Looking back on 2010

I decided to write down my thought about 2010. Let's just start from the beginning.

**January. Happy New Year. Back to school. Very cold. Lots of sickness in the Swinney house...the flu, pneumonia, stomach viruses, sinus infections. yuck. good riddance January.

**It snowed in February. Beautiful snow. We spent alot of time helping mama and daddy work on their house. It was a very cold month.

**In March Dave and I went to Hawaii with the band and choir from Donoho. This was a great trip. We had so much fun. The kids spent the week with family in Talladega. We were away from each other for 8 days. Little did we know at the time how much time we would be separated from the kids this year.

**April. So much to say about April. I was sick alot during April. I had to have my gallbladder removed on April 14th. What a nightmare that turned out to be. I spent 12 days in the hospital because of a leak in the duct of luschka . A rare thing to happen, but of course it happened to me. This was another big span of time spent away from the kids. Our dog Charlie died this month also. We loved that pup. He was our first family dog. Erin and Samuel played soccer this Spring. The girls took SAT's.

**May was a month of recovery for me. I came home from the hospital with a drainage tube in my side and was still very sore. Dave was a wonderful nurse. He took really good care of me. He was mommy and daddy for a while. He had to do all of his jobs plus all of mine. Abby turned 10. She also had a piano recital. We finished school and began our summer break.

**Erin turned 9 in June. We were enjoying summer bliss. Swimming, skiing, fishing....just being lazy and enjoying it. Dave and I celebrated our 12th anniversary at a little cabin in the mountains. We got a new pup...Copper (he now lives at my sisters house).

**Dave went to Russia in July. He was gone from the 14th to the 26th. It seemed like forever to us. We missed him so much. The kids and I spent alot of time at the lake while he was gone. It was a very good trip for Dave. On this trip he started having pain in is side and back. The day after he got back he went to the doctor. They sent him for a CT scan.

**August was a BUSY month. It was also a month full of waiting. Dave was sent to a doctor in Birmingham on August 9th who biopsied the tumor they found with the CT scan. They sent the biopsy to Johns Hopkins and it took a long time to get results. Either Dave or I called every other day checking to see if we could get results. Dave turned 37. We started school. Erin was taking violin. The girls started taking an Acting class. Samuel started Karate.

**September came in with us still waiting on test results. On September 8th our lives changed forever. This is the day we got the news. Dave had cancer. What? Really. Surely not. Well if he has cancer its not the bad kind. Its going to be an easy fix. We were somewhat in denial of what was in store for us. But I think that was good in a way. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. My new job other than wife and mommy was now going to be to get Dave into a sarcoma center. So the process began.

**We had our first appointment at MD Anderson on October 11. WOW. We were totally not prepared for what we heard on that first visit. . We had to wrap our minds around the fact that things were worse than we thought and we would be living n Houston for about 6 months. Our kids came out after two weeks, we moved into an apartment, Dave started chemotherapy, and we learned to adjust to our new life....we are still learning.

**Samuel turned 8 and I turned 36 in November. We got a brand new nephew named William. Dave continued chemotherapy.We made our first trip to the MDA Emergency room. Scary! We had Thanksgiving dinner with Mama and Daddy in Houston. The food was Delicious. We continued to be thankful for the little things like Dave feeling well enough to go to the park or walk on the beach.

**December brought lots of visitors to Houston.It also brought news that the chemotherapy was not working. The tumor had grown. Dave started a new regiment of chemo. We visited the Space Center and Houston Zoo. We got to go home for a visit. We had a Merry Christmas in Texas.

I must say I am not sad to bid farewell to 2010. I am kinda glad to see it go. I am continually hopeful for what 2011 will bring. There are many good memories from 2010. There were also some really hard times in 2010. So...what have I learned in 2010? Hmmm...let's see. I know how thankful I am for family. I always knew how important family was, but going through a crisis reminds you. I am thankful for sisters who love my children almost as much as I do. I now know personally that God uses the prayers of His people to get us through some hard days.` I have seen the best in people this year. People who don't know us have sent us cards. Our church family constantly encourages us. Gods people from all over the country have let us know they are praying. It's been truly amazing!! I have learned to enjoy every day. We should all live like we are dying....because we all are or will eventually. I hope the New Year brings good news about Dave's cancer. I hope to be a better mother. I hope to be a better wife. I hope to read more, exercise more, eat better........you know all those things I want every year.

So Happy New Year from the Swinney's. We are entering this new year hopeful.

He has shown you O man what is good; and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8