ONE YEAR AGO TODAY - APRIL 28th

It is hard to believe that today marks the one year date since Leila was diagnosed with Leukemia. As we remember that day and all that transpired, it is both an emotional and heart wrenching memory. We take today to look back at all of the ups and downs we have had with Leila. We realize how fortunate we are to have her here with us and how thankful we are that she is still doing so well.

Leila continues to do great in school. She enjoys going each day and has many friends in the first grade. Her hair has been growing out more now, so she is getting more comfortable wearing headbands and barretts.

She has reached another milestone this week! She has been working on swallowing her chemo pills, with a lot of practice with M&M's. Leila has managed to swallow her pills the last two days, so we are on our way to a much easier way of life. Mommy will be happy to give up the pill crushing for good. We have Leila's friend Olivia to thank for that. Olivia who is only 5 years old, just started swallowing her chemo pills. This helped to talk Leila into giving it a try.

On this day, we are also thinking of Leila's friend Oscar. Oscar is the boy that was in the hospital with Leila during her first week. Our friend Oscar is recovering from his bone marrow transplant in Oakland, CA. We have talked to him recently and he is doing well. We continue to pray for him to make a full recovery and come back to Vegas.

We also think of the children who have lost their battle with cancer. Here in Las Vegas, there have been 10 children since January, which is an alarming number. Three of the ten were boys that we knew who were in the hospital with Leila, and all of them received a bone marrow transplant. We think of these families and remember how lucky we are to have OUR LOVELY LEILA!

Spring Break 2009

This week was spring break for the kids and Ziad took the week off so we could all be together. We decided to go to Phoenix, AZ for a few days to get away and relax. We stayed at a Marriott resort that has a lazy river pool with rafts and a slide, along with two other larger pools. The weather was nice and warm and we had a great time swimming and relaxing in the pools. The kids loved eating in the restaurants and enjoyed the all you can eat breakfast buffet.

"A" Honor Roll

Leila has been doing very well in school this semester and managed to get all A's on her progress report card. Her school had an awards assembly for all of the children who made the Honor Roll. Leila was recognized and congratulated by the principal and given a certificate for her hard work and achievements. She has worked very hard since being back in school and her progress shows it. We are extremely proud of what she has accomplished in so little time. We are also thankful to her home school tutor Mr. Gardner. With his help and guidance through Leila's time away from school, he kept her ahead and well prepared for school.