Where Do I Start?

It seems forever since I last posted something, and I really don't know where to start. February (and so far March) have been difficult times emotionally.

As you know, John's brother Jim has been fighting cancer since the first of February and John's parents have been in Connecticut giving him support, and just being there. Jim has some wonderful friends that have been there for him and his parents during this trying time. John flew to Connecticut on Sunday, March 2 and the kids and I followed on Monday, March 3. We did not tell anyone that the kids and I were going to be there, so it was a wonderful surprise for them; especially since they have not had a chance to 'meet' Camryn yet. She and Dad have been spending quite a bit of time at the hospital with Jim and are worn out. We were all prepared to see a different Jim, but I was still amazed at how thin and frail he appeared. As of yesterday, Jim has decided to stop all treatment for the cancer. He will be leaving the hospital on Wednesday to spend what time he has left at home. His spirit remains upbeat and he is comfortable with his decision. We are going to get John back up there within the next 2-3 weeks again. If you want to keep more up to date with Jim, there is a web site set up. It is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jimwhitehead. Here are just a few pictures that I took while we were there.

Camryn with Nana &PopPaw Camryn with Nana

Four Whitehead women

We all returned home late Wednesday night, and I spent the early part of Thursday unpacking and doing laundry as John and I were flying out to Phoenix on Thursday night to visit an old high school buddy of John's, Roy, and his wife, Tracy. We were a little concerned about whether we were going to make it out or not since mother nature decided to throw some snow at Texas for the second time that week. We ended up with about 4 1/2 inches of the beautiful white stuff at our house. Luckily flights were still getting in and out of DFW Airport and we landed in Phoenix only 30 minutes later than scheduled. We spent the next three days relaxing at the hot tub and pool, going to spring training baseball games and enjoying the wonderful cooking of Tracy. John and I both needed the break and it came at a perfect time. We are back home now and facing going back to our 'normal' schedule.

From the back patio (pretty isn't it?); Cami "enjoying" the snow; good friends Roy and Tracy Courtright in Phoenix.

Update on Jim Whitehead

Please pray for John and the rest of his family as they go through a very difficult time. We received word last week that his Aunt Sarah, who lives in England, had passed away on Monday. Since John's parents had gone to England during the summer to see her, and they are dealing with Jim's cancer diagnosis, they did not go back for the funeral.

Also, John's older brother Jim is not doing well. In addition to the lung cancer, he has tumors in his back and neck and they believe the cancer is in his legs as well. He is currently in the hospital getting radiation treatments and drugs for the pain he is in. John's parents have been in Connecticut with Jim since February 8 and do not plan to go back home any time soon, and his oldest brother Jack got there over this weekend. John is heading to Connecticut on March 2 and we are trying to get the whole family up there. Jim (and his parents) have not seen Cami yet, and we feel that we need to make this effort. We will keep you posted with any new developments.

Another Rough Start to the Year

Well, we managed to get through the first of last year without going insane, and it looks like we are starting out rough again this year. Please pray for John and his family as they are going through a tough time right now. As most of you know, John's mother (Betty) is from England and that is where most of her family still is. Her sister, Sarah, is currently very sick with Alzheimer's and lung cancer and she received word earlier this week that Sarah is now in a coma. The priest has already been to see Sarah to say the prayer of dying (they are devout Catholics). Then to top that off, John received a call from his older brother Jim on Saturday to say that he had just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Jim does not know how advanced it is yet; he went in for tests on Tuesday and will be meeting with the oncologist later today. He seems to be in good spirits, but says that the waiting on the test results is the worse part right now.

Fortunately, every one here has finally gotten over the stomach virus that we had. Everyone came down with it except Camryn. On Monday, Sara fainted while she was at work. I came home to take her to the doctor, who checked out her lungs, ears, etc. I asked her if she could run some tests to check for low blood sugar or low iron since this is not the first time it has happened, although it has been over a year since the last "episode". Well, the glucose test came back just barely in the normal range and this was after Sara had had some oatmeal, strawberries and TWO Dr Peppers. Obviously, her sugar was low when she fainted. On Tuesday, we got the results of the iron test and she also has low iron. So. . . .the doctor has told her to start taking an iron supplement, eat first thing in the morning and try to eat something every two to three hours to keep the blood sugar level.

I thank God every day for my good health. I know I can stand to lose some of the weight I've put back on, but my blood pressure, sugar and everything else are in good shape, so lots to be thankful for. John has now gone over a year without smoking. I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!!! He continues to have trouble with gout, but the medicine helps keep it at bay a little.

Love to everyone out there! There are days when I get homesick for Michigan (not too much during the winter), but think of everyone almost daily.

Pictures (Finally)!!

Okay, so I haven't gotten the Christmas pictures developed yet. But I have (I think) figured out how to get the pictures from the new digital camera to the computer. I think it would help some if one of the kids was here to do it for me. Oh well, I'll give it a try. The pictures here were taken as a "test" with the new camera, so they are not from anything in particular. There are, of course, pictures of Camryn and one of the cats. I'll bet you all can figure out which cat is Tigger and which one is Kali.

As you can tell, she is teething and likes to spend as much time chewing on the pacifier as she does sucking on it. Sara took her in for her six month checkup, and this little bugger is now up to 19 pounds. The doctor said that she is in the 95 percentile for both her height and weight and that she is advanced in her motor skills. Hmmm - I'm betting she'll be walking within the next couple of months. Yikes - that means cleaning up all of the little and breakable stuff in the house and putting those outlet plugs in again.

The cats and the dogs are still pretty much ignoring her, but they do go up and smell her ocassionally. Bear is already protective of her when he is in the house, but Elmo is too hyper and we keep a close eye on him so he doesn't accidentially step on her.

Here are some of the other shots from the Christmas shoot that we didn't send to everyone, but they gave us a disc with all of them so why not share here.

I think John is in love with his granddaughter!

That's all for now. I'll try to get some more things posted in the next few days. Love to everyone out there and hope to see most of you this summer.

Just Some Notes

Okay, I "promise" to get some new pictures up (and updates) this weekend. It will be a challenge as I will be watching Camryn Saturday and Sunday while Sara is working. She and I are going to have a fun time. We already have a lunch date with a girl friend and her daughter on Saturday. Then Sunday we are all going over to a friend's house for the football game.

I found this quote on my niece's website and loved it. Wish I had had it to fall back on last year.

"I KNOW God won't give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much!" - Mother Teresa