Happy summer!

We’re writing this almost two months late - it’s been a busy few weeks! We hope you’ve all had a great summer so far, we’ve been trying to enjoy the weather — at least when it hasn’t been in the upper 90s!

We wanted to share the incredible experience we had of driving down to attend the Northern California Brain Tumor Walk at the San Francisco Zoo in June. One of our incredible Stanford surgeons, Dr. Prolo, nominated Lewis to be honored at the event, and it just happened to land on the weekend of the one-year anniversary of Lewis’ brain tumor resection surgery. We decided it would be the perfect occasion to put a marker down, acknowledge what God down in our lives, and celebrate all the blessings we’ve enjoyed in this past year living without Lewis’ brain tumor.

So, the four of us took our first family road trip, stopping at the amazing train hotel in Dunsmuir, California, where we got to sleep in our train car, which Lewis loved. And when we got down to Palo Alto, we took a trip back to the Stanford hospital where the Lord completed Lewis’ healing and the Ronald McDonald house where we stayed for those three weeks. It was surreal to be back there and remember how it felt to be coming there for the first time a year ago. Our life is in such a different place today because of what happened on June 5, 2023! Lewis was probably most excited just to sit on the bench next to Ronald again though. It was extra special this time because both of our parents flew down to be with us for the weekend — a dream come true for Lewis!

On the big day, Lewis got to see his picture posted along the walkway to the zoo, and when we arrived, we were greeted by our Stanford amazing surgery team. These people took care of us so well in all the preparation leading up to and after the surgery. We got to see our two amazing neurosurgeons, Dr. Prolo and Dr. JFM, and even got to hear Dr. Prolo deliver an inspiring speech about the work they are doing in tumors just like Lewis’.

Lewis’ surgery last summer totally transformed our lives and Lewis’ future, but one of our big takeaways from this event was seeing how big of a deal it was for Stanford and our surgeons as well. It’s obvious that Lewis’ case was special, and that it went far better than expected. These doctors practice at the highest levels, and it still feels like Lewis’ surgery was a miracle.

Lewis got to take lots of photos with everyone, and he was particularly excited because both sets of his grandparents had flown down to spend the weekend with us. and then enjoy a great day at the zoo. He was particularly excited to see the sloth, though he learned there that they don’t move all that much!

On the long drive home, we even got to stop at the Wildlife Safari and spend the night in Astoria, which was really fun. Lewis probably had the most fun with the hotel swimming pool.

It was a weekend that we’ll always cherish and look back on with so much gratitude.

But wait, there’s more! Lewis was also nominated to be an “honored child” for the Ride for a Child 2024 fundraising event. He has a team of riders (that he got to meet!) that are riding to raise funds for Candlelighters, an organization we’ve been connected with for the past few years. The organization been a huge support to us from very early on in our journey, and being apart of this has been a fun way to give back to this community.

Lewis has five amazing riders right now who’ve already raised over $3,500 and cycled over a thousand miles since April. The fundraising ends on September 30, though, so if you’re interested in contributing & being on Team Lewis, you can learn more here: Support Team Lewis - Ride for a Child 2024 | PledgeIt for Charities. Thank you!

Lewis has his next MRI on Thursday, August 1st at 10am. We’ll see our doctor the following morning to go over results. Thank you as always for covering us with your prayers!

What a blessing these past few months have been. We are still in awe of the perfect trip we had, it was just so special in every way & almost unbelievable! Such a huge blessing to us that we will always cherish. We are SO grateful for all that we’ve experienced the past few months, we’d never thought we’d be here. We wake up every day & in the most random moments remember how far God has brought us & how faithful he has been to us & Lewis. Thank you, Jesus!