Looking forward to the weekend.....

Last Sunday we took the kids (Kimmie, Dallas-my neice, and David-my nephew) to the pumpkin patch. The kids had a blast running through the corn maze and riding the trains, Big Toot and Little Toot. It was a great day and then we spent the evening carving our pumpkins. I just love how into the holidays Kim is getting now. And Halloween is very exciting for her. All the fall activities and dressing up and getting candy. What more does a 4 year old need to get excited?!?

All this week she has been anticipating her 2nd field trip at school. We went to Cat Tales. It's a conservation zoo for big cats just north of Spokane. I've been there a couple of times with my nephews but this will be Kim's first trip. She was so excited to see the cats. And couldn't believe that they had a big black one that looked like her Sasha kitty.

After the feild trip we spent the evening trick or treating. She was so excited to get her ragdoll costume on and head out. The night started out pretty good and then about half way around the neighborhood it started raining. We were soaked by the time we got back home.


Her school pictures came back yesterday and I have to admit I was really worried about them. Worried that she would either give them that stupid cheesey grin or not cooperate at all. But much to my huge relief when I opened the packet they turned out really cute. Her smile is very sweet with her little dimples and her curls are tossled just right. I know I'm probably a bit bias but I still think she's the cutest kid ever to be photographed.

We have geat news about Gracie to share. Sunday they did another CT Scan and actually had to read it twice to make sure they weren't missing something. Her lungs are completely clear. Praise God and the power of prayer. Thank you all for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers. She was able to move out of ICU on Tuesday and will be coming home either Saturday or Sunday. She still has a ways to go but she's doing so much better. She will likely have to have some physical therapy do to being imobile for so long. And she's really worried about falling behind in school but the principal reassured her that if she needed they would send a tutor to her house to help her. She probably won't be back in school until December so the tutor will be nice help.

So next week we will be able to get back to our normal schedule after having it thrown off track for the month of October.

Our Prayers have been answered! YAY!!!!

Gracie has made a huge turn around the past few days. So much so that this morning they took her off the ventalator, removed her chest tubes and took her completely off the oxygen. They were also going to put her in their little wagon and wheel her around the hospital so she could see where she's been now for almost 3 weeks. She still has a way to go and won't be home for a while but this is a huge turn around for her.

I haven't heard if they got the biopsy results back yet. If those come back that there is dead tissue in her lungs then they will have to go in and remove that portion of her lung. But we will deal with that if and when the time comes.

Thank you for all your prayers for this sweet little girl. They are so greatly appreciated.

I RELAY BECAUSE.........

This past August Kim and I joined our first Relay for Life. Larry lost both his parents to cancer and we lost my Uncle Bob in July after his courageous fight with this awful disease. I decided that it was time to start teaching Kim that we do things for other people for a greater good. So we packed up our bedding, borrowed a tent from my sister (God knows where ours is in the garage attic) and went to spend the night in the park walking. Walking for those that we have lost, walking for those who are fighting, and walking for those who have fought and WON!!! The whole night was so amazing and emotional and just everything overwhelming that I decided then that I wanted to be a bigger part of it. I joined the committee.

Saturday I spent the day in Spokane at Relay University. I learned a lot and came away with some great ideas for fundraising. My head is realing with a couple of plans. One for a committee fundraiser and a few for out team.

So our first meeting is next week. I've been asked to be Sponsorship Chairman. Which I'm excited but at the same time a little apprehensive. The woman who has had that position for a long time and while I know she has a lot on her plate with her job, family and her own battle with cancer right now I don't want her to feel like she's being pushed aside. And I certainly don't want to step on anyone's toes. But what ever is best for the cause will be what I will do.

So be prepared for my requests for help in our fundraising efforts.

My hope is that there will come a day when no one ever has to say to a friend or loved one "I have cancer" again.

Having to take a break......

Unfortunately due to Gracie being sick and me having to pick up extra time at work to help out I've had to put my morning workouts on hold. I missed the whole week last week and was able to get to Curves on Monday this week, but it looks like I'll be missing the rest of the week. So I didn't even weigh in this week. I'm feeling like all is going to be lost and I'll be starting over. But I can't be upset about it because right now I have to do the extra to help out with Gracie still being in ICU. And I haven't made enough head way with myself to be able to do this on my own. I struggle with myself as it is with getting to Curves when I can. I have to admit that I really hate going. But I go because I know that I need to. I hope that some day soon I can become one of the people that is addicted to working out.

An update on Gracie. Sunday they were able to take 1 of the 3 chest tubes she has out. They have been getting a lot of the mucus and stuff in her lungs out the past few days. They said that if all goes well today then tomorrow they should be able to finally take her off the respirator. She's been sedated and on that respirator now for a week. It will be such a huge step if they can move her off of it. I also want to thank everyone who had been praying for her. I know that each and every prayer is so appreciated.

What a week

I'm so glad to finally have a day to just relax. Monday I took the day off to go on Kim's first field trip. We went with her class to Walter's Fruit Farm. We learned all about apples. This particular farm has 26 different varieties of apples. There are 2500 different kinds in American and there are 7500 different kinds of apples in the world. Who would have thought that you could get that many varieties out of Red, Yellow, Green ~ Sweet and Tart.

The kids all got to pick their own apples off the trees. They learned about how apple cider is made. They also got to pick a pumpkin.
They got to pet goats, go through a hay bale maze, they played on this big slide together and also got to play in a sandbox that was full of dried peas. We all had lunch together on the farm too. We are looking forward to Halloween when we get to go to Cat Tales. It was a great day for all the kids.

The rest of the week wasn't quite as good. My boss's granddaughter, 6 year old Gracie, was rushed to the hospital on Sunday with a severe case of pneumonia. She has been in Pediatric ICU at Sacred Heart since. She's had 2 surgeries this past week and has been in a drug induced coma and on a respirator since Wednesday night. If you believe in the power of prayer please keep this sweet little girl in your prayers.

Due to Gracie being so sick I spent most of the week in the office by myself. Doing more then my normal daily work. Making for a long tiring week. But it's all ok because we do what we have to do. And the most important thing is that Gracie gets well soon.

15 Years ago today

October 2nd, 1993 Larry and I were married. I can't believe that we have made it 15 years and we're still going strong. It hasn't been all easy by any means but we were able to work through all the stuff and see that we loved each other enough to fight our way back each time. Some people will say that walking away is the easy way out but for us it has always been easier to work it out then to walk away. I'm happy that we have. Now 15 years later and we have our sweet girl to be thankful for as well. Life is good.

Making a goal

I set myself a goal to lose 5 pounds and 5 inches in the month of September. So Tuesday before I started my morning workout at Curves I weighed and measured. Much to my surprise I MADE IT. I lost 5.5 pounds and 5.5 inches. YAY!!!!! My next goal is 10 pounds and 12 inches. I'll be working to make the one foot club hopefully before the end of October.