Mom Update

Mom called this morning, the happiest I've heard her in quite a while: her platelets shot up to 100,000! And her whole blood had not fallen at all, remaining at 10. That's the best report she's had since this whole rollercoaster took off. Round FIVE of Vidaza shots begins with her at the top of her game--both physically and mentally. I am so thankful!

Yes-it's official. We have an 11-year old. It doesn't seem possible that it was eleven years ago that I said to the doctor, "Get. Him. Out. Of. Me. Now!" We measured him, and he grew just over 2-inches this year. Time is flying, and our love for him never stops growing. How blessed are we, to have this funny, amazing, smart and loving young man as OUR son?

Eleven candles. So many, it took a number of tries to get them all out! 

You know you're having a great birthday when the present is taller than you are 

The happy Laser Questers. Note Keeghan was extra very happy. 

This is our chef's reaction when I asked him if he was in the witness relocation program 

I guess "rare" is out of the question 

The ever popular Mt. St. Onion volcano of fire 

This is Jack's strange little dance that he did to the tune of "Happy Birthday in Japanese" 

Ann & Jack's Excellent Adventure to NYC

Jack & I went to NYC last Saturday, and had a blast. We: took the subway, saw Ground Zero, went to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, ate at Trump Tower, visited the Central Park Zoo, saw Fiddler on the Roof, went to the top of the Empire State Building, walked all over, experienced Times Square, appeared in the audience on the Today Show on Jack's birthday, saw John Lithgow & the cast of the new "Fantastic 4" movie, took the NBC Studios tour and went to an awards ceremony. My radio show won 3 world medals in international competition and one gold medal from the United Nations!

The crossbar that fell from the World Trade Centers on 9/11 

Our first view of the symbol of our freedom 

Ellis Island 

A view from a boat. 

On our way to the Statue of Liberty. It was just breathtaking! (And...really bright!)

This is an exact-size replica of the Statue of Liberty's face, made during a restoration project in 1986. Anyone who can guess the thickness of the copper wins an autographed copy from Jack!  

Jack and The Lady. 

Times Square was a crazy jumble of lights and billboards and advertisements....complete with a massive billboard about that weekend's Billy Graham Crusade.  

We saw John Lithgow outside a theatre signing autographs after a "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" performance. 

The newest Apprentice! 

On top of the Empire State Building 

Monday night at the awards ceremony: I'm Al Franken. He did not show up with his 1.3 metre parabolic dish, but he did riff on his buddy Rush Limbaugh. And then we saw his face on about every third Taxi in NYC--advertising his show.

We won one of the Big Awards of the night...the World Gold from the United Nations!!! It 

This is what a job in the union will get you, kids. It had been raining, so they had a crew of at least 6 guys drying down the stage. Rather hilarious. 

The scene outside the Today Show on Jack's birthday--we were in a crowd shot!  

Matt Lauer interviews the stars of the Fantastic 4 movie...right in front of us! 

Jessica Alba & Ioan Gruffud. (What kind of name is that, anyway?) 

No ice skating at Rockefeller Center in June. It was 92-degrees and very humid!