How God is speaking to us...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

This has been our prayer and God has graciously been giving us His incredible joy, peace, and hope as we trust in Him.
It is also our prayer for you!




Monday 29 August 2011

Fun with friends

There's not much to report this week regarding Bob's "condition". He hasn't had any doctor's appointments or treatment apart from dialysis three times a week. He did however receive a couple of pints of blood on Tuesday evening.

He's had the energy to engage in some enjoyable activities this week-- celebrating our 42nd anniversary, having a few picnics at the beach, attending a wedding on Saturday, and spending a couple of days with some good friends from many years ago--Arnold and Phyllis Schellenberg. They live in Calgary now, but we spent many years together in Regina.

Today we drove up to Horseshoe Bay with them and took the ferry to Bowen Island, finishing off the day by dining at the Boathouse in Horseshoe Bay.


This week will be full of appointments as Bob sees his naturopathic doctor tomorrow and his oncologist on Wednesday. We're hoping that his white blood cell count will have risen enough to resume chemo on Friday.

Last week my brother Jim began both chemo and radiation. Thankfully the worst of the side-effects was tiredness. For the next four three weeks he will have radiation each day with chemo added to the mix for the final week. Thanks for including him in your prayers.

On Wednesday, my sister Barb is flying from her home in Texas to California to spend a week with Mom and Dad and checking in on Jim. I know that this will be a great encouragement and blessing to them!

Monday 22 August 2011

Our 42nd Wedding Anniversary!!

Today Bob and I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary!! There wasn't a lot of fanfare but there was a lot of reflection on God's faithfulness to us over the years--as well as a lot of eating!!

We had hoped to drive up to Horseshoe Bay and take the ferry to Bowen Island, but it rained all day today. So we've postponed that little outdoor adventure until Wednesday. We did however go out to eat TWICE today. For sentimental reasons, we ate breakfast at IHOP!! The very day we got married in Southern California, Bob and I had breakfast at the IHOP in Arcadia.


Then for dinner we went to The Olive Garden, enjoying our favourite pasta dishes and receiving complimentary desserts!!


When we got home, we pulled out our Wedding Album and FINALLY filled in the front page of the album--42 years after the fact!! It's a good thing we could still remember!! Now the generations that follow will know the details too. Bob, who has the best handwriting, did the deed.


I couldn't resist taking a shot of our wedding picture and then attaching a picture taken of the two of us just two days ago. Amazing the changes in 42 years!!



Doesn't Bob look great? Especially considering that his hemoglobin is quite low and he'll be getting a couple of pints of blood tomorrow while he's on dialysis.

And now we're looking forward to the next months and years that the Lord gives us together!!

Friday 19 August 2011

A few of Bob's "favourite things"!!

Here are a couple of pictures of Bob with some of his favourite people besides family!! These are some of the staff from the District Office. We spent an evening with them at Cedar Springs this week and had a wonderful time.




And of course, Bob loves books. Now that he has lots of time to read while he's on dialysis, our children bought him a "Kindle"!!


Bob went for chemo this afternoon but his white blood cell count was low so he didn't have it. We're not sure whether to be disappointed or not!!

My brother Jim will begin his chemo on Monday and will be receiving it continuously for four days. He'll also be having radiation each day for five weeks. This all sounds so vigorous and may really lay him low, so please pray that this treatment will be effective in shrinking the tumor without harming the rest of his body. Thanks.

And . . . Monday is our 42nd wedding anniversary!! We're looking forward to celebrating by driving up to Horseshoe Bay and taking the ferry over to Bowen Island for the day. Unfortuntely the forecast is for rain that day, and if it does rain, we'll go another day. But we will be celebrating all week long!!

Thursday 18 August 2011

Feelin' good!!

Bob is feeling SO much better since he's been on dialysis. Last evening we even drove just south of the border to join the District Office Staff at their annual retreat at Cedar Springs. We had a wonderful evening with our friends and colleagues and Bob felt that he could have stayed for the full two days if he didn't need to be back for dialysis tonight and chemo tomorrow.

Again we have SO much to be thankful for!! Pictures to come soon.

Thursday 11 August 2011

Mother and Daughter

We've posted pictures of all of the family at Redwood Park except ones that included Barbie. When she was here in July, we discovered what a lovely park it is--perfect for picnics and pictures. A friend took this of Barbie and me at that time.


Barbie is enjoying being "Super-Auntie" this week--with all of her nieces and nephews in Regina. She's got amazing energy when it comes to playing with them and they love her to bits!! Hopefully we'll receive some pictures soon.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

A few pictures








Now that all of our children and grandchildren are together in Regina, we hope to receive lots of pictures of the cousins having a great time together. There will be so much more space and action at the "ranch" than there was in our little condo. Tim and Kim care for 27 horses and have two dogs and nine new barn kittens, as well as a trampoline, sandbox, swingset, fire pit, and huge yard to play soccer and baseball. They will be having a blast!!

For those of you who know my brother Jim, he's undergoing a lot of procedures in the next couple of weeks to prepare him for both aggressive chemo and radiation for his gastro-esophogeal cancer. Please keep him in your prayers.

Happy Days!!

We had a wonderful eight days with David, Ann, Billy, and Manny and they are on the plane right now heading to Regina to spend a week with Barbie, Tim, Kim, and their four cousins!! Excitement abounds!!

Pictures will come in my next posting. Of course hundreds were taken but I'm having trouble locating them in my file!!

Papa and I are having a good rest today, thankful for our amazing kids and grandkids and taking great delight in the thought of them all being together.

Bob has improved every day since being on dialysis--experiencing new energy and stamina. On Monday we all drove up to Horseshoe Bay, taking the ferry to Bowen Island and then returning to have fish 'n chips. That day included a lot of walking and climbing stairs, and he kept up with us all!!

Yesterday Bob saw his oncologist for the first time in a month and she was pleased with his lab report indicating improvement in his kidney function and also a decrease in his "tumor marker"!! He will begin chemo again on Friday. In September he'll likely have a CT scan that will give a clearer idea of the status of his tumor.

We are thrilled and full of thanks to God for His goodness. We're so grateful for the good treatment that Bob is receiving through the medical system but know that the Lord is ultimately the Source of life and healing.

Thursday 4 August 2011

More kids here AND dialysis!!

David, Ann, Billy (6), and Manny (4) arrived from Western NY on Tuesday morning and will be with us for eight days before they fly to Regina to spend a week with Tim, Kim, and their kids, and Barbie.

We're having a wonderful time as the pictures will portray!! Thankfully we have the use of the guest suite in our condo complex so they have their own space, but spend most of the daylight hours with us.





Yesterday Bob had a "perma-cath" inserted into his upper chest at Royal Columbian Hospital. This is the "port" whereby he will be hooked up to dialysis. And today he had dialysis for the very first time--at Surrey Memorial Hospital. David was able to go with his dad to see what this is all about and share a bit of the journey with him. Bob was warned of some possible negative side-effects from the first dialysis but hasn't experienced any. I think it may take a few treatments before he will feel the positive effects, however he's been feeling much better this past week, even before the dialysis, for which we are SO thankful. After the first few weeks Bob may be able to get his dialysis at a community clinic in the Panorama area--just five miles north of us.

He will be on dialysis three days a week for 3 to 4 hours each time, and will likely resume chemo late next week. The scheduling of both of these procedures will need to be carefully worked out to prevent the dialysis from dialyzing the chemo out.

We are constantly amazed at the wonderful care Bob is receiving from the medical system and the tremendous support and prayer of family and friends. We know that the Lord is overseeing it all and working out His good and loving purposes in all that is happening.