Around the Home

Here’s a bit of a picture update on what’s been going on the month of December! So many fun activities to be had and can’t believe we are embarking on the turn of a new year! So thankful to experience what we could and so thankful for lots of snow that made this Christmas season even more memorable!

Our town has a large Christmas tree set up and here’s Mazy’s annual picture in front of it:

It was Christmas program time! A bit blurry (a friend had taken a better picture), but this is also a picture of perspective. My numbers were still very low, so going to church really wasn’t an option. But we put a chair in the way back away from everyone, I came late and left early, and was able to enjoy the whole program and most of the church service, masked. So many pieces of this leukemia journey are making me swallow my pride and what’s comfortable, but I knew it would mean so much to Mazy if I was there and I am so thankful I was. It meant just as much to me.

Mazy and Dan had a Daddy/Daughter dance through Winning At Home, where Mazy goes to counseling. It is an event they look forward to every year and it always brings a tear to my eye to see those two do this. It was the day I came home from my last treatment, and the doctors were determined to get me home in time so that I could help Mazy get ready and see them off. Mission, successful. So thankful for doctors who understand life outside of leukemia too.

The 8th graders from the school I work at sang Christmas carols and delivered some very unexpected gifts. Having the kids sing, always makes me cry! I thought being in heart failure made me emotional…leukemia has done it all the more!

The Christmas blizzard of 2022. All of our Christmas plans were changed due to an intense blizzard that swept through our area. In my 39 years of life, I’ve never seen the roads or the weather like this. Definitely one for the books! And in typical Michigan fashion, it’s going to be 50 by the weekend. So all of this snow we have, drifts along the road that are as high as the truck, will soon turn over to green grass. Only in Michigan!

It was hard to keep up on the snow, but Dan is the man and did a great job at ensuring we could get out if we needed to. Our road was maybe a different story, but our driveway was clear!

The massive drift off our garage…waiting for that one to fall!

Always time for sledding!

Our town at night, with all the lights and snow, could be straight out of a movie. So magical!

With all of our Christmas parties moved to different days, we decided to let Mazy open her gifts on Christmas Eve since we were stuck inside anyways. No complaints from her!

Gotta love it when her cousins wrap her present in duct tape!

Annual picture by my parent’s Christmas tree!

So many memories created and so many things to be thankful for. As I start to prep my mind for going back next Tuesday for my 3rd treatment, these are the moments that make this all worth while. Being gone for a week at a time can make it feel like I miss out on so much. And I do miss out on things. But this past month, I’ve been able to make it to all of the “important” events and happenings, which is all God’s grace. Even though it took me much longer to recover from this past treatment than I expected, I was still able to make it to all of the Christmas parties. Again, so much to be thankful for! Spurs me on to keep fighting through this next round so that I can continue to make it to events. Leukemia has taught me all the more this season that I don’t really need anything, but just my Savior and the people around me.