Our Cousin MC

I must introduce you to my cousin's baby, MC. She just turned one this month and on Sunday the 13th, my mom had my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins over for lunch. So we got to meet her for the first time. What a cutie she is! She was so much fun to watch. Her mom blogs, so we get to keep up with how much she is growing at Miley Minutes.

It was so good to see my grandfather that day. He looked a lot better than he did when we saw him Mother's day weekend. He is thinner and weaker, but his appetite is good and he is starting to gain some of the weight back. His dementia was not as bad either. He received good news from his CT scan report this week and began his chemo this week also. They did not find the cancer in any of the other organs. He doesn't have to go back to the oncologist till August 21st. The home health nurse will draw blood for his lab work, so they will not have to travel to the doctor's office every week, which is 30 minutes away. This will be a tremendous blessing to my grandmother. She is hanging in there with him. I just wish she would learn to sit and prop up her swollen ankles for a little while every day. Here's my grandfather in a picture where the kids are playing. He always enjoys playing with his great grand babies while he sits in the recliner.

And this is Aaron with his great Grannie!

Cousin Time

My brother and his family got to spend the night while they were visiting at my mom's. On Sunday morning we had some play time with the cousins. My brother has remarried and so I now have a new nephew and niece. Will's daughter, HJ, usually does not have much to do with me when we are there, but this time she loved on me and wanted me to play with her and tickle her. For the longest she would not let me take her picture, but I grabbed her and asked my brother to take our picture. I was successful in my endeavors as you can see.


We really enjoyed getting to know his new wife and her two sweet children. They make a beautiful family. We wish them the best as they begin their new journey as husband and wife and as a family.

And last but not least, I must share a picture of our three dogs who traveled with us all the way to see Nana. Aaron is not asleep in this picture. He just doesn't want me to take a picture of him. I want him to remember when he is older how much these dogs meant to him as a child. He will probably try to deny it!

Our Trip Home

Two weeks ago the kids and I began our trip home to visit family. I had huge plans to leave around 8:00, but my computer would cause me to start my trip later and put me behind by an hour and a half. I cannot understand why I always have issues with my computer. But this time it was Window's fault, not mine. I now have my computer set where it will not automatically update for Windows. I had to fix the problem before I left, because Kevin does not deal with computer issues and he would need to use the computer while I was gone. I am finally getting better at understanding these techs who work for Dell, but I still hate having to call them.

We made it to my mom's that afternoon where my brother and his family were waiting for us to take the kids fishing. My dad brought his bass boat and met us at a local lake. I enjoyed this time with my family and I'm glad my kids got to experience it as well. Fishing was always a normal activity for our family when I was growing up, so it brought back lots of memories. A lot of my memories are of being stuck on a boat with my dad and brother and wanting the fishing trip to be over. However, their patience far outweighed mine.

This particular afternoon turned out to be an interesting one. We all started off fishing on one of the piers, the pier with the wooden rails. It was a very hot day and the fish were not biting very well. The only catch of the day was one little fish caught by yours truly.

I grew up in the country all my life, but when my kids and I stepped out on that pier to fish, you would have thought the city slickers are here to learn how to fish. I spent a lot of my time stepping back and dodging hooks and line. This was the first time my kids were learning to cast. Alli was convinced she had it all figured out. I stayed out of the way as much as possible and this picture tells all. The hook with the cricket attached to it, is caught in her hair.

We have discovered that this is one of Alli's favorite activities. She thoroughly enjoyed it. And she loved being in the boat with my dad. Of course, she is all about her dad, grandpas, and uncles. At first all the granddaughters started out in the boat with Papa Bill. When they decided to get out, Alli stayed and I got in with them.

I enjoyed riding around the lake with Dad and Alli. I don't get to spend a lot of time with Dad and I miss that. If I would have had more time that week, I would have gone fishing with him again. Fishing has become one of his favorite pastimes again. I am like my dad in the fact that God's creation(nature) has always brought peace to our lives. I think this is why he has started fishing again.

Aaron and Hannah enjoyed their time at the lake. My next post will tell you more about how well Aaron enjoyed his time at the lake. Hannah doesn't have much patience for fishing, but I think she enjoyed being with her family.

A Little Time Away

Tomorrow the kids and I will be traveling to our home state for a visit with our family. I will visit my family first and we will finish the trip with Kevin's. His baby sister will be married next Saturday. I am sure it will be a wild week, but we will enjoy getting to be with everyone. As I was looking at his sister's bridal portraits, I couldn't help but think about a 12 year old girl I met about 16 years ago. Time flies so fast! When I get back, I will try to post some pics of the wedding and other activities we get into while we are there.

I found out today that my grandfather will have a CT scan done on Monday. He will be taking chemo by mouth and may have to have chemo by IV in the oncologist's office. Don't know many details right now. I hope to talk with my uncle this weekend and find out more. Please continue to remember him and my grandmother in your prayers.

I ask you also to pray for two couples in our Sunday School class. Both couples have had miscarriages this week. One lady was 20 weeks and the other was 16 weeks. My heart breaks for them. I cannot begin to imagine the pain they are in. Please remember them.

A Quick Trip Home

Mother's Day weekend we made a quick trip home to see our families. The big purpose for the trip was to see my grandfather. We got to my mom's on Thursday evening around 11:00. We let the kids sleep in on Friday morning while Kevin and his dad cut my mom's grass and finished the yard work at my grandparents' home. My mom worked till lunch and we headed to the hospital that afternoon. We had a three hour visit with my grandfather. The minute we went through the hospital room door, my grandmother asked Kevin to shave my grandfather's face. Papaw had a nasogastric tube in his nose, so it was hard to work around that tube. Papaw has pretty much wanted to be left alone, so I wasn't sure how this was going to go. However, he let Kevin shave him without fussing at Kevin.

My Papaw is 86 years old. He will be 87 in October. He has been healthy for the most part all his life. He has always been a hard worker. Even after he retired, he continued to preach. Until just a few years ago, he has always been strong. I guess I have continued with that picture in my mind all this time. So, seeing my Papaw on Friday was a little difficult. I think the dementia is the hardest thing to comprehend. It's just not him. I had to read between the lines to understand what he was trying to say. It's like he can't put his thoughts into words anymore. He watched the kids a lot while we were there. He held my hand and kissed me on the cheek even though the tube was between us. We are still waiting to hear the official word on the report from the mass and lymph nodes they sent off for testing. Grannie says that they told her there was a trace in his lymph nodes. However, I think this is one of those things where it's there or it's not. Thursday evening, this week, they moved him to the hospital in the town where my grandparents and mother live. He is receiving physical therapy to help get him ready to come back home in about 2 weeks. He won't start chemo for another 4-6 weeks. Hopefully, if they give him chemo, it will be something he can take by mouth. I have heard that there's a type of chemo for colon cancer taken by mouth that doesn't make the patient nauseated and lose their hair.

We stayed at my mom's till Saturday. After lunch, we went to Kevin's grandmother's where we visited his family for the rest of the evening. Kevin's mom cooked dinner and brought it to Mamaw's. It was a great visit. The kids even sat in the same room with Mamaw's dog Charlie, a Boston Terrier. Mamaw had no idea we were coming, so when we stepped thru the door, she was shocked. I think it made her Mother's Day weekend a great one! We spent the night at Kevin's parents. We took Kevin's mom to lunch at the local catfish house on Sunday for her Mother's Day lunch. All of their kids and their families were there to celebrate the day with her.

We had a great weekend with our family. The kids are ready to go back to spend more time with everyone. It won't be long till July!

Back in the Swing of Things

The holidays didn't last long enough for us. We have quickly gotten back into school work and our usual activities. This Tuesday we began a new activity that comes every January--Upward Basketball! The girls had their first practices on Tuesday-Alli at 5:30 and Hannah at 7:30. It makes for a fun evening of trying to get homework done, eat dinner, take baths, and try to get them in bed at a decent hour. Trying to get this done while your husband is at work, makes it even more interesting. I am thanking the Lord for a good friend who let us come over and get Alli and Aaron a bath while we waited for Hannah's practice. The friend only lives 5 minutes from the church. I am looking forward to watching my girls learn more about basketball this year. Hannah gets better every year. This is Alli's first year and I know it will be a fun one with her. She giggles all the time, even while dribbling the basketball. This was a problem for her when she was learning to swim. She always took water down, because she was constantly laughing. I know our schedule is really getting busy because we have added this activity to it. However, when they walk away from Upward, they have learned more about Christ and how to play basketball in a Christlike manner.

As you can see in the picture, Aaron has finally learned how to wink. He usually closes both eyes. I was so excited when I actually caught his first wink, with one eye, on camera. At practice, Aaron ran around the gym numerous times and got rid of lots of energy. I look forward to Aaron getting to play basketball, too!