Thanksgiving Break

I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Christmas break.  I love when time slows down for a few days and we can be in charge of our schedule.  It has been a great few days off.  Thanksgiving always brings back some sad feelings for me from those early days of David's diagnosis when we were gearing up for chemo to start the Monday after Thanksgiving.  I remember my Mom sent me and Mike out to Walmart on Thanksgiving day after we ate our chicken tenders and fries in the cafeteria.  I remember Mike and I both were just so sad what David was facing and we just wandered aimlessly around  Charlottesville Walmart. 

Blessedly this year we were home and woke up to a gorgeous winter wonderland!  It was the perfect snow-three or four inches in the trees to make for a beautiful drive to Radford on a clear and plowed interstate. 

 

We spent Thanksgiving day in Radford with my family.  My brother and his clan could not join us because the flu bug had set up residence in their home.  My 95 year-old great aunt Louise joined us!  She is such a blessing and a precious soul.  We all laughed how tall Kyle looks next to her.  Kyle has grown a few inches, but Louise is tiny. 

Maybe next Thanksgiving David will be as tall as she is too?!  We just love Louise! Louise has been a widow for many, many years and her two children died within a week of each other many years ago.  Can you imagine coming home from one child's funeral to learn that the other one has passed as well?  Tragic, but Louise is a woman full of faith, love for her family, and the funniest personality EVER! 

My grandmother, Louise, and Hope sitting  down to eat Thanksgiving.  My Mom is an awesome cook and we ate well for Thanksgiving. 

 

My pictures are totally out of order, but we did get some decorating done this break and most of our shopping and wrapping has been done.  That trip to Williamsburg helped me get way ahead of the shopping game this year. 

Thanksgiving has also given everyone in this family some much needed downtime.  Mike and the little kids played Life and I enjoyed hearing them laugh and chat as they played.  Mike was a brain surgeon in the game and Hope was a teacher and she still beat them all!  David had to get married per the game, and he said "oh lord no!" 

Friday night my Dad, my Mike, and my boys bundled up to go watch UVA and VT battle it out for the Commonwealth cup.  I grew up a Hokie and my boys are Hokies but Mike got his doctorate at UVA and we are all UVA fans because of what UVA did for David.  The boys and my Dad were rooting for Tech and Mike rooted for UVA.  They stayed warm and were treated to a great game.  VT did pull out  a win and the boys got home around 2 in the morning! 

 

Mike sent me this picture and it made me tear up.  We have some wonderful memories with Pops at Lane Stadium and I was overwhelmed that three years ago David was gearing up to fight cancer and this year he was bundled up talking smack and cheering for the Hokies.  David and Pops are true BFF's and this picture made me smile.

 

My handsome Kyle!  Despite 19 degrees, they didn't get too cold thanks to snow pants, foot and hand warmers, and thick blankets.  I know they made memories they will never forget.  It was a huge game with a lot on the line for both teams.  Both teams played their hearts out and miraculously when the whistle blew Tech was ahead. 

 

The Robinson girls stayed home and wrapped presents.  This girl has a servant heart the size of Texas and she is always under my feet wanting to help me. She has helped me wrap, cook, and clean.  God made her heart full of gold when He created her. May she keep a sweet heart and use it for God one day.

 

Advent season is upon us.  This morning at church I was touched so much.  Advent is so special as we prepare our hearts for Jesus.  The praise band at church rocked it this morning and blessed me.  Our sermon series for the next four weeks is four men and a baby.  Each week we will talk about the birth of Jesus from four different perspectives.  Today we focused on my very favorite story from the bible-Zechariah and Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist.  It has always tendered my heart to think of a teenage Mary and a grandmotherly aged Elizabeth both pregnant with John the Baptist and Jesus at the same time.  Only God could have woven those two women together for two very special purposes.  I could have wept this morning at church.  I love that David (our pastor) is using a very familiar story but making us focus on perspectives that we typically do not consider.  Next week we will focus on King Herod. 

 

 

So, our bellies are full of turkey and all the yumminess we have eaten, we have made some precious memories, and we are in the process of preparing our hearts to welcome the baby in the manager that changed us all.  Pretty awesosme Thanksgiving break!

A lil Getaway !

At the end of last week my parents, GG and Pops, came down and stayed with the kids for two nights while I accompanied Mike to the annual Virginia School Boards Association conference in Williamsburg.  On Thanksgiving Day in a few days is our 15th wedding anniversary!!  Mike has been a school superintendent for eight years and  this was the first year I have ever attended this with him.  It was a total blast with our awesome school board folks and a few of their wives. 

Basically the school board members went to the conferences and sessions while we, the wives hit the loal outlet mall.  I am not a huge shopper, but by golly I rocked it out while I was there.  I did probably 75% of my Christmas shopping in one day.  It is amazing what you can get down without dragging three children around with you!  I missed them like crazy but it was nice to shop solo, eat good seafood, and enjoy some quiet time with my husband of 15 years! 

The first night of the conference was a banquet in a large room with lots of people!  The room was set up audtorium style where the floor wasn't flat-there were step downs every few feet.  I turned around as we were walking to our table to tell one of the other ladies to be careful and next thing I knew I was flat on my face.  I had to laugh at myself and pray the fall was at least graceful!  Ha!

The next day shopping, I was buying the CUTEST princess boots for Hope and another friend and the sales lady asked me if these were for my grandbabies?  Excuse me?  I know I am not a spring chicken but I wasn't clear that the vibe coming off of me was grandmother.  You just have to laugh! 

It was such a fun getaway with some great folks.  We ate great seafood, shopped so much it was a logistical nightmare getting all of our goods home with everyone's suitcases and  purchases, and it was great to reconnect with my man.  It has been a wild and crazy fifteen years and I am thankful he has and will be beside me through it all.

Vt Hoops and Three Years

Today my emotions are all over the place.  The last few days have been brutal with a severe toothache for me and some emotional heartaches.

 

Friday night Virginia Tech had their basketball home opener and because of our wonderful experience with this team and Coach Buzz, we were there with bells on!  Here is David happily reuniting with his best friend, Seth Allen.  Seth is red-shirted this year since he transferred from Maryland. 

David was so excited to see him again!  We were blessed with some tickets from a wonderful local couple and a few from a family member in Radford.  We really had a wonderful night cheering on this team. 

David even ran into the Hokie Bird!! 

David got to sit with Dr. Bill which was a treat for him.  David loves Dr. Bill, our dentist!  Bill is one of the sweetest and kindest men ever and he takes care of all of our teeth) Dr. Bill fixed my toothache early this morning by 9 a.m.  Whoever would have thought a stuck popcorn kernel could have caused such agony for me this past weekend?! 

Even Hopie girl had fun at the baseketball game! 

Seth pointed out his parents to us before the game.  We went over and got to meet them after the game.  Seth came out of the locker room with a plate of chicken tenders which he shared with Hope and David.  Here are David and Seth doing their victory dance! We had such a fun night cheering on the Hokie hoops players that we got to meet through Buzz's Bunch.  Whatever their record is at the end of the season will only be icing on the cake-they are already true winners! 

 

Saturday GG and Pops stopped by to watch the VT football game with us!  Amazingly we won!!  After the game, my Mom helped me get fall leaf pictures of the kids.  We do theses every year and they are emotional for me because they remind me of our pre-cancer life three years ago.  The day before David was diagnosed with cancer, we took leaf pictures and Ashley and I both remember David telling Kyle to be easy with his belly.  We had no idea it was because there was a ten centimeter tumor hiding in there. 

 

So today is the day.  Three years ago our world stood still as this sweet doctor in our local ER drew me a picture of my son's kidney.  Three years later I am thankful that David survived treatment and that he is still here with us today-all 82 pounds of him now!  I will never doubt God's goodness and grace because his handiwork was so evident in those dark and scary days at UVA hospital.  He used you, our blog readers, friends, and family to encourage us and love on us when we were so scared.  Cancer taught us to never doubt Him and His faithfulness. 

 

Here is my blog post from three years ago today.  (click here) .

 

We as a family have come a long way in three years.  We praise God that He never left us and that His grace was truly sufficient.  Amen.