Preview of Pics :)

Our vacation was a blast :)! Below are some of our favorite pictures from the week so you can get a glimpse of some of our most memorable times. We took tons of pictures so I will post more soon with some details of what we did. For now, we are trying to get back to normal here at home and catch up on some much needed sleep :)! Thanks for checking in!

Ready to Go!

We went to clinic this morning to check Abbey's numbers once more before heading off to Disney World. They are better. Still low, but slowly rising. Her ANC was 600 and again all cell lines were up a little from Friday. Her oral chemo is still on hold until her ANC reaches 750 so on the way home today, Jim and I were talking about how this really ends up being a blessing in disguise. Since her number are rising, we know that any day they should be back up to where they want them to be. When she is on her oral chemo, she needs to fast for 3 hours each day between lunch and dinner so her medicine is taken on an empty stomach. It will be nice to not have to deal with her medication while on vacation and even more nice to be able to let her have ice cream (or any other snackies) at anytime during the day :)! No fasting this week! We feel confident that her body is getting stronger each day and that she will have no problems on vacation and the break from the chemo will make things easier for all of us. It sure was a reminder to us this morning of how much God loves us and cares about every detail :).

We are packed and ready to go! Our limo arrives at 8a.m. to pick us up and we will be outta here!!

We are taking our computer with us and of course our camera and video camera too so will be sure to do some late night posts with lots of pictures :).

Numbers and Disney...

Wanted to do a quick post to update you on Abbey's numbers. Her numbers were still low as of Friday, but they are up a little from last week. Her ANC is around 450 and all her cell lines were up a little so they seem like they are trending up and will continue to rise. Her platelets were up a good amount so we were very encouraged by that. We will go back on Tuesday (the day before we leave for Disney World) to check once more. If they are over 750 when we go back, it will be like a building was lifted off my shoulders. Please continue to pray for her body to get stronger.

And the Make a Wish people came last night with our packet. We are amazed and excited beyond words for our trip! Just a few fun details to share... a limo will be picking us up on Wednesday morning to take us to the airport :). We will be staying in an all inclusive resort in a cute little house where meals are free along with everything else there (there's lots to do there alone!). We have tickets to all the Disney World parks along with lots of other parks in the area like Sea World and Aquatica. And they are even giving us spending money (lots of spending money :) for souveniers and whatever else we want to spend it on. They have everything covered! Did I mention that we are really excited?! :)

Ups & Downs

Thank you so very much for your love and kind words after my last post. Each comment was an encouragement to us and we are so blessed to have many who pray for us and care about us!

This week has been filled with much of the same. The ups and the downs continue. We are still waiting to see what is going to happen with Jim's job. I would by lying if I didn't say that the waiting and stress haven't been emotionally exhausting. It's hard seeing Jim go through this.

One thing I have learned about Jim and myself though as we have gone through some great trials is that we do well as a couple during these trying times. We cling to each other and find comfort in our marriage during the hard stuff. We seem to be a little more patient and loving with each other when stuff is thrown at us. We joked the other day when talking about this and we said we really need to ask God for some easier times ahead. We promised Him that we would cling to each other in the easy stuff too :).

On a high note, we had our "send off" party last night at Mr. Hero. I don't know if I mentioned this in a previous post, but Mr. Hero is the company who is sponsoring our Make a Wish trip to Disney World. We went last night to a Mr. Hero near our home where they treated us to lots of great food, cake, balloons and fun! Tomorrow night the Make a Wish people are coming to our home with our plane tickets and itinerary for our trip. We leave next Wednesday and we are so very excited!! There are so many details that I want to share with you all, but it will have to wait for another night as it's getting really late. It sounds like they have every (and I mean every) detail covered to make our trip unforgettable!

Sometimes I feel like such a prayer hog, but there is something huge that we really need prayer for (well another huge thing in addition to Jim's job situation)...

Last Friday, Abbey woke up not feeling well and I was concerned. I took her to clinic (we weren't scheduled to go that day) and after looking at her blood they saw that her ANC was very low (it was 350 and they don't want it to go below 750). Her oral chemo is stopped right now and although we would be able to go to Disney World with her numbers being low, we really really would feel so much better if her ANC was higher. You probably know this by now, but if she ever gets a fever when her ANC is below 750, she is automatically admitted to the hospital and that would be the case in Florida as well. Tomorrow (Friday) we are going back to clinic for a blood check. Please pray that her ANC is up so we can comfortably be able to take her so far from home.

Still smiling :)

Thank you again for praying over our family! We serve a God who has beaten death and we know that nothing is too difficult for Him! We trust in His perfect will for our family and continue to keep our eyes focused up as we keep putting one foot in front of the other. I will let you know about Abbey's numbers and of any significant news about Jim's job situation. We really love you guys! Thanks!!

Valleys

Where to begin...

We had a wonderful Easter. Probably my very favorite Easter that I can ever remember. I don't know why it was so special to me, but the day was just good. The food was good, the weather was beautiful, the kids were all feeling good and having fun, Abbey looked like a picture of health, the company was great and it was just fun. Celebrating the resurrection of our Saviour with our church family in the morning and our extended family that day was wonderful. It was one of those days where I wished it could have gone on longer. We talked and laughed and watched the kids play. We ate and ate some more and I felt like there wasn't a care in the world. That night I went to bed with a smile on my face. That day was definitely a peak in the midst of this valley that we are in.

We have had a lot of uncertainties that have been looming around us for the last month or so. I haven't mentioned what's going on here and honestly, I haven't been blogging because there have been so many unanswered questions with some things lately and I haven't even known what to say. When things are good it is so easy for me to share. But when we feel like it's another valley on top of what we are already going through with our Abbey, it's harder to open up.

I have mentioned on here before that my husband Jim is a police officer. He has been a police officer for over 8 years and he is one of those people who truly loves their jobs. Jim is an amazing provider for our family as we are a single income family. I am blessed to be able to stay home with our kids and Jim takes care of me and our kids better than I could have ever dreamed of. Jim works hard and never complains about the early mornings, late nights and sometimes long hours. He picks up overtime and side jobs when he can to build up our savings in hopes to move soon into a new home. He has told me his dreams of moving up in position there and someday retiring from his current job. We have always felt secure in his job there and never thought about the possibility of not having his comfortable income and good health insurance.... until lately.

Jim and I when he graduated from Police Academy

It came to light a couple months ago that the city that he works in (which is a very affluent city) is having some major financial problems. On March 1st, all city workers, except for the police force got a 25% pay cut. The police department are in a union so the city could not just give them a cut like that. To make a long story short, there have been several proposals back and forth between the city and the police, trying to come to an agreement. The majority of Police Officers have voted not to accept each proposal from the city as no one wants to take a pay cut. Jim is the 4th from the bottom so since day 1, he has been voting to accept the pay cuts since he knew that eventually lay offs would be inevitable and he'd much rather keep his job with a lower income then have no job at all. It is a very hard situation for all these guys. They have a very demanding job where they put their lives on the line each day to serve their community. It's so sad that it has come to this, where they will either need to take a substantial pay cut or loose their jobs altogether.

Jim and one of his best friends at a parade in downtown Cleveland a couple years back

Unfortunately, it has come to the point where it is really looking like 5 police officers are going to be laid off in a couple weeks here. We are praying for another chance for these guys to come to an agreement and praying that his fellow officers would look at the situations of the 5 guys that will loose their jobs completely if they don't agree to taking a temporary cut. There is a levy for the city in August and if that levy passes, they will all return to regular salary by the end of this calendar year. So, we are just praying for Jim's job (along with the other 4 at the bottom) to be spared. Would you pray with us?

Just a few short months ago, we were so excited about the possibility of selling our house to get into something bigger. We have planned for years to be able to comfortably be able to make a move and here we are, not sure if we are going to be living off our savings instead of using it for a down payment like we have been planning.

Jim has his resume in all over the place. He has tested at some other police departments and has some other potential job opportunities as well. I am thankful for a man who doesn't sit back like a victim, but gets out there and makes sure that he has food on our table and a roof over our heads. But, I am also sad that it has come to this. I am sad that he even has to be thinking about this with everything else that we have going on. I am sad that the best officer that they have (my Jim) is being re-paid in this way after he has been 100% committed to his job for the past 8 years.

Jim reminded me of a very good way to look at this the other day though. He said, "Couldn't it be worse? We could be dealing with death or something like that here. This is a temporary obstacle that we will get past." And I truly do believe that. Although this has been hard, we have much to be thankful for! We have seen God working in many ways, which I will save for another post, but although this is another Valley, God again is walking through it with us. The next two weeks are critical in the outcome of all of this. We don't know what to expect, but one thing is for sure.... we will be on our knees praying for God's mercy on us. We will keep you posted.