This is Kera

Hi! this is Kera typing. My mom told me about this blog a couple day ago. Wow! a blog about me and what I am going through and how me and my family feel about that. My stomach has been feeling pretty good lately, it still feels a little icky in the morning. I  try to go to school every day but it seems I might need a break every once in a while. We are almost done with our downstairs. We just got done putting in our carpe.t I try to do tumbling down there every day before we put in the furniture. I really can't wait tell Christmas I love that time of year! I love all the Christmas movies and all the Christmas music and all the giving we get to do. I also love Santa and the flying reindeer
exspecially Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. I can't wait for Christmas!!

make a wish

Kera had a chance to do make a wish on Friday.  Our social worker at Primary's referred her, and we decided to do it since she is feeling well now.  We got a call from our two volunteer wish granters, and we met with them down in Murray at the Make a Wish center.  The place was amazing!!  They had a welcome sign with Kera's name on it, and our two wish granters, Kim and Kristin, were so sweet and they had a bag of gifts for Kera and a game for our family.  The building itself was designed by children who have done make a wish.  There was even a brick tower where the children go to put their wishes inside.  There were stain glass stars on the ceiling representing each child who has made a wish.  Kera will get to make her own star and raise it at a special ceremony.  We played a game as a family to help Kera decide on what she wanted to wish for.  There were 4 categories that kids can choose from.  One is to meet someone famous, another is to go somewhere, one is to be something for a day, and one is to have something.  Kera wanted to go somewhere.  When they told us about a make wish sponsored place in conjunction with Disney World called "Give Kids The World" where the child is catered to and basically spoiled rotten with gifts and food and anything they desire, she thought that sounded pretty cool.  We have also never been to Disney World, and the kids have never been to Florida.  In the gift bag they gave us, there was a make a wish t-shirt and button that allows the child who wears it to go to the front of all the lines so she will not have to wait for any rides!!  Jacob was pretty impressed by that, and Kera too. ;)

On the bridge in the wish gardens with one of our wish granters

Our family in front of the wishing well

The lights changing while we are in the wishing room

Kera opening the wishing door

The pink background:)

Before we came, they mailed Kera a special key that will unlock the wish room.   After Kera chose her wish, she rolled it up and put it in a special brass container then she used her key to unlock the door to the wish room.  When we went inside, the whole room was lit up and changed colors.  There was magical music playing, and even a water fountain.  It felt so magical.  The path was lit up and she had to follow it to the place where she put the container with her wish.  Once she got to the desired spot and put in her wish, she closed the chamber and it recognized her wish.  We will be hearing back from the wish granters soon with the time of our disney vacation and all of the details.  The kids are all so excited about the trip!!

Halloween fun

This has been a great week for Kera.  She is finally healed from her eye surgery, and her eyes look wonderful.  They are straight!  She feels much more confident now.  She makes eye contact with people now, and she's more talkative and outgoing.  It's great to see her start to come back to life.  She still has many more mountains to climb, I know that.  But right now we are enjoying where we are at.  I am trying to help her get her strength back up.  Her poor body has been weakened.  Her usual athletic build has become thin and frail.  But I told her we could do a few minutes of exercise each day to get her strength back up.
She's also doing well being back in school all day.  She still gets a little tired, and in the mornings she suffers from the nausea, but it usually goes away after she eats breakfast.  We have a clinic visit tomorrow and they will draw labs and we visit with her oncologist.  We will have our next MRI scan in January.
Our halloween this year was a success.  The kids love being able to trick or treat twice.  Once at the trunk or treat and again on Halloween night.  We decided to take the kids trick or treating around in our old neighborhood again this year since it's easier to trick or treat there than it is here where we live on more of a farm road.  Jacob decided to dress up as Boba Fett, Kera was a Cheetah, Michael was Ironman, and Ryder was  a punk rocker skeleton.  Here are some pictures of the kids in their costumes at the ward trunk or treat.

Kera the cheetah at the school book parade

Ryder the punk rocker skeleton

Ironman Michael

Jacob as Boba Fett

The whole gang in the trunk

Cheetah girl