Really, April since I last posted!

I just made the realization that it has been a few months since I last posted. Life seems to be traveling by fast. So fast in fact that another summer has come to an end and winter will be upon us. We spent Labor Day weekend at a Brain Tumor Family camp. While I wasn't real crazy about using my last long weekend of the summer to a Family camp it proved to be quite a good weekend. Lots of families like ours all seeking support from others going through the same things.

Prior to Camp we had met with Emma's Doctors because she has been having trouble with her leg. She has Pseudoarthrosis of the tibia which is brought on by the NF. This in short is a bad bone that once broke will not heal back into a union. If it does heal it will most likely become deformed. The bone has been bowing for some time and has now caused much pain in the ankle and tenderness in the leg itself. So through much discussion we have decided to amputate her led below the knee. We are doing this not to call it quits on trying but to give the the life that every kid should have. To date she has never gone sledding or played on the playground equipment with her friends at school. Gym class was always a sit on the sidelines "activity."  She will now have that chance once we get through all the recovery and her new "fake leg" as she puts it.

Media Star

A big part of our spring has been following the LU Softball Team, this has been as rewarding for us as it seems to be for the team. A week ago there was a special game between our team and the University of Chicago. Chicago also adopted a girl with the same thing as Emma. This made for a fun but busy weekend for all involved. At game time both girls were given the honor of throwing the first pitch at the game. Later they were sitting along the third base line when a photographer from our local paper wanted to get some pics of them. I stood in the background and took pics of all of them. Here is what I took.

This Is the pic I took of the Photographer for the paper. See the article here.

The Girls walking with Coach to throw the first pitch.

High Fives after all the Team Introductions are made.

Encouragement

I have posted in the past about "Friends of Jaclyn" an organization putting children with brain tumors together with college sports teams. I cannot express how wonderful this program is, it has given Emma a sense of belonging to a group that she has not had at school. It has shown the team how special good health truly is. Many Team members draw inspiration from the children that they have adopted. This seems to be so with the Lawrence Vikings. Here is Emma giving them some encouragement while at the Midwest Conference tournament. This weekend proves to be a big one for the Vikings as they host another Team that has adopted another young lady. More pictures to come after the event.

Mama's Satisfaction

While down in Gulf Shores we went out to eat a a number of places. One of our most memorable came when we made a drive up to Mobile AL. Down on Dauphin Street there is a place called Mama's. Excellent food and Gumbo. Well this is our Mama feeling all content after having the best French Dip that she has ever had. I particularly like the look of satisfaction through that MonaLisa smile of hers.

Saluda Hill

While out Geocaching in Alabama we found this quaint little cemetery at Saluda Hill. This is just outside of Blakely State park, home of the Battle of Blakely, from the Civil War. There are confederate soldiers buried in this cemetery as well as citizens of Blakely. There is one known Revolutionary War veteran also buried here. I took a photo op. while spending time here before looking into the nearby battlefield.

Dunes Sunrise

This is yet another shot from Gulf Shores Alabama. Taken over the Dunes of Gulf State Park I was able to mix the sunrise and the morning fog that had just settled in the low area's. With a hint of the housing market fallout in the distance, is a bankrupt condo that stopped construction and sat idle. How sad the beach is littered with these big high rises esp. ones that are not even being used.

Gulf Shores Sunrise

We recently went on vacation to Gulf Shores Alabama. Even on vacation I had a habit of getting up early. I used this time, instead of going to work to go out and take pictures using the warm light of the sun. This is one of my favorites from my first morning. I will be posting more as I seemed to have taken around 1800 pics in the week we were gone. Stay tuned for more.