My Dad

Well I haven't made an update on my Dad in a while so here it goes.....

After several more visits to St. Louis we know the exact type of Pancreatic Cancer he has.  Only 10% of people diagnosed w/ P.C. have the type my Dad has.  He was told it is the 10% you want to be in.  If you can say that.  It is considered to be the most survivable.

 He was injected w/ a nuclear dye to find any other traces of cancer in his body.   Nothing showed up except one small spot on his sternum.  And they aren't even sure that it is cancer.  It could be something he's had since birth.  It did not show up on any of the CT scans.  So they are reviewing it a little more in depth to see if they think there is anything to it.

Last Friday they scheduled him for surgery on May 11th.  But he got a phone call today saying they had a surgery opening come up this Thursday.  He took it.  So he will be undergoing his "Wipple" surgery this Thursday the 28th in St. Louis.  He will be in the hospital 10-14 days.  They say 3 mos for recovery.  It is major surgery. They compare it to open heart surgery. It should take approx. 6 hrs. They will remove the part of the Pancreas where the tumor is. They will also remove the gallbladder and a portion of the stomach where the pancreas is hooked on to.  They will then stretch the pancreas up and recreate the connection between it and his stomach. And NO you can not live with out your pancreas.  A lot of people don't know that.  It will be approx. 2 mos before he will get to start eating solid foods.

We are feeling very blessed that he has got the best news possible so far with all of this.  With faith, family, friends and lots of love he will persevere.

Love you lots Dad.

A Perfect Day

Monday we had an awwwsome day here.
75 degrees
No Wind!!!
It was pure bliss

So a couple moms and I took all the girls in Kennedy's preschool class to the park for the afternoon.
We had a blast.
And they wore me out

Bailey and Jill

Bailey LOVES babies!

And these two are the only two out of the whole group w/ blue eyes!

The rest of the girls have brown

Jilly Bean!

Spider Swinging

Thanks Shari and Melissa

It was pure sweetness :)

Good Aim

Bet you didn't know........

I have good aim!!!!

Yes, we have guns in our home
Yes, I shoot some of them
And go hunting
On occasion

I shot the target above w/one of these

And believe it or not.......
I enjoy shooting

It's just that thisWife,Mother of 3, part time hairdresser, cook, house cleaner, laundry "do'r"
doesn't have a whole lot of time to do it

But when I do
I hear I am pretty decent

Our Weekend

We went back home last weekend to spend some time with our family.
We celebrated some birthdays @ my aunt & uncle's just down the road from my parents

The party was in one of their barns
The kids had free reign
And to say they enjoyed themselves would be an understatement

Here is my Cousin's youngest son Jace
Gentry and him are just about 6 mos apart
She's the elder
You could say they are a lot alike
Or each others speed
They were a total hoot

 The cake was really cool

Here are the 3 birthday boys

My Uncle Gail, My Cousin Sean and My Cousin Kelly's son Caden

Everyone is singing and Caden is getting prepared to blow out all the candles!

Here were the goofy kids i sat around
Do you think they enjoyed their cake???
I think they were just rubbing it in

I gave up Sweets for Lent
And I am soooo proud of myself
I have been soooo strong
More will power than I thought I had
Less than 2 weeks til Easter
Thank the Lord

B/c this girl is ready for some PIE!!!

PARTY! PARTY!

and then they were POOPED!

 The next day my Parent's neighbors came over on their horses for a visit

This is Duke........he belongs to 9 yr old Emma

Here is Kennedy sitting on Duke

She LOVES horses

She's asked Dana for a pony before

And when Dana asked her where we would put the pony her response was....

"Duuuuhhhh Dad...in our back yard.  We have a fence!"

We got a good giggle out of that one

Here's a little taste of what things are looking like around our house

 I have so much more to post about.....

My Dad

My New Bedroom!

Emery, our little growing weed

but it's late and this post has been long enough

Hope this finds you all healthy, happy and enjoying Spring

You will also have to click on the flower pictures to view them larger
Eeeeewwww they are sooo pretty!!!