We are at MDA now waiting on Dave to be called back for his scan. He has finished his labs and x-rays and now we wait.  His prep begins at 5:40 and the scan is scheduled for 7:40.  We will see Dr. Ravi at 9 am tomorrow.  Dave is very weak right now.  We are not sure why his energy level is so low.   The past two weeks have been difficult ones for him.  I will post an update as soon as we know something in the morning.  Thanks for waiting with us.

 I wanted to leave you today with a portion of a devotion that our sweet and encouraging friend Anna Lee sent us today.





 .....teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20





Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear. Rather look at them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto; do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms.

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations. --Frances do Sales

yeeehawww.....pictures from the rodeo parade

not sure why this little cowboy was frowning

after the parade....we had a good time....not sure why Erin looks unhappy

there's her pretty little smile

Abby got a good spot to watch the parade

Mama was snapping some pictures too

Mama can we please go swimming??

Why sure!!! Go right ahead and jump in. That's not what I said at first..but I did finally give in and let them swim. We did our school work outside this morning.  It was a beautiful day. It probably got close to 80 degrees here. After we were done with school, and after minutes of begging..I gave in and they all three jumped in the pool with their clothes on. We later went to the apartment and let them put swim suits on. So they actually went for a swim twice today.  I thought the water felt rather chilly, but the kids had a great time swimming....in February...that is CRAZY!



My three little monkey's

  Dave has had a rough couple of days.  He was up most of last night and slept a lot today.  He had his Neulasta injection tonight.  Please pray that he will not have the back pain he usually has after this injection.  

Thursday...Chemotherapy

Thursday use to be my favorite day of the week.  I know....weird...right?  I guess it started in college.  The vibe around campus was always fun on Thursday.  Even after Dave and I were married I still looked forward to Thursdays.  The anticipation of the weekend to come. The other nights of the week were usually filled with STUFF.....like band booster meetings, music rehearsals, meetings, discipleship, outreach programs, church services...just to name a few.  So when Thursdays arrived I was always glad.  But now Thursdays have become Chemotherapy day.   I get to spend several hours with Dave on Thursdays while he gets chemo...so that's good for me.  Although I don't think Dave would have anything positive to say about chemo day.    He gets two drugs today, gemzar and taxotere.  His x-ray from Monday came back and was clear.  We were worried he may have pneumonia, but he didn't.  He had a good day on Wednesday.  He felt better and had more strength.  He got to spend some time with his sister before she flew home.  I was glad he felt better for her last day with him.  I was so sad last night when I realized I had not taken any pictures Brenda and Dave while she she was here.  Oh well...I'll do better next time.  He woke up having a lot of nausea this morning.  He took nausea meds and they are giving him some through his IV now.  Maybe he will be able to sleep some while he is getting chemo today.  He has not been sleeping well at night.  We watched 6 episodes of 24 last night.....We finished season 2......  That may be why he didn't sleep much last night.  :)  Mama and Daddy are taking the kids to the Children's Museum today.  They were so glad to be going out for breakfast and not having to do school work this morning.  They should really know by now if they miss it in the morning they will just have to do it in the afternoon.  Kids!  I'm gonna sit back now and watch Dave sleep and hope this medicine does not make him so sick.  We are continually grateful for notes, facebook messages, emails, and phone calls with words of encouragement. 

This round of chemo has not been kind to Dave.  He has been extremely tired and is still having the skin reaction on his hands.  He has been complaining of his chest feeling tight for a couple of days also.  He went to clinic this morning and they gave him a cream for his hands and sent him for a chest x-ray.  We will know those results  in the morning.   He started running a fever tonight, so we will watch that through the night. 

Some friends from church invited the kids over to play today since school was out for President's Day.  They had a great time.  They played at their house for a while and then went to the park to ride bikes and play baseball.  While they were there I walked around the mall and picked up some short sleeve shirts and shorts for the girls. It is going to get really warm this week.  I am enjoying sitting out on the balcony as I type tonight.  The temperature is just perfect. It is so quiet...other than the sounds of air conditioner units, the occasional airplane or helicopter and the faint sounds of cars driving down the road.  Living so close to the medical center, we hear helicopters and sirens a lot.  We always wonder who they are transporting, what might be wrong with them and we pray for them.  One of the bad things about living so near the hospitals is that sickness, cancer.....is always right around the corner.  We can be having a normal day, have to run by MDA to get a prescription or something, and just walking in is a reminder of how horrible cancer can be. As strange as it may sound, one of the biggest shocks to me when we got here was that there were so many sick people.  I knew I was coming to a cancer center, yet I did not prepare myself for the "look" of cancer.  I think we have done well to keep things as normal as possible for ourselves and the kids...under these circumstances.  I think about going home a lot.  I know we will will have a new normal for a while.  It's hard to believe we have been here for over four months.  I know Dave finds himself becoming nervous as the next scan aproaches.  I guess there is always a little fear in the unknown.  I find myself anxious to know  the next plan.  So you could pray for peace for us.  Well thats enough rambling for tonight. I'll leave you with these verses from Philippians 4.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Old Friends

Tonight we were able to meet up with Dave's oldest friend Ricky and his family.  It was fun for me to listen to them reminisce over all the good times they had through the years. Dave grew up with Ricky and his wife Angie in West Jefferson.Our kids loved meeting their little girl Emily. She is the same age as Abby. They have big plans to meet up and play together once we are back home.   We will definitely not be waiting so long before we meet up with them again.  It was a good night.  Dave is feeling really well.  He had some nausea today, but was still feeling really well overall.  Looking forward to some good time with Dave's sister Brenda this weekend.  Now....Jack Bauer and episode 18 of 24 await me.  night.

Old Friends



New Friends



Big smiles while the kids take pictures :)



Dave, Ricky, and Angie



The American Cancer Society - 2011 Relay For Life of Calhoun County AL:

I am so excited that our church is sponsoring a Relay for Life team this year. I am hoping we are going to be home by then and able to attend the big event in May. If you would like to join the Grace Fellowship team or another team go to The American Cancer Society - 2011 Relay For Life of Calhoun County AL:.

Our trip to San Antonio....and some other stuff

What a great trip! We got to San Antonio on Monday around noon and got checked into our hotel. We spent the afternoon at The Alamo and exploring the River Walk. Dave said he expected the Alamo to be in a big field with alot of tumbleweed floating around.....but the alamo is right slap dab in the middle of town. We learned so much as we walked through the mission. What a great history lesson it was for the kids. The river walk was beautiful. We walked down to Market Square and went into some shops and the got the kids a snow cone....and we got a yummy frozen lemonade. We ate dinner at the hotel and had a lazy night in our room. Tuesday morning we got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and headed out to explore some more. First we went for a ride on the river boat along the river walk. This was great. If you go to San Antonio you should do this first. You can really see how big the river walk area is and learn a little history too. After the boat ride we headed to the Buckhorn Museum. The highlight of this was the Texas Ranger Museum. My very favorite thing we did on this trip was visiting the San Antonio Missions. Of course we went to the Alamo on Monday so on Tuesday we went to the other four missions. Again we learned alot! The names of the missions are Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada. My favorite was Mission San Jose. This was the one that was most preserved. All of the missions still hold services. We had a great time. We all learned so much. I took a ton of pictures, so I'll have to pick some of my favorite to post here. Dave was feeling great. We walked a whole bunch and he kept right there with us. Mama and Daddy went with us and they really enjoyed it too.

Mission San Jose

The Alamo

This is how hot it was today!!! Wow. It is February.



We are looking forward to a busy week. Dave's sister Brenda is coming to visit this weekend and Dave's best friend from his hometown is coming on Friday for a visit. Dave is really looking forward to seeing them. Of course he has chemotherapy on Thursday.

I am going to work on my Kids market clothes tonight. My Daddy hauled all of my bags of clothes out to Houston for me. Hopefully I will get them done and he can take them back in time for the sale. I have shopped at Kids Market for the past 11 years. My first trip was the Spring sale before Abby was born in May. It has been a wonderful way for me to consign my kids clothes and buy them great clothes twice a year. I am sad thinking I will probably not be able to shop this spring. I've written about about it before about how Kim and I love that time out to shop and just spend time together. She and I are gonna have alot of (shopping)catching up to do when I get home. This a picture of the pile of clothes that has to be put on hangers and tagged.

an adventure out west

As I type we are on our way to San Antonio to The Alamo. We went early this morning for blood work and Dave doesn't have any other appointments until Wednesday. We are studying American History this year, so this will be a great field trip.

Dave had a bad skin reaction on his hands and face to the chemo, so they started him on a steroid. It has helped the itching but it still looks pretty red. It looks like a bad sunburn. He is feeling really good right now. We were able to go on a date Saturday night for Valentines Day. We went downtown and had a nice dinner, walked around for a bit and then had coffee at a little coffee shop. It was a really nice night out.

Dave starts his 6th round of chemo on Thursday. Depending on what the scan shows on the 28th, this could be the last of the chemotherapy for now at least. If there is any change in the tumor (meaning is has shrunk) he will continue with the chemotherapy. If there is no change or it has grown, he will begin radiation.

The kids have been attending AWANA at Bethel Church on Sunday nights. They love it. They are memorizing alot of verses. They all got their books last night and Samuel got his vest. He was so excited....who would have thought a red vest could excite that boy so much.

I'll post lots of pictures of our Western Adventure later!

a quick update

Dave has had a pretty good week. His counts are on the low side but not low enough to need a transfusion. He did experience some back pain on Wednesday that was related to the Neulasta injection. The worst thing he has had to deal with this round is the redness on his face and hands. He looks like he has a bad sunburn and he says it feels like that too. It has even peeled like a sunburn. A friend gave him some lotion when they were here for a visit and that has helped alot.

All in all its been a pretty uneventful week around here. It has been very cold here....like in the 30's and 40's. Brrrr. Erin and Samuel got hair cuts.....Erin got 5 inches cut. She didn't like it at first, but she has been playing around with it, flat ironing it and pulling it up.....I think she likes it now. I personally think it is adorable. It is always an ordeal to get Samuels hair cut. He argues about why he doesn't need one until the deed is finally done. School is going really well. We have lots of time, and we are trying making the most of it. I usually do Math, Spelling, and English in the mornings and Dave does Science, History, and Latin in the afternoons. We have a great Children's Museum nearby that Dave has really utilized in teaching the kids Science. He also downloaded a really cool geography app. I love that he is able to teach these subjects. He is enjoying it and I know the kids are really learning alot. He is planning to do a Unit Study on China soon. Then we can go visit Chinatown. There are so many neat things to do here. So many great places to take field trips. Hopefully we will get to do alot of them before we come home. I'm not sure how educational this is....but the Rodeo is coming up in March. I would really like to go....Dave, not so much! We'll see. :) Well, Dave and I have been watching the 2nd season of the show 24 on Netflix. We are about to watch episode 4....goodnight!

Samuel's Super Bowl Party

All week we have been planning our big super bowl party. Samuel decided we would cheer for the Steelers. This was fine with me since I do not know anything about either team anyway. So the main thing we had to plan was of course...the menu. We had pizza, hot wings, little smokies, and cheese dip. The food was yummy and the game has been very good. I have to say, the half time show was...ummmm...interesting, and Christina leaving out a line to the Star Spangled Banner had to be the highlight of the evening.

Dave has had a couple of bad days. He has been so tired.... and quiet. He has blood work in the morning and I will be interested to see what his numbers are. I will be glad when he is DONE with this chemo. It has really taken a toll on him.


Erin is our little writer. She loves writing stories and journaling. I'm always finding things she has written. I can tell alot about how she is feeling by reading her writings. If she is not getting along with her brother or sister, it comes out in her stories or journal entries. If she is excited about about something or sad about something, she writes it down. This week she has been writing a play. She has been typing away on her computer. She always wants to include Abby when she is playing anything. So she has been planning for Abby to be in her play. She has planned practice times for them and she even made a contract. I had to get a picture of this because it was just too cute. You may have to click on the picture to read the contract.

First Friday in February

Ok....Let me start by saying....I am so over SNOW. It is obvious it is just not meant for us to have snow this year. There was alot of snow in Texas...just not here. Houston was slammed with ice today and a little sleet. Lots of wrecks for the people who ventured out onto the highways. We were safe and sound and warm in our apartment. So...no more talk of snow...I promise :)

Dave is feeling ok. He had the neulasta injection tonight, so we hope he will not experience the pain that he had last time. This time he will have pain medicine on hand. He has been having a bit of nausea today. He is trying to stay on top of that with all the nausea meds. He is very fatigued too. He will start the next round of chemo on the 17th. His next scan is February 28th.

I know Dave is missing home alot this week. In particular this week he is missing his students at Donoho. He has always loved this time of year as a band director. Concert Season. He has several students going to the county honor band and one student going to All State. He is so proud of them. I wish he was there to see them. He is such a good music teacher.....(yes, I may be partial)...but he really is a good teacher. I know he would love to get home before all those sweet seniors graduate too. Maybe he will get to.

Tonight when I dropped Dave out at the hospital, I had to run to Target (of course) and this Chris Tomlin song came on the radio as I drove. These particular verses stood out tonight.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God who called me here below
Will be forever mine, will be forever mine
You are forever mine




For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29.11

Look what is on James Spann's weather blog. He is my favorite weather man and I have missed him so much since I've been in Houston. He always makes storms so exciting. Don't judge me....I love weather stuff! :) So I was excited when my mama showed me what they are saying about Houston. I know..I know...I am a little obsessed with the thought of snow. So here it is......

What Others Are Saying
J.B. Elliott 7:52 pm February 2, 2011 Comments (0) HOUSTON AND HARRIS COUNTY
* Hard Freeze Warning tonight, low 22
* Winter Storm Watch Thursday afternoon through Friday morning
* Mix of rain, sleet and snow Thursday afternoon
* Snow, sleet and Freezing rain Thursday night. (1 to 2 inch snow/sleet accumulation
* Additional one inch snow/sleet/freezing rain Friday

Yippee!!!!!!!

Dave's MRI results were good. There was no sign of metastatic disease. This is what we had hoped it would show. So thanks for praying with us about those results. Mama arrived safely this afternoon and we are snuggling up in our apartment cause it is COLD ! Still hoping for some snow Friday :)

Insomnia Ramblings

Insomnia...maybe. But since I'm up I thought I'd write some thoughts about the day. It was cold today and will be cold for the rest of the week. We may even get a little white stuff on Friday. We had a good day at school. The kids had Science and History tests today. The first Tuesday of every month is free at the Houston Zoo so we went to the zoo after school. We got there about 3:45 and stayed til 5:00.The kids have been studying about the different groups of animals, so it was good to hear them talking about some of what they have learned. Dave had a good day. We are still waiting to hear results from the MRI. I don't really like to wait. I start to get nervous when we have to wait a long time. My Mama is flying in tomorrow. We are excited about seeing her. Dave has chemo Thursday. We hope to throw a snowball or two on Friday.

I must tell you about this great website I have discovered. It is www.khanacademy.org . It is an educational site where this man walks you through any math lesson you can think of. It is WONDERFUL. I am planning to use it in the morning with the girls.

Dave had a really good day. We laughed alot and he even danced at the zoo with the kids. This silly song came in in front of the lion exhibit and they broke out with a dance. Wish I had gotten that on video :) If you are waiting with us on results from the MRI...I'll update when we find out. It is probably just the degenerative spine (which is not good) but better than it being something related to the cancer. Goodnight.