FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

SOME GOOD NEWS!!!!! And this isn't good news pending on stupid medical stuff. This is really, genuine WONDERFUL news.

I got a phone call yesterday from one of our very dear friends in Omaha that Wayne will be home from Iraq in less than a week!!!! He has been gone since September 5, 2006 (Zack's birthday). He called the night before last and told his wife, Amy, that he couldn't talk long because he was in the bathroom calling her so he didn't get caught and they were boarding their flight to Kuwait. The first leg of flights that will bring him home, for good, BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!! The REALLY terrific news?!?! My husband is on vacation the whole first week Wayne is home!!! FINALLY!!!!! ANSWERED PRAYERS!!!! He will be home!! Safe and sound!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!!

Also.... yesterday.... found out that my (bar far) favorite daycare family is expecting their third child. Although it is coming a couple years sooner than planned (we all know how that goes!!!), we are VERY excited to learn this news. Please pray that all is well with the little one and mommy through the next few months.

I am so glad that I can finally post something happy. See.... God is good!! Don't let the yuckies make you forget that!!!

I hope that you all get something.... anything... good today. Even if it's just a little bite of chocolate or one of your children making a silly face to make you smile. I love you all!!

Regret

I hope this late post doesn't seem cliche. But I have to get it off my chest.

She is gone. And as I read the postings about this loss, there is one image that keeps playing through my mind. It has been since it happened. I had hoped that it wouldn't be the way it all ended, but alas, that hope didn't come true.

The last time I saw Jacque was in October in Omaha in the driveway at Mel's. As we were all walking in the house and she was sitting in the car, I turned back to say "see you later" one more time. She reached out her hand. I thought it was just to wave one more time. But as I turned my back, I realized that it wasn't to wave. It was to touch one more time. Not really a shaking of hands, but more so a holding. A pat. One more human touch between friends. By the time I figured it out, they were backing down the drive and it was too late. Not really too late though. Mark would have stopped so that I could hug her. He wouldn't have thought twice. But, I didn't try. And now, I will never again see her face. I will never again get to hug her. I will never again get to pat her hand. And for that, I carry regret.

I pray that she knows how much she means to me, how much she really did change me. Change for the better. I find myself thinking "What would Jacque do to make these kids see that (enter circumstance here)?". I miss her. I hope she knows. I hope when she is looking down, she isn't disappointed.

Grief. Regret. Bummer.

Just checking in

I don't really feel like there is a lot to update anybody on at this point. The kids are all sick with a terrible cough. I am taking them in at 2:45 today, so I will try and remember to post what we find. Hopefully they get a good Rx for cough syrup. Good ole Robitussin isn't cutting it this time.

I am just so busy these days there isn't a lot of time to sit and type!! Ugh! Kinda feel like a chicken with its head cut off and all that jazz.

Hope you are all well. Will try and really catch up soon!!

I am thankful

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, I am thinking of all that I am thankful for this year. It isn't so easy with all the dark clouds looming over so many things these days. But, there are things. So, this is some of the list.

I am thankful that I have three healthy children. I know now more than ever that that fact can change at the drop of a hat. And for now, I am thanking God every day for letting them be healthy, happy children that make me smile every day, several times a day.

I am thankful that I have a husband that works so hard so that I can stay home with our children. Yes it is stressful most days and no, it doesn't allow for a glamorous life, but we wouldn't have it any other way. (Unless someone would like to hand us a million dollars!!! ;))

I am thankful that Dr. Bruno, my grandmother's oncologist, listened to God's angels whispering in her ear in October and looked over those scans again. Without her listening, my grandma wouldn't be here for Christmas this year. And she will be. Thanks be to God!!

I am thankful for my Aunt Denise. Without her emailing us to tell us what is going on with Grandma, I would have messed up most of the time I tried to relay the news to my husband after I would talk to my Dad on the phone. It's nice to have notes to go read to remember all that needs to be told.

I am thankful for Donna. She is my grandma's best friend. She has been a rock through all of this and helped more than anyone could have asked. Her husband has beginning stages of Alzheimer's and yet she is there whenever Grandma needs her, and then some, taking her meals, checking in on her, getting her medicines at the store..... the list is long. I love her more than she will EVER know. She is a gift straight from God to our family.

I am thankful for my Aunt Judy. She too has been sending oodles of emails about a sick child in our family. When I say oodles, I really mean oodles. She is so diligent in all that she has done. Thank you, Aunt Judy. The burden you have taken on keeping us all posted, even though you won't admit it, is a huge undertaking. Yet you never complain or fail to keep us up to date. And not only with this. Also with Uncle Melvin and Roberta..... you are more wonderful than you will EVER know. We ALL love and thank you!!!

I am thankful for my parents and brother. I have been blessed with one of the greatest families in the world. My brother is one of my, if not THE, best friends. He amazes me more and more every time we talk. I love him. And my parents..... it goes without saying..... I am so lucky. It's just that simple.

Last, but not least. I am thankful that I have a wonderful, working relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, nothing is possible in my life. He has taken so much burden from my shoulders and wrapped me in His love when I felt most alone. He is caring and kind. He loves me like no one ever will. He is Genuine and Pure. He is my Lord, and I love him.

God is Good!!!!




Wishing all of you a wonderful, thankful, blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Treasure every minute, for life is short and precious. We are only here for a blip in time, compared to the wonderful things ahead in the hereafter. Tell those you love that you love them and don't hesitate to hug them. You never know. You just never know.

How to cook a turkey

By Preschooler Zachary Thumann


Things you will need:

turkey
a pot
pepper
salt
butter
"onkins" (onions)

What to do:

Cook it in the oven with apples for eleven minutes. Then it's time to eat it!!

More news

Here is the latest email from my aunt about Grandma:


Hi,
I guess it's a little too early to celebrate. This is what we know so far. Yes the colonoscopy
showed no cancer. However, Mom's oncologist is still concerned. She feels there are two
conflicting diagnosis. The CT scan showed something. She is afraid something is growing
on the outer wall of the colon. (Internal the colon is clear. The pathology report came back
fine). Dr Bruno has put a call in to a gasterenterologist (sp) for his thoughts. She wants mom
to have another biopsy, of this mass on the outside of the colon. GEES! She went on with
chemo today (the full cocktail, nothing withheld). Remember the CT scan showed nothing in
the other organs, which is good. But she, (we ALL) need your prayers for strength. This is
one emotional rollarcoaster, to say the least.
I will keep you posted as we learn it.
Denise

Back to it

I have given this question to God thing a LOT of thought. I have decided that it all makes a difference on where you are in your life as to what the question would pertain. There, of course, are the obvious that have to do with events in my life right now. The ones that you ask anyway, like: Why do bad things happen to good people and Why is my family being forced to relive the past with this stuff with Grandma.

Inevitably, if one was actually able to ask God a question and receive His answer, as soon as the event was over and the answer was given, another "better" question would come to mind and bug them the rest of their life anyway. So, as of today, this is my question to God:

Am I really as bad of a mother as I think I am and pressure myself not to be?