Flight Home from Idaho

In case you wondered how I kept Lily entertained on the flight back from Idaho without a DVD player.


She had a washable crayola pen and some paper ...

But who needs paper when you can just color all over your face?

And look at yourself in the mirror ...

I had a Sudoku puzzle.

She colored her entire body.

I finished my puzzle.

We were both very happy ... 35K feet in the air.  Back row.  Enjoying life on the flight home.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. 

We are relaxed at home pulling weeds, playing & enjoying the good life in Kentucky!

God is good. 

No matter what is going on in life ... He is good. 

All the time. 

KY Together

We are back in Kentucky & it is great to be home together winding down the summer & getting ready for the school year.

Our A/C broke down after we got home so we had a couple of days of hot, hot, hot ..... in the house.

I love to sweat while I watch TV.  Really, I do. 

My sister & nephew were here so we all slept down in the basement together to "escape the heat".  That is as close to camping as we get in this family.  Hope the kids liked it. 

Hannah's doctor at NIH sent me an email to say that her bone marrow cells look normal & that her bone marrow continues to recover & show signs of improvement.  Thank you, Lord!!!

It was exactly one year ago this week that Hannah was inpatient at NIH for what turned out to be the absolute worst week of her illness.  At one point that week her temperature was 107.  I don't think I ever even put that on the blog but it was really bad.  I was not alone in thinking that she was not going to pull through.  There are no words to ever express my gratitude & thankfulness for her healing.  She is just a walking miracle & I will never stop testifying off all the things God did to get her (and all of us) through such a difficult time.  For her to be living without any neurological damage from such a high fever is beyond comprehension.  God is good!!

Today we had 2 girls over that live on our street & are also going into 3rd grade at Hannah's school.  Sweet girls & the first time Hannah has really connected with local kids since we moved here.   I was so glad for her to meet nice friends that live right here in our neighborhood!!


Below are some more pictures from our trip to Idaho.  Here are just a "few", I have hundreds but I won't bore you all with a slide show of 800 pictures. 

Enjoy!


The princess enjoying her day on the water in Idaho
Lily out for a ride on the Sea-doo with Michael
Lily & Michael ... she LOVES the sea-doo & asks to go "faster, faster". Just like Hannah!
Bye, Mom!
She looks so cute but really we did not let her ride all by herself. I promise.
Ryan hanging out ....
Katie and I out for a ride on the float behind the boat


Katie riding behind the boat


Katie in flight behind the boat


Holding on for dear life ...




Crash landing ..




Lily waving the flag as we circle back to pick up Katie




Lily feeding the ducks.  Whole crackers.  Gosh, those ducks loved her!


Lily running with delight that the geese had come to join the party at the dock.


Chillin' (literally!!) in the lake


Lily driving the boat with Uncle.


And after a long day in the sun, Lily fell asleep while driving with Uncle.



Katie's turn to hold Lily for her nap :-)



My niece, Sarah, came to Idaho two days before we left, to spend 2 weeks with her BFF, Katie. So fun to see cutie-pie Sarah. Hard to believe she is going into 11th grade & just got her driver's permit.

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"Not to us,O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of your truth ... 

Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases ... 

O Israel, trust in the Lord; 

He is their help and their shield."

Psalm 115:1,3,9

Goodbye, Idaho :-(

Lily & I fly home tomorrow night & then Hannah comes back on Friday with Aunt Rachel & cousin David.

I will post more pictures of our awesome time in Idaho but for now here are some of me & Kim.

Enjoying life this summer outside of a pediatric hospital unit.

Living it up.

Laughing.

Making memories & thanking the Lord that we can be together for some fun on the lake!

She is "Auntie Mom" to Lily, "Aunt Kim" to Hannah and forever & ever my best friend.

I can never thank the Lord enough for the incredible gift of her cherished friendship!














"Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life." Psalm 23:6

Praise Report!

Today Hannah had her routine follow-up bone marrow biopsy at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.

Since Hannah's blood counts have continued to hold steady & trend upwards the doctors have taken her off of ALL medications. Hannah has been taking a nasty immune-suppresion medication since she got sick in December 2008. The medicine tastes nasty & can wreak havoc on your body with side effects. Thankfully, Hannah has cheerfully taken the medicine for so long & has not experienced side effects.

For those of you that have followed our blog, you know how incredibly sick Hannah was last summer at NIH. To have her go back today for a follow-up appointment & be taken off all medications is nothing short of a complete miracle.

There are no words to describe my thanks to the Lord for ALL He has done for my Hannah & for our family.

Thank you, Lord, for your healing hand on my precious Hannah!!!

A BIG huge thank you to cousin Sarah for keeping Hannah happy, laughing & pre-occupied throughout the time at NIH. Sarah, you are the reason Hannah wanted to come to the East Coast ... thank you for being the BEST COUSIN EVER!

Thanks to my mom & sister, Rachel, for taking Hannah to NIH.

What a family I have!!!

Trip Out West

Right after we moved out of Southern California Auntie Mom & her family moved to Idaho.

Good timing because neither of us could have lived there without the other.

Lily & I are here for the week in Idaho while Hannah has her own vacation on the East Coast with her cousins & grandparents (plus a bone marrow biopsy on Monday at NIH ... thank you, Mom & Dad for taking her!).

Lily & I are having such a great time!

We have floated down the river, gone boating, shopping & of course, plenty of eating.

A perfect time to just be t.o.g.e.t.h.e.r.

Here are some pictures from our time so far:

6 Houses Down

All is good ....

We met our neighbors 6 houses down.

They have a daughter going into 8th grade that was referred to us for babysitting.

She is so sweet, kind & did a great job with the girls.

She has a 3 year old little brother.

From where?

From China!!!

6 houses down.

I can't believe it.

Well, I should. God always does awesome things for us ...

I don't have any pictures of Lily & our new little friend, Will, meeting.

I don't know how good it would have gone if I had pulled out my camera & said something like:

"Hi, your son is Chinese! my daughter is Chinese! ... Here we all are in Kentucky, let's get a picture so I can post it to my blog for a bunch of people you will never know."

Really. That might have seemed creepy ... right?

I don't want to scare them.

At least, not yet.

Hope everyone is doing well.

My parents are here & we are having a great time chilling out in KY before they head off to the East Coast with Hannah while Lily & I take a quick trip to see "Auntie Mom".

Only 3 more sleeps til Lil runs off the plane to hug her auntie mom, T, raw, uncdole & micdole.

CANNOT WAIT!

It's July!

We had a great July 4th weekend with my sister's family here to celebrate cousin Julia's 5th birthday. What fun to have Miriam & her family come down for the weekend. We all felt like it was a mini-vacation!! So nice!

Uncle Mark & cousin Joshua ... love you guys!

Cousin Julia opening her presents. It was like watching a re-run of my sister Miriam when she turned 5. Julia is a such a mini-Miriam. Frightening.

Cake!!!!!!!!!!! Happy 5th Birthday, Julia ... we love you!!!
Watching fire-works from our deck ... the neighbors put on a great show. July 4th-Kentucky-Style .. loved it!
Lily & cousin baby Justin ...they are both so sweet!!
Hannah took this picture of Justin. He is such a doll .... it has been great to be able to really get to know my youngest nephew. He was born last summer around the time Hannah was SO sick at NIH.

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Tomorrow is bone marrow transplant day for Kailey at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Pray for her body to respond beautifully to this new bone marrow. Also, for Noah, in LA Children's Hospital -- his BMT was last week & now we are waiting for his blood counts to come up. Also, Drew is back in the hospital at Children's Boston leaving the doctor's stumped as to what is really going on with him.

My heart is just heavy for all these kids that I know through this common bond of Aplastic Anemia.

I never would have signed up for "this club" but I am thankful to have other moms that I can share this journey with. They encourage my heart so much .... thanks, AA Moms ... love to all of you!

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"Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth & forever." Psalm 125:1-2