The Waiting...

So, most of you know I had my scan about 2 weeks ago and my doctor called me to tell me that there was still a spot in my neck and they couldn't tell what it was with that scan so I had to go in for a PET Scan this past Thursday.

For all of you hold your breath we still don't have the results. Oh, you can stop holding your breath too because you will probably pass out before I get the results. :-)

Anyway, it has become clear to me that the waiting is very hard on you all. I think it is harder on you than it is for Jason and me. This does however make me feel very loved knowing that you all care so much. But really, I am doing really well. I am at peace with everything (even if I get results that are not exactly what we hoped for.)

I know God is going to heal me. It is this overwhelming feeling I feel in my chest - it is so great that it makes me feel like my chest is going to explode actually. I don't know how he is going to heal me. I don't know when he is going to heal me. I just know that he will - and maybe he already has.

Thank you for reading and God bless you all!

{Kearyn}..... & Her Eyelashes

I love this picture.  

Trip to Ouray... {Creide}

We took advantage of Jason's day off this week by taking a quick trip to Ouray. This time we didn't swim - instead just checked out a couple of the shops and treated the boys to ice cream. It was a great time - perfect wheather and very relaxing. I was able to get these pictures of Creide - our third son. He is definitely "all boy" and when I found the boy banner hanging on the side of a building I couldn't help but to get a picture of it as I thought of him. Whether he is playing guns with his brothers, hanging upside down, trying on silly hats, or giving me that Creidey-bear smile - he just makes me happy. He is so darn funny too! I am always in stitches when he is around and he is only 3!

Okay, so I haven't shared a "funny of the day" recently so here is one for you.... Creide is a bean poll just like his oldest brother. But don't let the fool you - he can put away a half a pizza without batting and eye. He held the pancake eatting record at 9 pancakes before Cale was so embarrassed that his baby brother could eat more than he could that one day he ate 11 (giving himself 1 extra for a cushion just in case). Just to clarify- we don't sit around encouraging our boys to have eating contest. I am assuming that this must be a boy thing because I am certain my friends and I never sat around having eating contests.

Anyway, Creide - just like Cale use to - can rarely make it through the night without having to get something to eat. And we aren't talking the "I just don't want to go back to bed" kind of hungry - we are talking full blown "Mom, I am going to starve to death" kind of hungry. So, a couple of nights ago he wakes me up STARVING. So, I am getting him whatever he said he wanted and he says, "Mom, you have to hurry really bad." I asked him why. "He says because if you don't hurry I am going to starve to death and God does't want me to die!" Like I said, he always keeps us in stitches.
I love this boy.

Swimming in Ouray....{Part 2}

As we were finishing our time up at the pool Kearyn found a floaty and I was able to take these photos of her. I just LOVE taking pictures of this girl. These are quite possibly some of my favorites. How could these not make you happy!

Swimming in Ouray.....{Part 1}

A couple of weeks ago Jason took some of the GCC Youth Group kids to Ouray for a fun swim day after a long week of serving at several different locations throughout our community. The kids and I were able to tag along. We enjoyed our time at the Ouray Hot Springs and just feel so blessed that we live in an area that offers so many things to do in such a short distance.

These are just a few pictures I was able to snap of Jason, Creide, and Kearyn playing in the water. Boy, do they love playing in the water - especially Jason, he is like a big fish and you can barely get him out of the water without throwing a fit.  (For those of you who don't know - Jason is the one with the facial hair ;-) I better stop now - he does read the blog. Love you Jason!)

Kearyn says: Check out my new swimming suit! Thank you Miss Jeanette!

Update.....{Prayers Needed}

I have to tell you that I have really enjoyed this past month. It was 1 month ago yesterday that I had my last chemo treatment and I have really just tried to take some time to just refresh and refuel. It has been a very busy time as well - I feel like I am finally able to reintegrate myself into the world again. It is like I have been out of the loop for the last 6 months. I do still get very tired in the afternoons and this is something that I am not use to - I have never been very good a pacing myself. But it is a lesson that I am definitely learning now.

We also celebrated our oldest son's 12th birthday - no, I can't believe I have a 12-year-old! He had a great day, or week I should say. It seems like he has been celebrating all week. Isn't it great to be a kid. :-) I will be posting some pictures of his celebration here soon.

Anyway, I have received an update and I do require some extra prayer. I had my scan this past Wednesday and they did find a spot in my neck that they are concerned about. It took me a few days to even process this news and to even get to a place where I could post this information. It is the spot that I was concerned about myself - I can't remember if I mentioned it on here or not - so I can tell you that I wasn't that surprised but I was still disappointed. I don't even know if that makes sense.

Jason and I were blessed this past week with the opportunity to go to a leadership conference and we just loaded up on all kinds of information. Anyway, there was one quote that just seemed to be so perfect to describe what I feel right now. Here it goes...

"I believe that God is good.....even when life isn't." 

So, as some of you hear this news that I am sharing with you and feel the same disappointment that we are feeling right now - please remember that. God is good. He will be glorified through all of this. He has already gone before us and has this all planned out. I feel personally that I just must press the fear and the doubt out of my heart that so easily creeps in and I pray you can do the same. 

Please do not be angry with Him in any way.This is just another reminder that He is in absolute control - not me, not the doctors, not the chemo or the other treatments... God and God alone reigns this day and everyday. 

I do have a prayer request..... Please pray that this is absolutely nothing. Pray that the cancer is out of my body and gone for good. Pray for my family as they too have to walk this very long road with me. Cancer doesn't just affect the person who has it... it is a journey for all. 

Anyway, for my friends and family who so diligently read this and continually pray for me... I am forever grateful and I love you all. 

~Andrea

6 Months Ago Today....

Have you ever tried to think about where you were six months ago? Well, today I put a lot of thought into where I was. Six months ago today I had just been diagnosed with what they thought was Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I will never forget those words..."We think it's Lymphoma." Oddly enough I had never even heard of Lymphoma or if I had I had never paid any attention to it before that moment. Now, it is a completely different story. I have battled for the past 6 months not only for my life but for the life that I do have not to be defined by that word....Lymphoma. 

No, it is critical that my life not be defined by that but instead by what it was intended to be defined by.... God. 

I have walked this path for six months now - stumbling more times than I can count. But each time I got up and kept going - not because of my own strength....no, God definitely deserves all of the glory that is for sure. If would have been up to me I think that I would have been curled up in the fetal position in the corner somewhere. Here I am though, six months later and I am still here, still alive, and still kicking. That is an accomplishment in itself and one that I am pretty happy about to say the least. 

Is my journey over - not even close. My body has endured quite the beating and it will take time to allow it to heal. It will take patience - which is harder for me than I thought it would be. It annoys me that I have to lay down and take a nap everyday. I use to dream of such luxuries but now I long for the day that it doesn't have to be. 

It was six months ago today - almost to this hour that I sobbed in my husbands arms. Fear gripped me and the only thing I could think of at that moment was that I didn't want to die. It was then that my husband whispered in my ear....."Don't limit God." Those words have stayed with me every since.

Who knows what the next six months will bring. I can't imagine that it would be any harder - I pray that it isn't anyway. But all you can really do is let go and let God - enjoy each day to its fullest and never miss an opportunity to tell those that mean the most to you that you love them. God bless you all. 

Love,

Andrea