PLAY BALL!

It was a soggy opening day for THE team, the STL Cardinals :( They will try it again tomorrow. Driving home from work today, however, I turned on the radio and it was music to my ears...It's a long one, way back, get up baby, get up, get up...it's a home run for Albert! Ok, so it doesn't count b/c the game was postponed, but still, it was music to my ears.

See the new poll to the right...

Quick Update...#2

My parents, kids and I returned from Atlanta this evening. We had a good, very busy week! I didn't take one picture, can you believe that? I took the camera, but it just didn't happen. It was nice spending the week with Kenny. Now back to reality! I will update with some additional details later in the week. And...if you left me a message to call you, I promise I shall just as soon as I get my suitcase unpacked, and Cameron on his way to working on his science project, oh, and why I am on here in the first place, find pictures that are missing from my millions of pictures that I need for my cropping coming up this weekend. I hope everyone is doing well!

Oh, I just HAVE to add one more thing. Easter Sunday! I hope you all celebrated Jesus' resurrection. We sure did. We went to Church in Alpharetta GA. If you have ever heard of Charles Stanley, we went to his son's church, Northpoint Community Church. W-O-W! There are 3 services at 3 different locations, 4,000 people in each service. Kelsie and I were the only ones of our group to sit in the auditorium where Pastor Andy Stanley was preaching. The rest had to sit in one of the other auditoriums and watch him on the big screens. It took us quite awhile to get out of the parking lot. It was exciting to see all of those people hearing the Word. I'm not sure I could deal with that traffic every week, though :)

Quick Update

Hope everyone is doing well. My parents drove to STL on Sunday night and we headed to Atlanta yesterday. Despite 3 hours of torrential downpours, we made it safely here. We have lots of ground to cover -- will update the blog soon :) Happy Wednesday!

Birthday Shout-Outs

I am lagging behind on my birthday shout outs...well, maybe only one. My niece Alisa celebrated at the end of Feb. My niece Emily, of the Colorado Hand's, a big shout out goes to her, 12, right, Emily?!?!?! Now, let me get a head start on the other March birthdays -- Come to think of it, Janet B, did I forget your birthday? Oh my, I changed my calendar system over the past several months, and I just cannot get it back together. Come to also think about it, my parent's anniversary is on March 11th -- Happy Anniversary!!!! Ok, back to birthdays -- My mother in law celebrates on St. Patrick's Day, Christopher and Joseph (of the NY Muro/Hand family, Light too) celebrate after that, then my niece Nicole brings up the rear at the end of the month. Wow, March is really a busy month. Oh no! I can't forget that Met fan out in NY, Tommy Croke of the NY Croke/Hand family. Go Cardinals!!!

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all! If I left you out, leave me a comment and I will give you your very own post.

Proof!

We're all even now...

Day number 5 of the kids being out of school this winter due to bad weather. They're lovin' it now, but come May when they are making it up, well, we'll see.

Last year, and maybe the year before that I was out of town when the ice storms hit. Occasionally I hear something about lucking out that I was out of town and didn't have to suffer through those storms. Well, I think after today, we're all even! I just finished shoveling about 4 inches of snow, just so I don't have to shovel 10 inches later. I don't think I have ever seen it snow harder! Oh, if you didn't know, Kenny's out of town, that's why I say we're all even now. It continues to come down in buckets, we'll head back out for more shoveling in an hour or so...YIKES!

Do Miracles Still Happen?

Yes, and I have another one to share with you. A week ago last Thursday, my sister had a colonoscopy (she has these often as she has had polyps for much of her adult life). Her doctor at Iowa City Hospitals recommended she have one earlier than "normal" since she had had the appendix cancer, just to be on the safe side. My sister used to be a "gastro nurse", assisting the doctors in these procedures (yuck, glad there are people like my sister who are skilled and brave enough to do these jobs); but, sometimes this can be difficult, though, because you know what the doctor is thinking when he tells you that he removed 12 polyps, one of which he "marked" or "tatoo-ed" -- translation: He believes it is cancerous and he marks it so he can find the spot more easily when he has to go back in. This was the case this time. The doctor told her that depending on something or other, part of the colon would have to be removed.

But here's the rest of the story: God worked another miracle. Yesterday, my sister came home from work to find the letter from the doctor -- the one she was expecting. Or was it? She opened it and the report was "no cancer found -- benign -- come back in a year for your next colonoscopy". My sister called me on my way home from work. We both were crying for about 10 minutes on the phone. I believed it, but I couldn't believe it. It was what we had all been asking God to do -- and He did it. I know His will isn't always our will. But I also know, He still chooses to do miracles and for that and many other things, I am thankful. When I got home, I yelled for Cam and Kelsie to come and see me. Cameron said, "Mom, you're crying" -- I said, but it's for a good reason. I told them what happened, and told them we have to thank God right now. So, that's what we did. And, I continue to thank Him today! Happy Saturday!