Well hello everyone!  Did you think I forgot to update all of you?  I actually didn’t, but we’ve been so busy this summer enjoying life I didn’t want to take the time to sit down and spend time on the computer. 

Jacob is great!  Life is great!  Things are great!  Okay, I’ll try to fill you in where I left off.  So much to tell!  First off, the last day of treatment was great!  How can it be bad when we’re celebrating something so wonderful?  They spoiled Jacob of course and Caleb too!  Lots of gifts and cake.  🙂  Ken was able to arrive in time for the party.  Caleb and I went down to the lobby to meet him and Caleb ran up to him and said “Dad, I did it!!  I made it through it all!!!”  It brought a tear to our eyes.   It’s so easy to put your focus on the child fighting the cancer, but we sometimes forget how hard it is on the siblings too. 

After chemo was done (YES!), we went to Bay Beach and rode some rides and then off to dinner at Texas Roadhouse – Jacob’s choice.  So if you’re familiar with the restaurant, when it’s someones birthday, they have them get on a “bull” and some people clap.  Caleb begged Jacob to tell our waitress that it was his last day of treatment.  Jacob was very hesitant to agree since he doesn’t like to be the center of attention.  Caleb won.  Soon, our waitress announced “We have a special guest with us tonight.  11 year old Jacob had his last chemo treatment today”, while Jacob sat on the “bull”….  Everyone clapped, cheered and whistled!  It was unbelievable how loud it got in there.   I did everything to keep from bawling.  Jacob gave everyone a big “Yee Haw!”  The owner came over to congratulate him and gave the boys ice cream and brownies.  Someone (anonymous) paid for our dinner and when we left, the employees were lined up to shake his hand and congratulate him.  It was an AWESOME day!!!  Thank you God for all of your blessings!!!

Saturday we got up early to join in the fun that Take ’em Outdoors organization had – a walleye tournament.  It was just for fun for kids diagnosed with life threatening diseases and combat wounded vets.  Everyone was assigned to a fishing pro to fish with.  The couple we were assigned to were amazing!!  We had such a good time with them and enjoyed fishing on their beautiful boat (pictures below).

Since then, we’ve been just loving life and keeping busy.  We had a party for Jacob in July to celebrate his health – JacobPalooza.  That was a lot of fun being with friends and family.  Jacob also had scans on July 8th.  EKG, ECHO, XRay, PET, MRI, CT Scan and bloodwork.  It took several hours, but praise God, all of them came back great!  All of Jacob’s blood counts were perfect except for his lymphocytes, which is part of his immune system that helps fight off viruses and bacteria.  That was only at 500.  They would prefer a couple thousand at least.  His docs said it could take up to 6 months to get it where it needs to be. 

Let’s see, what else have we done.  We have gone swimming, hiking, biking, saw many different waterfalls, had a wonderful camping trip in Brevort, went to the Soo, camping and hiking in Grand Marais, kayaking several times, went to the UP State fair, miniature golfing and zip-lining to name a few.  We just love being home as a family.

School started on Tuesday (1st day picture below.  Look at all that beautiful hair!) and as a 7th grader this year, Jacob is loving it.  He has to get up at 6:00 every morning and catch the bus at 7:00.  Actually both the boys do.  So far so good.  I think he’ll do good energy wise.  Even though his energy was up and down all summer, it’s been on the upswing lately.  He’s been kayaking for a couple of hours at a time and last weekend he hiked 3 miles in and out of a waterfall with no complaints.  Ken and I were laughing because there’s Jacob – everything he’s been through going steady and strong and Caleb complained about being tired and could barely walk on the way out.  Ha!   Jacob still suffers from chemo brain – his short term memory is certainly not functioning the best.  Hopefully it’ll get better.  His oncologist said it should, but some don’t.  Please pray it will!

Unfortunately we’ve lost a couple of cancer fighters this summer.  It just breaks my heart!  I can’t imagine what these families must be going through.  Please be praying for Avery and Uzias’ families.   For complete peace.  Please continue to pray for Julia and Selena as they are fighting hard! 

I will try to update more often.  Now that the kids are in school 🙁 .  I miss them lots, but I’ll have more time to get online. I just got a job with Skandia Township, which is only a few hours a month, but it will be enough to keep me preoccupied a little bit while my babies are gone.  🙂 Thank you again everyone for your support over the past couple of years.  I know a lot of people didn’t or don’t agree with our choices we made for Jacob, but we did what we believed was right and what God wanted us to do and we don’t regret any of it.  We believe he’s here today because of it.  He’ll have scans again October 2nd, so I’ll keep you updated on that.  God bless you all Team Jacob!!!

Guess what???  We’re in Green Bay again and what does that mean?  JACOB’S LAST WEEK OF TREATMENT!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Yes, we’re just a little bit excited.  Can you tell?  Jacob is soooo excited!  He has brought it up several times over the last few days and practically bounces off the walls when he talks about it.  🙂  We are excited too, of course.  I’m so glad it’s just about over.  I am so tired!!  So very very tired!  Mentally and physically.  I can’t wait to have a good nights sleep.  🙂 

We had a good time at home, of course.  I hurt my back digging flowers right after we got home, so I didn’t get much done.  Was hoping to work out in the yard lots, but that didn’t happen.  I guess that’s God’s way of telling me to not go by my plans because He has plans of His own.  🙂  So after several chiropractor appointments from 2 different chiropractors, I finally feel better.  Not 100%, but better.  The worst part is, sitting causes the worst pain.  Guess what I’m doing a lot of this week?  Ugh!!

Anyway, last week, my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece came up for the week for a visit.  It was so good seeing them!  We had just seen them about a month ago at my Mom and Dads, but that was just for one day.  This time we really got to enjoy their company and of course love on the kids, Brady and Paige.  Jacob and Caleb love them and enjoyed playing with them.  They’re 1 and 3, so I enjoyed having little ones around the house.

So now we’re to this week……..  Now only 4 days of chemo left!  Caleb is with us of course and Ken is coming down to meet us on Friday for a big fishing trip on Saturday with “Take ‘Em Outdoors”.  The organization that took Jacob turkey hunting back in April.  We will be walleye fishing with pros and semi-pros.  After, they will be serving lunch and will have an afternoon of fun.  We’re really looking forward to it.  What a great way to end chemo and celebrate with a day of fun! 

More good news, Jacob will have scans again in a few weeks and will need his port taken out.  His docs down in Milwaukee at CHOW said originally that they would want to see him for future scans and checkups.  We were really hoping we could do all of those appointments in Green Bay for the shorter drive.  So, I did a little begging, and his main doctor at CHOW agreed that Jacob could do all future appointments and scans in Green Bay and we would only need to head down if there were any concerns.  PRAISE GOD!!!  That is a major blessing, especially with less driving time and with the gas prices…….

Please continue to keep Jacob in your prayers!  These kids who go through this treatment need your continued prayers for years and years.  Not just through treatment.  We appreciate your prayers so much!   Can you please continue to pray for Julia, Avery and Uzias?  They’re all having a rough time right now with that “C” monster coming back.  Please pray for a miracle to happen in their lives.

Hello everyone!  Hope you all are doing well.  We are!  Got back to Green Bay this morning.  Our home away from home.  🙂  Our two weeks went by fast at home, but guess what that means?  We’re just that much closer to being done.  Yay!!

On our way home on Friday (two weeks ago), we stopped by Caleb’s school and picked him up.  He wasn’t expecting us, so when he saw us, the look on his face was priceless!  I wish I could take those moments and bottle them up.  Loved it!!!  Thankfully the last little bit of snow melted that day, but then we ended up getting more Saturday and Sunday.  At least that snow didn’t stay.  How depressing that would be!  I hated to admit it, but it was beautiful – all the snow stuck on the branches.  Maybe beautiful for November, but not for May!

So guess what?  On Sunday night after we got back, I ended up getting the flu!  Yuck!  I haven’t had that in awhile.  So apparently that’s what Caleb must have had before we left.  Ken didn’t feel good in between us, but of course Jacob got through it!  That kid has been so healthy (believe it or not) the last couple of years.  Other than the ugly “C” word, he hasn’t even had the sniffles!  Well, I felt horrible, but mended quickly.  Thankfully it only lasted about 12 hours.

Wednesday, Caleb had his first baseball practice.  He seemed to like it okay, but I think it’ll be a little too slow moving for him.  He likes action!!!  Unfortunately he missed his first game, but he’ll have plenty to make up for it.  🙂

On Friday, the boys and I headed downstate to my parents house as my older sister was throwing a baby shower for my younger sister.  I really didn’t want to get in the car again – either did Jacob, but we were so excited to see the family.  My older sister and 3 of her kids were there along with her oldest daughters husband; my brother, his wife and their 2 kids; my younger sister and her son.  And of course my parents.  🙂  I was also able to see a couple of Aunts and cousins.  The best part was being able to see my Grandma who is 98 years old.  🙂  I haven’t seen most of them since last summer.  We had a wonderful time, but came back on Monday. 

Jacob ended up going to school half day on Tuesday and decided to try a full day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I didn’t know how he would do going three full days, but he made it okay.  He had a good time especially knowing that that was his last week of school. 

Friday, Caleb had his first baseball game (that we made it to).  They got spanked!  It wasn’t pretty!  Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of baseball, so it was very long and boring.  2 1/2 hours!  Yes, I love watching my kids play sports, but there was nothing to watch.  Barely any hitting or running for our team.  Ha!  Hopefully things will be better next game.  We had a couple of graduation parties over the weekend.  Had a good time visiting with friends.  By the way, congratulations Megan and Laura!  🙂  Sunday we went to church and then our friends John and Joy along with their girls came over for a cookout.  We had a very nice visit and the weather was gorgeous.  As a matter of fact, it was gorgeous all weekend!  It was so nice spending all our extra time outside.  We didn’t want it to end.    Even better, Jacob felt fantastic!  Jacob and Caleb went on a bike ride over the weekend.  I thought that would knock him down, but I think he was even more hyper after he went.  Ken and Jacob played around in the woods Monday morning and did a lot of walking.  He wanted to keep going and had wonderful energy.  So happy to see that. 

Arrived in Green Bay today.  We decided to bring Caleb along.  Ken’s work is just getting too busy and with school ending on Thursday, it’s just too much to find someone for Friday and Saturday to take him along with early in the morning and after school.  Glad I have my little man with me.  🙂  It was a long day at the clinic.  The first day here is always a long day.  By the time they check his blood counts, have our doctor visit and start and finish chemo, it’s usually at least a 5 hour day.  It may not seem like much to some, but it is!  Thankfully, his counts were fantastic!!  They haven’t been this good since before chemo started in October.  Yay!  So, with Memorial Day messin’ things up a bit, we won’t be leaving till Saturday.  But that’s okay….at least he’ll only have one treatment left!  Praise God!!

On a sad note, Little Zeke who I’ve asked prayer for in the past passed away about a week ago.  Also, sweet Bella passed away earlier today.  Please keep these families in your prayers!  My heart just aches for them.  Cancer sucks!!!  Also, please continue to pray for precious Julia.  She finished a different chemo to see if it would take care of the relapse, but it didn’t even touch it.  Now they’re planning on a stem cell transplant at St. Judes.  Please pray for a miracle in this little girls life! 

Well, it’s getting late and we have an early day tomorrow.  Thanks again for all of your support and prayers!  Jacob is doing wonderful!  So thankful for God’s protection on him.  We praise Him and thank Him everyday for it!  I will try to post a picture of him soon so you can see for yourselves.  🙂  Blessings to you all!

Happy Monday!  Just kidding!  Well, back in ole cheeseland again.   We had a wonderful couple weeks at home, so I’ll fill you in….

It was so nice when we got back to town on Friday, the 29th.  We sunbathed (fully clothed) on the deck when we got home.  We hadn’t seen much of the sun in the past few months, so it felt great!  We ended up having a bonfire and visited with friends.   Caleb had the following week off for spring break, so I enjoyed all the extra time with him.  We told him to pick something extra fun to do for spring break and he picked bowling.  So, Tuesday after Ken got off work, we headed into Marquette.  We had wonderful family time.   Thursday, Jacob’s best bud came over for a few hours.  He told me numerous times afterwards how happy he was to see him.  It had been a long time since they got together out of school.  So happy they had such a good time! 

On Friday, we headed back to Green Bay.  Yes, on our weekend off.  Yes, we’re crazy!  🙂  An amazing organization called Take ‘Em Outdoors invited Jacob to go on a turkey hunt.  It was awesome!  We got down there (or should I say here) late afternoon.  We all met at a shooting range so the kids (about 10 of them) could practice shooting their guns and meet their mentors who would be taking them out.  After that they had a pizza party back at the hotel that they put us up in for the night.  Saturday morning, Ken and Jacob got up at 4:00 and headed out for the hunt.  They got back mid morning with a turkey in hand!  Yay!!  Jacob was so excited!  I think he was more excited than the two bucks he’s gotten in the last two years.  🙂  Everyone met at a restaurant across the road from the hotel for lunch they provided and handed out turkey calls and a mounting kit for the tail and beard.  So amazing!  Let me tell ya, I’ve heard that turkey call noise coming from Jacob’s room quite a bit over the past week.  🙂  Most of the time he does it just to drive our dog crazy.  Ha!  We ended up staying till Sunday.  We met amazing people and new friends!  Caleb had a blast playing in the pool with siblings of the hunters.  It was a great time for all of us!  We’re looking forward to the “Battle on the Bay” they’re putting on in June.  I will post a couple pictures below, but you can check them out on Facebook or their website, www.takeemoutdoors.org.  If you know of a child fighting a terminal or life threatening illness, please pass on this info.  They are fairly new and are trying to get the word out.   They even do hunts for combat wounded veterans.   Can’t wait to see our new friends again!  Thank you again Ginger for watching Katy for us!  🙂

Last week Ken had the week off, so we enjoyed veggin out together.  It was kind of a lazy week, but loved every minute of it.  Jacob’s counts were great on Monday, so he was able to go to school half a day Tuesday and half a day Wednesday.  He went full day on Thursday and was hoping to go a full day on Friday too, but guess what?  Another snow day!  Ugh!  It was nice to have the whole family home, but seriously?  This crazy weather can stop anytime now.  I’m sick of the white stuff!!   Caleb said he was happy because he “really needed a break!”.  Ha!  He just had the week before off.  Too funny!  The weather was so awful (I’m being sarcastic) that I dropped Ken and the boys off at the river to fish while I did my grocery shopping.  It was a win win.  🙂

So this morning we dropped Caleb off at school and headed back down here to Green Bay once more.  I could probably drive it with my eyes closed, but I promise I won’t try.  Jacob’s counts were perfect still.  So thankful for that!    He hasn’t had to have a transfusion in almost a month, so hopefully that trend stays.  He had his doctor checkup, started fluids and got his chemo.  When he was done, he wanted to stop by and see his friends in the radiation department.  Those ladies were so excited to see him!  Lots of hugs were given.    They are wonderful people.  We miss seeing them, but don’t miss the radiation.  🙂  Then off to get groceries and headed back to our home away from home – the Days Inn.  They just put in new carpet, so trying to deal with that smell.  Thankfully it was close to 60 here today, so we were able to open the window to air it out a bit and get some essential oils flowing in the air to help. 

Hopefully this week goes by fast!  It gets harder and harder to leave Ken and Caleb behind.  You’d think we’d be used to it by now, but we’re not.  I wish I could take Caleb with me each time.  It’s hard to leave him behind with tears, but do I dare give CPS another reason to harass us again???  Gotta love the freedom we have.  On a good note, Jacob only has 3 more rounds after this week!  Yay!!  So happy about that.  So happy that the end is in sight.  The last one will be towards the end of June, so we’ll have Caleb with us for sure!

Well, better go.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers and support.  We are so excited to see what God has planned for our lives.  For Jacob’s life.  We know it must be something awesome!  Our God is a perfect and loving God.  He doesn’t make mistakes!!

Please continue to keep the following children in prayer during their current treatment:

Julia (she just had a relapse), Bella, Halee, Lakin, Seth, Savannah, Avery, Uzias, Isaac, Matty and Brendan

I know it’s a lot to ask, but these children deserve a miracle!!!

Please continue to pray for the following children who are currently cancer-free and pray that they continue to remain in perfect health:

Brayden, Jacob, Miette, Johnathon, Bryan, Peyton and Lucas

I hope the last list grows bigger and bigger! 🙂  God bless you all!

Great news…………

Jacob’s scans were CLEAR!!  Praise the Lord!!!  We are so happy!  🙂  Actually, Jacob was painting when I told him and he barely stopped what he was doing and said calmly, “I know!” and went back to painting.  I love his faith!  Even though I knew too, it’s always nice to have those feelings confirmed.  

Our time at the hospital went well.  Jacob had bloodwork, CT, MRI, doctor visit, chemo and we were done by 1:30.  We then went to the mall (he had to check out a store that sells gag gifts) and got some groceries.  Now were veggin’ out in our hotel room.  That’s a pretty good day!  🙂

Thank you for all of your prayers!  Obviously they are working.  🙂  God is so awesome!

I love you so much Lord Jesus!  Thank you for taking care of my sweet boy.