The last couple of days have really been busy, and fun for the girls. Yesterday, we had Brenns last round of Chemo for the interim-maintenance phase of her treatment, so for the last two weeks of this phase, we have to go for a blood test next week, and a remotely possible blood transfusion, then another week with nothing at all to do at the hospital before September 8th. Our doctor strongly encouraged us to go and do something really fun over the next couple of weeks, because they will be the last weeks that we will be able to go and do something before things start to get tough again. Luckily for us, he also gave Brenn the go ahead to go into a public pool for the first time this summer, so all Brenn wants to do is go to the water slides, and the PNE (which RMH just gave us tickets to today). We may head back up island for a couple of days again, not really sure how much time we will actually get, but time will tell.

Once we were done at clinic yesterday, we came back to RMH to retrieve Samantha, and then headed down to Granville Island to spend an incredibly relaxing day with my boss Ian, and Cora. They are such nice people to talk to, and spend some time with away from the work environment. Christine and I have really felt very supported by Ian since we found out that Brenn had Leukemia, and truly every time one of the kids is sick since I started working with Centre City Electric. We are very blessed to have such a great boss, who is motivating when he needs to be, and also your friend, and supporter when you need him to be, we are truly blessed. Ian and Cora took Brenn and Samantha birthday shopping yesterday (as it was Sams birthday today), and sent Christine and I off for some very treasured alone time. It is such a rare treat to spend any time alone together right now, that we immediately relaxed, and just talked about some of the many things that we never have a chance to talk about. After about a half an hour, we saw Ian holding Brenns hand, and Cora holding Samanthas hand as they crossed the street to where we were sitting, and it almost brought tears to Christines eyes. It was really nice to see the kids so comfortable with them in such a busy environment.

As I said, today was Samanthas birthday, and it was a typical 3 year old really busy day. We made french toast for Breakfast, and my Dad and Marion arrived while I was cooking for a couple hour stop over on their way home from Disneyland. Once they were on their way, some of the craft girls came and made cupcakes with all the kids for Sams birthday, while I snuck out of the house for some supplies. By the time I made it back from Costco, Christine and the girls had already eaten lunch. My Mom arrived shortly after I got home, and the rest of the day was dedicated to Samanthas birthday party. All the kids from the house participated, and I think I am going to need to rent a pretty big truck to drive home when this is all done. Samantha got a lot of stuff for her birthday, and was really happy with each and every gift. Everyone was very thoughtful in their gifts, but there are a lot of them.

Brenn had a really hard day emotionally though. She had a great time playing with Samantha, and was really excited about her birthday. Brenn bought Sam a little pet-pet guinea pig for her birthday, and really wanted one for herself as well. I went out last night, and bought one for Brenn as well, because sometimes Brenn gets upset when her sister gets a lot of things, and she doesn't. It turned out to be a really great idea, because, she really wasn't feeling great today, and having that to give her made her feel a little better for a while today. I feel quite bad for her when she is having these emotions. It is so hard for her to deal with a lot of the things that she has no control over, that it makes her really sad sometimes. It is really hard for us all, it breaks Christine and my hearts, and Brenn is always up and down, and it confuses Samantha, and makes her cry sometimes, because she just doesn't understand what is happening. We talked to one of our doctors the other day, and he is going to set up an appointment with a psychologist for us. We are really hoping that this will help Brenn. The last thing that I want when Brenn is all done this intensive phase of treatment is for her to be overly emotional because of some unresolved issue that she hasn't been able to talk to us about, or realize that it is happening. She is after all a 5 year old girl, with 5 year old emotions, and fears. Please continue to pray for Brenn, we really just want her to be as happy as she can through all of this, and if she is struggling like this, it really is heart wrenching.

Scott