Gratitude Through Service

What's a great way to show God how grateful you are for His blessings and His hand in you life?--Serve others!  We went up to McKinney to pack and deliver Thanksgiving meal boxes for several families and were happy to do it.

A Gift for Mom

My dad is getting unclear news about his pancreatic cancer so they are getting tests run to confirm or dismiss what they think they are seeing. They've also been getting him diagnosed with diabetes and setting up treatment. We were not sure if mom would be able to make it out with all that so we were glad that two weeks before her flight she confirmed she was coming.

I had been really putting in a lot of time and effort to complete my second quilt ever which was intended for her and succeeded! She loved it! I chose the fabric because it was pretty, had insects as one print (her dad was an entomologist) and mums as flowers (mum = mom), and I hand appliqued for the first time one of her favorite motifs. It was so much fun to do for her and I love it too.

Sadly, I did not get a picture of my mom with the quilt or any pictures of my mom for that matter, as we were just having too much fun together. Dad received bad news while mom was with us that his cancer had indeed returned. They have some rough days ahead so they are in our prayers for sure. I don't think mom will travel to see us again for some time. If she does, it may be to stay. We shall see how it all plays out.

Neal and Keri's Bed Not Occupied By Neal and Keri

Halloween and Sky Ranch Camp and Medical Fun

So 5th Grade Sky Ranch Camp (2 nights) was scheduled during Halloween this year. What?! I know. Anyway, Rhys still had our church's trunk or treat to get goodies and they were making special arrangements to make Halloween special for the kids.

Here is Rhys at our Trunk or Treat as the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter.  He also enjoyed a party at a friend's house.

Sophie dressed up as a country music singer or cowgirl which looks pretty close to a regular person in my opinion but whatever. She went trick or treating with friends.

While at Sky Ranch, Rhys touched a chinchilla, among other animals, zip-lined, ate what he wanted, bounced on a huge bouncing pad, participated in skits, and hung out with two crushes. Not bad. They let the kids have s'mores as a Halloween treat,...one...and they were not let near the fire to roast their own...but whatever. Rhys got involved with some tussling with classmates while on large bouncing pillow the afternoon of Halloween and when we received the call from Nurse Anna that he had injured his finger, it had been splinted, and that he wanted to stay, we said yes, since they were getting on the bus the next morning, late.

When he got home, he told me all about Sky Ranch before I could look at his finger which I carefully unwrapped to screams and once able to view it, told him to get in the car. An urgent care visit declared what was already obvious and an appointment for the break was made at Children's Orthopedics. That appointment led us to set up a surgical appointment in which he got two pins placed.

Superhero Day at the hospital the day of his surgery!

Third break but only two on our watch and this is his 3rd surgery. This kid!