Where Has This Year Gone?

OH MY STARS!!  I was visiting some of my favorite places in blog land and it hit me…..  Christmas is approaching and fast!  Thank you Donna and Missy.

 So I have jumped into the season and decorated the blog already and we will soon be doing the same to our home.  Yes, we are those people!  But really, I need something to take my mind off things.  And Tim will be heading to surgery on Dec. 3rd.  They will be doing his shoulder- cleaning it out and moving his biceps muscle.  So we need to get things moving in the decorating department.  Don’t even remind me about the shopping to be done!  I am really struggling on what to get everyone.

UPDATES-

Dad is doing fairly well.  He is continuing radiation therapy on his brain and they will start on the mass in his chest also.  Hopefully this will relieve a lot of his chest symptoms.  They have not begun chemotherapy yet, they were waiting to see if he was going to have surgery on the mass in his chest.  Hopefully they will start it soon.

As I said above Tim will have surgery on his shoulder.  The cervical spine injections have relieved his arm numbness but not the shoulder pain.  So to surgery he goes.

Thanks to my cousin, who is a psychologist but not in this area, we have found a therapist who states she can treat Sierra.  We will see her in a few weeks.  Thank you so much Kristi!!!

Thank you again for your prayers and please keep them going!

I found this on Missy's blog and love it!  To help you get into the spirit of the season!

 

E-A-G-L-E-S!

THE BEST YOU’VE EVER SEEN!

Samie’s middle school cheerleading squad competed today in the county wide competition.  They placed second in their division!  We think they were first, and that is NOT Mama’s bias talking either!

They rocked!

Congratulations Ladies!

YOU ARE AWESOME!

Blessings!

Happy Halloween

Last night was Trick or Treat night in our town.  First we had to carve our pumpkin…

Syd thought this was so funny!

Our Pumpkin!!

This year we had Cleopatra, a witch and Alice in Wonderland!

What could have caused this???……

The vampire sister!!

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

PS- Dad is now home from the hospital.  He had an IVC filter placed and he was started on radiation therapy.  They are still considering surgery on his chest and must wait to start chemotherapy until after he has surgery if they are going to do it.  He is resting comfortably at home right now.  Thank you for all your prayers and ask that you continue to keep him in them.

Blessings! 

Updates….

Long overdue updates…..  I just wish there was good news to tell.  This may be long so if you are here for the pictures scroll on down to the end.  I am going to go heavy on the pics as Dad is not able to get to the girls many activities and I know he wants to see them. 

So, for updates….

1.  Dad has been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma.  But we are at a standstill as far as treatment.  We should hear something tomorrow after the surgeon, radiation oncologist and medical oncologist all meet today.  He has a large mass in his chest that must be debulked (surgically reduced) before they can do radiation.  It is pressing on his esophagus and too close to other organs for them to get at it with radiation without damaging those organs.  Also, if he is to have chemotherapy, they must do surgery before he can get the chemo.  But they need to decide if surgery is even an option due to where the mass is.

We know that whatever his path is the Lord already knows it.  We ask that you would remember Dad (Papa) in your prayers and ask for healing and peace.

** Update**  Urgent prayer request PLEASE!  Dad has been admitted to the hospital for a blood clot in his leg.  They also did another brain MRI and have found more tumors on his brain and they are bleeding!  We know they can not treat the blood clot with this bleeding going on.  We will find out in the morning what his plan of treatment will be.  PLEASE PRAY!

 2.  Tim has been getting injections into his cervical spine for his shoulder pain.  The injections are hard on him.  He has neck stiffness, headaches and his blood sugars go sky high for 3-4 days after.  He just had his 2nd one and he says the numbness in his arm has decreased but the pain is only eased for a few days.  He sees the orthopedist next week and we will make a decision at that time on surgery.

We ask that you would remember Tim and healing for him in your prayers.

3.  I really wish I could say that things were improving with Sierra.  We are STILL trying to find a therapist who will treat her.  I mean how hard is this??  We live in an area that has very prominent hospitals and universities, VERY prominent!  We live in an area that is NOT foreign to adoption.  HOW HARD IS THIS??  Obviously VERY!  I am not kidding when I say we have seen 3 therapists and talked with 2 or 3 others about treating her.  EVERY time we are punted to someone else. 

We ask that you would keep Sierra in your prayers and specifically for finding a therapist for her.

Now onto the PICS!

We hit the county fair earlier this month and the girls had a blast.  At first Sierra did not want to ride but she warmed up to them.

 

My happy girl at a football game…

Sierra cheering….

Our official Cheerleader!….

I put together some video of her cheering so Papa can see her.. it is only little snippets, every time I got the camera going the cheer was over!

Have I mentioned how PROUD of this girl we are? 

Here she is being inducted into the Beta Club at school.  She was chosen as the Representative to the Candidates.

And this is telling me she was fed up with tired of the pictures!

Please HUG your loved ones!

Blessings!

Time out……

for life, which has gotten very chaotic lately.

I ask that you would keep some specific prayer requests in your hearts…

1. For my Dad who is undergoing MORE testing for a lesion that was found on his brain and one in his chest.  Sometimes I HATE the V.A.
2. For Sierra and us as we try to get her to the right therapist for R.A.D., which is a very scary diagnosis in the world of adoption.
3. For Tim who is undergoing injections into his cervical spine.  We thought he would need shoulder surgery, but now they feel it is in his cervical spine and causing his shoulder symptoms.  If these do not work he will need surgery on his spine.  I think he would prefer shoulder surgery!
4. For me as I battle a cold and laryngitis.  The girls are happy I can’t yell at them. :)
5. For our entire family as we try to keep a semblance of normal around here.

Back soon……..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings!

Soccer Babies!

Things 2 and 3 are officially soccer players now.  They had their first practice of the season the other night.  Tim was talked into coaching, good thing his players are only 5 and 6 yr olds!  Samie has played soccer for 8 yrs and is thrilled to be the “assistant coach”. 

Here are some pics of their “practice”!  Too cute!  Can’t wait til Saturday to see them in their uniforms.

We had one last get away this past weekend, The Great W*lf Lodge!  LOVE that place.  The girls all had a blast and I will try to get pics up tomorrow!

BLESSINGS!

My heart turned 12 today!

Today my baby girl, my heart, turned 12 years old.  How can that be?  11 years and 3 months ago; in a little room in an orphanage in Izhevsk, Russia; a chubby little baby was placed in our arms.  It was a day I thought would never happen. 

She stole our hearts from the first moment… and has never given them back.

Today again is a day I never imagined.  I have a 12 yo!  Samantha, Samie, Sam, our baby girl…. our heart!

We had our family celebration this past Mon.  With school today and cheerleading practice and soccer practice…. well that leaves little time for celebrating.  But know baby girl that we are celebrating everyday that you were placed in our arms!

We made her frost her own birthday cupcakes!  Of course she didn’t mind this at all.  I think an awful lot of that frosting got on her fingers! The prospect of contact lenses made her smile!

Happy Birthday to My Heart!

Blessings!