Run, Brent, Run!!!

What a weekend! We arrived in Toledo Ohio on Saturday, had lunch and then headed to "Imagination Station" to entertain the children before picking up Brent's packet he needed for the marathon. Some of these pictures will just prove that the adults have just as much fun as the kids. PopPop Tom is very brave to "ride" the bike on the balance beam.

Big Brave Brent rides the bike too. You'll notice that the children didn't ride it.

Standing in this tube, you could make the winds blow at very high levels, feeling as if you are in a tornado. Marley didn't care much for this but Elizabeth loved it!

Can you see Brent's "hair" blowing! What hair!!!

So much fun! So much science!

"Aren't we cute?"

Snack time!

"Don't be afraid, Mommy. You can do it!" says Layla.

Brent is very strong. He flew very high and it took lots of muscles. (He'll need them tomorrow!)

Come on, Elizabeth. You can do it!!!

It was difficult telling who had more fun jumping on the keyboard. The music was NOT very beautiful!

On to the University to pick up Brent's packet.

We stayed at the Ramada (a host motel) which served the purpose. Layla loved the pool most of all. (Who cares about the race when there is a pool thinks Layla.) Marley.....not so much.

Brent just remembers that he has to run 26.2 miles tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!

Layla loves that she got to stay up late and stay in PopPop and JoJo's room.

Race Day! Brent was up and out by 6:00. Now we wait...............................

and wait..............................................................

and wait..................................................................................

.........and wa..............wait!!!! "Did you say 'swim' ???????????????

"I LOVE swimming!!!!!! Oh....we're on our way home. Daddy is done.......finally!!!! After finishing, the rain cut loose!

PopPop reads a book and Brent is awake after a short nap. Now he is entertaining Marley. We aren't sure whether Brent is able to move or not. So proud of his achievement! Who would'a thought!

Elizabeth is so glad that the blinding rainstorm is over since she is driving home.

Well done!

Teeny Tiny Tumors Total

Doesn't it just seem right to show a picture of my tree blossoms when discussing bladder cancer? I think so...especially when the spring has been the most beautiful in a long time. I made my visit to Dr. Fretz today for my "teeny tiny tumor total". Three months ago he found 3 new tiny tumors but we decided to let them live since they were small. They had grown a little but he found the usual 3 new tumors clustered with the old 3. It MUST have something to do with the Trinity since every 3 months I have had 3 new tumors!!! (This is now a total of twelve.)

The old 3 and the new 3 tumors are on the top dome of the bladder and the first 3 were on the side. I don't know where the second 3 were. I forgot to ask. That was my new information of the day.

He will schedule me for a surgery date sometime in May. Since I am so healthy and he knows me so well now, I don't need to stay overnight in the hospital and am, in fact, at River Point and home again in 3 hours time. Then I just take it easy for a few days.

I am sooooo lucky that since I have to have cancer, my tumors are contained INside the bladder. This is a good thing. They were caught early and the Dr. stays on top of the situation. Life is good! I will be here to watch the trees bloom for many many more springtimes to come. Thank God for insurance!

April

April has been incredibly beautiful this year! The trees are gorgeous and I have had my camera busy for days! These blossoms are from the tree across the street. I hope the neighbor doesn't mind me walking in his front yard with my camera aimed at his house for long periods of time. (I wonder why he keeps his curtains closed!)

Kendra's old bedroom is my scrapbooking room. These buds will pop into white flowers (therefore naming this tree/bush a "popcorn" tree.

Here is Lexi wearing April green! It is so difficult not including her in almost every entry just because she is sooooo adorable and especially wearing this color. What a happy, healthy little girl she is!

There is nothing better than "mommy love"! I know because Alexis told me!

Sweet Nicholas is suffering from allergies this year. His eyes are so itchy and he has been miserable but that didn't stop us from going over to the park. His daddy had just finished putting air in the balls and Nicholas couldn't wait to try them out. That net is "really high"!

You can't guess what Blake played with! See that little piece of blue sticking out of the sand? That is the head of one of his pirates. I saw his face when he realized later that he was missing a tiny sword and a hat. Sooo sad but then decided that he had several more at home. How could it possibly be that little pieces would go missing after being buried in gravel??? Oh well. He had fun anyway.

Spring Break & A Birthday

"Today is my 1st birthday!" says Alexis. "I am going to have a birthday party at my PopPop and JoJo's. I am very excited!!! It is also spring break for my big brothers. We are happy to be in Goshen because we get to see our cousins Layla and Marley." "I don't know how JoJo got this picture in sideways. She must have hit the wrong key. But then, you know how she is. But my cake is sure pretty."

"Before my party, Marley and Blake had fun looking at some of JoJo's books. These books are some of her pop-up books by Robert Subuda. JoJo says that the kids have to 'treat the books like gold' because they will tear. I wish I could get ahold of one!"

"Aunt Lizzy, Uncle Brent, Layla and Marley gave me a wonderful musical birthday cake. It plays music and when I hear it, it makes me 'dance'. I love music!"

"Oh.....look at this paper! Oh...it is a card....Strawberry Shortcake!"

"This is my musical cake. Isn't it pretty?!!!"

"Oh! This is what my cake looks like! It is from Adam's Cake Shop."

"I'm ready for a taste."

"Wellllllll.....I think I like it!"

"It was wonderful! But the party's over. Now it is Friday and Layla and Marley were at PopPop and JoJo's for the day. We had a wonderful day. The grandkids went to Crossroads Church playground for a while. It was freezing!!! I thought it was suppose to warm up but not! You can see Layla and Nicholas bundled up on the climber."

"Blakie got to climb and climb on the ropes! He could pretend to be a pirate all he wanted!"

"Marley liked to swing and run around. She used to be the baby but now I am the baby.""Here is my mommy. She used to have long hair and I ate it. I didn't eat it off. She had some lady do that last week and she gave her pony tail to some people to use for kids who need it. We were at the park for just a short time since it was soooo cold."

"After the park, we had another treat! We got to go to McDonald's! We got to play on the inside playground and I got to listen to everyone have a wonderful time. It was fun watching everybody play. I don't know who that strange man is in the picture holding Nicholas."

"After we got home, Nicholas and Layla curled up on the couch and looked at Junie B. Jones books. They read them in Kindergarten and love, love love her. I have heard some of the stories and I think they are funny too. Junie doesn't talk very nicely but she is funny!"

Happy 1st Birthday Alexis!!!!

Our baby is 1 year old today!!! What memories have been created during this past year! Kendra made a great slideshow for her blog (www.littlesomethingextra.blogspot.com) about Lexi's first year of life. I grabbed the Kleenex as I walked down memory lane. She has endured so much and has come so far. She is sitting in the "birthday chair" that Tom and I got for her.


After a long day yesterday visiting her Great Grandma Carol, Lexi decided to take a long, refreshing bath....well...I sort of ended up taking it with her.

Marley (nearly 3), Brent, Layla (nearly 6) and Elizabeth were at Trinity with us last Saturday evening since we knew that Sunday was going to be rather busy. They looked soooo nice!

Alexis got to see Great Grandma Carol yesterday in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kendra and the 3 children are here in Goshen for Spring Break so we decided to go see my Mother one day while they were here. Mother and Debra were thrilled. We had brunch and then the boys played (beautifully as usual) while Mother watched everyone. I made her pose with the kids for photos! Then day, the kids and Layla and Marley will endure a trip to Portrait Innovations for more photos! Good grief.