Really Busy

I justed looked at the date on my last post and it was 11 days ago. Sorry I waited so long to write again. Like everyone else, we are really busy getting ready for the holidays. Lauren is feeling well this week. Her feet are sore, but that is mainly because she has been doing a lot of Christmas shopping and walking a lot. She has been in a happy mood since being off her Xeloda until we have to go back to Michigan, which is Wednesday. We are going to see if she can be put back on 5-FU instead of Xeloda. It is the chemo she used to be on that is given over 48 hours through a pump. Lauren hated that chemo because she had to wear the pump for two days, but it was so much easier on her and is supposed to be the same as Xeloda.

Giovanni's birthday was on Dec. 8th. He was 25. I can't believe he has been dating Lauren since he was a junior in high school! I made him one of his favorite dishes last Sunday. Chicken chimichangas.Here is a picture of Gio after he blew out the candles on his birthday cake.

Lauren and I had lunch on Wed. with our friends, Lisa and Betsy. We drove to Lisa's house and then she drove to Legacy Village. We met Betsy there since she lives near Cleveland. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Facory. We had a really nice time and hadn't seen Betsy since last Feb. Both of these ladies have the same cancer as Lauren. They are both doing well. In fact, you wouldn't know they had cancer by looking at them. I don't think anyone with Cholangiocarcinoma likes to say they are in remission, because it seems like bad luck. But both of these ladies are tumor free at this time. We pray that it stays that way too! Here are a few pics of our lunch.

Lisa, Betsy, me, and Lauren

Lauren and Lisa

Lauren, Lisa, and Betsy

Lauren and I went to Giovanni's house to bake cookies on Friday. We made apricot and nut foldovers, pecan pie bars, chocolate chip, and cut outs. We were having a great time and then Lauren checked her ipad. Big mistake. that is when we heard about the school shooting and it pretty much burst our good mood. We were both so sad. It kind of made me lose my Christmas spirit. We did as much as we could that day and went back Sat. night and rolled out and baked the cut outs and the rest of the chocolate chip that we had refrigerated. Gio had a guys night out for his birthday. We cleaned up and went home. Gio and Wo frosted the cut outs this morning. Her are a few pics from our cookie baking.

Apricot foldovers.

Pecan pie bars. Lauren had to taste test the corner!

Lauren working hard on the foldovers.

The little expert baker!

Christmas will be here before we know it! I wish you all a blessed holiday season and a new year filled with good health. Until next time...
Love, -Pam