The Greatest Gift

Tonight we returned home from a wonderful outing at Bear Lake.  It was so wonderful to have the family together for a few short days.  Having all of the kids in the same place at the same time is a dream come true! (Especially after mid-June -- we had kids coming and going everywhere!)  So it was great having everyone together for a short time.

After such a great day at Bear Lake yesterday, Brendan opted to stay in his pajamas and rest today.  Here is one of the few times he was up.

Before we packed up and headed home, Brendan called the family together.

He told everyone that he had decided to end treatment.  No more chemo, no more surgery, no bone biopsies and no cancer studies/trials.

Then, he presented Shaun and I with our very own "Build-A-Bear" bears.  My bear had bunny slippers (representing the slippers I always wear when we are at the hospital) and Shaun's bear had a hat (like he wears gardening in the summers.) Both bears had tie-dyed shirts (like his "chemo" shirt he wore during treatments.)

 But the really special part of these bears are the recorded messages they play from Brendan to each of us when you squeeze their hands.  Brendan's Aunt Angie and Sarah had taken him to pick these out a month or two ago and he felt like it was a fitting time to give them to us at "Bear Lake!"

To have a gift that Brendan so thoughtfully picked out is wonderful.  But to have Brendan's voice sending his love and gratitude with that gift makes it priceless.  Thanks, Angie and Sarah, for helping Brendan with these gifts.  Tears of gratitude and love spilled freely down my cheeks as we listened to the sweet messages.  It will be a treasure forever.  And I'm so grateful for the gift of being together as a family -- now and forever.