Family Update

Lindsey in the "Shine Squad" for Adventure Week

June 7-11 - It has been a busy, but great, week. Give God the glory. Started off with a great Starting Point Class from which God led 13 to join our church family (4 by baptism)! Since January we have had similar results each month. All of us worked in Adventure Week which was a blast with 300 kids. I was able to conduct the Bible station and was thrilled to see 15 pray to receive Christ and many indicate they wanted to know more.

Monday, June 15 - Samuel's summer job with the Summer Camp starts. He'll be working 1:30-5:30 p.m. each day doing recreation with children.

Wednesday, June 17 - Jana and Doug will go to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for some pre-operation visits. We will talk with the anesthesiologist, the plastic surgeon and have some blood work done. We will leave early Wednesday and return late that same day. Psalms 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”

Sunday, June 21 - Father's Day Car Show will begin after our second service. We are expecting well over 100 cars to be shown, a lot of good food and fun. This has grown to be a community event that we co host with another church.

Monday, June 22 - As a family, we are excited to help lead our mission VBS to the Miccosukee Community, 12 miles north of us. It will use the same materials we used at our church's Adventure Week (VBS) It will last four days till Thursday.

Tuesday, June 30, is the scheduled date for Jana's surgery. Doug and Jana will be going to Tampa on Monday. Sentinel node biopsy will be at 8:00 a.m. with surgery scheduled for 10:45. The doctor indicated that she will be in two three days after surgery.

Marvelous Moffitt

We had a busy, but productive morning at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. After talking with Dr. Laronga and her staff, we felt confident this was the place we needed to be. Because this kind of cancer and surgery is all that they do - all the time, we knew they could give us the best information. One good surprise they shared is that the cancer is stage ZERO! They also opened up some new possibilities in surgery.

We have decided to change plans and have Jana treated at Moffitt. So we have scheduled for Jana to have her pre-operative visit with the anesthesiologist and plastic surgeon on June 17th and the actual surgery on June 29th (tentatively). She would stay in the hospital for two to three days afterward.

We were thankful to God for a good visit that answered many of our questions and gave us a clearer path to take. The rest of the day we explored and shopped in Tampa and in the evening went to Clearwater Beach to enjoy seafood at Frenchy's and a beautiful sunset.

Possible Surgery Date Scheduled

God continued to provide by getting us in to see the surgeon quickly on Monday, June 1. Dr. Harper took his time to skillfully explain all our options. He said he was a man of faith and prayer! Dr. Snyder and Dr. Harper's offices have coordinated to set the surgery date for June 15. Both encouraged us to get a second opinion, as we have scheduled, for this Friday at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Also on Monday we were able to pick up Jana's MRI images on a CD to send or take with us to Moffitt.

Thank You God

Our prayer is that God will heal Jana of this Breast Cancer!
He is at work providing for her needs:
1. Early diagnosis.
2. Quick action to get her in for tests, consultations.
3. Living in Tallahassee with many resources within range.
4. Having a totally fun Memorial Day weekend with friends before getting the diagnosis.
5. Being at Celebration with a support group and many who can empathize. The monthly group had it's May meeting the day after Jana was diagnosed.
6. Wonderful guidance from Carolyn Ward, Melanie Stowers, Donna Reeder, Dr. Forester and many others.
7. Being able to get copies of the pathology report at short notice without any trouble.
8. Getting in to see Dr. Snyder on short notice, and his great counsel.
9. Getting an appointment for Friday, June 5, with a leading doctor at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, just a week after diagnosis.
10. Getting a good hotel near the hospital that was recommended at a discount, and for providing a place for Samuel and Lindsey to go while we are away.
11. For 90 Year Old Aunt Peggy to call and share her story about having the breast cancer surgery just a week ago. She was in the hospital for just a day and back to work soon after.
12. For the many prayers and support from family & friends in Tallahassee, Columbus, Pensacola and all over the country.

God's Provision for Jana

A little over a week ago, Jana went in for her regular mammogram not suspecting the events that would unfold before the month ended. The results prompted biopsies of 3 areas and a diagnosis of breast cancer followed (just this past Wednesday 5/27). Within hours of the news, God provided so many wonderful ladies from our church family who could empathize, guide her and give her resources. On Thursday we were able to talk with a Doctor who is a trusted friend and church member. Upon his advice and his request, Jana was able to get a last minute appointment with the best and most experienced surgeon in Tallahassee on Friday. The surgeon was very knowledgeable, straightforward and explained it clearly. The cancer is confined to multiple ducts (in situ) and has not invaded other tissues. Keep praying for Jana and our family to receive from God what we will need for this journey together. We still need to meet with one other surgeon, and possibly get a second opinion. Pray for wisdom for us, as there are so many decisions to make, and praise God with us for the care He has already shown our family!

Memorial Weekend 09

We had a great time at St. Teresa with the Wilders for Memorial Day Weekend. So great, we forgot to take pictures! Although the weather was forecasted to be stormy, it was perfect. We couldn't ride the boat in the gulf, but enjoyed the boat in the bay. Fishing, delicious seafood, crazy dance competion and other fun activities made for lots of memories. Doug went back to Celebration for services on Sunday, while Jana, Samuel and Lindsey joined the Wilders at the St. Teresa Church where Fred gave the sermon. Thanks Fred, Terry, Shannon and Mr. & Mrs. Wilder - Fred's Mom & Dad!

FSU Marine Lab Open House & Bald Point Beach

We spent most of the day enjoying the FSU Marine Lab Open House at their facility in St. Teresa. Lots of displays, demonstrations, hands on areas and good seafood! We couln't help but

go back by our favorite little beach area at Bald Point State Park till we had to go back to Tally.

Lindsey's Birthday - Wild Adventures

We took Lindsey to her favorite Amusement Park: Wild Adventures! She loves roller coasters and crazy rides. Samuel and Lindsey are about to ride Hangman - again and again... Lindsey did

n't Jana to ride the scary rides more than once, but they did find some tamer rides to enjoy together.

Happy Easter 2009

Easter Lunch

Enormous Easter Egg Hunt (Race)

With almost 700 racing after 5,000 Eggs, the Easter Egg Hunt at Church was a blast.

Bald Point Beach

We had a great beach day at Bald Point Beach (about an hour from our house). Of course, Samuel spent the whole time in the water with his nets and collected a lot of corals and sponges from the shore and water. Lindsey, of course, was looking for "photo ops."

Lindsey's Birthday

Lindsey woke up to a pile of gifts and a Cracker Barrel style breakfast!

Samuel's Aquarium

Fire Fish Goby

Coral Banded Shrimp

Zoanthids

Green Chromis

Leather Toadstool Coral

One of the two Clownfish

Yellow Tang

Wakulla Springs and Gulf Specimens Lab - Feb 8

Although the morning started out cold, it warmed up quickly. There was hardly anyone at Wakulla Springs. We watched divers go into the crystal clear waters in the deepest spring in the US. Not only could you see the mullet in the water, they were jumping like popcorn all over the spring. We saw lots of birds, fish, gators and other wildlife on the Riverboat Tour. At the Gulf Specimens Lab in Panacea, we enjoyed live salt water creatures of every variety (some even Samuel did not know the name of) and a lot of them you could touch.

Christmas in P-Cola

We took Gramps and Mimi out to Cock of the Walk to celebrate their 64th Wedding Anniversary on Christmas Eve!

We spent time with Bob & Deb, Nicholas, Natalie & Nicole

We celebrated Christmas at Grandma & Grandpas including Jim & Denise, Paul & Jeanne Marie and Jamie.

A Tally Christmas

Lindsey did a great job playing the flute in the Homeschool Band's Christmas recital. She is even teaching the cat to read. The church youth group had a Redneck Christmas celebration with wacky games, lots of moon pies and RC colas! And cold water could not keep Lindsey and Samuel out of the pool. Old lady Ginger is enjoying her new place.

Moving In To Our New House and a Birthday right before Christmas!

On December 9th we closed on our new house and started moving in with Grandma & Grandpa's help (See November blog for "before" pictures). We had tons of help from our church family over the next couple of days moving everything. Samuel had his room set up first and is the first to jump in the frigid pool. Lindsey wears herself out but has a bed to sleep in.

The next day, the first morning in our new house, we somehow cook Samuel a "Cracker Barrell" style breakfast for his birthday. He gets lots of gifts, but his favorite is the 55 gallon aquarium and accessories. He celebrates with his youth friends from church at Moes and at Logans with the family.