Building the Parowan Pioneer church

Curt is building the second church this week and one of his small paintings is in the background.  He has been feeling much better and has kept really busy.

-Elaine

Dr. Te

Today is Thursday the 18th of March.  Curt and I went to Cedar to see Dr. Te, the oncologist. He said that Curt looked really good and wanted to know all about what Curt was doing.  After the appointment we went over to the hospital and Curt got his infusion of cancer drugs.  I drove my own car over there so I could be with him a while. The appointment was at 11:15 A. M. and I left at one thirty to come home to drive my bus.  Curt just now got home and it is almost 5.  Sure was a long day for him.  He hates being plugged into that stuff especially on a clear day.  It really was beautiful today and warm.  The clouds started to come in around three and we expect rain tonight.  He has made another church this week and finished another painting.  He fixed his rock saw (big project) and has cleaned up around the yard a lot.  We still have a lot of mud but it seems to dry out fairly fast.  Spring is coming!!  Curt will be a lot happier when he can get out and work and play outside.  Me too.

-Elaine

The Squirrel

Well I know this is a little late but I thought I would tell you the saga about the squirrel.  This past 6 months Curt has been fixing up his studio so he could paint, work on rocks, and do his pottery. About in October he noticed some movement above his head.  he thought is was a mouse but it sounded too big.  He really didn't worry about it because it wasn't bothering him.  Little did
he know that the little bestow was shredding the insulation, eating through light cords and peeing up there! The last of December Curt went out to the studio to work and noticed a hole in the ceiling, actually 3 holes!  Now he is mad!  Well he tried a coyote trap and that didn't work.  Then he tried a rat trap, like a mouse trap but bigger. It didn't work either. The bail would be gone but the traps would not trip.  He must have been a little guy.  Curt then tried a barrel trap that he looked up on the Internet.  This time the trap was tripped but no beastie in the barrel!  Curt and Tishanna then went to visit Matt and some other friends in California.  He left me here to keep the trap set.  Before he left though he borrowed the live trap from the lumber yard.  He set a couple of times and same thing.  Trap empty no bait and no squirrel either. Curt even put a heavy magnet on the trap to make it heavier.  Bait gone, no squirrel.  I then saw one of Curt's rocks with a flat bottom.  I put peanut butter with white chocolate chips, and put it on top of the magnet. Should be heavy enough now I thought.  Next day I checked and yes in deed I got the rascal!  Curt now has a squirrel tail brush and no beastie.  He had to fix a lot of holes and wires, paint, add new insulation etc.  But Curt is back in business in his studio.

Spring?

Well, Curt and I are still coughing so we didn't go out at all today.  There were weather alerts for most of Utah today and I can vouch for the weather man that it has been snowing 'All' day.  I think we probably got about 9 or 10 inches of new snow on top of the foot of snow we already had in the yard.   The only good thing about having more snow is that it covers up the muddy part of the yard and the dogs can go out without bringing in a bunch of mud.  That is the only thing that I really don't like about Spring.  MUD! Tishanna is the only one that ventured out today.  Joplin and Clyde love the snow and every time we would let them out they would dive in and roll in the new snow. I will add a picture to this tomorrow so you can see just how much snow we have. 
Curt went back to Valley View infusion center on Thursday.  His new schedule is three more weeks of chemo, one week off then another 4 weeks.  After that we will be going up to Salt Lake to see Dr. Zangari and have more tests.He won't have to have a bone biopsy, which he is thankful for, but he will have a pet scan and blood work.

Dad's visit to Dick & Matt

Curt is finally feeling like he can go somewhere so he and Tishanna went to Southern California to see Bonnie and Dick Thielfoldt. When they called everything was going good.  They hadn't killed each other yet! After they spend a couple of days there then they will go on up to see Matt, Amy and the kids. It has been good for him to get out of here for a while. (break for me too) He just finished a four week chemo schedule where he would go to the Parowan clinic on Wednesday and have a blood draw then on Thursday he would go to the hospital in Cedar for Chemo by IV.  He is on his two weeks off then back for four on two off.  He will do four more weeks on then it will be time to go to Huntsman again for testing to see if the cancer is responding to the treatment.  The Doctors haven't actually said that his cancer is in remission but we hope to get those results when we go back up the last of March or first of April.
I hope that Tishanna is taking some pictures while they are gone so I can post some here on the blog. This past year has certainly been a tough one for Curt, and family too.  He had some rough days but seems to be feeling better every day.  He is even growing back some hair. We are still waiting to hear from the VA to see if he can get disability for this cancer.  Agent Orange was certainly a big reason that so many have Multiple Myeloma so we hope to hear from them soon. It would sure help us out.
We still have about a foot of snow on the ground and are expecting some more soon.  I'm already for Spring. I will post on the blog as soon as Tishanna and Curt get home with all the details of their road trip. I think that they have had pretty good weather so far.  I don't know exactly when to expect them back but we are going to start getting more snow over the weekend.  That's what the weather people say, but who believes them?
I really wanted to get a lot done while they were gone but I have been very busy and haven't done as much as I wanted.  I have rested a little though and that was good. I even went to a show with friends. What a treat.  We saw 'Blind Side'.  Good movie.  Everyone should see it.  Well, my alarm is going off on my phone so it must be time for my afternoon bus run.

Catching up

Well, I guess I'd better catch up on this blog.  I haven't written since December!  After Salt Lake we came home and got ready to go to Daniel's for Christmas.  We watched weather reports and decided to leave on December 21th. We left fairly early so we could travel in daylight.  We stopped at the Station near Hoover Dam and Dad pulled a couple of slots.  He came out a little ahead and it was a good rest stop.  The bridge at the dam is really taking shape and it is always fun to see.  Really no traffic across that day.   When we were going though Phoenix there was a traffic sign saying that the freeway was closed at mile post marker 190, right by Casa Grand.  We continued on thinking that surely they have had enough time to clear the road.  Naw!  We were re-routed through Florence and Coolidge.  By this time it was dark and raining so we got Daniel on the phone and he gave us directions through the fields sending us north sometimes when all we wanted to do was go south!.  We got to Daniel's at about 8:30 P.M. and checked out the news on the accident.  Twenty-two vehicles were involved and a tanker exploded,  3 died.  All because of a dust storm that literally shut down the freeway.  They were finally able to re-open the road at about the time we got to Tucson.
We had a good visit with the kids, Curt helped Daniel build a fire pit and it was fun to sit out there with the fire.  We came home on the 29th and Curt wasn't feeling too wonderful.  We celebrated the New Year by going to bed early and I woke up to fireworks.  I think he just slept right through them.
He went to see the doctor on the fourth and had an ex ray of his chest.  Sounded like pneumonia again. Crap! So he was put on more antibiotics and a shot every day for three days. By the end of the first week it really didn't look like he was getting any better.  He started back on chemo that Thursday and Dr. Te will see him this coming Thursday Jan 21st.  He is finally feeling a little better but when he feels good then he probably over does it. He is not running a fever though so that is good.
On January 30th Curt is looking forward to going to California to see Dick Thielfoldt, then on to see Matt and his family.  Tishanna stayed home over Christmas so Dad promised her this little trip. I will get to stay home and babysit the kids. (Clyde and Joplin).

Huntsman

Well we are back up in Salt Lake.  We came up yesterday so we could avoid the snow.  It was a good drive and we only had wet roads after we got to the valley.  Curt has tests today then will see the doctor on wednesday. we heard that the maintainence part of Chemo is more than we thought.  He will go to Cedar two times in first week then have a week off then come to HCH once a month.  We wer just hoping to find out that the cancer was in remission and be done with this place.  He still gets chilled and everything tastes horrible.  The rash is finally going away and he is getting over Bronchitus.  What a ride this has been. It is hard to keep his spirits up sometimes.  I know he tries.

Well on to the bone biopsy.  His favorite! Ya sure!!!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Well, we have been home for almost two months now and we are really not looking forward to going up to Huntsman again.  Curt has had his ups and Downs and just wants to get better and not have to play this game any more.  He has been fighting a cold that went to his chest and I finally got him to the Dr. last Friday.  He has bronchitis.  Oh yeah!  He got a shot and is on antibiotics now and mucenix to see if we can get rid of the crap in his lungs before we go to SLC.  This has been very hard on him.  He can't sleep and  has a hard time laying down because of the congestion.  We are hopeful to see the results of the tests he will be taking when we go to Huntsman on the 14th. We would like nothing better than the Doctor telling Curt that the cancer is in remission and don't come back for a year!
 We had a great Thanksgiving with Matt and Amy, Zach, Zoe and Oakley and Daniel, Sarah, Kira and Maelle.  We also had Amy's parents fly in to  the Parowan Airport and spend Thanksgiving with us. It was a house full but it was so fun to see the kids playing together.  Matt took them on 4-wheeler rides.   We took the kids to the Christmas program at the local theatre and went up to Christmas in the Country, which is a bazarr where venders come and sell wonderful things.  Santa was also there so the kids had their pictures taken with him. At home they stacked dominoes, played with the marble game and wanted to be friendly with the dogs, Clyde and Joplin.  They were not as happy to have so many short people around and didn't understand when they just wanted to be left alone.  Clyde barked at Oakley, I think, and Maelle got nipped on her nose by Joplin.  This did not stop the kids from still wanting to hug, and pet the dogs. We really had to keep an eye on the dogs and kids.  On Friday we went to Heritage park where  Tishanna and Daniel set the family up and took pictures. Daniel's camera takes five pictures really fast so we came up with some funny pictures. We also had some really nice pictures and had a great time taking them.  I told Curt that all I wanted for Christmas was a family picture with everyone it it.  Guess I'll have to think of something else that I want now.
We hope that every one has a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year.  We are hoping that the new year brings health and hapiness to you and your family.This is probably as close to a Christmas letter from us as you will get. Thanks for all the support and love that you direct our way.  We appreciate all the prayers and good wishes.
 Love from the Paulson's
  Curt, Elaine, Tishanna, Clyde and Joplin.

Just got back from a visit with Dad.  We had a nice time visiting and sharing stories over the Thanksgiving weekend.  One of the things I've been wanting to do was go through some of his old photos and start the arduous task of scanning them all in.  I took home a few albums and started this evening.  This is one of my favorites.  Enjoy.  -Matt

My Viking

My phone does funny things sometimes and this picture just popped up yesterday.  It was taken along time ago but was so good I dicided to share it now.  Curt has been throwing potts and made 2 churches so he is getting ready to fire up his new kiln. He is still very tired and weak but presses forward.  He tries to keep busy with his art work.  Matt's family will be coming for the holidays and maybe Daniel's too if Sarah feels ok to come. She just had surgery on her sinuses, through her nose)  I am really getting excited to see everyone.  Having the family around will be good for both of us.

What the heck is that white stuff?

Yesterday was a little cold and the weather men told us that we might get an inch or two of the white stuff! Ha!  We woke up this morning to about 5 inches on the ground.  It has not let up all day and there is about 10 inches now!  I forgot to plug in my bus but I didn't drive it today.  I had a relief because Curt had an appointment in St George with a VA doctor. We really debated weither to go or not.  We heard that I 15 was closed north of us clear to Cove Fort.  Many slide offs but when we started out it was pretty bad and the wind was bad too.  When we got past Black Ridge the roads were a little better but the wind was worse. We went to the VA down there and headed home asap!  Still snowing! This is really not normal for October.  I plugged in my bus, because I will be driving it tomorrow, and I don't want it not to start.  Well, talking about starting, we have had really horrible luck with cars lately.  My transmission went out before we went to Salt Lake and it just sat in the driveway.  It is now in the shop hopefully getting fixed.  On Thursday last week I took Curt's white truck (newer one) to Cedar.  I had 4 places to go to.  I stopped at the Eye Dr first to get Curt's glasses fixed.  When I came out the truck would not start. Ugh.  I got on my trusty phone and called Google Search (800-466-4411) I gave the computer the name of the Chevy dealer right across the street from where I was.  I talked to the service department and they sent a mechanic over.  He tightened a loose battery cable and tried to start it.  No dice.  He looked at some other stuff and then said that the starter was shot.  Well,  what more?  He was able to bounce the starter around with the key and said not to turn it off until I got home. Swell. I did a drive through at Zions Bank, no problem.  Then on to Walmart.  My whole purpose for going to Cedar was to get dog food.  Sure I wanted to shop around too but I would have to lock my truck up with it running. I didn't feel good about that and besides it was pretty crowded.. I called Natasha (she lived with us for awhile) and she works at Walmart.  I asked her if she could come out and baby sit my truck.  Well, no.  But she did curb service and brought the 40 lb bag of dog food to the curb where I waited.  Didn't know Walmart gave curb service!  Then I called Dominoes Pizza.  Google search again. I pulled up to Dominoes and again got curb service. What a great place to live. So the white truck is in the drive way with no starter.  My van is at the shop getting fixed and we drove the green truck that has over 260 thousand miles  to St. George.  It has a heater. ( Tishanna's car doesn't.) It also has insurance but it isn't licenced.  Oh well or oh hell.  Whatever!  It is STILL snowing. Got to love it!

Kiln

Check out the beautiful sky behind the kiln.  This was taken on The 24th and it was a beautiful day.

Just a great Sunset

Last week I took this picture of the sunset.  It really just kept getting better and better.  I went to the store and when I drove into the parking lot about 5 people were outside taking pictures with their phones! It really was cool. The weather has been very nice this past week.  We could work outside and burn leaves (which are almost all down) I am back driving my bus and just getting back to like in Parowan. Did I mention that we stayed with Denise and Lee while we were in Salt Lake?  They were terrific hosts.  They even shared their dog with us.  Hi Bubba.  No really it was nice to have the dog there.  We missed Clyde a lot so Buddy would come and put his head on our lap just like Clyde.  It was all good.  By the way Buddy is a chocolate Lab and weighs about 150 lbs. I think!