Dance Videos

Founder's day festival

After the dance performances we checked out the festival with Grammy and Poppy to see all the local happenings. While on the walk we ran into Aunt Erica again and the kids were enjoying talking to her and getting some of the free candy her mom's club was handing out. Mandy immediately started looking for Megan who was still at home but we ran into her later down the walk of booths just in time to go on the bounce slide before we went home. The girls had a great time running while holding hands and only had one spill...pretty amazing for two two year olds! All in all a good morning.

Founder's Day Dance Recital

This morning was Mandy's fall dance performance "on stage"! I was unsure of what to expect since she did well in the spring but she chose only her favorite parts to dance...the only dance she did in it's entirety was when there was no one there to take pictures or video. Today I was a proud Mama! She did both dances (except for her curtseys in the ballet. She had so much fun that she did a little star pose at the end of her tap! Too cute. Atleast now I know she is having fun with it! Her tap routine was "Look at me" and her ballet was "Little teapot". Grammy and Poppy came to watch and pick up some important things Grammy needed for her trip to see Chris. We ran into Aunt Erica before the dance and she was able to help get video since once again our ancient video camera wasn't working...I guess it is time for us to replace it. Thanks Aunt Erica! I will add the videos as soon as she gets a chance to get on her computer.

Updates

We are still waiting on the results of yesterdays lung biopsy but there were only 4 spots and they are (according to the sonogram) only surface deep. From what I am hearing that is a good sign. With the latest news and without those results here is his plan of action. Chris will have one week of inpatient chemo, then he will have to go in once a week for 3 months and then once every two weeks until May. The doctors are encouraging Joy to return to work after he returns home to help things feel "normal". Their idea if that is too hard is to take the day he has chemo off to be with him for that. I don't know yet what they will decide but it has to be one of the toughest decisions of her life. Please keep praying for them...it is helping. They are feeling our love.

More News

This morning we received word that Chris's Cancer is in his lymph nodes and fatty tissue of his abdomen. We are still waiting on the biopsy of his lungs to know what we dealing with there. Please keep you prayers coming for him and his family, I know they need our strength right now.

Update on Chris

I just heard that Chris's results on his kidney are in and it is a Wilm's Tumor. These are cancerous and best case scenario (how terrible to say) 2-3 weeks of chemo and he will be done. However, if it is a more aggressive form of Wilm's then he will need a longer chemo treatment and radiation. They are going to do a biopsy on his lungs to find out what is going on with the spots on his lungs. He has pneumonia in one of his lungs from the surgery and the doctors said they are not that concerned with it since it is a normal reaction to his type of surgery. Please keep them in your prayers.

Grammy's Day

Yesterday Grammy called and wanted to know if it would be okay to take the kids to the zoo today since she was off work for a "holiday". I wonder why grandparents ask these things sometimes since there is NO WAY I would deny that kind of day to them or the kids. Well, there was a little worry last night at the news of rain (where did that come from?) but mother nature pulled through with a break in the rain perfect for a day at the zoo, not too hot and not raining. From what I hear the animals were active and they almost had the place to themselves! I heard stories about the mama tiger as soon as I walked in the door. Thank you Grammy for a special day, the kiddos are still talking about it!

Prayer Shawl Ministry

At our church in town they have a special ministry where if you know someone who needs prayer you can request a prayer shawl and they will have it at the prayer rail in the front of the church and at specified times in service they invite members of the church to come pray over it for the person needing prayers. I can only imagine the special heart of the person who created this special ministry and the people who hand make these shawls. Thanks to Aunt Kelly who thought to ask Reverend Gene how we could get one for Chris after I lost the bid at the church auction for the Angel Quilt made by the children of the church. What a special friend to think for you when you can't think straight. We love you Kelly and we love the wonderful people of our church who are actively praying for our family and Chris in this time of need for prayer and for making these special heart warming shawls.

Lord's Acre

The Lord's Acre is a special event at our church to raise money for missions in and out of our community. They have a little store of hand made things and really cute christian items as well as penny candy. Aunt Kelly, Austin, Alex, Gage, Grammy, Kyler, Mandy and I loaded up after soccer, lunch with Gran and Papa and naps to head out to play and support our church. Grammy gave the kids some change from the bottom of her purse and they stocked up their little bags on penny candy. I got each of us a Lord's Acre t-shirt and a cute clipboard for at school. Thank you Granny and Graddy for my birthday money it paid for a fantastic afternoon at the church. The kids got to play in the bounce houses and the big kids even helped them to race through against each other. So cool how the big kids had almost as much fun helping the little kids as they did playing themselves. Then our local angel Mrs. Terri got them all on the antique fire truck for pictures and honked the horn for them too! She is like magic with the kids...a true calling. Then we were off the BBQ dinner and it was good! The kids barely ate because they were having to much fun with the high school kids "babysitting" in the nursery area to eat. They would come out, grab a bite and head right back in. It was a lot of fun. Then off to the auction. I had my heart set on an Angel Quilt made by the Sunday school children's footprints with Kyler's name on it to send our love and prayers to Chris but was out bid by a grandparent whose grandchildren's names were on the quilt. Special love for Grandpa to pay $400 for that quilt. The quilt that had Austin and Alex's name on it went for $600. OUCH!! I was heart broken and quick thinking Aunt Kelly talked to our pastor about the prayer shawls. God love her for looking out for my heart. The kids were not ready to go when we left but they finally surrendered and slept HARD! All in all a fabulous afternoon.

Christopher

We don't get pictures like this often, Chris (older) and Nathaniel (younger) are my cousins from Ohio. Kyler LOVES playing with these boys and Mandy follows all three around. We got to spend a little time with them this summer when we went to the Kent family reunion in Tennessee. Last night I got the phone call everyone HATES and FEARS receiving. Chris is in the hospital, Children's Hospital of Columbus. Without going into too much detail PLEASE pray for him and his family today. We love you guys!