Jaclyn - My Hero

The last 10 days have been a whirlwind for my niece, my Godchild, my Hero - Jaclyn. On 01/15/09 she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cervical cancer. The next 2 days involved CT and MRI scans in Sioux Falls (SF) and then by the grace of God, her sister Katie was able to setup 2nd opinion appointments at the Mayo Clinic in AZ on 01/20. But first, on 01/19 Jaclyn had a PET scan in SF and then the Guthmiller family and my twin sister, Coleen (Jaclyn's mom) all boarded a plane to AZ. The next few days were a blur for Jaclyn and Judd. Judd took notes and Katie was medical interpreter. Jaclyn unfortunately was the patient. Jaclyn started chemo Friday 01/23 and Saturday 01/24. Sunday was a day of rest and on Monday 01/26 she goes in for her radiation prep work. They all head back to SF on Monday afternoon. Life as they once knew it is now different. Follow Jaclyn's story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jaclynguthmiller
Jaclyn is a very strong woman and just amazing. She has a very nice family with the 2 most adorable little boys. Her husband is a fun person albiet a dry sense of humor but he is her 'rock' and will do whatever he has to help her through this. He was a devoted husband before this came to be so what he has done for her in the last 2 weeks is no surprise.
Katie and Josh (Jaclyn's sister and husband) have opened their home to the whole crew and with their 2 young boys they have given Jaclyn a chance at treatment that most people wouldn't get.
My sister Coleen and my other sister Jan that lives nearby in Cave Creek have been the designated nannies for the week. Wow, 4 boys under the ages of 2.5 years old. I bet that was one busy house every day! From all accounts everything was under control. I guess Jakob is enjoying wearing shorts (opposed to jeans and winter coats) and asked Aunt Katie if he could wear shorts again. What a bonding time for those 4 little boys.
Here is the Christmas picture the Guthmiller's sent out this year. I just love it. A picture of health and love.

Please pray for Jaclyn and her family as they go through this horrible journey. May God bless them with good health. I love you Jaclyn - you're my hero!

First Time Ice Fishing

More stories from Christmas at the cabin. Clayt and I went to Christmas Eve church. We both just love the new church we are going to (Bethany Lutheran in Nevis). It is such a friendly church and immediately we felt a part of it. Julie and Nate came up on Christmas Eve so the four of us had a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Nate was able to get out and do some snowmobiling but we have so much snow up here and it's very light so he was gettng stuck off and on. If he was on a trail then it went fine but it was getting to a trail. Nonetheless, he had a good time. Christmas night we played Polish Poker, 6-5-4 and Farkle. It was fun. Then on the 26th I had to work until 1 pm. Kristin and Jeremy got up to the cabin around 1 pm so then Julie and I went into town to get the pork crown roast and miscellaneous groceries. Kristin stayed home and started on the appetizers. Alan, Christa and the girls (Alexandra, Angelique, Kathryn and Carissa) got to the cabin around 3:30 pm. Since we knew we were going to have a late dinner we decided just to have some appetizers to hold everyone over before dinner.

I made a crown roast of pork. It's the first time I've ever made one. It tasted wonderful but I would have had it in the oven about 1 hour more just to make it more tender. I made some really good dressing/stuffing and mashed potatoes. Crista made her corn souffle (kinda like scalloped corn). It's such an easy recipe to make. I'll include the receipe further down in the post.

Then after dinner we opened Christmas gifts which everyone liked what they received. Then we started playing cards again. It was fun night.

The next morning Tom and Jenny (friends that have a lake home up here and happen to be Kristin's first grade teacher and wife) came over for breakfast. We had waffles and pancakes, bacon and fruit. Tom and Jenny brought a delicious egg bake with carmelized onions and mushrooms. I loved it! Later that day we went into town and bought flannel. I told the girls I would make them pajama pants back at Thanksgiving. Well, I didn't get started until around 3:30 pm but I got 6 pair finished before the evening was over. They didn't turn out too bad either.

That night Nate took the girls down to the fish houses to dip their poles in the water (and to watch a DVD also...guess it was slow for awhile). Anyway, Angie caught 4 fish. Here are some pictures of her first catch. I just love the expressions on her face.

The next day we had a brunch of all leftovers. What a mix of food we had but at least no one went home hungry. By 4:30 pm the last of the group had left and Clayt and I watched the 'Sound of Music' by ourselves and with a nice fire.

It was great having all the kids home and to share a meal with our friends! Thank you everyone!

Corn Souffle

1 can cream of corn

1 can whole corn - drained

8 oz. sour cream

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

Mix all together and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Delish! ;o)