ONWARD AND UPWARD

Weekends are always busy, but fun, and this weekend was no exception. We are very lucky that Caleb isn’t experiencing many side effects from treatment yet so we take advantage of every minute of family fun.

Saturday was the first morning all week that we didn’t have to be anywhere early (thank goodness!) so we took advantage of sleeping in and then getting a big breakfast from McDonalds. On the mornings Caleb can eat breakfast we go big, and he enjoyed every bite!

Saturday afternoon Tyler attended a birthday party for one of his school friends. I was excited for the kids to have an activity to do for the afternoon, and also happy that Tyler is making so many friends at school. It was fun to watch them all play. It amazes me how easily kids make friends. Tyler has only been at his new school about 4 weeks now and he seems to be fitting right in. Caleb had a great time with all the kids too! And as I was watching them play it occurred to me that some day we may be sad to leave Memphis. All we think about is getting back home, but what if we make real friendships here? What if it’s going to be hard to leave the life we build here in the next 10 months? It just hit me in that moment that there will be mixed feelings when that time comes I’m sure. But at the same time I can’t wait to go home!

And speaking of home, another big thing happened Saturday. The neighborhood we were living in had a huge community garage sale. Our family and friends busted their tails to get all of our stuff sorted and priced so that we could sell as much as possible at the garage sale. This is important for us because we were living in a rental house while waiting for our new home to be built. We don’t need to be paying for the rental anymore so it’s time to go! We already picked out and ordered some new furniture for the new house, so we really don’t need all of our old furniture.

It was strange to see all of our things being sold, because when I think about “going home” I don’t really even know what that is anymore. The life we had in the rental house no longer exists, and our new house will be there some day, but I have no idea how and when we will get everything moved in. All I know is that just like Saturday all of our friends and family will be there to help us out. I try not to stress about it because I know they will make it all happen when the time comes. It’s sad to see so much of our stuff go, but this whole experience with Caleb has made me realize that material possessions don’t matter. So I’m letting go… onward and upward was my motto of the weekend!

I am so grateful that we have people willing to give up their whole Saturday and in some cases their whole weekend to help us even when we aren’t there! To everyone who was there, we love you guys!!!!!

Sunday was rainy here in Memphis and we had to find an indoor activity. We spent a large part of the day at the Bass Pro Shop in the Big Pyramid in Downtown Memphis. They had a children’s event so the kids got to shoot BB Guns, do archery, and fish in the catch and release pond. They also had a dog jumping competition and the kids LOVED watching the dogs jump high to hit their target and then land in the water. After that we went inside to the bowling alley. Yes, they have bowling at the Bass Pro shop and they are some of the coolest lanes I have ever seen. The kids had a blast!!!

So, all in all the weekend was great! We feel good about the necessary steps being taken at home to move us forward in our life there. We also enjoyed some great laughs and made memories as a family before we head into another week of the unknown. Radiation treatment #9 tomorrow…