Christmas in July- "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"

July Already !!

Where did the month of June go?!?! It seems like just yesterday we were finishing school and looking forward to the slower pace of summer. June however was another busy month packed full with activities.

Maggie, as always, had a fantastic week at church camp. She loved every minute of activity and learning. As part of a leadership group, she along with two others led one morning's devotional time. She's developing a real servant heart. Her summer mission project "Carpenter's Project" is just around the corner and she'll have many opportunities for serving in and around the community. Cross country training has started already and Maggie is running four days a week. Maggie's dance recital was wonderful. She has really grown in her dancing ability and her solo as the Sugar Plum Fairy was absolutely beautiful! She has developed her dancing skills so much that she brought tears to her teacher's eyes. Our energetic little Maggie has blossomed into a beautiful young lady - it's hard to believe she will turn 15 in two weeks.

Kate has been diligent at her studies and has completed her first on line course and started the second one. She is also persevering with working out and seems to be walking a little more steadily. While exercise is far from being Kate's favorite thing to do, she makes an effort knowing the stronger leg muscles will make getting around campus a little easier in the fall. Kate will see the endocrine specialist next week for a follow-up ACTH test to see if the cortisone has helped improve her adrenal function. As you pray please remember Kate's upcoming MRI on July 20th.

Our sweet little Grace was the focus of our attention in June. Small breed dogs like Bichons are prone to something called a luxating patella. In other words, the knee cap moves out of place. This has happened a couple of times each year and within a few days, the limping stops and she's been as good as new. This last occurrence, however, after almost a week, she was still really favoring her leg, so I took her to the vet to have it checked. He said there was a 50/50 chance it would heal and be ok until the next occurrence, but upon examining the affected leg he found some ligament/tendon damage. He said with repeated incidences down the road she would end up with arthritis in the joint. So Grace ended up knee surgery. I must confess that I've gone over the edge when it comes to being a dog person. When I left Grace at the vet for her surgery I walked away with tears in my eyes, feeling like I'd just sent my little toddler off to surgery. With the hovering, smothering nursing care of the three Dillon girls, Grace had more attention than she knew what to do with and has made a great recovery. She's back to her feisty self, getting into mischief whatever chance she gets.

June brought sadness to our hearts as we said good bye to a sweet friend who we've known on the cancer journey. Our hearts ache for her parents as they must go on with out their sweet young daughter, who at sixteen after successfully battling cancer, would lose her life to infection. It's very difficult to make sense of it, but one day we will understand why.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful red, white, and blue July 4th, filled with family, friends, fun and fireworks!

Weekend Away

Memorial Day weekend was spent in eastern Pennsylvania visiting with my youngest brother and his family. It was good to get away for a weekend and enjoy time with Kurt, Tina and the kids. Our trip included fun time with family, of course a little bit of shopping and a first for the Dillon girls.... an overnight of camping at Tina's family's hunting camp. Our day and night in the great outdoors at Gobbler's Knob included some memorable firsts for Kate and Maggie including crossing the stream to the cabin on a swinging bridge and out house privileges. Under the guidance of Uncle Kurt and his father-in-law the girls got to try their trigger finger at some target practice learning to shoot a 22. Maggie donned waders and cast a fishing line for the first time. Beginners luck seemed to be with Maggie as each cast resulted in a catch, including a crayfish! The afternoon included a walk through the lush, green woods part way up the mountain. Kate was determined that she too would be a part of the climb. She worked hard, and at her own pace made it to our destination. I am so proud of the progress she is making in strengthening muscles and developing some endurance. Our stay at the cabin was complete with an evening under the stars around the camp fire making s'mores and mountain pies. What a wonderful weekend of relaxation with family and friends. I came across the following quote while we were away..."Grace describes things beyond your ability to earn or attain, gifts you can only receive from a God who lavishes them on you freely." from the book Extravagant Grace. We recognize each day is a gift and holds countless lavish expressions of God's of grace in our lives.

May Update

Another month has passed since my last update. Things have continued at a steady pace but with the musical behind us and the end of track season, Maggie has actually had a chance to come up for air. For the first time in months, we've actually had an evening or two each week with nothing on the schedule!

Maggie's entire experience with "Grease" was wonderful. She recently commented that she wished there was always a musical going on! You can tell by the pictures posted previously on the blog that Maggie was having fun! This week the students from the musical will participate in the Mancini Awards. This is the "red carpet" awards for the top performances in the county. Each school participating will perform one of their numbers from their musical. Maggie begins finals next week and will finish school on June 3rd. As typical of Maggie, she'll be on the go all summer. She heads off to Jumonville, church camp, the week after school is out. Carpenter's Project, a mission project with her youth group will be in July. In the midst of all these things she'll be starting cross country training.

Kate finished her semester May 5th. Wow, she has completed her first year of college! How thankful we are for the miracle of life God has given Kate and for the way He faithfully carried her through both semesters. It's good having Kate at home. She had a few days to catch her breath and started her first of two on line courses for the summer. We've been trying to spend time at the gym a couple days a week – not that she loves it, but she endures itJ She started walking some with my mom this week. Our goal is to try and get her stronger, so that she doesn’t have to be so dependent on the scooter in the fall to get around campus. Her gait/balance is still unsteady but with the nerve damage, which resulted from the high dose chemo, that is something that will not change over night. She still handles all with grace and a positive attitude. In a recent annual check up, Kate’s endocrine specialist diagnosed her with adrenal insufficiency – he feels like this could be also contributing to her fatigue. This means Kate's adrenal gland does not respond as it should. If she gets a fever/infection we would double her medication or should she ever be in an accident she would need an injection of cortisone right away to compensate for the under production of her adrenal gland. We have tweaked Kate's medication dose and hope to see an improvement in adrenal function when we repeat her ACTH blood test in July. Kate will also have her next MRI in July.

We are enjoying the spring-like days and warmer temperatures. The newness of life displayed in the green grace and budding trees and flowers refreshes my spirit.

I love this time of year and the promise of new life it brings. Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. God answers prayer and has filled us with joy and peace and hope. We rejoice in God's goodness and faithfulness!

You asked for it -More "GREASE" pics

"GREASE" is the word

March Madness

While "March Madness" may mean following basketball and filling out brackets to many of our friends and family around the world, for the Dillon girls "March Madness" is the perfect description of the whirlwind in which the month of March flew by. I'm sure many of you can relate. It seems that life just never slows down.

For Kate and Maggie both, the month has involved writing papers and many long evenings. Juggling school work and all the other things on their plates is definitely a real balancing act. Kate's spring break provided a much needed rest and allowed her to gain back some of the strength she had lost to the virus she had the week before. Sadly, during Kate's break we learned that her high school english teacher, who had done her homebound instruction, during Kate's junior year, had lost her battle to cancer. Our hearts grieve the loss of this special woman. She had become our friend, and was also Kate's mentor for her senior project "Blankets of Hope" which provided blankets for the oncology patients at Children's Hospital. I remember less than a year ago, when Kate's teacher was diagnosed, she told us that she had been Kate's teacher, but now Kate was her teacher, as she was going to follow Kate's example of courage and grace in battling her illness. She did fight bravely... our visits and conversations together were always upbeat and positive. Our hearts ache for her family, especially her two precious little girls.

God absolutely wowed me twice last week. Kate had been a bit discouraged about working out a room mate/suite arrangement for next year. I prayed and asked God that He would work out this situation. That very day, Kate called to say that she had a gone to a dorm wide social event and that one the girls across the hall approached her and asked if she would be interested in moving into their suite as two of their roommates would be graduating. Kate was delighted and commented that it felt so good that these girls sought her ought and asked her to be a part of their suite. She enjoys these girls, as she has been a part of Bible study in their room. The other plus in this is that Kate's RD told her that they offer a few students their own room and given Kate's health and need for early nights and extra rest, she thought Kate could have one. I think it will be a blessing for Kate to be with this group of girls. Just one more month of school for Kate. It's hard to believe her freshman year in college is already drawing to a close. The second wow occurred last weekend at our friends' daughters wedding reception. God gave my heart great cause for rejoicing as Kate and I took to the dance floor and then later in the evening I looked around to find Kate dancing again. Only a week ago Kate had tearfully told me she wished she could feel like her old self again. I pray daily that God will strengthen Kate physically and renew her spirit. On the way home at that night from the wedding, Kate's comment was "It was good to feel a little more like my old self again. I wish I had felt that good at my proms." Thank you God for such specific answers to prayer!

Maggie's life is literally non-stop from the time she begins her day until she falls into bed. She can hardly wait for the musical this weekend. She has been practicing her role as a principal dancer all winter and finally after months of preparation show time is finally here for "Grease". Maggie is juggling track and musical simultaneously. Track ends at 5:00 and musical begins at 5:30. Her friends mother and I took turns delivering supper to the school so the girls could get a quick dinner in between practices. Maggie is absolutely exhausted, but loving every minute! Our "drama princess" is certainly in her element.

In addition to subbing and tutoring and helping my friend with her daughter's wedding, I've been helping out behind the scenes of the musical making silk corsages for the prom scene. I'm also overseeing an auction of gift cards from local businesses the nights of the play. Turning another year older in March, I was reminded of how blessed I am. Friends and family touched my heart with their thoughtful emails, cards flowers and gifts. In the midst of the whirl wind of the month of March, I was blessed with a very gracious gift of a trip to Colorado to share a long weekend with friends. How perfectly timed this gift was allowing a much needed time of refreshment and refueling. Reflecting upon the passing of still another year of life, my heart was encouraged by what a good year it was... one of walking by faith, growing in relationships, and continuing to trust in a most gracious and merciful God. "You are the hope living in us. You are the rock in whom we trust." Thank you God for another year of life and all the love and joy that you have poured into our lives.

Moday MRI Update

Wonderful news... Kate's MRI today was good, for which we are rejoicing and thankful!! The next MRI will be in 4 months instead of 3, which is a positive step. The more time that elapses with clear scans, the doctor begins moving the scans a little further apart. Kate's flu-like symptoms are the result of a very nasty virus. She came home from school feeling bad and continued to deteriorate through the weekend - cough, severe sore throat, no appetite, vomiting, and extreme fatigue. She's feeling miserable. During our clinic visit, she received IV fluids, and an IV dose of morphine for the throat pain. This throat virus is so very painful. I had it this fall and nothing touches the pain. We did a culture for strep, but given the presentation of the symptoms it is more likely the virus. The doctor wrote a script for Tylenol with codeine and we hope that helps the pain. Kate's doctor doesn't want her to go back to school for a few days until she's feeling much better. Please continue to pray for Kate as she battles this virus.

Once again thank you for standing in the gap for us and holding us up in prayer. God's hedge of protection was definitely around us this morning as we departed in 6 inches of newly fallen snow which was still falling. Travel was slow, but about half way there it was as if we crossed a line and the snow stopped and the highway was only wet. School here was delayed. The people at the hospital, where there was only an inch or two, couldn't believe it when we told them about our morning snow storm. While there is always some degree of anxiety associated with each MRI, God's presence and peace were felt by both of us. We continue to thank God for using Kate's journey for His good and glory. Upon hearing a bit of Kate's history, the MRI technician, shared with us that tomorrow he and his wife will take their five year old son to the doctor to determine if he has lymphoma or not. We assured him of our prayers for his little boy. He proudly showed us his son's photo and so that we could put a face with his son's name as we pray.

Today was still another amazing grace day. Thank you for playing such a strategic role "on your knees" in Kate's journey. ALL GLORY TO GOD!!