DoInG tHe hApPy DaNcE!

Erik...the strong one!

Knott's Berry Farm in Dec of 09....the day we got a phone call from Dr. Pearson telling us what the tumor was...ikes. Good thing we could just go on a few rides to take our minds off of what was to come....

Honor Society....He maintained good grades through all this.... and thanks to all his teachers for working with him....

and went to the Jr. Prom...Hair loss...it could have been a lot worse!

and a major sunburn (on the inside, too)

sister's graduation

Ran his first 5K...and continues running XC almost every morning...and has improved his PR by 5+minutes!

Received his Eagle Award in May
Back in January...ouch

After pacing the floor for 24 hours...I called into the Cancer Clinic and spoke with Cheryl, our cancer liaison, wondering if they had results yet and she said yes...I could tell she was smiling as she said yes...so my heart leaped a little. She mentioned that since Dr. D was out of town that she would talk with Dr. Hyde and get back with me. Not even 10 minutes later, Dr. Hyde called and said that the results from Erik's scan came back clear. No sign of cancer or any spread of it. There's evidence of scar tissue, but everything looks really good! We, Erik and Justin and I, immediately said a prayer of gratitude after I hung up the phone with him at 1:50pm. What a relief. I was quite nervous, as was Erik. Then Erik called dad and Ash and Brooke and I emailed and facebooked everyone to share the Good News. Now, we are on cloud nine doin' the Happy Dance of Life! There are miracles everyday and this is one! We are grateful to a loving Heavenly Father and an older Brother, Jesus Christ, who in times gives us all a humbling chance to stretch and grow, but never leaves us. We have constantly felt comfort and peace and their love, as well as love from all of our ward family, our immediate family and our dear friends everywhere.

We are truly grateful. We celebrated by spontaneously eating out at Wingers...Erik's choice in fine wings and amazing sauce. Thursday night he was busy-busy contacting friends to set up a celebration at the new (pond) lake on the hill to swim....then Pizza, games and a movie after at our home. There were quite a few friends that were able to come...even with all summer stuff going on. Many friends expressed their excitement for Erik's good news through emails and on facebook! Hooray for life!

We continue Onward and Upward, as Grandpa and Grandma Gray would say, as Erik will continue on with life, still recovering from the effects of the surgery and radiation and will be under continual doctors care with check ups and tests for years to come, to make sure this life altering disease doesn't return and if it does...they will nip it in the bud!

So with this upcoming fast day...we will not just fast for miracles to happen ...we will fast for the miracle that has just taken place! There are a few others that are still fighting the battle and we send out our everpouring love to them and will remember them in our thoughts, prayers and fast...for we know that prayers are felt each and every hour of our trials. It's what gets us through. :)