On January 27, 2011 Eric Merkley was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. An aggressive cancer that we hope and the doctors to this point seem confident that is contained to one spot on his leg. Prognosis is good. Treatments and recovery will be long and painful.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

MISSION CALL

The big white envelope came yesterday in the mail, and Eric was ready to crawl out of his skin!  He wanted to wait until his friends and family could be there to hear the news of where he is going!  So he took off for the gym to work off some of the bubbling energy!  Then when everyone came, He was ready to tear it open!
He had a really hard time tearing the envelope open.  I wanted to help him out!

He is going to Sacramento California!  He enters the MTC on July 18.  He will be speaking Laotian!  What the heck kind of language is that???

We were all trying to figure out what type of language Laotian was, but everyone was so excited for him!!


My beautiful daughter and the cutest grand baby! (Tonya and Macklyn)
I am so excited for Eric and I have to admit that I was thinking East coast.  I am going to quit guessing, because I am so far off.  So if I predict something, you may be wise to choose the opposite.  :)
I am thrilled for him to be able to leave shortly after his birthday, but this is only 3 1/2 short months!!!  I am fighting the anxiety!  But so so happy for him!
Sacramento here he comes!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Banquet

Eric was introduced to the board of trustees to the Utah State High School Activities association today at lunch.  He has already been awarded with the plaque and this was just one more way of honoring him with his Spirit of Sports award. 

Kevin Dustin was the one who introduced Eric and explained why he won this award

These are all the Circle of Fame award winners.

It was an honor to be among the circle of fame winners. 
 Eric has great news.  He submitted his mission papers last week and is now waiting for his call.  President Trevort told Eric not to be disappointed if he is given a call to a certain place, but the departure date may have certain limitations.  So we will just wait and see.

I did have a great opportunity to get back at him with an early April Fools joke.  When we pulled into the garage from the banquet, I had the mail in my hands.  So I grabbed this fat and large envelope and held it up to Eric with a big smile.  He got so excited.  He thought that it could possibly be his call.  So after a few minutes of making him suffer, and Eric asking where it is from, I told him it was from some junk mail company.  He was not to happy with me, but I had a great laugh from it!  I will continue to pay him back for the April fools' joke he played on me last year!  I am still mad at him for that one! 

We are actually thinking that maybe next week we will hear about the call, if not next week, then the following week.  I will let you know as soon as we know.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Mr Skyhawk

Eric performing in the opening number

Have I mentioned that this is NOT a serious beauty contest?

Eric performing his dance that Sami and McKay choreographed for him

Still dancing, but the crowd went wild with the "Skankie Leg" portion of his dance!

Swim suit competition

Eric was given a question, I have to admit it was a proud moment.  He was asked who he would consider being the hardest worker in his life... or something like that.  He said said "My mom.  "OH HOW CUTE!""  Then when he went back to the line he gave me the "heart" sign out of his hands.  Todd said that he thought for sure he would say "My step dad Todd, but knowing that it was politically correct to say his mom." 

Eric did not win the Mr Sky hawk title, but we had a really great laugh!  When we got home, me, Eric and Sami were in the kitchen and Eric would not leave me alone.  I am not sure what he was trying to do, so I grabbed his leg and made him unable to do much of anything.  Then I started to practice my talent of playing the "leg guitar".  Sami was there and probably a little in shock and took this picture! 

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Basketball Banquet & Mr Sky Hawk

This is the cake... yes the cake Eric entered into the Mr Sky hawk contest.

Okay, so he had a little bit... I mean a lot help.

This week Eric has been preparing and competing in the Mr Sky hawk competition.  I will post more about it tomorrow after the final showdown tonight.  It is a fund raiser for Primary Children's hospital... near and dear to our hearts. 
We had taken the idea of the "popcorn cake" from Aunt Janet who had made the most amazing cupcakes.  So when Eric said that he needed to come up with a cake, I suggested we super sized the cupcake idea.  It turned out pretty good.  And I heard that it was sold, so that is good!
Another part of the competition is the "Sexy leg" competition.  Before the actual competition it was announced by another contestant that "You can't vote for Eric just because he has only one leg!"  When I heard about this I laughed!  Then I learned that Eric "Bedazzled" his leg!  Of course the winner will be revealed tonight! 
For his talent he is doing a dance... I am worried!

Last night was the Basketball teams banquet.  It turned out really nice. Coach DeGraffenried spoke and had the seniors come up.  He said some really nice things about Eric, which touched my heart.  What he does not totally understand was that last year when he came to give Eric his "Letter" for the season, he told Eric that he wanted him back on the court this year.  I saw a change in Eric in his outlook and attitude, that I will be grateful for.  It gave Eric something to look forward to. 
When this season was ready to begin Coach had asked Eric what his plans were for the season and Eric told him that if he could not be competitive on the court, then he did not want to be there.  Coach asked him "Even if it means that you will not letter?"  (Eric would be the first 4 year Letterman in basketball for Salem hills high).  Eric told him "even if it means I don't letter."  I was confused about this and asked what he meant, and he said that he did not want to be a "charity case" on the court.  If he could not hold his own, then he did not want to be on the court.
Coach than asked him to help him coach this year and we will see what happens as the season goes.  He left the door open for Eric to return to the court.   Even though Eric did not make it back on the court, he enjoyed coaching with these men.  He enjoyed being a part of the Sky hawk basketball team.
Eric was given a letter certificate last night for his contribution to the team, which was very touching.  I can not express the deep gratitude for the many people who played such an uplifting role in this journey.  This was not just Eric's journey, but a communities journey.  It has changed people in so many ways.  Before this began, I hate to admit, but I believed that everyone was so wrapped up in their own lives and did not see all the hurt and happiness just 2 feet in front of them... me included!  This journey has changed my view on this.  There are so many people with huge hearts that would do anything to help.  Even if it was just a hug and words of encouragement.  This is why I have said many times that I have been so grateful for you "Our Tribe" for helping me raise Eric.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Blood test for Sami

Last summer Eric had asked what his ANC needed to be in order to kiss a girl. This cause a great deal of controversy at PCMC. It was determined by me... :) that who ever may be considered to be a possible candidate would need to get a blood work up and culture to make sure she is healthy enough.

With Sami hanging out at our home lately, I reminded Eric that he could not think about kissing her until the appropriate test were done. He rolled his eyes and acted so innocent, like "I don't know what you are talking about." I know that he is still very afraid of girls and to shy to consider kissing them... I thought I would just make sure that Sami was not carrying any dangerous germs/viruses that may make him sick, so as soon as they walked into the house, I was prepared...

I got all the supplies ready

When they walked in the door, I got the blood sample...

and a culture!

I have to admit, I could tell that she was not excited about doing this, but Eric started to "Bat" his eyes. I am sure when the test comes in that her ANC will not be high enough. Dr Spraker even changed her mind and said that in order for Eric to consider kissing anyone, she had to approve the situation and not only her ANC but also Eric's needed to be 7000 or higher. I was just thrilled that she came around to my way of thinking. :)
So hopefully they do not qualify to do any kissing!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

A Child's Prayer

Today at Church, I was asked at the last minute to teach primary.  I had asked Eric if he wanted to help, which he said he would.  We had the 5 year old class. 
The lesson was on prayer, pretty easy, but the fun part of it is, I knew there were a couple of kids that prayed so hard for Eric last year.  They would get upset if Eric was not mentioned in the prayer at the dinner table or during family prayers.  Since I knew this I was anxious to see their reaction when they realized that Eric was going to help teach.

We went around the class and learned all the kids names, then I introduced myself and then I said "This is Eric, he is my son."  There were 2 kids in there that their mouths just dropped in unbelief.  I knew they recognized the name.  They did not know who Eric was, but they knew his name.  I went on to explain that we were talking about prayer today and I knew that they had prayed for Eric last year.  It was so precious to see the looks on these kids faces.  As we were wrapping up the lesson, we talked about how Heavenly Father answers prayers and that he did hear their prayers.  Eric spoke up and said "Because I am all better!" 
I love the faith of a child, here they did not even know who they were praying for, but they never forgot and had so much faith that he would get better.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Spirit of Sports

Yesterday Eric was awarded the Spirit of Sports award.  It was an honor.




This is Samantha, the cute girl Eric has been "Hanging Out" with.




What made the day even better was my Aunt Lois and Uncle Richard were in the crowd and was able to share this day with us.