thankful

i am thankful for fireworks that lit up the sky on the 4th of july.

i am thankful for sharing a big bag of kettle corn with my girl while we waited for the fireworks to start.

i am thankful for a few days spent at home having down time to just focus on projects that we wanted to work on. so nice to work on my own projects instead of the ones that i focus on at work each day.

i am thankful for multiple nights of camp outs and morning cartoons.

i am thankful for pancakes on a slow morning with awesome maple syrup my parents brought me from their recent trip back east.

i am thankful for getting to have lunch dates with barrett two days in a row at our favorite restaurant.

i am thankful for meeting up with a friend for tea to catch up on life, the good and the tough.

i am thankful for my flowers that are exploding in colors on my deck, love to look at and water those each night.

i am thankful for my legs that carried for me over 12 miles in the last five days on some good training runs.

i am thankful for some happy mail showing up just when it was needed.

i am thankful for finding two new books that bring me food and home inspiration.

i am thankful for a saturday afternoon spent under the trees walking through the details of a dear friend's upcoming wedding and seeing the twinkle of happiness in her eyes.

i am thankful for a late lunch with these three.

i am thankful for a dinner catching up two friends over some of my favorite food and hearing their laughter and remembering how many times over the years i have loved hearing those sounds.

i am thankful for discovering gluten free angel food cake at whole foods today. that was a game changer my friends. big time. summer just got a whole lot better.

i am thankful for a monday night picnic at the park. i am telling you, mondays are so much better when they involve picnics. so. much. better.

i am thankful that beth continues to heal from her surgery and keeps up her fighting attitude day in and day out.

i am thankful for mary keeping up her determination to beat the black beast. mary is going to fly to florida this week to get a second opinion on what her next steps should or should not be, proud of her for listening to her inner voice and doing what is right for her. mary would also like me to tell all of you that have or will be sending her happy mail how grateful she is to you. in her words "i continue to receive awesome words of support and gifts. i wish i could thank everyone personally. please thank everyone on my behalf on your blog in the future. it truly has been a blessing."

i am thankful for chaser continuing to show improvement, here is the latest update:
"On our way back from a great weekend with Family and Friends in Sioux Country. Mom and Dad Lykken celebrated 50yrs of Marriage together this weekend with a party in Grand Forks. It was great to see all the relatives and friends there to support Mom and Dad on their big day- especially for Tanner and Ava! They had 2 days filled with hide-n-go seek, water balloon fights, swimming- non stop fun. At times it was a little tough for Lisa and I to sit and watch from our corner on the couch- suctioning Chaser and telling him he will be able to play like that again someday, knowing how much Chaser would have been right there in the pack. We know how blessed we are to have him here- but man ....do we miss our little dude!
Although the Canadian side of the family held the majority of numbers present at the party, it was the American side that dominated in the corn hole toss game! And while the boys were out in the back yard playing bags, Chaser stayed inside and got some extra TLC from Marilyn, Michelle, and Lornell- and he was lovin it! His fingers were so relaxed they were straight out, and not curved for the first time in months. Chase did really well on the trip down and hasn't made a peep yet half way home- I wish I could say that for the other two, but they are brother and sister :)
Chaser has had a really good week. He is still showing absolutely no signs of seizures since the removal of Keppra- and tomorrow we start our last week of weaning him off of Gabenpentin, which he is handling this well. The Dantrolene we started him on last week really seems to be helping with his tone. He is much looser and he hasn't had a full fledge throw-up in almost 2 weeks! Hopefully this trend continues, it would be nice to see Chaser gain a few pounds. His secretions are still an ongoing battle, needing to be suctioned much more than he used to- hopefully this is due to allergies and will pass in time. His breathing is still very loud. We get asked all the time if he snoring....no, thats just our little goose. We are back at Mayo on Tuesday and Wednesday for a follow-up with his neurologist, and another eye exam. They more than likely will not be able to tell us if he can see or not, but they will be able to determine the condition of his eyes and if they react to stimuli."

i am thankful for malena still wanting me to lay next to her when she falls asleep.

i am thankful for quinoa salad.

i am thankful for almond butter toast and cinnamon apple tea in the morning.

i am thankful that i am so lucky to have so much good in my life.

i hope that you have a good tuesday, may it remind you of something you are thankful for.