Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Long Time, No Blog

Sorry it has been forever since I have posted. Many have chastised me for it, rightfully so! But with lots going on right now, I will try my best to repent of my ways. :)
Hope everyone has had a WONDERFUL start to the holiday season! Thanksgiving is one of my favorites... ranks up there a serious close second to Christmas. But our tradition of going to Caddo holds such wonderful memories for me, so I was so looking forward to it. David even got to come for a little bit of it despite EVAs on orbit, so it was great! Here is Reagan hanging out in Grandmommy's toy basket during the pre-Thanksgiving stay at their house. Oh, how I love footie pj's!
At Caddo, Reagan got to spend time with family that we never get to see enough. Here she is, after just waking up, hanging out with her GREAT Uncle Jimmy!
Things to notice about this pic: her cute new slippers, the look on Uncle Jimmy's face showing how thrilled he was that I had out my camera, and the sign on the wall about not feeding the alligators. Yep, we've got 'em there and someone felt the need to remind us not the feed them. Funny.
It was COLD, so she stayed bundled up. She wanted to go "bye-bye" (outside) the entire time of course, so Granddaddy was taking a turn outside with her.

The tables were being set up for the food, which provided Reagan a perfect runway to walk and sport her new slippers. She walked back and forth over and over on the tables, showing off for her favorite person on the planet, Uncle Adam.
She loves Adam. It is so funny how they have this "thing" between them, and they hardly get to see each other! But she responds to him like no one else. Love it. They have loads of fun together.

In her new pink mittens, showing Daddy that she wanted to go out on the pier... or the "bridge" as Adley calls it.
When she would fall, she hated that the leaves stuck to her mittens. She would look at them, then beg me to wipe them off! Prissy little thing...
Off to the pier.
"Daddy, are you coming?"
We walked out to the end, then back again over and over. This girl never gets bored with repetition!
This is the reaction I got when I tried to pick her up and walk! Bad, Mommy!
She cheers up fast though when she gets what she wants. Stinker.
I took this same picture with Adam, Missy, and Adley when she was this age. So I had Mom recreate it.
The only thing as cool as walking up and down the tables is walking on the upside-down boat!
Corbin found it cool to do tricks while jumping off the boat!
Awesome!
Fun with daddy outside!
Gloria came for one night with David, her first Caddo trip. And her last if I can help it. But the kids liked having her there.
Especially Adley, who wanted her picture with "just her and Gloria."
Since the Texas game was hideous to watch, Grandmommy and Reagan watched Dora on DVD instead. Good pick.
What do we love more than footie pj's? Footie pj's and Daddy's Cowboys hat!
These pj's matched Adley's, although I got no picture of it. Dumb. But they looked so cute on her because they are so big! She was a marshmallow kid!
Having a picnic downstairs with Grandmommy, Corbin, and the GREAT Other Granddaddy. I love seeing him with his great grandbabies... he just loves them so much. It is too sweet for words! :)
Reagan's Great GREAT Aunt Bessie hadn't seen her since she was tiny, so they got reacquainted. Aunt Bessie is so precious... I can only hope I am that fun when I am 91!! Can you believe she is 91?!?! Those Justiss genes are Greatness.

Bathtime! Reagan already had hers, but she went to give nite nite kisses to her cousins.
This is the face she makes around them. She LOVES Corbin and Adley so much, and they are so sweet to her. Makes my heart just ache!!
Sweet kisses...


Of course for Uncle Adam too.
Adley curled up in Grandmommy's arms to pretend she was a baby too. Baby princess Adley and cutie Corbin in his footie pj's!
And this is the face of a little girl who just woke up the next morning from a hard night. Sleeping at Caddo is hard to do, but she did remarkably well despite the cold. Helps to get good lovin' from Grandmommy.
Not sure how I got this one in here, but it is when we got back to my parents' house. Guess I wanted a pic of her new pj's. I am obsessed!
I meant to crop this first... oh well. Family Caddo pic. She was actually almost smiling for it!
Gray family Caddo pic. They are so cute.
Big Gray Family Caddo pic. David got stuck with trying to get Reagan to be still in his arms for the picture. You can enlarge it to see how well that went!!
I'm quite disappointed in myself for not having more pictures of my bigger extended family that were there! Trust me, there were lots of people there that I really do love a lot!!! Guess I'll have to wait a year or two. Stupid me. But we had a blast. Hope your Thanksgiving was great too!
FYI: my Dad has moved in with us for his treatments at MDAnderson, so please pray that all goes well and he survives the Beaver Dam for the next couple of months! :) God is faithful, and we know He is healing Daddy each and every day that he is here! I'll keep everyone posted, but so far, so good!









Monday, November 05, 2007

No Response Necessary

Yesterday's sermon at church was a doozy... in a good way. One of those that I cried the whole way through. Big shock, I know. :) Bruce was preaching on the Good Samaritan, a story I have heard countless times from every angle... at least I thought. But this one started a new series for a few weeks on compassion: how to really grow from empathy to compassion for people where they are. The thoughts were great, but the end was the doozy part. Each week he is having someone from the congregation get up and tell their story... something big they are going through... and how best for "us" to show compassion to them and support them through their struggle. Of course, yesterday's was a dad going through cancer treatment.

So yeah, you can imagine my tears. (Just humor me for a minute, because we all know (Mom) that I don't usually use my blog for journaling purposes or write without pictures, but I feel the need to have my guts spill a bit!) I just kept praying over and over the whole time thanking God for the healing He brought to my sweet Mom 15 years ago, conquering that horrible disease that we all sport the pink ribbons for. I kept thanking Him that Daddy's reports seem "ok" and that he should come out on the other side of his treatment stuff good as new. I kept thanking Him that Houston has WONDERFUL cancer options and that it means I get extra special Daddy/daughter (and granddaughter!) time in the next few months while he is cured. The dreaded "C" word has touched both my parents, and it looks as if our stories will only be happy ones! How amazing and faithful has GOD been to my family?!?!? Seriously!

Also, as a side note, a 5 year old girl (who is 6 now) from the preschool at church where I worked last year named Chloe was diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia last spring. Her family along with all of us were beyond devastated. She has been in treatment for 9 months, and they announced at church yesterday that she is CLEAR! Her mom's letter spoke of a conversation between her and Chloe, the little girl asking "Mommy, does this mean that my cancer is gone?" and her response being "yep, angel, looks like God took it away!" Everyone was clapping and rejoicing of course with the news! I pray and pray that I never have to explain to my daughter or my niece or any little angels close to me why they have cancer, but MAN, can you imagine what faith that little girl will carry from this telling people God took it away!? Seriously!

And borrowing the title from Julie, there is no response necessary really. I just needed to get some things off my heart and onto my keyboard. Cancer sucks, and I pray God brings a cure soon. But until then, I pray that I can be compassionate to anyone touched by this dreaded disease. I pray God is glorified immeasureably through my Daddy's treatments. I pray this is the last time the "C" word affects my family personally! And I pray that God builds my faith enough to weather whatever the next storm is...

Ok, I feel better now. Go call or hug your parents!!!
Love - J