FINALLY!!!

I am SO thrilled to report that we got the green light and finally had Sam's surgery today! Thanks to each of you for lifting us and the doctors up in prayer... we definitely felt them! The surgery took less time than we thought it would and his recovery has went well so far. He did have to come home with a catheter that will not be removed until next Friday. This was slightly unexpected on our part as the doctor had mentioned the possibility, but didn't seem to think that it would be something he would need to do with Sam.
Please continue to pray for Sam's speedy recovery. We definitely don't want to deal with an infection on top of everything else. Also pray for Brian & I as we try to figure out how to coordinate Sam's care and our two jobs next week. We will figure it all out, but the added stress is not fun! :)
Again, thanks for all your prayers! We love you!

More Christmas Fun!

Christmas is never complete without a trip to Waldron to celebrate there! :) We truly had a fantastic time with Brian's family.

As you may expect, Sam really didn't get the concept of presents... but boy, Kevin sure did!! His favorites of the night were the new lightsaber & the cowboy boots. Although since then, we have gotten lots of use out of the Kung Fu Panda DVD and the paints! :)

The boys with their Ninny and NeeNaw (great grandmothers)

Kevin opening his Kung Fu Panda DVD

(Note: the child now thinks he is the Dragon Warrior)

Kevin with his new green lightsaber (fairly certain that he has his boots on too -- you just can't see them!)

Sam -- he got some boots too (you can see the corner in this picture). He was much too busy to care about all the presents! :)

Sam's Surgery: New Date & Time

Sam is now scheduled for surgery on Wednesday (12/31) at 9:00 AM in Joplin, Missouri. Please pray for Sam, the medical team, and the surgeons. I will post an update as soon as I am able on Wednesday.

Christmas Eve Fun

Christmas Eve was kinda a roller coaster of emotions for me... church was a serious disaster since there is no childcare and my 3 year old can't sit still. I was ready to take him out and give him a good spanking... but alas I had Sam, Jacob, & Jonathan sitting with me too. Kevin should be eternally grateful to them for saving his life tonight! :)

But when we got home we had an amazing time together... eating dinner, decorating cookies for Santa, reading the Christmas story to Kevin and opening a few select presents. Here are a few of the pictures... video to follow later (maybe tomorrow or Friday!).

Kevin decorating cookies for Santa... there is no such thing as too much icing for this child!

More hard work by Kevin while Sam looks on.

My three boys on Christmas Eve... having a ball!

While Sam didn't get in on the decorating, he did get in on the eating and he LOVED it!

Kevin and his two presents that we let him open tonight...the little Transformer on the floor and the jacket he has on. I really thought he would love the Transformer and wrinkle up his nose at the silly NASCAR jacket that I got on clearance after Halloween. Boy was I WRONG! The child didn't even want to take the jacket off to go to sleep! :)

More Christmas Fun!

Just wanted to share some pictures from the Christmas Party we went to at my boss' house a couple weeks ago. We had an amazing time... good food, fabulous friends, and even tons of fun for the kids! The picture below of Kevin is sure to be a "classic" that I will someday show his future wife! :)

Postponed...

Okay, so we are really bummed out that Sam's surgery didn't happen today. We know that God did answer our prayers... just not in the way we anticipated them being answered. Since he had an ear infection and cough, the anesthesiologist would not agree to go forward with the surgery. It was a bit frustrating since it seemed like he made up his mind before he actually saw or listened to Sam. Not to mention that we took the day off and went all the way to Joplin for what turned out to be nothing. There are actually lots of negatives to all that happened today... but as I said, we are confident that God answered the prayers and this is how it is supposed to be for now.

On the positive side, we did get the chance to spend some time together today, which is always good. Brian & I took the boys for breakfast before we dropped Kevin off at school. We also got to eat dinner all together (which seldom happens on Wednesday night) and I got to be at AWANA tonight! I forgot how much I loved being there and hugging all those little Cubbies. So... lots of positives too! You just have to find them! :)

Just wanted to share a few pictures from the day...

Sam on the way to Joplin

Sam all ready to go for surgery (obviously before they decided not to do it!).

Some more firsts for Sam...

His first apple (although I don't think he really ate any with one little tooth!)

His first candy cane (yes, he cried when I took it away!)

Kevin's first performance

Kevin started Children's Choir at our church this year & he absolutely LOVES it! He tells me about all the instruments he gets to play & sings me their songs each week.
At 3, these kids don't really "perform" in church, so they have a little performance in their choir room. Due to a little mix up with notification, daddy, Sam & the video camera didn't quite make it to the performance... so the picture below was taken with my cell phone.


Kevin got to play Joseph. The boy next to him is his friend Chandler (who was a shepard). It was pretty amusing... mainly because Kevin kept running from their little stage over to Belinda & I and back. He is a crazy kid! But he was very excited that he got to be Joseph (note: he did kinda leave Mary in the dust on the way to Bethlehem, but what else would you expect from Kevin?)

Santa's Little Helpers