cousins!

duke met his cousins charlie & tommy last week.
it was all kinds of adorable!

what duke has been up to

duke is working hard on becoming a bad little dog. so far, he's chewed on the tv-stand, coffee table, and part of the hallway carpet. I told him "three strikes and you are out, mister!"
he just wagged his tail when i said "out".

ah, but the cuteness.

lounging on his bed:

lounging on the deck:

stalking his toys:

exercising his right to vote

(yo voté!)

waiting for someone to throw the ball:


-h

Duke!

We're having a blast with our new puppeh, Duke! We adopted him last weekend from the humane society; formerly known as Puppetini, he's a 9 month old Labrador-Basset Hound mix. Hilarious! He looks like a labrador on top but with these short little basset legs. (Update: He's a Lab-Corgi mix!) When he's lying down, you think he's a normally sized dog, but then he gets up to walk, and it's like - where are your legs, sir??
But he is just as happy as can be, and will not be deterred by your short jokes.

wrapping it up

Hi all,
Chris and I have been huge slackers on our blogging, which I guess means we're getting on with our lives. Busy busy busy!
(really? what are you even doing?)

I have been feeling great, and I checked off another successful blood test last week. We're looking forward to a holiday break down in Newport Beach (with my sister - the housewife of orange county) for more entertainment by our little nephews.
Please enjoy this ridiculous video of Charlie - we put a ski mask on him, and he assumed a weird spooky-ninja persona:


So what I'm trying to say is, thank you.
We just cannot begin to say thank you enough for the unbelievable support we have received from our wonderful friends, neighbors, coworkers, doctors & nurses, and our dear family. I just want everyone to know how much strength your support gave us. I probably should have some amazing words of wisdom after this ordeal... but all I really know is that overall my life has been pretty full of good luck and wonderful people.
Alicia and I were talking about this crazy-sexy-cancer lady, and how she felt like we're all actually walking around with some percentage of survival hanging over our heads, but we usually don't know it. And those of us who know it just have more information. Well that has (strangely) been very comforting to me. My doctor can tell me one piece of data about my chances of staying in remission, but no one tells my my chances of falling down an elevator shaft, and I bravely step into the elevator every single day.
(not true, I've been taking the stairs mostly.)

My point is that I would like everyone who is reading this to know how wonderful you are. We are truly thankful for all of you, and we wish you health and peace.

much love,

h & c

We may in fact blog a bit more, but in case that doesn't happen, here is a fine substitute: www.dailypuppy.com.

Hola!

hi all,
We are back from a wonderfully relaxing vacation in Mexico and a visit to Grandma's in Palm Desert. Nice and toasty! Bridget & Brian's wedding was so lovely:

enjoying cabo...

hullo puffer fish.

paddleboating in palm desert...

chris and dad:


happy 29th birthday to...

• my adorable sister, Stevie,
  
• my cousin, Brett,
  
• and Kevin P Murphy!
  

I suppose I should mention that my last doctor's appointment was a huge success. Did I already mention that? My blood cells are just growing back like crazy. Apparently they are plump, since they are young.
Amy & Leigh - you were totally right about my nails; they are unbelievably strong!

Ok I really am wrapping this thing up soon... probably my next post.

many hugs,
h (& c)

good times here

Hi all,
We've been whooping it up here with some special guests.
Stevie, Carey & the boys paid us a visit last weekend! Those boys are round the clock comedy... so much funniness in such short bodies.
Tommy & Charlie on their working vacation:

On the free local trolley (this was a hoot!):

(tommy, stevie, carey, charlie)

And Miss Pam came to visit the weekend before. Such a blast! We visited Sonoma and went to see a new brazilian singer called CéU. Their music is samba/reggae/hiphop/jazz-y... very awesome show, by the way.
Running 5k with team gilead:

so funny, pam & I thought our time was 31 minutes, not noticing that would be pretty impressive, since we stopped for a bathroom break and walked half of it. chris finally told us it was actually 37 minutes. Anyway, here we are at umami:


baby announcement! Angie & Derek had a new little Lu... Oliver was born last Thur, 11/8. Adorable little guy:


Ok, I'm off to my monthly hematology check-in (it's Wednesday morning, now). And I expect to have nothing newsworthy to share :)
love,
h (& c)

new little peanut!

Big news... Katie and Greg had their second little girl, Grace, on Sat, 10/27! Just look at this cuteness:


Let's see... what have we been up to here...
Chris & the boys played some Kubb:

Christy taught me how to knit a hat (yep, that's a hat... not a thong):

We celebrated Basak's pregger-ness:


hugs!
h & c