Another Saturday

It's Saturday and Mike has a meeting. I've got to be honest, I'm not a fan of meetings on Saturdays. It's the one day of the week that should be free for us to be together as a family, but that's not the case every week. So, K and I will spend the morning at home and hopefully we'll do something fun as a family in the afternoon. K has the start of a yucky, nasty cold so he should probably lay low this AM anyway. K is looking forward to the juice, soup and honey that Mike will bring home later. :)

We've been researching ways to get up to IL/WI/MN this Christmas. We had not been planning to spend Xmas break up that way, but we would like to see Mike's parents again and that' s the next available time for Mike to be gone from work without having to pay a substitute teacher. So, we absolutely cannot afford the cost of the trip, but we're going anyway! You only live once, right? :) It will be wonderful to spend time with both our families and, God-willing, get up to our old "stomping grounds" and see friends that we haven't seen for over a year. We are currently leaning towards taking the Amtrak! It's cheaper, we can take tons of luggage for free, it'd be fun, we can move around and we have the time to "waste" a day on travel. We'd most likely drive to Albuquerque and leave from there. It's less time and money than going from Tucson. It's a 25 hour trip to Chicago. The sleeper car is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive so we'll just do coach seats and sleep in the seats. We can even bring a cooler of food to save money on the trip. K is beyond excited to ride the train and, I've got to admit it, I am too! :)

If K is feeling better we are heading over the YMCA for trunk-or-treating this evening. It's FREE and there will be tons of kids' activities as well. K is going to be a pirate this year. I've yet to put the whole costume together so we'll see how it turns out! He'll be adorable, I'm sure. :)

Well, it's been awhile...

I know! I just haven't felt like blogging. So many things have been happening and I just wasn't ready to put it all into words, I guess.

We were able to get up to MN for my father-in-law's surgery in September. It was so wonderful to be together with all of Mike's family. My sister and brother-in-law housed us and borrowed a car for us to use. They also helped with K a great deal. We were so blessed by all their help! The surgery was successful and the tumor was removed. It was very hard to leave and head back to AZ, but we knew we had to. A few days after the surgery the pathology report came back and we found out that the tumor was cancerous. We experienced more tears and more fears, but turned to God again for comfort and guidance. Mike's dad was told he'd be treated with radiation and chemotherapy, but when a blood clot was found in his brain the chemo was put on hold. He started radiation and it really wipes him out. He's also been moved to the rehab part of the hospital and is working very, very hard each day. Tomorrow they will start chemo. It has been difficult to be so far away during all of this, but we are comforted knowing God is with Mike's parents and he has everything under control. We continue to pray for healing and strength. We are also praying that we are able to get up there during Christmas break and spend more time with Mike's family. (Can't wait to see my family too!!!!)

Here in Tucson we've been keeping really busy. K absolutely LOVES preschool. He missed a few days while we were in MN and then one day when we thought he might have chicken pox (Turned out to be bug bites...grrr...wasted dr visit!) and he was so upset to miss any time at school. :) He is doing very well and is learning so much! He does a great job of telling us all about the books they read, or naming the parts of the eye (or whatever Science lesson they had that day), or what Bible story he heard that morning. He loves playing with all his new friends and is already talking about how excited he is for Kindergarten next year. :) (It's mostly because he really wants to eat lunch at school.)

I've slowly been getting our new place to feel like home. It's taken me longer than I expected it to, but I'm starting to get things arranged the way I like it and slowly getting things organized. Now that we are officially in a house and have unpacked things that were stored for a year, it's kind of hit me that we live in Tucson. I know, delayed reaction since we've been here just over a year, but last year was like a "honeymoon" period and the last few months have been a little bit of a struggle for me. I guess it all seems real now and I've been homesick and lonely for friends and family I haven't seen for a long time. It's getting better though and getting my house "just right" has helped too. Now if we could just get some more visitors from up "north"...

Now that the weather has been cooling down we are excited to get back outside and get hiking again. We love visiting Sombrero Peak and Saguaro National Park. Today we went to the Desert Museum and had a really nice time! Tucson really is beautiful and there is so much to do...when it's cool outside! :)

Hopefully I can get out of my "funk" and start blogging again. I still would love to do another blog with recipes, deals, coupons, etc... It's funny how little time I have left each day, though, after running Mike and K all over, cleaning, making meals and then doing my transcribing. And, I just discovered a scrapbook store not too far from my house...