One More Day

 

This will be the last day of Family Party posts I promise… but I couldn’t forget a few underwater pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to whoever it was that took these pictures.  They are always a fun addition to the memory book.

 

 

Success!

 

Although we were without quite a few family members this year due to distance, weddings and illness, our 5th Annual Joe Burch Family Reunion was so much fun.  A beautiful day, delicious Taco Truck lunch, a welcoming home, refreshing pool, squirt guns and sprinklers all contributed.  But honestly you could take away those things because just getting together is what made it successful.

Love my family!

 

 

 

Squirt gun fights were non stop!

 

A pool float for everyone… almost no room for people!!

 

I know these boys had fun!

We have next year’s date set and our fingers crossed for 100% turnout.  Jennifer and family will be flying here from Florida, and we are confident that Collin will our guest of honor!

 

 

Making The Cut

 

I am making a book from our family party pictures.  I’ve got many pictures to go through and have to decide which ones will make the cut.  How do I choose?  My heart.  If they make me smile or laugh (and are in focus) they will be part of this year’s book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Joyce for taking this picture of me.  It will be proof in the book that I was at the party too!

 

 

Wet & Wild!

Their cousins went back into the pool when the novelty of the sprinkler wore out, but not these three!  Mom Nicole found a tarp in the garage and turned the sprinkler into a Slip-n-slide.

These kids were wet & wild!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Joyce

 

Every kid should be lucky enough to have an Aunt Joyce!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love you Joyce!

 

 

 

 

Water Fun

(Note:  This is Family Reunion Week… all my posts will be pictures from our party on June 23rd.  Just a forewarning!)

 

It didn’t take long after we hooked up the sprinkler for the kids to come running out of the swimming pool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even Tank!  He had barely moved from his shady spot during the entire party, but when he saw the sprinkler he lumbered over.

 

 

 

 

Gotta love summertime!

 

 

July

 

 

 

4th of July at Pinecrest

 

We only drove through Pinecrest Lake on the 4th of July so we could see how busy it was.  We were in a traffic jam as soon as we turned onto the Pinecrest Lake Road.  You would have to be really lucky to score a parking spot, let alone a spot on the beach.  We were there around 2:00, so this was to be expected.

July is the busiest month at this lake.  Do I mind when it’s this crowded?  Not at all!  We just make sure we get there early enough to secure our parking and beach spot, then do the short hike around or half way around the lake before going back to our beach chairs and enjoy the rest of the day just people watching.

Good ol’ July… I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until It Happens To You.

A while back I posted about my Great-Nephew, Collin, being diagnosed with Leukemia.  The following is an article that appeared in The Oakdale Leader yesterday.  I hope you take the time to read it.  Until it happens to you, your family or loved ones, you truly can’t fathom what it is like.

Keep fighting the fight Collin and Luke.  Remember… you are braver than you think, stronger than you seem, and loved more than you can ever know.

 

Community Rallies To Aid Local Boys With Leukemia

Living The Nightmare

 

Collin French, 11

No one wants to hear the words, “you have cancer.” Most especially no parent wants to hear that when it comes to their child. Yet for two Oakdale families it is a fate which has brought them both together in what would be one of the worst springs of their life.

Early this year, Adam and Kim French would be the first to hear those words, after their son Collin began complaining of muscle pain several months ago.

Not one to be ill often and a pretty tough kid, the French family visited their doctor in late 2018. Routine testing throughout the next few months showed nothing abnormal.

“It was like pulled muscle pain,” Collin’s mother Kim shared. But in early spring it took 17 minutes for her son to walk the mile to school.

One day in March, the then 10-year-old began crying due to the pain.

“I just had this horrible feeling for months that something was wrong,” Kim said. “He’s taken more ibuprofen than we’ve taken. But when we got the bloodwork back I was told it was normal.”

Both frustrated and concerned that locally no answers had been found, Kim placed her son in the car and drove to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera while her husband Adam, a firefighter, was on a five-day shift.

By midnight that day, the couple knew they were either facing an autoimmune disease or leukemia. Collin was admitted to the blood cancer ward and the next day learned he had leukemia.

Back in Oakdale, word of the Fair Oaks student’s diagnosis traveled throughout the school, as staff and students began making cards and care packages for the family and their fellow Falcon.

Jo Adams, an instructional aide at the elementary school, was one such staffer who learned of the French family’s new challenge. Little did she know what lie ahead for her and her own family, the very next month.

“Luke had not been feeling well,” she said of her seventh grade son, then 13. “Probably the second week of April, his energy wasn’t great. We’d gone through a whole round of the flu in the house. So I thought maybe that’s what’s going on.”

The mother of two shared not wanting to over react, she tried managing the “flu” from home.

“There was something in the back of my head though,” Jo said.

On his insistence Luke traveled with his dad Bill to Las Vegas for an annual ‘guys trip.’ Bill shared with Jo during the trip that Luke wasn’t right the whole time. On the way home he fainted.

Bill drove their son straight to Modesto to their pediatrician who then sent them to Doctors Medical to the emergency room. A blood transfusion was immediately given to Luke. Jo met them in the ER.

“As soon as I walked in the doctor said leukemia,” Jo shared, choking back emotion.

“He was not doing well. He had a fever, his red blood cell count was extremely low,” she continued. “It was really, really bad. I could see that they were concerned.”

Within a few hours of the couple hearing this news, their son was medi-flighted to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera.

By the time Luke arrived, Collin’s 12-day stay at Valley Children’s had concluded. Two of those days were spent in the ICU, where Collin’s port was put in and bone marrow taken. Fluid was also removed from his hips.

“He has permanent damage because of the fluid that built up on his hip joints because of the leukemia cells that were in the bone marrow,” Kim shared. “It made the bone swell and so his bones leaked fluid on his hip joints. He’ll need a hip replacement at 25.”

“They react very fast,” Jo added of the Valley Children’s medical team. “They put him on a plan immediately. It’s very overwhelming.”

Luke spent an initial 10 days in the hospital before being sent home. But he wouldn’t remain there long. Less than 24 hours after being home he spiked a fever and had to return to Madera for care.

“By the time we got to the ER at Valley Children’s, he almost died,” Jo recalled. “He had a fever so high we were packing him in ice and blankets. This went on for hours.”

During the following two days, as they waited for his Luke’s levels to drop, Jo shared the medical team prepared the couple for the fact that their son might not make it through.

At one point, the seventh grader was coherent and asked his father if he was going to die.

“Bill got right eye level with him and said I need you to fight,” Jo said of her husband’s response. “He’s a strong kid.”

Luke spent a total of 43 days in the hospital.

Life now for the two families looks little if anything like it did before hearing those words. The two moms now speak of bleach wipes, hand sanitizer, treatment plans and protecting their boys.

“One week at a time,” Kim said of life post diagnosis. “First it was one day, now it’s let’s look at one week. We focus on phases of treatment now.”

“You change everything,” Jo said, “the first few days I felt like I had a newborn again. The way they explained it to me, is that you can’t live in a bubble you have to manage your risk.”

“It affects the other child, they can’t do anything,” Kim said of managing that risk. “You can’t go anywhere or do anything for the first year for sure. You’re on lockdown and the other child can’t have friends over.”

Cancer is truly a family disease, impacting everyone in the household in a variety of ways.

“I don’t want to be that person that says, you can’t bring your children to my house but … you can’t bring your children to my house,” Kim continued matter-of-factly, noting the importance of germ management as the boys rebuild their immunity.

Both mothers shared that the bond they’ve fostered through the nightmare experience has indeed been a silver lining. They often run into one another while the boys undergo treatment at Valley Children’s or simply check in on one another as they learn to now do everyday life in a much different way than in the past.

“I’d tell Bill, I just want to wake up,” Jo said of the days first spent in the hospital.

“I’d wake up in the hospital and think where I am? I feel like we’re in a nightmare,” Kim added.

“You’ve got to find your silver linings where they are,” Jo continued. “You’ve got to have humor.”

What both families have also learned is it doesn’t hurt to have community. Since learning of the families’ struggles, many local businesses have hosted fundraisers to help offset the medical costs not covered through insurance.

“It’s overwhelming in a very positive way,” Kim said of the community support.

“Don’t know how we ever could have done it without the support,” Jo added.

“Just a huge thank you,” Kim offered to the community. “Just the positive support is what’s pulled us through. When we were really crying and upset, we’d read all the positive cards and thoughts … that really pulled us through the dark.”

“The most eye-opening for me, my step mom pointed this out and it’s true,” Jo shared. “When you see the Facebook stories and the memes you have no idea really what’s behind all that until you’re there. What’s involved with “I have cancer.”

With the boys now 11 and 14, both moms shared Collin and Luke have already begun speaking of life post-cancer and treatment. Looking to their future, filled with both good health and hope.

A fundraiser benefitting the two families will be hosted on Saturday, July 20 at Reece Farms in Farmington. Gates open at 5 p.m. and tickets are $15 per person. A no host bar, food vendors and a concert will be part of the event. For additional information or to make a donation contact Bob Lutz at (209) 649-0950.

 

Luke Adams, 14

 

I Love A Parade!

 

When we were at the (burned) Dardanelle Resort last Wednesday talking to the owner, Laurelin, she told us they were going to have a parade the next day for the 4th of July.  It takes about an hour from our cabin to get to Dardanelle but since we had no other plans for the 4th and, well, I love parades, we headed back up the pass the next day.

The parade maybe lasted five minutes.  In fact after they passed by they all made a U-turn and passed by again!  It consisted of dogs and babies in wagons… kids on bikes… the lumber company truck that is logging all the burned trees… firetrucks… forestry trucks… and Smokey The Bear.

Was it a little bit hokey?  Maybe, but that made me love it all the more.  This proud little mountain community banding together for a celebration after almost being wiped out less than a year ago really warmed my heart.

I am so happy we went… it was a really fun day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the parade they had music, a food truck and a full bar set up.  It was a true Small Town USA Fourth of July!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dardanelle Resort

 

The Donnell Fire was a wildfire that started on August 1, 2018 due to an unknown cause, near Donnell Reservoir, burning around California State Route 108 in Tuolumne County, California and in the Stanislaus National Forest.

~ ~ ~

Wednesday Dave and I took a drive over Sonora Pass.  On the way is the Dardanelle Resort.  The Donnell Fire last year wiped out the main lodge and store, so we were surprised to see a sign that said “Open“.  We had to check it out.  There was a make-shift store and we talked to the co-owner, Laurelin Lewis.  She and her husband and father bought the resort only three months before it burned to the ground.

“The resort stood for 95 years and we had it three months. It was really shocking. And devastating.”

I admire their spirit to rebuild.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The temporary store.

 

 

 

The two trailers are where the owners are currently living.

 

This is the site where they will rebuild.  The plans are drawn and they hope to start soon.

 

The adjoining RV park was barely touched by the fire, so it is open and they had full reservations.  Also the four room Dardanelle Motel was not burned.  Every nearby cabin that burned has already been leveled with no sign that it was ever there.  Laurelin said that many are not rebuilding.

We will watch the progress of the new lodge and store and you can be sure we will be one of the first ones there to have lunch when they reopen!