snow, birthday, and dad

Wow...we got snowed on yesterday. Not a surprise since it was Sorens birthday and probably what he wished for :) He likes the cold alot! The mountains are now white and with the sunny day today it makes a gorgeous setting.

So Soren turned three...blew his candles on his dinosaur cake out by him big boy self...got a wodden train set (Thomas the engine), clothes, books, and K-nex for smaller kids...way cool!

I called my parents today and my dad felt a whole lot better and I talked with him for a bit...he is still tired, but at least have more energy. He is very tired of being in the hospital. He is used to always doing something, so this is very hard on him. But I am glad he is feeling better and hopefully soon will get some threatment for his cancer.

long time...goods and bads...

well, it has been a long time since I have written in the blog. So many things have happened...both good and bad...unfortunately the bad overshadows the good by far.

I went to Alaska for the PARS summer school in the end of July. It was a great trip, learned alot about radars but no NLC observations. But, surprisingly, I was offered a job at HIPAS and we are now working out the details for an official job offer. So I have worked hard on getting done and ready to defend when the bad news arrived.

My dad was diagnosed with colon cancer and they later found out that the tumor had gotten there from the liver. The liver cancer is too big to remove and the doctors are currently trying to figure out what to do. In the meantime, his health has gone downhill and he is now hospitalized and trying to re-gain some strength.

I want to go home to be around him and my mom in these hard moments, but INS is not making it easy for us to go home. First, the travel parole I obtained for the Tasmania trip was only valid for 1 re-entry...talk about a waste of $170. So now I need another one...but they won't issue an emergency document at the local INS office. Instead I had to send it to Chicago and can now wait 2 weeks or more for the documents...I wonder how many emergencies can wait that period...or what INS consider emergencies.

Anyway, I hope my dad will re-gain some strength and we can go home and just spent some time together.