A Life Filled With Miracles. Dad Update 11/28/2016

As I started going through the beautiful pictures my best friend took of my family in an attempt to pick only one or two for our family Christmas card, I also pulled out my devotional and the words couldn't have been more perfect:

"A life of praise and thankfulness becomes a life filled with miracles. Instead of trying to be in control, you focus on Me and what I am doing."

A life filled with miracles is exactly what we have experienced- Dad is our miracle. 

I think back to that first Thanksgiving after Dad's diagnosis- we were in the middle of his radiation and intense chemotherapy treatment. Dad felt terrible, and we all had this thought in the back of our minds- what if this was the last Thanksgiving with Dad?

Each year since then we have been reminded how blessed we are for our miracle. Each year we are reminded of those incredibly difficult months following Dad diagnosis, months that we still look back and question how we ever survived it all. 

We celebrated another Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family, and we look forward to the Christmas season! It's really our family's favorite time of year- Mom always manages to go all out, and I managed to have about seven crates filled with Christmas decorations for my house. Like mother-like daughter apparently!

This last year has been one filled with so much joy. I can't share with each of you enough how blessed we feel to have Dad with us each and every day. I honestly can't share with each of you how much our faith has grown with each day that has passes. 

Dad is still off of all treatment- no chemotherapy and no Avastin- he's thrilled, and so am I- I haven't had to yell at any insurance companies or hospitals in what seems like forever!

We have another MRI at the end of the year, with hopes that everything appears stable and the break from treatments can continue, as I know the quality of life for Dad is so much greater since he's been on this break! We know all too well the beast we are up against, and we are so incredibly proud of Dad for being a three year brain cancer survivor!

Here is a little sneak peak of our Christmas card for this year! A big thank you to my best friend of almost 20 years for taking pictures for us again this year- check out her website loveandlightphotography.co,

Each year gets a little more challenging to manage the little ones, and next year will be even more challenging, as my middle sister, Meghan, and her husband Ross are expecting their first child! I'll be an aunt to three little ones, and I couldn't be more excited!

As always, your thoughts, prayers and kind words have meant more to us than you'll ever know. Thank you for your love and support, and thanks for helping us BTHO Brain Cancer!