent was Kevin's boss when they were at Dixon. Every year, we would have a Christmas party at their house. Amy was the sweetest person and Kyler was such a good kid. Tara loved playing upstairs with Raisa. Prayers to Brent and the whole family and prayers for Tara for a quick, full recovery.
This just saddens me so. Life is so unpredictable. Scary how fast it can change.

Happy Star Wars Day!

May the Fourth be with you.


Bwwwwaaaaaahhhh!! Who knew!

Hello!

I haven't forgot about the photos from our trip to California haha! They are still on the card in the camera. I just haven't even had time to download them yet. Hopefully in the next week or two I will have some time! Just a busy time of year as school unwinds. What am I saying, then it get even busier lol!

Happy Easter!

Ummm, I think we will just stay in California :)

What wacky weather I am hearing about there in Kansas! It is sunny and beautiful here! I don't want to come home to SNOW tomorrow uhhhhhggggg!

We have had alot of fun this week. We went to the Ronald Reagan Library and got to "board" air force one. They also have Marine 1 (the presidental helicopter) there. We went to Griffith Observatory in L.A. and also the Getty Museum. I think it was more like a field trip for Larson haha! He had fun and learned quite I bit, I think :). Raisa got to do her "shopping". All she bought was summer clothes, so luckily she is able to wear them before we head back to the snow.

Here's hoping all the snow stops so our flight is not delayed and Kevin can get to Tulsa safely to pick us up!
~Kasey

California!

Monday I am taking Raisa and Larson to California to see my parents! Poor Kevin is staying home this trip and will miss all the fun. But, at least he will take us to the airport and pick us up so I won't have to pay the parking fee lol!
Anyhoo....I will be gone all next week having some fun in the California sun!
Larson is excited because we are going to go to the Ronald Reagan Library where they have Air Force I (the presidental airplane) parked. He will get to go on a tour of it. He is also excited about going to Griffith Observatory. We took Raisa there when she was around 4 and she loved it. Raisa is just excited about going shopping haha! She has been saving her money for that.
I will post some photos when we get back!
Have a great spring break!
~Kasey

Must be Spring Break time!

Check out our forecast for Tuesday LOL! So, do you think we have a chance for rain?













Good thing I will be out of town haha! Hope ya all stay DRY haha!

♣Happy St. Patrick's Day♣

My Kiddos!

Finally got them into the studio for some photos!

Great News!

While planning our next trip to Houston, I found out they changed my scans to every 4 months now! YAAAA! So, we won't have to be back until the end of May/First part of June. Then, the next one after that will be my 2 YEAR appointment!
That made my WEEK! :)

Taxes, Taxes

I think my head is going to explode!! LOL. After today, they will be done!
Tomorrow I am heading to Branson for a *FUN* photographers only weekend at Big Cedar Lodge (I have 2 big buckets of Margaritas made yeehaa!) Better get to packing!
Have a great day!!!
~Kasey

Happy Valentine's Day!

Couldn't resist wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!
My sweetie is taking me to a Valentine dinner and dance at the DoubleTree at Warren Place in Tulsa for the night :). We finally get to go out of town, just the 2 of us, just for FUN!
Off to get ready for a basketball shoot..........
Have a GREAT Valentine's and remember, it's OK to eat chocolate (even if you are on a diet)!!!!!

BRIAN REGAN!

OMGosh, what a hilarious show that was in Tulsa last night! If you are not fimilar with Brian Regan, just go to YOUTUBE and search for his name. Many of his skits show up. Some of the most funny are the ironing board, ups, doctor, pop tarts, food labels and emergency room. They're all so funny! His expressions just crack me up! We ended up on the front row last night. We took Raisa and Larson with us. Larson was just cracking me up laughing. Great show!
I am off of work on this nice Saturday, so I am off to Joplin to do some shopping!
Have a great day!
~Kasey

Last report...

We were waiting on the CTC (circulating tumor cell) test and got it today! It was ZERO!!!!!!!! YA!
:)

Scan results!

WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!

All GREAT news! All clear scans--bone scan, ct scan, mri, xray--I had the whole workup! Tumor markers are at an all time LOW of 42 :)! The biopsy of the thyroid came back NEGATIVE! I had the port put in Wednesday and was able to get the new "power port" where they can do blood draws from it as well as all the injections for the scans. No more getting poked in the arms or feet. When they were trying to find a good vein to start the iv for the surgery, they were looking to put it in my neck. Ummm, no thanks. Thank God for the port now!
So, we don't have to go back for 3 months! YAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you all SOOOOOOOOOO much for all the prayers! God is so good!
~Kasey

Back to Houston

Well, it is time for my 1 year 3 month scans! We fly out tomorrow and will be back Thursday. I will post as soon as we get back!
~Kasey

10 things....

You may not know about ME!

1. I love lifetime original movies
2. I am a published scrapbooker (in several well known books and magazines)
3. I admit it, I am an Elton John fan (I have been to 3 of his concerts)
4. I prefer Pepsi over Coke
5. I refuse to go barefoot
6. I can still do a backbend
7. I *LOVE* QuikTrip!
8. I could stay in blockbuster all day--just because it smells good lol!
9. I was on the first FKHS girls swim relay to go to state
10. I was born in N. Hollywood, California

Basketball

I can't believe basketball is almost over! Larson had such a fun time playing. This was his first year doing it and like other sports, he really put his heart and soul into it. He won some, he lost some, but had fun every game!

Kindle, Kindle

I *puffy heart* LOVE my Kindle!

Happy New Year!

I am glad to be starting a fresh, new year.
We head back to Houston around the last week in January (the 24th). I have my 1 year, 3 month scans. I will also go into surgery and have a port placed. My doctor finally agreed. I am just getting tired of them trying to access a vein with no success here at crmc.

But after all that "fun" is over, I am going to get some "me" time with a bunch of area photographers for a fun filled weekend of shooting, playing and sharing at Big Cedar in Branson in February. I am really looking foreward to that. We have several of their cabins reserved. I have never stayed at Big Cedar before, but I hear it is beautiful!

In February, Kevin, the kids and I are going to see Brian Regan in concert. He has got to be the most hilarious comedian of all time!
You can check him out here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8t-2VkVhTc

Then, in March for Spring break, I am taking the kids to California to visit with my family. We have several things planned to do there, like go the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

So, lots to look foreward to in 2009!
I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe new year!
~Kasey