2nd Hayride of the Season!

Here are a couple of pictures of our Hayride and Cookout from this weekend. Our shepherding group meets once a month and spends time together. We always have a great time, because our group has alot of kids we tend to do activities that appeal to kids and adults. This time we were blessed to be invited to George and Kristen's land and they took all of us on a fun hayride and then we cooked out hot dogs and smores. Yummy. The picture with the kids in the "bucket" of the front loader, are my three kids, and the little girl in the white shirt is Carrie, George and Kristen's daughter. Then Jack is standing with Kenny in the other picture. We all had a great time, and there is something about a hot dog cooked over an open flame that makes it taste like a gourmet meal.
Jack is doing well, his days are pretty normal right now. Tuesdays we have physical and occupational therapy and Thursdays chemotherapy, but other than that he just goes like a normal 6 year old. He always has a good outlook and is even taking his vitamins with little or no objections. We received the next MRI date, and it will be January 9th at 5:00p.m. at Dallas Children's. Our other appointments have always been first thing in the morning, because sedation was assumed on the order and you can't eat or drink anything before that. He has never received sedation, he will just lay still for the most part, but the orders have always had the sedation on them. This time the orders were correct, no sedation, so that means we have been put to the end of the day, to open up the spots for the kids who can't eat until the mri is over. We are flexible with that, but if any of you have experience with the difference in waiting times if you go to the doctor early versus late you know that by
5:00 they will have a whole day to have gotten behind before we get there. Should be interesting. With the holidays in between then and now, we will be heading to Dallas before we know it.
I am trying to keep up with the rest of my family who have all read or had read to them, the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, before it is released in the movies. It is a fun book, my kids are on the 3rd book in the series, Rob reads to them each night before they go to bed when time allows. They love the books, and they love cuddling up to their dad, who reads to them as if they are inside the adventure themselves. Recently Mike Cope from Highland (who you can link to from the side bar on this blog), talked about this book, and that he is going to do a weekly series on it. He asked his readers to comment on their memories about reading this book. It was sweet to read how many adults were read to by their parents as children and how many of them still recall it as one of the fondest memories of their youth.
As a young adult I never enjoyed reading that much. I might pick up a mystery book by Mary Higgins Clark on occassion, but that was it. In the last number of years I have grown passionate for reading. Rob has too. It seems like our Christmas list, birthday wishes, are always filled with books we want to read. I ofcourse am always up for a good mystery novel still, nothing too scary, but have widened my horizons to christian living, I have always loved biography's and autobiography's, learning about the lives of people on earth presently and in the past. God's inspired word is the most fulfilling, but add in there a Max Lucado, Come Thirsty... or a Leaving Ruin by Jeff Berryman... Five Love Languages...Gary D. Chapman...or Sheet Music....by Dr. Kevin Leman ....and last but not least Harry Potter (10 days left before #4 hits the theatres) and my somewhat small town life here in Abilene, is expanded to include great literature, inspiration for a closer walk with Jesus, and tad pieces of jewels on relationship building with friends and family. There is a whole world out there to explore, and it is on your library or bookstore bookshelf. (or even on amazon.com)
Thanks for lifting my sweet Jack and our entire family up to our Lord in prayer.