Things coming together

Kevin's still improving. His appetite has been pretty good, though he tends to get a little indigestion if he eats a lot or too fast. His stomach shrunk during chemo, so although his appetite is pretty good (gag reflex less sensitive) he does get stomach aches pretty easy. This should improve with time. He spent the weekend with Rachel, Mike and the boys, but we spent Friday evening and Sunday afternoon all together. Friday was the school's fall fair which Kevin and Scotty enjoyed. Kevin kept up pretty well. He played all sorts of games and won the prizes he was eyeing. Sunday all of us went to the apple orchard with Kevin's cub scouts. His stomach was hurting, but he did ok. All the boys enjoyed petting the goats, especially the babies. The corn maze ended up to be quite the challenge, and Kevin wasn't really up to the 45 minutes or so that it averages to get through it......so we cut it short a little. Baby Jake is walking all over the place now. He's transitioning in from of our eyes from an infant to a toddler. Having spent so much time with him in Memphis I find myself missing Jake when I don't see him several days in a row. He really seems to enjoy being home finally. Kevin officially starts school on Wedensday. The Meap concludes on Tuesday so the Principal and Mrs. Bonkowski decided Wednesday would be the best day for him to begin his 3rd grade journey. Today he received his first tutoring session with Mrs. Stout, his teacher from last year. We want to start out with something familiar so as not to add more pressure on Kevin. He's been very lucky all three years of school, having 3 very special teachers in Mrs. Mandaville, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Stout. The best way to describe Mrs. Stout (in addition to being an excellent teacher) is a kind soul. Kevin gravitates to people like that. Kevin seems to be coming out of his "chemo fog". His writting is definitely behind, but has picked up dramatically in the past 2 or 3 weeks. He couldn't or wouldn't even attempt to write much at all at St. Jude. Hopefully with some time and hard work he'll catch up with his class mates. He's met Mrs. Bonkowski and toured the class room. We're hopefull and filled with anticipation , regarding his return to the class room. We'll start him off on half days until he feels up to extending. Kevin has also decided what he wants for his "Make a Wish". After a lot of back and forth and deep contemplation he arrived at a decision we all support. As I've written Kevin loves his aquariums. We're looking into Kevin getting another large tank to house the fish that we can't have in our current tanks. He wants larger, slightly more aggressive (possibly saltwater) fish. He has a wish list of fish that have cought his eye over the last few months, and none of them would fit into the delicate balance of our current tanks. I've always told him one day we can get another large tank and get the larger, more vibrant fish that so captivate him. He's very excited, and Rachel has started the leg work with our "Make a Wish" contacts. He's genuinely excited, therefore I'm excited. Hopefully it works out. Our first follow up visit (MRI's) is in January right after the holidays. We welcome prayers for a crystal clear MRI. It's still far enough away that I'm not too stressed, but I imagine as the time gets closer I'll be a mess. I'm still adjusting to staying in the same time zone for an entire week. I actually saw friends I haven't seen in a long time, both on Friday and Saturday this weekend. Well, I guess that's all for now.

Take Care,

Eric