Hello Blogland!

I promise I did not fall completely off the face of the planet... just mostly.

I'm back in Texas and to tell you the truth I have been having a rough time here. It isn't really that anyone has said or done anything wrong. My family has been wonderful and I have only had a few minor "family issues". I think most of it stems from not having my own space. I'm basically sleeping in my grandfather's closet. Now before you think "how terrible!" let me explain that it IS a bedroom with a queen sized bed (horribly uncomfortable mattress, but I'll live). But I don't really have the luxury of privacy while I'm here. All the dresser drawers and closet space in the spare room are Pop's while all the rest of the closets in the house are Mam's. (Yes, I come by my clothing obsession genetically.) So any time he needs to get ready for church or anything he has to come into the room and move my stuff around to GET to his stuff.

Samantha's operation went well. We think her VNS stopped working the day before her operation but she is doing great now. We drove into Houston the same weekend that Hurricane Ike hit so finding a hotel with electricity, running water AND no "new" trees in the lobby (via the roof) was a trick! After driving around Houston for three hours we finally found one with a generator. The elevator was out so we all (Mom, Dad, Me, Samantha, Auron AND Xander) had to get up and down the stairs, but we lucked out and they had a room on the second floor. Dad also had his visit with MD Anderson while we were in Houston and they think he is now a great candidate for surgical intervention! (This increases his ten year survival odds from 5% here to closer to 70% there!) Sam has another minor operation coming up in a few weeks. She has grown so much in the past ten months that her feeding tube is too small and causing her tummy to bleed from the pressure. It is only slightly more invasive then, for example, changing out a tongue ring.

I am going to share some photos of the kids in their costumes because I'm not sure I will have the chance to blog again before the end of the month. I took these to send in a Halloween themed care package to Darrell! I hope everyone is doing well and, as always, we could use all the prayers and good thoughts you could send our way!

Until next time, God Bless!