January 2008 Happy New Year Greetings from the Rossi’s, We are healthy and back to doing what we love…. traveling and making memories. Since Cole has been well, we’ve more than made up for lost time with two fantastic family vacations. We traveled through the Southwestern States and visited five different National Parks. In the summer of 2007, we celebrated Dave’s 50th year with a trip to Switzerland and Italy. It was an honor to introduce our children to their Swiss heritage and to spend time with our wonderful Swiss relatives. Our greatest news is that Cole (9) will be tumor and treatment free two years December 2007. It marks a major milestone for his type of tumor and reduces his odds for reoccurrence. He is doing fabulous and enjoys just being a healthy young boy again. He still enjoys his art and has added drama and music to his activities. He is also back to fighting with his big brother Luke so the daily bickering is back and sweet, sweet music to our ears. Luke (11) is almost as tall as his mom and keeps us busy with his many sporting events. He plays basketball, football and baseball. He enjoys making people laugh and loves to be the center of attention. Troy (24) has grown into a fine young man. He continues to be a big support and a wonderful son and brother. Thanks for checking Cole’s website and for your continued support. We wish you great health and happiness. God Bless, The Rossi’s -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, January 14, 2006 Aloha: It is our last full day in Hawaii and it went by too fast...as it always does. It is a hard place to say goodbye to. We had a wonderful vacation, we found some wonderful beaches, snorkled in some of the clearest water, played with dolphins, walked on beautiful beaches with turtles napping in the sun, and fished some of the best waters in the world. How lucky can you get? We are truly Blessed! I have enclosed a picture of Luke who caught his first marlin. It was a stripped marlin (excellent to eat) and it only weighed about 60 pounds so it was a perfect size for him to bring in. He got to sit in the anglers chair and was strapped to the seat so he could not be pulled in the water. We ate it sashimi style, ceviche style and then BBQ'd it once for dinner and once for lunch. Troy caught a blue marlin that weighed in at about 100 lbs. We tagged and released it so it is swimming free. Although we are sad to leave this beautiful place, we will be glad to see our friends and family (and dog, Mikey) back in Aptos. Mahalo for checking in, Linda -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, January 10, 2006 Aloha, We have landed on the Big Island of Hawaii compliments of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Life is good! In addition to spending time with the dolphins, we took a snorkle trip where Cole jumped off the high dive and was the first to spot a very large eel. We're off today to spend the day by the pool going down a very long water slide. All my best, Linda -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, December 20, 2005 Happy Holidays, I hope everyone is enjoying the true reason for the season. I know I have to constantly remind myself of it everyday so I don’t get caught up in the rush of things. It is a daily struggle this time of year. Cole completed his final treatment on December 9 th. It was a joyous day for all of us and a huge relief to have it behind us. I have included a picture of that day with his two favorite doctors. Dr. Fisher, his neuro-oncologist is on the left and Dr. Schiffman, the pediatric oncology fellow is on the right. Both of these doctors have been fabulous to us and have made our experience much more tolerable because of their compassion. They told us from the beginning that they would be with us every step of the way and they went above and beyond our expectations. We will forever be grateful to them. Cole’s last MRI was in October and showed no signs of Blobby. For the first two years, he will have MRI’s every three months. In addition he will have regular follow-up appointments with his oncologist, audiologist and his endocrinologist so we will remain very connected to Lucille Packard. He has been pretty weakened by his chemotherapy treatments but is recovering well. They monitor his blood every week and so far, his white blood count has been pretty good considering what he has been through. They will continue to monitor it for the next few weeks. He does not have much energy to do the things he normally does so he has spent a lot of time just laying around watching TV and doing homework. He was having a hard time figuring out what he wanted to ask Santa for because he doesn’t feel like playing with toys too much. Finally, he wrote Santa and just asked for a gift card that he could spend once he was feeling better. I’m sure Santa was relieved not to have to make another toy. We are looking forward to the holidays and grateful to all be together. Our most exciting news is that the Make-a-Wish Foundation has granted Cole his wish to swim with dolphins on the Big Island of Hawaii. We leave on January 5 th and will stay for 10 days - 5 days that the Make-a-Wish Foundation will be paying for. I will try and post some pictures on his website and as always, we love to hear from you. We are all so excited and looking forward to our adventure. We have not had a vacation since he was diagnosed in April so we are ready to have some fun together. Thanks for checking in on us and for supporting us through Cole’s situation. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and to live in such a caring community. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a HEALTHY, safe and prosperous New Year. With much love and appreciation, Linda -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, December 4, 2005 Hello: I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  For our family, it was the best ever and the true meaning of the holiday was very heartfelt.  Cole begins his fourth and final series of chemo on Monday.  Because chemotherapy is cumulative, it will be harder on him and his recovery will take longer.  We will get through it however, because we know that it is our last and our spirits are high.  We are so excited to put the treatments behind us, to never forget the lessons we learned, and to be thankful for every healthy day God gives us.  I will be sending updates through the week.  If you do log on, please leave us a quick note to let us know you are there. Here is a link to Cole’s Guestbook. All my best, Linda  Previous Page --->>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.  “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Mark 11:22-24 Cole: C - Courageous O - Optimistic L - Loving E - Endures