Trip to OKC

What can I say? It's just a funny picture!



Grandma acted just like a teen-aged girl. She talked on the phone all weekend. Couldn't pry her away! :)




Taken by Hadley. Definitely better than a couple of the others she took of me, so I'll post the best one, even though I don't like it!



And, if she wasn't talking on the phone, she was making us eat at Whataburger.

We really had a good time--other than the fact that Hadley's soccer team stunk up the fields and lost every game and the Grandma decided to get sick. It was really nice to stay with her---hopefully we'll be able to do it again soon with better results! Love you Grandma!

And she goes for the save!

Hadley played volleyball today. It was pretty exciting---the best so far. They played the newest middle school in Amarillo and won. Got this great shot and thought you'd like to see her save it--which she did!

Procrastination Wednesday

So I have a million things that need to be done--I think that number might be literal. What am I doing instead?? Taking pictures, of course! Max just looked so cute lying in the chair, I just had to get one and share it. Hope you're having a good Wednesday!

My li'l fencer

Fencing tonight. Thought I'd share a few pics. He sure seems to like it, judging by the big smiles all night.

Family Times at the Golden Corral

Sounds like a bad western, huh? Had some fun family times this weekend. Grandma and Jean were here for the weekend, so we got to visit with them some. Today, we got to see Eva (Grandma's sister), Huck, Lisha and Cid (2 of their kids). Eva had a high school reunion to attend in Happy, which is why they were in town from AZ. We ate together at Golden Corral and visited for about 3 hours. It was a lot of fun---always nice to see family! David and Hadley missed out-she played soccer in Lubbock this weekend. Hopefully, she'll have some time with Grandma next weekend since we are planning to stay with her while we're in OKC. I didn't take many pictures---it always seems harder when I'm in the middle of it all. Need to work on that! I never get as many as I want... Anyway, enjoy these.

Meant to mention in the earlier post... I have a good friend--Julie Sutterfield, who desperately needs your prayers. She's a single mom, with sole custody of her 5th grade daughter, who just found out she has an inoperable brain tumor, stage IV cancer. They haven't offered much hope--they may not be able to do anything at all. Even in the 2 or so weeks since she found out, she has developed many new symptoms and isn't doing well at all. She's wobbly, nauseous, and losing her short term memory. I don't think she's told her daughter many details yet, so I'm letting you know just in case. It breaks my heart--Julie has had so much tragedy in her life and is such a sweet person in spite of it all. Anyway, if you will, please pray for her and Audrey and add her to your church prayer lists. She desperately needs them! Her site is HERE if you're interested in seeing pics (one of them has already appeared on this blog--she was one of the KISS bunko girls)--or more details.

2 teenagers in 1 house!?

Sounds like the pits fun, right??? :) Yep. Hadley turned 13 yesterday. I didn't get any pictures of the actual day, but I took one today with her wearing her birthday present. When she came home from camp this summer, she told us of a blue haven necklace/charm she was dying for but didn't have enough money in her trading post account. So, when Tyler went a week later, we sent money with him to buy it and have been saving it for her birthday. She was very surprised and happy... It didn't come with a chain, so we just got back from James Avery where we picked one out. I think it looks great on her.



Also, thought you'd enjoy this snap of Lance doing his crossguard duty... on crazy hat day! Doesn't he look awesome???

No Mo

iv's, treatments around the clock, and staying home---no mo! Yay! Yes, we hope that means more rest for all! We went to the doctor this morning and they removed the pic line and put us back on the regular schedule for treatments. His lung function was down quite a bit, but we hope it will return as he continues to heal. He's still coughing---which may mean more inhalers or nebs during the day, but at least we don't have to do it around the clock anymore! :) He should be able to be at school on Monday--although it may be hard on him to be there all day. We will continue the homebound stuff until we've made up all 12 hours, which will erase the absences.

Lance is so happy.... he went out to climb this tree! He doesn't have all of his strength back yet--I think it surprised him how hard it was to get up there!, but he's getting there bit by bit. Right now, we're off to rent a movie or game with one of his many gift cards! :)

Feeling good enough to play swords with a friend... Praise God! This is really the first time he's gotten to play since his birthday. He has missed his friends so much---I'm very thankful he's able to play and have fun today! We visit the doc tomorrow in the hopes we get to discontinue the iv's and go back to school. I'll let you know.

Here's a pic of Hadley as she was leaving for the homecoming game. She's wearing a mum that her boyfriend gave her. Yep, boyfriend! I can't believe they do the mum thing in middle school, but they do. We made him a garter, but I will say that Paxton's mom is much more talented than I am! Add lack of talent to a crazy, exhausting week and you get very mediocre work... Hadley thought it was ok--after we made a couple of adjustments, so I guess it'll do.

This is what Lance is doing a lot of during the day. He's just wiped out. He has shown definite improvement today--even jumping around a bit while playing his PS2, but it only takes a few minutes of that to get this.

Lance still had trouble sleeping all through the night last night, but it was a little better maybe. We are on a 12,6 schedule and the meds last an hour. We're doing treatment during that time as well. That means there are about 5 uninterrupted hours between stuff. He got up this morning for a bit and laid back down in the chair---and slept until just a few minutes ago. Of course, now it's time for the next round! I hope he can continue to try and catch up on his sleep! Lance is assured that Max missed him and here's the proof. Cute, huh? Still very glad to be home....

Look Ma! No oxygen!

Free at Last!!


Home. Yay!!! Everyone's happy. Check out that small little ball next to Lance. That's his IV medicine----we hook it up and it just goes in.... No pump. No pole. It fits in his pocket, so he can do whatever during it. Neat, huh??? Gotta love technology!

It's Nana the Clown!
He put this on his toe AFTER Nana wore it--not before... :)
good times with the new game big brother gave him...
A rough spot....
A boredom shot. Yes, that's what you think it is by the sink!
too tired to eat his favorite---corn on the cob!


I'm way too tired to give much of an update, but I thought I'd post a few pics--no particular order. Most of you probably know that we got really good news today and are soooooo relieved. Thank God for those answered prayers!!!!!!

Lance still feels pretty crummy, but we have some hope that we will go home tomorrow to finish out the antibiotics. Everything's better at home, you know!

Boy have things gone downhill since the last post.... Ay yi yi!!! Lance has continued to cough, almost non-stop, since his birthday. We've done lots and lots of treatments, as well as continued the steroid and antibiotic we started last Friday. Poor guy hasn't been able to sleep much at all. Yesterday, he woke up a little before 5:00 a.m. and was up for the whole day. Today, he woke up around 3:30 a.m. and has been up all day. Of course, you know he wasn't the only one up. :( The steroids always mess with his sleep--but usually not this bad. I noticed last night that his cheeks were getting full--another yucky side effect of the steroids. Well, this morning he woke up with one cheek swollen, much more so than the other. It reminded me of a time about 2 years ago that he looked similar--nobody could figure out the problem--and we didn't contact our docs in Fort Worth--MISTAKE!, so it must be a tooth, right? Wrong. But we only found out it wasn't a tooth after they opened it to see healthy tissue. We're still waiting for that tooth to abscess because they said it would only be a matter of time since they opened it up. Nice.

Anyway, after several stressful hours, many phone calls and a chest x-ray later today, we found out that he has "sub-q emphysema". I'm pretty sure that isn't spelled correctly and the info I'll give you may only be partially correct. I'm sleep deprived, remember? He has evidently coughed so hard that air has been forced out of his lungs in a way it doesn't usually exit. This leaves air in places it shouldn't be with nowhere to go. So, he has little air pockets in his chest wall, his neck and his face. He is so swollen. I'm sure he's miserable. We were concerned for a while that part of his lung collapsed, but thankfully, it hasn't. It could still happen, but hopefully it won't. I don't think this kind of thing happens in healthy lungs, and the nurses recognized the symptoms right away, so I guess it happens often enough in CF. When you mash the swollen areas, they sort of pop or crackle. It's the weirdest thing... Unless things get worse, it's something that should resolve itself. Y'all pray that it does and FAST, ok? Sorry for the downer update, but I just wanted to let you all know what was happening... Love you all!

It's a little hard to tell just how swollen he is just from the pic, but trust me---it's a lot! And, actually right now, the swelling is more evenly distributed over both sides. Earlier, he was more lopsided...

My Baby is Eleven!!!!!

Can you believe it?? I promise---it was just the other day when he was born and we struggled to find the right name for him... Really. It was!

Today, we had his party. He chose a paintball party. He invited 8 boys--only one couldn't come. I think everyone had a great time---even Hadley! She was a little hesitant because she thought it would hurt. I told her it couldn't hurt more than playing soccer. Sure enough--she loved it, too. Lance has been sick, really coughing a lot. We encouraged postponing the party a couple of weeks, but he was determined to do it today. He made it through ok. The weather turned out perfect for paintball---cloudy and cool. I don't think it made it past 70 degrees! With the way they bundle up for protection, cooler weather is much nicer. He made a killing in cash---said he's saving for a go-cart. We'll see. Anyway, here are a few pics. (I only got a few 'action' shots because most of the fields aren't visible from the main building and you have to wear a mask to go beyond a certain point.) ****ETA: Lance saw these pictures and said, "Hmm. I look like a bright orange target!" Ha! didn't think of that when he chose that sweatshirt... BTW. Does anyone recognize that sweatshirt? It used to be BJ's...

First Middle School Volleyball Game

Here she is... #2. They had a scrimmage today against Sam Houston and Bowie. Hadley played with the gold team today, although that isn't set in stone. They have another scrimmage on Saturday morning and then more cuts on Tuesday. I didn't get many pics because she only played one game. (That was the most anyone played.) So, hopefully, there will be many more pics to come! Oh yeah--she won! :)

Flag duty

Lance and his good buddy, Barrett, have flag duty this week and next. Lance was excited because they were the 'first' ones chosen. Quite an honor, I would say. I know they choose responsible students to do these jobs all year, but the first few kind of set the pace for the year. We're pretty proud... And, to balance out the Lance-fest going on this week, be sure to look for sports pics later. Hadley will (thinking positively here) have volleyball tomorrow and Tyler will have football.

I. am. in. love.

Found me some new earphones for my ipod. They are awesome! I toyed with the idea of something like these, but hated to pay that much money for something I was unsure I would like. Well, found some on ebay for $12 (including shipping) and decided to take a shot---they're great! They stay in my ears---really well, and they block out so much outside noise that it's like wearing earplugs, too. Wow! Too cool.... So for all you people with weird-shaped ears like mine that can't wear regular ipod earphones, you might give these a try! Really, really love 'em.

He may be growing up, but

HE STILL LOVES HIS POOH CHAIR.....

I just found out something really sad... Anyone remember our friend, Shele, who dated Dalan? We used to do a lot with them--mostly before the kids came along. I always thought she and Dalan were great together, but for some reason they never married. They finally broke up--after about 5 years and she ended up marrying another guy. We heard that she had breast cancer a few years ago, had a double mastectomy and so forth. I thought she was ok. Her obituary was in the paper today. Because the memorials are for the breast cancer foundation, I assume that's what killed her. Really tragic... She and her family had just moved back into their house recently because it burned and they had to re-do much of it. While they were waiting for the remodel, they stayed in one of Dalan's rent houses. Their house is right down the street from Mema.