Please Pray for my Brother, Richard Briscoe!

Please keep my brother, Richard Briscoe, in your thoughts and prayers as he is still undergoing chemo treatments and fighting his battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with colon and lung cancer back in December of 2006, and his cancer was cleared out of his colon, but spread to his lungs. He is taking 2 different drugs on a weekly basis, and has some pretty severe side effects with the one called Erbitux. He has broken out with bumps on his head, neck, chest, and back. He also has an infection in his mouth as a result of the bumps. It is very painful, especially with them on his scalp. When he went to the doctor yesterday, his doctor couldn't believe how serious his reaction is and said to Richard, "This is unbelievable, God Bless You for enduring this pain." My brother was not able to receive treatment this past Friday nor 2 weeks before becasue his reaction was too severe. The doctor is going to reduce the dosage starting immediately, and we are all praying that this terrible rash will calm down.

Leanna Joy is Precious and Entertaining as a 1 year Old!

Leanna Joy is almost 2 years old, and has brought so much love and laughter to our home! She is always entertaining us with her new "words and ways" and we are so blessed by her. She usually stays at home with us for the most part, but enjoys her weekly outings to church and monthly outings to play with some friends. She has enjoyed designing her own creations throughout our home with markers that were accidentally left out by her big brother. So now I have new "green" carpet in the office room, and colorful markings on some walls around the house. Thank goodness for "majic erasers" and that our carpet needs to be replaced anyway! Leanna enjoys singing and dancing, especially to her theme song......."I've got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart".......she even says "Where" and holds her arms out and shrugs her shoulders just at the right time. It is adorable and she sings many other songs too and loves to dance to all types of music. She also loves our daily walks outside, and playtime in the backyard. She loves to chase bubbles, kick the balls, and is pretty good at catching them too. During the morning hours, she helps me with my chores and is great with "sorting" laundry and breaking a few dishes too! One day last week, I was helping Lindsey with her spelling assignment, and she was looking for a word in her book that was a synonym to disobedient. Leanna was being a little "difficult" at that time, and I said to Lindsey, "Your sister is being 'naughty' or 'disobedient' right now. Leanna looked straight at us in pure delight and said, "Thank You" and we all started laughing hysterically. Oh, the things we hear from the mouths of babes! She is so funny and cute at this age!

Grant is a Creative 6 year Old Boy!

Grant just turned SIX YEARS OLD on December 29th and is such a creative little boy! He LOVES to build with anything and also loves to draw. His collection of building supplies continues to grow, and he always creates some amazing stuctures and designs unique "model homes and commercial buildings" too. He attends Corte Sierra Elementary School and told his teacher that he wants to be an architect when he grows up. His most recent fascination has been with "electricity and wires" which has sent out an alarm to mom and dad that we REALLY have to keep a better watch on him! I realized this one day when he came into the kitchen searching for scissors so he could "repair" the outside wires on our air conditioner/heating unit. Thank goodness, I stopped him before our little "electrician" caused havoc. In his free time, he loves to play with his brothers and his neighborhood friends. He is also getting ready for his first season of Little League baseball. He enjoys playing with Leanna too, and I asked him not long ago, "Grant, how much do you love Leanna?" He replied, "Too much!" His reply just melted my heart, and made me so very thankful that he is so sweet.

Lance is a Fun-Loving 8 year old Boy!

Lance is a fun-loving 8 year old, and started attending Corte Sierra Elementary School in January which is located about 1 mile from our house. He enjoys Reading and Math and likes to play with his new friends. He told us that his teacher is very nice because she gives out treats and the class participates in "Fantastic Friday" activities when they have "enough marbles in the classroom jar" and they complete all their weekly homework assignments. During his free time, he likes to play football and baseball with his older brother and neighborhood friends. He also enjoys playing on the Wii and the Game Cube too. He is getting ready to play baseball with the Litchfield Park Little League and is looking forward to seeing his "baseball buddies" again. This month on Valentines Day, his friends at school wrote on a special "heart" all the words that describe Lance. They said he is kind, cool, silly, happy, smart, funny, active, handsome, joyful, sweet, super, loving, talkative, lovely, giving, exciting, outgoing, and honest!!! I thought it was a very sweet Valentine gift for a very special boy, and I totally agreee with their "character description" of Lance.

Lindsey is a Sweet 10 year old girl!

Lindsey is such a pretty and sweet 10 year old girl. She has been "homeschooling" since the beginning of January and her favorite subjects are Reading, Spelling, English, and Science. She enjoys homeschooling now because she says it is easier for her to focus because she doesn't have her friends "whispering" to her and is not as easily distracted. She doesn't feel like she has to rush through her tougher subjects either, and mom and dad are able to assit her with math. When she is not busy with school, she likes to play outside and on the computer. She enjoys chasing her brothers around and has NO problem keeping up with them! On our latest excursion to the bowling alley (in celebration of Austin's birthday) she received the highest score which was pretty amazing as she played so well against Austin and 3 of his friends. When Lindsey is outside, she enjoys jump roping, riding on her scooter, and playing with her hula hoop. She also enjoys entertaining her little sister and has fun making her laugh. She still enjoys singing and dancing as well. Lindsey and mom enjoy getting away together to watch "chick flicks" and to get an occasional pedicure and manicure too! It is fun to have a "girls night out" with her now that she is getting older!

Happy Birthday!! Awesome Austin is 12!

It is amzing how time really does FLY! On February 16th Austin turned 12 years old! We are so amazed at how quickly he is growing and maturing. He is a very talented and sweet young man, and we are so very thankful that he is enjoying life as a 12 year old. As of January 2008, he and his sister, Lindsey, began the life of "homeschooling" again with their mom and dad assisting them. We are using a solid curriculum through Arizona Virtual Academy, and the nationwide sponsor is K-12.com. We receive a huge amount of support from them which includes free textbooks, workbooks, computers, and even teacher support via telephone and computer. It has been a big adjustment for our family, but we are all doing well with the change. It is the best curriculum by far that we have ever seen or used. For the past 3 years, they were attending a good charter school, but the "travel time" was becoming too difficult for our family. Austin says he is actually learning more now than he did at his other school. Instead of "being held back" (even within an "honors" class) he is able to progress at his own pace. He actually has started more advanced math for 6th grade, and his friends from his old school are envious that their teacher will not allow them to progress in math. I am happy that he spends more time reading about history and science, and is actually soaking in the subject matter! As far as the "social outings" he has plenty to do with baseball season starting now, participating with his new church outings and homeschool activities. Of course, our own family is busy with many neat activities as well. Austin's favorite family outing this month was attending the "NFL Experience" at the Super Bowl with his dad, sister, and 2 younger brothers. They all had a BLAST, and loved the "obstacle courses" and many other activities there. One of his favorite books that he loves to read has always been the Bible, and we are still very thankful that he tries to live His life in obedience to God's Word. We are mindful of the fact that he is drawing close to his "teen years" and are thankful that he is continuing to bless God and others around him.

Love Grows Best in Little Places!

We are busy once again getting prepared for our newest arrival......our baby boy is due on May 11th (Mother's Day) and we are all excited. This pregnancy has been more difficult in the first 2 trimesters than any of the others, but we are hoping everything will be okay. I am only about 2 1/2 months away from delivery, and
am in the nesting mode. I have felt okay during the day, but more tired and uncomfortable in the late afternoons and evenings. We are busy here at home trying to figure out ways to move everyone around to prepare for the new arrival. We are going to have to move our "office" out to the dining area and store the dining room furniture for a couple of years. We were really hoping to move into some place with larger bedrooms, but could not sale our house in 2007, and I don't have it in me to try again anytime soon. Plus, to sale right now, we'd have to practically "give it away" so we are hoping the market will do better in a few years. I know of a saying, "Love grows best in little places" and that is now our motto as we are learning to share lots of little spaces around the house. We are very thankful for our home, and have continued to make upgrades throughout the past 6 years since we moved in. It is really neat to see the trees that have grown from 5 feet to over 20 feet tall.....that is actually quick growth for Phoenix trees! This past year we upgraded our downstairs flooring to all new 20" tile and it is so wonderful! Now we are getting ready to work on some kitchen improvements that are LONG overdue and I can't wait to get those taken care of soon! We are trying to focus on getting all the rooms prepared by the end of April, and I'm hoping we will accomplish this huge task. So we will keep you posted on all the changes with the upcoming arrival of our new baby and let you know about our changes around the house too. Please pray for us to get prepared! Thanks!