This Is Amazing!

We got these pictures in an E~mail the other day and thought that they were worth blogging about. They are all created with food.

Click on them to enlarge.

Someone sure has a lot of time and patience. Hope you enjoyed them.

Learning Colors!

Jerzie has started to copy what we read to her. She loves to say her colors. Laurie took this video while Jerzie and Uncle Chris were reading her favorite color book.

Can you tell what color we love to hear her say?

Second Round!

We took Dad back to Roswell today. He is having another three day Chemo treatment. He is in pretty good spirits despite having to shave his head on Monday. His hair started falling out and he just decided it would be easier to shave it off. He definitely looks different. Sharon is staying at the same place since it worked out so good for her last time.

Easter Pictures!

When we downloaded the Easter pictures from the camera we only had pictures of Jerzie. What a surprise that is. She kept us entertained after dinner.

She isn't too sure about the grass still this year, but she took everything out of her basket one by one and gave it to her mommy or daddy.

Don't you just love her dress? She looks so grown up with her pigtails.

She has figured out how to get up on the couch all by herself and boy is she proud.

We hope everyone had a nice Easter.

Happy Easter!

We hope you have a great day with family and friends! We are having dinner here this year with Dad, Sharon, Kim, Tabatha and Jerzie. It was Dads year this year. We have to split our holidays three ways. So, every three years we spend Easter with Dad. I'm sure we will have pictures to share after dinner today. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Spring!!!

I thought I would show you the latest stitchery that I did. It took me longer than I thought it would. The flowers in the basket took a while.

This was a fun one to do.

The purple flowers are small knots.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Our Favorite!

We can't wait for the Easter candy to come out so we can get our first bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs. They are the best!!

We don't know why you can't get them any other time of the year. It is probably a good thing that you can only get them at Easter or we would be in trouble.

We won't tell you how many bags we have bought this year :)

Do you have a favorite Easter candy?

Inside Of Hope Lodge!

This is the first area you see when you come in. Chris and I loved the wood on the walls in this room.

This is the room that Sharon stayed in. She had three beds, 2 twins and a full. We told her not to bring anyone home with her just because she had the room for them to stay.

This area was across from Sharon's room. Jerzie would have had a good time here.

This is the kitchen area. There are 3 fridges and a freezer for anything you would like to bring with you. There is also a stove so you can cook anything you would like.

There are two of these tables in the room.

This is a living room. The couches are very comfortable!! Chris and I waited for Dad and Sharon in this room the day we were bringing him home.

This is in the same room.

They also have a large dinning room. The pictures came out very dark so we couldn't show them. I believe there are 12 rooms that have beds in them. It is very nice and quiet. Sharon said she would stay there again.


Update on Dad.....

He had blood work on Friday and everything was good. He will have to have blood work three times a week to check his blood count and his platelets. Dad went to Roswell again on Monday and his platelets were low so he had to have a transfusion. He will have to go again on Wednesday. We will keep you updated.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We just wanted to tell everyone Happy St. Patrick's Day.

We also want to wish Chris's Mom and Dad a Happy Anniversary. We love you both and hope you have a great day. (no snow :)

Good Luck D.J. !

Dale Jarrett the 1999 series champion will make his 668th and final start today at Bristol.

Career Stats

3 Daytona 500 victories for Dale Jarrett, third most by any driver along with Bobby Allison and Jeff Gordon. Richard Petty has seven Daytona 500 wins, followed by Cale Yarborough's four. Jarrett won in 1993, 1996 and 2000.

6.8 Average finish for Dale Jarrett during the 1999 season when he won the Cup Series championship.

7 Victories for Dale Jarrett during the 1997 season. He won consecutive races at Atlanta and Darlington, then collected wins at Pocono, Bristol, Richmond, Charlotte and Phoenix. He finished second in the championship by 14 points to Jeff Gordon.

8 Times that Dale Jarrett has finished the season ranked in the top 10 in points, seven of which he finished inside the top five. He won the 1999 Cup championship by 201 points over Bobby Labonte.

32 Career victories for Dale Jarrett, ranking him 20th on the all-time list.

43 Career starts for Dale Jarrett at Bristol, more than any other track in his career. He has one victory (fall 1997), nine top-fives and 19 top-10s at the half-mile. His average finish is 17.1.

667 Career starts in the Cup Series for Dale Jarrett. He made his first career start on April 29, 1984, at Martinsville Speedway, where he finished 14th in the No. 02 Chevrolet.

Aug. 18, 1991 Date that Dale Jarrett recorded his first Cup victory, winning the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan while driving the No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers. He beat Davey Allison to the checkered flag by an estimated 10 inches.

Oct. 2, 2005 Date that Dale Jarrett won his last Cup race, the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega while driving the No. 88 Ford for Robert Yates Racing. Jarrett led two laps, winning the race under caution over Tony Stewart.

"This week has been a lot more different than what I've thought all season," said Jarrett, who will start 37th in the Food City 500. "I've always been able to say, 'I've got a few more weeks,' or, 'I've got a couple of months before that comes.' It was easy to say at that time, but we're here. This is it this week. I've found myself thinking about a lot of the things that have happened over the last 20 years. It's been fun thinking about it, but kind of difficult to see now that it's coming to an end. It's been great. I've had a wonderful time."

GO DALE GO!!!

Welcome To Hopes Lodge!

Here are some pictures that we took of Hopes Lodge. This was Sharon's home away from home for the 6 days that Dad was in the hospital.

This is the front door. It is just huge. We were shocked when we got there to check into the room. Look at the detail of the door handle. Click to enlarge. See if you can find the face.


This is where the stair case is.

The windows are so pretty.

We tried to figure out how old the house is but we aren't sure.

They added on to the back so they could put an elevator in. The people that work here are great. Sharon felt very comfortable, which is good since she had to stay for so long. She parked her car and didn't drive the whole time she was there. She just used the shuttle that the hospital provided for her. We will be giving you a tour of some of the inside soon.

Nice Crack!

On our way to see dad on Monday, we got hit by a rock or something and this is what happened to the drivers side of our windshield. We called our insurance company as soon as it happened.

She took care of everything for us. They are going to come right to Walmart and fix it for us.

So glad we had glass coverage and an agent that takes such good care of us!!!!

Happy 40th Birthday Sister!!!

Today is Chris's sisters 40th birthday

and we just wanted to say....

Happy Birthday Sister!

What a Week!

Sunset pictures from Monday on the way home.

Dad had to stay in the hospital for an extra day, so it made everything else a little screwy for everyone. He was supposed to get released from the hospital on Sunday. We all went out to see him. Even Jerzie got to see him for a little bit. She wasn't too sure about Grandpa being in the hospital bed with all the stuff attached to him, but it sure put a smile on Dads face. He didn't get out because he couldn't go to the bathroom, so they had to keep him in the hospital an extra day. Chris and I drove out yesterday thinking dad was coming home, but come to find out he had to be released from the hospital for one day and come back to the cancer clinic the next day to get a shot, then he could go home. So instead of driving him home just to bring him back to Buffalo the next day we got the room at Hopes Lodge for one more day. Chris and I got him back to the room and settled in before we left to come back home. We drove back to Buffalo today to load up the car and to get dad back home. We finally got him home and settled at 2:00 this afternoon. He is doing pretty well. He is very tired and can't believe how it knocked him on his butt so fast. He will have to go back to Buffalo starting on Friday for blood work. He will have to go for blood work three days a week until they think he is ready to handle another round of chemo. The tumors on his neck aren't visible to us anymore and the tumor in his groin has shrunk some. We will play the next treatment by ear. At least we kind of know what is in store for us next time.

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments.

Quick Update!

Dad is on the 5th floor.
He does have a pretty good view from up there.

We got dad to Roswell Park at 11:00 AM on Thursday. He was in his room by 12:00, had an iv in by 12:30 and was heading for surgery by 1:15. He had a port put in so they don't have to keep poking him. While he was having his port put in, we took Sharon to Hope's Lodge. It is a house through the American Cancer Society where Sharon and Dad can stay for free. She gets a private room. On the floor where she is staying on there are 2 shared bathrooms. Any of us can stay in her room if we have to. We think that the best part is that she can get shuttled back and forth to the hospital at any time of the day for free. Dad didn't have his chemo until 8:00 PM. They like to do it at night so the patient can rest easier. He seems to be doing really good today. He is sick to his stomach a little, but he was before he had chemo. The nurse practitioner came in today and told them that the tumors seem to have shrunk some already.

Thank you for all of your comments.

They mean a lot to us.

Rough Weeks Ahead!

Picture taken Christmas Day 2007

My father has been fighting Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma on and off for quite a few years. He has gone through Surgery, Radiation and Chemotherapy many times. He has been dealing with a tumor in his groin for many months and has gone through 9 treatments of radiation. It shrunk a little but has still been giving him some pain. Now they have found two tumors on his neck, one on each side close to his jugular. The doctors at our cancer center decided they wanted him to go to the cancer center in Buffalo. (about 2 hours from where we live) Many of you may have heard of Roswell Park. The doctors at Roswell Park want him to have an intense 3 day chemo treatment. He is going for the treatment starting on Thursday of this week. The doctor told him that if he didn't think it would help he wouldn't put him through this. I am taking a leave from work so I can be there with him and his wife (Sharon). I am going to try to come home at night so I can sleep in my own bed. Chris is trying to get Thursday and Friday off so he can drive me back and forth to Buffalo. We are going to be very busy with dad for a while so we don't know how often we will be able to post.

We will try to keep you updated.