Here I sit back in our hospital room; it isn’t where I want to be, but for now it is where we must be. We had a fabulous weekend. Dave, the kids, and I had a great time just hanging out. We had lots of hugs and cuddles. On the way back to the hospital, Dave told me his highlight of the weekend was when he was sitting beside Joel and Joel put his arm around Dave. I am not sure if I could pick a favorite moment, I just loved it all!!!
Here is Joel with our bunny Clover. Our previous bunny, who passed away last fall, was a lop eared bunny…Clover is not, but Joel kept trying to make her ears stay down.
I wanted to get some new pictures for Joel to have at the hospital with him, so this is one of Joel and Taliah…do you think Joel is having a good time? Taliah has been an amazing help; she worries us just a little because she is so helpful and accommodating, that sometimes I question whether all her needs are being met through all this.
Here is Joel with Mocha in his new chair that Kelly, Matt and Charlie are graciously loaning us. (thanks guys!!)
Had to stick in a picture of Mocha; she really is growing and she seems to be settling as she gets older.
Joel wanted pictures of the cats, too; this is Trumpkin, mouser extraordinaire.
And this is Garfield who likes to sun himself and eat whatever we put out for him and, if he can, Trumpkins share too! Maybe that is why Trumpkin is so good at mousing.
Joshua and Hannah were equally happy to have Mommy and Joel home. Joshua told me this morning that he was already looking forward to next weekend.
Ah, the men just hanging out together. It was hard to watch Elijah chasing down Joshua while Joel looked on…I know in hindsight I’ll look back on this time and be amazed at how quickly it went by.
Joel told me these are his best friends: his brothers and sisters. Elijah is bordering on that place of little boy and young man. He has been learning how to cook some favorites so he can be a help in the kitchen.

We all have different struggles and things we wrestle with, but after this weekend I am reminded of how rich and blessed I am. I am so proud of my 5 kids and how strong they all have been through this. I read a quote from Barbara Bush and… all politics aside I have to agree with her.
“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.”
We got to do just that this weekend, and it was wonderful. Heartbreaking too, as we drove off I saw Taliah start to cry, and as I type this, I have tears too; a couple of days is hardly enough. We are all counting down till our next homecoming, we have no idea how Joel will tolerate treatment so we are all praying that he flies through it so that we can go home again next weekend!!

Please pray for Joel as he has a long fast ahead of him and his first radiation treatment tomorrow. Thanks.