Happy Easter...

Barry, Brant and I just spent a wonderful weekend with our parents and family in Lubbock.  It was so nice to go HOME for a few days.  Lubbock seems to have changed so much each time we visit. 

I have so much to catch up on and post to the blog.  I am hoping to get it updated this week.  Lexi refers to it as my "marathon blogging" time.

Barry has been really tired this week and experiencing more headaches and an ongoing pain in his left shoulder.  He has an MRI this, April 28th.  We are praying that there are no new findings from the last MRI in early March.  His appetite has been great lately.  He was down to (my guess) 155 lbs and I think he is back up to a healthy 175.  After watching him go through these last two rounds of Temodar without the addition of the Avastin, he and I both believe that it was the Avastin that was making him so sick.  He is not having any of the symptoms that he was before other than fatigue.  His short term memory seems to be a little worse recently, which we will discuss with his doctor this week. 

Please add Barry to your church congregations prayer list (if you haven't already) and ask the to pray for good results on Thursday and healing with each passing day.  There are so many people across the world praying for Barry and we appreciate all of you so much.  Don't stop Believing...

Where are the fish...

Barry, Brant and I decided on a last minute getaway and try our luck at fishing.  After gathering our supplies and servicing our fishing equipment, we were off to Cooper Lake State Park just outside of Sulphur Springs, TX.  Barry and I wanted to take Brant to the awesome fishing pier that we had found back in June 2010. Although we had read a report on the lake and it stated that it was 10 ft low, we were not expecting to find the pier towering above the water with only an estimated 3ft of water surrounding the beams.  It was literally a 25 to 30 foot drop from the pier down to the water. 

After the initial disappointment of not being able to fish from the pier, we made our way down to the bank and tried our luck there... no luck.  We would catch an occasional glimpse of a fish jumping off in the distance which gave us the hope that our trip would be fruitful... no luck.  It just was not our day to catch fish!  The sun got hotter and hotter as the day wore on and we decided enough was enough.  It was time to call it a day.  We stayed at a small hotel in the neighboring town of Sulphur Springs.  Brant enjoyed the pool.  Barry and I enjoyed watching Brant in the pool.  Neither of us were going in... it was about 55 degrees in that pool. 

The next morning we set off for Lake Fork which was only 20 minutes away.  First we needed breakfast!  We found a local diner and enjoyed the best breakfast we have had in a long time.  The restaurant was interesting to say the least.  Surely there would be plenty of fish there for us to catch... right?  Wrong.  Although we enjoyed each others company and the shell lined bank of the lake, we did not catch one fish.

Turner Falls Getaway...

Barry and I decided, last minute, that we needed a weekend adventure. We surprised Brant by picking him up from school completely packed and immediately headed to the Turner Falls area of Oklahoma. He was so excited. We have been talking about doing something like this for a while. Our final destination was Cedar Falls Cabin #1. It was perfect. The cabin sat on a hill which overlooked Honey Creek. The creek was crystal clear! It was so pretty. Although there were cabins nearby, our cabin was on the very end and we felt secluded from all of the others.

Cedar Creek Cabin #1

Father and Son checking out the fish

After unloading all of our stuff from the car, we set out to explore the area. Brant took the lead and Barry and I followed behind. The scenery was great. The foliage was new and light green. The creek water was very cold, but that didn't stop Brant from jumping right in. We enjoyed fishing for a while and playing games like ladder ball and washers. As the sun began to set, Brant was anxious to start a fire. Up on the hill, near the cabin was a great fire pit. Brant lit the fire and I worked on making what Barry calls "Wayne Burgers" which are simply bbq hamburgers cooked on the grill. I haven't mastered the art of them like my father (Wayne) but Barry said they were pretty close.

                           

After dinner, it was time for smores. I found the largest marshmellows that I have ever seen in my life at WalMart. They were literally three times the size of a normal large marshmellow.

The next morning, I cooked breakfast for Barry, Brant and I. We decided it was time to catch some fish. We caught a couple, but none large enough to keep. It was still fun. Lexi and Joey showed up at the cab about 3pm that afternoon. They, too, set out to explore with Brant leading the way. The rest of the afternoon was spent just sitting by the creek, fishing a little, listening to music and just enjoying each others company. We had a wonderful dinner and watched a movie before bed.

Sunday morning came and we packed up the car and set off for Turner Falls.  The day was extremely windy!  Barry and I decided to sit in the shade and watch the kids.  Lexi, Joey and Brant took advantage of the falls.  They said the water was pretty cold, but that did not stop them from enjoying the natural swimming hole.