Skater Dude

Ethan's new thing is his skate board. He's been asking for one for a few months now. I made the wrong move of stopping at a park that had an adjacent skate park and all Ethan wanted to do was watch the skate boarders and bikers do tricks. Ever since that time he has wanted a skate board. As we did with his scooter, we finally relented and bought him a board and, just as he was with the scooter, Ethan was instantly attached to his new skate board. We gave him the board the day before we left for a trip to Utah and when we woke him at 4am to hit the road his eyes immediately popped wide open and he said he needed to get something. PJ's and all he walked right to his skate board and said he needed to bring this. So we did.

While Ethan and I were passing the time at the hotel during Jairo's Ironman (a blog on that to come) Ethan asked if he could bring his skate board up stairs. I thought he just wanted to bring it to our room ... no big deal. So he grabs his board gets to the top of the stairs and asks for his helmet. I think, no problem, he just wants to ride his board to our room. Once his helmet is in place he proceeds to position his skate board so it is facing down the second story flight of stairs. I immediately drop my belongings at this point and grab him. "No mommy no. I riding my skate board down the stairs." Uh, no more skate parks or X games u-tube clips for him!

Who needs Holland?

As many know, tulips are one of my favorite flowers which is why I can't get enough of the beautiful tulips here in Washington. It's been a few years since our last visit to the tulip fields and this year was no less beautiful than before. Ethan enjoyed all the vibrant colors as much as we did! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Happy Spring!

Easter Activities

I’m back … who knows for how long though. I’m a bit of a come and go blogger as you can see! So, a few updates from our spring which has been beautiful!

Ethan had a blast this Easter. Being a bit older he had a lot of fun with the holiday activities. The ward had a spectacular Easter activity day the week before Easter. Ethan got to play several games, decorate cookies, decorate an Easter bag, have his face painted, and of course participate in an egg hunt.

We also decided to dye eggs at home this year (I’ve been a slacker in the past). Ethan had the most fun putting stickers on the eggs after they were dyed. He has yet to learn the art of delicate touch as he cracked about 75% of the eggs when placing/dropping them into the dye.

Easter dinner was great. As usual Jairo was a great help because I had a horrible cold. We had garlic rosemary pork loin, broccoli casserole, roasted potatoes, and fresh rolls with homemade raspberry jam (a previous gift … lucky us!). Mmmmm!

Event Update...

As some of you know I am planning to participate in an Ironman in St. George, Utah on the 1st of May 2010. For those unfamiliar with an Ironman, it is a long distance triathlon that includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. Training and competing in this race has been a goal of mine since I was diagnosed with cancer almost five years ago.

To make this race more meaningful, I have organized a fundraiser with a goal to raise $25 per mile for a total of $3515 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. When I was diagnosed with a Grade IV Glioblastoma I had many questions and concerns. During that time I found the Lance Armstrong Foundation to be a very helpful resource. It gave me a place to turn to with all of my questions and, most importantly, it helped me realize that I was not on my own, but that there is a whole support group of cancer survivors.

I know I am not unique in being touched with cancer. Since my diagnosis I have met many other cancer survivors like myself and I know cancer in one way or another has touched us all; whether that is by caring for a loved one with cancer, knowing of someone among our friends or acquaintances who has it, or having lost loved ones to the disease. Cancer is something that pertains to all of us.

So, please help me attain my fundraising goal to help support all who are touched by cancer. To donate please go to http://www.livestrong.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=325373&supid=133888097 by May 1st, 2010. Remember, any amount is appreciated and will help! Those who donate will receive a Live Strong bracelet by mail as a token of appreciation.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Sincerely,
Jairo Vanegas
Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Lance Armstrong Foundation

Just another injury

Let me orient you to this picture. This is Jairo’s lower leg and what looks to be a second knee is a ginormous hematoma. The story behind this lovely injury …

Jairo decided to go on a long bike ride Saturday morning. This particular day I woke up at 5:45am and Jairo was gone, which did not surprise me as he usually trains early in the morning, but what bothered me was the rain I heard. I was hoping he changed his plans and went on a run or swim instead since the roads would be quite slippery, but to my chagrin, when I finally got up Jairo’s bike was not in garage. Well, I figured, if he did run into problems he would give me a call.

So, 9am rolls around and in walks a drenched, limping, ragged and bloody clothed Jairo. Dude, what happened!! Jairo’s reply, “well, I slipped on the road and took a little spill. I thought about calling you, but once I fixed the bike I figured I could get myself home.” Seriously! This is not the first time Jairo has taken a bad fall on a bike and the statement from the “guy mind” is, “at least we fixed the bike.”

When we were first married I came home to a house full of mountain biking buddies and Jairo was sitting on the couch with a busted lip, black eye, horrible road rash up and down his body and what we later learned was a broken hand. They had all been sitting there for almost 3 hours waiting for me to come home (this was before everyone had cell phones) and no one, including Jairo, thought to wash all the gravel out of the wounds before the blood dried or even maybe just go straight to urgent care to get the hand checked out. The first thing I hear when I walk into this scene is, “hey, don’t worry, we just need to get one part and the bike will be fixed.” REALLY! Thanks for easing my mind … that’s exactly what I was worried about!

Ok, back to this incident. Our plan for Saturday was to take Ethan to the children’s museum and Jairo was not about to change plans (obviously not a big fan of changing plans based on the situation is he??). I asked if he just wanted to take it easy but he said he was fine and just needed a quick shower. So, we head off to the museum and after walking around for a few hours Jairo says his leg hurts. I think he’s referring to the road rash leg and he says no, it’s his other leg. I ask him to lift his pant so I could take a look, to which he reveals this third knee. A guy standing next to him almost lost his lunch when he glanced over. The picture really does it no justice.

Needless to say, we made haste to get home to rest, ice, and elevate his leg. At this point I also force Jairo to point out any other injuries to which he reveals bad bruising all across his abdomen from slamming into the handlebars and a large gash near his groin … let’s not forget the major artery he barely missed! Luckily he didn’t pass out at the museum from blood loss due to internal injuries. Well, at least the bike is fixed.

(Jairo's better days on the bike)