Easter Dogwoods

I still miss the gorgeous Dogwood trees at our previous home. One was white and the other pink. They always seemed to know to bloom right at Easter.

In this picture I was 6 weeks post op from having a brain tumor removed, I was 6 weeks in to experiencing single sided deafness, I was 6 weeks in to relishing that my face wasn’t paralyzed, and I was 6 weeks in to truly viewing each day as a gift.

I experienced a palpable communion with the Lord during the year of 2013 and all that came with it. None of it, except that communion, was particularly fun. But it grew me, it grew my family, and most importantly it drew me closer to the ultimate physician and healer, my Lord, Jesus Christ.

Easter Sunday 2013

As you can see, five years later, our girls sure have been growing too! Here they are in front of the cross after it had been flowered by children throughout the morning. It's a meaningful tradition, one that our school keeps too. 

Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018

I couldn't remember Easter ever falling on April Fool's Day. Sure enough it has only happened four times since 1900, the last time being in 1956. And it won't happen again until 2029!

But what we celebrated today is no April fool's joke. Jesus took the cross, an ugly instrument of death, and made it beautiful. He conquered the grave—and one day we, who are in Him, will conquer it and rise again also—to be in heaven with Him.

HE IS RISEN! Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Next time...bird seed.

Our yard has some bare spots that have been bugging me. I picked up a bag of grass seed, prepared the soil, spread the seed and watered it in. Faithfully. Every day. In fact I should have given up sooner.

At the same time I got a new bird feeder. Haphazardly set it up and filled it with seed. It also sat over a bare spot of dirt. I watched more squirrels eat from it than birds, and appreciated my dogs barking at them. Even they knew it was for birds, not squirrels.

Guess where I planted the grass seed.

Not here. ^^^

Yep.You guessed it.

Next time? Bird seed.

Dad's Anti-Summer List List

My husband is the "fun parent". The jokester. The rule breaker. The one I roll my eyes at. It's fine. It works for us. Probably because I don't mind being the bad guy a lot of the times. So, when Jerry saw me begin prepping our summer chore chart, "The Summer of Responsibilities", and then when he noticed others posting theirs on FaceBook, he went into full "fun parent" mode. Following is what he posted...

I will be posting this list in my house in protest of summer lists: 

Dad's Anti-Summer List List - (ideas that might get you in trouble and/or a little hurt) 

Rules for using this list: Don’t over plan. Don’t use this as a check list. Keep your phones on and on you. Use common sense. 

1. Take your scooters down the big hill at the end of our street. Just post one person at the bottom of the hill to watch for cars and wear a helmet. If you’re scared, start toward the bottom and work your way up. Why do I even have to tell you these things? This is the only common sense advice I will provide for the rest of this list. --- When it gets boring, think of some ways to trick it up. If you’re brave enough, build a ramp to jump over the curb. Tweak the ramp until it works and you’ll have completed your math lesson for the day.

2. Rollerblade in the big parking lot where they are putting the new restaurants.

3. Find a way down into the creek at the end of our street. Trespass if you need to!

4. Ride your bike to 7-Eleven and get a Slurpee each day it’s over 95 degrees.

5. Call your neighborhood friends. Bike over to their house. Don’t come back home for hours. Cross a busy street. I don’t care. You have a phone ON YOUR BODY for crying out loud. Take advantage of that. You’ll be fine.

6. Turn the back yard into an imaginary place. You decide. Invite friends over. One recommendation: Nerf gun battle!

7. Fill a cooler full of water balloons. Attack your mom. Then invite friends over for a battle royale. Do it again.

8. Climb the tree in the front yard onto our roof. Figure that out and I’ll give you $10.

9. Go barefoot.

10. Bike to get your sweet ol’ dad something sweet from the store.

11. Lift your chin. Look for your own ideas.

12. Do your mom’s chore chart! Not doing chores is too dangerous – even from Dad’s perspective.

I bet you can guess my least and most favorite. Rest assured I know how to fill a mega water gun to quickly retaliate. And...the chore chart, ahem, "The Summer of Responsibilities" is almost ready for press. And I am ready for a full court press. Game on! Summer: Let's do this!

after a 3 year break....

Wow...I used to adore this blog and posted often.

Then 2 brain tumors came along and it became a place to post about surgeries, healing, MRIs and other updates.

Its our first real day of SUMMER here and I had an urge to revamp the ol' blog!

Looking forward to posting about things other than acoustic neuromas and meningiomas. Thank the Lord that I am able to!

Here's to an awesome summer!

Post Op MRI this morning!

Just a quick post to let you know I am scheduled for an MRI this morning. I check in at 9 and they will start the IV (yuck!).  I should be in the tube for an hour, or hopefully less, starting around 9:30. I meet with Dr. Mickey immediately following to go over the images.

I am not overly nervous, but also not feeling completely peaceful about it either. Dr. Mickey thinks he got it all, but his words from December still echo in my ears. About it being micro surgery and the tumor cells being microscopic...any tiny remnant has the chance of regrowing. Blech!

We just came back from an AMAZING road trip out west during which we stopped at the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, Huntington Beach and then finally attended a great family missions conference. During our fun trip, a sweet, and way too young friend, died in a tragic sledding accident. We also passed 2 AWFUL accidents on the road, and a local man fell to his death off the south rim. Life is feeling very precious and super fragile to me at the moment.

Attending a funeral with your 9 year old so she may support her twin classmates who no longer have a mother is heartbreaking and sobering. And a good reminder that these pesky tumors and surgeries I have faced have left me scarred in a minor way, yet VERY FULL of LIFE!

Thankful yet still anxious about sitting next to Dr. Mickey this morning as he pours over each image and then turns to me and opens his mouth with news.  My prayer is that whatever the "news" is, good or bad, that our response is one that demonstrates our faith to him well.

It is truly amazing to me how the Lord continues to use my children to minister to me. Jade's current verses to memorize? A big chunk of Matthew 6, ending with these verses:

Do Not Be Anxious

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[g] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Hearing her shy little 6 year old voice say these by heart warms mine immensely. So, into the tube I go, carrying these encouraging words with me!