Yesterday Dad finished his induction chemotherapy. The oncologist is very pleased with how he responded to the treatment and his white blood cell count went from 70,000 down to 5,000 in a matter of days. This was in spite of a reduced dosage of one of the drugs due to the heart risks. His pnemonia is clearing up well and he feels much better than a week ago. He has been walking the floor everyday and has enough energy and concentration to be able to read and play games with his grand-daughter Dorothy. His appetite is good and he enjoyed cookies, fudge, blue cheese dip and chips, nuts and bolts and apple pie that we supplied him with. He has not felt sick thanks to the anti-nausea meds and so far the only side effect has been fatigue. They are continuing to monitor his heart closely and he will begin meds to boost his good blood cell counts very soon. There will be another bone marrow biposy next week I believe. Good news on the last one is there are no signs of a chromosonal abnormality, which is a very good thing and means he likely will not need a bone marrow transplant.

For Christmas we spent a couple of hours with him at the hospital and opened presents and brought him pepperoni pizza. Leif showed him all of his new Star Wars characters and it was a great visit. He also had visits from his brother-in-law Dean, niece Katie, great-niece Anna-Marie, sister Kathy, brother-in-law John, mom Dorothy, niece Laurel (just returned form 4 months in Africa), and nephew Whit. On Christmas Eve my husband Cory spent several hours with him watching football and talking story. He also enjoyed a nice visit with his stake president that day.

Later that evening we celebrated Christmas with our extended family at my cousin Nate's home. Mom joined us and dad enjoyed a turkey dinner at the hospital.

Mom has had frequent lunch dates with ladies from her ward and dad has been visited by his bishop and others from the ward several times. They truly appreciate the service and love of their ward family.

My sister Maggie gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Tuesday, Colby Vaughn, and I know Dad is eager to get up and about and have the all clear to visit his newest grandson as soon as possible.

We had to head back to Idaho on Monday due to the prospect of poor road conditions later in the week. It was truly a blessing to be able to make this trip on such short notice. If we were still in Hawaii I'm not sure we would have been able to make it.

Dad is very vulnerable to sickness and infection right now, so please keep in your prayers that he does not catch anything over the next several weeks. We all express our love and gratitude for the continued prayers.

Mahalo nui loa and alhoa,

Amanda