Resolution #1 for 2008

This year is going to be a different year for us than any other. We have so much to be thankful for and to live for and not to take any precious moments for granted.

One of the things Dave loves to do here is to go on a hike. Because of the events that took place in the last 4 months, we have not been able to do much of that. Well, we decided to welcome the new year by hiking up the Pinnacle Peak on a New Year's Day. It was just the 3 of us - obviously we couldn't have done it with Lera on my back.. so her 2 other siblings stayed behind to babysit. It was unusually breeze out especially nearing to the top but we made it! I think this was a key event, at least in my mind - a reminder to stay positive, active & to keep on moving!!

Dave has gone in for 2 radiation session thus far. So far so good. He says his right forehead feels warmer than the left - which makes sense and already, strange fatigue is setting in. Please pray for strength & stamina for Dave.







Love,

Dave & Fami

A Few Brave Men.....Bold IS Beautiful!

I don't exactly have their permissions YET but I figured forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission sometimes... so I wanted to introduce a couple of very brave men that have captured out hearts & gratitude.

Most of you will recognize Ray, our dear brother in Christ who serves the Lord as a missionary in Ukraine. Woodbury COC has been supporting Ray for the past few years. We have always thought very highly of him and admired his dedication to God's work and for his love & service to people in Ukraine. Ray is home now from Ukraine for the holidays and upon hearing that Dave was going to shave his head in preparation to radiation, Ray has taken it upon himself to join in and buzzed his hair! He is such a great guy.... and though without his permission, here is the photo we received from Ray this afternoon. :)


Here is his BEFORE (with Dave
back in 2005 while Dave was visiting
Ray in Ukraine)

Here is Ray after!



Another man that have truly humbled our hearts by his action of love is Bill Raper. Dave & Bill grew up together in Michigan but have not spoken or seen each other in many years. When Bill heard that Dave was going to buz his hair for radiation, he decided to go all the way and shave his hair when it was time for Dave to start the radiation therapy. Well, Bill beat us to it - and went all out! He lives in Florida with his family. Oh, by the way, I don't yet have a permission from Bill either. lol.

Here is Bill!







Dave will begin his radiation treatment on Jan. 2, on Wednesday at 4:15 pm our time. Please keep him in your prayers - for his continued healing, for the effectiveness of the radiation treatment and for his body to respond favorably to the treatment.

Thank you all and we love you!

Dave, Fami & family

And here is my measly contribution to the cause. I had total of 6-8 inches cut off.. but not like these guys. lol. Tori & my stylist wouldn't let me go any shorter. lol. I'm going bit shorter though... maybe in 2 weeks. I won't take Tori with me again for sure! lol.

Wishing you a Happy New Year

I haven't had a great deal of positive things to say... so as my parents would say 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything' - believe me, that saying is universal, all over the world!

Anyways, I have kept my mouth pretty quiet but as the new year approaches, I will be renewing the site with more thoughts & positive vibes. :-) As one of our friends said in her X'mas card "2008 will be a much better year for you".... meaning it can't get any worse than the one we are just ending... I pray that is true. As long as I approach life in one day increments, I do great. If I look too far into future, that's a bad news. I will turn into a big puddle of tears... so do remind me if you can - and often to enjoy TODAY. I know tomorrow will have its own challenges... so Live TODAY and make the best of it.

Thank you to all who have stuck by us this past 4 months.. it's been a bumpy ride. Hopefully it will get pretty smooth here on out, especially after the next 6 weeks is done. Please pray for Dave while he goes under radiation therapy for its effectiveness and that his body will respond favorably. He will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 4:15 pm. 5 days/week for 6 weeks...

By the way, an old friend of Dave shaved his hair for Dave. What a cool thing. I am getting my hair cut - and I am going for short - but not shaved. I will spare the humiliation (on children) though I will have no problem shedding all of it for my honey.

lots of love to you all,
Fami

Wish I was there...

This was the weekend I was supposed to be in MN for Katy's wedding & Ladies' retreat with the girls from church. I am anxious to find out how the wedding was like.. and to hear about the ladies' retreat. Terry reported in right after she left the retreat in great spirit. I am so excited to hear her part went great - and Roz did a great job introducing Terry on my behalf. I really wish I could have been there..!!!

Isaac is on his way to L.A. today for a national tournament for Brazilian Jiu-Jittsu. I wish we could have made the trip with him. He is traveling with another teen participating the tournament and his dad. We are prayerful that we will be able to make the next trip to L.A. in December for his next tournament in CA.

Dave is doing great. Still gets his daily headaches around his incision but we realize that it just takes time to heal and it's a natural process of healing.

Please drop a note to let me know how the wedding & retreat was!! I am anxious to hear what wonderful weekend I missed!!!!!!!

love,
Fami



Do you recognize one of these guys???

Counting our Blessings...

It's pretty tough to keep the two blogs going these days. I don't want to bring in anything sappy or worrisome to this blog and it's sort of tough for me to keep those feelings separate & pushed aside. But what we are trying to do as a family is to keep our focus on the things we are thankful for - and to turn our thoughts on things above. I think our kids are getting sick of me turning everything little thing into 'life's lesson'. I can almost hear Tori thinking "oh, there she goes, she's starting to preach again...". lol.

I am constantly telling the kids that another day of life, to be able to wake up & and get up is a huge blessing.

Having friends who love the Lord and who are praying on our behalf help us to be stronger Christians.


I love what Bill Tatum wrote on the guest book (caringbridge.org) : God is good all the time; All the time God is good. I am constantly reminded of this and keep it in my heart to guard myself against fear, discouragement and discontent.


On another note, Tori asked me the other day what PMS was. lol. I told her that's when a mean witch comes & snatches my body and makes me act mean & evil on a monthly basis. I am afraid that the time is coming very soon. I wish I could walk around with a warning sign. If I can just get a full night's sleep, maybe the body snatcher will stay a way a bit longer. ;-)

Have a great one!
Fami

A week later. . . .

Good morning, everyone.

It's so hard for me to even imagine it's been a whole week since the egg sized mass happened to Dave. That still seem so unreal - but what matters is that we are on this side of the story now and he is slowly but surely recovering from it all.

We got home on Thursday afternoon and Dave was still experiencing nausea, dizziness and headache. I have been playing his nurse around the clock making sure he takes his pain meds every 4 hours with food - which has helped with the nausea & dizziness. Headache still lingers and we are going to address that when we see his surgeon on Wednesday at the hospital.

Dave is very antsy. He think that he's ready to go back to work any min. and is setting goals, etc. I just look at him cross-eyed and roll my eyes. He's nuts! I have hardly recovered from the experience, emotionally and I need him to be home so I can be assured of his recovery! I am praying that he will take it to heart that he can just do this for ME even if it's not in him to slow down. So far, he is complying. :-)

I had a heartfelt conversation with Lera the other night when I was tucking her in. She's had a rough week last week also not knowing where her parents had been wisked off to. Ever since we have been home, she has not wanted me to be out of her reach and if I were to head to the front or to the garage, she follows me crying.

As I was tucking her in,
I asked her, "Did you miss daddy & me while I was gone?"
Lera: "Yes, I did. Did the doctors fix dad's head?"
me" Yes, they did."
Lera: "Where did they take him?"
me: "TO the hospital"
Lera" What did they do to him?"
Me: "They took his boo-boo out and made him all better"
Lera" Is he going to fall down again and choke?"
Me: "No, not any more".

****
Since this conversation, I am convinced that she totally understood what happened and recalls exactly what happened. She is so worried that daddy will choke again (seizure) and fall down. I assured her that they took his boo-boo out and it's all gone now. I can't imagine how scared she must have been.

Isaac and Keenan are doing great. A little more grown up than a week ago and realize they have to pitch in whenever they can to keep the family going. Tori is her usual self.... which probably isn't a bad thing and it also tells me that she's let go of her tension & anxiety and is back to her normal self.

I already miss Terry being here with us. She knows us SO well and was the exactly the right person we needed to be here in times of trial as such. Thank you to all that made her trip possible. God has truly watched over us every step of the way and I am convinced God had been preparing our way for this for many many months so that it will all work out.

I am anxiously waiting for a call from the hospital today after the tumor board meets. Tumor board - I know it sounds kinda funny but it is made of all the doctors, surgeons and specialists that attended to Dave while he was in the hospital. They are meeting today to discuss his case and will present a follow up plans for us. We are also meeting with Dr. McDougall on Wednesday when Dave will have his staples taken out. Yuck. I had to remind him how he sat in a comfy chair and read the newspaper while the doctor was taking my staples off of my leg last summer. We'll see what happens. If I come across a cheesy magazine, I may just sit back & relax and the surgeon do his job. lol.

We will keep you posted!
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us none-stop. I appreciate every thoughts, prayers and support you sent our way. We love you so much!

Fami

Updates

Good morning. :-)

We have set up an caring bridge site for Dave & his progress. It has been a tremendous journey this past few days and we couldn't have done it without all of your prayers. The link is:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/daviddoederlein

I hope you can visit, leave a message or two for Dave.
Please be sure to add Dave to your prayer list.... his battle has just began and we want to be sure we are both ready to face it together. I am determined that he will beat it. I just need the strength to keep going for the both of us when he is down.

We love you & thank you so much!
love,
Fami

Sunday, Sept. 9

Greetings to you from AZ.

I wish I didn't have this news to say - but because I believe in the power of prayers and your love & friendship, I ask you to please pray, pray & pray for Dave. I also ask you to pray for me as I am the weaker one and need strength and courage to face this unknown.

MRI did reveal the swelling to result from a small mass = tumor. Until he has an exploratory surgery, we will not know the details of it - but his seizure is being controlled with medication - which the drs are 100% sure is the result of the swelling of the brain tissue. I feel weak, physically but am at peace. God has blessed us with so many of your prayers, phone calls and messages. We are so blessed.

Grandma is flying in from florida shortly to watch after the kids. I have been crying on/off but am okay. Being with Dave alone makes me weep. I love him so much and he is so precious to me.

Hug your husband or wife and give him/her an extra squeeze tonight. You just do not know what tomorrow brings your way. I sure didn't see it coming and I am SOOOOO grateful for the love and friendship Dave and I share and it's reaffirmed & being stegthened from this also.

love to you all.
Fami

Happy September!

I can hardly believe this is September. I am sure most of you are feeling it deeply as your children started school this week. It's harder for it to sink in for me for 2 reasons: 1) school has been in session here for a month now, 2) it will be another month before the temp starts to show the sign of fall's arrival here.

I haven't been able to update the blog as often due to my dell's AC power cord died over the weekend. I am having to borrow Dave's which is okay but he is also having trouble with his. Speaking of Dave, he has been traveling a lot lately. He was in Canada for a few days right after Labor Day and is now in Atlanta. He will be off to Rhode Island next week. I am finally getting used to his load of travels but poor guy, he is worn out.

House is still up for grabs. We did receive another offer -but it was a contingency offer which the relo company will not allow. Dave's mom & I went to look at a couple of houses with our realtor over the weekend and found a house we both really liked. It was still bit high at the time but everything else was perfect for our family. Our agent gave a feedback and told them that the listing price was still bit high - and the sellers dropped $50K the next day. It is an incredibly slow market here which is GREAT for buyers but as it is in Woodbury, it's a painful market for the sellers. I am just praying fervently that someone will step up & make an offer soon!!!!!!!!

I have a few pictures I would love to share with you when my laptop is back in business!

Have a wonderful weekend!
love,
F

Great Local Eateries

One of the great advantages (and adventures) of living in the southwest is FOOD! Given an opportunity, Dave & I can turn into quite the foodies BUT Dave has restrained himself quite well from being a victim of overeating. Me? not so much.

Here are couple of restaurants that we've visited recently that rate pretty high in our little book:

Bienvenidos a El Encanto (http://www.elencantorestaurants.com)
X Tapa Joe's Mexican Restaurant, Scottsdale, AZ. (no website)

I seem to always end up ordering similar items like shrimp tacos or seafood enchiladas. They are so incredibly good here.

Speaking of food, I hear there is a new Trader Joe's store at Woodbury Lakes! How cool! We have one in Scottsdale that I make a weekly trip to. If you have't visited already, I highly recommend it!! I know some of you aren't too crazy about TOFU but you may want to give it a try! It's onlly 99 cents/pkg at TJ's AND tofu offers great number of health benefits! I grab 6-7 packages every time I make my weekly trip to TJ's. You can cook pretty much anything with tofu that you would with meat. You need some recipes? Email me & I will be happy to send you a few! Another one of my favorite items they offer is Edamame. You can find it in the freezer section for about $1.30/pkg. It's a great snack for kids & makes a great addition to salad. I like to pop them in my mouth straight out of the pods. Add little sea salt or kosher salt after boiling the pods. I will be curious to see if there is a great cost difference.


Have a great weekend~!!
F

This sign made me think of Leland & Jeanne M!!