Charge!

Today I got some things done, in spite of swollen feet and a belly in the way! (I rested my feet…see,… I have them propped up right now.)

First, I attacked my bedroom. It was still clean really but the floor needed sweeping and a few things put in order. Then I swept the girl’s room and then Jakin’s room. THEN, I plunged in on the hall. Yeah, the one that was piled with stuff that I had thrown out of my room when I cleaned it up before, along with other misc. items. So, the back half of my house looks great right now. I am happy for now. I got some other misc. things done as well this morning…

Now if I could borrow a snow shovel from someone for the front half of my house…

BTW, I have some awesome helpers. They can make some awesome messes, but when it is time to clean up, I have a crew that can get in and get it done. I feel very blessed. And hopeful. With a new baby on the way, having big helpers can be very encouraging to think about! Thanks, guys!

PUPPPS...

I went to see my midwife yesterday for a full check up and all. Baby is doing great! She thinks, and I agree, that this looks like PUPPPS, minus the itch! Okay, I am not going to do any complaining or arguing here. No itch with this thing is just fine with me!!!( I do have bumps on my ankles now as well.) I am praying for all the symptoms to leave… itch or no itch!

The strange thing with this is that it usually associated with first pregnancies. But, hey, when have I ever been accused of being normal… I have thought about it though, and one theory is that this is the first pregnancy after my battle with cancer. Things are probably different in a lot of ways. Which ever or why isn’t really that important to me, but I did think it was interesting. I have definitely felt like this is like my first pregnancy… J

So, what do you think? Should I make a face on my belly? I could have a cool belly pic with acne…

More Belly News...

I saw my midwife last night and she said that nothing about this seemed serious to her. The fact that there is no itch is a pretty good indicator that there is nothing seriously wrong. But… I was wanting to take belly pics sans spots!!! I am to the point now that I could make some good ones, but not with spots all over!!! There is just nothing that sweet about a spotted belly! :)

So, here I am. Pregnant, getting kicked and pounded, my back hurts, I can’t breathe right, heartburn, two more months of this to go….and spotted. I think it is time for me to get the sympathy I deserve! :-)

Belly Spots?

Last night I noticed these spots on my belly. I wasn’t sure what it was, but thought maybe they had something to do with the tummy panel on my pants. Well, they are still there this morning. They don’t itch or anything, but I don’t get it. What are they? Anyone want to take a guess?

Files Camping Trip...

This week we camped at Brownwood State Park, which is only about 30 miles away. It was so pretty. The sites were nice, things were pretty clean and the scenery was peaceful. We enjoyed the walking trails as well.

Oh, and the food was awesome! David cooked over the fire and we had plenty to eat. As well as a lot of fun! :-)
Sarah decided that she needed to take care of me while we were on the trail. It was so sweet. She said, “Now, you follow me, Mommy, so you don’t fall down.” She then went ahead on the trail and moved briars out of the way and warned me about the bridge we crossed. It was so sweet and cute! I felt very loved! :-)
We ended our time with some swimming. The kids will tell you that they learned to swim. :-)They had a great time, until they got out of the water and the wind hit them! But they all said that they liked the swimming the best!

I was happy. It got down to the mid-40's while we were there. I got cold!!! Yay for me!!! I loved it! :-) The fire felt so good... I forgot the hot chocolate, so I just had to imagine that I was drinking it!

BTW, this is a dolphin. But, of course, you knew that. :)

More Baby Stuff...

I have had some questions about the things we need this time around. So, I put together a few baby registries online to give anyone who wants to know an idea of what we need/like. (I did a few since not every place had the things I was interested in...)

Wal-Mart

Target

BabysRus

Amazon.com (This one has the most on it right now....)

Baby Stuff...

Yup, a new post!

I have been busy getting ready for baby, among other things! I am learning all I can about different topics, including,

Infant Potty Training (also known as IPT, EC, etc. This is practiced in different parts of the world with huge success and is a growing movement in the US.)

Babywearing (Another worldwide practice that goes along with natural parenting…)

ETC, ETC……

Here are a few links to interesting sites that I have been on lately….

The Baby Wearer

The Momatoto Project

Tribal Baby

Infant Potty Training

The EC Store

The Sling Station

I have had a lot of fun learning and planning. I am hoping to keep things more simple this time around as well as save time and money. :)

I am in true nesting mode now...

I think I am recognizing the symtoms....

• My bedroom is clean for the first time in several months... (Like, clean for real....)
• My desk is clean for the first time all year, I think.....
• I cleaned the kid's rooms up...
• Every thought and most conversations turn at some point to getting ready for baby, how we are going to do this or that when we have the baby....
• I am getting things done so far ahead I am beginning to scare myself....

If anyone thinks that I have misdiagnosed the symptoms, let me know! :)

Good News!

Praise the Lord! We had 2" of rain last night. We were really needed some to swell the peaches. They will ripen now. Next week we could have peaches. This looks like it could be our best crop yet.

I have shared with most, but have not posted online, but......we are expecting our 4th baby in Nov! We are very excited. David and I are acting like kids about to have our first one and the kids....well, they are just thrilled. My belly is now a point of observation. "Oh, mommy," I hear, "Your belly is getting BIG!" I am only about 4 months along, so it is not that big, but progress is progress to them!

I have been feeling good and getting a lot done. This is the time during pregnancy that I esp like. I don't feel yucky, my belly is not in the way too much yet and I have a drive to get things ready. Later I might be tired more, but right now, lemme at 'em. :-)

I am so hungry for information. I have had 3 babies already, but with this one I have a desire to read every pregnancy type book that I can get my hands on. I guess you never stop learning. I sure don't want to.

No promises, but I will try to post again soon. :-)

Okay, So I Haven't Been Blogging....

Hello, anyone reading. Here I am. Back in blogland.

I think about blogging. I plan posts. But I just haven't come to blogland to blog.

But here I am so......

First to post an update on the CTBHHM books....

I still have some available. BTW, if the shipping seems high in the paypal cart.... I will refund anything that is not used in actual shipping of the book.

I am so happy that spring is here. I am enjoying the beautiful foliage that is on the trees now and the green grass that is working to take over the pasture.

We are enjoying goat milk now. Not much since we are still feeding baby goats, but some are weaning now and that will help give the people more milk!

We now have a porch on the house. I will try to post some pics soon. The roof is all the way across the front and decking the length of the living room. It is very plesant to sit on. Now we are waiting to be able to do the west side and east side. Getting the roof done is the biggest priority as that will provide the shade.

Was It Worth It?

Well, I am on the other side of my trip to Denton now. I battled a bladder/kidney infection right before I left. I cleaned the Suburban on the inside throughly.... which was very satisfying... I left the kids with David, (or...was it David with the kids.... :-) ), and headed out. It was a lot of work to get ready, it took time out of David's productivity, cost money.... So, was it worth it? Did it really go as well as I had hoped? Absolutely. It was well worth and way beyond all the effort that went into me going. I had a blast, but more than that, it was real. Real bible teaching, in-your-face bible teaching, exhortation that I needed to hear. (All humbly yet boldly put forth.) Every part of the conference was timely for me. There was not one moment that I wondered if I should have come, or was this really for me. I never even had a moment where I kind of turned my ears off because the speaker was getting into some foolish jesting about things that are not to be jested about or expressing less than ideal attitudes about husbands, etc. I don't know if those reading know me that well, but that is very rare for me. I am a pretty thick-skinned person most of the time, and am pretty good at spitting out bones in messages and getting the meat. But I usually find myself spitting bones a lot! It was rather nice to be able to just enjoy the fare set before me and not have to examine and pick off trash before eating. :-) It was rather refreshing! I had a great time of refreshing and have come home with new resolve and vision. I was also just greatly encouraged that what I am doing here at home is important and valuable.

Win A Free Book!!!

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Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, It's Off To Denton I Go...

Okay, maybe the guys who made the "Hi, Ho" song famous were not excited,.... but I am. :-) Tomorrow I leave with several ladies from our church for Denton to a Revive Our Hearts Conference. Am I excited? Yes, I am!

Nancy Leigh DeMoss will be the speaker, someone I highly respect and look up to. I am looking forward to hearing what she has to say this weekend.

Wow, the moon is so pretty tonight. I would love to try to photograph it. But, without a tripod it turns out a bit shaky. (Lets see,.....find Prayer list......add.....tripod.) Anyway, I think that it would make a really good picture tonight. I might try it anyway, we'll see. I still have some laundry to fold before I leave for the conference. (Did I mention that I am excited about that?)

Organizing...

I have made some big strides in organizing in the past few months. As you can see from the pictures posted, there have been some interesting projects going on. :-)

In August I set up: a new filing system, (The pic on the left is the works-in-progress picture and the one on the left is the result.), a new bin system, (an idea I borrowed and modified from my friend, Molly that has a bin for everyone in the family, and I added catagories like, give away, sell, give back, etc.),

and a new, well, modified laundry system. While all the projects mentioned above are wonderful and are working well, I think the one that has made the most difference and is the most pleasant to use is the bathroom cupboard. My only regret is that I didn’t take a before picture of that cupboard. It was hideous and the difference is striking.

I also did a bit of decorating. The wall behind our woodstove is much improved! It was hard to get at an angle to take the picture that the pipe wasn't in the way. :-( But maybe it gives the idea.

I am working to stay on top of things better. I feel like I’m stepping up to the next level in this home management course that the Lord is taking me through. :-) Oh, I am far from perfect and not even totally satisfied with things, but I can see progress and that spurs me on. :-) I am determined to win.

Happenings in a Quick Nutshell...

Hello again!

Once again I have pulled out my trusty, “I haven’t posted in a while” template! Oh, well! :-)

Much has happened at our place since I last wrote. A new shop has been built for David, we are in the process of building porches, I have my dishwasher installed, we have been to my youngest sisters’ wedding in OK, I've made more advances in managing my home, started learning Spanish, got my ears pierced, etc, etc.

While things have been going on in the above mentioned areas, much has been going on in me, too. I have felt a call to pray more and a growing in listening as the Spirit prompts me to pray.

We are now hosting a cell group in our home. It has been enjoyable. Right now we are not studying anything in particular, but are just enjoying each others' company and fellowship. This week we did some activities with the kids. The guys made toolboxes with the boys and the girls made cornsnakes with the ladies. (An altered version of bean bags. We used old kid socks and since I didn’t have many beans, we used corn to stuff them. They ended up being long and skinny, like a snake, so I called them cornsnakes!)

Hope things are well with all reading this post. God bless you and yours.

Virginia Tech

I have been grieving over the Virginia Tech shooting. I grieve for the families and the kids, but I am also just really sad for the killer. He needed Jesus. He was in such pain and turmoil. Bitterness, anger and despair just destroyed him. Jesus was the answer. Not a bandaid but the solution.
I have not heard much about his family yet, but I am praying for them also.
If any of the families and friends of the victims run across this page, please know that I am praying for you, too. Jesus is the answer for you, too. Bitterness destroyed Cho Seung-Hui and he destroyed others. Don't let it destroy you. Give the pain and bitterness to Jesus who will set you free. He endured pain and injustice. He experienced the pain of abuse that was totally undeserved or justified. Yet He died for those who abused Him. He laid down His right to require payment and made the payment Himself. He extended forgiveness to us and experienced total freedom from bitterness. He can give that same freedom to us when we come to Him.

Houston

I had a good trip to Houston the 4th and the 5th. I did all my tests on the 4th and then saw my dr. the 5th. All the tests came back good! It was what I expected, but it was still good to hear. My Dr. was also very encouraging. She said that they were anticipating me to stay cancer free, esp. because of how the cancer had responded to the treatment, and had not returned for a year. They were also thinking that one of the proteins that were present with the cancer was going to help with staying free. They will continue to watch me closely, I go back in 4 months, but she said that they don’t expect me to have a relapse.

As you might imagine, I am encouraged and excited by that report! Thank you all for praying for me and please do continue! And join me in blessing and praising the name of our God for the great things He has done!

Farm Kids

We are still enjoying our goat kids! Keilah is living the book, “Hedi,” and just having a wonderful time with her ‘herd.’ She watches them carefully, counting often during the day to make sure that they are all accounted for. I laugh continually at their antics. Earlier was a typical example. (Note the goat on the swing!)

David took the tractor and trailer to the pasture to do some work on the fences. Two of the kids decided to follow him, bouncing along beside the trailer. When he would stop for a moment to open a gate or some such thing, they would jump onto the trailer. After bouncing around all over that, they would hop off as it started moving again and bound along beside it. It was hilarious to watch, although I knew that it was difficult for David. :-) He finally had to stop, get off, catch the little imps and put them back on the house side of the fence. They stood there a minute and watched him leave. Then they threw their heads up in the air, turned and bounded for the house. (Note: The picture shown was taken later when David was just moving the trailer. For some reason it is very popular with all kinds of kids. :-) Believe it or not, most of the goats shown rode the trailer all the way until David stopped to unload some of his pile. That turned into another adventure!)

I did have someone comment on the pictures of the goats in the house. :-) The question was asked how we keep them out now that they have been in.

Well, we have to race them to the door and stick a foot out to keep them from coming in. :-P Sometimes we lose and they get in before us or along with us. Getting them back out is not too hard. The house is not that interesting anyway now that they are a bit bigger!

I’m dreaming… of a …White, ……Easter……?!

These pictures are not from Christmas! These were pictures I took the Saturday before Easter. We had snow mixed with sleet dumped on us all day Saturday. I called my brother in Oklahoma, and was surprised that they didn’t get anything but a few flurries. Jakin was so excited. He kept asking, “Is it Christmas again?!” :-)

The kids didn't mind another chance to play in the snow! Really, I simply couldn't keep them in. :-)

We were blessed and excited to receive some much needed rain recently. It was not, however, without some excitement that bordered on the scary side. :-)

A large storm system moved across our area bringing rain and hail. Some areas had bigger hail than others did. We received some hail that was from large pea to marble size. The hail did affect the orchard- how much it was affected is still hard to tell. There was a small tornado that touched down at Carbon, but from what I have heard, it was out in a field and did no harm. Looking at the sky, we knew that we should be near the storm cellar, so we went to Ma and Pa’s. These top 2 pictures you see are what I took on our way over.

Later that day we delivered some food to a family in Gorman. There was another system watering the earth when we left to go. We got out of it driving to Gorman, but hit it again on the way back. It was a slow moving storm. We got a lot of runoff from both systems. The creek was running when we got home, and our tanks were full. That was really good to see!

Always Obey...

I was visiting with some friends the other day and one friend told this hilarious story about how he learned what sarcasm was. Or I found it to be hilarious anyway. :-)

As a kid he was handling some eggs in the kitchen for some reason and as often happens with kids and eggs, one fell onto the floor and broke. His mom sarcastically remarked, “Why don’t you just step on it?”

He was confused. Why would you step on an egg and make it into a bigger mess? Maybe it was a great cleaning secret? Still confused, but thinking that she must have a reason for telling him to do such a strange thing, he obligingly stomped the egg.

Imagine his surprise when he found himself in trouble, for obeying! She thought he was being a smart alec!

More Goat News

Our baby goats are more fun everyday. Yesterday we had some excitement. :-) When I came in, a kid came in also. The people kids really like the goat kids coming in the house. Keilah just called them all in, all eight of them. How could I say no? Next thing I knew, the whole bunch were in the kitchen, on the couch, in the bedrooms, eating plants, and bouncing in and out of the rocking chair. Jakin was just waking up from his nap. As he was lying there sleepily, he was pleased to have Blanc, the white buck, leap onto his bed. I poked my head in his room to find him grinning from ear to ear at the goat on his bed. Pretty soon people kids and goat kids were running around the house like wild animals. At one point, Keilah had a group of goats in her bedroom. The six does seemed to enjoy playing with her dollhouse. They surveyed the mess and tried to help clean up, but lacked the ability to do much about it.

I did find out how quickly goats can make a big mess- or rather, I almost did.

I was working at the sink in the kitchen. Blanc reared up to see if I was getting his milk. As he was on the way back down, his front leg opened one of the cabinet doors. Since it was open, he poked his head in, just to see. All he really did was sniff. As I was bending to remove his inquiring nose, he accidentally brushed his nose on the lid to my mixer. As it came crashing out of the door, so did a bread pan. I am not quite sure how he managed to bump it, and I don’t think he was either. :-) As I put everything back and shut the door, I just had to grin about the whole thing. If this is how fast and totally unintentionally a baby goat can cause trouble, no wonder grown goats get into trouble. :-)

Raw Milk

I was very interested to find the following information on a friend’s blog.

Posted on Time.com...

"Richard Hebron, 41, was driving along an anonymous
stretch of highway near Ann Arbor, Mich., last October when state cops pulled
him over, ordered him to put his hands on the hood of his mud-splattered truck
and seized its contents: 453 gal. of milk.
Yes, milk. Raw, unpasteurized
milk. To supply a small but growing market among health-conscious city and
suburban dwellers for milk taken straight from the udder, Hebron was dealing the
stuff on behalf of a farming cooperative he runs in southwestern Michigan. An
undercover agricultural investigator had infiltrated the co-op as part of a
sting operation that resulted in the seizure of $7,000 worth of fresh-food
items, including 35 lbs. of raw butter, 29 qt. of cream and all those gallons of
the suspicious white liquid. Although Hebron's home office was searched and his
computer seized, no charges have been filed. "When they tested the milk, they
couldn't find any problems with it," says Hebron. "It seems like they're just
looking for some way to shut us down." "

More from the article....

"What raw milk fans most resent is stepped-up
efforts to crack down on a personal choice that wasn't doing anyone else any
harm. "There are 65,000 child-porn websites," asks indignant co-op member Nancy
Sanders, a pediatric nurse and mother of five from Des Plaines, Ill. "Why
doesn't the government go after those?""

Read the rest of the article here.

Thanks Crystal and Bessie for posting this!

David and I were discussing this issue. We wondered why there couldn’t just be a label put on raw milk similar to the Surgeon General’s warning on tobacco and alcohol. People are allowed to consume these products that are proven health risks. Why couldn’t they decide to “risk” raw milk?

Blog Writing

I am going to try to be more regular in writing in my blog. I am not able to write every day at this point, but I am scheduling it in to write once a week. That worked well last week and this week. So, check in once a week or so, I plan to have something new each Thursday. :-)
Have a blessed week and may the Lord bless you and direct your path today!

Created to be His Help Meet

I have been reading “Created to be His Help Meet” by Debi Pearl again. I am going slower this time and taking more time to do the studying part of the book. She now has a journal/scrapbook that goes with the book. It is very encouraging and enlightening. I again would highly recommend this book to any married woman or those who plan to become married soon. You can find a copy of Debi’s book here (click on "Biblical Womanhood" on the left side of the page) or from the Pearls here. I have a hard time keeping a copy for myself, I am always giving my books away! :-)

One more note on the Pearls. You can sign up at their website to receive a free newsletter bi-monthly. It is full of encouraging and helpful articles on a wide variety of topics. Anyone with children and a heart to listen to wise counsel will enjoy their publication.

Carrot Pizza?!

n Last night we had pizza for supper. Whole wheat pizza with cheese, greens and, (this may sound weird but it was good), shredded carrots. I have been making it with onions too, but I was out of onions. It is really easy and delicious. Crust, sauce and toppings with no pans to clean up! Better than a one dish meal! :-)

To make it even simpler, last night I used one of my frozen crusts. Homemade frozen crust, I should say. :-) Last time I made pizza crust, I made a double batch and froze 2 crusts. It was so easy to pull the crust out of the freezer a few hours ahead of time and then prepare the toppings.

Now, some may be thinking, “Whole wheat? I’ve tried that and didn’t like it.” So have I. But I have found a type of wheat that makes great baked goods and tastes wonderful. It is called ‘Prairie Gold.’ It comes from Wheat Montana Farms. It is a white wheat that is high in protein. It does very well it just about anything. I have used it in bread, rolls, biscuits, pancakes, muffins, etc. I have marveled at how it makes whole wheat bread. I have had to wonder, is this really 100% whole wheat bread?! I know it is since I made it myself, but it just seems to good to be whole wheat.

MDA

I am scheduled to go to MDA again in April. This time I was able to move my appointments closer together to each other. I will have my tests done the 4th and then see my doctor on the 5th. That will be much easier! I am planning to go down by myself again, but will only have to spend one night in Houston, compared to 3 nights. That will be much easier! I have purchased tickets to fly down and back, so that will cut my travel time down even more.

BTW, health wise I feel like I am doing really well. I have plenty of energy and have a fine crop of hair now. :-) LOL! I have noticed some effects of the chemo, but they seem to be fading as time passes. I just praise the Lord for His kindness and mercy to me.

I would appreciate prayer for the test results and for my trip. And thank you all for your prayers. Without prayer I would not be here today.

Farm Life

More Babies
This has been an interesting and fun week! Our goats now have had 8 kids. We have two sets of twins, one set of triplets, and one only child. They are just the cutest. We are bottle-feeding them all. I carry 8 bottles of milk out 3 times a day. It is a big circus trying to get everyone fed. I’m sure it looks ridiculous! :-) So far, we have Cappuccino and Blanc, Joan, Jill, and Josie, Mystery, and Phlox and her brother. (He is waiting on his name!) Amazingly, we have 6 does and 2 bucks. :-)

Milk
We have milk running out our ears now! We are getting about 4 gallons of milk a day now. One of our goats is giving almost 2 gallons a day. We should have plenty of milk now! I am looking forward to cheese, mostly soft cheese, kefir, and goat butter.

Spring!
The weather has been so nice here lately! Spring is finally here and we are happy to see it. The oak trees are tassling out and putting leaves on. The butterflies are flittering everywhere. The grass is greening up and fruit trees are blooming. The kids are overjoyed that they can forget their coats and shoes and just head out the door. I am really enjoying all of this. Ijust love my life here on the farm!

Babies!

Hello! I am still here, I just have not been blogging!

Goaties!
The latest news on the farm has been the addition of new baby goats! Our "ladies" are having kids, the cutest babies in Texas! We had twins born on March 8. This morning I got out of the shower and kept hearing a kid close to the house and I knew that it didn't sound like on of the kids we already had. Sure enough, we had a new little doe this morning.

We are bottle feeding them so that they will be easier to wean. This does mean more work now, though. :-) Now they all think we are their mothers. "Maaa, maaa, maaa," we hear as soon a we get near them.

As you might imagine, our people kids love the goat kids. :-) They enjoy feeding and playing with them. There are limits, however.

After the first kids were born, we all out in the pen feeding and petting them. I was explaining to one of the goat kids that I didn't mind being it's mother, too. Jakin just frowned and me and made a negative sound. The goat was close to me and I was petting it. Next thing I knew, Jakin was in my lap, and wanting me to agree that I was his mama, not the goat's mama. :-) It was hilarious, but not to Jakin. :-)

Home, Happy and Busy

Hello all! I finally scheduled at time to post an update in blogland. :-)

MDA
As expected, the results of all my tests came back good. That was good news to hear, although I did expect it. My stay in Houston was, however, a bit long to me. I didn't like being away from David and the kids that long. They made it, but didn't really like it either. I am hoping to find a way to shorten the time I have to be down there.

My doctor told me that I need to come back again in 3 months one more time, and then I will need to come every 4 months for the next year.

I will post again later!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone and a happy and blessed 2007 to you all.
I know, there is a lot to catch up on on here. I will just type as much as I can right now.

MDA
I am at MDA again for testing. So far I have done my PET scan and lab work. I am waiting to get my drink for the CT scan. I haven't decided what flavors to get. None of them are good. They are all white and about the constistancy of thick paint. They have flavors that try to make your tongue think that what you are swallowing is food. "Try" is the word. Berry, orange, banana, and apple are the flavors. All are horrible. I have started a good joke with them, though. I start by asking the nurse for the chocolate flavor. There are varying responses to my request. Some laugh and assure me there is no such flavor. Some nearly bark out the flavors that are availible. All are fun to harras. But the best is yet to come. I then head to the waiting room to begin the process of trying to get down as much of the first glass as possible. I sit down with a self-satisfied smile among other drinkers. As is the normal custom, I am asked by someone in the group what flavor I chose. (Keep in mind that none are satisfied with their choice and are wishing they could trade after the first sip.) After I smile and act very pleased I answer loud enough for several to hear.

"I got chocolate!" :-)

Some laugh right away, some think I may be serious. The best time to give out this information is when a nurse is present, handing a refill to a patient that has had plenty of the discusting drink. It is awful, I guess, but it is so much fun. The poor nurse has to beat a hasty retreat after all the other patients harass her with requests for the non-exisistent chocolate flavor.

It is no fun to drink that stuff, much less go through the test. I figure the best thing I can do is laugh about it, and help someone else laugh, too. I have seen that the way people handle things can really help other people to handle their trials better. Even if it is just a few cups of bariurm.

Merry Christmas!
We had a good Christmas season. A bit busy but peaceful. We had a good time at Ma and Pa's on Christmas Day- along with Cathy, Richard and Rachel,-eating, opening presents and playing games. It was so good to be in our new house for Christmas.

We had a good visit with Emily, Patrick, Emmett and Joshua after Christmas. Lots of silly stuff, lots of fun stuff. We made butter, cooked pancakes, played with make-up, played Balderdash and the Files card game, laughed and goofed around, had a big slumber party, and ended it all with a big pillow fight in the living room. Fun? Oh, Yeah! :-) Love you guys!

Not Enough To Do?!

Today I am working to get ready for a fall festival at church tonight, (I am helping with the food), helping a friend dress chicken's tomorrow, and Keilah's birthday Thursday. Not much to do really to get ready. Just clean the house, make beans and cornbread, make tortilla's for breakfast tomorrow so it can be on the go, clean the house some more, decorate for Keilah's birthday, get a few more things for gifts, wrap gifts, make cake and decorate, make more tortillas for birthday supper along with beans and rice and/or cornbread, make favor bags, and stuff like that. Oh, I guess laundry and baths will happen somewhere in there along with regular meals. Maybe I won't be too busy. :-)

Good morning!
Today is windy and cool, and thankfully we have a woodstove and a warm house. I think about how nice it is to have a house in weather like this. Most of us take that as a normal fact, but some people don't have the privilige or luxury of having a place that is warm and dry. I am thankful for my warm bed and dry house to take care of my family in.

Today is my big cleaning day. Today I get to go through the house cleaning everything up. And today I am going shopping. Online, that is. And I'm planning to get my coop order together.

Keilah's birthday is coming up soon. She will be 5. Wow. It seems like just a short time ago she was a baby. Now she is half way to 10.

Well, on to the other items of the day!

Brrr!

We have been a bit chilly down here the last few days. Today the highs are supposed to be about 70 degrees. This morning it was in the 30's. Brrrr!

Nell is recovering from surgery well. She is no longer using a walker and and seems to do really well walking around. Her therapy is going well also. We are happy to see that she is doing so well.

History
I've been listening to a song that is popular on the radio right now by Matthew West called, "History." I love this song. God has been using it to minister to me lately. Here are the lyrics. (click on links above to see more about Matthew West)

" It's been a bad day

You've been looking back

And all you can see is everything you wish you could take back

All your mistakes

A world of regrets

All of those moments you would rather forget

I know it's hard to believe

Let me refresh your memory

Yesterday is history

And history is miles away

So, leave it all behind you

But let it always remind you of the day

The day that love made history

You know you can't stay right where you fell

The hardest part is forgiving yourself

But let's take a walk into today

And don't let your past get in the way
Would you believe that you are history in the making,

in the making?
Every choice that you are making

Every step that you are taking

Every chain that you are breaking

History is in the making

Every word that you are saying

Every prayer that you are praying

Every chain that you are breaking

History is in the making

History is in the making

History is in the making "

© 2005 Word Music, LLCANesties Music Publishing, admin, by Word Music, LLC (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission. International copyright secured.

This song has been ministering to me as I work each day. Every day bring victories and failures. Pressing on and looking ahead instead of behind is something that I am trying to learn to keep in mind.

BTW, if you go to www.matthewwest.com you can listen to some of his music while you look around. That is, if you don't have dial-up. With dial-up it sounds like he is singing and then drinking some milk, then turning to sing some more, then drinking more milk. That is what Keilah thinks it sounds like anyway. :-)

Have a blessed day!

Update On David's Mom

Just a quick update, Nell's surgery went well. She is supposed to be able to come home from the hospital tomorrow. She is sore but doing well with the therapy.

More later!

Shooting Amish Girls?!!!

Shocking

This is a shocking story. And there is another version here. Esp since it is very close to where some our Amish friends live. We will be trying to get in touch with them soon. Please be in prayer for all the Amish. And for protection for the schools in our country.

Globe,..Well,... State Trotting and Other News

Hello all! Here I am again and look, it hasn't been 2 months since my last post! Aren't you proud of me? :-)

I guess you have noticed my new look. I plan to do more updating in the near future also.

We are about to head for Arkansas to pick up some strawberry plants. 100-200 actually. The plan is to go them through the winter and then have strawberries in the spring. Lord willing that is what we intend to do. We are still in the planning stages of the trip and so don't know the exact dates yet. But we are thinking about seeing some other folks along the way. (BTW, I failed to mention that we are going to David's uncle's to get the plants.)

Prayer needed for Nell

Please be in prayer for David's mom. She is going to have knee replacement surgery on the 10th of this month. While she is glad to be doing the surgery and getting the knee issue resolved, she is not looking forward to the down time afterwards.

Everything The 10th

I guess everything will be happening the 10th. We will have baby chickens hatching the 10th, the co-op order will come in the 10th, Nell's surgery is the 10th,...and there is something else that I forgot.

Prayer For Me

I would also covet everyone's prayers. I am in the process of getting our house, life, family, etc on a schedule. However, I am not very proficient in this area and am having to learn from the ground up how all this works. Please pray for me. And if any of you have good tips or advise in any area you can think of, please leave me a comment. For you elder readers, would you consider thinking back to when your kids were young and telling me how you ran your day, or how you wish you would have, or anything that you would like to have been told at that time? I would highly value anything anyone would have to say!

God bless you all and have a wonderful day.

Finished!

Just to let everyone know, I now have nothing in my body, that I know of, that is not just me. The medi-port is offically gone. All that is left is a large bruise and some stitches. I am still a bit sore, but that is quickly fading away.

As you might imagine, it is a relief to finally have that thing removed.

The surgery went well and I did pretty good afterwards. (I said, "pretty good" because I did have some nausea afterwards) Thank you all for your prayers.

I'll post again later!

The End of the Year

Last year about this time I underwent surgery to have a medi-port put in so that I could start chemo. Tommorrow it comes out. Sept 22, 2005 it was put in place and I had big battle ahead of me. Tommorrow, Sept 21, 2006 I will have it removed and expect to have a good year next year.

So much has happened in the time that I did that surgery. I have been a lot of places, learned a lot of things, met a lot of people. I am a different person.

If you are reading this before 8:00 am Central Time, please pray for me. This will be an "easy" procedure compared to the placement but it is still a surgery.

Yes, This is a New Post! :-)

Once again it has been a woefully long time since I updated everyone here. I am sorry. So much happens and it is so hard to get it all written! :-) I will give a quick overview of the last few months.

As posted before, we are in our new house and oh, are we enjoying that! The house is not completed yet, but we have what we need each day and that is all we need at the moment. The space is so nice. We can actually spread out a bit. I have been working on getting it organized and I think that is going well. :-) I love my big kitchen and new appliances. Right now I am still using the original cabinets but David is planning to add new ones and update the old ones soon. But I am happy, I have more space than I did in the other house and I definitely have more space than in the trailer. :-) So, all is well!

I did enjoy getting my cupboards painted last week. I did a black and white scheme. I did the inside of the cupboards white, and the drawers and doors white. All the facings I painted black. I will post a picture when I get home and take one.

Right now we are in Galveston. I went in yesterday for tests and will find out Friday what the results are. I know that everything is okay and am not worried about it.

It sure does feel good to be able to be back in the swing of things. I am reminded being down here just how bad I felt and what how far God has brought me. I am just so thankful.


Here is a picture that Keilah took of me. I have my hat on, but maybe it will give those who haven't seen me in a while an idea of what I look like these days. :-)

I will try to post more often, but that has been said before......

FINALLY, She posted

Hello everyone in "blogland" who has been wondering when I was going to update my blog! :-) (I guess after looking at my last posts, I should condsider making a template that starts, "Hey, sorry everyone that I haven't written in a while...")

As some of you have heard by now, I have now been declared cancer free. I took a total of 6 rounds of chemotherapy. It was very difficult and trying but God was with me through it all in a very big way. I will go back for testing June 13. This will be my second round of testing to see if I am maintaining a cancer free state. I believe God has healed me and given me this time to bring up my children and I am very thankful.

We are also in our new house now. Words cannot describe or express how excited and happy we are to be living here.

I thought that I would have more time to write and be more mobile with the laptop, and to some degree that has been true. But I have not had the time I thought that I would have to write in my blog. Even journaling has been very hard to find a spot to do. Life has been going at such a high rate of speed. For a portion of time, we were fighting for everyday stuff like water, food, clothes, heat and electricity.

I wish that I had been able to write about all our experiences living in a 30’
travel trailer with 3 kids. My brother and his wife and toddler lived next to us in a pop-up camper, but shared the facilities of our trailer and were in ours much of the time to eat meals, etc. It was crammed to say the least! We lived in that from January to March 13. We were thankful that we were not in Maine or somewhere really cold, but we had our share of being cold in a camp trailer in the middle of winter. :-) My sister-in-law and I fought to keep meals going, kids taken care of, donations sorted, clothes and dishes washed, etc. We had water and power to the trailer but for some reason or another there were times that neither of those two luxuries were available. (I need to explain here that my brother and his wife came down to help us while I was going through chemo. The day our house burned, they were on their way down to help us with our kids while I recovered from my second round of chemo. They stayed and helped us after the fire and were a huge help to both David and I.) David and my brother, Tim, would come in from working on the house, fences, cleanup or whatever and need to eat. The only place to sit in the trailer was a couch that we dubbed “The Sinkhole,” because that is what you did when you sat in it. David and Tim would be given their plates of food and then sit in “The Sinkhole” and balance their plate in one hand and eat with the other. That was the signal for all the babies, (4, 2, 10 months and 16 months), to start climbing on the daddies that they had not seen all day and begging for food. (Even if they had eaten or had their own food to eat) Poor guys! We did our best to help but anytime they could, they opted to eat outside. :-)

This was difficult at best, but there were a few more twists thrown in. Really, we had two “camps.” We had to live with David’s parents for the first few weeks after the fire and that was where a lot of our things were. Then the trailer was brought in for us and we moved over to it, sort of. As I said above, the trailer was cold, sometimes too cold. So we would pack up and move back to Ma’s for a day or so until the cold spell blew over. Then we would have to move everything back to the trailer. Sometimes there was a power issue with the trailer and we had to move until that got resolved. Somehow, in all these switching camps we would always end up needing something that we had left at the other location. We lived back and forth between the two locations for nearly 3 months. Add to all that packing up and leaving for Houston every 21 days, coming home drained and having to recover from the chemo while fighting all the above. Usually we would stay at Ma’s for a few days when we got back from Houston. (Read: Packed and got ready for 1-week stay in Houston with 3 kids in a motel room. Usually switched motels at least once. Packed everything back in suburban and headed home where we pulled some things out while we stayed at Ma’s and made it for a few days, trying not to totally trash Ma’s house, while I was pretty much out of it and everyone else was taking care of my kids.)

Easy? Whatever. God with us and giving us peace in the midst? All the way.

It was awesome how even facing all of this there would be that grace to walk through it all, that peace that passes understanding. There is really no way to explain it and looking back as I write all this I have to question how on earth God brought me through all this without a nervous breakdown or a major hatred for fire and camp trailers. :-) And really, I have only shared a small portion of the challenges and trials we faced. I have not mentioned David and the kids getting sick and having to clean up throw up and tending sick kids and husband while recovering from chemo. I have not mentioned the strangeness of not having, much less a place to put, the simplest of things we used everyday, such as pen and paper, and the loss of things that were in their places when we left that were of no use to us now. The heartache as we saw family and friends around us suffering the same losses and challenges that we were facing.
The blowing dust and ash, the burnt trees and desolate destruction all around us. The piles of crumpled metal, the ash heaps everywhere of what used to be our homes, barns, storage buildings, tractors, and those of our neighbors, a constant reminder of the devastation that had swept unstoppable across the countryside. The feeling of walking around as if in a dream and knowing that there is no dream, it is all real. The upheaval of daily routine and the ability to handle everyday tasks quickly and efficiently. The flood of help that poured in and the new experiences we were having as we learned to accept help and money from friends, family and strangers. Having to communicate our needs to people, coordinate and get ready for volunteers who wanted to help as much as possible in very short amounts of time. Trying to look to the future and decide which way to turn, and what needed to be done today. There are no words to describe all that David went through as he tried to provide us all a place to function as a family and at every turn finding a roadblock in his path. How each day we set out to accomplish tasks, and found that we had to run in circles it seemed to be able to begin to accomplish anything.

If reading all this you are feeling overwhelmed, even a little, it is only a fraction of all that we experienced. We were pushed, pulled and stretched to our limits, and then pulled and stretched some more. And in the middle of it all God was with us. (That sentence needs to be written with more feeling; maybe this will help) In the middle of it all GOD WAS WITH US. Not just in things working out for the good, which they did many times, but in our hearts. There were times that I was just incredulous at how God was working in me in the middle of all that was going on around me, so that I was pressed, as Paul says, but not crushed. I passed through the fire and everything overpowered me but God delivered me in the midst of the fire, even while I was walking through it. And I found out that what God said in His Word is true. He is always with us. Not kind of, He really is. I found out that as I walk out my faith and belief in Him, He is faithful and kind. He really does give us the power to walk through things that we thought would crush us, and helps us to come through it victorious and rejoicing. Why? The best part is that He does all this in us that we might demonstrate His power on the earth. I have been blown away by His power that He works in me.

I hate to do this to everyone again, but I am going to have to post this and add some more pics and all that later. There is still so much to write. God is doing so much in me. Some of it is so new and fresh that it is hard to put it all into words. Some of it, I just don't have a full view of where He is taking me yet. But I will try to post it soon.

I still covet your prayers. I am doing well but continued prayer is still important. Thank you all for kindness and faithfullness to pray for me.

How Could I Forget?

The Opening of the Floodgates
Well, it is time for a post about another miracle that happened that I haven’t written about yet. I woke up this morning and realized that I hadn’t written about it on my blog! So here goes.

For those who don’t know, David and I have always driven older vehicles since we have been married. During the time of the diagnosis of cancer, we were driving an older Ford pickup with over 300,000 miles on it. It was a club cab so we could get the kids in the back, but it was a workout going anywhere! We had been praying about a new vehicle but didn’t see that it was the time to get one. When we had to start going back and forth to Houston David’s parents loaned us their trusty little car.

On December 18, we got a call from a friend. They said that they would like to come over and drop a little something off. We assumed they were bringing food or something. What they dropped off were the keys to a 2003 Chevy Suburban with only 42,000 miles on it. Talk about shocked. Our friend said that the Lord wanted them to give it to us and it was ours.

The suburban is a big gift from God in itself. However, God had fun on this deal. The whole thing, down to the color, is exactly what we would have ordered if we could have custom ordered one. When we go shopping, it looks like we bought our double stroller to match the suburban. Our diaper bag matches our ride. When I wear my heavy winter coat, it looks like I got dressed to ride in it. And the features! All just what we would have wanted. Right down to the 6 cd changer.

Does any of that stuff amount to a hill of beans?! No. But God did Christmas His way. I believe He did it partly to show us how much He is in control and really knows just what we need and even want. I feel pretty took care of riding in my custom suburban. And the funny thing is that when I prayed about a vehicle I didn’t have a list. I did ask for a new vehicle. I even asked for a newer one. But I couldn’t have even come up with everything God did. There is no way that I could have gone figured out everything and had it all work out so that not only I really liked it but David did too. And he does. We both like it equally as well. (Although, David is cool with just a CD player, the 6 CD changer was for me!)

I should mention in here that God had done some stuff in me before giving us the ‘Burban, (Our pet name that came from Keilah’s mispronunciation), that had He not done I would not have seen how important it was.

I had to be willing to be content with whatever God provided for us to drive. If that meant driving an old Ford pickup into the ground and leaving it on the side of the road before getting a new vehicle, I had to be content with that provision. If contentment comes because circumstances change, I question if it is true contentment. I am not saying that it is wrong to be happy with new, good things or circumstances. But if your happiness depends on everything being perfectly adjusted, I would say that contentment has not been found. Was I always content driving a vehicle that was not dependable? Did I always just look at it as an adventure to see if we would get there or not? No. I wanted to do something and David felt that it wasn’t the time and that we should wait. I had to make a decision to be content in a circumstance that was not easy. I had to decide to enjoy the time I was in and submit joyfully to the Lord in it. Easy? No. But so worth it. Not because now I have a 2003 Chevy Suburban but because of the peace and joy in my heart that I had before we were given the Suburban.

So, if you are struggling with something in your life today, maybe a physical need, maybe not physical, let me encourage you to not worry about it. God is big, bigger than you think. He cares about your needs and knows what you need and want more than anyone on earth. Ask Him for your heart’s desire, but then let Him have the reigns, let Him surprise you with His provision. And be willing to give up control and choose to be content today in the middle of stuff that could or should be better but isn’t. There no better place to be.

Good morning! It is about 7:00 am and I am up and ready to go. Well, ready to write anyway.

I am home now and doing pretty good. I have had a pretty easy time with the treatment this time, which has been nice! I was tired yesterday some, but not totally drained like I have been. God has been so good.

We have so much to be thankful for. While we were in Houston the community held a fundraiser in my behalf and raised money to cover medical expenses, etc. It was unbelievable how many people came. They signed a little book and we were going over it when we got home. Many folks we knew but there were some we didn’t even know who they were.

I also thought you all might like to see our new family photo.




And here are the remains of David’s guns.



I’ll post more pictures later and write more later too.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is David's and mine anniversary. 5 years. Wow. It has been a really full 5 years. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. I have grown so much because of my marriage to David. I have experienced so much that I would not have had I not been married to him. I have been so happy, the happiest I have been in my whole life. We have been through a lot of hard times together. But through it all we have been together and I would never trade the times we have been through for anything. I love you David. Thank you for the best 5 years of my life and for being the special guy you are.

I am doing chemo right now. I started yesterday and will get unplugged tomorrow. I have had an easier time this round than the other times. As for my test results, things are looking very good. They said that there only a few places that still show up on the CT scan. All the lymph nodes have gone down a lot. After 2 more rounds of chemo they will do a PET scan to see if there is any activity that would indicate that more chemo needed to be done. But my doctor was really pleased with my progress. I am so thankful and am looking forward to being done with treatment.

Tests And Such

Yesterday I had my CT scan. Yuck. But God was good in the middle of it. I didn't feel good because of the barium but God gave me many opportunities to talk to people around me. It was really fun actually.

In the morning I start my third round of chemo. I am not looking forward to it at all. But I know that God will be with me and that I will come through on the other side of this treatment.

I got a wig yesterday, too. It is a dark red and about jaw length. A lot different than I am used to but pretty cute really. I'll get David to take a picture so I can post it.

I don't really have a lot to write about tonight. I guess that is about it. Goodnight!

More Details...

Hello everyone! I am writing to you from my new laptop, and although I don’t show it I am very excited. (No one could tell from how I am bouncing around how excited I am. I hide it very well.) I am now a mobile writer and will be updating my blog more often. I have so much to write.

I don’t know just where to start on all this. So much has happened and I have learned so much. God has done so much in my life in the last few months. I guess I will just try to do a brief overview and give as many details as will fit.

The Worst I Could Imagine
I left you all hanging at MD Anderson during the week of testing. I’ll start from there.

As most of you know, I was looking for a treatment that did not include chemotherapy. We were hoping that MD Anderson would have something like that. They didn’t. They only offered the standard regimen of chemo and told me that nothing else would work. If I didn’t do chemo, I had 6-12 months to live. I could feel that I was getting worse. But I still felt that I wasn’t supposed to do chemo. I really asked the Lord about that while I was there. It was hard to deal with the doctors and would have been much easier to just do the chemo and trust God with it. When I was first diagnosed that was what I had peace about but then felt He said not to do it.

MD Anderson recommended looking immediately into whatever other treatment I was going to consider. So, October 31, 2005, the day we left MD Anderson, we decided to call the Burins clinic. We had heard about them before and their clinic was in Houston. They got us right in and so November 2, 2005, we went to talk with them. They have had very good success treating many types of cancer, combining conventional methods with other research. While we were there in the initial consultation, I felt like the “don’t do chemo” lifted. I was shocked. I had told friends that if God made it clear that it was His plan for me to do chemo then I would. But I didn’t foresee Him doing so at that point. After the doctor left for a minute I told David what had happened. He said that he had felt the same thing.

We did start treatment with the Burzinski clinic that day. They recommended doing their treatment along with chemo. They had research that showed that it helped the chemo to work better than without it. So, I took that treatment for a month while we decided where to do the chemotherapy along with it. We decided to do treatment at MD Anderson and went down there. We hoped that they would be willing to work with the other clinic. They weren’t. In fact they insisted that if I took treatment with them that we couldn’t do any other type of treatment while in treatment with them. No herbs, no high dose vitamin C, no teas, nothing. A multivitamin was the only form of that sort of thing they would allow me to be on. If I wouldn’t agree to that, then they would not treat me.

David and I took the weekend to think it over and pray about it. The worst part about it was that it seemed that God was leading us to do treatment with them anyway. I say it was the worst because all of a sudden God was calling me to walk down a path that was the worst path imaginable to me. I found that I was relying on the things that I was doing more than I had realized. I could trust God to take care of me, but when He called me to trust Him only and nothing else I started shaking in my boots. I had to come to the place that I would trust Him no matter what and would walk even the path that didn’t make sense to me. It was not an easy choice or road for me. I didn’t want to lay down my will on the issue, but as He led me through that “fire” I found a new freedom that I had never had. I was no longer afraid of the chemo when I laid down my fears and decided to follow Him.

I have done 2 rounds of chemo now and although it makes me feel horrible and so drained afterwards, God has been so good and big in the middle of this time. Each time He has shown me things and done things in my life that are so special and precious to me. I am just amazed at how during the worst time in my life God has been so big and good to me.

Also, I am seeing a healing take place in my body. I don't hurt all the time anymore and the tumors that I could feel in my neck are gone. My abdomen is not all swollen anymore and I am wearing size 8 jeans! :-) I am taking care of my kids again and have plenty of energy.

So, to sum up the above, I didn’t want to walk this path. I didn’t want to walk through this fire. But when I submitted to him and did, I found that it is where I wanted to be after all. The things that I have learned and where I am now in my walk with Him is where I wanted to be anyway. I just didn’t want to go through the fire to get here.

The Other FireThe other fire was more what you think of when you think of fire.

Jan 1, 2006 we started home from Houston. I had just had a round of chemotherapy and they had taken me off of it the day before. I was pretty drained really. While on the way home we got a call from our pastor. He was wondering if we had heard about our town being evacuated due to fire sweeping across the countryside. Also, the fire was or had been in the vicinity of our house. We had not heard and were shocked to hear it. David’s parents live close to us and we wondered about them. They didn’t answer their phone.

We drove until we made it to our pastor’s house. David dropped me and the kids off there and he and our pastor, along with another friend, left on the back roads to work their way in to our house.

What David found was shocking. It was all gone. The house, shop and greenhouse were totally gone. The fire had swept across and just burned it all. Our house is nothing but a pile of rubble. Only the metal skirting and anything that doesn’t burn is left.






As you can see from these pictures, there is nothing left. The top picture is our house and beyond the greenhouse. The bottom picture is the heap of metal that was David’s shop.

The miracle is that our new house survived. For those of you that don’t know, in 2004 we moved in a 3 bedroom house to fix up as we had time and money. We hadn’t done much as we have not had the money and then with me being sick and all we had no time and no money.




This picture shows how close the fire got to our house. You can see that the woods beyond the house are burned and that the grass under the trees close to the house is burned. All the way around the house there is not one bit of scorched grass. It is as if that house was in a bubble because the fire was all the way around it. Keilah says that God said, “No fire, you can’t burn our new house,” and he picked the fire up over the house and set it down on the other side. It sure looks that way when you look at the house.

The fire was so hot that it melted our cast iron in the other house. David and I went over one day and dug around in our rubble, looking to see if anything survived. We didn’t find much, nothing really. Then David found something that shocked us both. He found a porcelain cross that had hung on our bathroom wall. It was laying on a rock totally unharmed. It had the words, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.” David picked it up and read it and then he said, “Well, I guess we will.”






Needless to say, that cross is now one of our favorite possessions.

Something I learned in the fire is that God is always more than enough. If I am following Him and trusting Him even my house burning down and losing all my things will not devastate me. I know that I am in the palm of His hand and that nothing can move or shake me. It is an awesome feeling to know that I can not be moved or shaken by any circumstances around me.

I am headed down to MD Anderson tomorrow for CT scans and then chemo. Your prayers are much appreciated! I will try to update as I can.

Hello, Hello, HELLO!!!

Okay, I saw you all just fall out of your chairs to see a post from me on here! Sorry for the long time gap of no news. I have been doing great, and quite honestly have had too much to write! God has been working so much and so much has been happening so fast. To briefly some it all up for you, although I will write it all more detail later, the cancer treatment has been going very well. God has shown up and shown His power. I am not able to even find the nodes that were swollen in my neck anymore and the large tumor on my groin is nearly gone. (That is so brief, I am sorry, I have limited time here)

The last exciting news is that our house burned down during the fires down here this week. It is totally gone. But God is big in the middle of that too. The new house that we were going to move into when we were able to fix it stood. It is not even singed around it. We are living with David's parents right now and will be working on our new house in the weeks to come. We did have insurance, another miracle, and so will have plenty of money to fix up the other house. Please be in prayer for the families around us. There were over 100 homes burned in our area.

I am sorry this is so brief, I feel mean posting such a short post, but I will post again in more detail soon. In the meantime, any of you that have my address, send me something or send me and email with your information. We were in Houston when the fire took place, so all I have is what I had with me.

I love you all! Know that God is hearing and answering your prayers in ways you could never even imagine!