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It has been quite some time since just Lisa and I we able to get away for a few days. Since Ben is all settled in and Ally is now a cancer survivor, it was time. The criteria for this vacation was sun, beach, drinks, books and no excursions. The travel agent said that the DR was the best place and that Secrets Sanctuary would be the best all inclusive resort. Only one layover and we were in the DR by 1:30 and at Secrets by about 2:30. We have a very nice beach front villa, which is quite large. We explored the resort.  It is large but only has about 125 rooms and so it is not crowded at all and it is an adult only resort.

Today we slept in;  sleeping in is now 8:30. The breakfast was good and then we headed to the pool. We spent a good 5 hours in the pool, and it was very nice and relaxing. The best part of the day was taking a nap after the pool.  Quote of the day, “Naps are good!” More to come…….

Today would have been Brendan’s 6th birthday. Crazy to think that he would be in kindergarten now. Lisa and I took the day off like we always have for the last 5 years. We dropped the kids off at school and headed to breakfast at First Watch. After that we headed to the same florist as the last few years to pick up some tulips and 6 balloons. We always release them just like the day that we buried him. It was a nice day with bright blue skies and a stiff wind to the north. Lisa and I spent some time visiting with Brendan and then we let the balloons go and watched them. Like the last six years it always seems that one balloon breaks away and takes its own path, just one of those observations that Lisa and I have noticed. After that we headed over to Lisa’s mothers grave (which is about 30 feet away) and spent some time there.Lisa and I like to go to Annie Gun’s for a late lunch every year, and this year was no different. We have had the same waitress the last few times. Lunch was very good and Lisa and I enjoyed the time together. We always talk about how it all happened on March 1st 2005. I am amazed at how well we remember the days events. As we look back  I do not think we would have done anything different and we can always say that we were able to hold Brendan for the entire short time that he was actually with us.

Happy birthday son!
Mom and Dad love and miss you.
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We have not updated our blog or website is some time but now is a great time for an update. As many people Ally just completed two and half years of chemo. So to celebrate the end of chemo and Ally being cancer free we decided to take the family to Disney and celebrate. We had a great time and the Disney magic is amazing. Ally got to lead a princess procession at breakfast and Ben got to see McQueen. The kids loved Toy Story the ride, I think we rode it at least 6 times. We stayed and the beach club and it was great to be able to walk right into Epcot. We also were able to meet up with two sets of friends (the Salmon’s and the Schnyder’s), which was great. We also got a chance to visit Universal Studios for the day and spend some time with a good friend, Frank. Frank was able to have Ally and Ben meet allot of characters. We even got a special meeting with the cast of Seuss and they did the ‘Ally dance’ with Ally, it was fun to watch. Here are some photos and movies from the trip (click view all at the bottom left to see the larger versions and the movies).

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It seems that we have not updated the blog or our website is some time. Well we finally had some time and uploaded new pictures, enjoy. Ally has had some ups and downs since January. Her liver counts have been all over the board. She had missed several doses of chemo but we are now getting half doses which is a good thing. Ally also had a reaction to one of her meds that she had been on for over two years. This resulted in her breaking out in a rash and becoming very itchy, as Ally would say it “I itchy”. She has had to go on steroids so she has been eating none stop. We just got to cut back her doses so we hope we will be almost done with them. Ben is growing like a weed. He really loves baseball and he can throw the ball pretty well, catching is a whole other story but we are working on it. On this Wednseday Ben has to have eye surgery. Both of his eyes cross so we needed to get that corrected. I am sure Wednesday will be a long day for Ben, Lisa and I. We will keep the blog updated on how he is doing.

Happy Birthday, Brendan!  Five years ago today we welcomed Brendan into this world. We got to send an hour and half with before he passed away…..Today Lisa and I took the day off to remember him. We took the kids to school today and then headed to breakfast (we do this every year).  After breakfast we went to the flower shop and got a bunch of tulips, some pink roses and 3 blue and 2 white balloons.  We went to Brendan’s grave site and spend some time with him and placed the tulips next to his marker. It is our tradition to release balloons on his birthday. This year as in years past when the let the balloons go they all start off in a bunch and then one of the white balloons always parts from the group. Lisa and I are always amazed that this happens. It was very nice to just stand there and watch them go. After that we went to put the roses on Lisa’s mothers grave.. We spent so time with Shirley and then we headed out.It was a nice day for Lisa and I to reflect and remember what was, what could have been and what is……..