Sunday, Rob, Jacob, Gabrielle, and I had the opportunity to drive to the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake to hear the "Music & the Spoken Word" broadcast as well as a mini concert.

The two guests were: Natalie Cole and David McCullough (of the book 1442 fame). After the concert (which was lovely, by the way), we were talking about it.

Jacob said, "Wait! Isn't her Dad famous?" referring to Natalie Cole.

We said, "Yes."

"Oh, yeah. There was a poem written about him. 'Old Nat Cole'..."

I had a hard time not laughing too much. It was so cute. I explained it to him better. I can see that we are not teaching our children all that we can about music. Hmmm.

Later that day at dinner, we told the kids that Rob was going to get his PET scan the next day. Jacob was funny. He said, "Oh great, another cry session at Grandma's."

Very apropos. (Only this time, it was at our home.)

Oh, in case you haven't heard: Rob's PET scan? It is kind of crappy. He has new growth on both sides (left and right lungs) and the spots that were there in September are getting bigger. We are meeting his oncologist on Thursday to see what is next. I will be updating the blog (hairlessinsaltlake.blogspot.com) either on Thursday evening or Friday morning.

When I think about it, I want to throw up. This is lame. All I can say.

On a much happier note, our Cancun trip was beyond fabulous. There are not words to describe how beautiful the ocean and sand are there. We had so much fun. It was a much-needed holiday together. If I can pull myself together, I will put together a slide show and upload it.

About a week ago, I received a phone message from the mother of Jacob's friend.

When I rang her back, I listened as she told me what had happened the day before at school:

In their PE class, the kids had to pair up in groups of four to play tennis. Parker & Cole were on a team against two other boys. Jacob was in another group.

Parker and Cole were so excited because they won the game. They were doing the requisite 'high five's' and other celebratory dancing. One boy didn't like this at all - as he was on the losing team. He called them cheaters and started punching Parker. (Just a note about the boy - he is about a foot shorter than the rest of the boys. Jacob said it is like Noah hitting him. But still.)

My awesome son, Jacob, stepped in between the melee and told the boy that he needed to cool down and knock it off. This seemed to work - for a minute.

Fast forward a few minutes...in the dressing room, the boy mouthed a string full of profanities (it would make you blush if I repeated them) and ended by asked Parker what he called his mom.

Parker and Jacob just looked at each other like "what is he talking about?" Parker said, "I didn't say anything about your mom."

Again with the profanities. This boy then proceeds to climb on top of the lockers and jumps down on Parker. Jacob said it was like this boy was trying to be like the Incredible Hulk or something.

Again, Jacob stepped between the boys and basically ushered this out-of-control boy into the corner and told him that he needed to cool down.

Of course, Jacob didn't tell me any of this. He really didn't think that it was a big deal - nothing to get excited about, and certainly not worthy enough to tell his mom.

I have had several people tell me what a great example he was that day and how appreciative they are for stepping in.

I talked to Jacob again this morning about it. He still doesn't think that it is a big deal. I asked him how many people just stood there and watched? He was the only one that did what was necessary.

**Whilst exploring the smoke-filled casinos & hotels of Las Vegas last weekend, we learned many new things.

**Never, EVER sit in a jacuzzi that has pubic hairs still in them. (Luckily, I noticed them, prior to setting one toe or even running the water in the overly-large tub!) Mostly, I wanted to vomit when I saw them. Can I just tell you what I think about hair? Let alone pubic hair? SICK! Next to being spat upon, having a hair that belongs to someone else near/on me (or especially in my food) makes me want to hurl. The older I get, the more OCD tendencies I seem to have.

**As a family, we have been watching the series 'Stargate.' It is a movie/series - the IMDB.com summary is: "An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra."

So, in the Luxor, there are a lot of hieroglyphs on the walls. Rob said to Noah, "Hey, Noah! Is that the writing that is on the Stargate?" Noah responded, "No, Dad. It is Egyptian." He couldn't believe that Rob made that mistake!

**Hoover Dam is an amazing civil engineering feat. It was so great to see such an incredible structure. I really enjoyed seeing the art deco style. I never really liked that style before, but now, I think that it has its place in my little world. In case you are wondering, no one is buried in the walls of the dam. If so, it would loose its integrity. Apparently, it will withstand an 8 point earthquake on the Richter Scale.

**Yesterday, we were talking about the millennium and how the lions will not eat lambs, peace on earth, etc.

Jacob wanted to know about us eating cows and how that would fit in with the whole peace-on-earth thing. I told him no, we will all get along. (My guess is that humans eating animals isn't really fitting that description of peace.)

He was disappointed. He said, "I was hoping that we were going to have a barbecue with Jesus!" I think that, that is a great idea. I can only imagine Jesus pulling up a seat next to our kids and eating a veggie burger. Sounds like a fantastic time to me.

**I really am tired of the blog template that I have. I found one I like, but just as I was ready to click save - I had a message that my archives will be deleted. I kind of freaked. Those of you that have been doing this for eons longer than me, do you have any advice? Is it really going to delete my archived blogs? I was thinking that I need to copy and paste my past blogs into a Word document - do I?

Tonight, while a commercial came on for the news, it showed a newborn baby that was born under two pounds. The lead in was how it is a miracle that he (the baby) is alive and [meet] the doctor that has given them hope.

I nonchalantly stated, "That is how big Kayli was. That is what she looked like." I really didn't think much of it (my mourning period tends to be in January nowadays) - it was just matter-of-fact.

Jacob stopped what he was doing and looked at me and said, "Are you OK, Mom?"

What a kind and considerate son I have been blessed with.

I think that my sweet babies are growing up! Honestly, I think that it was a thoughtful thing to say. It tells me that he cared more about my feelings than whatever else was going on.

Gabrielle came over and gave me a hug and said, "I am sorry, Mom. You can have me for a daughter." (Jacob then chuckled and said, "She already has you for a daughter!") Gabs is glad that she is able to fill that role of daughter (but she has told me on more than one occassion that she wishes she had a sister). I am glad that she is my daughter and I can 'have' her as such.

If there is only one thing that I hope for, for my children in this life, it is that they grow up to be empathatic adults. To know that I have taught my children to show love, kindness, sympathy, and empathy for another human being really is the greatest gift I could give them.

It doesn't matter what kind of "job" they end up with, but it is the way they treat others. Emotional intelligence really far outweighs just plain old intelligence. It is not what you know, but how you treat people.

As we were eating dinner last night, our family discussed where we want to go to celebrate Rob's graduation (yes. I know that it is still three years away, but, hey. We can plan ahead, right???).

It was decided (sort of) that we want to go to Fiji or Cozumel or Cancun or even a Disney cruise (thank you Travel Channel).

I made that comment that I really don't care as long as I can sit on a beach, drink margaritas (virgin, of course....), and read a book.

Jacob was incredulous that I wanted to read. "Read on vacation?" he snorted. Laughing hysterically, he said, "Reading on a vacation is just plain stupid!"

I told him, very matronly-like, "Jacob, that is what adults like to do. They read on vacation because they have no time."

Remember the days gone by when it was pure torture to actually read. Pulling teeth ring a bell?

I make my kids read for 30 minutes a day and you would think that I was the worst mom ever!