American What!?

Here are just a few updates. . . Last Friday the phone rang a little after 7:00 in the morning. It was my sweet aunt Kathy with an offer that we couldn't refuse! For the second year in a row she had won tickets from a radio station to the American Idol concert at the Rose Garden and since her boss had already bought tickets for her & all the girls in the office, she offered them to Will & I. Let me just say that they were amazing seats & we had a really great time. The last time I went to a concert was Shania Twain in 2000. Anyway, a big thank you again out to you Aunt Kathy & to Don & Peggy (her boss & his wife) who treated Will & I to a yummy dinner before the concert.

I haven't written much about an adventure we're in the middle of because I wasn't sure how it was all going to go, but we're in the process of closing on a house. We actually sign the papers tomorrow. But, right now most of our stuff is packed away in boxes. Well I found the shoes on Lilyanah's feet in a box of her stuff & wanted to see if they fit. I know it's an interesting outfit but the look on her face was too cute for me not to post the picture! She loves to hold your hands & be walked around. Can you believe we are blessed with this smiley face every day!? The house we're getting is still right here in Newberg. I'll have to post some pictures soon! We're so excited about getting the keys in hand & starting to make the house our home.

The last picture is from Lilyanah's first time to eat 'real' food. And I think 'real' is a stretch, it's just her first rice cereal. She took bites like a pro, we were so proud. You see that hair on my head! My brother Jeremy says I finally look like a college kid who cuts her hair short. I went from looking like Cleopatra right after we shaved my head to a 90 year old man when it was first growing back to a 6 year old boy a week ago. So I figure a college kid is a compliment! This picture lets you see how Lilyanah responded. She wants to touch EVERYTHING in front of her, the food was not exception! Anyway, we're having a good time. I want to apologize again for being so bad at keeping up at this. I seriously think blog entries in my mind that never make it to the screen. Hopefully once everything slows down I'll become more consistent! Of course when do things ever slow down!? I hope all of you are enjoying the beginning of fall! I love every season & am always ready for the next one to come around. Fall, I love the gradual cooling of days & occasional sprinkle. I love the changing colors of the leaves & the approaching of autumn & winter holidays. . .
So my question for you all is what do you love about fall? ~love you all! Wendy.

Are You Ready For Some Football!?

This picture melts my heart. Will was holding Lilyanah & she just fell asleep on his chest. You can see by the smile on his face, his heart was melting too.

So, today is Will's long awaited day. . . the first NFL game of the season. Football season is a cherished time of the year by the guys in my family. Just to give you an idea of how much Will enjoyed football, he's involved in 8 different fantasy football leagues! Crazy, I know, but that's what can happen when you love the game. Can you imagine women being involved in something like that. Fantasy soap opera season. . . . where we all guess who's gonna break up, get together, pretend to die, return. . . and we'd get points for all the times we were right. The last time I watched a soap opera I was in college. It was short-lived, but I watched enough to know all the above happens to just about every character at least 5 times per year. Anyway, below is a picture of Dad holding Lilyanah. She was sad because Grandma had handed her over & walked away. Oh yes, our little girl is in a grandma phase. I guess she didn't get the memo she was supposed to have her mommy & daddy phases first! The dress was compliments of Grandpa & Grandma. She almost looks Hawaiian! (Obviously I'm kidding!) Hope you all are having a great day! Wendy.

Back from Hawaii!

ALOHA ALL! The awful irony with my posts is that when I go a long time between them it's because there is so much going on I don't have time to write. Of course then I feel like I need to update you all on EVERYTHING that has gone on. I'll refrain in this post.

The 20th we left for Oahu, Hawaii. We had such a good time, Mom & Dad took us to celebrate our recovery from cancer. I still remember laying on the hospital bed saying,

"After all of this, I'm SO going on vacation!"

Lucky for us my dad heard me & he & mom made it happen! What a blessed life I lead & what generous parents. Thank you so much Dad & Mom for everything, far beyond taking us Hawaii! The first picture is from our last night eating dinner at the Shorebird on Waikiki beach. (My mother's absolute favorite restaurant on the island.) Lilyanah wasn't interested in anything on the menu & characteristically decided to take a nap. The next picture is of mom & Lilyanah sporting her movie star glasses from her Mema. Thanks again so much Linda! You're so good at picking out clothes & accessories for Lilyanah! Of all the times we put them on her she never tried to take her glasses off!

We have relatives on the island who own a shop where they make Puerto Rican tamales. Tuesday we decided to make our way inland to see them. Unfortunately they had taken the day off, lesson learned, ALWAYS call ahead & don't go if you can't get someone to answer the phone! I decided to consult mom's handy-dandy book to try to find a good restaurant. It really is a very helpful book & I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to any of the islands as I'm pretty sure the authors have done one for all of them. Anyway, long story short the restaurant I picked was closed & we had to find another one quick as we were all past hungry.
I've never had to work so hard for my food! I
ordered crab. . . not expecting to have to do all the work to get the meat! I guess Will didn't expect me to dig into the challenge. In our 3+ years of marriage I haven't had crab with him. . . It was an authentic Chinese restaurant & Dad gave Will a hard time about ordering beef prepared some way so instead he got octopus. Dad followed suit by getting the beef Will was gonna get! Anyway, I had to include that picture, however bad.

Thursday was Mom & Dad's 32nd anniversary
so we rented a car & drove around Diamond Head up to Makapu'u Beach. It's a great beach to boogie board on. Though I guess Will & Dad got slammed pretty bad by the same wave & decided that was enough body surfing. So I got the boogie board & Will conquered a few waves! You can barely see Lilyanah in the picture but what a GORGEOUS day! We got cleaned up & continued driving around the island stopping at a restaurant where Will told a Hawaiian gentleman Hola & couldn't figure out why he looked at him strangely. He had a really hard time with the Hawaiian words, but at least he tried!

This last picture was taken at Pali Lookout. I guess it's where the last battle for the island took place when King (I'm not even going to attempt to spell his name) was uniting the islands. It had an amazing view of the island! I was snuggling Lilyanah pretty tight cause the wind made it REALLY cold up there! That's enough pics & enough of an update for now. Thanks to all of you faithful for sticking with me & my sporadic entries. ~Weneki (my Hawaiian name)

Let's see, my question for the day is; what is your favorite vacation memory? Love you all!

Corey & Kelsey - Married August 12, 2006

Well, Corey and Kelsey were married in a beautiful ceremony at Camp Yamhill on Saturday, August 12, and the newlyweds are now on their honeymoon. Thank you to all of you who shared in our wonderful afternoon. The day was absolutely perfect, not too hot, a beautiful blue sky, and lots of friends and loved ones in attendance. Here are just a couple of pictures. Enjoy and thank you again! Denise

The List Goes On. . .

I'm taking a quick break in between packing boxes to write you all a quick update. Life is crazy, although I guess that's nothing new! Corey & Kelsey are getting married one week from tomorrow, it amazes me how dates sneak up on me so quickly! Now, as if the rehearsal dinner & wedding plans were not enough Will & I decided to move out of our apartment so Corey & Kelsey could move in. We figured it's about time we get a house & nothing's more motivating than being homeless! It's never been more convienent that we live in an apartment on top of a mini storage. . . Packing consists of filling up the boxes & taking them down the stairs to our unit. Such a blessing! We're very interested in a house here in town but are keeping our options open. I kinda want a fixer-upper with a little land, but if that's what we end up with we'll be at Mom & Dad's for a few months while we do improvements. . . . We're actually looking at one that's 1600 sq. feet & on a 14,000 sq. ft. lot. Which is enough land to satisfy me for now at least! Anyway, if any of you know anyone selling a house or thinking about it please let us know. More importantly, please pray that God leads us to the right house. . . He's already taking care of us! A couple of days ago we went to look at one that's just around the house from the mini storage (which would be convienent for Lilyanah & me as I will still be managing the business). We had a friend/real estate agent come to look at it with us. . . It was 1500 sq. feet on a 7000 sq. ft lot. . . . 2 stories, a fixer-upper in the fullest sense of the word(s). They were asking $189,000 which we thought was an amazing deal, especially here in Newberg where the plot alone would have been worth $125,000. Anyway, long story short. . . there was no crawl space & we ended up finding out the house is basically sitting on cinder blocks (NO FOUNDATION), for all of you who have no idea of what I'm talking about! Anyway, we told the guy we weren't interested after finding that there's no foundation & he called today to tell us he would sell the house to us for $1000 less. (It would cost a minimum of $15,000 to lift the house & pour foundation under it!)We just laughed & thanked God for the insight! Lot's of fun parallels to the foundation under a house & the Foundation of our lives. . . Anyway, back to packing. . . I love you all & thank you for the continuing prayers. If you would please include little Lilyanah in them, she's come down with her first illness; an icky cough & runny nose. But she's still such a trooper & smiles through it. Until next time. Wendy.

Really July 27th, 2006

I apologize for being so few & far between with my blogs lately & thank you to all of you faithful friends who continually check up on us despite my serious neglect!
Today Lilyanah had her 6 month appointment. She
weighed in at a whopping 13 lbs 9-1/2 oz!!!!! I was
completely shocked to say the least! On our visit to Oklahoma last week I was telling everyone she was probably around 11-1/2 lbs! Boy was I off! She's also 25 inches long. When I say time is flying by, I'm not kidding! I don't know how much I'll be able to write in the next couple of weeks as Corey & Kelsey's wedding is quickly approaching, which is keeping me quite busy ~ there are some other things on our plate but I don't have time to go into everything so for now I hope you enjoy these pictures of our little girl. I thought it was about time we post one of her crying, although in this picture I think she was just contemplating crying!

This other little one is her showing off lifting her head, which was at least a couple of months ago! AGAIN, I do apologize for being so neglectful with posts!? We love you all! ~Wendy.

Really July 5th

Laura had little Hazel Arlene on the evening of the 28th, seeing her little 7 lbs body it's hard to believe Lilyanah was ever that small & yet she was 3 lbs smaller as well as shorter! Anyway, I pulled these pictures out cause' they highlight just how much our little angel is growing! Can you believe the difference 4 months makes! Now, in just 12 short days she'll be 6 months, that's 1/2 way to a year for all of you that aren't math buffs.
I apologize for taking so long to write, life just takes off sometimes & it's all you can do to try to keep up! I have to say I love being busy, if I'm not I find things to keep me busy. We moved back to our apartment on the 21st of June, exactly 4 months after we had moved in to Mom & Dad's house. So really the reason I haven't written, sadly, is because we don't have any pictures downloaded on our computer here at home. And, hello, I have to have at least one picture with these entries!

I have a couple of prayer requests. My sweet husband hurt his right foot pretty bad in the softball game last Thursday. The doctor said he tore a ligament & it's so swollen & bruised, I think we're gonna have to take him back to the doctor again b/c it's not getting any better. So if you could please pray for him.
What I really need to ask you all to get down on your knees about though is my dear, beautiful friend, Maria DeSylva. Her fiancee Paul Lund best explained the situation in an email I received. I'm so thankful for him because Maria doesn't have to face this road alone. Please say special prayers for him too. He moved to Seattle (where Maria's from) because his dad was fighting cancer & passed away not all that long ago. So now to have his fiancee go through it has to be so hard. Here are some of his words;

"I am very sad to write that our Maria has been diagnosed with a malignant cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). SCC is nearly unheard of when located deep in the pelvis. As many of you know, SCC is epithelial (outter layer, often skin) related. This brings more bad news; it is highly improbable that her tumor is of primary origin, meaning it most likely came from elsewhere in the body. Other scans have not depicted other SCC locations. Maria is scheduled for a PET scan which can aid in identifying metastasis, but it's not sensitive enough to pick up microscopic disease."

The medical team is gathering more diagnostic information to develop the best treatment plan. There are a hundred questions to which we have no answers. I'll attempt to pass on what I know: radiation and chemotherapy are likely; the medical team to date is speaking in terms of treating this aggressively; Maria is seriously considering receiving all treatment here at the Mayo Clinic; if decided upon, presurgical therapy may last 1-2 months followed by surgery a month or two later. Questions we cannot address specifically revolve around sequence and timing of therapy, disease statitics, summer plans, wedding & shower issues, fertility effects, visitation, among other future details.Most importantly, how is my and your Maria? Maria and I are shocked, as I'm sure you are. In the last 48 hours we've gone from the majority belief of a benign tumor to the doctors saying this is "serious" to them now saying it is "very serious." As many of you know, this is like a bad dream from which we can't awaken. It doesn't help that Maria's been examed and tested across the country, always fasting each day in preparation for tests.Know this. Maria has already decided she is going to beat this. And Maria's love continues to overflow to you and everyone else -- it probably doesn't surprise you to know that as we are surrounded by many sick people here at the hospital, Maria occasionally reminds me that she could have it worse. Still it is clear that all of us must dig in for a long, hard battle. We sincerely appreciate the love and prayers coming her way. My deepest thank you. Sincerely, Paul

My heart hurts for my dear friend. She is in her late 30's, has just found the man she wants to marry, and have babies with & now has this. I beg of you, prayer warriors to pray for my friend, this cancer is not like mine where the doctors knew the exact treatment plan & what to do. They don't know what they're facing so it's a scary, time. The day before we met with our oncologist to find out all the results from the scans & tests they'd done was the scariest night for Will & me. . . And Maria & Paul have had weeks of those nights. So again, I ask, please pray for my dear friend. Love you all! ~Wendy.

much ado about nothing

Laura, Lilyanah & Violet sporting a 'too cute' homemade tail from her daddy!
Laura is a little over 2 weeks away from having her second little girl, doesn't she look great!

When I was a little girl instead of saying my tummy was empty when I was hungry I said, 'Mommy, my tummy is clear.'

The most unique pet we ever had was not the ducks, or the turtle, or the gerbils, it was a chameleon who was the size of my pinky when we got her. (including her tail). To prove how awful I am at naming things, I named her Trinket. She was the most low-maintenence pet I've ever had!

My Papa's nickname for me was Wendy-the-Pooh, Corey called me Wend-o-sill, numerous people occasionally call me 'Wendy-Bird' & some 'Wendy-lady' (from Peter Pan). Some call me 'Wend', Mom occasionally calls me Wendy-Penelope. Will usually just calls me 'baby' but lately he's taken to 'Fuzz' because of the blond fuzzy head I currently have. Never have I been so blond & hopefully never will I be again!

When I was little I was so afraid of monsters under my bed that at night I would gather all of my stuffed animals & extra pillows & line them up in piles on the outside of my bed to protect me. Thinking back I had WAY too many stuffed animals.

This pic was taken at the guys first game on the 8th. Will is first baseman in the picture, Carrie's husband David is the catcher #4. Our guys beat the other team 25 to 23. A little closer than we like to see, but it was still a win!

We had an outdoor pool that was later made into an indoor pool, and then filled in & made into the 'pool room', but when it was a pool we would have all sorts of pool parties. Jeremy played football & I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it when all of his football friends came over for just such an occasion! Of course I was such a shy young thing I would stay in my room the entire time they were over! Great strategy on my part! Anyway, one summer I discovered doing flips underwater & did them so much I ended up out at camp with my grandparents with swimmer's ear, ICK, very painful & not something I want to get ever again!

Every single time that my brothers got spankens I would go to my room & cry. Telling me you were disappointed in me did more than any spanken ever could, still does.

Spring break of my junior year in college I was bucked off of a horse & broke my left arm. The hospital my dear friends drove me to was a half hour away in Paris. . . . . Texas unfortunately, (have any of you seen the SpongeBob where he & his friend talk about 'stupid Texas', I was rolling!) Anyway, other than that I've had stitches in my pointer finger from cutting it with a pie server (yeah, that's talent) & one stitch in my tongue. That's a story for another time!

This picture is from the volleyball game at Kelsey's 21st birthday party last Friday (the 9th). She's the girl in white on the far left. Her dad, Matt, is right behind her.

In July my parents will have lived in their house for 25 years which means I was only 4 years old when we moved there. Back before my grandparents built their house next door there were two plum trees in the field that is now my grandparents house. Every time the trees would ripen Jeremy, Corey & I would climb up in their branches & pick the purple ones, the other tree had yellow plums that we didn't dare to try. After wiping off the dirt we would separate them down the middle with our fingernails & eat them one after the other till our tummies were content. I never remember experiencing the consequences, if you know what I mean. . . I miss those plum trees!

This last picture is from our guys first softball game of the season on the 8th. Some of you may recognize Laura on the far left, & Randie use-to-be Seeber on the front row. Carrie is in the green. I apologize for the ugly face I'm making. Sometimes I get tired of smiling for pictures & regress back to childhood!

So those are just some of my random memories. . . . Lilyanah just got home from her doctor appointment, she's almost 24 inches long weighs 10lbs 12 oz & is sleeping because she had some icky shots!

My question for you all today is more of a request for you to share some of your random memories.
Love you all & thanks to those who take time to share! I LOVE your comments! ~wendy.

Countdowns

Isn't it crazy how much time we spend counting down to something?

For me, I think it all started with Christmas. Then again, what kid doesn't count down to Christmas!? I guess the one's who don't celebrate it. . . oops. Anyway, there were always countdowns to birthdays, the first day of school, the last day of school, graduation, college, first dates, weddings, reunions. . . . vacations, deadlines, parties, pregnancy is an entire countdown in itself.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with countdowns, personally I love having something to look forward to. I just wonder if sometimes we miss the ride because we're too busy looking to what's next. I remember when I was pregnant with Lilyanah wanting so badly to meet her, to be through the pregnancy so she was in our arms. But I had to keep on telling myself, "this is your last one-on-one time with Will. As much as you want to meet this little one kicking like crazy inside of you, this time is PRECIOUS & you won't have it again until the kids go off to college." Of course then I got really sick. . . but we did cherish that time & made the most of it.
I guess it's just ironic to me that the hardest time for us to live in is the present. We have an easy time of looking back, contemplating roads we never should have taken & others we wish we had. And it's way easy to live in the future. To make plans for breaths we aren't guaranteed we'll ever get to take. I just hope we can all find the balance of learning from our past, being wise about our future & enjoying the processes of our countdowns in the present.

I am very happy to say that I reached the end of my chemo countdown. Now it's just a matter of how long it will take for the hairs to repopulate the top of my head! Just so you know my current countdowns are: in 3 days Lilyanah will be 5 months old. . . in 1 month I'm heading out to Oklahoma with Miss Lilyanah for a visit with friends, family & Kelly Killian's wedding & lastly, in I think 60 days Corey & Kelsey are getting married. (I'm spending a lot of my time helping Kelsey with wedding details).

I hope you have some very fun countdowns going on right now.
This time I'm going to ask 3 questions so that if you can't think of an answer to one, you can choose another. . . What has been your most unique countdown? . . . . What countdowns do you have going on currently? . . . . . What has been your favorite countdown?
I love you all & thank you for your continuing prayers. Wendy.

What a beautiful, sweet baby God has blessed us with! In 10 short days she'll be 5 months old! Time really flies doesn't it!? It doesn't seem possible that 5 months ago today we were admitted into the hospital. . . shortly followed by having a 7 week premie, & finding out we had cancer, in my body of course. And now, it's over for the most part. Yesterday marked my last (Lord willing) chemo treatment, I can't tell you what a sweet thought it is to know I don't have to go to the hospital for that anymore!

Lilyanah is just growing longer & "talking" more & getting so strong. I cannot thank you all enough for all of the prayers you have said to our Almighty Healer on our behalf. He sure did answer your prayers & without delay. Our daughter & I are healthy & strong because of those prayers & truth be told I will never be able to thank any of you enough!

Don't you just love the the soft approach of summer!? I love the smell in the air & the feeling of the sun dancing on my skin. I have to admit it's even nice to feel the rays on my bald head! I love driving with my windows down singing loudly to the radio. Soon I'll enjoy the wind blowing through my hair again. . . I miss the thunderstorms in Oklahoma. I lived there for a culmination of 5 years. I am absolutely not a fan of the humidity, except for at night time I remember it felt like a blanket wrapped around me. That was nice.

July 4th we're having a come & go celebration at my parents house. Celebrating the indepence of our country & our independence from cancer. I'm looking forward to joining the human race again & seeing friends & family. Most July 4th's I spent at my parents house letting off fireworks in the middle of the cul-de-sac. After I graduated in '95 I spent the fourth standing in the ocean at Waikiki watching fireworks going off over the ocean. Sophomore year at Oklahoma Christian a friend (who must remain anonymous) & I climbed on top of the gym roof & watched numerous different fireworks going off around the city. Four years ago Will watched them in Washington D.C. with his family, I bet that was amazing! While I, with some friends crawled on the roof of the apartment building next to mine in downtown Oklahoma City & laid on some blankets while we watched at least 5 different firework shows going on. Two years ago Will & I spent it at Mount Rushmore, though they do the fireworks on the 3rd! Isn't that bizarre? The picture of Corey with a tiny little fish was from a fourth of July weekend the family spent at Lake Billy Chinook, and this one of us playing volleyball was last year. Everyone's standing around because the ball had once again been hit into the canyon behind our house & we were waiting for whoever was retrieving it. . . .


So my question for all of you is, where are some interesting places you celebrated our country's Indpendence Day? Or, where would you like to celebrate it?

Well, dinner time at Gigi's calls. . . I hope you all are having a GREAT week! ~Wendy.