From Alyson's perspective:

I like RMH because it is HUGE! (Alyson typed that sentence by herself) They have lots of movies like Princess Diaries, The Little Mermaid, Ice Age, and we can do lots of crafts here, too. I think Vancouver is cool. It is also HUGE! We have been doing lots of fun things since we got here. We even went to the hospital to see the HUGE playroom and where Noah was while we were at home. We saw the clinic and the pneumatic tube thingy they have there. Dr. Davis was telling Noah that if it was bigger we could send HIM up in it!

Stacey here again:
We have had a busy weekend and week so far! On Friday we went to the clinic and did the blood work and chemo thing. Noah gained 10 lbs in one week!! He is quite anemic and we could tell - his heart rate was way up and he is very pale but he was at 84 and they normally do transfusions around 80, but the Dr. thought he looked ok and he was actually up from the last test, which means he is starting to make his own again, which is positive. His platelets were also up, which is great. Anyway, they decided not to do the transfusion. We were also expecting to meet with the doctor so we could find out what April looks like, but it was not to be.... :(
That is actually what I have really been struggling with, the not knowing... it is a good exercise for me. I was telling someone a while ago, that as a mom, this is the one of the more difficult parts of all of this- not being able to plan anything. I have absolutely no idea what April looks like, and I am so used to having a fairly concrete plan for what activities or sports ( or whatever ) we are going to be involved in and managing all of that, so it is hard for me just to rest and trust that God is doing all of that for me and I just have to have patience and, like I said, rest. It is not easy, as you can probably imagine.
Our Doctor, Dr. Davis, was away, so we met with Dr. Lucy, who does the bone marrow biopsies and Lumbar punctures. We did find out that there is a week break in Noah's treatment and so it looks like - if everything goes well and Noah doesn't get sick- we can go home for a few days!!!!! Yay!!! We will need to go back to the clinic on Friday for his chemo, his final bone marrow and LP of this phase (possibly the last bone marrow he will need - ever) and then we can check out of here and start driving home.
While we are home, they will send the bone marrow away for a test and that will determine what the next months look like. What we have been told by another parent is that the next protocol may entail 4 days on, 4 days off for a while (not sure how many days). We would need to go to clinic four days in a row for chemo and then not for the next 4 days, and so on, and so on....

On Saturday we went to Abbotsford to visit Uncle Ken and Auntie Helene, and some people went swimming while others went shopping for the afternoon. Alyson and Miranda had a hoot with Hannah Jo and Tom and Uncle Ken at the pool. Emily wanted to spend her birthday money so we went shopping, first to Costco, then to Replay, a skate shop in Abbotsford. She has been wanting a longboard since we went camping with the Wimbushes last summer so she splurged and got one - now that we think about it more, we think it is exactly like yours, Josh! It is pretty awesome and she is super excited about it.
On Sunday we went to Lynn Canyon, where there is a suspension bridge and some nice trails by a creek and waterfalls. Noah and I stayed behind and relaxed and took it slow with Auntie Helene and Hannah Jo while everyone else trekked up the stairs and hiked all over the place. (Allie only fell in the water 3 times... pretty good, only her feet and ankles really got wet - I was actually expecting her to get a full soaking, lol) It was very beautiful and relaxing and reminded us of home, to sit by a creek and throw rocks in the water. I AM SO EXCITED TO GO HOME!!!!!! (please Lord, let us go home....)
Also on Sunday Tom's brother Chris arrived with his family from Edmonton to visit with us this week. Our kids have had so much fun together, but it has been different; Noah is noticeably tired and can't do things like run or even hurry across the street - his heart starts to pound out of his chest! What a different boy... can't wait to have my Noah back......