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.

Saturday, Gabrielle told me that her throat was sore. I told her that if it was still sore we could check it out at the beginning of the week.

Sunday, she had a fever - not real high. It was the primary program and Gabrielle was one of the narrators. She didn't do to church.

Monday, her fever hit 102.6 and she looked awful! I took her to the doctor and he confirmed that it was swine flu. Apparently, 90% of all the tests that come back are swine. Of course, because of all the media hype, Gabrielle lost it. She was so upset.

Tuesday, her fever was down a bit - 99.6. Noah, now was sick with a fever.

Wednesday, Noah's fever is 102 and Gabrielle's is gone. Noah got out of the shower and he was shivering. He said to me, "My teeth are like a woodpecker."

My whole family was going to come in for the weekend for a party. I ended up postponing it until May - we want to do an outdoor family picture.

It stinks! Hopefully, we will all be well soon.

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.

My friend at work attended a funeral of a baby last week. Her best friend had a baby three months early. They were able to be with him for one week.

I saw the funeral program and asked her about it. She started telling me of her friend's situation and started to cry. It was so interesting to see how just one little tiny life can effect so many people.

This woman's baby died whilst at Primary Children's Hospital. They didn't have nearly the good experience Rob and I did at LDS Hospital. They were able to get his foot and hand prints, but I don't believe they got an itty sculpture of their baby's hand and foot like we did.

This year, we didn't even celebrate Kayli's birthday. It was not a conscience choice. Rob was still in the hospital on January 29, having problems with his pain management and chest tubes. We were just so focused on him to get better and out of the hospital, we all but forgot her birthday.

Kayli really had a positive effect on my life. Rob has made a huge impact on my life; as well as the lives of many people, including our children. People have said to me, "When is it going to stop?" "You guys have had so many things happen to you."

I respond, "Why not? What makes us special that we don't have to experience the crappy times with the good?"

I really don't know what my point is, other than:

• I got to re-live some of my emotions of Kayli while AT WORK,
• I am thinking a lot about Rob and his contribution to my life as well as those around us (NO, I am not focusing on him dying - we all die at some point - but just how much I love and appreciate him and all he does for our family),
• I am worrying, but not trying to, about the results of his scan Monday,
• I am not feeling like a victim (who has time for that anyway?)

So, whatever. Happy day. Thanks for reading. You may wake up now. It is over.

Disclaimer before you get started: the coding on this entry is screwy - sorry for it looking lame, I am tired of messing with it, so just pretend that it looks fabulous....

I cannot believe that I was able to go to Germany with Rob. It was just such a spur-of-the-moment event!

Tuesday the 12th, I was talking to my boss about Rob going to Germany. I told her that there was no way; he was leaving on Saturday. She said, you just need to look up flights and see.

I did. It cost less to fly to Germany round trip that it did to fly to New York from Salt Lake! I went home and talked to Rob about it. We didn't make a decision that night, but in the morning we decided if the fare was still there, I would book it.

It was and I did. Interestingly enough, we looked online later that night and the ticket would have cost three times the amount had we waited!

It was a mad dash to get everything coordinated with the kids, our itinerary, etc. ready in just a few short days. We left on Saturday, May 16.

I can only tell you how wonderful the time was. It was amazing to spend time with Rob - we have only spent 2 nights away from the kids at any given time (at least to my recollection).

We flew into Frankfurt and took a train to Guettingen and from there took a cab to Duderstadt. Duderstadt is the town in which Rob's company is based. The Otto Bock is from Duderstadt and it really keeps the town (as well as surrounding areas) alive.






Frankfurt Airport (just like the sign states) - just getting off the plane

Duderstadt
Legend has it that the women of the town were tired of the men drinking and otherwise misbehaving, so they chased the devil out of the town. As he was nearing the end of the town, he went up this tower and grabbed the rafts on his way out and twisted the roof.






We stayed in Duderstat until Wednesday - from there Rob's co-workers took the train to Frankfurt to fly home. We took a slower train to Fulda - the town of my birth. Last time I was there, I was ten. Obviously, I don't really remember much. It was fun to walk around and experience it.

For a bit of trivia, in 2007, Ring*Con (Lord of the Rings convention) was held in Fulda. I just saw this last night. Funny!






The Orangerie, Fulda

Fulda Dom

Another, more simple church (St. Michael's), Fulda (in fact, this and the previous pictured church are right next to one another).

From Fulda, we hopped on a train and travelled to Wiesbaden. It is famous for their hot spring baths. If we felt the need, there were public bathing houses in town - nude, of course. We passed as we were feeling clean already.

Wiesbaden

We rented an automobile and drove up the Rhine. Let me tell you how lovely this auto was...Audi A3. You know, my Toyota is nice, but I have to say that it was fantastic driving 160 km (or more) on the autobahn - it didn't even feel like we were moving fast. At one point, we had three Lamborghini's zip (I use that term loosely) right past us. They were just a blur. Yellow, red, yellow. I wanted to take a photo for Jacob, but we couldn't get the camera out fast enough!

A view from the road - travelling up the Rhine River. Just one of the many castles lining both sides of the Rhine.

I was driving, but a lot of the pictures were taken by me (making sure that no one was behind us, Rob taking the wheel, and me slowing down). Phew!











We had a GPS in our car, so finding things was fantastic. Well. With the exception of the time the road was blocked and the GPS kept telling me to 'make a u-turn, if possible' over and over and over. I was worried we were going to be driving around in circles (we did it twice).















Another view of the Rhine River.

This is Burg Eltz - the only castle we visited. It is owned by three families all branched from the Eltz family tree. One family still has residence there.

Heidelburg
This is a great pedestrian bridge. There is another bridge further south (I think) and it is an overpass where they regulate how fast the flow of water flows downstream. Also, it is a mini Panama canal (I have no idea the correct terminology for that). Rob and I stood on the bridge for about 45 minutes watching the process. It was pretty cool. Ahhhh, modern technology!




We decided to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - this is a city I remember well from my first visit (10 years old). Mostly, I remember the Crime and Punishment Museum. This city is completely surrounded by a wall that is still standing. It was fascinating to see and walk upon this relic.

Wall section with tower (windows boarded up).

**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?