Ben Got Buzzed

Well, Ben got buzzed last week. His hair was starting to fall out, so his Dad gave him a buzz cut. Here is Ben , looking pretty good.

Welcome Alexander Edwards

We welcome into the world little Alexander Edwards. He was born last week and is the new brother to Xavier. Congratulations to Michelle and Sean!

Greatest Show On Ice

PITTSBURGH – There was barely time to gasp.

Sidney Crosby took the pass in the neutral zone. The hockey puck and a defenseman arrived almost simultaneously. Crosby had his head down and …

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"He is human," said Phil Bourque, but the former Penguins defenseman-turned-broadcaster offered no proof.

Ben and His New Brother

Two brothers who share a special day. Ben started his chemo on the day Nate was born.

Open Letter To Ben Vander Griend (the hair guy)

Hey Ben,

I hear you've been in the hospital quite a bit these days and that you'll be there a bit more. We've been praying for you a lot.

I also hear that the doctors are going to help you, but that you might loose your hair.

Rumor has it that you're a hair guy and you've been trying to grow your hair long. That's pretty cool. I'm a bit of a hair guy too. Being a pastor, most people think I should have neat, nicely combed hair off to the the side. But I've had long hair, bleached hair, spiked hair, mullet, surfer hair, I've even had a pony tail. I'll tell you a secret that I've never told anyone -- I wish I could have dreadlocks -- but that's just between you and me, k?

I was thinking that us hair guys have to stick together. If you are going to shave your head, then I'll shave mine. That way we can both have the same hair. I've been told yours might grow back purple. That would be sweet!

Let me know when they are going to give you a shave, ok? Then I'll get mine done too.

Any other hair guys out there going to join in?

From one hair guy to another,

Uncle Mike

Got Airmiles?

Patti and I are wondering if any of you have extra transferable Airmiles that you wouldn't miss if we used them.

We have two trips that we need to do in the near future. With the news of Ben's lymphoma, Patti wants to go and visit the family in Nebraska within the next two months. Also, I need to make a trip to the mid-west USA near the end of May. If anyone can help, we'd appreciate it.

Ben, New Brother and Lymphoma

This is Ben with his Mom and Dad. Ben's mom here is pregnant and just gave birth yesterday to health baby boy!

Nathanial (or Nathaniel) Robert came into our world at 9:48 pm. He weighed 8# 1 oz. and is 20 3/4 inches long. Mom reports that he looks a little like Ben--says he has his frown.

Ben's Doctors met with his Dad yesterday and reported that the lymphoma is anaplastic large cell as they anticipated. Ben begins his chemo treatments this morning. Pray for Ben.

Nephew Ben in Nebraska

My 6 year old nephew Ben has just been diagnosed with non-hodgkin t-cell lymphoma. He's been through quite a bit lately while the medical community has been trying to made a diagnosis. He's been in and out of the hospital in the past months and he's not done yet.

Pray for Ben. He's going to begin treatments soon.

Sun and Snow

We had a great time during spring break. We loaded up the van with the 4 kids, stuff and 2 surf boards on top and headed south. It was a little overwhelming returning to Los Angeles after moving away 2 years ago. 80 miles an hour coming off the grape vine in the fog, and the road turns into 8 lanes and we barely made the righ exit. There were alot of people we wanted to see, places to visit, favorite stores to shop in, and of course the sun and surf.

Some highlites:

• Traveled March 20th and arrived in time for lunch on March 21st.
• Kids visited guitar center, Patti and I were good just to be in the sun.
• We went to the beach a number of times, paddled out a few times. We had a few good sessions, but it was the afternoon session at seal beach that will be memorable. Levi didn't miss a beat and was fun to watch.
• Trying to paddle out in a big swell with Ryan's longboard. Hmm.
• Visits to favorite food places like Panda express take out, Cold Stone and In-N-Out burger (got a pile of new stickers too.)
  
• Visit with Michael at Wahoo Fish Tacos in Huntington Beach.
• Great conversations with Jeff.
• Nice Sunday afternoon barbeque at Cherri's house with old friends.
• Worshipped with the house church in Bellflower. Sweet time. They blessed and prayed for us.
• Nice meal with Pete and Pat.
• Caught up with Eric on the Bellflower homeless situation.
• Walks on the river bed.
• Seeing old friends on Sunday morning.
• Multiple good visits with Greg and Martha.
• Seeing Bill G in his classroom in Valley.
• Visiting Harbour Surf shop in Seal Beach
• Too many visits to Ross.
• Driving by the old house and seeing how nice the King Palms were doing.
• Seeing the bunny come back to life. No kidding, a rottweiler rag dolled Greg and Martha's bunny and left it for dead, only for the bunny to be raised from the dead 1/2 hr later! Weird.
• Coming home to the rain and this morning it was snowing. Ahh, back to normal.