Oh, happy news!

It has taken me almost two weeks to get this written. Not because I didn’t want to write it but because every day seems to start with a bang and by the time I fall into bed at night I am simply too tired to string words together. Each night I think, tomorrow will go more smoothly and I will find the time to sit down and write. Each day has come and gone and they seem to all end the same way. It’s the best kind of exhaustion because while the days are very busy they are typically full of productivity with fun sprinkled throughout. Tonight, I decided it couldn’t wait any longer because I know so many are waiting to hear what is going on with Alex and our family. So here it is, Alex’s news and a little glimpse at the beautiful, busy of the last several weeks.

I will begin by letting Alex share her big news with you through this little video. She wanted me to make a movie of her telling everyone and she planned out what she wanted to say! She got a little nervous once the camera was turned on but she was excited to share.

https://youtu.be/zOg5GdAfXBI

In case you missed it from the video of her cute self the insurance issues have been resolved and we have a new surgery date. Yay Yay!! November 11 is the day we are once again referring to as ditch day! Ditch the Disease Day!! When we first asked her what she was most excited about she thought for a minute and then gave the biggest smile and said, “because I won’t have my disease anymore”. In the simplest of terms she is absolutely correct and we will continue to pray and ask you all to join us in prayer that this truly will be the end of this disease for her. She will stop taking her Sirolimus one week before surgery and will have semi annual and annual scans to make sure the disease does not appear anywhere else in her body but we are believing that this removal of the entire femur will be able to remove all of the disease from her little body and it will not show up again.

This next video clip was of us telling all of the kids about the newly scheduled surgery date. I wanted to share it also because it is sweet. It was sweet to hear all of their little voices being excited with Alex over this news. All of these precious children have been through so much in different ways and this season has affected each one differently. There are certainly times different ones are worried, concerned, scared, sad, or angry but no matter what they have always been there to support one another.

https://youtu.be/9EPfNWjEvMg

We have to be in Baltimore on November 6th so we will plan to head that way on the 4th. It is approximately an eleven hour drive so we will split it over two days so that it is not too much for her. Please pray as we jump back into preparing to travel and for this new season of life we are facing. Pray as we plan to be away from our other children for several weeks and for them as they stay here when they want so badly to be able to go with us and be there to support their sister in person. Pray as Brent takes care of the final projects around the house that still need to be completed before we leave while working on jobs outside of the home and keeping up with all of the other things he has to handle. This man never stops. I wish I could take you on a virtual before and after tour of our home. Brent has done an amazing job to make this home work for Alex with her current and future challenges.

Now for a quick glimpse of why it has taken me so long to get this written. For starters the garden has been doing really well and friends have given us overflow from their gardens. We have been putting up dried herbs for teas, tinctures, and salves for winter. We froze 20 gallons of green beans. I couldn’t begin to count how many pounds of tomatoes we have put up in different ways. We have pickled beats, made salsa, relish, pickles, jellies, jams, sauces, and syrups. Thank goodness for my sweet mama helping to put many of these things up. We have had the canners, dehydrators, and freezer bags going non stop. It’s so much fun and rewarding to see the shelves being stocked for winter and knowing that most of it came from our yard. A neighbors pear tree was loaded this year and they didn’t want to use the pears so the kids and I made jelly and sauce with those. This week we got our hands on three bushels of apples so it has been an apple week! The okra is now coming in strong and the peppers are still coming in really well so those have been keeping me busy as well. Last week Brent and my daddy put floors in downstairs in our house so the kids and I went to mama and daddy’s during the day and spent a couple nights so the men were able to work without all of us being in the way. It is beautiful and much easier for Alex to get around on already. Now I am working on getting everything put back together and re arranged. It has felt like constantly moving over the last several months. As different rooms or areas of the house have been worked on and all the contents from that area have needed to be cleared out I have moved things out and then moved them back in. The best part about it is that it has forced me to go through each part of the house a little bit at a time and clean and purge.

We have taken some family time out to go kayaking, fishing, and watching the sunset! Roasting hot dogs on the fire and a hike. The big kids gave Alex and Boone kayaking lessons in the back yard after the big rain we had a few weeks ago.

We have gotten back into the swing of things with school. One blessing in the delay of surgery was that we were able to really get in a groove with schooling before leaving town. We had time to work out the kinks of what was going to work best and how things needed to be tweaked. The weather has been beautiful and we are having lots of outside school. Boone says painting is his favorite part of the school day!

Alex started Kindergarten this year and is enjoying learning. She loves all of her subjects and is quick to remind me if she thinks I am going to forget to do one! Part of her school day is creative play time with Boone and she does a great job helping him use his imagination. They keep us all laughing with the things they come up with! All of the kids, with the help of several neighbor kids, are building a village in the woods behind our house where they can play together. They have spent most of their afternoons back there building and creating.

As you can see we have had lots of excitement in our lives. We are living life to the fullest every day! God has blessed us so richly. These children are a blessing and show us what Joy looks like. We are thankful that we have had these weeks to get things done but also to make lots of family memories. I hope our children will look back on this season of life and see the many, many blessings and positives instead of the sadness and difficulty. Actually I hope they will see both because I don’t want us to forget the hard but instead to let it be a reminder that there is beauty even in the pain.

Aunt Marie made Alex a super soft afghan to take with her for her surgery. She loves it and it is so soft. Another sweet friend decided each of the kids needed a new blanket for their beds since their rooms have all been re arranged and most of them have new rooms. These blankets are so soft and huge! They love using them at night but as the weather gets cooler I think they will be used for lots of winter snuggles! Thank you Mrs. Leah!

If you wanted an Alex t-shirt and didn‘t get one in the first rounds, we are opening one more order for anyone who would like to have a shirt before Alex’s surgery. Somehow we had never gotten one for Brent so we had to do that and several other people had asked me to open it again. It will close in about three weeks to make sure there is time to get the shirts delivered before “ditch day”. These photos are of the two t-shirt designs. And below are the links to order if you would like to. They are shipped to each persons home after the order closes. link for the circle design.

https://www.bonfire.com/alex-fearfully-and-wonderfully-made/

link for the mountains design.

https://www.bonfire.com/help-cover-alexs-expenses/

We love you all, are so thankful for you all, and blessed by the love and care we have received from so many. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.