Please pray for Ian

If you have a chance in the next couple of days, please say a prayer of healing for Ian, a 17-month-old little boy at our church whose parents found out a month ago that he had a brain tumor. It was removed about 4 weeks ago, but has since grown back and was found to be a rare and and agressive form of cancer. He and his parents Jason and Anna are at St. Jude now for treatment, and Ian is scheduled to have a second surgery tomorrow to have the tumor removed again, and then will begin chemo treatments. Here is what his parents have asked specifically for prayer:

"Continued peace as we all face another dangerous brain surgery; that Ian will remain stable until his surgery on Wednesday so Dr. Boop can do the surgery; a miracle that will take away this tumor and cancer cells once and for all; a strong, healthy body for Ian that will be able to handle the surgery, recovery, and chemo."

We had a special time of prayer for Ian a couple of weeks ago at churhc, and he was running around playing and blowing kisses at everyone in the room. He is an angel, and it breaks my heart to think of him going through this. Sadly reminds me of a year ago when I was praying for little Joseph, who has since gone to be with Jesus. If you would like to read more about him and follow his progress, here is a link to his Caring Bridge page.

Stephen's best day ever

We've had such a fantastic June, just enjoying the lazy days of summer. Lots of swimming and playing outside (when the humidity isn't 99%). Unfortuntately, it's made me, well, lazy. So here's to catching up on blogging.

The title of this post may be a little misleading, as I'm sure our wedding day and the births of our children really rank up there as Stephen's best days. But, this day in particular came pretty darn close. In April, we headed back to our alma mater for the spring football "Orange and White" game. We paid a little extra to participate in a "Young Alumni" function (I think the "young" part was a stretch for us). Anyway, it was Stephen's dream come true: a tour of all the athletic facilities, including the football locker rooms and behind the scenes press rooms, etc. For Tennessee football fans of the caliber as Stephen, who get teary-eyed come every August when the phrase "It's football time in Tennessee" is muttered, this is a BIG deal. I think he actually got teary-eyed during the tour (sorry, babe). Then we got to watch the game from one of the luxury suites, and pig out on catered food. Much different from the tiny bleacher seat and hot dogs we usually experience on game day. But we had a fantastic time. It was the perfect spring day, and one I'm sure Stephen will be re-living for a while :)

Here are some pics:

Whew!

That title pretty much summarizes how I'm feeling right now. After an incredibly busy May, celebrating Davis's birthday, end-of-the-year preschool activities, new carpet, a trip to the beach, a trip to New Mexico, a bazillion showings on our house, I'm glad to settle in to June and a lazy summer. Here are some pics of our crazy May.

End of the year program at preschool--Eliza's class were crabs. Here she is with her buddies Hannah and Eden. Do little girls just instinctly know how to pose like that?

Our little Pre-K grad. It was so sweet---they called out each child's full name one at a time and said what he or she wanted to be when they grew up (a gymnast for Eliza). They walked across the stage and got a diploma. Precious!

Birthday boy!

Mr. Fireman. Big D LOVES firetrucks and firefighters.

We had a small, family party for Davis's birthday, with Mimi, Grandaddy, Aunt KK, Chris, Ann, and D's big buddy Cooper.

Cruisin' with his new scooter and helmet. Now he doesn't have to ride Eliza's princess scooter anymore or wear her pink helmet :)

A trip to the local fire station. The firefighters were so nice and gave us a tour of the station and let the kids climb in the big trucks.

Here's a little slideshow from our recent trip to Santa Fe. New Mexico's motto is "The Land of Enchantment", and I will say we were truly enchanted. The landscapes are amazing, and being able to watch a rainstorm happening 50 miles away is not something we get to see around here! We were truly blessed to be able to see this wonderful part of the country!