Heart Felt Thanks

A long time has passed since anything had been written here. As all of you know the triple by-pass and new valve happened quite suddenly near the end of Feb. I went to my Cardiologist this morning and they did an EKG and everything is great. So both the surgeon and the Cardioligist have released me back to Dr. Biddulph. I have Cardio Rehab three times a week; Mon. Wed. and Fri. On the off days I have been walking. Nancy Lowe comes and gets me on Tues. and Thurs. and we walk up and down their driveway. It is long and takes me about 20- 25 minutes. We will go further as I get stronger. Grandpa has been a wonderful help to me as well as the daughters. Lynette has made me realize that there is too much stuff in this house and some can go. Thanks to the daughters and Shawnee for the house cleaning and Nancy and others for the yard work. It helps the spirit to see things get done.IT has been alot of help to have the girls come to Doctor visits also. It clarifies what has been said. Thanks for the visits. Frank calls often and I appreciate that. I know that many prayers have been offered in our behalf because we have felt the love of our Savior for us. We are so proud of our family and the many things you are accomplishing. We love you all. Love, Grandma Shaw

Keep her in your prayers

 This will be short but I figured the best way to tell people. I will have more details later but it looks like Grandma will be scheduled to have  triple bypass heart surgery on Thursday.  Please keep her in your prayers.
We love you Mom!

catching up

Rachel told me I need to use my blog more so they know what's going on. So here we go! Bill Marriott was sealed to Lara (Lois) Presnell Christensen in the Bountiful Temple on Friday, the 27th of January. They are classmates at Ben Lomond and they had a class reunion last summer and got acquainted. She has lived in Boston for the past 22 years so it was a different courtship. We had my siblings and spouses to a party between Christmas and New Years and Bill showed up with a fiance. We all had wondered why he hadn't been calling all of us so much, but that was the answer. She has five daughters, two in Texas two in Ut. and one in Boston. Four of them were at the wedding. The one not there is having her 5th girl this next week in Houston and Bill and Lara are going there on their honeymoon to help out. Richard was here last week for his Huntsman tests and treatments. His blood count was up enough they didn't have to do a transfusion. He has been having weekly transfusions since he was here 3 months ago. Cheryl, Dave, Jason and Lisa came up from Mesa so we had 8 of the siblings there. Janice didn't even come to the dinner, but Rich did. Bruce and Connie have their mission papers in and are waiting for their call. Lisa Johson was married again in Nov. and lives in Aurora,Ut and they are planning on going to the temple in Nov. to be sealed if he can get his previous sealing dissolved. Her husband has a 12yr. old son and a 10 yr. old daughter and they have really taken to Lisa. They live with their mother in Vernal, but she is willing to let them visit anytime they can arrange it. Grandpa had his first colonoscopy this past Monday and John Lowe told him he was certainly overdue. Everything was fine, but he needs to have some hemorhoids removed. They have a system now called (banding) and any of you who helped with the lambs will know what that is. It is a good method with no pain. John told Don it was just like docking the lambs. I wonder if they got the idea from that. We are so sorry about Donene and Ryan's flooding of their house. I hope that things are better now. There has been lot of flooding in Liberty with the ground frozen and so much rain in Jan. Certainly has been a different winter. Sammy and Erik are having a girl in June, Brett and Maddie are having a boy in July and Crystal is supposed to find out the gender of their baby this week. Frank is excited about having a boy because it will carry on the Shaw name. My maintenance treatment are going well. I am having one on the 20th of Feb. They are 5hr. infusions that include everything I was having except the Chemo. The Rituxin kills the antibodies so that is what should keep things going good. We love you all and pray for all of you daily. Jake is having a great mission, bringing through the spirit many people, including entire families. This is long, but overdue. Love, Grandma

Grreat News!!!!

Tuesday, we went to see Dr.Hansen about the results of last week's P.E.T. and CT scans. I am in remission! THe doctor said that doesn't mean I am cancer free, but they are too small to detect. I will be on a two year maintenance program, going in every 2 months and have a Rituxin infusion. That has been part of my treatment. My hair is growing back and is curly. It is rather thin, but it will probably thicken up. It has been a bitter sweet week to have Shawn die the same week. It is difficult to understand. I am older and he is so young. The Lord has his own timetable and someday we will know Why things worked out this way. I am grateful for eternal families and am so grateful for our family. We love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and caring for us. Be kind to each other and cherish your time together. Love, Margo, Mom, or Grandma

Last treatment?

I had my 6th cancer treatment on Thursday and hopefully it will be the last one. On the 11th of Aug. they will do a P.E.T. scan and a C.T. svan. I will meet with Dr. Hansen on the 16 of Aug. and if it is in remission there will be maintenance schedule for a couple of yrs. The Dr. is very encouraged and thinks it is in remission. If so, it is through all of yous and our faith and prayers. This has been a busy summer with all of the weddings. It is fun to go to the showers, endowments, marriages and the receptions. Of course, we don't have to do all the preparation. I just got to hold the newest grandaughter, Whitly Wilkinson while Alyson helped with the quilts. That was a treat. We will just be watching the parade on TV and that's okay. It is a great time to reflect on our pioneer ancestery. We have a lot in our family.My cousins, Gary Browning's funeral is today up by Idaho Falls. I would have so liked to go to it. He is just younger than me and had always been one of my favoites. He is the son of Thelma, my mother's sister. HE fell over a sprinkler head in his lawn and broke two vertebraes is his neck. They were able to stabalize hims and he appeared to be improving when he had a blood clot that killed him. He has had a heart condition for a long time and just went into remission from cancer. He has called and checked on me a few times and it was good to visit with him. We had a good Marriott reunion on Monte. Everything was so green and all the wild flowers were out. It was good to become more acquainted with Jim's fincee, Janice Hilton. They seem very happy. We hope all of you are doing well. Our thoughts and prayers are with you daily. We love you all! Love, Maego

Where did 75 years go?

 

Today is someone's 75th birthday! Can you guess who? It is not the person holding the horn.

It is of course the beautiful girl holding the flute!

This is a picture of Margo with her brother Jim.

 

Here is another picture with Margo and her brothers Gil and John and her mother Helen.

 

This picture is of Margo, Gil, her Dad Gilbert and Jim.

 

Margo and Jim, aren't they cute!

 

I really loved this picture and have decided that her Dad Gilbert, the one who is taking the picture was a great photographer and had a nice camera I am thinking.

This is Margo,Jim, Bill, and Gil.

 

This is Margo with her sister Susan.

 

Here is my movie star mother, I always have thought this picture looks like she should be in the movies!

 

And of course she married a movie star to match her beauty.

This is my movie star parents.

 

and this is the Shaw bunch! This is a picture of 5 of the kids and she is pregnant with the 6th!

This is Frank, Carolyn, Lynette, and Donene in the front, and Margo holding Nancy, and Don.

 

Here we are again and I have always marveled that she even had the time to sew all of our cute little outfits.

She is an amazing woman!!!

 

Here they are  a little later in life.

 

This is a picture of the family at Christmas, Carolyn is missing because she is taking the picture!

 

Here is the Family with the first grandchild Nathan.

Don, holding Nathan, Frank, Donene, and Ryan. In back is Margo,Carolyn, Kevin, Lynette, Valerie and Nancy.

 

This isn't even close to what the family is now but I think all of her grand kids are in this picture. I lost count but I think there is now about 30 -31 great grandchildren, What is it Mom! She will know because she doesn't even forget one of those many birthdays, (that alone tells you what kind of person this is!)

She certainly has been an amazing Wife, Mom, Grand Mother, Great Grand Mother, Sister, and especially a Friend to all of us.  We want to honor you on this special day and want you to know how much you are loved and appreciated!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

We Love YOU!

love

It all started with these two.

And I am so glad it did.
While at Kelle's wedding I was able to get some pictures of these two cute wonderful people. I am not sure what we were talking about, but I am sure that Grandpa was making some kind of wise crack.

We love you guys!

families

I was reflecting this morning and thinking of how blessed we have been through this month of June. It started out with karli and Chance's wedding and then we had Kelle and Ian's wedding with all of their festivities.It has been such a family time. We have been with all six of our children and their spouses. We have been with 26 of our 28 grandchildren and most of the spouses of those who are married. We have been with 30 out of the 31 greatgrandchildren. We have enjoyed it all so much and are grateful to have been here. Now today is Fathers Day. I really love Don, who is the father who started all this posterity. He is a great Dad, Grandpa, and Great-grandpa. We are grateful for the fathers of our grand-children and great-grandchildren. We have observed how you lovingly care for your children and nothing couldd make us happier. We hope all of you are having a great summer(at least it's supposed to be summer). We love all of you and are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you all for your help. Love Margo

Is spring coming?

Don had his 78th birthday on Friday. I am so grateful to have another year with him.Thanks to the girls, we had cake and ice cream. Thank you all. Yesterday, he baptized Kevin Don Hogge in the Spanish Ward. There was a very special spirit there. Afterwards, we all went to a beautiful park and had lots of eats. Well, I am half way through my treatments and each time brings some new challenges, but if it works that is all that counts. Sometimes, I wake up and think that maybe this is all a dream, but I know that Heavenly Father is with me and helps me daily along with all of your prayers. These next few weeks will be filled with the excitement of the two weddings coming up. They have let me postpone my next treatment until June 6th so I can be at Karli's wedding. It will be so good to see all of you again. Today is Sunday and I have been going to just Sacrament meeting because there are fewer people right around us there. We sit on the side, second row. I keep up with all of your blogs. They are so good and keep us up on whats going on in your lives. Thank you for the special effort that must take. We love you all and thank you for your heartfelt comments. Love, Margo

mother's day weekend

It was a great weekend! It started with Donene coming to visit Fiday morning. As you can see she took a picture of us and she made me " Queen Mom" with her enbroidered tea towels. It was a great visit. On Saturday, Frank and Paula came to visit. It was good to catch up on all the grandkids. On Sunday morning, Nancy and Jay and Kelle, Colter and Valerie all visited because we have the late meeting on Sundays. Nancy helped my with my wig to wear to church. Most people don't know that I have very little hair and they though it was really mine. After church we got to talk to Jake on the Skype and it was great to see and listen to him. He looks really good and things seem to be going good for him. All of the Obergs were there exceept Ben and Beckas and family. of course. We had some of Taylor's good hamburgers. Then we went over to Carolyns and Kevins place. Young Kevin was celebrating his birthday along with Mother's Day. Kevin is 8 yrs. old and will be baptized in a couple of weeks. It was good to see the Calvins and Alex also. While we were there the Morbys came and so we all had a great visit. It was a long day. but a good one. Don has been so good to me and I am so happy to be the mother of his children. I am a very blessed person. It was good to hear from James and Alyson also. We are so happy that all of you are doing good. Keep it up. We love you all.

Happy Mother's Day!

This last week Mom got a new hairdo. It is really short and because she is so cute, she pulls it off quite well don't you think?  Most people would be worried about losing there hair but Mom, I love that you have confidence even in adversity. After staying with her during her last chemo treatment I came away with some observations. Most of those people that were there receiving treatments were some of the most positive people that I have met. Even with all of the trials that they are facing they have the most positive and upbeat attitudes. I know that a positive outlook is so necessary for positive results in healing. In that case Mom is going to be okay, because she has one of the most positive attitudes that I know.

Because today is Mother's Day I want her to know, (if she doesn't already know) how much she means to me. I feel very blessed to have her as a Mom and friend. She is the most supportive person you will find and as I was growing up I could always count on her to be there when I needed it. She went back to college after having 6 kids and at the time I had no idea what a big deal that was. Later I found out that she graduated Magna Cum Laude and that makes her accomplishment even more astounding! She is such a great supporter of not only her children but her grandchildren as well. We have all benefited from her cheering in the stands. Mom you are amazing and on this Mother's Day we want to wish you the best for the great example of womanhood that you are.

We love you!!!

Hair

Hair today, gone tomorrow. Well, it happened! My hair was coming out all over, so Carolyn cut it short and then Lynette used the #2 cutters on the hair clipper to cut it so it would be even. You know these men have been getting lika little massage when they get there hair cut. That's how it felt. My head is much lighter. Another treatment is out of the way and after a few days, it will be better. I hope everyone is having a great Easter. I am looking forward to Sacrament meeting tomorrow because it usually is a special program. It will remind us as we partake of the sacrament what Easter is really about. We are all so blessed to have such a loving Heavenly Father that He gave His only Begotten Son so that we can return to live with Him some day. I hope that all of you had fun coloring your eggs and finding all the treats. I love you all and so appreciate your prayers in our behalf. HAPPY EASTER !!!!!!!!!!

Family home Evening

This has been a good week! I have felt good and had more energy. This should last until a week from tomorrow, so I'm going to enjoy it. We had a nice surprise last night. Carl and Lynette Cook cam down to visit us. He said they had been thinking about me and had me in their prayers and felt prompted to come and see us. They wanted to know about my condition and we talked a little about that and then they told us more about their new assignment to South Africa. As you may know, he was put in as one of the new General Authorities in General Conference in the First Quorum of Seventies. That will be in effect until he turns 70 yrs old. They will be living in Johanasburg and be a counselor in The Area Presidency. The area indcludes the Congo across on both sides down to the South of Africa. He asked us about our experiences in Nauvoo and it was a spiritual, beautiful, time with them. Carl said his fondest memories were when he came to our house and had Frank as such a good friend. They both gave us big hugs when they left. They will have to be there by August 1st, so they will be here for their daughter Marie's farewell in June to her mission in Spain. We will miss them. Carl still has such a fun sense of humor. So we had a special Family Home Evening. Thank you all for your comments and your prayers. Melanie, your blog was special and it made we cry. We love you all.

catch-up

Well, this has been a new experience. I have been keeping a daily log because that will help to know what to expect the next go around. It was good to get done with the Prednisone and the anti nausea. On Tuesday, Dr. Hansen called and wanted me to come in for a blood check an he decided I needed to come in for three days in a row to get a shot of Neupogen to build up my white blood cells to guard against infection. I ended going four days and that should last until the next treatment. They used to hospitalize people for this, but this enables me to stay at home, which is good. A few side affects, but I think I'm doing okay. Grandpa went in and had a stress test and his heart is good, but he needs to build up his endurance. He went on Carolyn's elyptical machine today and got started. He is having difficulty coming to terms that it needs to be something that increases his heart rate. Dr. Biddulph said walking to the barn and back would not cut it. So we are working on that. I got on for a few minutes also. Wasn't conference wonderful? I can't wait for the Ensign to read them more thoroughly. It was exciting that Jake was interviewed on the segment for the MTC. I especially liked what Elder Nelson said about "the only premature deaths are the one where someone is not prepared to meet God." Also the one on"the cafeteria approach to the commandments won't work. We can't choose which one we want to obey". Such sound council. Love you all and hope that spring comes pretty soon. A couple of my friends have brought me pretty potted flowers to bring a little in now.

Bruce

My brother, Bruce is having open heart surgery this morning. He needs to have a valve repaired and one or two bypasses. He had chest pains on Sat. and thank goodness he went to the hospital on Sunday morning. He should have gone sooner and he knows it. We went to see him yesterday aafternoon and he looked real good. He should be alright with this surgery and probably better than before. We also went to the temple, one last time before the Ogden temple closes tomorrow night for about a three year make over. There were a lot of people there because it is going to be very different to have to go aways to attend in the future. We have so many wonderful memories of serving there and the great friends that we acquired from that experience. It tryly is a place of peace and comfort. I have heard from so many people lately, some who are going through similar experiences as me. They have giving good advice and today is the day that a new experience will start and I know your prayers are helping. Love.Margo

Finally got back the results from the bone marrow biopsy. There is no cancer cells in the bone marrow. Yea! I will start treatments next Thursday. She said to plan on being there for awhile. We discussed some treatments with the Doctor before so I am waiting to hear exactly what is going on. Some have asked for a little more detail. I have Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, B-cell , follicular. It is a stage 3, which means that it is on both sides of the diaghram, in my case from the neck to the thighs. It is stage one (indolent) meaning that it is slow growing, treatable, but can reoccur. There is no reason to think that it cannot go into remission. We are certainly counting on that. We went to the temple last night for our last temple sealing group in the Ogden Temple before it closes on April 1st. The temple is a great place to go for comfort and peace. So we will be visiting other temples for the next 3 years. We are teaching a Temple Prep class right now to nine people, five of whom are young men getting ready to go on missions. also a mother who is a convert, and a couple. Teaching and feeling of each of their spirits is a blessing.
Wonderful news for my brother, Richard. He is being released to go home to Montana. His bone marrow transplant is doing great and some of his follow-ups can be done with his Oncologist up there. He will still have to come back here about every 6 weeks for awhile. He has gone through a lot to get to this point and we will continue to keep him in our prayers.
Thanks again for all of your support and prayers. I feel them. Love you all, Margo

Met with the Oncologist today. The cancer has not spread to the organs, but has spread to several areas between the neck and the thighs. They will perform the bone marrow biopsy on Thursday and then we will have a complet picture. That will probably take about a week to get the results back because they go to S.L.C. At that time we will know for sure what the treatment will be. Thank you for your great comments, love and prayers. Margo

More pictures...

These 4 women are from a family of 10 siblings and they have a special relationship. They are sisters! Can you tell?

These 4 sisters had to put up with 6 brothers. If you have been around any of these brothers for awhile you can just imagine the teasing that went on.

Here they are all grown up and they still tease each other. (Actually I am surprised that there aren't some rabbit ears for some of them sitting in the front.)  ( Maybe John was thinking about it?)

Here is the big sister doing what she does best. Taking car of everyone else.

(Bill is the babe in Margo's arms and John is the little boy to the side.)

Here is big sister Margo helping again. ( I think she was one of Bill's favorites.) I love the hat John has on in this one, isn't this a great picture!

Here are the fine people that started this clan of 10. I think if I was to put a caption to this one it would be,

Ma, I think you forgot the pitch fork!

From right to left, Gilbert, kneeling by the ditch with Jim, little brother John hanging on to Margo's skirt.

If I was to put a caption to this one I think it would be.

Now, should I put my hand on my hip like this, or maybe like this, John, stand back, I can't get both of my hands on my hips.

(Some times I crack myself up!)

Now, remember these are very old pictures and only people that are very old are in them. Sorry Jeryl Dean, I didn't know you were that old!  Who is that old girl sitting on Grandpa's lap?

Okay the caption would be...

Look where? If you don't hurry up and take this picture I am going to have to start eating my hand! and that girl to my left can't take her eyes off of that cake!

Grandpa, Dad, whoever he is to you, is standing in back. Gil, Margo and Jim are standing in front.

Are you ready for the caption?

Gil is saying,"Mom, is it a boy or a girl?"

Margo is saying, " I hope this doesn't take long, I want to go play with my doll. Does the north pole need any more elves?"

Jim is saying," What? I can't hear anything with these muffs over my ears!"

Hope this made you smile!!!

Mar 7th Great News!! Dr. Biddulph just called and said that the cancer has not spread anywhere else that they could see on the PET scan. I still have the lymphoma, so we will find out on the 15th what Dr. Hansen will recommend. It is a low grade now and we hope that it will stay that way. Thank you all for your concerns, thoughts, and prayers. I know that I have been blessed . Love, Margo

PET scan

I had the PET scan today. I have been quite nervous about this, not knowing what to expect. Bennett helped me a lot and then Don gave me a Priesthood Blessing last night assisted by Kevin. I know that it really helped. I stayed calm and relaxed and didn't move. It is difficult to stay still for 40 minutes. but I sang in my head a lot of hymns to keep my mind occupied. Dr. Biddulph should have the resutls in a couple of days, so I figure Monday or Tuesday. Then we can make a plan. I love you all for your support and prayers. Thank You! Love, margo