P is for Pumpkin

We were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch last Saturday, but it was so cold! It's been really chilly the past couple weeks. I didn't want to miss out on going to the pumpkin patch this year, so I decided to take the boys on the first sunny day of the week, which was today! It was still cold (40 degrees when we arrived!!), but we had a great time!! We ran through the hay bale maze, rode a tractor to the pumpkin patch and each one of the boys picked their favorite pumpkin, saw animals, tried to keep warm, and ate some apple cider donuts! It was a great morning, but we missed Daddy!!

Grandpa's feeling better!!

(update on Grandpa Avery, written by Gammy and Grandpa)

Dear Loved Ones and Friends!

We have now finished another week of our journey and, today, Allen finished 3 1/2 weeks of chemo and radiation. There is only one thing we can say, and we want to say it again and again. -- God is good!!

We last wrote that Allen had turned a corner and was getting better, but I don't think we really appreciated how much that was due to God's hand directly doing the turning!! Allen continues to get better every day. He is stronger, out walking daily, doing exercises, going shopping with me, he is more spacially oriented, his short term memory is back, he is alert and connected with life. He sits on the computer and I sometimes have to remind him what time of night it is!! :) And we know with certainty that it is God who has made this happen.

We were talking to the doctor this week and were discussing how much better he is. She said that she could see that he was a totally different person than the one she met when treatments started. She said that, yes, the treatments were having their effect, but that really, the improvements were coming "from above" (as she puts it). Also she said that they found that short term memory could return only after the 6 week treatments were complete and then after some time. She was absolutely amazed at the tremendous improvements he has made, and she expressed that to us.

We know it is God who has turned the tide for Allen. It is God who has decided that Allen should live and not die! We want to say that all the glory is His and we are humbled and so abundantly blessed by His kindness and goodness to us.

We are still on this journey, we haven't seen the end yet. But we do know that God is with us every step of the way, because we have seen His sign. We again thank each of you for your many many prayers! We ask you to continue. The journey continues, day after day. But, praise God, we are living in the sunshine of His light, and not in the shadow of death!! He has been so very good to us, and we thank you again for your prayers. You have blessed us and sustained us as we have moved forward. May you be blessed!!!

Specific Prayers:

*That Allen continue to heal until he is cancer free and totally back to normal.
*That his brain not swell and he will continue to be well (he has not been sick at all, has only lost his hair through the radiation, but as he says, "this is small potatoes!").
*Also we ask you to pray for the Ethiopian parking attendants at the radiation center. Allen is talking to them daily about the Lord.

The Avery Five with Grandpa and Gammy in Houston, back in September

A nice fall day!

Hooray for a beautiful fall day!! The boys and I enjoyed an afternoon of blowing bubbles, running, digging, playing, and of course chasing after Jonathan who thought it was so great to have tons of space to crawl.

Look who has two tiny teeth on the bottom--so cute!

Apple Pickin'

I love fall! It's my favorite time of year! It has become a family tradition for us to go apple picking every fall. We love it! Yesterday was a bit cold and a bit muddy, but otherwise a great day for apple pickin'!

Birthdays and Boxes

AW had a birthday last week!! Woo-hoo!! Happy Birthday, my love!! We celebrated with our family, but it was somewhat low-key. We started the morning by bringing Daddy breakfast in bed, which was great until Jonathan grabbed the apple cider glass and spilled it all over the bed! Luckily the bacon, eggs, toast, and oranges stayed dry! We loved having Daddy home with us this week and it was nice to just have the day to be together as a family!! We really needed this time! We had some good friends (Jim and Martha) come over for dinner, which was great! The boys loved playing with Mr. Jim and they were running around like wild little people before bed. AW and I were hoping they would fall asleep early so we could sneak out to a movie while our friends stayed home with the boys, but of course that didn't happen! They finally were down and quiet about 8:30, so we were out!! Let me tell you how exciting we are....we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and Target!! We needed to get some things for staging our house and it was really nice to go shopping without kids and be able to hold hands!! We have not shopped alone in years!! After shopping, we decided it would be fun to stop by a sushi bar and have a birthday treat---both of us really enjoy sushi! YUM! The chef started our meal with octopus cucumber salad, which was surprisingly good!! We weren't told what it was and we tasted it, liked it, and then asked what we had eaten! I looked over at AW and said, "I just ate octopus and liked it!" Pretty impressive for me! The sushi and spicy salmon and tuna rolls were amazing! It was a fun late-night dinner! Happy Birthday, AW!! We love you!!!

Boxes, boxes, boxes!! They are everywhere!! Our realtor gave us a to-do list four pages long!!! Some are easy things, like remove the towel from the sink in the boys' bathroom for the showing. Ok, done! Some are a bit more time consuming, like mulch all around the trees and shrubs. Ok, 8 bags of mulch later, done! Some are crazy, like put new carpeting down. Nope, sorry, not going to happen! Here's what we've done so far, packed away toys, picture frames, books, clothes, "stuff", put up a wreath on the door, put a mum by the door (to make it welcoming, right Sarah!), bought new "show" towels for our bathroom, organized our clothes in the master closet, took down everything above the kitchen cabinets, took everything off the fridge, cleaned all the appliances, re-arranged and organized the pantry, and the list goes on and on! All this before we can even put the for sale sign out front!! I'm scared to death about having the house show-ready with the three boys! AW is painting all this week. He patched holes in the walls. He covered my mural in the loft (I was sad about that one), he is rehanging pictures. We've been working like crazy people and I don't know when we'll have a chance to slow down!! He goes back to work tomorrow and I'm sad (as always when Monday rolls around) but now I have the added stress of trying to get the house ready and then keep it clean (as much as possible with little kids). We're just praying that the house will sell quickly and we're not in this limbo state for too long!!

an oral surgeon and a new house

Jonathan's 9-month visit went well last week. He's up to 21 pounds now and he's 28 1/2 inches, both which are 75 percentile. We all got flu shots while we were there and Jonathan didn't even cry!! He did a great job! The maybe, potentially bad news from the visit is that he might have a cyst that might need to be removed. Jonathan has this little growth-looking thing under his tongue that might be a salivary gland cyst. We're taking him to our dentist tomorrow for him to take a look and then maybe refer us to an oral surgeon. Please pray for our little guy!

We've made the decision that we need to move, as scary as that might be right now! We have 5 people in our two bedroom townhome, which is crazy to think about! We have been running out of space for a very long time and our boys are growing and we just need more room. We saw two homes over the weekend and neither one will work for our family. We are meeting with a realtor on Thursday to see if she can help us sell and also find just the right home! Will you pray that the right and perfect buyer comes along to buy our house and that we can find the right house for our boys within our budget. It's a tall order, but we believe that it can happen!

Loss for words

I've written at least half a dozen posts in my head this past week. Obviously none have actually been published on my blog. I have been at a loss for words. Nothing I try to say comes out right (at least that's how it seems to me) and I just don't know what to say anymore. Grandpa started chemo on Tuesday and radiation on Wednesday and so far seems to be tolerating both well. He'll be doing that for six weeks and then during his three weeks off, they will come up here for a visit. We're looking forward to spending some good, quality time with Grandpa, especially seeing the boys interacting with their Grandpa. What do you say when someone in your family is going through such a rough patch? AW's birthday is next week, but I don't really think anyone is in the mood to be celebratory. I feel like thoughts in my head are all jumbled---so sorry this seems choppy and confusing! That's how I feel these days!

Some highlights:
* We've decided that I need to return to work in the Spring

*We've begun tossing around the idea of trying to sell our home!! A scary thought in this market, so please pray that the right buyer will come along and that our house may sell quickly!!

*we've looked at some houses online and actually have two tours this weekend of houses that might be good for our growing family

*Jackson has learned how to write his name and he's very proud, and of course, so are we!!

*Jonathan is crawling on his hands and knees and getting into his brothers' things!!

*Joshua is as cute (and mischevious) as ever!

*Jonathan has his 9-month check-up tomorrow---curious to see how big he's gotten!

*AW and I are learning how to be a good team as we face this tough trial in our family!

Jonathan crawling in the grass at his cousin James' birthday party

Jackson and Joshua check out James' dino tent with Daddy

Totally unexpected!!

When we left Houston on Saturday, Grandpa had received good news the day before about the brain tumor and everyone's spirits were pretty high! He was supposed to meet with the doctors today to discuss treatment options and begin a round of chemo/radiation. Today I got the worst text. It said, "Doctors screwed up! It's glioma. 14 months, give or take." How devastating to get this news when just a few days ago everything was looking so much better! I'm not ready for our boys to lose their Grandpa, AW isn't ready to lose his Dad, and I'm not ready to lose a father-in-law. We are continuing to pray for a miracle!!! Please pray with us!!

Week in Houston

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday, J-man!!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Jackson! Happy Birthday to you!

Our "baby" is now four years old! Where has the time gone? Jackson is a wonderful little man--funny, sweet, sensitive, energetic, super smart, curious, caring, thoughtful, and he uses words that will blow your mind! We are so blessed to be his parents!! J-man, we love you so very much! We are so proud of the big boy you are becoming!

Jackson and Grandma

We had his party this year at the gymnastics gym and had a great time with family and friends!

Brayden, Layna, Catherine, Elizabeth, Taylor, Mady, Caroline, Joshua, Jonathan, Jackson, Eli, Dominic, and James (not pictured: Evan, Lily, Connor, Claudia, and Henry)

the cupcakes I made for the party---Jackson chose a tools theme this year!