Brinley Dance Competition- Spotlight

Tonight was Brinley's third competition of this season, for Spotlight, and again they did great! 

Their jazz routine was a little sloppy today, and scored a Ruby. 

Their hip hop routine was much better, and was their category winner, and earned 1st place overall as well as a Judge's Choice award for Outstanding Choreography.         

We even ran into our friends from Salmon, Teresa and Maddy, and got to see Maddy perform a  beautiful contemporary solo!

Happy Birthday!

On Tuesday our last baby became a teenager! We got to celebrate Brinley all week- with McDonald's, Starbucks, Taco Bell, and cupcakes on her birthday, dinner at Hook and Reel followed by a super cool Starbucks themed cake and presents on Wednesday, and she got to spend Saturday afternoon at the Village with 2 of her best friends. We sure do love our little caboose and all the joy she brings to our family! 

Brinley Dance Competition- Team Dance

This weekend Brinley and I traveled over to Idaho Falls for the Team Dance competition. It was a long day, but the girls did so well! Their jazz routine scored Platinum, and won the Best Costume Award and 1st place overall. 

Their hip hop routine scored High Gold, was the category winner, and placed 2nd overall. 

We even ran into our dear friends Meghan and Lily Sainsbury while we were there, and got to catch up and see Lily dance. Gabrielle and Della also came down for the afternoon, and we loved hanging out with them!

Cahl Work Trip

Cahl had another work trip, this time for a training in Santa Nella California. The first night, they went over to Santa Cruz to enjoy the ocean. 

He also enjoyed going out and looking at one of their jobsites, and seeing a huge herd of Tule Elk. 

They also had dinner at a Mexican place, where he loved the molcajete meal. 

They stayed at the Hotel Mission De Oro, which is absolutely beautiful!

On the last day, they had some time, so they went over to Monterey Bay and checked out the Fisherman's Wharf and the old Customs House. 

Marci Health Update

Everything health wise seems to be leveling out, and working well. My recovery after surgery has also been a thousand times better than I had even hoped it could be, which has been nice. The last few months have been very quiet, which also feels good. I feel like I'm in "maintenance stage," although I don't want to get complacent. I'm still tired pretty often, but I definitely feel a lot more energetic than I had been feeling. I haven't felt the extreme exhaustion that I had a few months ago. I've found that if I take 1 day, or even just 1 morning, a week to rest and reset, it really helps overall.  

Jan 4- I saw Dr. H's PA, Dr. Partin, and it was a good visit. My WBC was at 5.6, and my hemoglobin was up to 12.6! After having been off the meds for a window around my surgery, I felt a little like I had to go through some of the earlier side effects again, but they were much milder this time around and went away quickly. 

Jan 13- I saw Dr. Renner for my 6 week post op. All of my stitches have come out, and he said everything is healing really nicely. He cleared me to get back to normal, and I don't have to see him again unless something comes up, so that's awesome. 

Feb 6- I saw Dr. Partin again, and everything looked great. My WBC is still at 5.3, and my hemoglobin is up to 13.1. They drew my BCR-ABL again, so we'll see how that looks when it comes back. Good news is that I don't have to see him again until May, and they're happy with my current levels. One negative thing I have noticed is that my hair seems to be falling out, and after some discussion and research, it is not a side effect of my medication, but a side effect of my hysterectomy. So that's been a bit of a bummer, especially since I didn't realize how common it happens. 

Feb 20- The results of my BCR-ABL came back as positive again, which is what I expected. I know that they'll continue to test and monitor that every few months, but I don't expect a negative result for quite a while.