The Canfield Family

Chief returns to Fulton

2009-02-20T22:14:00.002-05:00

Friend and former police chief, Mark Spawn, returned to Fulton to award the PD for their aggressive management of sex offenders. He is now working in Albany for the NY State Assoc. of Chiefs of Police. It has been such a long time since we last got to see him, so we were very glad for the chance to spend a few minutes together!

Supper at the Davis'

2009-01-25T18:58:00.002-05:00

Last evening we went to the Davis' for supper and had great food and a great time!

Lambeth-Mills Wedding

2009-01-18T19:11:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we went to Joanna Lambeth and Ryan Mill's wedding. Elizabeth was a bridesmaid and Evangeline was supposed to play the piano, but could not because of her tendonites.

Daddy with Andy and Regina Perkins

Reception

Elizabeth with Joanna

The bride's family

The groom's family

Good-bye for now Zak!

2008-12-29T12:25:00.005-05:00

Zak Dievendorf, a 13-year-old boy with a brain tumor passed away this past Friday morning. Some of you may remember that Evangeline and I did a benefit concert for him this past June (check the June posts). Please pray for the family, as it is a very hard time for all of them! (Above is a picture of us with Zak this past August, at another benefit held in his honor.)

Last Christmas our family started a tradition where each of us three girls would write a story and then read it to the rest of the family on Christmas day. This year all the other girls had written one, but I just couldn't get inspired. So I kept putting it off, and putting it off until Christmas morning when the story kinda' hit me. I honestly can't remember what inspired me to write this, but this story line just unfolded, and it ended up being with Zak in mind. I emailed it to the family Christmas night - I just felt I needed to send it to them then, and not wait. Little did I know Zak would pass away the very next morning. (The story is at the bottom of this post...)

This has been such a hard time for everyone who was blessed to know him....

Zak's obituary:

December 26, 2008 Zachary Dievendorf, 13 years old, of Fulton, lost his battle with cancer on December 26. Having been diagnosed with pon-tine glioma, he was an inspiration to all who knew him. Zachary passed quietly at home in the arms of his family. On May 14, he was called to the mission field with an inoperable brain tumor. This mission took him to St. Jude Children's Hospital, where he received inspired treatment and support. Research associated with Zak's illness was carried out with the hope that it will help other children afflicted with this disease. Over the course of his seven-month battle, Zak demonstrated a strength and faith that belied his age. His sense of humor helped all around him to see the silver lining every day. As Zak's cancer progressed and it became clear that his time on earth was limited, he began reaching out to others with hugs, smiles and words of comfort. It was this giving spirit that will be a part of Zak's legacy to family and loved ones. Zak is survived by his parents, Jennifer (Brown) and Timothy Dievendorf; his sisters, Sarah and Victoria; a brother, Joshua; maternal grandparents, Keeno and Deborah Lampman of Phoenix; and paternal grandparents, Fred and Carol Dievendorf of Fulton. Calling hours will be 2 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, with an 11 a.m. celebration of life on Wednesday. All services will be held at Fulton Alliance Church, Route 48, Fulton. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Zachary Dievendorf Benefit Account, c/o Key Bank, 121 South First Street, Fulton, NY 13069 to help cover expenses. Notes to the family may be left on www.caringbridge. org/visit/zacharydievendorf, as well as view pictures and see Zak's story. Foster Funeral Home, Inc. fosterfuneralhome.com

Zak's mom writes about his passing:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2008 04:47 PM, CST
I started out journaling this morning and it kept erasing, I guess it was becuase Zak wanted me to wait a bit. I woke up from sleeping all night with Zak at my side at 7:30am. By 8:30 he began to breathe differently. By 9am his breathing became very soft and quiet. Tim and I sat by his side for a long time just watching and waiting. Finally we decided to call the gramas and the grampas and they were there quickly. Just about 9:45am Zak had taken his last breath. It was very peaceful. His fight is finally completed. He is the victor. I truly believe he has won and is now celebrating with our Lord and Savior Jesus.
It was very hard to watch him go. We spent a couple hours with him before we called for arrangements. We got him dressed and removed his cathedar and port and saw him as Zak with out all the tubes and stuff. He is now whole.
We have all along believed that Zak was destined for Heaven and we still believe that. I feel he waited to go today so he didn't take anything away from Jesus birthday. He was thoughtful like that.
I am glad it's over but I'm so lost without him. It just doesn't feel real. I am relieved but heartbroken at the same time.
I will leave you all with that for now. Arrangements have not been made yet. We are meeting with the funeral director tommorow morning. That too will be painful I know. It was so hard to just watch them take him today. I couldn't watch and now I know his body is at the Funeral home in waiting. When they came I had to leave the room and not look back. His room was empty and it was the strangest feeling.
We will let you know what happens next as soon as we make plans. We are blessed to have you all praying for us. If you can recall any one liners you remember from Zak please share it here. Zak became quite the comedian over the last 6 months. I will miss that humor. He made us smile and laugh so many times during all this sadness. I just can't believe this is going on. AGGGGGGG!
That's all,
Kicking holes in the kingdom of hell,
Jennifer, Tim and Angel Dizz-zee Zak

2008 Christmas Story)

(It was Christmas morning and everything was covered in white. Delicate snowflakes, both large and small, danced with the swirling wind as if in celebration of this great event.

It wasn't just Christmas, it was the long awaited day when the Railway Express came through the little prairie town. The train made brief stops at every railroad station as it chugged on to "the destination". If a person had enough money to buy a ticket they could get a ride.

Zack stood off to one side of the platform, leaning against the wall of the building, hands shoved deep in his pockets. A crowd of people had gathered to see this magnificent event. No one had seen or ridden on a train before, and how fitting that it should be on Christmas day, the most exciting day of the year.

Zack looked around him. The familiar setting hadn't changed-----rolling prairie hills, as far as the eye could see, were decked out in white as pure and undisturbed as it had ever been. The small depot platform was a bustle of expectant and excited villagers, all hoping their savings would be enough to earn them passage on this great new machine.

Eternity seemed to pass before Zack finally heard a faint rumble. He listened intently, and knew the others did too, by the hushed silence that fell over the chattering group. He listened to the chugging which seemed to continually grow louder and watched with keen interest that small speck in the distance as it grew larger and larger. If only , only he had some money, then he would be able to experience the thrill of riding on that train. Zack knew he hadn't a penny to his name, but his child like faith kept him from loosing hope in Christmas miracles.

The ground began to rumble as the Glory Train Express came chugging up, now a massive bulwork, almost seeming bigger than life. With two loud "toot- toot's" and a screach, it finally haulted to a stop. A cheer errupted from the crowd. "Hip-hip hurrah, hip-hip hurrah", the shouted, as men tossed their hats and women waved and clapped their gloved hands. The long awaited moment had finally arrived.

Swinging down from the front cab, the conductor raised his right hand for the noise to subside.
"Thank you all for greeting the train and me with such a warm welcome. This great beauty behind me represents a sacrifice of time, love and involvement. For the right price I present to each and everyone here the opportunity to ride this magnificant contraption".
He paused and looked into the expectant faces of the townspeople. Everyone held their breath. Who, if anyone would have enough money to buy a ticket?

"For just twenty dollars a person......." and that is as far as he got. Some became angry, but more remained speechless. Zack's heart fell with a thud to the bottom of his socks. No miracle this season, not even the wealthiest person in the entire region could afford a ticket at that price, much less to get one for a young boy. Zack turned away in disappointment, not caring to see anyone.

Then, another voice caught his attention. It wasn't that of the conductor, but yet it still held a note of authority. He paused a moment and glanced back over his shoulder. There standing next to the train was a young man, about 30 years of age, with a countenance remarkably like that of the conductors. Zack had never seen him before, but he didn't have to wait long to find out just who he was.

"Father," the young man began "Let me account for these people's passage. Today, in all honesty, is the day that the greatest gifts are given".

With a solemn nod and "very well" from the elder, the son turned back to the crowd.......
"My gift to you" was all he said before turning back to the train, and opening the passenger car door. He motioned for everyone to step up.

At first everyone stood still, seemingly glued to their spot. But all it took was for one brave soul to step forward before a trickle, and then a stream of passengers began to board the train.
Zack watched all this with amazement. He had never seen anything like it before, in all his born days. He was still standing bewildered by the depot platform, when he roused himself to hear a voice speaking to him.

"Zack", called the conductor's son, holding out his hand. "Come- this is also your time to make this great and wonderous journey."

He was a little afraid, but wondered more at how this man knew his name. Regardless, he was happy to know miracles still happen. With a few shy steps Zack was standing before the young man next to the conductor.

"Up you go" he said, helping Zack reach the train car step. When he did this, he slipped a card into Zach's shabby shirt pocket and motioned him inside. Once inside the car Zack pulled out the little card and read:

"To Zack
The Glory Land Express.
Destination:
Where miracles are eternal,
and disappointments are unknown.
Price: Paid in Full"
All my love,
Yeshua

Zack quickly turned back to see the man who paid his price in full. He was nowhere to be seen. The conductor, seeing his disappointment, smiled and called out, "One in the same, one in the same".

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

2008-12-25T22:12:00.001-05:00

Concert update...

2008-12-20T11:16:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

One thing you have to worry about in New York is - yes, you guessed it - snow storms! Much to our utter dismay we had a big storm last night and had to cancel our concert. I cried for a good bit of the afternoon! However, we were able to reschedule it for tonight, so it's not like all of our efforts were in vain!

So anyway, if anyone is interested, it will be held tonight (Saturday) at the Fulton Christian Missionary Church at 6:30 PM. Hope to see some of you there!

The dejected little performer,
E

2nd Annual Christmas Concert

2008-12-10T14:23:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! Here is a picture of the poster I did for an upcoming Christmas Concert. If you think of it, say a little prayer for us - we're both having trouble with tendonitis, so we haven't been able to practice . With the concert only about a week away, I'm getting worried.

Thanksgiving with the Elseys

2008-12-09T16:54:00.002-05:00

We also spent Thanksgiving day in Meadville with the Elsey clan at Jonathan and Madeline Elsey's house. There were 27 of us there and we feasted sumptuously. (Daddy has been friends with the Elsey family for 35 years). We are pictured here with Grandma Elsey, who was going to be leaving on Monday to go live with son Stephen in Missouri.

Thanksgiving Eve in Meadville PA

2008-12-09T16:07:00.005-05:00

Thursday evening we met with Dad's friends, Dan and Janis Seely for supper in PA. Prior to our trip Mrs. Seely had asked us to come over to her church, which was not far from the restaurant and play the piano for her. We agreed, not realizing that we would be performing a mini-recital for many more people than just Janice. She jokingly said she had invited 25 people to come, completely in jest. However, 'so-and -so' told 'so-and-so' who brought 'so-and-so'. We ended up having quite the little audience! We had a nice time, though!

Dan and Janice Seely with our mom and dad.

Us twins with two 'blog fans', Steve and Leslie Blackwelder who came to our mini concert. :)

Giving thanks for God's great blessings!

2008-11-25T21:38:00.003-05:00

All of us have many, many things to be thankful for; but for us, this year has been especially blessed by God. He has granted the return of our father's health, something which is nothing short of a miracle! After a long and stressful journey, our dad is now pretty much back to normal, going to estate sales, auctions, etc. So to all those who are wondering, he is doing great, and we thank God for how he has blessed us. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Evangeline - my twin... my waitress...my comic relief...

2008-11-23T17:24:00.004-05:00

Evangeline is such a dear - and just because she's my twin doesn't keep me from thinking she's hilarious! Yesterday was an example of both such "Evangeline" adjectives.....

Daddy and I had just parked in the driveway - we had been out for most the afternoon -when I got out of the van and happened to glance over at the neighbor's house...Then, who should I see emerging from their house but Evangeline, prancing down their stairs in MY high heeled boots and pressed apron with Batenburg lace! (You're probably thinking, "What in the world?" - that's OK because I was thinking the very same thing!) She proceeded to march me in the house, up the stairs and to our room. There I was greeted with a sign posted above our doorway - "The White Sands Hotel" (those of you who've seen the Road to Avonlea will get the connection).

Evangeline opened the door, ushered me in, sat me at a VERY elegantly decorated table and pronounced that she would be my waitress. Beside the table was a large menu.... Each word was embellished with Evangeline-styled French flair - "La" this, or "De" that.....

Now I must interrupt this narrative to say, quite honestly, I have never been served before by a waitress that acted quite like she did! She was grinning from ear to ear, almost bursting with enthusiasm and completely enthralled with her "delightful surprise"! (It was kinda' funny too, she looked a lot like someone I know......Come to think of it - she looked JUST LIKE ME!!!!!) Creepy!

OK - back on topic..... Dearest Evangeline proceeded to serve me one delicious course after another. The best part was the dessert though. While I downed the sweets, Emily scratched my back and Evangeline read me this poem she "wrote while trying to make the soup"..... Here is the poem:

A LADY

A lady, oh so fair,

Blessed with grace and flowing hair.

Sweet and smile pass with zest,

Through all, lacked not the best.

She was a lady, oh so fair,

She was a lady with much flair.

Her name~ Lady Elizabeth

When she read this to me I laughed so ridiculously hard that I most certainly looked ANYTHING but the picture of "a fair lady" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, what a twin I have....You don't know what you're missing by not having a sister like her! Life is grand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then and now - Emily and Hannah

2008-11-03T17:27:00.004-05:00

Then..........

Now........

Best Buds....

2008-11-02T15:59:00.002-05:00

Emily and Hannah... Those two girls are so much alike it's hilarious! With Hannah being here for two weeks it allowed us to get a good look at just how much those two are really alike! True to their nature, neither Emily nor Hannah like to get up in the morning, and both would sleep in 'til a very ungodly hour should they be allowed to. Too cute!

Field trip to the police station...

2008-11-02T15:38:00.002-05:00

While Jonathan and Hannah were still here we set up a field trip at the police station. They really enjoyed getting to see everything in the station, including the jail part :) ! Incidentally, what they thought was a harmless cell viewing turned into a regular old lockup experience!

Em and Hannah outside the station...

Officer Jones who gave us the tour....

Then and Now..... (Cousins Jonathan Kline and the Twins)

2008-11-02T14:50:00.012-05:00

Then....

...and now....

Everson Piano Concert.....

2008-11-01T09:38:00.003-05:00

(Evangeline)

Dr. Robert Auler and Tim Lanigan

Elizabeth

The three performing students of Dr. Auler..

(Outside the museum...)

As we have mentioned before, Evangeline and I have been performing the four Chopin Ballades with our piano teacher and one other student. (This past Wednesday was our last Ballades concert.) It was part of CNY's Civic Morning Musicales concert series held in the auditorium of Syracuse's Everson Museum. We had a great turnout considering the weather (it snowed that day) and everyone did well. We did take a video of it, but the camera doesn't record very well so it made our playing sound very jerky and harsh. Someone (I think) will be making a DVD of it, so if we can get a copy I will try to post it. If not, we may just put the not-so-good recording on so you can at least get an idea of how it went......

Cousins...

2008-11-01T09:29:00.001-05:00

Twin cousins

Swearing in ceremony for the Canfield Detective Agency...

2008-11-01T09:19:00.003-05:00

Emily signing her CDA certificate....

Jonathan signing his certificate....

Hannah becoming an agent....

Evangeline swearing herself in.....

The Twins Demonstrating a karate move (or at least trying to)...

During the time that the Klines were here we had a special swearing in ceremony for the CDA. We each had to swear to uphold the CDA's oath of office, sign our certificates, receive badges, and watch a training video. The Canfield Detective Agency is officially expanding! :)

"Spanish" Hoe-down!

2008-11-01T08:56:00.002-05:00

Evangeline, Jonathan and Elizabeth

Princesses Emily and Hannah

Tough dude

Friday evening we kids (Jonathan, Hannah, Emily, Evangeline and I) had a regular old "Spanish" hoe down! Our parents were gone for the evening (I can't remember why) so we had complete reign of the fort! It was a blast! We moved all of the furniture in the living room to the side and out of the way so we wouldn't run into anything. After we all got dressed up, Jonathan played the fiddle while we girls clomped around the center of the room. It was hilarious!

After we all wore ourselves out from playing, we each took turns putting on a skit, telling a story, or playing some music. Then, after that we sat around and talked until 2 o'clock in the morning. (Our dad went to sleep at our grandparents house that night because he knew he wouldn't get any sleep!) It was a blast!

Em's B-day...

2008-11-01T08:48:00.003-05:00

(Evangeline drew this violin picture for her...)

For Emily's birthday we had all the relatives that live around here come over to help us celebrate. (Above in the pictures are some of the gifts that she got...) Love you Em - Happy Birthday!

Random Pics from their stay....

2008-10-30T12:09:00.002-05:00

Emily and Hannah (twins cousins) playing a game together.. Elizabeth and Jonathan sharing secrets...

Back seat passengers...

Jonathan and Evangeline playing music together....

One loaded couch!

Company!!!!

2008-10-25T15:47:00.004-05:00

Many of you may be wondering why we have not put anything on our blog for quite some time... Well, the reason is that we have some awesomely fun company visiting us - our cousins Jonathan and Hannah Kline! They have been here for a week, and get to stay until Friday of next week! How awesome is that?! We planned it as a surprise for Emily's 15th birthday -she had no idea we were doing this, although we almost let it slip half a million times! Our excuse for going out without her was that we were going to do her birthday shopping and didn't want her around. We picked them up at the airport and brought them back - and had them walk through the front door. You should have seen the look on Em's face when she saw them. We got a video of it so if I can upload it you can see how ecstatic she was! It was so cute!

Needless to say we were very excited ourselves! I must admit that we made quite the scene at the terminal when we picked them up. Picture this: Twin girls, wearing the exact same clothes, grinning gleefully from ear to ear, and grasping each other's hand practically flying from one end of the airport to the other, trying to find the correct pickup gate. We must have looked hilarious! In fact, people did stare at us like we were a two-headed cow of some sort, and didn't in the least try to hide their stares! People would turn and stare at us and smile, security guards would poke each other and point at us like "take a look at that!".......One man passed us and asked if we were twins (duh) and when we replied in the affirmative, he went on down the terminal going "No way!"......Another man going up the escalator saw us and said "Oh my...." and stopped what he was going to say. It was so funny!

We've been having a blast - we'll be posting pictures of things we've done together......

Election Time.....Hobe Sound.........1980

2008-10-21T15:23:00.002-05:00

Two weeks from today is election day. Ever since we were todlers, mommy and daddy would take us with them when they voted and would let us pull the levers. Next year we will finally be able to vote ourselves!

Daddy says that elections here in NY are boring compared to FL. Is is a given that NY will go to the DemocRATS (as Aunt Lily would say) so neither side bothers campaigning here. Daddy has all these neat stories of the campaigns in FL when he was teaching 7th grade at Hobe Sound. There were all kinds of rallies and he would love to take his class on field trips, and even some after school rallys. One time he took a few high school guys to a Mondale rally in a heavily Jewish community in the Palm Beach area. Another time his class showed up to a very formal press club meeting with national candidates on both sides speaking. They were the only "children" there and were creating quite a stir.

The above picture is from a Paula Hawkins rally that they were headed to in West Palm Beach. She was running for the US Senate Seat in Florida and one of the girls mother in the class had a special connection with her and arranged for our class to have a special meeting with her after. You may notice some familiar faces here. Kenny Hobbs is the one with buttons all up and down his tie and shirt......and of course, there is Mary Ellen.

We hope that daddy's interest in politics was passed down to his students and they are active voters today.

Richland Camp.....(2 months late)

2008-10-09T17:08:00.004-05:00

Yes, this is about 2 months old, but we've been rather busy.
L-R: Bro. & Sis. Sams, Bro. & Sis. Hutchinson-preachers , Bro. & Sister Miller-singers

Mrs. Blowers and the twins

One night the evangelist/singers volunteered to work in the dinning hall for us.

Life does go on!

2008-10-08T19:44:00.003-05:00

As the saying goes, "Life moves on..." - that's especially true with

our performing schedule! Things have been very busy here with

all the piano events! Evangeline and I are performing the four

Chopin Ballades with our piano professor and one other college

student (above photo). We have been (and will be) taking the

Ballades on a "mini tour". Last Thursday we performed at the

University, this Monday we'll be playing in Watertown, NY

(about and hr. and a half from our place), next Thursday at the

college again, and then Oct. 29th for a concert series in Syracuse.

Doesn't that sound exhausting? Well, it should - personal

experience affirms it! Fun yes, but tiring! We also found out last

night that we'll be recording with and oboist this Friday! Our

poor Dad has about had it with our practicing! (But don't worry,

we do let him get an occasional nap -ha!!!!!)

In the photo (L-R)

- Evangeline (Chopin Ballade No. 1)

- Elizabeth (Chopin Ballde No. 2)

- Timothy Lanigan (Chopin Ballade No. 3)

- Dr. Robert Auler ( Chopin Ballade No. 4)

Sketches from our camping trip....

2008-10-08T19:19:00.003-05:00

While our parents were at Johns Hopkins our aunt and uncle (and cousins) took us with them camping. It was a lot of fun! We didn't have a camera with us, so we drew pictures instead.... One of our favorite happenings while on the trip was when we got chipmunks to eat right out of our hands! That was fun! We also got to go kayaking, which was a first! A tree stump.......... by Evangeline

"The Campfire" by Elizabeth

After 1 Week being Home.

2008-10-03T11:31:00.003-05:00

Just an update on Daddy. Here he is with all the cards that he has received so far. THANKS!

To answer some of your questions. The kind of pancreatic cancer he has is called Islet cell, which only makes up 5% of all pancreatic cancers, and thankfully is the slow growing one. It does not respond to cemo or radiation so thankfully Daddy won't have to go through any of that.

The Whipple surgery he had, removed the tumor and 27 surrounding lymph nodes. Since the cancer was found in 3 of the lymph nodes, there is concern that it could come back in liver, so Daddy has to have regular CT scans every 6 months.

Things should soon be getting back to normal around here and we will share some of our other family happenings. We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends who have shown their love in so many ways!!

2008-09-27T16:14:00.001-05:00

Click the previous video simultaneously to get the sound...

Journey of Hope...

2008-09-27T11:51:00.002-05:00

A slide show of Daddy before and after he had Whipple surgery.

(sorry it is so fuzzy-we'll post some pictures later)

2008-09-23T20:09:00.006-05:00

HE'S
COMING
HOME
FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"NEWS FLASH : tomorrow dad scheduled to be released

2008-09-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Some good news today - our Dad is scheduled to be released from the hospital tomorrow! It came as a surprise to all of us, to say the least.....after our parents get to the motel they will have to stay in the area for approx. 4-5 days just to make sure everything is fine. We were able to talk to our dad twice today for the first time in about a weak! It sure was great to hear his voice - he sounded tired, but said today was a better day for him.

We got more details from the doctor........... out of the 27 lymph nodes they took out, 3 were found with the cancer cells. Of all the pancreatic cancers, this one is the "best"....if you can call any cancer ''the best" ! :) It is a very rare but slow growing kind.............in fact, the doctor said the tumor has been growing for approx. two years! Imagine that! Also, an interesting thing my mom told us............the surgery incision was a FOOT LONG! Gracious!

Anyway, that is the news for now........thank you all for your prayers and comments (keep 'em comin' !)

Update from our mom.......

2008-09-22T14:54:00.000-05:00

Dr. Burns, the oncologist talked to Doug and I this morning. He asked Doug what symptoms he had had that lead to the discovery that he had pancreatic cancer. The pathologist's report showed that the tumor had "eyelet" cells (spelling?????)which produce too much insulin. All of the tumor was removed. The margin around the tumor was good (meaning not diseased). Some of these cells were found in some lymph nodes that were removed. Before leaving J.H.U. Hospital, Doug must have a scan to determine if there are any "blood markers" present. In 3-4 weeks he will need to have another scan to compare the amount of "blood markers". We were told that Doug would be watched closely every 3 to 6 months for five years. If there is any evidence that there is a return of the cancer, it most likely be in the liver.

Doug's cancer is rare. Dr. Burns said that he must find a good oncologist in NY to follow the scans. If the cancer returns, he recommends that Doug come back to J.H.U.Hospital.

Dr. Burns strongly recommends that Doug go to a genetic counselor for testing. There are syndroms that involve the thyroid and pancreas (which Doug has had cancer in both organs). He said it could have implications on the children. Today blood will be drawn for this testing (to see if there are any "blood markers" present). This test will be used for a BASELINE for later comparison.

Dr. Burns will see us again tomorrow.

Doug is looking and feeling much better. He was able to shower for the first time in a week and shampoo his hair! He has been able to sit in the family room for almost an hour and chat with other people who are waiting for a father to have the whipple proceedure. We are very thankful that Doug is on this side of the operation and recovery process!

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Doug, the girls and I. All of the love and care has been so uplifting. We are thankful for the family of God! Each one of us are growing in patience, faith and hope. God bless all of you above all that you can ask or think.

Love,
Ethel

2008-09-18T11:38:00.001-05:00

We're back! We were gone for the weekend with our aunt and uncle (and cousins) camping in the Adirondack Mountains. We had a wonderful time! The campsite was by the lake - it was a gorgeous spot!

As for our dad - we haven't talked to our mom yet today, but I heard from our grandpa that today was better for him than previous ones. Friday when we talked to Mom she said it was the worst day he had had. ( The 3rd/4th days after major surgeries are usually the worst.) He was in so much pain he could hardly stand it. Yesterday was a bit better though - thank the Lord! We're going to talk to Mom tonight and will know then how today went. Grandpa Canfield actually got to talk to Daddy today ( I think Daddy tried to call here but we weren't back yet....). When we do actually get to talk to Daddy I think I'm going to cry and cry! It's been soooo long!

Thank you to all who have sent cards, e-mails and flowers! The support means a lot!

I do have to tell you something funny though before I go..... As some of you know, last week prior the the camping trip we stayed here at the house by ourselves. No problem, right? Well, not quite. We were doing quite nicely until Wednesday night when a little incident happened that spooked us nearly to death. Now if we were 100% level headed people we would have had no problem, but as is the case we're about 85% imagination and 15% common sense. (Well, at least that night!)

The deal was this - for two nights in a row when we came home we found our bedroom light on when we knew it was off when we left the house. The first night it didn't bother us, but when it happened again, we completely freaked out! We were to scared to go to bed (or sleep for that matter) so we decided to stay up all night and keep watch! Yep - and we did it too.... We made it from about 10:30 when we got home until 4 o'clock in the morning. After that we couldn't keep our eyes open and conked out on the hard living room floor. We slept for about 4 hrs then had to get up to pack for camping...... When we told our mom about it the next day (she is usually unsympathetic to such causes!) she was quiet for forever and then said we wouldn't want to know what she was thinking! Imagine that! Her poor children were up practically all the night and she didn't feel sorry for us one bit because "our imaginations were running away with us!" We never did figure out why the lights were on....... Oh,well! :)

Hopefully more later....
E

Hospital Address...

2008-09-18T11:20:00.004-05:00

OK, for everyone asking for Daddy's address, here it is:

Douglas Canfield
c/o The Johns Hopkins Hospital
room 317
600 N Wolfe Street
Halstead 600
Baltimore, MD 21287

We will not be able to update the blog until Sunday evening - my apologies! Check back here then for the weekend's report........sorry I can't write more, but we have to run. Thank you for your continued prayers! Say a quick one for our mom today if you think of it. She's had one of those "everything-goes-wrong" days - this morning the toilet overflowed, she locked herself out of her room, and the waffles she made for breakfast stuck to the top and bottom of the maker and had to scrape if off the metal.... all this before 11:30 this morning!

Love you all!
the girls

Wednesday update.............

2008-09-17T11:25:00.000-05:00

"We arrived about 8:40 and are able to stay with Doug the entire time.The doctors say he is doing very well. He has taken a walk. They plan to move him out of ICU later today.It’s now 11:20, and Chris and I are about to leave to go back to New York. Ethel’s parents and sister, Glenna, should arrive shortly to spend the day with them.Doug and Ethel would like to express thanks and appreciation for all the prayers, care and concern that have been shown to them by so many."

Last update for the night.......

2008-09-16T21:10:00.003-05:00

I just finished talking to our mom.............she filled us in on the details, but we received an e-mail from our Aunt with the info. already typed up, so I will copy it here.

Remember us in your prayers, too (as I know many of you have, for which we are very thankful!). Honestly, this whole ordeal from the beginning until now seams more like a dream than anything else - so unreal. I just want our mom be here to give us hugs and our dad to be all healthy again. But God knows and there is absolutely no question that God has been, and will be with us as we travel the pathway He's charted out for us! Above all, we are just so thankful that God has brought Daddy though......and as my grandmother said tonight, we just "want to thank the Lord every day for the rest of out lives" for giving us the jem called "hope" - and for continuing to grant us the gift called "father".

Dad is not in his own room yet - still in ICU, but when he gets his own room number we will post his address on the blog.

"
7:50 Still no news, so Ethel went to the desk and asked. The patient representative checked and said that Doug had reached ICU but that the nurses were busy. She suggested we just go into the ICU if we had not heard anything by 8:15.
8:15 We went into ICU. We were all allowed to go to Doug’s room. The nurse was still busy doing an assessment but said she did not mind if we were there. The room is large and as pleasant as ICU could be.
Ethel said he looked much better than earlier. Doug said the pain was not quite as bad but was still obviously severe.
He was uncomfortable from laying on his back all day. The nurse said they would be turning him every two hours. They turned him partially on his side at 8:35.
Doug was thirsty. The nurse gave Ethel a cup of water and little sponges on sticks Ethel could soak in the water, then let Doug suck the moisture from them.

It was almost 9:00 when we prayed with him and left for the night.

Dr. Cameron will visit Doug between 5 and 6 in the morning. We can see him at 8:30.

Thank you for your prayers. We are all very tired, but the day went very well."

Thanks for all your prayers and support,
Elizabeth, Evangeline, and Emily

In Recovery.......

2008-09-16T20:10:00.002-05:00

Here is the last update we got from our aunt (below). It sounds like he is in a lot of pain - I'd appreciate if you would specifically pray for the pain to subside! I know it's all apart of the "must-go-through" process, but I can't stand thinking of him in so much pain! It was really hard to read the last e-mail!

3:20 We arrived at the Weinberg waiting area and learned that there was not a room in the Weinberg ICU so they had not brought Doug here.

3:30 We went back to the waiting room on the seventh floor of the Osler building (where we had been in the morning). We were told that he had arrived in the recovery room at 3:01 and were told they he would not be allowed a visit for at least an hour. They said they would let us know.

5:00 We still had not heard anything, so Ethel went and asked the patient representative. She called. The nurse called back and told Ethel she could come for 5 minutes.

5:05 Ethel got in to visit Doug.He had an oxygen mask, and it was hard for her to hear him.He was moaning from the pain. (They were told the day before that the pain would be excruciating.) He was constantly pushing the morphine button and could not get more. (It was set to only allow him to get more every ten minutes.) The nurse was going to talk to the doctor about increasing it.He was puffy around the face and ears from all the fluids they put in him during surgery. (They were told to expect this as well.)He will be transferred to the Weinberg ICU by life support.

5:25 Ethel got back to the waiting room – happy that they had allowed her about 20 minutes before sending her away.

5:30 The patient representative received a call saying they were taking him to the Weinberg building.

Surgery Almost Done......(praise the Lord!)

2008-09-16T12:05:00.003-05:00

"1:20 Dr. Cameron just came out and met with us.They did the Whipple surgery and are closing now.The tumor was the size of a walnut. The margins were clear, and there was no spread.He said there were no surprises. Everything went well. Doug will be transferred to the Weinburg Intensive Care Unit (a different building in the Johns Hopkins complex from where we are now).Dr. Cameron told us to take a break and go to the Intensive Care unit there on the third floor between
3:30 and 4:00 and someone would let us know there when we could see Doug."

10:40 Update....

2008-09-16T09:52:00.001-05:00

10:40 Doug is stable, and everything is going fine.

8:4Update

2008-09-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

"8:45 We were just told the surgery began at 8:38. Doug is stable, and everything is going fine."

Tuesday morning update....(from our aunt )

2008-09-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

5:00 left hotel
5:30 Doug checked in
5:45 Doug called in for prep
6:50 Family of Doug Canfield was calledFirst, they showed us directions to the waiting room where we would be while Doug was in surgery. Then they took us to the pre-op room to see him.Doug said he wished we could have been with him during that time, because he learned so much.He said a physician’s assistant, Heather Hall, had spent a fair amount of time with him. She said that she is the person who will answer his questions. She used charts to go through and explain the entire procedure to him, all the tubes he’d have, etc. She also gave him a web site for patient family discussion boards, etc.He said recovery would be 6 weeks to 2 months. He will be very weak and tired. Even food won’t taste the same, because everything in his body will be working to heal it.Heather told Doug that he’s about the healthiest patient they’ve ever had.Dr. Cameron also visited Doug at some point during this time.Either Heather or Dr. Cameron, he didn’t say who, told him that the greatest risks are infection and bleeding and that there are no alternatives for this surgery.
6:53 Jeanette, a nurse who will be with him today came in and verified information with him (who he was, who his doctor is, etc.) She said that she is the one who will give the patient representative updates during surgery. She said we will get the first update after the room is set up and they are ready to begin. After that, we will get updates every two hours.Doug already had an IV in, and they had told him that they would give him his thyroid medicine tomorrow through the IV. He said they had also given him a shot in the stomach to prevent blood clots.
7:03 The anesthesiologist came and asked some more questions. We were in a small area, so we weren’t close enough to hear any details, but she explained to Doug the anesthesia procedures they would do.
7:05 Another doctor came.
7:08 They took Doug to the operating room.At that point the rest of us came to the designated waiting room. It is a nice room with a patient representative at a counter. She took Doug’s name and asked our relationship. She said that she did not expect the surgery would really get started until
8:30 and suggested we go downstairs and get some breakfast. She is the one who will give us the updates during surgery. We have done that and are now back in the waiting room.

Monday update on our Dad

2008-09-15T19:12:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

Our parents made it safely to Maryland yesterday evening about 7:00. Before they left, we all sang "Through It All" with Daddy playing the piano, just as we have done for about as long as I can remember. Believe me, it was tough to say goodbye, but we got through it. Last evening a bad storm hit - extreme winds, power shortages, and downed trees. Needless to say, it didn't help our first night any, and we woke up more tired than when we went to bed!

Aunt Windy and Uncle Chris will be spending the next few days down there with Mom and Dad, and Aunt Windy will be sending us updates from her computer. We received two e-mails from her today and will post them here:

8:00 Boarded the shuttle van from the hotel to Johns Hopkins. (We had to tell them which entrance we wanted, because the Johns Hopkins complex is comprised of numerous buildings covering several blocks.)

8:20 Arrived at the Caroline (Outpatient) Entrance and after a brief discussion at a preliminary desk were directed to a lower level for admitting. At that desk he learned that he first needed to go to another building to take care of some financial matters. A nice lady led us back up a different elevator, down some long halls, up a couple escalators and down another hall. At that office Shirley, whom Doug had spoken with on the phone before coming to Maryland, met him and took care of the paperwork.

9:15 Shirley led us back down the escalator, corridors, etc. and tried to send us up to the fourth floor. Fortunately we remembered that the people on the lower level said we needed to come back there. So, we thanked Shirley for her help and went back downstairs. There Doug had more paperwork to complete.

9:45 Doug and Ethel were called in for a briefing on what is ahead.Dr. Cameron has done more of these procedures than anyone else in the world.The average surgery time is 10-12 hours, but for Dr. Cameron it is 6-8 hours.Dr. Cameron usually does these surgeries in the cancer center, but because he did not want to wait for an opening, so he is doing it in one of the surgery units in the main hospital.While Doug had read that surgery cannot be completed for 40-60% of patients with this condition, this has happened in only 5 out of the 200 surgeries Dr. Cameron has done this year.They will give us updates about every 90 minutes during the surgery.As he is recovering, Doug will have about five tubes including a catheter and a tube running from his neck to the surgical area for drainage, etc..Doug will have a private room.Doug will be up walking the day after surgery, and it is important for him to be up and walking a lot during the days following surgery to keep him from getting blood clots and to get his system working normally again.The hospital stay should be 8-10 days. Then he should stay here in the hotel for 3-4 days.11:15 With the orientation completed, we headed up to the fourth floor for a chest x-ray.12:00 Back down to the first floor for blood work.Everybody has been very helpful and good at explaining things.The hospital has a (somewhat slow) wireless Internet connection. I cannot send/receive email normally, but if you receive this, it will mean I was able to do so in a somewhat convoluted way.

E-mail #2:

We just got back to the hotel. Here’s the news for the rest of the day.

The 12:00 “blood work” I mentioned in the last email was also an EKG.

1:40 finished downstairs and went up to the seventh floor for a 2:00 appointment with Dr. Cameron

2:00 We (all four of us) went into an exam room to wait for Dr. Cameron. While we were waiting Doug and Ethel told us a few more things they found out earlier.

The biopsy they will take on the lymph nodes won’t be conclusive for 5 days.
The incision will be from the bottom of the breastbone to just below the navel.
During the first 48 hours after surgery Doug will have a morphine pump to administer his own pain killer. (They have it set so he can’t overdose.) After the pump is removed he will need to ask for pain medicine when he wants it.

2:15 Dr. Cameron came in.
He asked Doug about his medical history.
He said Dough will be in intensive care overnight. The next day they will move him to a room where he will stay for 6-8 days. When he gets out he needs to stay in the area for 3 or 4 more days.
He said that Doug is healthy and should sail right through the surgery without a problem. However, he did caution that while 90% of the time when the tests have shown that the tumor is clear of the blood vessels (which is what Doug’s have shown), those test results are correct. 10% of the time it does not turn out to be, and in that case they cannot to the surgery as planned.
He said that he will come talk to us in the waiting room when the surgery it done.
They will know the results of the biopsy when Doug wakes up. (This must be the biopsy of the tumor given what they were told about lymph nodes above.)

Doug said to be sure to tell you that he is very encouraged after meeting and talking with Dr. Cameron.

Since, we heard from Dad after our earlier email, we know it went through. So, we should be able to send you updates tomorrow with that method and plan to do so each time we get an update during surgery. Assuming the surgery starts as planned at 7:30, I hope we may have an update out to you by 9:30.

We plan to leave for the hospital at 5:00 tomorrow to have Doug there before 5:30. We will drive our car rather than taking the shuttle and park at the hospital for the day.

We will be talking to our parents about 4:45 tomorrow before they leave for the hospital. Our last farewells before the surgery....

We will be posting updates as we get them so keep checking. Tomorrow is the day when Daddy will need the most prayer . I told Dad last night not to worry about about the surgery because yes, he does have the best Whipple surgeon in the world, but more importantly he has the Greatest Physician watching over him. With God guiding the surgeons hand, there is no such thing as mistake. Everything that God allows to come into our lives are apart of the bigger plan he has for us, and whatever that plan is, he gives us strength to endure.

Before I close I want to leave you all with the words of the song we sang together just before they left. I took a video of it but Mom has the camera so you'll have to wait until another time to see it. Needless to day it was hard to get through singing it! (This was also the song that I found opened to on the piano when we got back home from camp - the day we found out that Daddy had a tumor.) Here are the words...

" I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions
for tomorrow, There've been times I didn't know right from
wrong: But in every situation God gave blessed consolation
That my trials come to only make me strong.

I thank God for the mountains, And I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through; For if I'd never
had a problem I wouldn't know that He could solve them, I'd never know
what faith in God could do.

Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned
to trust in God; Through it all, through it all, I've learned to
depend upon His Word. "

In His love,
Elizabeth, Evangeline and Emily

Surgery Scheduled for Tuesday Sept 16. 7:30 AM

2008-09-12T11:11:00.006-05:00

Sunday at noon, Uncle Chris and Aunt Windy will be leaving to take Mommy and Daddy to Baltimore MD to Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has the pre-0p testing and meets with the surgeon most of the day Monday. His surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 7:30.

The picture above is of the actual surgeon doing the same Whipple procedure that he will do on daddy. He has done more Whipple operations than any other person in the world. Since it is a very long and delicate surgery, we are glad that daddy has the best.

Daddy has gradually been gaining strength and his appetite has been coming back. His pain medication helps him function alot better than he was a few weeks ago, and he is more like himself.

We can't tell you how much so many of you have been such a blessing to us in so many ways. Remember us in your prayers Tuesday morning and on into the afternoon.

Update...

2008-09-06T11:14:00.003-05:00

Daddy and Evangeline during prayer in the afternoon service

at Richland Camp (mid August).

Hello everyone!

Thanks for all the comments - hearing from you all gives us something to look forward to!

We're hanging' in here, but sometimes only by a thread! :) We're still working on the process of getting Dad into Johns Hopkins, but are running into some problems. Mainly - the secretaries who say they have send his report actually have not (long story but it's been going on since last Thursday) and we can't get him into the hospital without the reports. It's extremely frustrating to say the least, and time is of utmost importance! Please make this a matter of prayer!

Also, our mom is now facing some possible health issues, but I don't want to say until we find out for sure. She's going for tests on Tuesday, so we should know more then...? At this point we don't know if it is serious or not, but you can pray for her too while you're at it.

As for us girls - we aren't sick yet (as far as we know), but by the way things are going, you can just about expect something to happen! :)

Thanks again for all your prayers and support! We love you all!
E

Please pray for Daddy!

2008-08-29T07:41:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone......It's been a very long time since we posted a blog entry, but I think the occasion calls for letting everyone know what's been going on with our family.

It began about a month and a half ago when our Dad started feeling pain in his left front-side area. When he first went to the doctor they thought it was just a urinary tract infection, and gave Daddy antibiotics to take care of it. However, the medicine didn't help any, so he went back and had some more extensive tests done. Meanwhile he kept getting sicker and sicker, had energy loss, and got jaundice. (Yellowing of the eyes and skin.) The tests showed that there was something obstructive in the bile duct, but they couldn't tell whether it was a stone or a tumor. They scheduled Daddy to have a scope put inside of him so they could tell which it was. The day we got back from camp meeting (August 18th) was the day he had it done, and that's when we found out he has a tumor. The doctors concluded that it looked like bile duct cancer - you can Google it, I don't feel like explaining it all right now.

Anyway, on Fridya (August 23) they went back in via scope to see how far it's spread, and to tell for sure just exactly what it was (is).... Normally the tumor has spread by the time they find it, so it is too late. But thank the Lord when they went in it didn't look as if it had spread! They had to send away for the lab report, so the doctors still didn't know for sure if it was cancer, and wouldn't until they got the results back.

That brings me to yesterday when our parents went in to see the doctor to get the test results and to decide what to do next. That's when the doctor said it isn't bile duct cancer like they had thought, but rather pancreatic cancer, and he's 95% sure. And that's how things stand right now. The next step is to try to get him into Johns Hopkins Hosptial ASAP for a Whipple operation. (You can look that up too.) If you read about it you'll see they wont even know if it will work until they actually go in and see just where the cancer is and where it's spread (if it has). They can only complete is in 40-60 percent of the people they open up. It is a very extensive operation taking 10-12 hours, and a very long hospital stay.

Right now Daddy is in constant pain, has no appetite, and hardly any energy.

We desperately need your prayers, as we have a very long and hard journey ahead of us. Thank you to all who have called or written saying we are in your thoughts and prayers. We have a great group of friends.

But, God is with us, and God is good!

Elizabeth Anne

Camp-out at the Wilsons!

2008-07-18T15:17:00.011-05:00

Lucas, Evangeline, Joshua and Emily in the barn...
Lucas resting on the hay pile
The guy on top (Joshua)
Sweet Elizabeth with her catch....
On second thought, maybe not so sweet!

The troops hiking through the fields...
Joshua, Evangeline and Emily in the stream.
The gang (Minus me)!
Joshua doing the dead man's float....
Burrr! The water's cold!

Outside our tents in the back yard....
Camp-out provisions....
One tough dude! ( Joshua agreed to take our mattress to our tent for us - it was quite the load!) Eating popcorn and smores around the campfire.......

Evangeline, Josh and Lucas operating the water balloon launcher! (Can you guess what the target was?)
Ready.......aim.....pull back..........get those cows!
Joshua
That balloon had quite the ride, let me tell you!

This past Wednesday we went to the Wilson's house for a camp-out. To say we had a blast would be an understatement! From the minute we got there to the minute we left, it was non-stop action. Being city gals, the barn was a novelty to us - we spent hours there playing with the animals (brave Elizabeth actually crawled - or I should say fell - into the pig pen and held a pig!), and even played "spies" there at the barn after midnight!

"For amber waves of grain........."

2008-07-12T10:03:00.003-05:00

Elizabeth took this picture as the sun was setting over the lake...

Concert at the Fort....

2008-07-12T09:50:00.003-05:00

Sisters..

Every year the SSO (Syracuse symphony Orchestra)

puts on a free concert at a for in Oswego. It was a beautiful evening with great patriotic songs!!

Happy Birthday Silas....

2008-07-12T09:32:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday was our cousin's birthday party.

The birthday boy.....
Elizabeth and Aunt Jen
Silas's Birthday cake

Silas with a rope we gave him for his birthday ( for "mountain climbing" we do together). Unfortunately, the whole house (including the pets) will probably suffer tremendously through a LOT of mischief ( Aunt Jen said he can even turn a Cotton ball into mischief!) .

Aunt Jen and Uncle John

Tea with our piano teacher...

2008-07-12T09:01:00.005-05:00

Evangeline, Mrs. Yerton, Elizabeth, and me by our piano.
Mrs. Yerton with a sandwitch keyboard the twins made.
Elizabeth, Mrs. Yerton, me (in the back) , and Evangeline

The twins invited their former (my current) piano teacher for tea. It was lots of fun!

Visit from Hobe Sound........

2008-07-08T18:06:00.004-05:00

Sitting around listening to Elisa Stetler play the piano.
L-R: Elizabeth, Evangeline, Elisa, and Julia Stetler
The group singing while taking down the equipment.

A few Sundays ago, a Hobe Sound singing group came up to our church. Sat. night they stayed at our house. It was lots of fun.

Sunday at the Wilsons...

2008-07-03T18:55:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday we had the privilege of spending the afternoon at the Wilsons. We had a grand time pillow fighting, catching and holding cats from the barn, and just hangin' out. (As we have mentioned before, Lucas and Joshua are like out younger - though definitely bigger - brothers! :)

Sitting on the back porch...

Lucas with his new friend! :)

Elizabeth holding one of the cute kittens...
Down stairs in the basement after the pillow fight...

Lucas and Elizabeth in action...

Mary Ellen................Pre-Blog Days.

2008-06-24T16:43:00.002-05:00

Mary Ellen, this was not our idea. Can you guess whose it was? :)

Weekend wedding....

2008-06-16T13:56:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we played (along with one of his college students) for our piano professor's wedding. It went well, for which we were very thankful!

At the reception we got a picture of us - the student musicians - with our teacher (Dr. Auler).
The wedding musicians..
The bride and groom!

This is the pencil sketch we drew that we gave our teacher as a wedding present.

A Grandmother's Love

2008-06-16T13:43:00.002-05:00

At the end of our benefit concert Grandma Canfield came up and gave us the most beautiful red roses.

It was so sweet of her, and we appreciated it a lot!

Benefit Concert....

2008-06-07T16:46:00.004-05:00

Thursday night was our benefit concert for Zachary Dievendorf (see earlier post) and it went very well. There were about 300 people in attendance..... The thing that most took us by surprise was how much the offering was. I was absolutely shocked when we got the news - $4,520!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is so good!

We are still so excited about the concert that - since then -I have not been able to get to sleep until after midnight!

Please continue to keep Zak in your prayers.... He has begun radiation and could use all the prayers he can get!

Evangeline and I with our first piano teacher after the concert....

Concert Rehearsal

2008-06-04T18:09:00.011-05:00

The other day the twins had a concert rehearsal for Zachary Dievendorf.

Elizabeth (left)and Evangeline (right)moving the piano....

An overview of the church

Evangeline goofing off......

At the end, the twins were so worn out that they collapsed (for fun:)

Elizabeth's Goals for my Life......

2008-06-01T14:14:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, we twins love to play jokes on people........we have come up with quite a few good tricks in our life time, and our poor parents never know what we will come up with next. No one is completely safe, and as it turns out, the common victims are the ones that are around us the most - namely, our family. And sometimes, we even turn on each other and pull some funny ones. Most recently, I was the victim............

I have a notebook that I record different misc. things in, (i.e. music ideas, 'to-do' lists, etc.). The other day Elizabeth came into the room where I was and said "This is your notebook, I'll put it in our room".......now, you wouldn't think that was anything unusual, but she was holding it open at a funny angle to a page where I didn't remember there being much writing. As I can usually tell what Elizabeth is up to, I had a hunch - just a hunch - that she had been tampering with my notebook. So I started the interrogation...(Yelling down the hall...) "Elizabeth, did you write in my notebook?"......no answer. Immediate conclusion : GUILTY AS CHARGED. And I was correct! Written in my book was thirteen goals for my life......

MY LIFE'S GOALS:

To do everything Elizabeth wants me to do.

To say anything Elizabeth wants me to say.

To help Elizabeth in any way she wants me to.

To help Elizabeth be smarter than me. (By telling her everything that I know so she'll know what I know plus some.)

To give all of my money to Elizabeth as fast as I can so she can buy everything she wants.

To not eat so much lasagna (there is a story behind that) so Elizabeth can have my portion and not be hungry ever

To let Elizabeth practice whenever she wants so that she will get famous and then I'd get to say I knew her way back when.

To always be on my best behavior so I can make Elizabeth's day brighter.

To pretend to be Elizabeth when she gets into trouble (She's done that for me when we were young)

To go to the dentist in place of Elizabeth. (She just had to get a small cavity filled.)

To let Elizabeth use the mirror first so she can look something smashing

To continue this list, adding stuff always to help Elizabeth until

1) I die

2) I run out of paper

This is what I have for a twin!!!!

Miss Evangeline

2008-05-24T19:44:00.003-05:00

Elizabeth getting in a quick word with her "chum'' during the parade...

Evangeline got to dress up as a Civil War era woman for our city's Memorial Day Parade....If you can't guess by the pictures, she had a lot of fun!

Benefit Concert to be held...

2008-05-23T13:54:00.007-05:00

"A benefit concert will be held for 13-year-old Zachary Dievendorf, who was
diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The concert, featuring a variety of
sacred selections, will be performed by twin pianists Elizabeth and Evangeline
Canfield on Thursday June 5th, at 7:00 PM at the Fulton Christian Missionary
Alliance Church. All proceeds from the offering will go to Zach's parents, Fulton police Lt. Tim and Jennifer Dievendorf. "

Not too long ago we found out that one of the Fulton Police officer's son Zachary was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. A few weeks ago we watched him and his siblings while their parents were away, and during the entire evening Zac kept complaining about being dizzy. We didn't think much of it until we got the news about the tumor. The dizziness was what actually alerted the parents that something was wrong. Right now the parents are with Zach at St. Jude's hospital in TN. Things are not looking good, and it will take a miracle from God to heal him of this tumor. As you can guess by the poster and the title of this post, Evangeline and I will be doing a benefit piano concert for Zac. It will be well advertised, so we're optimistic for a good turnout. Please keep the Dievendorfs in your prayers!

Miss Elizabeth

2008-05-17T13:30:00.001-05:00

Family Photo...

2008-05-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

Camp Work Day......

2008-05-12T17:35:00.002-05:00

Last Sat. was Richland Holiness Camp's work day. Mom, Aunt Glenna, us girls, and grandma and Grandpa Hostetter helped out, mostly working on getting the grounds ready for camp.

Joanna Lambeth

Mrs. Lambeth
The twins with Karen Blowers . (Poor Karen! The twins were freaking her out with their driving!!)
A family of foxes made their home in under one of the cabins - they were sooooo cute!

Happy Mother's Day........

2008-05-11T19:04:00.004-05:00

Three generations: Grandma Hostetter, her two daughters Aunt Glenna and Mom, and us. Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Glenna came up for a visit this weekend. We had a great time and made many wonderful memories!

(On a side note, as one of the things we were going to do to make Mothers Day special for our mom, we decided to make the Sunday meal. So thoughtful of us, I know :).......Well, Evangeline got up early this morning to prepare the ham and thought all was well until later, in the middle of church when she realized she had forgotten to put the ham in the oven. When we got home we scrounged around and found some other substitute for the ham, but......Well, they say it's the thought that counts!)

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Congratulation.......

2008-05-07T17:32:00.010-05:00

Congratulations to Joanna Lambeth and Ryan Mills! They got engaged sometime last month, when Ryan came over from Iraq on leave.

(Joanna was making a goofy face in top one)

God's Beautiful Creation......

2008-05-07T16:35:00.004-05:00

Kiss'n Cowboy

2008-05-07T16:23:00.008-05:00

Happy Birthday, Sarah!!!!

2008-05-07T14:12:00.005-05:00

Sweet Sarah
Caution - Poison Ivy! In the woods behind her Grandparents, there was lots of poison ivy, so we had to be careful were you stepped!

CANDY!!!!!!
Sarah, Silas, and Me in the woods at her Grandparents.

Sarah with her "heelies".

Watch out!!
Silas doing stunts with a scooter.
Sitting around talking.

Silas looking at something in the water. (Thankfully he didn't fall in!!)

Dental Deception

2008-05-07T10:57:00.003-05:00

We've got the funniest thing tell you about! It happened Thursday morning when I had a dentist appointment. It went as follows..... I was complaining about how early my appointment was when Em suggested playing a joke on the dentist assistant. You know those funny, rotten teeth that people use sometimes for Halloween costumes? Well, I decided it would be really funny if the dentist assistant went to clean my teeth and I had those fake rotten ones on instead! So I stuck them in my pocket before we left home. When they called my name I went in very sweetly and just sat there on the chair like a very good little patient should. Then I got my chance - when the assistant went out of the room for something a slipped the teeth in my mouth. Everything was in place now. (Teeth and all!) You should have seen the horrified look in her face when she went to clean my teeth and saw the fake ones instead! It only took her a minute though to realized it was fake, and then she thought it was really funny. She called in another nurse and asked her to look at my teeth 'cause she couldn't figure out what was wrong. The new nurse took a look and the same thing happened.... So now I had two nurses laughing. Those two assistants then called in a third so I could play the same joke on her. Needless to say it worked on her too, and they all thought it was very funny! Then they decided we needed to get the dentist in on it too. When the dentist came around to check my teeth the assistant said their was something very wrong with them, and that the dentist would have to decide what should be done about it. She said she'd take a look and........oh, did she ever look horrified! When she realized it wasn't for real, she was much relieved! The assistant said in all her 25 years of dentistry she has never had anyone play a joke on them like that before! Needless to say I was very pleased with how it turned out! :)

GBS's VIP Days.....

2008-05-05T18:54:00.005-05:00

The girls' dean Sonja Vernon

For super, they had a fiesta.

In the evening, the choir and anyone of the VIP visitors could sing with them. (The twins are somewhere on the right)

Circleville, Ohio - A Visit to the DeMints and Anthonys

2008-05-05T16:34:00.008-05:00

Evangeline, Ruth, Elizabeth C, Joanna, Elizabeth A, and me sitting around the kitchen table Sunday evening.

Daddy and Dr.. Anthony talking Sunday afternoon.
The three moms relacsing on the swing. L-R: Our Mom, Mrs. Demint, and Mrs. Anthony.
The three dads sitting around talking. L-R Our Dad, Mr. DeMint, and Dr. Anthony..

The DeMint's goat.
Two sets of twins!! (Ruth is sitting on Evangeline's lap and Elizabeth Anthony is sitting Elizabeth Canfield's lap)

Elizabeth and Ruth singing at church. I thought it was sooo cute!

Water fight with our cousins.....

2008-04-29T11:40:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday, when we were babysitting our cousins, it was rather warm. I came up with a bright idea of having a water fight! We were armed with a hose, (Warning!-it can be very dangerous if the wrong people get it) and cups of water. The water was cold, but we had fun anyway!

Sarah with a cup full of water

Run, Sarah, run!!!
Oh, no!!! Silas has the hose!!
Elizabeth and Silas goofing off.
I was doing something when I looked over and saw Silas in our garden, with his feet in a mud puddle!

Cincinnati Conservatory of Music - Musical Grandfather Frank Weinstock

2008-04-26T19:12:00.006-05:00

While we were in Cincinnati for the GBS VIP days, we decided to go visit Frank Weinstock, concert pianist and professor at the CCM. Our teacher, Rob Auler, used to take lessons from Dr. Weinstock, so we thought it would be neat to get a picture with our musical grandfather. We didn't know for sure if he still taught there, much less where his office was, or if he'd even be there. But we went anyway, and after asking around we finally found his studio. Much to our delight we heard music coming from the room so we knew he must be in there. We saw on his lesson schedule sheet that he would be done teaching a lesson soon so we figured we could catch him then. As it turns out, we did get to meet him and (as you can see) got a picture together. He was very surprised and happy when we told him of our connection ("grandchildren" through musical lineage), and thought it was the coolest thing. He was very nice, and we enjoyed our little visit very much.

Us on the Cincinnati University campus in front of the music building.

Ohio trip - IHC Convention

2008-04-26T19:01:00.005-05:00

One of our friends and Dad's former student Rochenda (Concio) Crane, when we told her we were taking her picture to put on our blog.... Love the face, Rochenda!

As many of you know, we went out to Ohio for the IHC convention in Dayton. We spent Wednesday and Thursday there before going to Cincinnati...

Photo: the mass choir singing in the last service...

A "Blast From the Past"

2008-04-14T18:23:00.005-05:00

Last week daddy took us to the college that he graduated from, Roberts Wesleyan College, for some forensic programs and labs. We went early so that daddy could surprise an old college friend, who is now a professor in the Seminary there. Daddy just walked in on him in the room that he was meeting with some students.

When Dr. Grimm realized who daddy was he couldn't believe it and said, "A blast from the past". When the class was over, daddy and Dr. Grimm got to catch up and we got to hear a few crazy things from their college days.

One crazy night in the dorm in the 1970's. Daddy is in the front and Dr. Grimm is behind him to the right.

Daddy water-skiing on Lake Ontario. One weekend several of his friends went to one of their parents summer place on the lake. It was the first of May, and the ice had just melted on the lake and daddy remembers it being VERY COLD!

The now "Dr. Grimm" driving the boat.

Daddy and Dr. Grimm 30 some years later!

In the evening program, the very interesting speaker was Clint Van Zandt, a well know name in the FBI, and the one who brought Ted Kaczynsi, the unabomber down. We learned alot about forensics and detective work!

Humphreys come for supper.

2008-04-09T15:47:00.007-05:00

Mrs. Humphrey and mommy chatting in the kitchen after the dishes were all done.
Dr. Humphrey trying out our new harp.

Finishing up dessert.

Becca taking her turn on the harp.

Dr. Humphrey (our family doctor) helping Elizabeth figure out a Trig problem.

Adam and Elizabeth playing a game.

Twins with Twins

2008-03-29T12:30:00.007-05:00

When we were in Florida we met one of Daddy's former students, Tonya Mydock (sorry we don't know her married name). She now has twins and we had our picture taken together.

Newest addition.....

2008-03-28T16:42:00.004-05:00

Well, the moment has really come -we have a harp! Many of you know that has been a desire of ours for many years, and now our dream has come true! Yesterday Daddy took Evangeline and I to a harp dealership.... This Lyon and Healy beauty is what we ended up buying. It was quite an ordeal to get into the van (as you can see), and Evangeline ended up having to sit on the floor squashed between the door and the harp most of the way home (yes I did take my turn!). Every time I go by the harp I think "I can't believe it is really ours!" and then of course have to stop and play it!

One of Evangeline's piano students....

2008-03-25T18:44:00.004-05:00

I thought these were some really cute pictures of our little cousin who is 5. He is the twins' youngest piano student.

The Twins' Birthday.....

2008-03-22T09:32:00.005-05:00

Last evening we had some of the family over for pizza and opening presents.
For lunch, they went out to eat.
They got tons of phone calls! In this picture, they are talking to one of our cousins.

Elizabeth with a picture she drew when she was about 4 yrs. old.
"My handsome little prince" didn't want me to take his picture.
The twins with the birthday cake that Hannah Lamont had delivered to them. It came while the twins were gone, so we decided to keep it as a surprise.
Sitting around eating
Evangeline, Elizabeth, Uncle John, and Sarah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINS!!!!!!!!

Happy 17th Birthday Twins!!!

2008-03-21T12:27:00.010-05:00

Visit from the Elseys.......

2008-03-09T19:41:00.002-05:00

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Elsey came and stayed overnight last weekend. We had a grand time (mostly on account of pranks played on Jonathan) and made some fun memories. (The Elsey family has been close friends with Daddy since, well, we'll just say a long time ago!)

Mom's birthday... March 5th

2008-03-09T17:05:00.004-05:00

Our mom had her birthday last week, so we celebrated it with a special meal made by her children (us)....Then later on in the week Grandma Hostteter (along with Grandpa, of course) came for a visit, and since her birthday was coming up, we had a cake in honor of the both of them.

The twins working in the kitchen to prepare the birthday meal.

Grandma and Mom

High school art show....

2008-03-02T21:03:00.003-05:00

Elizabeth entered an art show for local high school districts . She placed first for her colored pencil parrot, second for the concert poster she designed in the computer graphics division, and honorable mention for her picture of the water pitcher - "A beam of light." (You can see the parrot in a post several months ago). Congratulations Elizabeth!

My first date....

2008-03-02T20:40:00.002-05:00

You all should be sooooo excited - I actually went on a date this past Wednesday! Can you believe that?????? Now, before you go thinking there is actually hope for me, sit tight. Let me explain...... See, this guy wasn't exactly my age, and he didn't really take me out. I took him out, and he was only seven years old. Why? Well, Adam Humphrey is one of my youngest piano students, but he is very fun to be with and also terribly grown up (I call him my little man). Last Wednesday our piano teacher was performing in concert with some other musicians from out of state, so I thought it would be fun to take Adam to the concert after we went out for supper. We had a blast at Pizza Hut, but the concert lasted well past his bedtime and he fell asleep.

Little Mr. Adam Humphrey....
Daddy - our driver, Evangeline, Adam and I at supper...

My special little student.....(Adam and I before the concert...)

Police Chief's retirement dinner...

2008-03-02T19:45:00.006-05:00

February the 15th was Chief Spawn's retirement dinner (also his last day of work for the Fulton Police Department). It was a sad day for many people (not to mention us) but getting to see him the night before he left made it not so bad. As you can tell from the first photo, there were a lot of people there! It had been arranged prior to the dinner that we would do something special for Chief after everyone was done speaking. In keeping with tradition, we three girls made up a song for him, our last good-bye and serenade for a very special friend. Our mom caught it on video, so we posted it so you all could hear the song....

(Chief displayed the scrapbook we gave him on the table where his other memorabilia was displayed.)

Chief Spawn, daughter Alyssa, and wife Carrie.

Back to NY: Fun at the Wilsons...

2008-03-02T18:39:00.004-05:00

We had dinner with the Wilson family a few Sundays ago, then went back to their house after the evening service for popcorn. It was a blast! As you can see from the photos, we kids went down stairs in the basement to play a balloon game. (Kind of like capture the flag only you have to capture lots of balloons instead of just one flag.) It was Mr. Wilson against all five of us kids. Who won? We did, of course!

The unbeatable bunch!
Almost ready to leave for church...
Th grownup sat around the living room and talked. And ate popcorn. And talked. And ate more popcorn etc.
The kids having our own eating party...
It's becoming a tradition that when we go to the Wilsons, Lucas and Joshua provide us with a wrestling match demonstration. It's very entertaining!

Daddy and his friend - former student Jose Cancio...

2008-03-02T15:49:00.001-05:00

Tea on an Island

2008-03-02T15:14:00.010-05:00

Every time we go down to Florida we have a tea party on a beautiful island with the Budensiek girls. (Yes, we did pack a lot of things into our stay there!) To save time I'll just tell you which girl was wearing what and you can figure it out from there.... Crystal is the one wearing lavender, Elizabeth - cream, Tiffany - dark blue, Evangeline - lighter blue... Emily is also wearing light blue but you can tell who she is!
(Elizabeth decorated the cake for us...)

Yes, Evangeline is in the water fountain -it's always been a dream of ours, and she wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by! (Emily and I did get in too.....)

Sunday evening with the Davis Family

2008-03-02T15:08:00.004-05:00

After the Sunday evening service we went over to the Davis residence and ended up staying til nearly midnight! A good time was had by all! (The adults sat around in the living room while the younger members of each family talked in the dinning room.)

Emily and Kimberlee

Sunday meal at Keith and Gwin Hobbs

2008-03-02T14:50:00.006-05:00

We had a nice time with the Hobbs...As usual, the table setting looked very beautiful, and the food was delicious!

Us with Dan and Julie's girls

Evangeline and Emma

Trip to the beach with the Budensieks.....

2008-03-02T14:00:00.005-05:00

Visit to Kenny Hobb's house

2008-02-28T14:47:00.003-05:00

Dad and Kenny having a discussion. (No they were not arguing!)
Everyone sitting around talking...

I love this picture! A frog used his suction cup feet to stick to the window!

Us wit one of the Hobbs girls...

The kids table...

Hobe Sound: Supper at the Hortons.....

2008-02-23T16:45:00.008-05:00

Another evening our family went over the the Horton's house for a meal. Mrs. Horton was a teacher the same time Daddy was, so they like to share stories! Usually several of the other teachers who taught at the same time come over and reminisce. (Photo:Emily and her friend Rebeca Negron...

The kids table....

The food was delicious and was enjoyed by everyone there!

Elizabeth with Mrs. Decker's adorable granddaughter.

Hobe Sound: Mrs. Palms

2008-02-23T16:33:00.003-05:00

One evening we went over to Mrs. Palms to work on missions projects and then surprised her with cake and gifts for her birthday.....A group of other ladies also came that night to help celebrate and make the projects go faster....
Some of the other ladies....

Elizabeth and Tiffany making something for children in China.

Hobe Sound: Week at the Budendiesks

2008-02-23T15:55:00.002-05:00

We girls stayed a week at the Budensieks at Hobe Sound. We had a splendidly marvelous time!
If you're wondering why Tiffany Budensiek and I are in grocery carts, it's because I got bored waiting for our mothers to pick us up at a local store. My legs got soooo tiered so I just helped my self to a cart and accomplished two things at once: I had a place to sit and I wasn't bored anymore! It was soooooooooooo much fun!

Standing around talking at the Budensieks...
Tiffany and I making a cake...
On the way back from a shopping trip (Evangeline and Mrs. Budensiek).
More talking...

Emily, Crystal B. and Elizabeth...

More pictures from Grandpa and Grandma Canfield's house...

2008-02-23T15:33:00.002-05:00

(Prisms of their chandelier above the table..... I thought they made for a unique picture.)

One very beautiful table setting...

(I think Grandma has the most beautiful towels - I couldn't help but take a picture of them!

Sunday dinner great-Aunt Lily (who is also a twin) came over for a scrumptious meal made by our mom. (The three twins sat together at the table.... )

We had a very nice time with our Grandparents in FL - great meals, lots of free time to do fun things and practice our music as much as we wanted!

Time at our Grandparents........

2008-02-04T19:47:00.001-05:00

We had a delightful and restful time at our grandparents!

Mommy, Grandpa, and Grandma eating breakfast.
While were at our grandparents, they told us that their piano tuner told them about a music store were there were a lot of pianos from Paris, Germany, and all over Europe.The twins got to play them! It was really neat! One piano they played cost about $200,000!!!

Daddy, Me, Grandpa, and Grandma waiting for the twins.

Playing a game called 'dictionary'.

Grandma working in the kitchen. She made lots of wonderful food.

Grandpa sleeping
Outside Cracker Barrel

Some of the pianos at the store.

Monday Morning.....

2008-02-04T19:07:00.004-05:00

Monday was a rather sad day, because we were leaving. Then we were off to FL!

L-R: Me, Evangeline, Hannah,and Elizabeth

One of the kids found a huge snowball! We kids hid and waited till Uncle Jonathan came out then threw the snowball on him. The camera captured it just as it shattered!

After our attack!!

Sunday........

2008-02-04T19:07:00.001-05:00

Elizabeth and Sarah goofing off.
Sunday night was our last night together. Jonathan and the twins and I stayed up talking till 3:00 A.M.!!

(Picture from the Kline blog)

(Picture from the Kline blog)
Best Friends for ever!
Hannah, Jonathan, and Me
Our wonderful Aunt and Uncle!!
Sunday night it snowed. We were very glad, because the Klines hardly have ever seen any. It was funny one time Heidi came running in. She said "ITS COMING FROM THE SKY!!" Of course, us New Yorkers thought it was really funny!

Uncle Jonathan and Jonathan Jr.
Checking out the snow
While our parents went to another of our Aunts and Uncles us kids stayed home and played games.
Sweet sisters

Jonathan working in the kitchen

Caught in the act!!!Now we have evidence that Jonathan really beats up on us:)
The twins and Jonathan helping Pappy. Hannah and I didn't have to do anything! We were really glad!

Instrumental time!!!

Jonathan acting his regular goofy self .

Mommy entertaining the youngest little Kline kids.

Some of us kids ate in the kitchen. It was lots of fun !

The little kids got to eat a little something before lunch. Since it was so close to lunch, some of us couldn't eat anything. We were starving by the time we got home from church, and to have to wait while we saw other people eat was horrible!!!

Sarah waiting for us to finish getting ready for church.
Uncle Jonathan
Matthew had a delightful time turning the water on and off in the bathrooms at church!!

Uncle Jonathan talking