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.