Meanwhile, back home....

Thank you all so, so much for loving Noah, Amber, Dennis and Landin and for all your prayers and support.  It means so much.  I am so happy to report that they are doing amazingly well.  I knew they would.  People would say, "I worry so much about how they will cope," and I would say, "with this many people praying for them, God is going to send them what they need- peace and joy."  And I'm happy to report that they are doing well and are happy for Noah's complete healing in spite of missing him. They are living out their faith and having "confident assurance concerning what they hope for and conviction about things they do not see."  (Hebrews 11:1). 

I didn't tell you, but we had a bit of drama going on at our home this week as well.  Marky has complained about knee pain for a while now and part of the reason he played goalie during the end of Lacrosse season was because he said it hurt to run.  We thought he was just sore and had growing pains (he keeps having growth spurts and big Marc's legs hurt when he was little).  When we were at the beach, however, we were taking pictures and asked him to sit on his knees and then saw tears in his eyes.  He hadn't told us, but he couldn't bend his right knee back or straighten it all the way.  By the end of the trip he had a real limp.

We had consultations with two orthopedic surgeons and after an MRI learned he had a torn meniscus and needed surgery.  The surgeons told us it is relatively rare to see a torn meniscus in a child so young, and we are still not sure when it happened.   Marky has a high tolerance for pain and doesn't complain so we never know when he's really hurt. 

So Tuesday, as I take Marky to surgery I am texting with Amber and knowing this is Noah's last day.  It was a surreal experience.  On the way to the surgery center-




Getting ready to go in. I had a sick feeling in my stomach about him going under when I knew Noah was unconscious.



The staff commented on what a sweet boy he was and how he had good manners. :)



They had only one magazine to read in the room-



Waking up. The tear ended up being a "best case scenerio" type of thing and he has to keep weight off of it for at least four weeks and go to physical therapy, but should fully heal.



The nurses were telling me about giving him "a little morphine" to take the edge off the pain and how he should be good as new soon. I knew that my precious nephew was getting "a lot of morphine" at that exact same moment and would also be "good as new", but in a whole different way. And now as Marky is healing, it's like his injury reflects our family right now- our hearts are injured- we aren't 100%, but we are getting better every day.


We are doing the therapy and ice treatments and Marky has mastered the art of flying around on crutches.





It's been kind of nice to be forced to stay home more. I sat in the playroom for hours today- something I rarely do anymore. And I am having to rely a lot more on Julia because my "go-to" boy can't do what he used to do. As usual, she rises to the occassion when I entrust her with more responsibility. This picture is of her with her "diary". Someone gave her a blank journal for her birthday and she has decided to keep a diary (yes, she just turned 6). She told me, "I'm just going to write what I see." So as we were eating lunch at Panera Bread yesterday she wrote, "a boy is sitting by me" when a boy sat in the booth beside us. :) I just love this sweet girl.

Noah's Triumph

Today, our precious 8-year-old nephew Noah had a beautiful triumph over cancer. He was completely healed in a flash as he entered into eternity with our Lord. We thank you, Lord, for this precious life. We thank you for the miracles that came from his life. We thank you for giving us 2 years and 7 months after the cancer diagnosis to make memories, spend time, and say goodbye. Noah passed peacefully at home with his loving family beside him.

Telling Marky was extremely hard.   I've always said Marky has a supernatural, unconditional love for Noah.  He adores him- talks about him all day every day.  He has always said when he grew up he was moving to Florida to live with Noah.  I would say, "what about your parents and siblings?  Don't you want to live near us?"   And he would say, "I just need to be with my cousin."   The other day when I asked him what God has blessed him with he said, "my cousin Noah."  They loved to talk about Star Wars together and think of things to "get the girls" (attack their sisters).  :)

 (

I explained to Marky that the love he has for Noah does not die and he can hold that love in his heart forever.  He is so happy that Noah is healthy and happy and running faster than fast, but I know he will always remember and miss Noah. 

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.  Ps 116:15

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine around him.  May the soul of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

Cancer is limited

Cancer is so limited... It cannot cripple love. It cannot shatter hope. It cannot corrode faith. It cannot eat away peace. It cannot destroy confidence. It cannot kill friendship. It cannot shut out memories. It cannot silence courage. It cannot reduce eternal life. It cannot quench the Spirit.

Eleven years later...

It was 11 years ago today that I said, "I do" to the most precious man I've ever known. What a journey we've been on. I can honestly say that I can't imagine myself with anyone else in the world- we are on the same page in every way- with one heart and mind. I know what he's going to say before he says it. Yesterday while I was at the grocery store he was texting me last minute things to get and then I heard the noise saying a text had come and thought "he's sending me a movie quote joke" and looked at that's exactly what it was. I always want him near, and that's why even in this big house I put his office in our bedroom so we would be together at night when he's working. Every day he tells me I'm beautiful and that he loves me, even when I know I'm a mess.

walking with tucker '09

To say he's a good father just doesn't come close to describing his devotion and commitment to our children. He literally runs himself ragged to make sure that every single day he can spend quality time with each one of them while doing amazingly hard legal work as well. He is that great combo of strict and playful that makes such a great Daddy. As I type this I hear Julia giggling as Marc tucks her into bed.

Last year for our ten-year anniversary we went to Rome and had the trip of a lifetime. This year was much more somber. As I type this, my precious nephew Noah is in pain and unable to continue his cancer treatments. The outlook is bleak and devastating. I emailed Amber earlier that my heart feels like a rock in my chest, like it's hard to breathe. How do you help someone go through the worst case scenario? All we can do is trust our Good Shepherd, the only One who loves Noah more than his family does. Our Shepherd promises to send goodness and mercy all the days of our lives, even in the shadow of death. Jesus, we trust in You.

Spring Portraits 2012

Well BB and I took the kiddos for our annual spring portraits. It's not easy- we always dread doing it and come home exhausted, but it's worth it!

Is it just me or does my 8-year-old look like he's in college?

Tuck and Chuck

Well little Tuck Tuck had a big weekend and is now a big boy in every way (i.e. no more pullups). We are so proud of him and he is so proud of himself and tells me daily that he has "Potty Power!". :)


I found him and Sissy on the porch this morning coloring and chatting- they never run out of things to talk about-

Meanwhile Charliebear thinks he's grown and all I see most of the time is the back of his head as he crawls off to get into something-

He is still super smiley and happy- just busy, busy, busy...





And all the kids have loved and still love Mommy's high school megaphone. Anytime I've put it in the attic it magically reappears with the toys.

Little Flowers- Industry

Today we had Julia's Little Flowers group over to learn about the virtue of Industry, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, and the flower was the daffodil. :) As always we begin by reviewing last month's lessons and then learning about our Saint of the month while coloring her picture.

This time we learned about Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini- the first American citizen to be declared a Saint by the Catholic church. She was a missionary to American from Italy and set up hospitals, schools, and orphanages all over. She had a heart for mission work her entire life and had longed to go to China, but God had work for her to do here. The Pope said to her "Go West, not East!"
She had a deep, true devotion to our Lord.

"We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone."
“I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.”
“With your grace, my sweet Jesus, I will follow you until the end of my days and forever,”

Then we talked about "Industry" and what it means to be industrious and how our faith produces good works. Then we learned our memory verse- James 2:17,

Then we worked on our album pages-



Then we had yellow cupcakes and lemonade in honor of our yellow daffodils!

Scouts and Sleepovers

Marky had his Scout "graduation" (Or whatever it's called) ceremony where he received his badge and moved up to "Bear" rank. The usual way to get the badge (and the way Daddy got them when he was young) is to turn the kid upside down and pin the badge on so that when he's right side up it's upside down. Then the scout has to do a good deed to get to turn it rightside up. Well, as soon as Marc started to turn Marky over they said, "oh we've had some complaints about that and some concerns that the kids could be dropped so we are stopping the "turning over" ceremony." Seriously? Marc said, "I think I can pick up my own child, right?" And they said, "No." America, this is scary stuff. We are taking the fun out of everything.



Sissy got to go to her first sleepover at BB's house- all by herself! This is one of the things BB and Poppy really wanted to do once they moved here- get each kid one on one for special time. First up- Sissybug. :) She is so happy. She told BB several times, "I love coming to your house" and "I love you 'over the whole world'!". :)

Poppy made her a spice cake with frosting-

Today they had a picnic on the gazebo-



And she got to go fishing too!

They caught two fish-

Sissy was going to touch them, but decided they were to "flippy floppy". :) Have fun Sissybug we miss you!