Summer Family Fun

Summer is here (FINALLY) and the fun has begun! Last week we spent four nights at Priest Lake with some friends from church and had an incredibly AWESOME time! When we left on Monday it was pouring rain but when we arrived at the Indian Creek campground it was just cloudy. We have had to set up camp in the rain before and it isn't fun so we were thankful for a break in the weather. Our two boys and their two friends slept in a tent and on Wednesday night there was a thunder storm that literally cracked right overhead! And the boys still slept in the tent! Other than that, the weather was great! The kids were in the lake on two different days and I was so happy to sit in the sun and put my feet in the water! We played lots of games and my new favorite game is Farkle...so if you come visit, you can expect to be playing with us! We also had campfires every night....with smores of course (but not every night!). What a relaxing, fun, awesome time!

We got home in time for some laundry, actually a LOT of laundry, and then the kids left today for Youth camp through our church. Now that Kate is entering 7th grade, it is her first year going with her brothers and she is excited! They will be gone til Friday! Wow! No kids in the house...what will we do? Well, today I had IV chemo so my plan is to rest...but we'll see. July is a busy month for us. On the 4th we host a big party since we can shoot fireworks at our house. We have a great view too and can enjoy the fireworks from Medical Lake as well as neighboring cities. It's always fun to BBQ with family and friends! Then my brother and his family arrive on the 6th. We haven't seen our niece since she was born so we are so excited to spend time with her (and her mom and dad too of course!). That Friday my Aunt arrives from Arizona and will spend 10 days with us. She hasn't been here for 6 years and we are looking to her visit. My brother will overlap a day or two so my Aunt will be able to see them too. Then my sister and her family arrive a few days before my Aunt leaves and they will be here for a week. Phew! In between that, the boys are going away for a weekend to serve at a Jr church camp doing music AND they are also helping with music during a week long day camp. Can you say busy busy busy? We are so excited to have such precious time with family! We are thankful our home has enough room to host everyone. We will set up our above ground pool so the kids will have outdoor activities. And if I need to take a nap, I'll disappear for a little while into my room :-)

Today I had a doctor's appointment and IV chemo. My skin is looking much better so that is a praise! My cough, however, is not going away and that is a concern...it has waxed and waned and we don't know why. The doctor offered me home oxygen for night time use but I'm not ready for that yet. So I continue to take pain medicine during the day to control the cough when it gets bad. And my voice remains hoarse from the time I get up til the time I go to bed--ugh! I love it when the kids say I am "yelling"...how can you yell when you sound like Minnie Mouse? Anyway, the doctor scheduled me for a CT scan of the abdomen/chest on July 12th and we are PRAYING things are stable or better. If that's the case, we can stay on this regimen of chemo--which we LOVE as we only go to the doctor once every three weeks instead of weekly. We did find out that if we have to change chemo to the medicine that is coming out of study, we may have to travel to Couer 'd Alene, Idaho for it which is about 45 minutes to an hour away. We DON'T want to have to do this. In the meantime, she is increasing the dose of my pill chemo since I am tolerating it so well. So thanks for your continued prayers my friends! We did find out though that we have to cancel our Yellowstone trip. The 6000 foot elevation will not be good with my cough and breathing. So yet again the burden of this cancer has hit our family. JR is now trying to find a camping spot closer to home that might be open. JR asked the doctor today about a disabled parking permit--ugh....wasn't too happy about that one BUT it might give us more options camping wise because there are disabled spots at every campground. So, we'll see what happens.

As we continue to live one day at a time we continue to see God's hand in our lives every day. As mentioned earlier, our camping trip was awesome, weather was great, all the kids got a long well, we had safety in our journey...many blessings. We've also seen God at work in Jr's life. My dear, sweet, husband, has been in stress overload--just feeling like his plate is full and at any moment it will tip over. Prior to our camping trip we found out our slide on our trailer wasn't working. And to make a long story short, Jr worked and worked and replaced the motor, then found there were electrical issues and the more he got into it, the more he realized was wrong. It was overwhelming, and despite a friend working on it for 3 hours, we still have to take it into the shop. The next day, JR went to work and wasn't happy to find out he had to float to another floor. But, as he soon found out, God was at work. There is someone at work whose wife recently battled cancer and JR was able to talk to this co-worker. It was a relief for him to talk to someone who UNDERSTANDS and who felt just like he does and he shared what he did to help get through the difficult times. JR said he felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders just to talk to someone who understood. That was the biggest blessing of all! So we continue to take one day at a time and thank God for His many blessings!