Fighting Fires Of A Different Variety

I thought that pastor's were supposed to stoke the embers and keep the fires burning.

Here's a pastor who puts them OUT!

Mark has been instated as the chaplain of our local volunteer fire department. In order to authorize his presence on the scene of any emergency or fire, Mark has had to train and qualify to put your fire's OUT!

Though he is not required to go through ALL of the training required of a certified firefighter, he has opted to learn as much and go as far as his current responsibilities will allow.

Our church is proud of Mark and have encouraged his involvement in our community in any way that God should present. And ANYONE who knows Mark, knows that he will NOT hesitate to move when God tells him that it is time.

Our Princess Is Three!

It hardly seems possible that our baby girl is three, but everytime we go back and redo the math, we come up with the same sum! In some regards though, I'm certain that she just turned 30! She is without doubt the sharpest knife in OUR drawer! We had a wonderful party with Nevaeh's church buddies. And Nevaeh was soooo excited!
Watching her strawberry cupcakes baking.

Ready for the birthday girl.

Pretty colors....

Pretty tables....

PRETTY Princess!

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

Nevaeh wanted to say the blessing all by herself and so she prayed,

"A,B,C,D,E,F,G.....Thank you God for feeding me! AMEN!

Nevaeh's favorite meal: Spaghetti made with elbow noodles, applesauce, and buttered italian bread!

YUM!

Nevaeh and her buddies...

Bre, Livie, Thaniel, Wyatt, Ethan & Ashlynn!

Checkin' out those "pupcakes!"

Look at those candles!

I'm THREE!

Ready, Set, BLOW!!

Our very happy and beautiful baby girl!

A favorite gift!

You can see what she thinks of THIS gift!! YAY!

And this gardening set is a KEEPER!

I think she loved ALL of her gifts!

Then, instead of playing FUN but rather senseless games, we decided the children would have as much fun making "Thinking of You" & "Get Well Wishes" for the 5 year old daughter of a family friend.

Tiarra Lynn Rachau was very recently diagnosed with a brain tumor which was removed only to learn that she did indeed have cancer on her spine! The children asked many questions about Tiarra and her illness and I was touched by their compassion. Look at how they are concentrating on their work! But it was soooo much fun!

Even Daddy got in on the FUN and helped Nevaeh glue her sequins on the tiara she made for Tiarra!!

She thought that EVERY little girl needed a princess crown!

Our finished loot to send off in hopes of putting a smile on the lips of a sweet little girl!

MY little princess was sooooo tired and within minutes of crawling into her bed, she was faaaaaast asleep!

Being three is hard work!

Hush-A-By...

Don't you cry...

Go to sleep little baby!

We will be eternally grateful that God chose to place you in our family!

Happiest 3rd Birthday,

Nevaeh Re' Fultz~

Health UPDATE!

After what has felt like an eternity, my lab results are finally in and with the verification of a 2nd opinion, they have found NO cancer in the spindle lesion that was growing in the bottom of my foot.

I AM very grateful!

I'm still having quite a bit of trouble with my foot and the healing process is going far slower than I would prefer. I find myself still hobbling around on these crutches which are becoming quite annoying to me. They get in the way of my attempts at keeping after my house and children.

My family is still having to assist me way more than I prefer.

I will NOT post a picture of my foot as its' appearance is pretty nasty right now. It has broken open multiple times and the wound area is getting larger and larger.

The Dr. said that he removed a very large portion of my foot and that the hole was so large in so much that he could hardly close the surgical site.

Since I have been cleared from cancer in the foot, I have chosen to receive personal ongoing care from my oldest sister who is a magnificent nurse AND she knows all of my issues and loves me ta'boot!

It is HER natural born instinct to fix me regardless my ailment or behaviour and so somehow, though it pains me to admit it, I think I'm in the best of hands!!

Let's Talk Turkey!

Early this morning, Daryl dragged himself out of bed and hunted in less than desireable conditions in the hopes of successfully bagging his first turkey ever. He layed on the soggy ground and belly crawled into position. What may seem to some as extreme effort paid off and Daryl was excited to bring this "guy" home for DINNER!
We didn't have a scales to weigh him on here but the guestimate is that this big guy is weighing in around 22 pounds!

The right spur was 15/16 of an inch and the left spur was broken but still measured at 3/4 of an inch!

He sported a 9 inch beard.

So happy for you, Daryl! Though sometimes even your mother rolls her eyes at what seems to be an all consuming passion, your hunting efforts are most times quite successful. I love your pride in providing meat for your family and I know that God can even use some such gift as this!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Update!

For those of you who think these pics of my surgical sites are nasty and would rather not see them, I apologize. However, THIS is how I am easiest able to communicate with some of my family to whom I do not have the privilege to live close. Please just scroll past quickly.

I have had my follow-up visit back to the surgeon who performed my surgery. He is very pleased with the site on my leg where the skin cancer was removed. It has healed very well and in time, there will barely be a scar. The surgical site on my foot, however, is not responding as well. It is pictured below. The skin on either site of the incision died so it would not bond or heal in a way that would satisfy the surgeon. He is NOT pleased with the appearance of this site though there is not any sign of infection and it seems to be healing from the inside.

I have received clearance to try walking on my foot, but it is quite painful and the wound tends to bleed from the pressure. Thus, my walking is more of a hobbling limp. I do have a special gel pad the fits in my instep and surprisingly protects the incision quite well inside a shoe. I find that a pair of Crocs is the most comfortable choice of footwear right now. The surgeon wanted to try to stitch again to salvage the appearance but he could not find any loose skin to even make an attempt. I assured the surgeon that I do not care WHAT it looks like as long as the bad "stuff" is gone. It's on the BOTTOM of my foot and no one is going to see it unless I show it on purpose. He grudgingly left it alone and wants to see it again in a month. I am still waiting on lab results as the pathologist requested permission to seek a second opinion. This doesn't make me feel encouraged but I suppose I would rather know any bad news now. I've learned that ignorance is NOT bliss!

Immediately following my surgery, the nurse suggested that I get myself through this "thing" by thinking, "Cute flip flops! Really cute flip flops!" Several of my friends and family agreed with my nurse and suggested that I shop as soon as I was able and buy myself a pair or two to celebrate. I found these flip flops today and Nevaeh just thought they were beautiful! She wanted a pair to match! Of course, I've never seen matching mother/daughter flip flops unless you consider just plain colored ones. Nevaeh begged to wear them this evening and I was planning to wear them to Bible study here in the fellowship room. I told her that I needed them for a little while but that I would let her wear them later if she still wanted. She did NOT forget and as soon as I returned home after Bible study, she said, "Mom, if I take my socks off, can I wear your flip flops?" I said, "Absolutely NOT!" Are you KIDDING??!! I didn't say THAT! As you can see in the picture below, I just might have to go buy myself another pair of flip flops!! Now THAT would be a shame!

My "Who" From "Who-ville!"

Nevaeh used the potty all day and then did the worst part in her dry pull up tonight. I faked bawling and through my "tears" I wailed, "WHY didn't you put THAT in the pot??!!"

In extreme seriousness, somewhat distressed that Mommy was crying, Nevaeh said,

"But it would have made your pot ruined!"