53 Wonderful Years!

Mom and Dad celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary on February 19th and the day was made doubly special as baby Morgan got to be blessed. Mom and Dad got to participate in Morgan's baby blessing. They were both so excited--Mom especially so, as she loves cuddling with babies!

 Mom and baby Morgan

 Mom and Dad holding Morgan

It was a wonderful day for everyone and what better way to celebrate a beautiful marriage than with the fruit of that marriage! Aaron was able to fly in for a day last week, too, and they so enjoyed spending time with him. Mom started a third round of radiation Thursday, this time on her right hip. She is in quite a bit of pain; she has had to have iv fluids the past few days and will have more Sunday and Monday as she is so dehydrated. Keep the prayers coming.

CELEBRITY !!!

 ( Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP / February 17, 2012 )

This AP photo appeared in newspapers all over the U.S. on Saturday, February 18th -- the day after it was taken when Mom met Mitt Romney after his rally in Boise, Idaho. This is the caption that appeared with the photo:

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talks with Paula Huber, of Melba, Idaho who presented him with a scrapbook of photos from his father George's political career, Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, at Guerdon Enterprises in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Isn't this the GREATEST!!!

Mitt and Mom

Friday, February 17th will forever be a red-letter day for Mom! She heard Mitt Romney was coming to Boise for a rally and fund-raising dinner. After making a few calls, she was able to contact a lady who was working on the event, and she explained to her that she had two large scrapbooks full of articles about Mitt's father, George, during the time he was governor in Michigan and that she had campaign buttons, posters and memorabilia from that time--and that she and Dad had worked on George's campaign! She told the woman she had been trying to find a way to get the scrapbooks to Mitt and wondered if there was any way she could do so while he was in Boise. To make a long story short, Mom was told to give her name to the gate security at the rally and they would see what they could do. As luck would have it, Dad was on an early morning flight back east Friday and had to miss the rally. Natalie accompanied Mom to the rally, where they met Sharon, who had gone early to save spots for them. The event organizer saw Mom in her "Mitt" t-shirt and asked if she was "Paula".

Sharon then ushered Natalie and Mom to the front row, where they waited for Mitt to appear onstage. Idaho Governor Otter and his wife were present, and came onstage with Mitt.

The governor's wife noticed Mom with her big poster, t-shirt, and 2 large scrapbooks and expressed an interest in them. She was fascinated when she saw them and she, too, declared Mom would have to meet Mitt to give the scrapbooks to him.

After Mitt finished addressing the crowd, Mom was ushered behind the stage with Sharon and Natalie for a private meeting with Mitt. Mitt spoke to Mom for a little over 5 minutes and she was able to show him the scrapbooks and items she had and explain how she knew his dad. He saw a picture of himself at age 15 in her books and another one of his first car.

The major news stations were filming and spent about 10 minutes talking to Mom about the scrapboks and her relationship with the Romneys, saying CBS was doing a feature on George Romney and Mitt. The security and press just loved Mom and she loved every minute of it.

She even got a huge hug from Mitt! In Natalie's words, "she did awesome and it was so awesome to see her there standing tall and telling the press exactly how she felt and why she supported Mitt." What an incredible experience for her!

Update......

Since Brenda gave you some of the stuff that is going on, I thought I would fill in a little more for you.  It has been a busy week and not as much information as I would have liked when we met with the doctor last Tuesday.  Today's meeting with the doctor was to check on how Mom tolerated the new shot that she was given last Tuesday and general health issues.   Mom will get this shot every 4 weeks and it is to help strengthen her bones as the cancer is deteriorating her bones.   It is too early to tell if the radiation is working and thus we have to wait another couple of months and then they will do more scans and see just how it has done in shrinking the tumors.  As Brenda said, Mom has a hard time eating and so she gets dehydrated easily, thus the IVs at the hospital over the weekend.  Mom is staying positive and is very glad the radiation is done!!  Dad is doing a great job in taking care of Mom.  Dad's doctor visit came back with good news.  His heart is doing fine and he just needs to take some blood pressure medicine and get rechecked in a few months.   Love you all!!

Quickie Update

Well, it's been a week since we've posted and since I'm not in Idaho, I don't have all the low-down, but just wanted to give everyone a brief update. I've talked to Mom nearly daily and she is positive and cheerful on the phone. She finished her radiation last Wednesday and saw her oncologist last Tuesday. He basically asked her how she was doing and scheduled a follow-up visit for this Monday, February 13th. She is still struggling to get anything down and keep it down, so she had to go in for IV fluids on Friday, Saturday and again today. She learned Mitt Romney will be in Boise on Friday, February 17th and would dearly love to be able to give him the large scrapbooks she has of his father's campaign and tenure as governor. It'd be pretty cool if there was some way she could do so! The new legs are on the bed, so it's 4" shorter and Dad and Mom can finally get in and out of it with greater ease. Goal this week: get some rest and tolerate food/drink. Mom sure appreciates all the cards, letters, Valentine's treats, cute magnets and gifts everyone has sent her.

THURSDAY, Feb. 2 - The new bed

Mom Jumping on her new bed!!

It took me a couple of days to get this picture off Mom's camera so I have to jump you back to Thursday now.  Dad and Mom got a new bed that is adjustable to help Mom sleep better.  It is the memory foam kind.  The salesman told me that I had to get on the bed and knead the bed with my feet.  I was so excited that I was actually told I could jump on the bed.  hahaha!!  Mom and I were joking about it after her treatment.  When we got home, we went in and Mom took off her shoes.  I turned my back for two seconds and she jumped up on the bed.  I ran and got the camera and took this picture.  I didn't let her stay up there very long as she was still woozy from the IVs!  What a character!!  Note from Grandpa:  This is not for the grandchildren's eyes!!  ha!

Even though Mom is exhausted and in horrible pain, she has managed to find humor and moments of energy to make us all laugh.  Dad is taking good care of Mom!  Love her and dad so much!

Sunday, Feb. 5th

The last two days have been extremely hard for Mom.  She is in a lot of pain and discomfort.  The new bed is still too hard and so she hasn't been able to really sleep on it.  I've talked to RC Willey about it and we are making some adjustments.  Sharon spent time with Mom yesterday while Dad ran errands and was able to help her the best she could.   I am grateful for Fast Sunday so that we have the opportunity to fast and pray for those who need it.

On Friday, Mom had her radiation treatment and then had to have IVs for fluids as she was very dehydrated and sick.  She got up from the bed and was a little woozy.  I was walking down the hall with her and had my arm locked in hers.  I asked if she was felt dizzy and she said, "Well,...." and kind of moved like she was going to fall and so I jumped and the nurse behind her jumped!  Instead of falling, Mom started skipping for about five steps and said, "I just wanted to show you I still had a little left in me!"  The nurse and I both about had heart attacks and had to recover while Mom just giggled.  I made her sit down while I went and got the car to take her home.  She wanted to walk out with me and up the stairs but I reminded her that she just scared me to death and I wasn't sure if she would cry "wolf" or not.  ha.  I reminded her that she taught me about the little boy that cried wolf when I was growing up!   What a great sense of humor........