GUESS WHAT!!!!!!

NO MORE RADIATION!!! We are officially done with all cancer related treatments today. Matt has a PET scan scheduled in August. Other than that, no more shots, IV's, surgeries, or radiation!! Praise God!! We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Matt will start back at work on Monday morning on light duty. He is looking forward to coming back to work. The kids had their last swimming lessons today. I am very glad to have them done. The last few classes Logan has not wanted to cooperate very well. Let's just say it has been a bit of a chore getting him to work. I am scheduled to work again tomorrow. I am kind of getting a little burnt out of working all of the extra hours that I have been working, but hey... it's job security and a pay check. At least I like what I do for a living. Anyways, I will write more later when the kids aren't running around so crazy.

More Pictures

Pictures from our trip!

Our weekend...

We went away this weekend for Matt's birthday (that was his gift) to New Port Richie. We left Friday morning around 0930am and returned Sunday around 0700pm. We went with Matt's brother Scott and his girlfriend Michelle. Now kids allowed!! It was great! Our friend Amanda watched the kids. She is so great with them and they love her. They didn't miss us at all. In fact, they got up this morning and asked me when she was coming back. (Just a side note.) Anyways, back to this weekend... we took the jet ski's down with us and bikes (which we never rode) and a whole lot of other "stuff" and we had a blast! We stayed in a 2 bedroom 2bath house with a pool on a canal that led to the Gulf of Mexico and they had a 17ft skiff boat we could use for free. Friday we hung out at the house, went out to dinner, and hung out in the pool all night. We had a lot of fun! Saturday we got up ate breakfast got ready and loaded up the boat and jet ski's. We went to Anncloate island (I probably spelled that wrrong...sorry) and the sand bar next to the island and parked the boat with all of our stuff. We took the jet ski's out and played around with them in the water. We saw dolphins, Scott and Michelle saw a stingray, we saw crabs, sand dollars, and then Matt and Scott caught scallops for dinner. We hung out at the sand bar and swam all day and ate a lot as well. When we were done, we went back to the house and got in the pool and then got ready for dinner. We grilled out steak, potatoes, scallops, and veggies. It was delicious. Matt's friend from high school came over and hung out later for desert. Sunday Scott made us chocolate chip pancakes and eggs for breakfast. When we were done we loaded up the car and then Matt and I took the jet ski's out for a spin and then we met up with Scott and Michelle at the ramp where they picked us up. After we got loaded up we went to Matt and Scott's parents house for a short visit. They seemed happy to see us. When we got back to Scott's house we washed to jet ski's and cleaned out the engine's and then we went to a pressure washer place so we could do it even better. The kids were happy to see us when we finally got home and life isback to normal now.

Matt's birthday...

Yesterday Matt turned 34! Happy Birthday old guy!!!! I can say that because I will always be younger and crazier than him. We had a great day. I had my nephew Reece and My mom and I took my boys and Reece to Rock Springs/Kelly Park to play while Matt had radiation and then Matt brought lunch and met us there when he was done. We played in the springs, played in the sand, and went on the nature trails. We had a blast! When we got home, everyone napped and then we went to swimming lessons. Both boys did awesome! Reece hung out and swam in the pool with them too. We ate a big dinner together with my parents. Matt went to the fire station and hung out there and ate with them and played cards. All in all, we had a great day and Matt was very blessed! His big birthday treat will be this weekend. I am taking him out of town with no kids. We are taking the jet ski's and going to New Port Richie. I'll fill you in later on the details later. I'm at work so I need to go.

Surgery day...

This morning Matt had his surgery to remove his port. He is doing wonderful! We were discharged from the hospital by lunch. He was very hungry so we stopped at IHOP on the way home so he could eat a large meal. When we got home, we both took a nice long nap because we had been up since 0345am. Matt's parents picked the boys up from the babysitters house and took them to swim lessons. They did awesome!! They learned how to dive in the pool and touch the bottom. Even Logan (our 2 year old) can do it. Matt's parents are spending the night at our house to help watch the kids. Matt and I are at my parents house because he couldn't handle the kids jumping all over him. He will have to keep his dressing on for 3 days then he will be unrestricted. The surgeon said start out slow with working out and be smart about what he does, but he will be ready to start retraining for active duty when he returns back to work. It feels so good to finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Matt has been such a trouper throughout everything and I am ready for him to not have to do any other cancer related treatments again once he finishes radiation. Thank you so very much for all of your love, support, and most importantly your prayers throughout all of this.

Matt's free time...

I would like to share with all of you what Matt does in his "free time".
Some of you have said to me... "what does he do all day?" Well he is finally starting to feel better so he try's to get on the floor and act like one of the kids and play with the kids as much as he can. He rides bikes with them, takes them to swimming lessons, plays baseball with them, and anything else that he can think of to help them know that their life is "normal" and everything is going to be ok now. We both want to instill fun memories in our children so they will look back one day and smile when they think about their childhood. Today Matt had his radiation as usual. His only complaint is that he gets tired from it. However, nothing is as bad as going through chemo or having his chest cracked open. He met with one of his chief's today regarding him coming back to work. His official first day back to work since December will be August 4th. He will go back on light duty so he can regain his strength back until he can go to regular shift work. Hopefully that will only be for a couple of months. We will see though. He is really ready to go back to work. Not that he doesn't like hanging out with all of us, but he misses all of the people he works with. The boys started their second session of swim lessons yesterday. I was working so I have not met their new teacher. Matt said the day was a little bit chaotic. I will take them tomorrow as long as we don't get rained out. They are so adorable! I am looking forward to finally being able to see their lesson tomorrow. I have been working a lot lately. Friday my mom will take them because Matt will have his last surgery! Hurray!! Well on that note, please continue to pray for Matt. I will update you after his surgery on Friday. Thank you!

Matt started his radiation therapy yesterday. He is doing good so far. He went on Wednesday and got all marked up so they know where to go. He will undergo 3 weeks of radiation. I will keep you updated on his progress. The kids are doing wonderful! They are done with their first session of swim lessons today and they start the second session Monday. I have been working a lot lately. I am ready for another vacation. Work has been extremely busy and stressful. However, that means there is good job security. Next Friday Matt will get his port removed. He is really excited about this because it is one more step back to being normal and he will be able to begin to work out again. Well I hate to make this a short blog, but Logan is now climbing all over me and making it very difficult to write any more. Thanks for your prayers!

Happy belated 4th...

We had a wonderful 4th of July. We went to Michelle (brother in law's fiance) parent's house in Lake Placid. All of her family was there and all of Matt's family was there. We hung out by the pool all day and they live on a canal that connects to a lake so the scenery was beautiful. The boys had a blast swimming. Around 7pm we left and Matt's brother Scott came home with us. We were trying to catch a fireworks show for the kids, but we never found one. It was still cool though because we saw them everywhere when we were driving. When we got back to Scott's house, we were able to see the Taveres firework show ending and his neighbors were doing them as well. All of the boys sat on Scott's truck and watched them together. It was so cute! Saturday we went over to my sister's house and went swimming at her house. We ate lunch out by the pool until Logan decided that he was ready for bed. After their naps, I ran errands while Matt kept the boys at home and hung out with them. When I got home, I made burgers and Matt grilled them up for us. We had the Aker's over for dinner and domino's. Today we went to church, took naps and went and hung out with more friends from church. We have had a very busy weekend and are ready for bed! Please don't forget to pray for Matt this week as he is going to start radiation on Wednesday. Thank you!

Beach trip...

Well I didn't have as tough of a week as I originally though I would have. On Monday I was put on call for from 5am-11am, then they gave me an authorized day off from 11am-7pm. So we seized the opportunity to build memories with the boys and we decided to pack up and go to the beach for the afternoon. It was the first time that Logan had never napped all day and he did really well. They had a ball! They were so adorable to watch! Our friends had a hotel room in Daytona so we met up with them and the kids had a great time playing with their kids. I want our kids to look back at their childhood and remember us taking them to fun places and really playing with them and truly enjoying them. I don't ever want them to look back and think that we were too busy for them or that we didn't value family time. Ultimately in the end, that's what really matters is loving each other no matter what and being there for each other.

1 Corinthians 13 says that the greatest gift of all is love and I want to give that to my kids so that they can know how to give that to others. Anyways, that's my soap box for the day. Next issue at hand... swim lessons... well they have been cancelled 4 times in 2 weeks. I am hoping that we can have makeup days next week before 5pm so that we might be able to beat the rain. We are supposed to talk to the instructor today about it as long as we don't get canceled today. Matt starts radiation on Wednesday. I don't know if I told you that yet. It will last for about 3 weeks and he will be done on the 31st. Perfect timing because he wants to come back to work on light duty the first week of August. He is going to get his port out on Friday the 18th at 7am. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. All in all, we are doing really well. God's grace has been sufficient and He has provided and will continue to provide for all of our needs. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!