Jerry Almost Came

I forgot to mention that my brother Jerrywaited in the airport in Boise for his flight to bring him here Monday the 29th. He called a couple of times to say it was delayed and finally it was cancelled due to hazardous conditions at the Spokane airport. Boo. Boy was that a disapointment! I was really looking forward to listening to Jake and Jerry do music together and I know Jerry would have cooked up something amazing for us to eat. He's quite the chef. At this point he's rescheduled his trip for Jan. 16! So I'm looking forward to that!

Love, Julie

I'm back!

Sorry to take such a long break from blogging! I do appreciate all of you and I'm so thankful that so many people care about us and, most important, are praying for us.

PHYSICAL STUFF:
*Okay, so the blood clots are dissolving! I can walk around and I can wear my jeans. Hurray!
*However, over the past three weeks I've developed those old symptons of wheezing, shortness of breath, and coughing. My doctor put me on massive doses of steroids and antibiotics and he told me to stop taking Tarceva because, in rare cases, it can cause those symptoms. The symptoms continued. So I had a CT scan Friday, Dec. 24 and I have an appointment with my doctor on Jan. 5 and we'll talk about the results of the scan.

FAMILY:
As Greg said, all of our children and grandchildren were here for Christmas and it was wonderful. Not quiet, but wonderful. We are so thankful that Betsy and the boys made it here safely inspite of terrible road conditions. Cam flew in the 23rd. Jake's been here and he's such an energy spark-plug. He's the one who got the Guitar Hero game for Emily's family and it was such fun to watch everyone perform! Nick has had to work 5:30 pm to 5:30 am shifts doing snow removal in Spokane for several weeks now and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight at this point. He even had to work Christmas night. But Emily and the kids have been able to spend lots of evenings with us. Last night we went to her house for dinner and it was great! I realized I hadn't been there for such a long time! I've been pretty much house-bound since Thanksgiving.

I'm so thankful for Greg and my family and friends. I hope you are all enjoying this last day of 2008 and I pray that 2009 will be a great year for all of us! Love, Julie

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We had all of our kids & grand kids over for Christmas and it was great fun. We all took turns becoming rock stars with a new game called Guitar Hero, got treated to an awesome Christmas feast, shoveled a few feet of snow, had some wonderful late night heart-to-heart talks, cranked the grand kids up on an overdose of sweets & an overload of toys & produced a ton of garbage. It was kind of funny to watch the kids want to play with what someone else got. There was even a moment when they were so overwhelmed that they resorted to playing with the magnets on the refrigerator. Kids are just weird! The grand kids were especially good medicine for Julie. She enjoyed a week with them reading stories, snuggling & lots of spoiling. What a great way to celebrate Jesus birthday.

Julie's doctor is continuing to adjust & readjust his game plan in treating her. When one medication doesn't seem to work, he'll try something else. We'll find out next week the results of the latest cat scan to find out what's causing her to struggle with a chronic cough. He may refer her to a specialist who works with lungs.

Thank the Lord that her blood clots are more under control so she's able to get up and around a little bit. Julie's been listening to some of her favorite classical music and it helps her to relax and it seems to quite down her coughing. I also notice that after she spends some time doing her homework for her weekly Bible study with her friends, she really appears lifted up.

Thank you for your loving concern & prayers! Greg

Betsy made it!

Betsy drove from Seattle to Coeur d' Alene with Sebastian and Julian yesterday! She had a few scary times but the boys were great travelers. A trip that usually takes six hours at the most took her ten--but she made it! Thanks for your prayers.

Emily and her kids came over this morning and we all had a wonderful day. The cousins love to play together and it's just so special to have them all here. Emily's family left at about 8:00 so we had a good full day together. Nick has been putting in 12-hour shifts driving a snow plow for the city of Spokane the past few nights. So he didn't mind having a quiet house to sleep in today. He came to visit for a couple of hours this afternoon before going to work.

We're looking forward to seeing Jake tomorrow night. We pray that his flight from Nashville will not be delayed because of bad weather.

I'm feeling pretty good, but Emily and Betsy took care of everything around the house today.

Thanks for your prayers. Love, Julie

White Christmas...

No doubt about it, we will be having a very white Christmas this year. The last time Greg measured the snow on our poor little picnic table, there were 31 inches. It's supposed to be very cold for the next week with even more snow storms. All the schools in the area had a snow day and Greg even had a snow day! It was fun enjoying a quiet day together.

The biggest bummer is that Betsy and Sebastian and Julian were planning to drive from Seattle today, but the weather and the roads were just too treacherous. We are praying that they will be able to come tomorrow. Cam is flying in Tuesday. And Jake is coming from Nashville Sunday night! At least, those are our plans...

I am feeling much better and am able to walk around and to stand for longer periods of time. And the swelling has gone down so much that yesterday I was able to get my jeans on for the first time since Thanksgiving!!!

Today I was reading Psalm 121 and I realized I could say it from memory. It's so amazing how God used those verses to speak to me in a special way today! And I memorized them when I was about 10 years old! "My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth..."

God bless you and thank you for praying for us. Love, Julie

Happy Greetings, Everyone!

It's a bright and beautiful sunny Monday ! But it sure is cold outside! This kind of day reminds me of when our children were really little and in the dead of winter, if it was sunny outside, they always asked if I could get out their little swimming pool. I'd say "No, not today, it's way too cold outside!" They couldn't understand why, if it was sunny, they couldn't go swimming.

I'm so thankful that the swelling in my leg is finally going down. It has been a real challenge to try to stay positive when I've been stuck to the couch or my bed. Your prayers, visits, and phone calls have been very encouraging to me. Please know that I love hearing from you! I love hearing about your families and lives. Don't ever hesitate to call!

And people have been so generous in bringing meals! And it was amazingly uplifting to have our friends, Debbie and Stan, clean our house on Friday! You are all so appreciated! Before my latest blood clot incident, I was able to live so normally that I almost forgot about the cancer! Greg and I have once again been so humbled by everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity.

We are looking forward to all of our children and grandchildren being here for Christmas. Emily and Betsy are already planning to take over in the kitchen and it will be fun to be their assistant instead of being in charge of everything myself.

Greg has been so supportive and helpful these past weeks especially and I just have to tell you something that demonstrated his love. He watched all of "Sense and Sensibility" with me last week! The whole 2 1/2 hour movie! He only went to sleep once.

I'm so glad to start feeling like myself again and to be able to walk around the house a little bit now. We sure take a lot for granted, don't we? Hope you're having a wonderful week. Thank you so very much for your continued prayers. Love, Julie

Snow's-a-come'n

Julie's still laying kind of low, mostly in the bed or on the couch, because of those painful clots in her swollen leg. But she has weaned herself off of the pain medication and her appetite is starting to come back. Our friends have been so generous in bringing over meals each week and they bring over enough to feed the whole neighborhood. We want to fatten Julie up, but I seem to be gaining all the weight.

I have a new appreciation for all that Julie does around the house. Between the cleaning, dishes, laundry, shopping and repeating the cycle over & over again, there doesn't seem to be as much couch-time. To think she's been doing this all along on top of teaching. Boy, am I glad to be a lazy boy.

One of the highlights for Julie each week is having a couple of her friends over for a Bible study on prayer. Annette & Debby even stuck around today to give our dumb dog a bath and clean out our neglected fridge. Now, that's what I call committed friends.

We are so blessed to have such great friends & family who just love on us in every way possible. It is so humbling to continually be on the receiving end of theirs & yours support and prayers.

I pray the Lord will honor you with his blessings for the goodness you have shown Julie & I! Love, Greg

Julie asked me to write a message to you tonight because she's pretty tuckered out. Between the ouchy clots and the loopy meds she's just not up to it. Right now she's relaxing to the music of her brother Jerry's new CD. He's an amazing & gifted guitarist .

Julie appreciated so much how well they treated her in the oncology unit, (her love language is "acts of service)." So, I followed their lead and scored some big points when we got home and I cleaned up the place, did some laundry & dishes, fed the animals, vacuumed and even cleaned the toilets. But she really loved the soup I brought home for dinner.

We teamed up to start giving her shots in her tummy again. Luckily the needles come loaded up & ready to go (shots for dummies). Please pray that these new meds will help those clots disappear & keep others from forming.

We're inviting some friends & family to come over on Saturday to help put up our Christmas tree, lights and decorations. Then we'll sit around for some hot chocolate and a movie.

Several hundred people from our church are going to roll up our sleeves in a couple of weeks to do all kinds of service projects in a bunch of neighborhoods throughout our county. It's so great when we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to others in practical ways. It's also a fun way to get to know other folks that we otherwise might not meet.

Please pray for relationships that might be built through this labor of love.
Thanks for your love & prayers! Greg