Sisters....

I love this picture of Abigail and Annah. Abigail did the decorating of it with the words to describe them.....


Sisters
Best Friends
Forever


What a sweet gesture. I do love these girls of mine! (and the boys too, but we are just talking about the girls right now!) :)

The Valenta's Book of Scripture....

Tonight when helping to tidy up the kitchen Abigail made a point of saying, "I am taking care of the blah, blah, blah that JACOB HAD!"

Jacob's response was,
"Isn't there a scripture that says not to boast about the good you do for people?"

Tim replied, "Yeah, I think that's in the book of Snidealonians!"

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :)

After a good laugh we thought of a few more books of scripture inspired by none other than the Valenta family.....

Whinealonians.....Pesterlonians.....Complainalonians.

We sure could have helped Paul out with his letters to the saints in the New Testament because there HAD to be snide, whiny, complaining people back then too. I am not totally sure but I bet he felt like he had to pester them too!

Ahhh, what a joyful life!

1 Corinthians 10:10
"Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured..."

1 Thessalonians 3:12
"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men..."

Tim's To Don't List....

So yesterday Tim went and had his Esophagogastroduodenoscopy. It seem a little weird returning to the same place where, 15 months ago they relieved him of 25 lymph nodes, closed him up with what looked like a gazillion stitches and sent him on his way. But this time it was much easier, and faster.

Whatever they used to make him feel no pain today was way better than what he had for his colonoscopy! He was loopy for a while with that but on Monday he was only semi-loopy and for a shorter time. With full out anesthesia Tim hits his comedic high. Monday when I saw him after his procedure he looked at me with that fuzzy, "where am I" look and said, "Did I say anything funny?" I smiled and said, "No, not yet." :)

On the way to the surgery center that morning Tim commented on how my windshield in the van was "almost as dirty" as the one in his truck. He thought for a minute and said, "Maybe we can clean the windshields today." Then he commented on the fact that there were tall weeds behind the shrubs in the front of the house and maybe he could trim those in the afternoon......

Okay....I was pretty sure that at that point he hadn't had anesthesia YET but he was sounding loopy to me!!! By the time he got done listing the things he thought he could get done after his stint at the surgery center this is what he had...

• Clean the van and truck windshields
• Trim the tall weeds growing up behind the shrubs
• Empty the back of his truck of the sand bags he uses for traction... (after all it is now spring)
• Get the flat tire on the wheelbarrow fixed to be able to move all the sandbags
• Look at the ignition switch on the van -- it has a problem
• Bring old church computers from Lexington to Nicholasville so the hard disks can be wiped slick and then be picked up and disposed of

Then he adds, "And that reminds me....I need to do home teaching!" BWHAHAHHAHA!

Can I just say that he did NOTHING from the above list but instead took a well deserved nap after the surgery center...as it should be! But, he had good intentions!

So Tim's swallowing will hopefully be better now (it's hard to tell right now because he has a bit of a sore throat). The doctor did say that they may have to do it again in another 4-6 weeks so we will wait and see about that.

While looking around his esophagus and his stomach they did take 2 biopsies -- one from each place. My panicked look must have tipped the nurse off when she told me about the biopsies. She immediately said it was nothing to worry about but I can tell you that our last experience with a biopsy resulted in a diagnosis of cancer so yes, hearing that threw me into a tailspin for a few minutes. My mind was racing, a voice in my head kept saying, "Not again! Not again!" but when the nurse left the room, I took some deep breaths and closed my eyes in prayer, I felt more calm.

We will wait for the biopsy results and try to understand why they felt it was necessary to do that. Until then I breathe deep, say a prayer and laugh at Tim's to don't list. :)

Backdrop...

Exquisite springtime.....such a perfect backdrop to warmer and lengthened days.

Isaiah 35:2
"It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy..."

Blossom it has and rejoice I do!

Life Goes On....

Even when mom is sick life must go on....

Went to the doctor this morning. Raw throat, fever, chills, feel bad all over. My self-diagnosis was strep. Last time I had those symptoms I did have strep but not this time. This time it's a sinus infection.

Although I am home sick from work today I had to take Abigail to the orthodontist to get two brackets of her braces fixed. She popped them off while eating a ring pop. Can't have hanging brackets -- that is almost as bad as having a hanging Chad. (Can I just say I told her so? But, in the 12 year old mind, mom knows nothing.)

Then I had to go get my prescription and some Sudafed to hopefully give me some relief from my raw throat.

On top of that, this afternoon I have eye doctor appointments for Jacob and Annah after school. Both kids have been blind too long to cancel and reschedule. Do you suppose they will mind me showing up in their waiting room wrapped in three blankets and my teeth chattering?

I just need to crawl back under the covers and sleep another day or two.

P.S. I really do have paragraphs in this but Blogger is being weird and won't hold on to my spacing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

Can You Say......

Can you say Esophagogastroduodenoscopy?

I can't. Tim can't. Maybe even the doctor can't so he calls it EDG for short. Now that we can say. :)

But esophagogastroduodenoscopy, you have to admit, IS a cool word! Try saying THAT 10 times! :)

On Thursday Tim went in for a swallowing test. The test was done at 10 am and by late that afternoon Tim was booked for a date with a Dr. Robbins who will do Tim's EDG on April 19th.

EDG is a short way of saying that Tim is going in to have is ole esophagus stretched so that the opening is wider. Due to scar tissue from radiation, his esophagus has narrowed, making it difficult to swallow without choking. So the EDG is the fix for the problem. There will always be things that he can't eat (breads, pastas, etc.) but he's looking forward to trying out his new and improved esophagus!

Beautiful Spring.....

I am sure I have said it before... few things are more beautiful than springtime in Kentucky.

Each spring I feel the need to take pictures to capture and preserve the beauty of the season. I want the blooming trees and flowers to freeze in time so I can look on their beauty again and again. Perhaps that is the draw to capture in photographs what my longing can't preserve.

On Monday Tim had an appointment with his oncologist. Dr. Arnold. We like Dr. Arnold. She has been a source of positive encouragement on the cancer road. We like it when she tells Tim he looks good and is pleased with his recovery. We like it even more when she tells us the most recent CT scans look great! All the news on Monday was good except that Tim has to go for a swallowing test to determine if his esophagus us narrowing due to scar tissue from the radiation. Apparently it is a common problem with a solution -- to go in and stretch the esophagus. Okay, can you say painful? Yes, it will be...Tim was sure to inquire about the pain factor. But Dr. Arnold assured him it wouldn't be as painful as what he endured with 7 weeks of radiation to his throat. Well, that was the good news. Bad news? It usually takes 3 times of stretching the esophagus to get the job done.

After Tim's appointment we ran some errands and along the way Tim was kind enough to not mind stopping so I could take pictures of beautiful spring....

He Lives...

I wish you all a very Happy Easter and share this wonderful testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Transformation....

Only days ago the tree in our front yard displayed only a hint of green as buds formed in preparation for its springtime unveiling.

Then yesterday, when I looked out the front door, I let out an audible gasp when I saw the brilliant white of a flourishing tree. Oh it was beautiful! It went from a hint of green to a blizzard of white in a matter of days. What a wonderful transformation!

Springtime is such an awe-inspiring time of year, visually and spiritually. Visually we see signs of new life all around us. Each living thing is renewed. Spiritually it can be the same as we reflect on the events leading to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. How fitting it is that blossoming new life surrounds our senses this time of year.

And speaking of transformation....Since my last post Tim indeed had his CT scan and we had such good news -- there have been no changes since his last scan in December! Just as "no news is good news", no changes is....WONDERFUL news! We are truly grateful for the blessings we have seen.

Last year at this time I came across a blog that I have since become a regular reader of. The first post I ever read was titled All We, Like Sheep and I was hooked. DeNae tells a story like no other and in this writing she tells of a trip that she and her family took to Peru in 2006 with a humanitarian group. In vivid detail she tells her story and in that same vivid detail she gives an analogy that will be a long remembered Easter message. It made me laugh and it made me cry.

Isaiah 53:6
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Happy Easter.