Asher enters manhood

That's one small step for Asher, one giant leap for us all. Okay, manhood maybe extreme but Asher finally took his first steps and may I add, on his own initiative! Until now, he has shown no interest in walking unassisted, but he took 2 small steps followed by a leap towards me. After his first baby steps, we made him do it over and over and he was enjoying ever step. At times he was exuding so much joy in his new accomplishment, he was taking several quick little steps...too quick for the rest of his body. Up next on his accomplishment list-soccer!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BOYS!

both of my boys had their birthdays last week, so we celebrated them together. this will be the first of many times they share a cake, the bday song, and asher will probably always get more presents than james. i think james felt a little jipped in the whole thing though. he grew up with a twin brother. jason was more outgoing, and as he remembers, ALWAYS blew out the candles on their shared cake. well, this year his shared cake was with his son- but abbie blew out the candles for them. he was waiting for the one year he'd be able to blow them out and in swooped those little lips of abbie's and poof! he missed his chance again. maybe next year, baby... maybe.

we had a great time with friends and family and asher LOVED the cake. he is so happy, and full of life- a true blessing to our lives.

as james begins a new year of life, he will face new and harder battles with tumors returning to his jaw. the treatment is going to be rougher and the hope is getting smaller. but we know that God is the God of the impossible, and we will continue to live in the hope that he is able to do more than we imagine.

now, let them eat cake!

R.O.C.K in the USA!

to celebrate abbie's 5th birthday we threw a big rock n' roll party in the backyard! this is the first year the weather in april has cooperated and what a huge blessing that was! i tried to clean out the garage to set up the stage, but there is no way there would have been enough room. her friends all brought their own instruments and with marjorie's help we got a stage set up for them to perfom. the first game was called FREEZE PLAY! everyone played their instruments until abbie held up the STOP sign. whoever made the last noise got to go join abbie in dancing. it came down to two boys, and at this age it's too hard to declare only one winner. our friend noah made a turn table, that he was sliding his record on, like a dj! it was so creative. our next game was called RHYME TIME! we split into groups and they each made up a song using rhyming words. my group simply sang, "see the dog and a frog on the log... yaaaaaa". abbie's group sang "jingle pig, jingle pig wearing a nice wig. he danced a jig and ate a fig, jingle jingle pig". the last group sang about skat the cat, "i had a big cat with a silver hat. i wanted to chat but he ate a rat then he told me to skat... dubi du bop bop du bop and a rat a tat tat." it was a great time! we made ice cream sundaes instead of a cake and then a dance party started. it was a great night.

we are so blessed to have a great group of friends to share good times with. this will be a big year for abbie as she finishes her soccer team, possibly starting a karate class and she will start kindergarten in the fall! we love her so much and are so proud of the creative and compassionate young lady we see.

you can enjoy a glimpse into the party by watching the show! enjoy!

www.sorellimages.com/theparty/

ABBIE IS FIVE!

last tuesday abbie turned five! it is hard to believe...

we have a big rock n' roll birthday party friday night and will have a lot of fun photos to share! here are a few of the actual birthday, which was packed full of fun.

we love you, little miss abbie. keep loving God and growing into

the beautiful woman we're seeing.

spring soccer started today

GGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

abbie has been wanting to play on a soccer team and today her 6 week spring session started! it was so cold, but with 3 layers on we headed out to the field. her good friend jack is on her 'team' and they had a great time pretending to score goals! their coach was so enthusiastic and really wanted to make it a great experience for them. he remembered all their names right away, and paid good attention to each of them. it was really refreshing to see. they started at 6pm, getting new shirts and soccer balls. after some free time, they played tag, trying to dribble the ball and catch the coach. when they caught him 3 times he had to do something funny. they chose jumping jacks, push ups and star jumps. i'm sure he is glad i have photos of him doing his star jumps! they loved it though.

they did a few warm up stretches, on the ground... the cold, soaking wet ground. abbie hates getting wet and so she chose to do the stretches standing up. in the end this really paid off, because she never got cold and stayed dry the whole time. you can see the wet and muddy spots all the other kids have on the back of their shirts but not abbie. she is a crack up!

after several more rounds of tag and some different drills with the ball they split up and played 4 on 4 mini games. it is funny to watch them try to chase the ball, get control of the ball, head toward their goal and then get the ball taken away. i had to remind abbie that she wasn't supposed to get mad but to get the ball back. it is an interesting thing to teach her. she isn't used to running after someone to take something away from them, but she'll quickly learn.

her legs got tired, but she loved the whole thing. each tuesday from 6-7 they'll be out there learning, growing and exploring the sport of soccer.

enjoy the slideshow of the day.

www.sorellimages.com/soccer2009/

star wars

I have recently introduced Abbie to one of my childhood pleasures-Star Wars. I will be honest, even today when I pass by the toy aisle at Wal-Mart, I will purposefully find the Star Wars action figures. I own all the Star Wars DVDs and I am always in the mood to watch one of the films. Therefore it is no surprise that as I was shopping for Christmas gifts, my eyes were drawn to a Star Wars, the original trilogy, video game. Every Thursday is daddy-daughter Star Wars Day when we play the video game. Abbie enjoys playing this game and has learned all of the characters. Sometimes we will even break out my vintage Star War figures and separate them into what episode they appeared. Abbie and I spent some time this week drawing Boba Fett and Darth Vader:

the dance recital costume is here!

abbie has been in a dance class this year, and today she brought home her costume. i (sarah) spent most of my childhood and highschool in dance and for me, getting the costume is an exciting thing! i had her try it on right away, and in true abbie form, she was annoyed with the itchy sequins. of course.

her recital is in june, at the leid center in lawrence and the theme is ' the beatles'. her dance is 'the yellow submarine', so they are all sailors. she looks so cute in it, and is ready to do her funky chicken moves and strike a pose. enjoy a few images of her looking ready to perform!

a day in the life of a stay-at-home dad

Cancer has altered our lives in many ways. One of those ways is as a stay-at-home dad. As a young man, I never pictured my self in this role. Fortunately, I have a wife who has a job using her talents as a photographer. Often times she has a morning and afternoon photo shoot and if she is really ambitious she will meet with a friend after that.
Her absence leaves me plenty of time with Abbie and Asher. Saturday was one of those days. It began with our weekly ritual of "Daddy and Daughter Donut Day." I do this every week so Abbie has something special to look forward to with her dad (and its a nice excuse to eat a donut). After feeding the kids lunch, Abbie helped me measure all the ingredients to make bread-Do not be too impressed, the bread machine did most of the work.
Sarah returned home and we played outside on our swing set. I convinced Abbie that a paper machete Easter egg would be a fun project- it was an easy sell. It was very messy and fun. We will paint it after it dries. Abbie and I also spent time searching for The Littlest Pet Shop animals on eBay. We have been searching for the peacock, ostrich, and puffin...however, we lost all of the auctions. Sarah usually makes dinner but I made sandwiches out of the sourdough bread we made earlier. Donuts, lunch, naps, bread, playing outside, paper machete, searching for toys on eBay and even dinner...I think I have found my new profession.

any where but here

As we know, the biopsy discovered cancer in the area of my right hyoid bone. The cancer is near the original site and and is located under my chin and tougue. This new revelation explains the pain and problems I have been having recently with speaking and eating. As we discussed the location of this new growth, along with seeing it on the CT scan, I was filled with the horrified feeling you get upon receiving bad news. For me, this was the worst possible news I could receive and the only area I did not want the cancer to return. A small bump on my head-no big deal; Caner in my lungs-no problem; The pain from cancer in my hip and sacrum-not fun but I can live with it; This new cancer in my hyoid/mouth/jaw is much larger than I thought (size of a quarter) and therefore has the potential for further damage to speaking and eating.

The doctor (ENT) , who specializes in head and neck cancer, shared different treatment options with us: Do nothing, radiation, or surgery. The doctor said a surgery would be 50 times more difficult than his original surgery...so, No to the way- surgery is not a viable option. And of course doing nothing will allow the cancer to grow. Radiation is the only logical option and in the doctors words, radiaiton will "stun it" and stop the cancer from growing for a while. So eventually it may reappear it this area just like it continues to do in my hip/sacrum area. Therefore radiation will buy me a few years without serious issues. I will start radiaiton treatment as soon as the doctors can develop a treatment plan.

"its positive"

"Its positve." The word "its positive" are wonderful words. We heard these words in response to our first pregnacy test. I have used them to describe my performance evaluation from my former employer. I always strive to leave a positve impression on the new neighbor or a potential client. As a father my goal is to be a positive example on my children. My day is always better if a have a positive outlook on life. Its wonderful to live a life of positive things. The only time I hate being positive is after a biopsy. Yet the words we received speaking with the nurse today were, "the result is positive." I have at least one confirmed cancerous area near my hyoid bone on my right side; and I am still suspicious of an area under my left jaw bone. These areas are in very delicate locations and wisdom will be needed when attempting to do what is best. The last time I had cancer in this general area it had tremdendous consequences.
I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.