Embarrassed to Admit This

I am embarrassed to admit this but, as a little girl, when I went to a wedding I was a bit confused. I have always loved weddings and have always known that a marriage relationship was something exciting and something I knew I wanted. However, a line that was frequently said by the preacher was something I viewed the wrong way. When the preacher would say, "Let not man set asunder" I heard it incorrectly. I would hear that as the preacher talking to many of the men and women watching the wedding. Like he was telling everyone in the audience to keep their hands off of this married couple because they are now off limits. I thought this was important for everyone to hear. I know this is silly but, over time I realized what was really being said. He was talking to the couple and commanding that they not LET anyone harm their marriage. In other words, DO NOT LET anyone or anything come between you. This comment is so empowering to me. I have always felt that love is not a feeling at all. It is a decision that we must make each and every day of our marriage. Yes, I choose to love you and to not let anything or anyone come between us today even when life is hard or does not go the way we ever expected.
I write this for several reasons. The first reason is because I am very passionate about working daily on a marriage, and I think we should remind ourselves of the importance of this. The second reason for this post is because I have watched close friends go through divorce and it is not easy at all. In fact, it is devastating and I think those of us who are married owe it to God and ourselves to work on our marriage every day. A third reason for writing this today is because, I along with a lot of you, watched Jon and Kate plus 8 last night and am heart broken for those two people. I stopped and prayed for them and everyone I know, to be honest, to protect our marriages.
I write this to, hopefully, inspire at least one person to take a moment and choose their marriage. We get too comfortable and too tired and too distracted. We need to LET NOT man set asunder. Choose to love your spouse today and maybe even tell them that you choose them today and every day.

Today's Update

Mom is doing well after today's chemo. She is going to continue to get more and more tired with each round. But, overall, she is doing well and is still in great spirits. She is going to stay home tomorrow and rest up. For those of you who have asked about what she wants to eat right now, all I have to say is that it is really touch and go. Some days she likes one thing and the next another. Some days (probably most days) she doesn't really feel like anything, but forces herself to eat because she knows she needs to. Her pain, so far, is managable with medication which is such a blessing. Thank all of you for your prayers.

Round 6 Today

Mom's chemo round 6 is today. Please pray for minimal side effects for her. Taylor and Tyrel are also coming in town on Saturday. Please pray that Mom feels well enough to spend a good amount of time with them.

More Zoo Pictures

Riding on the train with uncle Cody.

Cason loves trains, so he takes it very seriously.

Cason loves his uncle.


This is Braden's new face he loves to make.

Daddy is helping Cason reach the birds. This is also one of Cason's favorite things to do at the zoo.

Feeding the ducks with Dad.

Uncle Cody, Cason, and Dad in front of the monkeys.

In Over Our Heads

I am not really sure what we were thinking when we decided it was a good idea to take two two year olds and two babies to the zoo but we did. Jennifer and I thought we had a better grip on motherhood than we actually did. Both of us should have known by the mornings we had had just to stay home, lock all the doors, and wait for reinforcements. But, like I said earlier, we left the house and took all the boys to the zoo. The pictures are backwards. We ended with a train ride to remember that I will get to later. It all started off pretty routine. We went and saw the monkeys. Jennifer and I, I have to say, we being great moms by talking with the older boys about monkey sounds and discussing the actions they were doing. I was thinking..."this is going great..." Around the next turn we ran into a school group that was...well, full of energy. We were quickly surrounded and could not move the double strollers in any direction. This is where it all went down hill. We quickly realized that the Mommy time that we were looking forward to was not going to happen along with our big boys being content to stay in their strollers. A few minutes later after we let the boys walk for a minute (I know...this was our big mistake.) they took off and made it all the way from the orangutans through the inside of where the gorillas are. As Jennifer and I were running with the double strollers, people were kindly opening and holding the doors for us so we could try to keep up with our sons that were dodging in and out of everyone at the zoo. Jennifer let go of her stroller and took off, finally catching up with the two break aways. This is when we both wrestled with the boys to strap them back into the strollers. Things went well for a short time after this...but I am not done. We did some walking and said some, "obey Mommy"'s. At this time Cason suggested that we go see his favorite thing at the zoo which is the bird house where you can buy a stick of birdseed and feed the birds. I thought I would take the big boys in and monitor them while Jennifer sat with the strollers and the babies. Braden feel asleep and Jasper had some lunch while I sweated more than I have in a long time. I ran around and around chasing the two big boys and then lifted them up to feed the birds and then ran around a few more thousand times before I could talk them into leaving. At this point we were all getting a little hungry and Jennifer had snagged a bench so we thought why not have lunch right here. Right here next to these bees did not enter my mind, but the orange I brought did enter the bees minds. I know there was nothing to be scared of but I am a big baby when it comes to bees. Needless to say I was dancing all over the place trying to eat lunch. I am sure everyone there was laughing. I, myself, had a good laugh about it too. We finished up lunch and decided to strap everyone back in again and head to the train station where we would have a lovely ride back to the front. I say lovely because for some reason at this point we were still optimistic. The train ride consisted of...a lost ticket within seconds of buying it, needing help loading two double strollers with babies in hand and 2 year olds running like mad, loud creaking and whistling startling the babies, Bennet laying down to go to sleep, Cason jumping off the wrong side so a nice man jumped over to get him, Bennet running off so the same man chased him down, needing help from another man to unload two double strollers, forcing big boys back into stroller buckles, all while sweating profusely. Jennifer and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing the chaos was over and then I couldn't find my car. Awesome!!!!
We ended the whole adventure with..."We will have to do this again sometime. Next time will have to go better." There is just nothing like motherhood. It is so worth all you have to go through to get the fun in between

Happy Mother's Day!

I have always felt that God blessed me more than I could ever understand by giving me my mother. She has always been my go-to, my best friend. I have no idea why God blessed me with her as a mother, but I am so glad He did. Throughout Mom's diagnosis, I have learned to appreciate her even more. So on this Mother's Day I want to wish my mom the best day ever. You are a true friend, inspiration, example, and blessing to me. I love you more than words can express. I learn from you each and every day. I am so blessed to have you and I love sharing you with other people. I love you, Mom.

To all my friends who are mothers...Happy Mother's Day to all of you too. Each and every one of you inspire me to be a better mother. There is something about all of you that I would like to be more like and your friendship and example to me is priceless. Our job as mothers could not be more challenging but it could also not be more rewarding. We have been given a gift from God and I say we celebrate it.

To anyone who wants to be a mother but it just hasn't happened yet. I wish you Happy Mother's Day as well. Sometimes God makes us wait for something we truly desire. The first part of being a mother is having a heart for it.

MRI Results are in!

Great news! Mom's chemo is working. The biggest tumor is GONE! and the others are greatly deminished. She is being hooked up right now for round 5. Thank you all soooooo much for your prayers. God said, "Yes!" and we are so thankful. Our God is oh so good.

Tornado pics From Taylor

Tornado in VA

Taylor's neighborhood was hit by a tornado about an hour ago. She is ok and was able to make it inside with the dogs right before it hit. A tree was blown over onto the power lines in her backyard as well as trees blown over and uprooted throughout the whole neighborhood, so she does not have any power at all. Tyrel knew the storm was coming and called and called until he could get ahold of her. They talked and she told him she was ok. She is going to try to send or post pics later. She is really shaken up but we are so thankful she is ok.

Update on Mom 5-3-09

Mom went to church last night which is always a blessing. She is doing well lately, just very easily tired. She rests as much as possible and takes it easy. The cumulative effects of the chemo are the worst when it comes to energy level. She is going to become more easily tired as this goes along. Her spirits are still great overall and she is handling this with such grace. It has been such a blessing to watch her work through the difficulties. It has also been extremely hard to watch someone you love go through such a mean and powerful treatment. Thank you, yet again, for all the prayers and encouragement. That is what keeps all of us going and I know it means more to Mom than you all could ever know.

MRI Today!!!

Mom's MRI is scheduled for today at 10:30. We will know the results sometime by Thursday. We will not know them today though. I will post them as soon as I know them and can get to my computer. We are confident that God knows what is best and His will is what we are surrendering to. With this said, we are also asking for our heart's desire which is healing for Mom. This MRI is so important for the continuation of this treatment. If it shows that the cancer has not gotten smaller that only means the treatment will change. I am praying that all of this chemo Mom has had to go through has been working so her discomfort has not been for no reason. Anyway, I will post as soon as I can. Until then, pray hard.