Buds.

Did I ever say how much I adore my boys'

friends . . . They are simply THE most 

amazing group of people EVER.  All of

my boys have chosen awesome forever

friends.  This weekend Sam went to a 

prom-style birthday party for one of his

friends.  This group of friends is a really

close-knit group and do most everything

together.  If they are not eating and

sleeping at our home, then they are over

at one of the others home.  I.love.that.

Jameal is 6'8 and Sam is 5'7.  It took a

little doing, but it looks like Sam is 

finally breathing air up there . . . 

A Hiking We Will Go.

You might have to use a wee bit of

your imagination, but that is a quick

pic of Cathy and I.  Our new goal

is to conquer the mountain in 

Mountain's Edge THREE or FOUR

times.  Cathy called me and asked

me to hike that baby with her this

morning.  After one trip up the

easy side and down the hard side,

I was ready for another trip!

Welcome to Jill's Bootcamp!

Next week: It's up and down 

that mountain THREE times!!!

Paint the . . .

Sam and some of his friends decided to

put on all white clothes, grab buckets of 

paint, and meet in the desert behind the

church!!!  I don't think that fun actually

gets any.better.than.this.

Cherish the moments folks, they fade

all too quickly!!!!

Count on Me.

Counting on you more than I EVER

imagined.  I do so thank ALL of

you for EVERYTHING that you

have done for my family and

me over the past two years as we

have gone through the fire.

Mom, Susan, Donna, Cathy,

Diane . . . you guys are THE

bestest EVER.  I can count on

you for ANYTHING.  You know

that you can count on me also!!

I.do.not.know.what.I.would.do.

without.you.in.my.life.

Sadies.

 Sadie Hawkins dudes.  I am so thankful that

our boys have such amazingly wonderful

friends.  Where would we be without them?!?

Part of the Sadie Hawkin's celebration included

dinner at B Dubs (their favorite), ice cream,

the dance (for about twenty minutes), more

food, and a late night scavenger hunt planned

by the girls at the Town Square Mall.

These kiddos are so amazing!!  We love each

and every single one of them and their 

families.  They have been such a tower of

strength and support for our family the past

eight weeks.  We are very, very grateful to

them.  Luke has also made wonderful friends

with this group and their siblings.  That

God certainly is amazing!!!

Happy Sadie Hawkins!!

On Pins and Needles.

 Susan to the rescue for my Wednesday night

entertainment.  So far the besties have been

coming over on Wednesdays while the

boys go to youth group.

 We are quilters by day and pin cushion

makers by night!!!  We had so much fun

making our projects that are not only

pin cushions, but scrap bags as well.

I am one blessed lady to have such wonderful

friends!!!!! (And a really cute pin cushion

as a bonus!!!!!)

Here's to Wednesday nights and great friends.

More Angels.

Amazing, amazing, amazing . . . My Jesus

certainly knew just who to put in my 

life when.  It is so hard to believe that these

amazing women took time out of their

busy lives to minister to me!!!  Blessings

continue to flow in our home.  The pain is

real and intense.  Our Jesus experienced

pain and knows our heartaches.  I am so

grateful that He has provided me such special

gifts as these women.

These ladies are truly a blessing!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one

another and build one another up, just as you

are doing."

Therapy . . . Jilly Style.

 Three quilts are in the hopper . . .

quilting is THE best therapy next

to family and friends.  I do so love

my people, they ALWAYS know

when to call, message, email,

stop by, or send a card through 

the mail. What have I ever done to

be so incredibly blessed.  Tonight

Cathy, Duane, Diane, and Anne 

came to over for dinner and cards.

They.are.THE.bestest on the entire

planet.  Forever friends are the

greatest treasure!!!

 I am excited about my new quilt

projects . . . They give me plenty of 

time to reflect and pray!!!

I am grateful for friends who remind

me that it was in my old life that

planning days, weeks, and months

ahead was possible.  Concentrating

on baby steps . . .  

I am so grateful for those who know

just what to say and when to say it!!

How could one of my besties know that

Wednesday night is the perfect night

for popsicles and Snickers bars . . . 

I tell ya . . . when it came to friends,

my Jesus sure poured them out

abundantly to me!!!  As I navigate such

unfamiliar territory, I am grateful that

I do not have to do so alone!!!

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle

of Christian friends by a good fire?"  -C.S. Lewis

Difficult . . . Gonna Make It!!!

Guess who came by today?  

Pretty.darn.difficult . . . but we are so

blessed with amazingly wonderful family

and friends!!!!!

It's the small surprises that make all

of the difference!!!

God's grace is amazing!!!

We are going to make it!!

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning

or crying or pain, for the old order of things

has passed away."  Revelation 21:4

Thankful Thursday.

Great day to be thankful!!  

. . . awesome husband and kids!

. . . wonderful extended family!

. . . Gram and Gramps in Heaven!

. . . great docs

. . . amazing friends

. . . split pea soup

. . . fun card game with the girls

. . . encouraging texts, phone calls,

and emails

. . . new little grocery store

. . . fabric, fabric, and more fabric

. . . hugs and kisses when I least

expect it . . . from those who I

least suspect them from

. . . knowing that God's love

goes on and on and on and on

and on . . . I NEVER EVER have

to be afraid!!!

Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lor, for

He is good; his love endures forever.

Days: Better than Nights!!

Love, love, love this man!  We have

certainly had a whirlwind weekend.

Mike did his best to keep up.  It

is fun that I get to be the chauffer

now and he tags along for the

ride.  Today he spent most of the

day resting, but we were so

very, very blessed to have be

surrounded by family and friends

for the majority of the day.  I 

know that I am beginning to sound

like a broken record, but we

COULD NOT/WOULD NOT be

able to make it without them.

They are the most amazing

support group in the whole entire

world.  Selfishly, I wish that they

could keep the singing, dancing, 

and entertainment up during the 

wee hours!  That is when the good

old devil comes around and really

likes to make we worry and toil.

Perhaps these are struggles that I am

meant to endure alone.

That aside, today was a totally

amazing day with my favorite

Sunday dinner.  The menu included:

2 hams

homemade stuffing

homemade mashed potatoes

homemade rolls

cranberry sauce

yummy salad

green beans

and an amazing

apple cake to knock

your socks off

Sundays.I.love.'em.

Words of Encouragement.

Encouragement has taken on a WHOLE new

meaning for me over the past year.  I cannot

tell you how much it lift my spirits to 

receive a simple text or phone call during

the day.  It is AMAZING to realize all of

the people who are interceding on behalf 

of our family.

Today was no exception.  I received texts

an emails with the exciting news that

friends and family members were praying

for our Dad during this trial.  A sentence 

from a friend goes a LOOOOOONG way.

It is so incredibly wonderful to know that

we are not in this storm alone.

As if a text is not enough . . . it is incredible

to scamper out to the mailbox and have an

uplifting card in the mail from a besty.  We

are incredibly blessed to have such wonderful

people in our corner.  We know that each

of them has been chosen by God to be

with us as prayer warriors and supporters

during our trial.

The BIG day is August 31.  Mike has

a PET/CT scan on that day.  We will

receive the results after Labor Day weekend.

The results will determine whether or

not we will be eligible to continue with

the clinical trial.

Onward.comrades.

Lazy, Crazy Days of Summer.

Luke and Steven have been pretty much

inseparable the ENTIRE summer and are

both in for a very rude awakening when

school rolls around here in a couple of 

weeks.  They have had TONS of fun on

their computers for hours and hours and

hours on end.  Luke even had to purchase

a new computer to keep up with all that

they had going.  They have had wonderful

spend the nights, swim parties, and just

plain old hanging out.  We do so love

Steven and are thankful that Luke has a

friend like him.  Susan took this pic this

morning when the boys were crashed

in their den.  Fun, fun, fun!

Salsa Time.

 Luke and I invaded Cathy's kitchen and

brought tons of tomatos, jalepenos, 

Anaheim peppers, onions, cilantro, and 

GARLIC with a mission of canning salsa.

 Cathy took cilantro duty . . . 

 Luke hooked me up to blend millions

of tomatos at once with my food 

processor . . . 

Yummy, yummy goodness!

Oooohlala!!  Here they are sitting on our

own kitchen counter ready to be devoured

by all of the boys!!!!

We had tons and tons of fun, plus

accomplished a BIG job!!!