Good Thursday morning!!  We had so much fun last night for Mike's birthday dinner.  We decorated the house in "Tiki" themed stuff and everyone came dressed hawaiian style.  Here is a picture of Mike holding his happy little buddy Tyler.  Tyler was dressed in the hawaiian outfit that Uncle Donald and Aunt Noni brought him back from their trip to Hawaii.

Today there is much to do but I am pacing myself.  We are getting everything ready and packed for our trip tomorrow.  So looking forward to our little vacay away.  Also very thankful that I am feeling good and can go on this trip.

Congrats Sami Morgan on winning the summer reading challenge!  107 books is quite impressive!  You go girl!

I would like to wish a very "Happy Birthday" to my friend Jessica Brigman.  Have a super fun day today Jessica!!  Since I won't be here tomorrow, July 30th I want to wish "Happy Birthday" to my friends Vicki Rush, Madeline Willis and Deb Sempsrott.  July 31st....."Happy Birthday" to the best son-in-law anyone could ever have Ryan Middleton!!  I love you Ry!  It's going to be great celebrating your birthday on our vacation!   Also it is Sierra Van Leeuwen's birthday!  I told you we had a bunch of July birthday's!  Have a fantabulous birthday everyone!!

Prayer requests: Mac McDonald's mom is very sick and could be life threatening....next 24 hours is important.  Let's lift her up in prayer that she will be okay and for strength for the family.   Also for some couples who are going through some rough times right now, relationship wise and financially.  Please pray for wisdom on some serious decisions that they have to make.  Thank you everyone.

Genesis 7 verses 10,11 & 12:  One week later, when Noah was 600 years, two months, and seventeen days old, the rain came down in mighty torrents from the sky, and the subterranean waters burst forth upon the earth for forty days and nights.  Verse 17: For forty days the roaring floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth.  As the water rose higher and higher above the ground the boat floated safely upon it; until finally the water covered all the high mountains under the whole heaven, standing 22 feet and more above the highest peaks.  Verse 23:  All existance on the earth was blotted out--man and animals alike, and reptiles and birds.  God destroyed them all, leaving only Noah alive, and those with him in the boat.  And the water covered the earth 150 days.  To be continued....

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

Since we will be out of town for the next three days I want to wish you all a great weekend.  I won't be back on to blog until Monday!  See you then!  I will have an exciting announcement (at least for me it is) for you!  (no, Jenna is not pregnant)

Good Wednesday morning!  How is everyone's week going?  Today I am working on a little birthday dinner for Mike.  His birthday was last week and I was in no shape at all to celebrate it.  But now I am feeling pretty good and you all know how important celebrating birthday's are to me.  So I have a menu all planned, bought some fun stuff for the table decorations (thank goodness I had done that before I ended up in the hospital), and I am ready for a great evening.  Speaking of evenings.....last night wasn't too bad.....had a nice breeze going on, no humidity to speak of and so we sat out on our back deck for a while with the ceiling fans and misters going and just chilled. What a beautiful July night in the Imperial Valley.  Why can't they all be that way?

Guess who is 9 months old today?  Can you believe it?  It is going by way too fast!  I will get a 9 month pic of Tyler with the cupcake and post next week.  Here is my Tyler pic for today.  In this one he hears the bathtub water starting to run and he is all happy because he knows that he gets to take a bath.

Mary Jo Ramsay.......if you wanted to put a smile on my face.....you sure did.  Wow!!!  Thank you so very much!   Denise Rogers.....so happy that you are back from Alaska!  I will come and see your pics sometime next week.  Thanks to eveyone for the continued prayers, get well wishes and love.  Love you all too!

Prayer requests:  For Lorri Cavins who is fighting cancer and has been on chemo for a while.  She could use our prayers for strength, encourangment and complete healing.  Please pray that her spirits will be lifted.  Also my friend Christie is getting ready to move to another state next week and would love for her house to be sold before she goes.  Please pray that her house will be sold this week.  And the neuropathy in my feet has worsened since I have been in the hospital.  I really don't know why but if it doesn't get better I will check with my oncologist.  Thank you all for so faithfully praying.

Genesis 7 verse 1:  Finally the day came when the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous." Verses 5-9:  So Noah did everything the Lord commanded him.  He was 600 years old when the flood came.  He boarded the boat with his wife and sons and their wives, to escape the flood.  With him were all the various kinds of animals--those for eating and sacrifice, and those that were not, and the birds and reptiles.  They came into the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God commanded Noah.  To be continued....

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

Can you imagine getting all the things done that Noah did at the age of 600 years old?  Wow!!  Do you know anyone named Noah? Such a great name!

Good Tuesday morning!  Yesterday was a good day for me.  I had a lot more energy and Mike took me out of the house for a little while. He took me to one of my favorite places, Michael's, and of course I looked at all the scrapbooking stuff.  It was great getting back on my feet more and to do some walking.  I am not really that sore anymore either. Isn't that amazing? The laproscopic surgeries are the way to go.  Just bruised and a little swollen still.  Didn't really rest much yesterday....was up a lot.  Yay!

Sometimes I think, did all of that really happen to me last weekend?  Everything just happened so fast and now I am getting my strength back again.  I did learn a big lesson from my experience.  I realized that even when you know someone who has been admitted to the ICU  you should at least try to visit for a minute or send them a text message or pass a note to the nurse that you are thinking about them and that you are keeping them in your prayers.  I always figured that a patient in ICU needed to be left alone and I am sure a lot of times they do.  But just a little attempt to let them or the family know you are there for them is wonderful.  Thankfully I had family and friends who did that for me......I was feeling awful but all the messages I received were so comforting. I think sometimes we are a messenger for God....delivering smiles and love from him.  Again I realized that it takes just a minute to make a persons day.  I will be more mindful of that in the future.

Wow!  Thank you all again for all of the get well wishes!  I am feeling the love big time!  Your prayers I am cherishing.  God is good!

Here is a picture of Tyler that I took during bath time.  Just had to get a pic of his beautiful eyes.  We were playing peek a boo.  One of his favorite things to do everyday is his bath.  We let him splash water everywhere.  So Fun!

 I would like to wish my friend Mary Seitz a very "Happy Birthday" today!  Have a wonderful day Mary!

Prayer request:  Please pray for Teresa Cartwright Gow.  She is currently under chemo treatments and is back in the hospital and not doing very well.  I will keep you updated when I find out more.  The Cartwright family has been through so much lately and could use our prayers for strength.  Sending lots of love your way Teresa!  Also for my friend Terrie Olstowski to have a safe journey back from Texas. 

Chapter 6 verses 17 - 22:  "Look!  I am going to cover the earth with a flood and destroy every living being-everything in which there is the breath of life.  All will die.  But I promise to keep you safe in the ship, with your wife and your sons and their wives.  Bring a pair of every animal--a male and a female--into the boat with you, to keep them alive through the flood.  Bring in a pair of each kind of bird and animal and reptile.  Store away in the boat all the food that they and you will need."  And Noah did everything as God commanded him.  To be continued....

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

I love this story in the bible about Noah and the Ark.  Can you imagine what a HUGE job that must of been not only to build the Ark but to get the animals and food?

Good Monday morning everyone!  How was your weekend?  Mine of course was very kick back.  I am feeling much better everyday.  I did get out of the house for a little while last night.  Jenna and Ryan had us over for dinner.  It was delicious.  Okay this extremely low fat diet I am on is going good.....I wasn't a big junk food eater anyways.....but I am missing very much cheese, sour cream and flour tortillas.  My personal registered dietician (Jenna) told me that I need to stay on this diet for a while and then slowly introduce things back to my system again.  So no donuts or special quesadillas for a looooong time.  Ha ha.  Oh I also forgot to tell you that my gallbladder looked bad when the surgeon took it out.  Unfortunately a side effect from all the chemo I took.  Tore it up and caused the two little stones that I had in it.  She told me that she has seen this a lot with patients that have been on chemo.

Guess what?  Mike started two weeks of vacation today!!  Woo Hoo!  Our family and lots of friends have a trip planned for this Friday, Saturday and Sunday to Emerald Cove in Parker, Arizona.  It has been planned for a long time and I am so looking forward to it.  We have a cabin by the water and lots of boats going.  It will be a very kicked back 3 days for me.  Looking forward to also seeing what Tyler thinks of a boat ride.  He loves water!

Here is a picture of my little buddy in his jumper swing at Nani's house.  This was actually taken last Saturday afternoon before Nani got sick.  He loves this thing and is a little jumping bean.

Thank you for the BEAUTIFUL get well cards!  Everyone has been so encouraging, funny and sweet.  It really has meant a lot!  Thank you for your continued prayers for healing and strength.  Will you be also praying for good results to all of the tests I have to have done next month too?

I would like to wish a very "Happy Birthday" to my brother-in-law Bryan today!  Have an awesome day Bryan!  I also missed wishing "Happy Birthday' to my friend Granny Patty Watson.  I know you had a super day.....Aloha!  "Happy Birthday" to Kilah Wilkinson too!

Prayer requests:  For jobs....that something will come very soon to those who are looking.  My brother-in-law Gregg is still looking too.  Have also received prayer requests for guidance and direction  for their lives from God.  That they will make the right decisions and for strength to get through some tough times.

How about a story from the bible?  Here it is in pieces.  Genesis 6 verses 8 -13:  Noah was a pleasure to the Lord.  Here is the story of Noah:  He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time.  He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God's will.  And he had three sons--Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Meanwhile, the crime rate was rising rapidly across the earth, and, as seen by God, the world was rotten to the core.  As God observed how bad it was, and saw that all mankind was vicious and depraved, he said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all mankind; for the earth is filled with crime because of man.  Yes, I will destroy mankind from the earth.  To be continued......

Have a marvelous day everyone!  Today is another gift from God and He is so Good!  Thank you God for my family and friends and what huge blessings they are in my life!

Anyone every gone snorkling?  If you haven't and have the opportunity, it is a must do activity!

Good Saturday morning!  Praise God! Doing a little better each day.  The coughing did get a little better yesterday.  Either that or I am getting more use to it.  Still have to hold a pillow to my stomach each time I cough.  For some reason it feels better.

Continuing on to my hospital story.....so as soon as I get out of surgery I feel so much better!  I am not sick anymore and no headache. I realized at that point that it was not laying in the bed for so long that is giving me the bad headache.....it was all the pain meds I was taking.  So I decided no more pain meds.  Just Tylenol.  I did fine with just Tylenol and I felt so good!  I have never been able to take pain meds......always get so sick with them.  By Monday night I was able to get out of the bed and walk a few steps.  Tuesday morning I started on a liquid diet to see how I would do.  Did great.  So for lunch I had a full liquid diet (which means I could have cream soup and pudding).  Again did great.  Had a piece of plain toast for a snack.  Still doing good.  So at that point I was VERY READY to go home.  The Drs. agreed and I was released to go home from the ICU!!  Guess who was there at the hospital door waiting for me to go home??  Yep......Tyler!  What a beautiful sight !  I was so happy to see him and to be going home to my own bed!

If this had to happen the timing of it all could not of been better.  The staff at Hoag Hospital told Mike that I could not have my last melanoma vaccine until 21 days after my surgery.  Guess what?  It is 22 days and I can still stay on schedule.  It is summer and I am off of work already so I didn't have to take time off.  Mike and I had already went on our little vacation.  I was able to attend a friends wedding before.  My foot is healing nicely because I am hardly on it.  I should be good to go back to work when school starts....etc....God is Good! I am so thankful. 

I can't say enough nice things about the staff at Pioneers Hospital.  I was treated like a queen.  Thank you to everyone who had a hand in helping with my care.  It truly takes having a special gift to take such good care of people who are sick.  My son-in-law Ryan's sister Laurie was even my ICU nurse the last day I was there.  How cool is that?  I need to give a special shout out to Mike Pearson RN for all you did for me while I was there. Mike P. has been through my whole cancer journey with me and has gone above and beyond the call of duty for me.  He holds a special place in my heart.  Also.....thanks Dr. Bishop and Dr. Krutzik!  A sincere thanks to my friend and surgeon Dr. Susan Hahm.

Thanks to Jenna and Jeff for taking such great care of your momma.  What can I say?  Your awesome!!

Now to thank you all again for praying and for your continued prayers.  What could of been a long drawn out ordeal was taken care of in just a few days.  I know how blessed I am to have such supportive, encouraging and uplifting family and friends.  I thank God a million times for that.

Jessica Coyne......so sad to be missing your baby shower today.  If the gift doesn't get delivered to the shower I will bring it by your mom's house next week.  Have a great time!  Can't wait for little Braden to make his appearance! 

I missed wishing our dear friend Nick Sulli a "Happy Birthday" this week.  Hope you had a great day Nick!  I want to wish my friend Kristi Pacheco a "Happy Birthday" tomorrow!  Have a fun day Kristi!

See you all on Monday!  Have a fantabulous weekend!  Thanks for reading my blog and leaving comments.  I love it!  Means a lot!  Today is another gift from God and He is so Good!