Merry Christmas! What a great year this was. Here I am at home celebrating our Saviors Birthday with my boys. A lot has happened since the last entry. I have been too busy with life. I talked about the back issues, well I had to go to Physical Therapy three times a week and then to Chiropractic a couple of times. I still think I can’t handle being popped. I have to admit though I felt a lot better afterwards. At the same time with all of this, I had a issue with Cameron. I spotted a lump on his back in July when I bathed him. It worried me a bit. We had to go through a bit of time before I could get a MRI. First we had cream to out on him (didn’t even touch it), then we had oral medicine (nothing either!), So finally we got a appointment with a pediatric surgeon . He felt it and mentioned that it was either a Hemangeoma (blood vessel) or a Lipoma (fatty tissue). I fought to get a MRI instead of a Sonogram. It worked! He had his MRI on the 12th. That was hard on me. I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while they put him to sleep. I was so strong until I had to leave the room. Then I cried. A lot. I don’t know how parents can have their children go through surgery and be so strong about it. That was so hard on me. I soon calmed down. The facility was just amazing. They helped me keep Michael busy. Cameron did great waking up too. Sweet thing. Then we had to wait. Here we go again the waiting game. After his yearly check-up she called! He has a Hemangioma (blood vessel). It is not cancerous and it is not attached to the spine! I was so relieved. We can handle this. Well sort of. We were referred to a Vascular Surgeon that specializes in children. I learned that there is only four in the United States, two of which are here in Dallas! Wow. We are so blessed. He has an appointment on January 15th to talk about surgery or not. Keep praying please.

Onto a better subject. I had my scans in Utah at the beginning of December. They are all clear again!! I am so happy. I fought the battle and am still winning! Thanks to all the support and prayers we received. Thank you.

This week Michael learned to ride a two wheeler!! He just asked his Daddy to take off the wheels. I was so surprised! He just does things on his own time. He’s amazing. So now he is a big boy now!!!

In our neighborhood we have a Santa Clause. The boys loved seeing him and we didn’t have to wait in the long lines to get a picture with Santa!! I can’t believe they do this every year. I am so grateful for them.

Yesterday was Christmas Eve. We had a couple of friends over for dinner. These are the same friend we spent Thanksgiving with. We were joking around saying who’s house for Valentines Day! I just love hanging out with them. We played a game and then we read the story “The Night Before Christmas” and then a book my parents gave us, “I Believe in Santa Clause”. Randy is such a good Narrator. Then we opened presents, which are always a new set of Pajamas. The kids love this. I know I loved it when I was little. We ate cookies that I homemade. Surprising huh? I found a great recipe for thin mints. Yummy! We went to bed while we waited for Santa.

Today is Christmas. We are so happy to be together here. Santa Clause came and brought us a Wii! Now I can get a great workout! Laugh Laugh. The boys were so surprised. They have been asking for one for quite awhile. We are going to have some good family times with this one. We also got a lot of other fun things. Cameron received a lot of Elmo toys. You should have seen his face with each one. The wrapping paper couldn’t come off soon enough! I was shocked how many fun new things we received. I’m going to have fun with the boys. Ricky and Michael got a lot of Tech Decks and Star Wars toys. They are set for life. Randy got some socks that he really needed and some nice shirts and all the goodies. I received a lot of Cricut fonts and tools. I also got a new camera!!! I love it. My other one is five years old. You know the ones that are huge and bulky while everyone around you can take theirs out of their pockets! That one. My new camera is so small. It also takes great, clear pictures. Now I can take my camera more places. This Christmas was so fun. I hope I never forget how I felt waking up here this year in my own bed. Last year I was in Utah fighting for my life. Who would have known how far I would be last year. I am practically back to normal. My strength is getting better everyday. I just need to keep doing my exercises. That is hard to do with the little ones around. Thank goodness they like to watch Sesame Street. It’s an hour long, that is what I need. Here is the letter I sent out to some in our Christmas Card. I realized that I have missed more people than I wanted to. I have way too many address books. I need to put it in one book sometime. Anyway I thought I would copy and paste it in fro you all to read. We also have a picture of our family in Santa hats. Mine says princess and Randy’s is a Cowboys hat his brother gave him. We had fun taking them. I hope to write soon. Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts. “Merry Christmas to all, and to all have a good night”.

Rebecca:)

Dear Family and Friends,

Here it is that time of year that we all celebrate the birth of Christ. I remember last year being Mrs. Bah Humbug. Let me explain: Last year as most of you all know I was diagnosed with Cancer in July. I thought I would go to Utah for treatment and come home by Christmas. We just moved in our house a year ago and I wanted to celebrate another year in our new home. I’m sure you all can relate. Well it didn’t happen. I was still in treatment. I remember thinking “why me?”, “Why right now in my life?” Christmas morning I woke up and tried to be happy for the kids. Wow that was hard. I ended up sitting back and watching while my family laughs and open presents. I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s Christmas. Then a thought came to me. This Christmas isn’t all about the presents or where I was at. This was Jesus’ birth. He came to this earth to give us life. He even died for us. And now here I was being very selfish wanting to be home. I couldn’t believe how I was feeling. Here I am with all my family, in Utah, and I’m still alive! Anyone else in my place would have been happy to be with everyone and not in a hospital bed. I soon changed my attitude. Then no sooner later, I open a present with a pair of pajamas that had Disney’s Eyehore on it and it said “Lighten Up”. Now that was funny. We all had a great laugh with that. After that I sat there thinking about Jesus and how lucky I was to have him on my side. During my journey with Cancer, I have never been so close to my Heavenly Father and Jesus. I know that prayers were answered. Heavenly Father listens. I felt Him near me at all times. I was saved. I had Hope. Now I have another Christmas to celebrate. And celebrate at home!!

This 2007 year was the greatest. Randy didn’t have to commute anymore on the airplane. He joined his carpool again. You should have seen how happy he was to return home again. He didn’t want to go on another airplane ride again. Southwest Airlines was the best job he could have ever had. Randy also changed his job title from Manager of Distribution to Business Analyst. He loves it. He came home, kissed me, and said “Why haven’t I changed this sooner?” Working on computers is his hobby. I’m so glad he loves his job. He also is a great Father to his sons. They love it when Daddy comes home.

I am a stay-at-home mom. I love it. When we returned home in June, I put Ricky to work. He helped me a lot with the kids so I could relax and get my strength up. I have had a few bumps and bruises but all in all I am not complaining. I went on a scrapbooking retreat in November. Oh yeah! That was a blast. I love to scrapbook. I’ve been getting some done. I don’t think I will ever be caught up, but I don’t mind. I love doing it anyway. My calling in church is the Visiting Teaching Coordinator. I just love it. I have a huge testimony of Visiting Teaching. I don’t know what I would have done without mine in Utah. They were always there for me. I loved seeing new faces and talking about something besides Cancer.

Ricky started third grade now, can you believe it? He has grown up so fast. He loves to read and do his work. He doesn’t like to miss school either. He also was baptized on his birthday in May. He asked me to lead the music for him too. I hadn’t been able to lead music since July of last year. He stays busy in Cub Scouts, playing basketball, and being a big brother.

Michael & Cameron enjoy being home with me. They keep me running around and keeping me in shape. Michael just turned 5 and really wants to go to school like his big brother. He can’t wait to play soccer this spring. I keep him busy with pre-school activities and taking care of Cameron. Cameron just turned three and will be going to school in January. He has a smile that will last a lifetime and a kiss that would melt a glacier! He enjoys playing and just following me everywhere around the house.

We give thanks this year to the Almighty for his love and willingness to listen to our most sincere prayers. We could not have made this journey without each of you. May we all remember why we celebrate this joyous time of year, He lives!