It’s time I said thanks to a few of you…

1. Thanks Nancy for the balloon you brought to the hospital while I was in surgery. Every kid that visited me played with it (no joke)
2. Thanks Amy for buying my family really good pizza the night before the surgery. The Meaty Beatty Big and Bouncy was a great way to head into a pre-surgery fast.
3. Thank you Erika for coordinating meals so amazingly
4. Thank you Patty for helping to keep our house from being gross. You practically killed the cancer by yourself (if it’s actually gone)
5. Thanks Jon and Leandra for dinner!
6. Thanks Debbie for not only bringing dinner but all sorts of other goodies
7. Thank you Gina for depositing money into my bank and for helping with laundry
8. Thank you Wintermute for the Bible. I’ll be eagerly waiting to see you next year.
9. Thank you Josie for writing me a funny joke. I like jokes.
10. Thanks Compass, Paul, and others for the night of prayer prior to surgery
11. Thanks Aaron and Brittany for the ICU thai food. I wasn’t supposed to be on solid food yet…but it was worth it
12. Thank you Renovatus kids and teens for the cards
13. Thank you Carson for always going above and beyond when there’s a large something to draw on.
14. Thanks Mom for keeping my garden, my children, and my wife alive during all this
15. Thanks Luke and Marie for the delicious food!
16. Thank you Granbergs for your leadership and mentoring in prayer
17. Thank you Anni and Mo for the fund raiser. What a humbling and fun night
18. Thank you Pepper for the book
19. Thanks Sherilee for caring for my wife and keeping my house from being gross
20. Thanks Matt, Tim, and Christie for the movies. When your awake at 4am what else are you supposed to do (besides write blogs and cry by yourself at times!)
21. Thanks Graham fam for being present and available and for getting things done.
22. Thanks for the pot of flowers Robbie and Chrissie…they only just died yesterday!
23. Thanks to Karl, Sunrise, Emily, Phil, Erika, Ken, Laura, and others who were there during surgery even if I never saw you.
24. Thanks Sam (Arslanian) for the robot drawing. My kids like robots too.
25. Thank you Kathy for brining us flowers from your garden. You know we’re jealous of your edible and beautiful landscape
26. Thanks Paul for watering my garden that one morning
27. Thank you Rebecca for teaching me how to use my medicine!
28. Thanks aunt Tina for giving me advice on getting my catheter ripped out
29. Thanks Jill for so much, but especially the Wine Dogs…so incredibly strange and cathartic
30. Thank you Federal Way cronies for the quilts (my son sleeps with his every night)
31. Thanks for the milk shake Brandon
32. Thanks Achterbosch’s for letting me watch some basketball and for all the great food you’ve provided
33. Thanks Gina for the random Ice Cream Renaissance
34. Thanks to Mo, Kate, Dwayne, Levi et al for all the little coffee and food surprises
35. Thanks aunt Dee for the book but more especially for the trinkets for the kids
36. Thanks downtown Ashely for secretly dropping off a card at the house. It was great to see turn up
37. Thanks Anni and Kayli for the good food and creepy card
38. Thanks to the mysterious person who decorated and wrote messages around our house when we came home from surgery. I still don’t know who you are!
39. Thanks Mark for fixing our stair rail. I haven’t fallen yet.
40. Thank you Rebecca for the concern and initiating prayer
41. Thanks Katie for being one of kid’s favorite friends and for spending time just chillin’ at our house
42. Thanks to the quilting aunts and Grandma for the prayer filled gifts
43. Thanks Roy for fixing things ’round the house and giving us your wife all too often
44. Thanks Sherk crew for weeding the backyard
45. Thank you Brandon and Angela…too much to say here, but you care for so many people!
46. Thanks Kim and crew for helping to clean the house
47. Thanks Valentas for bringing over dinner (you can bring the same meal again if you want…and if you’re capable)
48. Thanks Brittany and Monica for the pampering you gave to my wife
49. Matt and Oso thank you for making the community meals work
50. Thank you Chris and Trudi for the frozen meals. Seriously best vegetarian lasagna I’ve ever had. No joke.
51. Thanks Sarah and Aram for the gf cookies
52. Thanks Hope for being a last minute baby sitter and loving our kids so well
53. Thanks to Kristy et. al for the amazing anniversary gifts and surprises
54. Thanks to Melody and Jill for the massages
55. Thanks Ben and Steve for giving me my first taste of good scotch prior to surgery
56. Thanks Anni for the inspiring art over the last week (co-shout out to F&33rd)
57. Thanks Sunrise for the great conversations via email and even occasionally in person (oh yeah…and for OMSI!)
58. Thanks Matt for coordinating a hot date for my wife and i
59. Thanks Sam for always coming over on Sunday’s to play with my ding dong
60. Thanks Brittany for cleaning our house every week. You were awesome.
61. Thank you Lynelle for checking in, for showing up even when we’re not home, and for your compassion.
62. Thanks Rachel, Lincoln’s Beard, Beth, Jill, Jenney, Pepper, and so many others who donated things for the silent auction. Your art, creativity, and generosity inspire me
63. Thanks for the Pok Pok Mo Mo
64. Thanks for to Danny and Rachel and Sarah for all the Baja Fresh hook ups.
65. Thanks Patty for the water hookup for the meals (that gf pizza was amazing!) and everything else
66. Thanks Arnada Community Meal people for always leaving my kitchen clean during all of this…you don’t realize how much of a gift this is
67. Thanks Aram for being a courier–you don’t realize how stress free and freeing it has been
68. Thanks Sherilee for catching me
69. Thanks Jenny for your poetry and your potted plants (that are still alive)
70. Thanks Kileah for the milk and for bringing in food during surgery
71. Thanks Brent for extending your stay longer just so you could be around during surgery
72. Thanks Mo, Bridget, Cheryl and whomever else was a part of getting my wife in that spa
73. Thanks Kevin for just happening to be there the morning of
74. Thanks Grandma for teaching me about generosity
75. Thanks Ken and Dody for dinner and for making sure we’re always able to pay our bills
76. Thanks for the wine Mav and Niccole…especially the part where you drank it with us
77. Thanks Grandma, uncle Greg, Dee (were there others?) for hanging out with me at one of my biggest moments (cath free!)
78. Thanks Cheryl for taking over the Compassion Vancouver duties–what a relief!
79. Thanks Mav and Niccole for being easy and available…such a blessing.
80. Thanks Kris and Jim for bringing us vegetables (and those figs!)
81. Thanks Liesl for dinner
82. Thanks for the wings Ethan (OK, so it hasn’t happened yet…but it will)
83. Thanks Toree for accompanying me to my new rehab gig with a milk shake in hand
84. Thanks Aaron and Bekah for the frostee and to Chris for the milk shake…y’all didn’t know but I had just found out I was dying of cancer
85. Thanks Oso for surprising us with coffee and thanks to Dwayne for making it happen
86. Thanks James and Andrea for bringing multiple trips of stuff over from the house to the hospital
87. Thanks Steve and Marlette for the surprise ice cream and the standard Youskyme
88. Thanks Mo for making me cry all too often
89. Thank you Ruth for the book. Can’t wait to read it!
90. Thanks Danny and Rachel for helping with the kids and having us over for dinner too
91. Thanks Steve for checking on me all the time, giving me rides, and being a good friend.
92. Thanks Arwen for keeping my wife company at just the right times
93. Thanks Jay for the Safeway hook up
94. Thanks Nina for the shoes and backpack. This might be the most practical and necessary gift along the way. What a lifesaver
95. Thanks Chris and Christie for bringing pancakes and turkey bacon over
96. Thanks LaRae for the kind card and gift
97. Thanks Jurgen and Azriel for moving the couch (harder than anticipated eh?)
98. Thanks John and Brent for going bald in solidarity with me…sorry I didn’t go bald in solidarity with you.
99. Thanks Mo, Dwayne, Kate, Levi, and Sarah for the hilarious picture that’s now sitting all around downtown. I don’t care if it brings in a dime…the picture is amazing.