Independence Day

Keith is currently back in the hospital for the beginning of his second chemo cycle. We're hoping he's discharged tonight. While Keith's asleep and awaiting his independence from his IV pole, I'll sum up the last week.

We had a festive 4th of July party with family, thanks to Brent who is turning out to be a pretty incredible party host. Shocker. I know. Brent and party in the same sentence? They say people change for the ones they love so I guess that means he loves me lots...
He brewed some homemade rootbeer, grilled some serious steak, set up an outdoor theatre, lit the tiki-torches and worked with his brothers to create an impressive fireworks display. Somewhere in the holiday weekend he squeezed in Cars 2 with the kids, golf, and dirt biking.

Ally spent more than an hour hanging out in the drink bucket before the party. Going to the "big movie" (Cars 2) is probably the only thing that could get her out of that cramped bowl.

 Keith loved being outside playing with Grandma B, Cole, Ally and Caden.

 Cole loved playing with fire.

 Ally, Caden and Keith watching the outdoor movie (below). Cole was probably changing his pajamas for the 5th time of the evening so he's nowhere to be found in this pic.

 Brent and Keith watching the show.

 Ally, cheesing it up (above) and loving those kisses from Jenny (below).

 Keith hanging out with some of his favorite ladies.

On the morning of the 5th, since Keith didn't have to go into the clinic, Grandma Burnett drove us all up to Yakima for the week. We played with Milo, jumped on the trampoline and spent time swimming in the pool.
Luckily for the kids, Grandma Smart taught swim lessons for years so they all got private lessons from a pro.

 Keith loved being in the water and spent an hour or two in the pool every day. We really wore him out!

 We witnessed some pretty serious squirt gun wars. Grandpa Smart and Keith vs. Grandma Smart and Cole. It was intense.

Ally hanging out with Grandma.

 Keith hanging out with Uncle Shea who is finally home from his mission in Raleigh, NC! Yay! We were so excited to celebrate his homecoming. He is back and even better-looking than we remembered!

 Ally couldn't get enough of her BCF (Best Cousin Forever), Evie. She had to help feed her and change her and love her. Yay for a girl cousin!

Keith had a great week off from treatment. He has been so upbeat and talkative and just plain happy. He's also been open to tasting more foods. It has been so fun to watch. He absolutely LOVES hanging out at both grandparent's homes. Those are his two favorite places to spend time. He still isn't walking. His foot drop continues to be a problem. So much, in fact that the oncologist didn't give him the chemo drug that causes foot drop this hospital visit. She's going to wait until he can stand on his own and walk with assistance before giving him that particular chemo again. Supposedly, in rare cases foot drop can be permanent so they obviously don't want to overdo it. They've assured us that a break from this drug won't be enough to allow the cancer cells to rally.
We received the results from Keith's sedated hearing test and his hearing his okay. He's experienced a mild loss of hearing but they are pushing forward with treatment until they see something more alarming. So, I guess that's good.

I know this is the longest post ever so I'll wrap it up with some pictures from today. Grandma Burnett brought Cole and Ally down for a visit this morning. Everyone played hard in every playroom available to us and of course, there were tears at the end; Cole crying to stay and Keith crying to go home. But I just spoke with the oncologist and we are set to leave as soon as Keith's hydration finishes tonight.
This visit seemed smoother than the last. It started out rough when we headed down the hallway towards the clinic yesterday morning. Keith immediately started vomiting from the anxiety of going through that door and I thought, Great. Here goes another long hospital visit. But he's done really well. He hasn't slept very much, but he's only thrown up once and he's been pretty active. Yay for good days and good stays. Here's to hoping for little to no vomiting over the next 2 weeks!