Last Night

Yesterday was a crazy day for Steve. He went in to work in the morning so that he could wrap up a few things since he won't be back until next year. He returned home just in time to start swallowing some pills that make sure you have nothing inside your intestinal tract when you go in for surgery. By evening he had a whole lot of compassion for any baby that is suffering from a raw bottom. I don't think he will mind too much not having to use that particular part of his anatomy for a while.

At seven o'clock our Bishop stopped by with a couple of Steve's friends and gave Steve a priesthood blessing. We then spent the rest of the night with our children. Steve had wrapped a small surprise for each of our kids and we had placed them under the kids Christmas tree in the basement. After they had opened their gifts, Steve showed them an ostomy bag and explained how it works so that they wouldn't be surprised and could understand what is happening with their dad. We have tried to include the kids from the start in anyway we can. We want them to know that it is ok to ask questions and that they play a part in Steve's fight against cancer. After grossing out Nathan, our oldest who doesn't like anything medical, we moved on to Steve's haircut. Steve had wanted to get a haircut before going into surgery, but he couldn't find the time to pull it off. We have had something going on every night this past week. It has been all Steve can do to fit his work hours in and get home in time for the kids activities. Anyway, Steve still wanted that haircut and decided that he would let the kids cut it for him. We set him up on a stool with a sheet under it and the kids went to town with the buzzers. Mission accomplished, Steve won't have to worry at all about his hair until sometime next year. We then went back into the family room and Steve taught us how we could each make a friendship bracelet out of a string like piece of leather and a small rectangular shaped piece of abalone. We ended with a family prayer and our family cheer, Families Are Forever...

Last night was the kids last chance to see Steve before surgery. We had to leave for the hospital at 5:15 am in order to be there by 6. It wasn't going to work for them to say goodbye in the morning, especially since Steve is not a morning person. The kids have been so good through all of this craziness. I am so proud of them. Abigail has been sleeping with a special bear that holds a pink heart for the last few weeks. She wanted it to be full of love when she sent it with Steve to the hospital, since she can't be there all the time like she would like to be. Steve's gift to her was a small pink locks of love bear. The cool thing is the bear's assigned name is Abigail. We are hoping her new friend will help while she is missing her dad. It is even more meaningful to her cause she is currently growing her hair out so she can donate it to locks of love. Rachel managed to sneak in a quick hug just before we left this morning. She had a choir rehearsal early this morning and had to be up early to get to that anyway.

Hey the cell phone just rang with an update on the surgery. Steve is doing great so far. They just removed his rectum and are now moving on to putting him back together. They anticipate being done with the surgery in about 2 hours.

Thanks everyone for all your love, support, and prayers. It means so much to our family during this time. I'm going to go now and get some food in me while I can. The surgeon will come out and tell me how it went when it is all over. I'll update you when I find out more.