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Merry Christmas! This picture is from our church's Christmas eve service we went to yesterday. And now here is a video we would like to share with you. Yes, it is one of those 'elf yourself' ones, and, by golly, they can only have up to 5 people in the video. So, since I'm the one who put it together, I conveniently left myself out. :-) But enjoy seeing the other 5 members of the family! Hope everyone is having a great day!
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#BestBirthdayEver! I don't even know what that hashtag stuff is, but it seemed like the thing to say, because it really was a great birthday! It started with sleeping in until like 8:30am! And then my wonderful husband made me (and the kids) blueberry pancakes - the first breakfast I've had in over 3 months! I forgot to get pictures of that because I was too busy devouring it (with almond butter, sliced bananas, some raspberries, and pure maple syrup)! Oh my! Then I took a shower and got ready and Tim went and picked up Nicholas from school during his lunch period and then we all went to Koizy's - this AMAZING Japanese restaurant in Brandon. They sat us down at a regular table, but Nathan said he had read that they had another room where they could cook it in front of you, so we asked the waitress about it, and she said we could do that and it didn't cost any more! I'm SO thankful Nathan knew to even ask about that - we had the BEST time! We had that whole room all to ourselves! Our cook, Ling, was so funny - he threw small rice/egg balls at us as we each tried to catch them in our mouths. Tim and I were the champs at it - we'll just have to give the kids some more practice at home...outside! I feel badly for the clean up crew that came in after us to clean the floors! And when Ling found out it was my birthday he brought me a silly balloon hat with a big red bow in the front! And at the end they brought out a scoop of ice cream with a candle in it and sang and clapped a birthday song for me. Anyway, I still can't believe it is all you can eat for 1 price because we put the food away! The sushi was amazing and the hibachi entrees were deliciouso! Here are pictures from our time there: The triplets had to go to a bill editing Youth in Government function right after lunch, so Tim and Nicholas took me shopping at Kohl's and Tim picked out a really cute outfit for me! Shortly after we got home there was a ring at the doorbell and some beautiful flowers were on our doorstep, and the card said it was from God! Didn't know He was into the flower sending business, but they are beautiful! Check out the outfit and the flowers: We ended the day watching several episodes of Psych - too funny! We never did eat dinner because we were all still stuffed from lunch! I had several calls and texts and even a couple of emails wishing me a Happy Birthday - I really think it was one of my best birthday's ever! One thing I wanted to mention was that Nicholas had a band concert on Monday night, so here are a couple pictures we snapped of that night - doesn't he look quite dapper? I hope everyone is enjoying the season and not getting too caught up in the rat race! Thanks to all who wished me a Happy Birthday today! I just have to say, your wish came true!
Well, my doctor called this morning. He said I still have cancer in my bladder. I was trying to understand the extent of it, but he said it was too difficult to say. I asked if each biopsy he did was tested separately or all together, and he said separately. So I asked if all tested positive or just one or what, and he said it was too difficult to say. ?? I believe he did 6 biopsies, so when his nurse calls back I will be asking for a copy of the report. His recommendation is for BCG chemo treatment, but it cannot start until after January because it could get in my system and cause tuberculosis if I'm not healed from the biopsy. This is the kicker about all this because had I done chemo in October it would have been completely covered. Due to the 'affordable care act' our insurance is increasing from $300+ a month to $1,000+ a month, and that is just to keep our current $10,400 deductible plan (which we met for 2014 but would be starting again fresh in 2015). So, we are really between a rock and hard place. We were looking at Medi-share and the other 'share' health care plans, but they won't cover pre-existing conditions (they were somehow grandfathered in since obamacare requires coverage of pre-existing conditions). So we have a lot to think about and process over the next month. I kind of wish I could have done the chemo in October, but I made the appointments and then couldn't bring myself to go, cancelling each one every time it came up (not cancelling all at once) - so I can't live in the world of would've could've should've's. Plus, as my friend, Sheryl said to me (she happened to text me minutes after the doctor called and asked if I'd heard anything), I have given my body 3 months of solid healthy wonderful food intake and my body is so much stronger now to handle the chemo. Her words, "Money is money and that's not what is most important" and she's right. Plus - I am AMAZED at how well I have healed from the biopsy just 5 days ago! I have needed no pain medication and have been feeling great! It's incredible! So - that's the latest. I will update here when I know more.
On my last update I only had time to document our Thanksgiving adventures - but I left out other fun times we had earlier in the month of November. For example, on the 16th we celebrated the triplets 17th birthday! Can you believe it? We had 20+ rowdy teenagers in our house for a few hours on their birthday, and they all had a blast! Here are a couple of pictures from that time: Earlier in the month than that, Tim and I celebrated our 26th anniversary on the 5th! Woohoo! Well, I believe that catches us up for the month of November. Now - onto December! We went camping with a group of homeschoolers (wait until you see how big the group was!) December 4th - 6th. We had purchased an 8 person tent a month or so ago at a garage sale for this occasion, and so the triplets and I headed up there around noonish on that Thursday and proceeded to set up the tent ourselves. Thank God for some of the others who knew what to do, because only Tim knew how to set it up and he wasn't there yet. We finally got it set up and then I went and helped with dinner. Stew was on the menu, and everyone brought their assigned items to throw into the pot. I ended up with the job of cutting the meat, which was kind of ironic since I'm a vegetarian! :-) Anyway, when Tim got there with Nicholas he looked inside the tent and then looked back at our van and made an executive decision - he and I were NOT sleeping in that tent. An 8 person tent is really a 4 person tent, especially when you have teenagers! So he put the seats down in the van, put an air mattress down, threw in a couple of sleeping bags, and voila - our own cozy 'tent'. The weather could not have been nicer - cool evenings and then upper 70's during the day - what more could you ask for? And the families we were with were such a joy to spend time with! Well, enough of my ramblings - here are some of the pictures! The day after we got back from camping the kids went thrift store shopping along with Nicole's friend, Rachel, to find wacky tacky Christmas outfits for their youth's Christmas party. I think they accomplished their goal! In case you can't read Nicholas' hat it says, "Dear Santa, I can explain". :-) While the kids were out shopping, Tim and I got out the Christmas decorations and started decorating the house! I dragged out our secondary Christmas tree that we bought at a yard sale like 5 years ago for $5, and I have to admit, I believe it has seen it's last days. However, our cat seems to enjoy it immensely. Maybe it would be good for a Charlie Brown Christmas play somewhere? ahah! Nah - we just need to trash it, don't you think?! Once we got our other primary tree up, our cat decided to show us what she wanted to give us for Christmas - herself! If only she knew how to tie a bow around her neck! 
 Then this past Tuesday my best friend from college who lives in Orlando and I met half way for lunch. We had such a nice time reconnecting!! We both needed that break so badly! She hasn't changed a BIT from when we were in college! Her birthday is November 17th and mine is a month and a day after that, so this was a perfect time to celebrate each other's birthdays! That was Tuesday. Then the big day came - 2 days ago - Wednesday - the biopsy of my bladder. We won't know anything for at least a week and I hate waiting! I've been a very good girl and resting as much as possible, and therefore, so far, this has been the best recovery of the previous 2 biopsies I've had this year! I did go to our church's benevolence Christmas Coffee with Nicole last night, and I only have a dark picture of us to show for it. But other than that, I've basically been in bed. And I haven't had to take any of the medications they prescribed for me because I really haven't had any pain - so that's great! However, the last biopsy took a month to heal, and I remember thinking I was pain free for a little bit but then the pain would hit again, so I'm guessing I'm not out of the woods yet - but am enjoying it while it lasts. Who knows, maybe I won't have any pain at all! Anyway, here's a picture of Nicole and me, and now I think everything is up to date on this blog!! 
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