too long between posts - so much to tell....

I would like to apologize - I didn't realize how long it has been.  This week went by so quickly; since arriving home on Monday night we have had a piano recital, a Christmas Concert, a staff party and a LOT of homework! 
Monday was the best day Noah has had in a long time, not in terms of treatment, but in fun.  Many of you may have already seen the photos from the Canucks website, but I'll post them anyway (and a few more later).

Brittany's mom, Shawna met Daniel Sedin at Safeway last week and he let slip that he and his brother were going to be at the hospital on Monday, so we were pretty excited, thinking we might get to meet them and add their autographs to Dan Hamhuis' on Noah's jersey.  We made sure to bring it and a sharpie to Noah's appointment so in case we saw them we would be ready.  Well, it turned out the entire team came to the hospital!  We went up to 3B (the oncology ward) and right away we met the first group, which consisted of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Mason Raymond, Jannik Hansen and some others I can't remember.  Noah was wearing his Oilers hat, so he took quite a bit of ribbing, but it got worse when Daniel Sedin found his Oilers scarf in his backpack too!  It was so hilarious - I think he had forgotten it was in there; we had been packing to go home that afternoon and he threw a bunch of stuff into his backpack, including his Oilers scarf.  We left that group, and the first thing he said was, "Mom! Why didn't you close my backpack?!?"  LOL. 

The next thing that happened was so surprising I didn't take any pics of that group at all: Kevin Bieksa walked up to Noah and said, "What is this... an Oilers hat!!!" And with that he proceeded to pretend to put Noah into a headlock and punch him, then grabbed him by the shoulders and pretended to knee him in the stomach.  So. Funny.
After that we met up with Dan Hamhuis, and he was so awesome - he introduced Noah to everyone and  made sure he got their autographs.  Noah was so happy, even though every one of them teased him about his hat. (that may have even had something to do with it : )  Actually, Roberto Luongo didn't tease him; he told Noah that he really loved the Oilers when he was a kid too.  It was great.  Finn, the Orca Whale mascot was there too and I took a lot of photos of them together.  Finn ate Noah's hat and bit his head, which was a highlight of the afternoon. Noah says that if you're bald, it kinda hurts, lol!  The Canucks photographer  took a lot of photos of Dan and Noah with his Canucks jersey on (and no Oilers hat). It was so cool.  He ended up with every single Canuck's autograph both on their hockey cards and on his jersey.  Pretty awesome....  Thanks Dan.  You made his day (week, month, year...). 

Our flight that evening was delayed two hours and then it was the most turbulent flight I have ever experienced; everyone was silently holding on to the seat in front of them with a white-knuckle grip.  :S   
It felt like forever, and I felt so ill when we finally landed... Yuck.  I hope we never have that again...

On Wednesday night our girls had their piano recital. I am so happy that we could be home for that, we missed the last one.  They did so well!  Miranda played a duet with her best friend, and they were so proud of getting through with no mistakes! It was awesome! Emily played in a quartet, which amazes me - four people playing on the same piano... crazy.  Also great.  And Alyson also did very well. She was happy that she was the second person to play, so she could get it over with. : ) I totally understand. 

Thursday Noah received the laptop that he qualified for under the Special Education Technology program.  He can download his textbooks so we don't have to carry so many books with us when we go to Vancouver, and he can do his projects and research, etc on it.  It is very nice, and quite small, so it will be easy to transport.  He is very pleased, and has already done some work setting up a power point presentation using custom animation. It makes me dizzy, but he likes it....

Friday was the Christmas Concert. Noah picked up the trumpet very quickly in September so he was fairly well prepared to rejoin the band for the concert.  Having VOD affected his lung capacity, so he had to practice a lot this week to be able to play an entire song, but he did great!

Here is the trumpet section of the band.  They were awesome.  So loud! 

We have had a crazy week what with practices, birthday parties, playdates, but there is no place I'd rather be!  It is good to be home.

We will have to go back to Vancouver on Thursday for treatment, just for the day. Then, however, we will go our separate ways: Noah will go home and I will fly to Edmonton to meet my new nephew and see all the family there.  I am very excited; it all came together quite suddenly this afternoon. 
Also a huge thank you to Pharmasave Smithers for their wonderful gift to us (and the delicious baking...).
Actually, we have received a lot of baking this week, thank you to all of you who continue to feed us and fill our freezer with treats! (I will have a hard time staying away...)