Tinkerbell

After watching the Tinkerbell movie, the kids are talking about wanting to be able to fly. Caleb and Mikaela really want to fly so they can go talk to Jesus. Caleb wants to ask Him if he can have candy for dinner. Love it!

School days

Everyone's first day of school!

Alethea- 3rd grade

Mikaela- 2nd grade

Caleb- kindergarten

Sarah- preschool

Anyone out there?

Well, it's been 7 months since I've posted. (Thanks Helen and Ang for the reminders) I know it's hard to believe but I really do have a good reason. Back in February we bought a new home. Pretty much all our free time went into totally redoing this house. Actually I should say all of Dave's free time. If we could have picked the perfect home for our family, this would be it. We are so grateful to the Lord for providing this home for us. A lot of land, minimal stairs for Sarah, close to church, and friends. It is the perfect house, but needed a lot of updating. Hence the lack of posts. I was just trying to keep my head above water. I have lots of before shots, but unfortunately our camera is not working right now so I can't take any after shots. I promise I'll try to post more, and if I don't, feel free to keep bugging me! There should be plenty to blog about with four kids in school!

It's that time again!

We would love to have you join our team for the Believe in Tomorrow Port to Fort Walk. Check out this link for more details.

2 year anniversary

Above: Sarah exactly two yrs ago

Two years ago today was the worst day of our lives, the day when we were given the results from the MRI indicating the presence of a tumor near the spine of our little girl. Its been a remarkable two years, one filled with tons of emotions, God's nearness, great friends and amazing family. Two years ago, I wrote the following entry:

"Some of this news you may already know, and some you may just be hearing of. Jen, Sarah and I just returned from Pediatric Oncology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. We were referred there immediately after an MRI at Shady Grove Adventist hospital revealed 2 tumors in Sarah. We went to SG earlier this week because Sarah was showing symptoms of digression in her motor skills, like walking and balance. We went right from SGAH to JHU. The doctors at JHU are some of the finest in the world. And despite being in high demand, we sat at length this evening with three doctors who specialize in pediatric oncology and they showed absolutely no sense of hurry, making us feel like we were the only cancer patients in the whole place. We left very grateful to God for the gift of medicine and very grateful for the oncology department at JHU.

It is most likely that our little girl has cancer, a form known as neuroblastoma. This is cancer of the peripheral nervous system. One of the tumors is right next to her spinal cord, which is why she is experiencing the odd side affects she has been experiencing. From the MRI readings they received from SGH, they were not able to detect the second tumor near the liver and at this time are limiting it to the one tumor near the spinal cord. They will do further MRIs to confirm this.

We will be home for the weekend for some much needed family time, and on Monday at 1pm, we will return to Hopkins to begin days of more testing: blood, urine, bone marrow, bone scan, another MRI and CT scans, all designed to learn more about the tumor before surgery can occur. The doctors are trying to get the surgery done by the end of next week. After surgery, we will begin treatment of some sort. The type and length of the treatment will be determined by what they find during surgery.

At this point, we have been told by our doctors to be preparing ourselves for the likelihood of a treatment and recovery process that will take no less than six months.

Please pray that the tumor is not intertwined with the spinal cord. If it is, we will have to have a neurosurgeon do the surgery with oncology surgeons. And please pray for a full healing from her all cancer and ataxia.

Jen and I are so grateful for your friendship and ongoing prayers. We have been carried along by them. We are also being very well cared for by our care group and family, from visits in the hospital to simply being there with us in the down times. We are grieving a lot, but we are aware of God’s grace. He loves our little girl more than we do, and we trust him."

Above: Sarah two yrs later

Thank you to all who have walked with us over the last two years! We wouldn't be where we are today without you all!

Basketball and Bull Riding

We signed the girls up for basketball this season. Let me tell you, it is such a flashback to my childhood. I love watching how cute they are as they learn to play. When they played soccer, I would just yell for fun. I know nothing about soccer so it was not informed yelling! But since I grew up playing, I'm yelling a bit more now. Dave says I'm one of those "crazy moms". Oh well, I think I'm enjoying this as much as the girls are. Now tell me they don't look adorable!




Once again Believe in Tomorrow gave us an amazing opportunity. We got to attend a Professional Bull Riders Event. Not just attend the event but sit in the front row! I'm not typically into that kind of stuff, but it was so fun!