Good Friday morning!  Well I made it to the Drs. office yesterday and I have an upper respiratory infection.  I have started antibiotics and cough meds and seem to be doing better already.  The Dr. gave me a cough pill called TussiCaps.  After a half an hour that I took it the cough was GONE!  I mean that I was coughing my head off and it was GONE! GONE!  However......that pill could have tranquilized an elephant.  I slept all day long right into the night.  So it is great for getting rid of a cough but be prepared to sleep a long time if you decide to take it.  It really dries you out too.  I will probably go back to sleep after posting this.

I am taking the weekend off from blogging again.  Mike has had a little relaxing trip for us to go on planned for months.  So if all goes well and I am feeling good we will be gone on Saturday.  Spring break has also started for me too.  I have all next week off from school.  That means I will have my little side kick with me next week.  Woohoo...I am excited!

Dr. Lean's office called and I have an appointment with her on Tuesday.  I will then go to a radiology center to have my scans done.  I will have all the details of what to expect with the Cyber Knife from her then.  Thank you for consistantly lifting Mike and I up in your prayers. Things are moving along.  Also a tremendous thanks for all the wonderfully encouraging and most beautiful cards.  You all know how much I love cards and everyday my spirits are lifted. You have all really touched my heart.

While I was sad to see Paul go on American Idol, he was not my very favorite.  I still think Stefano should be gone.  But that is just my opinion.  My top 5 are still in the top 5.  Yay!

Here is Tyler getting a ride on Poppi's shoulders at the zoo.

Here he is getting a ride on Aunt Monica's shoulders.

I would like to wish a very "Happy Birthday" today to Leann Drewry and to Evelyn Shipman on Saturday!!  Have a wonderfully fun day girls!

Prayer requests:  Please pray for a dear friend of mine, Patty McDonald.  She is having surgery this morning to have a plate taken out of her arm that was put in last April.  Pray for a speedy recovery. 

John 19 verses 28 - 30:  Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures said, "I'm thirsty."  A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so a sponge was soaked in it and put on a hyssop branch and held up to his lips.  When Jesus tasted it, he said, "It is finished," and bowed his head and dismissed his spirit. verses 40 - 42:  They wrapped Jesus' body in a long linen cloth saturated with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial.  The place of crucifixion was near a grove of trees, where there was a new tomb, never used before.  And so, beacuse of the need for haste before the Sabbath, and because the tomb was close at hand, they laid him there.  To be continued....

Read the bible in a year:  Today...1 Kings 8 - 9.  Saturday....1 Kings 10 - 11.  Sunday....1 Kings 12 - 14.  Monday.....1 Kings 15 - 17.

Have a fantabulous day and weekend everyone!!  I will see you back here on Monday.  Today is another precious gift from God and He is so Good!  Make it a great day!

Question...What is everyone going to be doing this weekend?  Anyone doing last minute taxes? 

Good Thursday morning! How is your week going?  I feel so full of God's peace and strength.  The last couple of days was a little hard, but because of all your prayers for me I feel such a calmness surrounding me that can only be explained as God's love, grace and strength.  God is teaching me much but I know that I still have a lot to learn. I look forward to the day when I can travel and tell so many others about all the awesome things God has done for me in my life. I HOPE to strengthen and encourage others.  I want so many to know how faithful God is and how much He cares about every single detail in our lives. I feel like God is preparing me for it and I am excited.  

I received a call from Dr. Lean's office yesterday.  Next week, (I don't know what day yet) I have to go to San Diego to have a chest CT scan done.  Dr. Lean and her team will then develop the game plan for me.  They have to be extremely precise.  The week after that I will go for the Cyber Knife procedure.  This is so much more in depth and taking way longer than I thought it would.  I do know that this long journey that I have been on, God's timing has been absolutely perfect and I believe that it still is.  Waiting is so hard....but I know I will look back on this too and realize it is all good. 

I woke up more sick today unfortunately.  I coughed all night.  I will be trying to get into the Drs. office this morning to get checked and some anti-biotics. Please pray that I get over this bug and get well soon. 

I know who I would like to see get voted off of American Idol tonight.  There are two left that wouldn't break my heart. 

Here are some more pictures from the zoo.  Here is Tyler and Jen looking at the Panda Bear.  It was so cute!

Here Tyler is looking at the zebras with Aunt Monica.

Looking at the Rhinos with Daddy.

Prayer requests:  For the peace and comfort for the families who are mourning the loss of a loved one.  Pray they continue to feel God's comfort and peace and for strength to get through each day. 

John 19 verses 23 - 27:  When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they put his garments into 4 piles, one for each of them.  But they said, "Let's not tear up his robe," for it was seamless.  "Let's throw dice to see who gets it."  This fulfilled the scripture that says, "They divided my clothes among them, and cast lots for my robe."  So that is what they did.  Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother, Mary, his aunt, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside me, his close friend, he said to her, "He is your son."  And to me he said, "She is your mother!"  And from then on I took her into my home.  To be continued...

Read the bible in a year:  Today......1 Kings 6 - 7.  Friday......1 Kings 8 - 9.

Have a super day everyone!  Today is another gift from God and He is so Good!

Question.......Is your wedding ring yellow gold, white gold or platinum?  Mine is yellow gold.

Good Wednesday morning!  A HUGE thank you to everyone for keeping me in your prayers yesterday.  I am very sore today but doing well.  I am not groggy anymore which is great.  The Dr. told me to take it easy today but that I can return back to work tomorrow and resume my normal activities.  Yay!!  I am so happy that part one of this phase is done.  The cyber knife surgery will take place sometime next week.  I'll let you know when I find out.  The staff at Tri-City Hospital were awesome!  They took such good care of me.  Unfortunately it took two different tries before they could find a good vein to start the IV but they finally did.

Thank you for the outpouring of love and kindness yesterday.  All of the very heartfelt messages of love and encouragement meant the world to me.  Thanks for such beautiful cards.  To whoever left the gorgeous flowers on my back patio yesterday, I just want to say what a lovely surprise to come home to and thanks!

As I was getting closer to my appointment yesterday and getting a little nervous, I felt God's presence more and more. At one of the turn offs to get to the hospital, there on the side of the mountain was a big beautiful white cross and I smiled.  30 seconds later a big red truck passed by me that said, "In God We Trust."  30 seconds later as we were pulling into the hospital parking lot a car pulled up beside us with a sign of a big cross on the door made from nails.  Okay.....how cool is that?  I knew everything was going to be okay.

My sore throat is better but it is turning into a junky cough.  I can't have a cough for the cyber knife surgery, so if you could please be praying that it goes away quickly.  Thanks.....I know God is in control.

Here is a picture of us when we got to the zoo.  Tyler was sound asleep. You can see his feet though.  I wanted to get a picture of him in front of the zoo as we left, but.....he fell asleep as we left again.  haha!

He quickly woke up and loved sitting next to the gorilla statue as we walked into the zoo.

Prayer request:  Please pray for someone who needs some tremendous strength and guidance to get through something very difficult right now.  Pray that everything works out for him and that God opens the right doors.

John 19 verses 17 - 22:  So they had him at last, and he was taken out of the city, carrying his cross to the place known as "The Skull," in Hebrew, "Golgatha."  There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.  And Pilate posted a sign over him reading, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."  The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the signboard was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, so that many people read it.  Then the chief priests said to Pilate, "Change it from 'The King of the Jews' to 'He said, I am the King of the Jews.'"  Pilate replied, "What I have written, I have written.  It stays exactly as it is."  To be continued....

Read the bible in a year:  Today......1 Kings 3 - 5.  Thursday.......1 Kings 6 - 7.

Have a wonderful day everyone!  Today is another precious gift from God and He is so Good!

Question........Best home remedy for a cough?  Best over the counter meds?

Update at 5:30pm - We are back home, Leslie is tired and sore but doing well.  She will blog tomorrow but it may be a bit later than normal.  A big "THANK YOU!" again for all your prayers today and for your continued prayers for my beautiful wife and your dear friend.

Mike

Update at 2pm: Mike just called and said everything went well.  They are just now leaving the hospital to drive back home.  Thank you for your prayers!  And AMEN!!!! Monica 

Good Tuesday morning!!  I wasn't going to blog this morning but I wanted to get on here real quick to tell you all that I woke up with a sore throat.  Please pray that it turns into nothing and goes away.  My spirits are good this morning and I am ready to go and do this.  It is because of your many faithful prayers.....Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Here is a picture of the gang that went to the zoo on Saturday.  I will have more pics this week. 

Mike or my sister will be updating the blog later today.  Have a terrific day everyone!!  Today is another gift from God and He is so Good!

GOD IS GOOD!!!  CAN I GET AN "AMEN" ON THAT?  :)

Good Monday morning!  How was your weekend?  We had a fabulous weekend!  Friday evening we all got together in San Diego with my sister and bro-in-law, Monica and Gregg, at their house and ate the best homemade pizza.   We ate and hung out and played with Tyler.  We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful cool sunny day in San Diego and off we all went to the San Diego Zoo.  We we all excited.....we couldn't wait to see what Tyler would think of it all.  He LOVED it!  He reads all of these books with animals in it and to see him actually get to see them up close in real life was awesome!  It was a perfect day to go.....still cool out so all the animals were out playing and it was not crowded with people at all.  I will have lots of pictures to post of the zoo later this week.  Thanks Monica and Gregg for everything!

That afternoon, Mike & I and Jenna & Ryan were off to see a friend of our family get married.  Congrats to Ashlee (Cox) and Eduardo Mercado!  The wedding was beautiful and we had a wonderful time at the reception.  Here is a picture of us right before we walked out the door.

Here is a picture of Jenna, Cyndi Cox, Ashlee, me and Christina Santos at the reception.

We ended the weekend with our Sunday night family dinner and watching The Amazing Race. 

Mike and I are headed out tomorrow morning for me to have the first half of this cyber knife procedure done.  I will be checking into Tri-City hospital in Vista at 10:30.  They will prep me, then the procedure to implant the gold seeds next to my tumors will take 1 hour.  Then I will be in recovery for about 2 hours.  The whole thing should be done and over in about 4 hours.  Way more then I expected.....but then again I wasn't really sure what to expect.  My prayer requests are that I have strong veins and they get the IV started on the first try.  Pray for the procedure to go smooth and for the Drs. as they perform it.  Pray that I don't get sick from all the meds.  Pray for me to have peace and no anxiety.  Pray for Mike.  He has been a rock and is awesome at taking such great care of me, but he could use prayers for strength too.  We have already felt your faithful prayers and God is answering our prayers.  Thank you!  We so appreciate everyone!

John 19 verses 12 - 16:  Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caeser."  At these words Pilate brought Jesus out to them again and sat down at the judgement bench on the stone- paved platform.  It was now about noon of the day before Passover.  And Pilate said to the Jews. "Here is your king!"  "Away with him," they yelled.  "Away with him--crucify him!"  "What?  Crucify your king?" Pilate asked.  "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests shouted back.  The Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified.  To be continued...

Read the bible in a year:  Today......2 Samuel 22 - 24.  Tuesday......1 Kings 1 - 2.  Wednesday....1 Kings 3 - 5.

Have a marvelous day everyone!!  Today is another gift from God and He is so Good!  I won't be blogging tomorrow morning but Mike will update you tomorrow evening on how everything went.

Question.........What is your favorite part of the zoo?