Day +352: Happy Easter!

Logging in from Lake Stevens to say what a wonderful time we are having on our trip so far. We got to the airport OK Thursday, but not without some adventure. Mina had been having diahhrea all week, and Thursday morning began to develop a red rash on her back and upper arms. It didn't look too serious, but we thought we'd better call anyway. The doctors wanted to see her, of course, but by this time it was nearly noon and our flight was leaving at 2:00 PM. Dr. Sharma asked me whether we could get on a later flight, but I told her I could be at the clinic in ten minutes. She's new to the service and doesn't know we live just down the hill so she seemed kind of shocked, but finally she said it might take her a little longer than that to get there from the floor. So we ended up having the taxi wait outside for about 15 minutes while Mina and I ran in. Dr. Sharma said the bumps look like bug bites, and in any event not like GVHD, so no worries there. And we ended up getting to the airport in plenty of time.

Grandma Lyn picked us up. Mina gets this mischievious sort of look when she's really pleased with herself, and that was the look she got when she saw Grandma. It was very cute. Since then we've mostly been visiting with Keri's family. Keri's mother has eight brothers and sisters, and they've all been praying for Mina Brigitta all this time. They are a really neat and supportive family. Brent also has all of his family in Lake Stevens, and they've sort of adopted us. I remember how thrilled they all were when they first met Mina Brigitta. I felt like I was the father of a rock star even then. This weekend Mina Brigitta had a crowd around her almost everywhere she went. It's really overwhelming and gratifying how much we've been supported. The people here are the reason Teri could come and help take care of us, because there was no shortage of volunteers to help care for Nicholas and Kennedy for a few days. This trip is for them as much as it is for us, to say "Thank you!" and "Look at how far you've helped us come!"

Mina is handling the attention pretty well. She's kind of a shy kid, and she was a bit out of place here the first couple of days. Friday I was trying to put her down for her nap, and she wanted me to rock her to sleep, as she sometimes does. Teri and Brent don't have a rocking chair, so Mina was crying and moaning and saying she wanted to go home. We finally found a swivel chair that was acceptable and got her down. It wasn't long after she woke up that she was saying how much she likes it here and she doesn't want to go home. By Saturday night was running around giggling, and tonight she wanted to go to sleep in the "yittle bed" instead of in the chair.

Isaac is often the center of attention too, as the littlest one around. He's a bit more at home in the spotlight, but he's going through a bit of a shy phase these days, especially when he's tired. He has truly fallen in love with Auntie Teri. He now prefers her to both Keri and me, so she's had to hold him a lot all weekend. She doesn't seem to mind, not even when she's trying to get the house ready for an Easter party for 50 people. It's funny though: he's not saying "Auntie" or even "Aunta". He calls her either "Gamma" or "Amba"! When he's not in Teri's arms, he's mostly running around the house investigating something or other. I think just about the only time he's sat still has been when he's been allowed to sit in the car and "drive", which he's been doing quite a bit of.

We have a busy busy week planned. Keri is taking the kids up to Guemas Island to see Zeedie and Russell tomorrow. It sounds absolutely wonderful, but unfortunately I have to work so I'll be staying here. Tuesday we're going shopping in Seattle, Wednesday is Mina's birthday so we'll be having a small party either here or at the Children's Museum, Thursday we're going to Olympia to see my old work colleagues. That leaves Friday unplanned, and Saturday we're flying home. This trip is so necessary in so many ways, but I have a feeling we'll all be glad to get back home Saturday.

We did get some good medical news right before we left: the results of the latest donor engraftment study came back, and she's still at 100%! I don't know why we'd been so worried; I suppose probably because the stomach bug had set her back a bit. It's nice to be able to relax a bit now. I usually give myself about two weeks before I figure the test is outdated again.