Radiation Exhaustion.

Holy Smoke!! Radiation and chemotherapy

certainly kick the spunk out of someone.

Our Dad has been sleeping, sleeping,

sleeping and still exhausted beyond

belief. We are so praying that when our

radiation treatments are over that he

will be able to have a wee bit more energy.

We are thankful that we have the BEST

doctors and are receiving the BEST

treatment options available. Our family

was truly unprepared for the toll that

these treatments have on a person.

We are so excited that Grandy and

Bobby are coming to celebrate

CHRISTmas with us!! We are praying

that our Dad will be able to keep his

peepers open for at least some of the

festivities.

We are grateful for modern medicine

and truly thankful that we have been

able to have the best treatments

available. It is just a wee bit difficult

to watch someone you love so

dearly endure such harsh treatments.

Wood . . .

The hickory staircase for our new

house was handmade and turned

out absolutely b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.

The process to make the steps took

FOUR WEEKS!!!! Here they are in their

little "drying room", ready to be installed

in just a few short days.

Alder baseboards . . .

Sam, Luke, and I put the first coat of

sealer on all TWO HUNDRED of them

last weekend.

1,975 linear feet ready to be

installed within the next

two weeks!!!

Action.

2485 Mountain Spirit Court was most

definitely the place to be to see

ACTION today . . .

Home Depot was busy delivering insulation

which they will be installing within the

next couple of days!!

Concrete trucks where bustling up

and down the street delivering concrete

for our new drive way.

The guys where in the boom truck

busily finishing up the metal roof!

Guys where getting ready to install

the stone on the fireplace . . . Don'tcha

just love, love, love that mantel!!!

Guys worked EIGHT hours on

our new driveway!

I love, love, love progress . . .

Monday Madness.

Whew! Today was certainly a Monday in

my neck of the woods, I:

*babysat the house project

*worked on medical bills

*crossed off more of Santa's list

*successfully changed Mike's nausea

medicine to something that prayerfully

WORKS

*went to Wal-Mart THREE times

*laundry, laundry, laundry

*ordered and received a

boomtruck for work on the house

*helped guys design mantel for

house

*made yummy dinner

*managed to eat dinner with

our family and sit down to

discuss our day

*watched "Home Alone 1"

(It just wouldn't be CHRISTmas

around here without it . . .)

*snuggled with husband and boys

*took Tylenol for a pounding headache

*crawled up the stairs

*excited to cozy up with dreams

of sugar plums . . .

CHRISTmas Light Night.

Tonight was our annual "Pile into the

car CHRISTmas light night"!! Hidden Valley

Country Club, an older part of town with

beautiful homes and trees always has

amazing lights.

Gramps, the kids, and I loaded into the

truck in pursuit of CHRISTmas lights.

We were not disappointed by all of the

work on the part of the homeowners of

these amazing homes!

We missed our Dad! He was too sick

from treatments to come on the ride

this year . . . We will show them next year!!!

I love, love, love CHRISTmas lights and

this is definitely one of my very favorite

nights of our holiday season.

Some of the homeowners must spend

weeks preparing their homes for the

amazing display of lights and music.

Be-a-uuuutiful!!

Some of the homes were awarded prizes

from their Homeowner's Association.

. . . I am already so excited for next

year's "CHRISTmas Light Night"!!!

Favorite Ornaments.

Our most favorite ornament is the FIRST

one that Mike and I purchased the first

year that we were married . . . 1984! All of

the boys love this ornament and cherish it

as one of their faves when we are decorating

our CHRISTmas tree.

Zach made this angel when he was five!!

This beauty boasts a ton of conversation

every single year also. I still picture

him when he gave me this ornament

that he made in Sunday School. Could

someone please tell me where in the

world those seventeen years went?!?

Snowmen and jingle bells . . . How could

you go wrong?

The boys so love that Tim made this

when he was four years old . . .

We love big glittery CHRISTmas balls

too. Let's face it, we love ALL things

CHRISTmas and are getting so excited

for the countdown. Luke can hardly stand

it and is anxiously awaiting the BIG day.

We are so excited for GRANDY and BOBBY

to arrive on CHRISTmas Eve and for the

festivities to begin.

Our New Best Friend.

Yes indeedy, COMPAZINE is our

new very bestest friend!! These

little babies REALLY help with the

icky nausea feelings that occur during

chemotherapy. We are thrilled, thrilled,

thrilled that these have helped our Dad

with those crummy feelings. He still has

such symptoms, but thanks to Compazine,

those side effects have diminished greatly.

One of the side effects of Compazine is

drowsiness. Well, he already has that

one in a BIG way, but at least he doesn't

feel quite so "crappy". We are loving it that

we can cozy up with our Dad and love him

when he is laying down or sitting on the

couch. We are thankful for this medicine

and have been praying for such little

miracles along this journey.

. . . hopefully, our Dad will be

back to activities like this . . .