Memorial Weekend in College Station

In case you haven't heard, my dad is finally out of the hospital! He spent 19 days at M.D. Anderson and has been home for a week as of last Friday. He was supposed to be in the hospital for 5-7 days, so his arrival home was exciting. Upon his arrival home, he gave us a quick order to bring his grandson to see him Memorial weekend. Since he never orders a visit, we thought we should follow his orders (and we never turn down a trip to College Station)!

We arrived in College Station Saturday morning to find my day a total of 40 pounds lighter than he was at Christmas time. I guess ice chips will do that to you! Jackson was so excited to see his Mama J and Papa J. Uncle Jeffrey was there too! Papa J treated the family to ribs Saturday evening. They were the best ribs I have had!! Papa J has an order to make those again!! Sunday, we were treated to hamburgers. The trip was worth it!!

Uncle Jeffrey and Mama J took Jackson to the park to fly Jackson's first kite. Jackson had a ball!

Jackson runs with the kite.

They also stopped at the playground.

Peek-a-boo!

As we grilled hamburgers, Thomas played a mean trick on Jackson. He had Jackson go stand in the grass and sprayed the poor baby. Jackson started crying. After comforting Jackson, Mama J grabbed Jackson and took him out to the yard to get squirted again. Thomas was happy to get to spray his mother-in-law!

Mama J and Jackson get wet.

Jackson has fun with the water.

Jackson and Mama J.

Mama J took over the water hose and returned the favor to Thomas.

Father and son soaking wet.

Before we left on Monday, Jackson asked Papa J to play ball with him. Jackson had so much fun bouncing the ball back and forth with Papa J.

Catch Papa J!

Jackson's Baby

Before you get too excited -- no Thomas and I do not have any news for you. Yes, Jackson does though! Jackson has a baby. Thomas and I have never seen it, but we have had to hold it, feed it, clean up its throw up and everything! For the past couple of weeks, Jackson has played with his imaginary baby. At the beginning, it was not a boy, and it was not a girl, but he referred to it as a "she". Now, he says that it is a girl. This past weekend, her name was "Sarah" until we asked about Sarah. Jackson quickly informed us that her name was NOT Sarah!

I have thought about buying him a baby, but honestly it is just too convenient when he want his baby for me to reach around and hand "her" to him without too much effort!! Thomas told me that the baby has become a part of their morning ritual too (Thomas gets Jackson dressed and takes him to school in the morning after I leave for work). Evidently, Thomas straps Jackson in the car, then Jackson asks for his baby. Thomas has to run inside and bring the baby to Jackson. Weeks ago, Thomas could just take a couple of steps inside the house to "get her". That is no longer acceptable. Jackson now tells Thomas that she is on the table or in the living room. I haven't figured out why we play along with this imaginary baby, but the teacher side of me sees great potential in his imagination!!

Spring Flling

My school has a spring fundraiser called the Spring Fling. Thomas and Jackson joined me for the family event.

Jackson loved the cotton candy.


The family poses.


Jackson played some of the games.

Play Ball

Papa J bought Jackson a baseball and bat last time he was at our house. Jackson wanted to go outside and play baseball. Thomas started throwing the ball to him. I of course teased Thomas that their was no way that Jackson -- a 2 year-old -- could hit the ball. All of a sudden, Jackson HITS the ball!! We couldn't believe it! The next pitch, he hit it again!! We were shocked!! I ran inside to get the camera and video camera. I guess I jinxed it, because he started laughing too much and didn't hit the ball again. Since that time, he has hit it several other times. Thomas is in baseball heaven.

Thomas pitches the ball.


Swing batta batta batta batta!


Thomas shows Jackson how to hold the bat.

Making Pizza

The other day, I decided to make a homemade pizza with Jackson. (Not too homemade -- store bought sauce and store bought pizza dough in a Pillsbury can!) Jackson was so excited!



He loved pressing out the dough.


While we made the pizza, I had a flash back to when my dad and I made pizza together. I think when I lived at home my last semester of college, we got into making homemade pizzas. We had fun!

April Update

It has been a while since I posted. A lot has happened in April. Here's a quick update so I can get caught up and start with more fun postings.

Let's see. . . where to begin?? April was a month of a wedding, a funeral, and a hospital stay. My brother Jonathan's best friend Austin McBroom got married in April. Austin has been a part of our family since Jonathan was in 6th grade. It was a wonderful wedding and we had a nice time.

Right after the wedding, we found out Thomas' great aunt, Dorothy, passed away. Dorothy never had children, so Thomas was like a grandchild to her. Dorothy was a nurse in WWII. In fact we found out she was on the front lines on D-day. Can you imagine what all she saw? To think about the number of wounded men that she helped. . . imaginable. She was also a nurse during Korean and Vietnam wars. She also was assigned to be the nurse in the delivery room with Jackie Kennedy gave birth to Patrick. When Jackie went into early labor, they were not in D.C., so Dorothy was not her nurse. Dorothy's funeral was in Chase, Louisiana which is in the northeast part of Louisiana. Although it was a sad time for the family, it was really nice to get to see the Larriviere side. Because we were in a hurry to get out of town, we did not grab the camera, so no family pictures from this trip.

On April 28th, my dad was admitted to M.D. Anderson for surgery to remove his tumor. The good news before the surgery was that the coloscophy did not show the tumor anymore!! All that was left was scar tissue. The surgery was to remove about six inches of rectum and about three inches of colon (all of the area that the tumor was plus more) and put in an iliostomy. The iliostomy (not sure if I am spelling that right) will be taken out in November if all goes well. After Dad heals from this surgery, he will have four more months of chemo. To make a VERY long story short, Dad's surgery went well. There were very few cancer cells left according to pathology reports! The main hang up has been that his gut has not woken up until today (10 days after surgery). Today is the first day in 11 days that he has eaten. Hopefully, everything will work! We are also hoping that he will get out of the hospital maybe as early as this weekend. After he is dismissed from the hospital, he will have to stay in Houston for a time. Mom, of course, has been in Houston since April 27th. She is now staying at an apartment that several churches have for people that are having medical issues and need a place to stay.

OK -- I think that has us caught up. Now for postings on the fun stuff!!