Blessings

Sorry to have been so out of touch this past week. We had a wonderful trip and have felt completely blessed by God's presence.

We left early Monday morning, August 14. The kids loved riding in Grandpa and Grandma's motorhome and in Grandpa's big truck. Abby really appreciated being able to stretch out on the couch in the motorhome as well as having her snacks nearby (the Decadron is doing a great job of increasing her appetite). We found a rental house in Carlsbad, California which was a short walk from the beach. We spent a few days on the beach as well as a day each at Disneyland, Legoland and Sea World. The rest of the time we spent hanging around the beautiful rental home.

One of the many blessings we experienced on our vacation was that Abby felt great the whole time. We started weaning her off the Decadron at the beginning of the week and she continues to handle it well. She had no headache complaints and few bouts with nausea. Her energy level was amazing. We kept asking if she needed to rest and she would just say, "I'm ok". It helped that we got a wheelchair at all of the parks we visited. Our greatest challenge was keeping up with her Decadron-induced appetite.

We were so thankful for the generosity of several people who contributed to our getaway. We dragged Grandpa Chuck, Grandma Gina and Grandpa Charlie along with us and they kept up with all the activity without a single complaint. The grandpas even endured getting drenched on the Shipwreck Rapids ride at Sea World! Aunt Taryn dug countless holes in the sand at the beach for Daniel and Elizabeth and cousins Amber and Cheyenne were a great help entertaining all the kids. A kind, Human Resources connection from my brother Rich's office provided complimentary tickets to Legoland. And, Tammy, another wonderful regular from Abby's website actually drove 90 minutes round trip to Sea World with us just so she could get us discount tickets and free parking. We also met a Disneyland cast member who offered us all priority seating for the evening parade and brought Abby a Happy UN-Birthday gift from her favorite princess, Ariel.

The best blessing by far, though was seeing the smiles on Abby's face when she found a bucketfull of seashells, built sandcastles, took Elizabeth on kiddie rides, got hugs from Josiah and giggled at Daniel's goofy grins.

This week we will see our oncologist to complete the weaning instructions of the Decadron and try to find out how long we may expect this reprieve to last. He may not be able to tell us, but we'll see. You can pray that God will continue to use us in any way possible for His kingdom purposes. We still plead with Him to show His awesome power by healing Abby and believe he certainly may choose to do so. His will be done.