Funeral Arrangements

A viewing will be held at Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary, 4760 S. State, Murray, UT, on Friday, Aug. 15, from 6-8 p.m. A funeral service will be held at eh LDS church on 6350 S. Rodeo Ln., Murray, UT on Saturday, Aug 16 at 12 noon. Friends and family may call prior to the funeral, from 11 to 11:45. Burial will be at the Murray City Cemetery. Online condolences: www.jenkins-soffe.com

Marilyn Passed Away Peacefully in her Sleep

Marilyn is finally cured and out of any pain. She is now with her son Steve and other friends and family members who have already passed away. Dennis and Marilyn visited with each other until midnight last night. This morning Dennis got up to fix her breakfast and found she had passed away in the night. Additional updates will be provided.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Hi to All,

Today was quite uneventful. I was still having a Lupus attack, and so I slept all day until Todd, Michelle and kids came over for supper. It was fun to see them,

I just wish I could get feeling 100% some time.

We had such a nice weekend celebrating Jay and Lynne's wedding which took place last March in Figi. They had rented rooms at the Inn by the Creek for all of us and that night (Friday) we all went out for Mexican food, which was sooo good,

Then on Saturday, I got up and tracked a few yard sales down (who out there among you thinks I'm kidding?????) I'm NOT kidding, found a few with some

pretty good stuff and then high-tailed it for home quickly to be there by 11 a.m.

to get ready for the fun.

I didn't mention that when I'm have a Lupus flare, it inflames my stomach problems also, and so Friday night I ate and got sick, then on Saturday, same story....sick as a dog. Came home and was sick all night Saturday and then as I said before, I slept ALL day today, but I'm feeling a little better now! That's the

end of that boring story!

Now to the important part.....Dennis!! He's had a great week and I am so happy to see him so robust and feeling so well. He begins his 7 hour treatments this Wed. but the good news is that this medicine shouldn't make him sick and his hair will start to grow back (black and curly and on the top of his head and out his nose)

I just made that part up, BUT, in truth, his hair should start to come back!

Side effects include neuropathy of his hands and feet (if he's one of the unlucky ones, but then he'll have empathy for me), and a few other things that I can't remember. I only hope and pray that he will be blessed as much over these next treatments as he was with the last ones, and I know he will be if everyone keeps remembering him in their prayers ----so please, do your part in this miracle!

Our little family from Idaho start a different regimine this week. They're coming to stay Tuesday night and then she has to go into the hospital for Wed. & Thurs. to have her heart tested and to receive some bone treatments, and then her new chemo, which she will do weekly for 10 weeks. Please remember her in your prayers too. Thank you.

Well, that about covers my "journaling", hope you skipped the parts that would be boring --- hmmmmm, that would account for the whole blog. Never mind, read what you can handle and remember this is my journal.

Until next time = WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!

Queenie and Kojack

P.S. I noticed none of you bid on the "Peacock"....You're missing out!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Hi There!

Another good day and it's great to have Dennis feeling so well. He worked this morning driving and this afternoon he worked around here paying bills (yuck) and helping me out. I went over and got my hair cut

(it's not quite as short as Dennis', but Mary Lynn came pretty close to giving me the "Kojack" look....luckily we both stopped talking at once and

realized we were at the "stopping" point.)

Soooo, my hair looks very nice and I appreciate M.L. for cutting it for Jay and Lynne's post wedding celebration tomorrow and the next day. We're going up to Midway for the big celebrations and I'm so excited to see everyone. It should really be fun! The reason for the "Post" celebration is because they got married in March on the beaches of Figi and of course no one could afford to make the trip, so their "re-doing" the party for the

rest of us "po-folk".

Fortunately Dennis begins his 7 hour long infusions next Wednesday, and I think those will prove to be some very looooong hours. But hey,

if he can feel this good after 4 or 5 days, I think we'll make it, by jove!

We went to a fun Youth Activity last night. They are trying to raise money for service projects and they held a "Cafe Rio" supper and then auctioned off or out-right sold items and services that people had donated. I was able to pawn off some of the twenty-million home-made cards I have been making day and night when I can't sleep. I think they sold quite a few, so that was our donation. We didn't stay til the end because we were both tired, but I did end up with some cool "his and hers" towels, and the most exciting.......drum rollllll........AN HOUR CLASS TAUGHT RIGHT HERE IN OUR VERY OWN HOME, on how to do different things on the computer!!!!! Sheri Fullmer is our teacher and she teaches this class at Taylorsville High, so I am extra excited because she is also our very wonderful Relief Society President, so I know of her capable ways! I am way excited to learn how to get

pictures to this blankety-blank Blog and just how to work the million and one things I don't understand about computers yet. I know just enough to be dangerous as you have all witnessed thus far.

Enough useless chit-chat....I'm just on a high because Dennis seems to be feeling so good and so normal, and it just makes me happy and excited. So keep praying that these kind of days will be many, many and he will beat this beast called Cancer. Remember, WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!! Let's hear it for our man!!!!

Love from the both of us....The Queen Updater who is almost Bald,

and Baldie, the REAL one.

Now if you want to buy the beforenamed Peacock, scroll CLEAR to the
bottom of this whole page and you will see the "bird". $300 to the first caller!

Sunday, August 2, 2008

Well, I bet you all thought we flew the coop and took an extended vacation!
(We can only wish on that one). Anyway, our computer died the day we left for Ed and Teri's and we were finally able to get hold of our computer genius and before he could get here, the monitor went out too. So I hopped off to one of my favorite shopping hang-outs (D.I.) and picked up a monitor for five dollars, which was the right price, brought it home, hooked it up and our genius appeared today and pronounced the old computer "dead". Sooo, luckily, my brother Jay had given us his old computer a few weeks ago and it was in the basement on "stand-by", so we brought it up and BINGO, we were in business again. Except for the fact that I will have to re-enter all the data we lost from the old hard drive and a few major/minor things, I guess this too will pass and we are grateful to be blogging the old blog again today!

Dennis had his treatment last Wednesday....that is the half-way mark! YAY!
Next time he will have the dreaded 7 hour infusions, which means we will be spending a lot of time at the Huntsman Center...about 9 to 10 hours each time. Then he will still have to go up the next day for his booster shot. This time he says that he feels better than two weeks ago, but he is really, really tired and has been nauseated a lot. However, today he got up and went to his assigned Stake ward and then picked me up and we made it through our three hour block. We were both tired when we got home and Dennis was feeling pretty touchy in the tummy area. He's still a trooper and hanging in there with that good old positive attitude. He is a great example to all of us! Love that man!

The Andersen family arrived last Wed. shortly after Dennis got home. I had been really sick all day from a medicine the Dr. started me on. (Too high a dosage to start with and I was a gooney looney bird) Anyway, Dennis had to drive himself up and back from the infusion because I was out of it. I slept all day and that night I came back to the real world in time to visit with the Andersen's before they went to bed. Trevor is in Alaska fishing, so Barb brought her sister, Nanette to go with her, and her mother, Cindy, to stay and watch the two little ones with me. We had a fun time, and I was able to clean out my closet and send Cindy home with a bunch of my clothes that looked a lot cuter on her than me, and she was tickled to get a new wardrobe! So, we killed two birds with 3 garbage bags of clothing for her!

Barb's treatment went well, but now she is starting "weekly" treatments and then her booster shot the next day. They are going to try having an infusion in Rexburg and see how that goes. If so, then they will probably go there for two or three and to our house for one or two.

We're all anxious for the next four infusions to pass quickly so that they can have their "body scans" and determine where the cancer is or isn't.

We're praying for a lot of "isn't's", but we know who has the final say and it isn't us! So, keep those two sweet people in your prayers because,

WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!

It was so fun to be in Idaho. The kids treat us so well and going to the fair and watching Brooke come in first place in horse showmanship was really a lot more fun than watching her fall off her horse in the next event, but she wasn't hurt (except her pride). The third event was English riding which she's never done, but she looked so cute in her little outfit and she came in third place overall which I think is pretty darn

terrific for a first time try. She says now she is a "real cowgirl" because you have to fall off your horse at least once in competition. (and that she did). The Snow Shak kept Ed and Teri busy and we were glad we were there to help with the kids a little bit. We celebrated Benson's B/D and he was excited with all the new stuff and we were glad! All in all it was just good to get away and be with our loved ones!

We got home in time to say "goodbye" to Todd, as he was leaving for Korea to go help them build their new composite towers that Todd was in charge of and it 's been long enough now, that he will be home on Tues. and two weeks flew by like that! Good news on one of his inventions:

He has been asked to do a presentation at the Pentagon in August on the military satellite dish and case that he and his friend invented. Looks like they are really interested and Todd could come out with lotsa "something or other" if they all want to buy his product (and it looks like they want to) it will be fun to have someone "Famous" in our family, we'll keep you posted on the end results.

All in all we're doing fine. Just wish all the $20,000 bills on Dennis would stop coming in the mail, and wish that the Insurance would decide to pay 'every last penny" (ha ha) of the cost, but if wishes were fishes.....and we know that would never happen, so we are just ever so grateful for the blessings we have been given and for the trials too. I'm sure there is much for us to learn from this experience.

Thanks again to all of you for your love and support and prayers. Keep remembering that WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES and surely it will happen.

Hope the picture of Dennis, Barbara and the kids turns up at the bottom of this blog, believe me I've tried to get it over here from there, we'll know in a minute if I've learned the eternal question of how to post pictures on this thing.

Until tomorrow, or some day soon, Goodbye, goodnight and be good!

The Queen Updater and Kojack!

(Scroll to the end of the page to see the "picture")