OK, so I am still a slacker

Been a little while, so here goes nuttin'. Peri and Ella both got straight A's for the first trimester. Way to go, girls. Peri is busy with dance, cheerleading, cross-country. She hasn't run in a meet since her knee injury in the first meet that she ran. She is planning on running next week in an invitational. We are not expecting her to burn the course up due to the fact that she has only practiced on a very limited time schedule. Ella is doing conditioning for swimming which starts the end of this month. She is taking the SAT this Saturday, so good luck to her. Peri has just signed up for the Washington DC trip with her school in May. Sarah has been busy with work, home, aerobics and hauling Peri to all her activities. I assist when I can. I have been nursing a shoulder issue and it appears I might have rotator cuff tendinitis. It is just kind of painful, but I can still play ball and do stuff, except my shoulder has some weakness. I really noticed it affecting my jump shot, and that just isn't going to work. So, I started some physical therapy last week to strengthen and loosen the tendons. It seems to be going well. It may take a little time, but I will get it there. Last weekend I had my 30th year reunion. I had a good time and Sarah, well, at least she knew a few people and there was a live band that she seemed to enjoy. Anyway, that is about the extent of our life in the ville for the moment and I hope all are doing well and love ya'll.

Libby Update:
Libby finished her last round of chemo after they did not find any cancer from the tests that she had. The reason she still needs it is because it is protocol for this type of cancer. Sometimes with neuroblastoma there can be microscopic cells that hide. The chemo was quite a bit stronger than the regular rounds and she got rather sick. She came home Sept 24 and has limitations on where she can go because her immune system is low. Her mother is due with child this month. After the baby is born, Libby will have one more round of chemo that will be stronger than the last round. Just keep her and the family in your prayers.

Peri's Powder Puff Play

Say that 5 times fast. Peri and her East Middle School 7th grade team dominated the West Middle School 7th grade team winning 52-32. Or something like that. They played 2, 20 minute running halves and Peri played defensive back mostly. One of the highlights of her play was a run around her end. She dodged the runner as best she could (Peri, the object is to go after the runner), but Peri was able to grab the runners shorts and be pulled down the field about 10 yards. She eventually let go and then proceeded to catch and pull the runners flag. Way to go Peri!!! Anyway, all the girls seemed to have fun and the West 8th graders ended up defeating the East 8th graders by a similar if not larger margin in the 2nd game. The girls get out of school Thursday and Sarah on Friday. Ella has been rather stressed with finals this week, but I am sure she will do her best and that is all we can ask. It is all good.

Libby update: Libby went into the hospital this weekend with a fever, and they had to replace her line with some surgery. She is fine now and was able to leave the hospital today. Continue to keep them in your prayers.

Love and Happiness!

Track is done, but the fun is not done

Peri competed in her last track meet of the season last night. It was the conference and she was only long jumping. She jumped 12' 4 3/4" and finished in 9th place, missing 8th by 1/4". She had a very fine season and we are very proud of her accomplishments. Ella found out this week that her summer job working at the pool is not happening. The pool is having some issues and is not going to be opening this summer. She is working on lining some other things up. Ella is also continuing her swimming in club as is Peri continuing her dance and gymnastics and cheerleading. This weekend Ella has a swim competition and Peri has a dance competition. So, still busy here.

Libby update: Libby started her 4th round of chemotherapy yesterday. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

Peace and Love to all.

Latest updates

I hope everyone is doing fine. Peri is recovering nicely from her knee sprain, or whatever it was. She jumped in the county meet Wednesday and placed 5th, jumping
11' 9 3/4". She did not run in any events, but they only took the top 2 in those events. Peri has the conference meet coming up on Monday that she is only long jumping in. School is out today and Sarah took an overnight adventure to Madison with our friend, Cindi. Peri went home with a friend after school and spent the night. Ella went out with some friends for dinner last night. I dropped her off and then went over to Tim's to check out his new flat screen and surround sound that he had just gotten a few days before, thinking I could hang out there while she had dinner. Ella had informed me beforehand that she would just be an hour or so. Well, apparently, more than just her 3 friends that she was having dinner with "showed up", and needless to say, over 2 hours later, her friend brought her by Tim's house. I did get to see Bolt, the new movie cartoon. It was good. Today, Ella just hung out at home. I went to work.

Libby Update:
Libby had some stem cells harvested yesterday and can continue her chemotherapy next Thursday. They had some tests a few weeks ago and said that the tumors had shrunk by approx 2/3. It appears the treatments and the prayers are working. Please continue to pray for Libby and the family.

Love to All...

Ive been busy, OK?

Work has been very busy, but now my busy time is over. I spent a few days at the hotel during selections, and had some other duties assisting with some stuff for the officials and a website that I helped create for officials to see if they got chosen for the tournament. So, tonight was the final check for the officials for the women on the website, so it is back to my normal workload, now. Yeah. I think I am going to take a vacation next week, then go to the Final Four in Detroit the week after that. Yeah, I think that is what I am going to do....

Libby Update:
Libby is doing 5 day, approx 6 hour a day, chemo, which started Monday. 2 hr hydration, 2 hr chemo, 2 hr hydration. Last I heard she is doing OK with it so far. Just keep her and the family in your prayers.

Love All

Swimming Banquet

Tonight was the swimming banquet. It was a pitch-in and the food was excellent. Ella received the mental attitude award and the girl's team won the Superintendent's Award, an award given to the sports season(winter) team with the highest GPA. The four seniors spoke and there was a nice slide show.

We talked to Tia, Libby's aunt and she said that Libby was doing much better today.
The blood infection is gone and the Dr. says that the blood test shows that the white cell count should start coming up soon!!! She said that she has been playing with the nurses and has been much more active today and has also eaten some. Her fever has dropped and also heard that the tumor in her check is going down. It is back to where it was when this all came about!! GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!! PRAISE THE LORD.
Lets continue to pray!!

PEACE, LOVE, AND ROCK N ROLL !!!

Our brush with fame

Sarah asked me to share the "burden" of taking the girls shopping this weekend. How can it be a "burden" if it is something you enjoy doing?... Anyway, I got off track there.. Did I ever mention that I hate shopping... Sorry, another off track.. Anyway, we(we in this case meant me sitting in the shoe department at Dick's watching the big screen of Purdue and Michigan State, and Sarah and the girls shopping for clothes) were looking for something for Peri for her upcoming birthday, and I figured shopping wasn't all that bad at this point, until Sarah tells me I need to go with them because they were done at Dicks, and the reason at this point doesn't matter, because she is just reminding me of my second off track mentioning above. But, as we were checking out, the cashier at Dick's mentioned that Miss America was in the mall for a few more minutes. I've never met a Miss America, although I did know the 500 queen one year, a girl who graduate with me. So, we decided that we needed to have our brush with celebrity on this lovely Sunday afternoon in the Bloomington mall, outside of Target.
I think it was all just a ploy just to get me down to Target. Ha ha.. We met Miss America and she gave us all a signed photograph, and she seemed genuinely nice. There were only a few people waiting in line, so we waited like 2 minutes. We thought about having the girls pose for a xmas card photo with her, but they weren't allowing any posed pictures. So, that was our brush with fame, and I was able to snap off just some regular photos of the girls talking with her. I will add them later. So, shopping wasn't as unbearable as I thought, well, as long as you have some beautiful young lady to speak with of some fame or notoriety, besides my beautiful daughters and wife, of course. Or, you have a big screen television to watch some sporting event.

(Libby Update) This weekend, Libby got the flu and an infection in her central line. She has lost another 8 oz, and is down to 15 lbs. She was put in isolation at Riley.
Today, Libby's white blood count is at 0. They are giving her medication to get it up. The meds are making her sore, so she is not wanting to be held or touched. The white blood count needs to be up to 1000 before she can have her next chemo. treatment in a couple weeks. Emma said that they could be up there for 2-10 days.
Keep her in your prayers.

Great to see you all this weekend

It was nice to see you all this weekend. Josh, I hope you are feeling better. We made it home after stopping in Indy for a "quick" Target stop and then to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I am so glad to be off crutches. I am still doing exercises to strengthen my Achilles, but it feels fine to walk on. So many people are telling me I should quit playing ball that I will consider it.. OK..... I considered it. I will continue to play ball. I know that someday I will have no choice but to quit, but I just don't think that day is here yet. I do enjoy playing basketball and I hope I can play for a few more years anyway. Thanks for all your concerns.

{Libby Update}
Libby has gone through her chemo treatments Fri. Sat. and Sun. with another today. She seems to be doing OK and will have a chance to go home tomorrow for a couple of days if everything works out. Emma said that she got a little sick after treatments yesterday, but did eat last night. Just keep Libby and their family in your prayers.

Live and play hard and try not to get an Achilles injury :)
Love Y'all !!

Needed Prayers

I just ask that you keep our cousin Emma, her husband Michael and kids Erica and Shawn and their 2 year old daughter Libby in your prayers. They have discovered a malignant tumor in Libby's cheek and a mass in her stomach. They take her back for more tests tomorrow to determine what course of treatment they may be taking. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and love you all!