*ENJOY LIFE*

I know it's been a little while again since I've posted anything... once school got started, things got busier than ever, and then shortly after that, Mom (Carol) had been been doing so surprisingly well that she decided she wanted us all to try to take one more big vacation together. So we did! We spent 10 days together,.. only two on the road back & forth from home, and eight at various attractions/theme parks. I will post on the stops individually with favorite snapshots from each to share with you. Our first stop, was Knott's Berry Farm.



Before I post more photos, I would just like to note what an incredible blessing this trip was, and how fortunate we are that we got to go do this together, and experience the amazing things that we did... and all the unforgettable moments we got to share with her.

When she got out of the hospital the end of June, after being in there for a month & having surgery,.. she was taken off of chemo, put on medication & hospice, and basically told she'd be lucky to make it to August. The first two weeks home, looked pretty grim, but then suddenly her body perked back up. All that poison finally got out of her system from the chemo, and she actually got to feel pretty good for awhile,... and once again, longer than the doctors prognosis by a long shot.

She has begun going back downhill over the weeks since our return, and only the Lord knows how much time is left. But I am just so humbled by His grace, and so very, very grateful for all of the extra time he has given us these past 6 years, and especially this year. He has given us gifts beyond measure in the time we have had with her.

And, I just want to remind those out there who may also face a terminal illness that truly,.. People, God is the only one who knows how much time is left. Statistics are just numbers, and time & time again we have seen loved ones beat those odds. Surely, we have also watched as loved ones left us even faster than the time those statistics told us they might have, but I tell you this... We live on God's watch. Not the doctor's, not our own,.. We go when He says it's time. So don't give up. Give your dispair over to Him, and you fight! You never know what extra time He has planned for you,...