We had such a great weekend. It seems we are trying to pack so much fun into the last days of summer! The whole weekend was full of fun with people we have met along our journey with cancer and we feel truly blessed to have met each and every one! We have been on the road quite a bit lately and I keep telling myself, school is starting so it will slow down a little. But that never seems to happen at the VanWey house! We won't complain we enjoy every minute of it.

Tomorrow is time for Mikayla's monthly check up. Brent will be taking her to her appointment and I will be staying home. I believe this will be the first time I have missed an appointment, so that may be hard on me. We are going to ask for a Neuro-pshyc evaluation, after talking to some people we feel this will be a valuable thing to see how the chemo has affected her and get a base line of how it affects her in the future. Maybe it will give us some answers about her learning and moods (which have been VERY bad lately!) I am also anxious to see her counts and see how she is doing. I know that she is losing weight, you can see it in her face and some of her clothes are starting to hang different on her the weight loss makes her look taller. I was wondering if she would lose weight, before Cancer Mikayla was a tiny little thing that would get blown over in the wind. Steroids helped to bulk her up quite a bit, it is interesting to see her change. I was going through pictures the other day and I honestly don't remember this little girl.

These were taken on her 4th birthday, about two weeks before she was diagnosed. Do you see how pale she is and the bruise on her leg? That is what I see and wonder how I didn't know. She has grown alot in the past 2 and a half years and she looks different. Her new favorite thing to do is flat iron her hair to take the curls out. This makes her look much older and her hair "so long" as she likes to say!

We will head back to Boone on Sunday to take the boys to Sib Camp. They are so excited. The boys will be missing the first 2 1/2 days of school but I am very pleased that both schools have been very accommodating and helpful in getting them ready for school before they head to camp. When you see their faces when they talk about camp, you know there is no way we could have taken this from them. I can't wait to hear all about it!

If you haven't heard already, we are trying to get the word out about National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. We are working with a group of 4 other parents to promote this in Iowa (and nationwide) as much as possible. Please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.beatcancertoday.org to get your Beat Cancer Shirt in Iowa or ISU colors (other colors are also available). The Cyclones are currently winning in sales so we need all our Hawkeye friends to help get the word out! (ok Cyclones can order too, its for the cause,right?) If you want to avoid shipping costs and just pick them up from me you can do that. If you have any questions just email me at mailto:cvanwey@gmail.com.

One last thing, but maybe most important. Our friend Maddeson (cp: maddesonsfight)will not find a cure for her cancer. She needs a miracle. Our family loves Maddeson, she lives in Marion, we visited her many times, Mikayla talked to her when she was first diagnosed about losing her hair, we sat in the surgery waiting room with Maddeson's family when Mikayla had her port out and we have been praying for this little girl since the beginning. Right now we ask you pray for her to be able to head on her Wish this Saturday to Sea World. Please keep the Tersinar family in your prayers over the next couple weeks and months. Our hearts are with them!

Please we need a cure. Go to http://www.beatcancertoday.org/ buy a tshirt and wear it EVERYWHERE. We need people to know our children need a cure!

Christie