Summer fun!

We have been having such a fun summer. Bridger has learned to swim, to say he loves it would be an understatement. He pleads to go swimming all day long and when we do go and it's time to leave he goes under water when I start to say it's time to get out. He gets better and better every time we go we are so proud of him. He got over his first cold but has another cough. I think he will probably have one off and on for a long time. I put him in a math and reading tutor program for the summer it is only for 2 hours a week and they send work home for the rest of the week. The first day I tried to take him he cried for 45 min hiding under his bed. I tried to coxes him out. I put his dad on the phone with him. Then I demanded he come out. Nothing was working. I had a glimpse of what might happen at first grade. As I was racking my brain to find a good solution I remembered what always worked when we were in the hospital. Then I said “why don’t we say a prayer. That always helps you to feel better.” He agreed and crawled out from under the bed we said a prayer. I carried him to the car. He almost fell asleep on the way. Then he sobbed all the way up to the door. Once we got inside and he met his teacher he held back the tears. I sat in the waiting room for 45 min. and when he came out he looked at me and said “That was totally AWSOME! I love my school.” I sighed a little sigh of relief and hope that his love for it will continue. He loves to be around people.


Here is some more summer fun!
Fun with the neighbors
The library had a city truck show to kick off the summer reading program. This was his favorite, it is bullet proof even the tires.
This one was remote control for he sewers.
A new fishing spot. The Lego store!




I raced in my first Sprint triathlon. It was a 300yd swim, 12.5 mile bike, and a 6k run in the heat of TX. I wasn’t sure why I was doing it when I was running my last mile but I am glad I did and have plans to run at least two more this summer. My time was a bit slower than I had hoped, but I plan to improve.


During the swim I lost count and swam 2 extra laps, I know I know I am awesome. (Blake was counting)




I had to swim in just my sports bra because I didn’t want to have to pin on my number during my transition. I found out this was not the best solution. It took me twice as long I had to pull on my tri shirt that got stuck twice, ripping the # off causing me to have to re-pin it anyway. Plus I blinded everyone with my stunning white stomach.

There was a tone of hills on the bike it was hot and I was in need of water. I also found out that bike helmets are not for crash protection they are used as a bug catcher/deflector. I his a huge dragon fly, two Big Bumble bees, one his so hard it either pooped or its insides landed in a perfect blob on my arm. I let it dry and it fell of during the run I was hoping to show Bridger. Another bumble bee flew into the corner of my mouth. Luckily my teeth were closed so it bounced off quickly however it was there long enough to feel fuzzy on my lips.



During the run I was just trying not to walk. I was grabbing water at every station. I was the 148the person to start the race out of 148 participants. So I started a whole hour later than planed. I finished 78th in 1:34:39.6 by far the best part of the race was having my little family cheer me on at every transition. They supported me through it all.



The Finish!

Another good news Dr. visits.

Bridger’s Dr Appointment was great! His donor cells went back up in % which is a very good thing. We want him to be making 100% donor cells, he is very close. Our trip was uneventful and full of good news. Bridger is finally getting over his cold and his coughing has almost stopped. He is inventing new things every day. We were able to get a home bound teacher approved for the next month and a half. We are wondering how it will go. We are just happy he is doing so well in his recovery.

B.I.G. Love Cancer Care

First a quick up date on Bridge. He has been sick with his first cold. He is weathering it better than me. I have been a nervous wreck! I feel like a new mom all over again not knowing what is normal for him. His lungs started to sound a little junky and he has a terrible cough. They did a chest x-ray and it looks ok. He is still on breathing treatments every 3 hours during the day. I bought a $9.00 toy that is sitting on the top of our refrigerator to bribe him with. If he takes all his treatments then he can have the toy. He does pretty good if he is distracted with a cartoon. One of the medicines smells like rotten eggs and is not fun to breathe in. He is (like always) a trooper. I made it through my first four night shifts at the hospital as a nurse tech and didn’t even throw-up once. We go to Houston tomorrow and will let everyone know what we find out.

As for the title Big love cancer care. This is the foundation that put us up in the trailer for free while we were in Houston. They are trying to get a grant to continue their support for the kids and their families at two different hospitals. If you could all take a min. and vote for them at the link on the side of my blog I would appreciate it. It is one way I can give back to them for all the support they gave us. Here is what their founder said.


About two months ago, I submitted a grant to Pepsi Cola in their Refresh Everything contest - and as of Friday, I have been notified that BIG Love has been accepted to compete.
Now, the rest is up to us. We are competing against 300ish other organizations (from Animal shelters to school programs) for the top votes. We are ranked 189th right now.
BIG Love will use the money to provide weekly groceries to cancer kids and their families.
Just last week, after delivering groceries to one of our teenage cancer patients, we were overwhelmed with the purpose of what we do. This young lady emptied all the contents of her Wal-Mart bags onto her hospital bed until everything was encircling her. As she looked at all her goodies...she started to sob. This family, due to pressing medical expenses, had been unable to afford simple things for their daughter. They were so grateful. Grateful for Oreo Cookies and potato chips!!
Another Mom, last week, told one of our volunteers with tears streaming down her face, "BIG Love is faithful. Always here for us. Here for us when everyone else has quit calling and quit caring. BIG Love is my constant." Each week, in Arkansas and Texas , BIG Love is making a difference.
We need your help to continue this service. Simply go to the website listed below and click the button that says vote for this idea. Follow the simple instructions that follow. It should take you under a minute to complete.
www.refresheverything.com/biglove
After your initial vote, I ask you to post a "reminder" to your electronic calendar reminding you to vote for BIG Love each day through the month of May. And I ask you, to post this message to your Carepage, facebook and send to your email contacts. Also, if you have any ideas on how to get the word out,please let me know.
If we win, this would have been the easiest and most cost effective fundraiser we will ever do!!
Jessica Phillips
B.I.G. Love Cancer Care - Brooke's Incredible Gift
P.O. Box 10386 - 107 Wanda Gail
El Dorado, AR 71730
870-881-0547
www.biglovecancercare.org
Serving Cancer Kids and their Families at Arkansas and Texas Children's Hospitals.

Below are pic's at a local air museum we went to a couple of weeks ago.





not feeling very well.
First time miniature golfing. He loved it!

A little busy

I’ve been a little busy but most importantly Bridger’s last Dr. visit went great the swelling on his brain is gone!!!!! And all his labs looked good considering the two days before his visit he ran fevers. Yes, I was very nervous and worried it would take him a long time to get well but it didn’t, and he is doing fantastic! Here is a break down of our last three weeks.

Wednesday, March 24: Decided to go to Arkansas so Bridger could play with his cousins on their spring break. We stayed until that Sunday.




While we were there we went to the Diamond mine. We were very unsuccessful.







Sunday, March 28: My Brother in law blessed their new baby boy. Congratulations he is such a cutie. After the blessing we drove home. Bridger started running fevers. Doyleen Blake’s mom came with us to help out.

Monday, March 29: Bridger continued to fever.

Tuesday, March 30: Bridger, Doyleen and I Drove to Houston to go to Bridger’s Dr’s. Everything was good news. No swelling on his brain any more! And normal counts for some one who had had a fever.

Wednesday, March 31: Started packing to move.

Thursday April 1: I for got it was April fools day. Had a job interview, got a job at a near by Hospital. Started to pack and move.

April 2-3: We moved in to our new house, and watched part of conference. Cleaned and cheeked out of our old rental.

April 4: We watched conference and let our body’s recover from our fast move.

April5-9: completely finished unpacking, registered Bridger in school, accepted the job offer, and even got the garage in order. Bridge has been trying to adjust to the stairs. He has fallen down twice. He was able to catch himself one time the other resulted with a goose egg on his head.





April 11: I gave a talk in church.

April 12-15: Doyleen stayed to take care of Bridger wile I went through my new employ orientation. Huge Thanks! I also signed up for my first triathlon and started to ride my bike again.

I think I can take a breath or two before the 21st: My first day at work.

Spring!

Our tree bloomed last week! The neighborhood has been beautiful the last two weeks. I haven’t blog about Bridger’s last Dr. appointment, but you can rest a sure “no news is good news”. Every thing went great. Nothing had changed, and no new results had come back. Bridger no longer has to wear his mask, except when at the hospital. This makes him very happy.

I am happy we found a house to rent it has been a big stress to me. We have a very nice home to move into. I will say that our prayers have been answered with more than we asked for. I think we will be moving around the first of April. I guess I better think about packing. I feel like life has been a little out of sorts but I think life us always keeping us on our toes.

Two weeks ago during a RS lesson a discussion on ways to get kids to help around the house got started. There was a tone of ideas. The favorite was, hiding all the power cords until all chores were done. I was trying to make the point that some times we simply need to remind our kids (I am talking from my experience witch is in the age rant of 6 and below) that we are to help one another. A few weeks prior to this Bridger was complaining about helping pick up. I flippantly said “Bridger you see your hands Heavenly father and Jesus gave you hands to help. You need to help your family and all everyone around you”. Of course there was no response and begrudgingly he helped. However in the next couple of days. I was taking some laundry to the washer and with out being asked Bridger picked up a large arm full and hauled it to the washer. I said “Thank you so much for helping Bridger you are so big and strong”. He quickly replied “Jesus made me this way, strong and helping”. I thought it was so sweet. Well today after staring with wishful eyes at a booklet of lego sets for the last two days he said “Mom, Jesus made me so that I would like lego sets when I was big”. I think he thought this would convince me to rush right out and buy it because it was all part of the plan.

My Brohters Have Always Known...

My brothers have always known I was an airhead, but its taken me some time to come to this realization. I was cleaning my house yesterday and plugged in my Hauun steamer to steam clean my floors. I use it every week. I turned it on and while waiting for it to heat up went on to some other choirs. When I came back the lights were off and it wasn’t working. I was so irritated I started threatening (in my head) to call the company and yell. I’ve only had my Hauun for 4 months, so I was pretty upset. Now you have to understand that our house can’t take a whole lot of electrical load. My floors still needed washed so I went ahead and did them all by hand. (My enter house has either tile or hardwood floors except for the four bedrooms). After I was done washing I moved to the vacuum. The vacuum wouldn’t work either. I had been using the vacuum earlier so I knew it worked. I finely figured out…. I had blown the circuit. The steamer and the vacuum were plugged in to the same outlet. I am relived that it is working and yes, JaDee as usual, you are right.

Strawberry freezer jam, Is it a curse or a hidden blessing?

Yesterday morning while looking over the local adds I noticed that strawberries were “buy one get one free”! I immediately thought of making strawberry freezer jam. But was stopped short, realizing this was indeed a very scary thought. The last two times, I guess the only two times I have made strawberry freezer jam in our married lives we have moved. The first time was after living two years ID. My sister-in-law and I decied to make a bunch of strawberry freezer jam. A month later we moved to AZ. I had to leave it all behind. After living in AZ for four years one of witch was in our first home we bought. I once again saw those strawberries for sale and couldn’t resist. So with in a month or so we where on our way to TX and the jam got left with my mother in-law. So I had great fear after I had the thought of making my cursed freezer jam yesterday morning. So I called Blake at work with this scary thought. He suggested we try and break the curse, to go ahead and make it. Not an hour later I received a phone call letting me know that our landlords (because we rent) are putting this house on the market. We will be moving with in the little while. I was devastated, this time I didn’t even have to make the jam. Just the thought of making it was enough. Truly there is never a dull moment in our lives. I feel like we just moved here. The fact that I have spent more time in a hospital than I have in this house is mostly to blame for that. We were just getting back into a routine and feeling settled in again. Life felt like it may start to be some what normal. We found some options to help Bridger with his schooling. I had just got into a running pattern with a friend. Blake just got a new calling in our ward. And now we have to move! I some times feel like we never get a break, and then I cry. But I have to remember that each time we have moved we have been greatly blessed. It usually takes a while for us see our blessings because we have tears in our eyes from leaving loved ones, the fears of uncertainty and moving boxes surrounding us. Hopefully this time it will be a close move and we will stay right here in our town and ward. But like everything in our lives all we can do is put our trust in the lord. We have always been lead to where we needed to be. So I will try and think positive, “take courage” and remember the words to the hymn by Mary Brown, I’ll go where you want me to go. The first verse reads,

“It may not be on the mountain height. Or over the stormy sea, it may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me. But if, by a still small voice he calls, to paths that I do not know, I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine I’ll go where you want me to go. I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, over mountain or plain or sea; I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I’ll be what you want me to be”.