Numbers...

I have been silent on the blog for a couple weeks...not because we have been doing nothing but because we have been so busy that I have not been home long enough to be caught up with other things to take the time to add our happenings to the blog. I found the following blog post in my unpublished posts--one that I typed up in September of 2010 but did not publish because I never got around to putting together a picture video of our time with family. Looking ahead to the second half of our summer and the fun times that are coming yet this year, I could not resist publishing this one (even though it is sooooooo late in coming and minus any pictures--guess you'll have to use your imagination for this one).

Summer 2010 Stats:
Miles on the van: 4879

Family members visited: 51
Different beds: 13
Anniversary celebrated: 12
States: 10
Hotels: 5
Lakes: 2
Midwest storms: 2
Wedding: 1
Memories: Uncountable!

I keep telling people that our summer was busy but filled with fun busy-ness. We enjoyed getting to spend so much time with our families. There were games played, water fights battled, storms waited out (tornado warning up north and "hurricane"-like weather down south), hugs and kisses given, lakes enjoyed, laughs shared, late nights filled with chatting, and so much more. We are so thankful to have jobs in the first place and ones that allow us to be gone for a few weeks at a time to spend with our families. Thanks, family & friends, for a wonderful summer!

Father's Day Love

It was another great Father's Day. I was spoiled with gifts from the boys and Danae. They gave me a new Padres T-shirt, and the boys gave me my favorite candies...Mike & Ike's and licorice. Isaac spoiled me lots by making me 5 different cards! It is great to be a father who is loved!

Batman

There was face painting at the Calvin picnic yesterday. Isaac chose to get Batman painted onto his face and a paw print on his hand (because I told him he had to pick a small one--not one as intense as Batman). Megan did a great job putting it on there. Because his eyes are so dark, there wasn't much of a difference in pix when he had his eyes closed or open.

Caleb did not want to do much of anything--face painting, jumping in the bouncy house nor sliding down the water slide. Despite that, even he had a great time--especially since he got to see his old buddy Owen who is visiting for the next couple weeks.

Cousin's Visit

Thanks for all your prayers for Maddie. She just finished her first round of chemo. The treatment plan is in place so please continue to pray for her and for their family as she goes through a few cycles of chemo over the next few months. (All you 80's fans will appreciate the side ponytail that I put in Maddie's hair the last time we saw her before she started her hospital stays.) We pray that she stays healthy throughout this process and that the result is that the chemo wipes out all the cancer cells so she can be cancer-free and done with the hospital for a long time! Here is a picture of the boys and Kenz while we waited in the hospital for Maddie to get done in a surgery:While Maddie was in the hospital last week, we had the pleasure of having Mackenzie at our house so Jill and Mark could focus on Maddie's treatments and not worry about Kenzie. We had a wonderful week together. The boys loved having a little "sister" around for a few days, and all grandkids enjoyed the attentions of Grandma B. who is also visiting this month (and I enjoyed the help of Gma B. as well--no dishes for me all week so thanks, Mom!). For the most part the kids just had fun with each other. Towards the end of the visit, the cousins were acting more brother/sisterish and were annoying each other a little bit more which was actually funny to observe. (Our boys think Mackenzie needs so much help since she is so little. The first few days she was okay with all the attention and help but wanted her space and independence by the final day. ;-)

She definitely kept up with the boys and was in the middle of everything they did. (She insisted on getting her own baseball cap to wear when she saw theirs--hence the pirate hat in the picture above.) She loved playing with cars with the boys and especially found great joy in the bouncy house (thanks again, Vicki!). She mimicked a lot of what the boys said and did so sorry, M & J, if she comes home with some new phrases!
It was fun having a little girl in the house (but fixing her hair reminded me that God intended for me to have boys and not girls!). I actually put braids in her hair at one point, and they turned out halfway decent. I know it helps that Kenzie is so stinkin' cute that any hairdo would look cute on her, but I had to pat myself on the back at least once for keeping her hair out of her face for the most part that week. We even got one day of swimming in though Kenz liked sitting on the side a lot more than being in the water with the boys!

Happy 4th!

Caleb turned four this past week. He was pretty excited for his big day. The biggest excitement for him was that he finally got to go to Children's Worship and not the nursery at church for the first time on his birthday! (That was the thing he told almost everyone when they asked him how old he was and what was so special about being four.) He chose a fish cake this year (much to my delight) which was a nice easy one to design and put together. He enjoyed getting the mail all week and lining up his unopened cards and packages on the piano. Because we had to sing on worship team that morning, he waited to open his gifts and cards until after church. He settled into his little lounge chair with his feet up (thanks, Gomolkas!) and took his pretty time ripping every piece of paper off the envelopes and the gifts.

He did eventually get through his pile of cards and gifts and was one spoiled little boy! After the gift opening we headed to Mark & Jill's house to hang out with them that night and the next day. The kids all seemed to enjoy the relightable candle a little bit more than Isaac and his friends did for his birthday. ;-) I included two of our attempts at a group pix of the kids so you can appreciate what we (actually Jill) was able to catch on camera: Both boys got spoiled since this was our time to celebrate Isaac's birthday with them as well.
The next day we spent most of the morning outside playing frisbee and ball and riding bikes/trikes in the street. That afternoon Mark spent a couple hours taking the boys' pictures (thanks a bunch, Mark!!!). The shoot was uneventful other than the ants that swarmed Maddie's feet and legs when she stood for too long in a mass of them.

I can't believe Caleb is four already. It seems like only yesterday that we were trying to force-feed him and get him to sleep throughout the night. When I first typed his name on this post, my fingers kept typing the wrong spelling of his name which reminded me of the few different names he was called as a baby (mainly because his brother and friends had a hard time getting out his name): Ca-yeb (by Isaac), Cable (a little friend Isaac's age), K-Love (by a little boy whose family regularly listens to the Christian radio station).

Happy Birthday, Caleb! You definitely keep our lives interesting. We are thankful that God has blessed us with your independent and spirited personality these past four years. Thanks for all the laughs and joy you bring to our lives daily!

Car Hop 2011

Danae and her Middle School youth hold a Car Hop every other year to rasie money to help offset costs to summer camp. I decided to make this short video of the evening.

Musings...

Our world has been a bit shaken in the last couple weeks. We officially found out a little over a week ago that my niece has a cancerous tumor. She is only 3 years old--half a year younger than Caleb--and a bundle of joyous energy! My sister and bro-in-law had been warned that it could be cancer but actually hearing that it was cancer with a specific name just knocked the wind out of me. I am the type who sees the glass as half full and imagines a happy outcome out of everything so it just floored me.

Being a week into this journey gives one a little more perspective. That first day we just waited to see what was next. The "next" included a 3 1/2 day hospital stay full of tests for Maddie. She got to go home for the weekend to be with the family before having to come back in for an out-patient surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. That went well though we don't have more answers...we are just waiting again for what happens next. The crazy thing is that when you look at Maddie, you would never know she has cancer. She is her normal wonderfully exuberant and joyful self.

I am not sure how many are actually reading this blog, but I ask that you just pray for Maddie and for healing in her body (that they will treat her in a way that preserves her way of life and heals her of the cancer), Jill and Mark as they have to watch their child go through this (and that they will have time for themselves and each other), and the doctors and nurses who are treating Maddie (for wisdom and direction since this is a rare type of cancer).

Many people have stepped forward to help Mark and Jill and to pray for them throughout this process which is such a blessing. I was able to spend last week with them to help out in little ways, but it is so good to know that they are surrounded by friends who are standing in daily as their family during this very difficult and uncertain time.

Although we don't understand why this is happening to Maddie, we know that God is faithful and always good. He holds each of us in his hands and has our days planned out before we even know them. And that is what we are hanging onto these days.