Blake Brewer Langston has Arrived!

Blake Brewer Langston arrived today at 4 :42 p.m.
He is perfect! Weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and 20".
Sherry and Jimmy are doing great.
The kids and I hung out at their place today and played with Catie Lynn and Tarver. Kathy is staying with them tonight.

More pictures coming soon!

Catie Lynn Update

Hi everyone,

Here is the latest update on Catie Lynn.

Thursday, she completed her CT scan and Ultrasound. The results were good

and they found no evidence of any remnants of the tumor. They did find that
her right kidney is enlarged, this is to be expected, so they were not
concerned. They also found that her gall bladder is enlarged. They did not
find any gall stones, so they are not concerned with that either. I only
spoke with the nurse, so I will find out more about the gall bladder this
week.
Unfortunately, they scheduled the CT scan first and after she woke up we did
the ultrasound. She was upset when she woke up from the anesthesia.
There's nothing like holding a cranky 15 month old down so they could do the
ultrasound. My sister-in-law Laura came with me and helped hold her down.
Thanks for the help Laura!! After the ultrasound we went to the clinic for
her Chemo.
Her blood levels were great. In fact, they were the best they've been since
she started. She still has a little cold, so I was surprised how good her
blood levels were. She received the two Chemo drugs and we were on our way.
I just want to thank my Mom and Laura for coming with me to these
appointments. My lap is getting shorter and shorter and it's rather
difficult to hold Catie Lynn for an extended period when she is fussy. It
really takes two of us to entertain her while she is getting treatment.

Catie Lynn really took off developmentally this last week. She started
walking, opening doors, and climbing on chairs and tables. Wednesday night,
she opened the back door and headed out towards the back yard. I guess she
wanted to see the chickens by herself:-) It was pretty exciting. She
obviously new that the baby was coming so she better escape while she could.
I am scheduled for an induction this coming Tuesday, June 30th. Unless the
baby comes this weekend, we will be parents of three on Tuesday at the
latest. My family will be helping us out with the kids while we're in the hospital.
I have enclosed a picture. This is the last time you all
will ever see me prego:-) BTW, this is not an attractive picture, but it's
the only one I have with the kids. I hope you all have a great week and
talk to you soon!
Sherry

Relay for Life

We did it! Another year down, another successful relay. This is not our whole team, just a few of us. I did not get a picture of everyone. I walked Saturday morning/early afternoon. The weather was beautiful and I had Momma B as my walking partner. It was a great day!
The total funds raised for the entire event is over $30,000 and still counting. Our team total is over $1,300.00 and still counting. Feels great to raise money for such an important cause. Maybe soon, a cure will be found.

This is Big John and Catie Lynn's luminary bags that I made. All the bags are lit up at night and you can read them as you walk around the track. It is a sight to see!

NOW- this bag is a TOTAL mystery.... someone made this bag for Big John and we have no idea who made it or where it came from....
I called my dad and he knows nothing about it.
If you know something about this "mystery" bag, please let me know. I did save all three of them to put out next year.

Catie Lynn Update

I went with Sherry yesterday to all of Catie Lynn's appt's. It was a long day for her, but she was a trooper. Such a sweet little thing...bless her heart.
She had her CT scan first, then an ultrasound and finally her chemo treatment. Her blood counts were awesome, the best they have been thus far.
Hopefully, all her results will be back sometime this afternoon from her scan and ultrasound. I will keep you all updated as soon as I hear something.

Sherry is doing good. She is scheduled for an induction on Tuesday (the 30th) morning. So, unless she goes into labor over the next few days, baby will be here sometime that day.

PS: BIG THANKS to Momma B for watching my kiddo's so I could help Sherry!

PSS: I also have some prayer requests- my grandfather's last living sister, Kathleen, is getting ready to start chemo and things look kind of "bleak", so please pray for her and her family. She was very close with Big John and also lives in Texas. Secondly, please pray for my cousin Cody. He has had some health problems, including SEVERE migraines. He is being sent to a headache clinic in Houston and will be there several days. Please pray that they can help him find the cause of his migraines, they are very bad and he has fought them for a very long time.
Thanks Much!

It's all good...

I feel a lot better today. Thanks to those of you that posted a comment and took the time to "check in" on me. I actually felt much better by just simply posting what I was truly feeling about Big John's one year mark. I am surrounded by loving, caring and thoughtful family and friends. I also have God with me always...

Love you all!

This is Mema & Big John in 2006 (I think) at the Enchanted Forest. They came up for a visit and we had a great time!

Big John with my awesome "Pops" & two wonderful Aunts.
Aunt Bev is in red and Aunt Myrt-Myrt is in brown. Uncle Johnny is not in this picture, but he is great too!

One Year Later...

Well, it is one year today that Big John passed away. I remember wanting this day to come thinking that with time passed, I would have some closure and handle his passing better. I realized last night that I have not made much progress in the grieving or healing department....
I can blame it on how busy we have been for the year and how much has changed, but I know that it's really because I just don't want to accept that he isn't here anymore. It seems too hard. I have been hoping that picturing him and Mema together in Heaven would help me, but it honestly has not helped much. Sometimes, I feel selfish...

I still want to call him and hear his big roar of a laugh, listen to his kind, honest and gentle words of wisdom, curl up in his lap and look for satellites cruising through the Big West Texas Sky. I still want to drive down the dirt road that leads to the farm, full of anticipation to see them both...
It's just hard- guess I need more time.

I have been so very blessed to have had grandparents like Mema & Big John. They didn't tell you how to live your life, they simply lived theirs and let you watch them do it. Their home was established with love, patience, guidance and faith in God. They passed down their values and morals not only to their children, but to their grandchildren as well.

I try very hard to let God be my compass every day. I depend on him to guide me through the days, weeks, months and years of my life. But my compass does not consist of only God, it consits of my family as well. Mema and Big John were a huge part of my compass. It's very hard to not have them here, tangible to me. I do believe that their spirits have moved on and that they are in Heaven, watching over all of us and guiding us in their own special ways... I can still feel their love and strength.
I had hoped, that with time, this very thought would bring me comfort. I am just not feeling it today...guess I need more time.
I know it will get easier.

My last thoughts are this;
They may not be tangible to me here on earth, but they are in my heart, thoughts and memories. They are still a huge part of my compass.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Father's Day Weekend

We started Father's Day Weekend on Saturday afternoon. Had all the family over for dinner. I cooked the main dish and everyone else brought the sides. It was a lot of fun and some much needed family time together. We hadn't all been together since Easter. We celebrated Brittany's 16th b-day, Tim & Heidi's anniversary (22 yrs) and Father's Day all in one afternoon!

Lilly greeted everyone with her "dazzling" mask...she is always up to something!

We were all very excited that Catie Lynn was feeling well enough to make it to the party! She looks great! I got a shot of her taking a few steps too. She will be walking around in no time-

WHOA- Britty is now 16! (on the left)

On Sunday, Pat wanted to do some hiking and sight seeing. We live so close to the mountain, that I forget how many parks, trails, lakes and camp grounds are all around us. I am not sure if I'll ever get them all down. The weather was not great, but we made the best of it...

Mt. Hood was beautiful!

Catie Lynn Update

Howdy All,
This is an update from Sherry-
I plan on being at the appt. on Thursday (the 25th) with them if Sherry has not had the baby yet. If she has him before Thursday, I will probably be at their house watching Tarver and the new babe.

She just completed her 5th round of Chemo today. Her blood levels were
really good and she only received one of the two chemo drugs. The
Vincristine she received today does not cause nausea. She will probably be
a little fussy today and tomorrow due to some pain, but we seem to be able
to control the pain with regular Tylenol. She caught a little cold
yesterday, but the doctor was not concerned since her blood cell counts were
so good. Also, she is teething like crazy, so that may have brought on the
cold. Her weight has also remained the same, which is a relief. It must
have been all that good Mississippi cooking by Jimmy's mom, Glenda.

Catie Lynn's appointment next Thursday will include another CT scan and
Ultrasound (looking for any other remnants of the tumor or new
developments); additionally, she will receive her 6th Chemo treatment. They
have to sedate her for the CT scan, so it will be another long day at the
hospital. Hopefully, I won't go into labor next Thursday. Please pray for
us next Thursday that nothing shows up in the two tests.

Catie Lynn is still not walking on her own, but is trying more each day.
The incision from her surgery looks great and her port (to draw blood and
administer the Chemo drugs) is working well. In fact, she has not cried at
the last two appointments. I'm not sure if we explained this before, but
the port was placed in her chest under the skin. When they access the port,
they stick a needle through her skin in her chest into the middle of the
port. Watching this at first is not fun. Before the port is accessed, I
place a numbing cream over the skin that is over the port so she doesn't
feel the needle. In other words, since she hasn't cried the last few times,
it's obvious that she doesn't feel the needle. If she does cry, the only
reason is because she doesn't like to be held down.

Tarver is doing well, and has been at summer camp this week at his school.
I am ready to deliver any minute, I saw the doctor last week and the baby could come at anytime.
Let's hope I either deliver before or after next Thursday.
Thank you to everyone for the support
during this time.

Time to catch up-

I am going to attempt to catch up on all that we have been up two in the last two weeks, but not in a lot of detail. We have been WAY TO BUSY and it would take hours to post.
These pictures are from the Portland Rose Festival. The kids had a blast and the weather was just awesome! This is a sling/jump ride that both of the kids did. I could not believe how high they were jumping...

Lilly was just dying to try this and she did an awesome job. She has ZERO FEAR...

Mac was selected to judge some clown acts while we there. He was pretty embarrassed up on the stage, but won a Portland Lumberjacks hat and autographed jersey for participating and that made it all worth it to him.

Some more rides...

...and some critters.

At the end of the Rose Festival adventure, the kids could not resist playing in the fountains that are by the downtown Portland waterfront. It was hot and they had been in the sun all day, so we let them get soaked!

School is out now for both kids and the summer break has arrived. We have a busy summer, but it's busy with lots of fun things!
We had an "over-due" garage sale this weekend at Pat's grandmother's house and it felt like a big accomplishment. It was a year ago on May 30th that she passed away and it has taken a while to go through her house and figure out what to do with things. She never could throw anything away...so there was a lot of stuff. (We sure do miss her)
The sale was a success and what's left over is on it's way to Goodwill. The sale was on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Pat and I catered for the Burdett's party. It was Tom's graduation celebration from Eastern Oregon and Jim's 60th birthday celebration as well. We made ribs, brisket, potatoes and rolls for the crowd. It all turned out WONDERFUL... the more of these jobs we do, the more confident Pat gets. He has really gotten the "smokin meats" business down to a perfection! We do enjoy cooking and catering together too!
At the moment, I am working on getting Mac and Lilly's bedrooms finished. I have had too many projects going on at the same time. They are almost done and looking pretty snazzy! I have a long list of projects to finish before my Dad gets here in July. He will be here for about 3-4 weeks and we can't wait to see him! He is bringing Pat's custom made BBQ/Smoker trailer up to us. Pat is just "stoked" for it to get here-
I would like to ask all of you to keep my Dad in your prayers. He has been diagnosed with Hep C and will be starting an intense therapy called Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin. He contracted this virus while serving in Vietnam. This theraphy is very intense and has very serious side effects but it is necessary in order to slow the virus down and keep him from gettting chirrosis of the liver. He will need a lot of prayers and watching over during his treatments. We are still waiting on results to determine which genotype he has. The viral genotype will determine if he has to complete 24 or 48 weeks of therapy. Let's all pray for the 24 week treaments. This therapy requires weekly injections/shots that he will have to administer to himself, unless someone else is available to do it for him, oral medications and lots of bloodwork. As I said earlier, there are some serious/scary side effects. If you want more info on them, you can google Interferon/Ribavirin or Hep C. The VA is highly expeirenced with treating Hep C, so Dad is getting awesome care. I just hate that he has to drive 4 hours one way to get there and that I am SO FAR AWAY. He will begin his therapy mid to late August. I will have more details as we get closer to his treatment date and will keep you all updated.
I found out last week that my brother, John and his girlfriend Nora might be coming to visit too! They are coming in July while my Dad is here!! I am soo excited and glad that we have plenty of room for all of them to stay with us! We will go and play and have lots of fun!
Well, that's enough info for now-
Will post again soon!

PS: Catie Lynn is doing well and is still on her weekly schedule of chemo treatments. I will do a more detailed post about her very soon. Our family THANKS you for your continuous support and prayers.