a new school year and remembering

Here we go.....another school year is in full swing.   

 Abby is in the 7th grade and she wants to be a nurse when she grows up. 
Erin is in the 6th grade and she wants to be a pharmacist when she grows up. 

Samuel is in the 4th grade and wants to be a football player or dirtbike rider and a pastor when he grows up.

It is amazing how much more prepared I felt this year compared to last year. Last year it seemed we were still adjusting to being home and getting back into our lives. Thursday is the one year anniversary of Dave's surgery. In some ways it feels like 100 years ago and in some ways it feels like we just left the hospital. He is doing very well from his surgery he had June 1st. He had an incisional hernia repaired and has been taking it easy all summer. I constantly tell him how ready I am for him to be back at 100%. I will be glad when he can pick up heavy things like bicycles and boxes. :) He has his next scan on October 2nd. We are still going every three months for scans.   Today while we were taking a walk, we talked about some of the feelings we had on this day last year.  To put it simply...we were both afraid. We had gotten the worst case scenario from the doctors and were praying for the best.  We are so thankful that it went well and Dave has no evidence of disease one year later. 

 We had some new family pictures made this week (thanks Abigail.....we love them!!) Tomorrow we will remember and be thankful for the good outcome of Dave's surgery and Friday we will celebrate his 39th birthday!!

love this song

Our House is For Sale

We put the sign out today!  It is kinda bittersweet because we love this house so much.  We know that it is time to move though. We are not going far.....just moving to Jacksonville.  We have always loved Jacksonville and it will put us closer to JSU. We have been talking, praying, planning, painting, and all the stuff  that goes into getting ready to sell your home. Click on the link below to  Take a look at the house here!!

Delayed

Ok!!  So we are still at the hospital.  The doctor didn't think Dave was quite ready to leave this morning and then did not want us to leave late in the afternoon. We should be on our way home in the morning.  We were sad not to leave, but it was a good thing.  Dave had a rough day of nausea.  Alrighty then.  Gonna read and try to get some sleep....cannot wait to sleep in a bed!!

almost time to head home

Dave is doing really well.  He is getting to go home tomorrow.....and I am driving him.  All 12 hours.  Yep. 12 hours.  Stopping every two hours to let him walk around....and me too.  I'm sure I will need to stretch my legs too. :)  He has a big ole incision site.  He also is going home with one drain in his abdomen.  I was wondering why they did his surgery the way they did, so I asked the doctor.  I know that most of the time hernia surgeries are done by laparoscopy and it is an outpatient surgery.  They chose to do Dave's surgery the way they did because he already had such a big incision from the cancer surgery and they needed to be prepared if he ever had to have another abdominal surgery. We sure hope he doesn't, but you never know.  They actually went in and cut out the tissue and sewed it all back up.  They did not use any kind of mesh with him....for the same reason, in case they ever have to go back in.  Now that is my explanation from what the doctor told us.  Anyway, he is doing great.  We discovered the show Duck Dynasty today.  We watched like 5 episodes.  It is hysterical.  Dave made me turn it because it was all he could do not to laugh and laughing with a big ole incision does not feel good.  He had to take pain meds and now he is asleep.  But seriously, I think that may be my new favorite tv show.


 I am missing Abby, Erin and Samuel like crazy.  I cannot wait to get home and spend the rest of the summer with them!!  Hopefully this will be our last big time away from them for a long while.

In Recovery

Dr. Pollock just came out and told me everything went well. They opened him back up in the same incision as his first surgery.  He had to put two drains in Daves abdomen that will be there for several days.  They said he will definitely be sore for a while.  He also told me he should not do any heavy lifting for 8 weeks!  I know he will be glad to have this surgery behind him.  It's always hard being at this hospital.  I have chatted with several families today with family members having very serious surgeries.  Bladders removed, parts of esophagus and stomach removed, prostate removed.....a 2 year old with a tumor behind her eye.  I remain so thankful for God's providence in Dave's cancer.  From finding it early, to being able to have in treated at MD Anderson.  Thanks for praying for him today.  I should get to see him around 3:00 and then hopefully he will be moved to his room soon after that.

9 month scans..... CLEAR!!

We are so thankful that Dave's 9 month scan was all clear.  Now he will have his hernia surgery on June 5th.  He is looking forward to having this repaired so he can be more active.  Now we just have to keep him from doing anything strenuous over the summer.  We came to Houston without the children this time.  Since Dave will be in the hospital for a few days it just seemed easier to leave them with my parents.  Usually I have a really hard time leaving them because they are sad and don't want us to leave.  Not so this time.  They are basically having a two week vacation at the lake.  Fishing, playing in the sand, riding in the boats, inner tubing, jet skiing, spending time with cousins, and so much more.  I am so thankful for family to take care of them while we are away.  They take as good or better care of them than I do!!  So Dave and I have had a little time to explore Houston.  We love this city.  Even as hard as last year was, we still made some great memories here.  We also made some great friends.  Even though scan time is such a hard time, we do look forward to coming out to see the Pruets.  They are always such gracious hosts.  We had appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday at MD Anderson.  Yesterday we spent the day out and about.  With the business of home and all of our responsibilities, we hardly ever get a full day to just hang out together.  We had coffee at Buffalo Grille, walked around IKEA, went to a movie, and ate dinner at Cafe Pita...yum!  Today we  spent the day with Sarah.  She took us on an adventure!!  We had lunch in Round Top at the best little cafe. I had a piece of chocolate chip pie that was the best EVER. We then drove through College Station and got a look at the campus of the newest SEC team Texas A&M. 

Thought I would share a few pictures of the kids that I have gotten though texts!  Makes me happy to know they are having fun.

This is Erin in her element.....surrounded by a bunch of little girls.

Samuel's first fish!!

Abby reals in one fish after another...her secret....loaf bread.

sorry for such a dark picture....Abby and Erin both caught a fish at the same time while doing some night fishing!