Summers Over!

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since Justin’s brain surgery.  Overall he is doing great!

Exactly one week after his surgery he went back for the radiosurgery which pin pointed the tumor that they were not able to remove during surgery.  We will not know if it was successful till September 26^th when he goes back for his next scan.  And then a week after that we headed to Georgia for a much needed family vacation. 

 

My parents took the whole family to Georgia and all 16 of us stayed in a big cabin for 7 days. We had the best time!  

We played games. 

 

 

Went fishing.

 

 

Swam in the river.

 

 

Relaxed.

 

 

 

Went tubing a couple times.

 

 

Cooked meals together.

 

 

And ate together.

 

 

Played capture the flag.....Or at least dressed up and pretended we did. lol  I think dressing up in camo was more fun than actually playing.

 

 

It was so so nice. Something we desperately needed! Thank you mom and Cy for a week of wonderful memories that will last a lifetime!

The week we came back Justin started his five days straight of radiation.   It wasn’t supposed to have too many side effects but it definitely still stole away some of his energy and he has lost patches of hair that is still yet to come back.  But those are minor side effects in the scheme of things. 

He was on steroids for two months to help with the brain swelling.  The first few weeks were hard adjusting to it.  They made him very irritable and on edge.  So the kids and I got the best of it.   But he quickly realized that the steroids were making him crazy and his family was going to kick him out not enjoying the negative side effects of them.  But once he realiezed it, he took full responsibility and made every effort not to let them effect him in a negative way.  And he did a great job.  He was once again the perfect hubby/daddy, however he had lots and lots of energy!  He slept only a few hours a night.  Would clean, do laundry, help out with the kids, cleaned out our garage.  

 

I wish I had a before picture of the garage because it was bad!  But I only have an after picture.

 

And even re-did our whole backyard.

 Here are a few before pictures of our dirt back yard. 

 

 

 

Starting to dig the whole for the pool.

 

The big hole for the pool we sunk in the ground.

The pool.

 

And the best part...the after pictures.

 

So the steroids actually turned out to be a good thing for my "honey do list".

(P.S. You can hire JB Lawns for a makeover of your back yard also. )

 

Oh and did I mention the steroids made him eat like a champ!!  These are my sisters famous rice krispie treats that she surprised Justin with on vacation. 

 

 

But in the mist of brain surgeries, radiation treatments, and many doctor appointments we were still able to try to enjoy a nice summer with the kids.  We took a mini-vacation with my sister Chelsy and her hubby and her daughter to Orlando for two nights and to Sea World. 



 

 

 

 

The kids went to VBS at our church and had a great time.

 

 

 

We visited Adventure Island and Busch Gardens at least a few times since we are pass holders.

 

 

 

 

Jayden had his 6^th Birthday party at Treasure Island Fun Center. 

 

 

 

 

And we got to spend lots of time with my niece and nephews from Tennessee.

 

 

And before you know it we were school shopping for back to school supplies.

Hope is in 3^rd grade at Keswick Christian and is doing great!

 

 

Jayden is in 1^st Grade this year at Seminole Elementary and is doing great also!

 

 

And Keegan is home with mommy keeping me busy and driving me crazy is full of energy!  He truely is such a love bug.  And we have fun together. 

 

But Keegan and I sure do miss Hope and Jayden during the day.  We had such a fun summer being home all together.  I'm one of those moms that Love to have my kids home during the summer. I miss them dearly when they are at school.  But its such a relief to know that they both love school and have wonderful teachers! 

 

Justin was having some side effects.    Things we didn’t think were normal.  So his doctor had us come in last week to get a checkup.  We went over everything with the doctor and she said they all seem to be normal side effects.  She reminded us that he just had brain surgery only 2 months ago and it basically threw his whole body into shock so it’ll take time for everything to feel normal again.  So that was definitely a sigh of relief.  Any little side effect that comes up is hard for us both to automatically not think the worse and let our heads go to the worst case scenario.   So the reassurance from the doctor was a nice relief.  However she can’t guarantee anything till his next MRI scan of his head which will be on September 26^th.  That will tell us if the surgery was successful and if the two separate radiation treatments were successful.  So that is our big prayer now.  For some it’s just another date.  But for us, September 26^th is in the back of our heads every moment of every day.  It can’t come soon enough! 

For those of you who are friends with Justin on Facebook you will see that he is overall doing great.  He is grapping on tight to the Lord like I’ve never seen in the past.    I know many of you enjoy his writings, as so do I, but I know those are for him.  It’s what keeps him positive and gives him such a peace.   But he still has his days which is only normal I would think.    

Me on the other hand.   I definitely have been struggling more.  Depression and Anxiety have been something I’ve dealt with in the past and it’s something that I’ve been struggling with recently.  It keeps trying to knock at my door.  One too many times a day.  I try to keep ignoring it but the truth of the matter is some days I’m just tired of fighting it and I fail big time.  I guess I get scared, which leads to worry, which leads to anxiousness which leads to a downward spiral if you allow it.  But my fears are out of my control.  And it’s in the control of the same God who created the heavens and the earth.  The same God who knows how many hairs are on my head.  And the same God who promises never to leave me nor forsake me.    These ugly feelings are something that only God can release me of and it’s just allowing him to carry the burden for me and to release the control of those worries completely over to him.    And when I do that I feel Gods peace and joy.   Nothing else in this life can give you the peace and joy that comes from our heavenly Father.

And with that I leave you a verse.  Nehemiah 8:10b “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” And isn’t that the truth.  What strength, peace and joy we have from the Lord when we allow him to carry our burdens. 

I hope you all had a wonderful summer and may Gods Joy fill your heart today.  I will try to update as soon as we find out about his results on September 26^th.  Thank you all for the continued support and prayers.