5 November 2023
VOLUME 11 – NUMBER 528
Quinn, Joanna, Troy in costumes
It has been a fun week for us! On Halloween we took Ellie trick or treating. It was her first time and she was so excited! She got a little nervous with some of the houses decorations, but overall she had a blast!
She was content with just going down one street before she was ready to be finished, and Braden and I were okay with that too!
Braden, Brooke, and girls on Halloween
On Sunday, Charlie turned one! This past year has flown by with her, and we absolutely love having her in our family.
She was so happy when she opened her gifts, but she wasn’t very happy when we took them away so she could eat cake. We ended up skipping the cake and giving her the toys back because she wasn’t having it—ha ha! Happy Birthday, Charlie!
Charlie eating her birthday cake
This week, I have been doing a lot of rehearsals for A Christmas Carol: Youth Edition. It’s coming along really well, and I am trying to memorize all of my lines by the deadline that our directors gave to us.
I really like acting, and I hope that I am able to get in more higher experience that will pay you, instead of you having to pay them—I paid $300 to be in this play.
I am also really excited because this year, I got a much bigger step-up role than I got last year, and I think that will help my resume a lot.
Riley and Gloria as avocados
This week we planned a Halloween party. I had an enjoyable time, Riley and I dressed up as avocados. We had a really fun group of people that came. On Friday Veidi and I went to Hazel's birthday party. I had a really fun time and met some of Hazel's friends. Her friends were really fun and funny. We played a game that was like Clue. After we finished the game, we started to watch a show called Missing.
On Saturday it was my day date with Riley, because it was Sadie’s. It was us two for the date. Then Aiden and Monte came for the dance.
Riley and Gloria dressed as Ken and Barbie
During the day, we went to the store and got some snacks, and visited Aiden at Swig, the place he is working now. I also found out that Riley had never had Panda Express, so I said, “Well, we’re going there for lunch.”
After lunch we went to Rush and played mini golf and laser tag. After Rush we went home so we could get ready. When Aiden and Monte came, that was when the party started. We took our photos at the school. Then we went to dinner at Café Rio. At the dance it was really fun seeing Monte and Aiden dance together!
Monte and Aiden dressed as Ken (Barbie)
This week we had a Halloween party with friends. We had a pot with dry ice and water mixed in and it looked like when witches have their pot of potions and the fog is coming out. It looked so cool!
Then we played Jenga. Me and Gloria were on a team, and we lost because we knocked it down. Then we played hide and seek but we used laser tag guns. It was really fun.
Playing Jenga at Halloween party
On Monday, the Olders had a Halloween party with their friends. While they were having the party, me, Kai, Mom, Dad, Caleb, Quinn and Joanna went downstairs. We ate pizza and watched Puss and Boots: The Last Wish, because Caleb hasn't seen it yet.
After we watched me, Kai, Dad and Caleb played Minecraft, and since it was Caleb’s first time playing, we let him be Monte. In the game, I went to Caleb and it was the middle of the night. I gave him a bow, and he was a good aimer. Then I went to help Dad, but Caleb fell off the tower that Dad had made.
After we played, Caleb went upstairs and the party people were almost all gone, so we waited a little. Then we came up, and me, Quinn, and Joanna went to bed while they cleaned up.
Jack, Riley, Monte, Aiden at Halloween party
Because Endia and I are "little old" to go trick or treating by ourselves, We just bought some candy, watched Haunted Mansion and spent the night at home. It's nice every once in a while to just spend a slow evening at home. I love you, Endia!
Riley and Gloria on swings at the park
Halloween was this week. London and I were invited to Maile’s, which was a 1920’s theme at a “music club.” I was Poppy Geberhardt and had a lot of fun playing the club manager.
This was the first time I’d done something like this on Halloween, and it felt very “grown up” compared to the usual participation in trick or treating with the kids—ha ha!.
Monte, Gloria, and Marcello ice skating
I went to a lot of doctor visits and scannings on Wednesday and Thursday to figure out what's up with my leg. It's been about six months since I started having problems with my leg and hip, and for the last month or so I've been resting a lot and still haven't really recovered.
With all the images that came from the x-ray, MRI, and CT scans and the blood tests that they ran, it turns out that I may have a bone infection or disease or even cancer. But nothing will be certain until I get a biopsy next week.
It's a crazy chapter to be starting right after coming back from my mission, but it's also probably very overdue. Sometimes it's scary to think about what the future could hold, but right now I'm okay, so I'm trying to be where I'm at.
Caleb with Luis and Jack at church
I had some special spiritual experiences throughout these last couple days. Early Thursday morning I thought briefly about a talk from the last general conference—one that talked about the parable of the 10 virgins.
While Mom and I were headed to get the MRI I felt like it'd be a good idea to listen to a general conference talk, so I got on Mom's phone and I looked up a random talk from the last general conference.
The talk we listened to is called “Abide the Day in Christ,” and it turned out to be the same talk that I had thought about earlier that morning. As we were listening to the talk on the way to my doctor’s appointment, Mom and I heard Sister Wright say, “It was a crisp fall day when I first heard the words ‘You have cancer.’”
The message was perfect for what I was about go through, as I was told the same thing. I recommend you listen to it if you can.
Family eating tinfoil dinners at the park
Later that day, while with Mom, I received the news that it's very likely I have cancer. The doctor that gave the news was very kind and expressed that since seeing my x-ray from the day before she and her family had been praying for me.
Then later that day while in the emergency room waiting to get more scans and blood tests done, I was reading the Book of Mormon with Mom, and I was strongly touched by a simple statement that Christ would come to heal his people.
I'm grateful for all the love I have from my family and for all the people working and serving to help me. I'm still happy and still at peace even though my life may be getting a lot more complicated soon, all thanks to the hope I have from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Caleb, Kai, Isaac playing video games
Caleb arrived home from his mission to Chile on October 27th—my birthday. It was the best present ever! Caleb said he let the missionaries who were traveling with him push him in a wheelchair to catch flights so he would be able to walk when he finally saw us again.
When I saw his limp, I knew we needed to get him to a doctor right away. We saw an orthopedic doctor on November 1, and the Dr. Zimmerman wasn’t finding anything wrong with his knee, but when she checked his pelvis, Caleb had a significant reaction—excruciating pain.
She ordered an x-ray and what she saw concerned her, so she sent us to have an MRI done the next morning. She told us to come see her immediately afterwards.
Caleb in a wheelchair
That morning, as we drove to the appointment, Caleb chose a general conference talk for us to listen to from the October 2023 Saturday morning session and was called “Abide the Day in Christ” by Sister Amy A. Wright.
As we finished that talk and pulled into the parking lot for Caleb’s appointment, I noticed that the results from the MRI were posted to the app. I asked Caleb if he wanted me to read it and see if I could understand anything. He said, “yes.” I read it, and the words were all words I had heard surrounding cancer.
Caleb said, “Isn’t it fitting that we just listened to that talk?” The quote that echoed in my heart and mind was this, “It was a crisp fall day when I first heard the words ‘You have cancer.’” That’s exactly what we were told just a few minutes later.
Joanna and Isaac at campfire in the park
I count it as no coincidence that just moments after I heard those words in the doctor’s office, my phone rang. It was Arkin calling to see how things were going. I handed the phone to the doctor and asked if she could please tell him.
Dr. Zimmerman said that the fastest way to get oncology on board was to go through the ER. We spent the rest of the day in the ER where they did a CT scan and more blood draws.
Then, Dr. Warner, the oncologist came down to the ER and said that what he was looking at didn’t look like normal cancer. He wanted to do more tests, a PET scan and get a biopsy.
Our next step to to get Caleb a biopsy, which is scheduled for later next week. Until then, we have one doctor who is certain it is cancer, and a cancer doctor that has a lot of questions about what is going on.
Boys playing video games
Once every decade or so, something happens that feels so much more significant than everything that is going on in life. The morning of November 2, I headed out with the five temple-age children, and we visited the new Saratoga Springs temple to perform baptisms.
Next we traveled down to BYU so that I could help the children all get their BYU IDs (this allows them to travel on public transit for free). While we were in the office, I knew Mom and Caleb were at the doctor’s office hoping to get some answers about his leg, so I called Mom to see how things were going.
Mom answered my call, and she was crying. As I realized that this would be a serious phone call, I got up and left the children in the ID center as I went out in the hall. By this time, Mom had handed the phone off to a doctor that told me that Caleb most likely had cancer.
I didn’t know what to think or how to feel. After talking with the doctor, I got off the phone, and tried to compose myself to go back in with the children. As we left the ID center, Isaac kept asking me what was going on (he had heard Mom crying on the phone).
Ashton and Caleb at campfire in the park
Just outside the ASB (administration building) on the west side of the building, I found a bench, and had the children sit down as I told them that Caleb probably had cancer. It was a sobering moment. For some reason, I felt like I should capture a picture of the children on what we called “Caleb’s Bench.”
The rest of the day was a blur. We had already seen a little bit of what Aura has gone through for the past three years with her cancer, and I couldn’t stop wondering what might happen to Caleb. Later in the day, Mom and Caleb still weren’t home after being gone all day, and Kai and I were alone in the basement. I saw the look on his face and felt like I should give him a hug. Then we just cried for a while.
In the end, aside from all of the worry and wonder about the future, I am certain of one thing. Jesus Christ lives. Heavenly Father has a plan. Caleb will be okay, and God’s path ultimately leads to happiness. Our job is to do the best we can to weather the difficulties, and move forward along that path, trusting in Him as we go.
Children at BYU on “Caleb’s Bench”