Five Years - April 25th

Can it be possible? I just almost can't believe it has been five years since I married this wonderful man. Our 5-year Anniversary was on April 25, 2008. To celebrate, we left Danika with Mimi and Papa and went to a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in NY.

We had a wonderful time and the food was AMAZING. I feel so blessed to be married to someone I love this much. And...just to make sure he completely keeps me guessing, my incredible husband bought me a wonderful gift.

The night we were going out to dinner to celebrate, Doug surprised me with this gorgeous watch. I absolutely LOVE jewelry, and I couldn't believe what a perfect gift he picked for me. It has sparkle, but not too much, and it is something I couldn't have chosen better if I had been in the store with him. How fun that he did it all on his own and surprised me. :) I was so shocked I cried. :)

Have I mentioned I love him? We had a wonderful time getting away just the two of us, and we appreciate Doug's parents taking care of Danika so it could happen.

I love you, honey!

First Date: 2002 with Chuck and Emily

Engaged: October 18, 2002
Married: April 25, 2003
Did I mention he always makes me laugh?
With Danika: January 2007


Happy Anniversary, Doug! I love you!

The Purple Dress Meltdown.

Okay....this is just for humor.

I put Danika in the cutest purple dress last Sunday for church. So...naturally, I wanted to take her picture. But...that was NOT what she wanted to do. Check out the progression of pics.

I started out sitting on the floor with the camera trying to get a good shot....she wasn't happy. Doug tried to help her stand up...that was what started the crying fit. Then she just started stomping towards me while crying...she kept coming until she got to me and flopped in my lap as if her life is so hard! :) Doug grabbed the camera and snapped a few more. As you can see...she is such a drama queen. The tears instantly dried up and she started to laugh and smile.

Wow...I'm going to have my hands full with this one. :)

Julie turns 5!

My niece Julie recently turned 5, so we celebrated with her while she was in town. Thought you would like to see some pictures from the party!


Dana & Susan with all three grandkids. :)

Julie, the Birthday Girl!

Alayna and her blue eyes.

Danika trying to figure Grandpa Hoddy out. :) Good luck! :)
The Miles Family.

Julie and her cake.

Happy Birthday, Julie!

Good for my heart...

God knew that I needed this weekend. My heart needed encouragement. He knew what I would need and planned it six months ago.

My last month has been very, very bad....all sorts of things from work, to personal, to sickness, to unexpected sadness....it's been a bad month. Normally I can honestly say that life is good. This month, I was having a really hard time.

This weekend, I went to see some precious women whom I love dearly. It has been ten years since 1998 when I went to Australia on a singing and drama team. We spent 6 weeks there and we spent the better part of a year practicing and preparing for the trip. I formed life-long bonds with these girls that I can't even fully explain. Five of us met in Columbus Ohio for a weekend of catching up and encouraging one another. It was wonderful.

Girls...I love you all! Thank you for making me smile from the inside out. It was wonderful to catch up and spend time with you!

Chuck E Cheese healed her.

My little girl is walking again.

Cousin Julie and Aunt Kristen are in town...so we rounded up Trinity, Danika, and Julie and all headed off to Chuck E Cheese. All the kids had a great time...Danika wolfed down TWO entire pieces of pizza...and then wanted down to walk around. It is the first time since Sunday she has put weight on her ankle. But, apparently the excitement was too much for her and she had to join in. I am so relieve to see her using it. :)

Drama

Talk about drama.


Danika stopped walking on Sunday. Not just kind of stopped being active...stopped using her legs. It was so bizarre. We narrowed it down to one specific ankle. If we touched it, she cried in pain. We decided we better take her to the doctor...and she sent us to the ER.


We spent 6 hours in the ER on Monday night and had some very nervous conversations with doctors...long and short of it they were really nervous about a very serious internal infection. But...as long as she doesn't spike a fever, and eventually starts to use it again, everything should be okay.


It has been a stressful couple of weeks at our home.

News on Susan...

All I can ask is for your prayers. Today has been no fun with Doug and I both being so sick...and it made us both feel like we got robbed of a wonderful and important family day with Dana and Susan on top of it. Please pray for Susan and for our family. Here is the latest update:

From: Susan Bierer
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 5:44:41 PM
Subject: test results from last Thursday

Psalm 28:7The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.

Thought I’d let you all know some of the results of the tests Thursday.
I got a call from Dr. Krivak on Saturday and I have more cancer spots on my lung and liver about the size of marbles. That’s why the count has gone up. He hasn’t gotten the biopsy report back yet…so didn’t know if it was back in the area where he removed the tumor. The CT scan showed that possibly it is. He was VERY concerned and even said he’ll do everything he can to keep me alive. He was so precious..he said I wasn’t just a patient to him, I was more like his next door neighbor and he thinks highly of Dana and me. He actually made me cry when I got off the phone, because I know he genuinely cares about me. He apologized for his behavior Thursday…he was very visibly upset when he was with us. I’ve never seen him upset (almost angry) like that. I know now that it was because he was frustrated and that he felt he had failed me.
He’s going to try to get me on the clinical trial…we’re hoping I qualify. I’ll probably start the new chemo, if approved within 2 weeks. I have to go through some preliminary tests first. There have only been 50 women who have tried this… there are many scary side affects, including death, but I feel I should try this. What choice do I really have? Doxil doesn’t work anymore as the cancer has become resistant. There is another chemo drug he’ll try if the clinical trial doesn’t work…but he said I’d have to be hospitalized for the first treatment because of my reaction to Carboplatin before. The drug is part of the ‘platin’ family. Also, this chemo treatment would be every 2 weeks and would knock me down pretty good. He doubted if I’d be able to work. He also said he’d start me on Avastin, which is the drug they’ll have my sister on too. I’ll just keep asking you all to pray… and I will continue to pray for God’s healing touch. I know the Lord is using this… and I praise Him for that. I will just continue to rest in His promise that I won’t be burned…that the waters won’t overwhelm me and that He is with me.
Thank you for traveling this road with us… it’s quite an adventure isn’t it? Never a dull moment.
Love you all,
Susan