BIOPSY UPDATE & FAMILY REUNION part 2

Yesterday, the biopsy was performed on mom's thyroid. It was very painful for her. They realized after getting started that she should have been "put out". The local anesthetic would not numb the bone and it seemed they kept hitting her bone during the procedure. I'll keep you updated with the results. Thanks for those prayers.

Keep 'em coming.

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Here are some more photos from our family reunion.

All the GREAT-GRANDKIDS that were there. Shane, my little brown bear in a sea of blonde!

All the GRANDKIDS who were there.
Or should I say all the COUSINS?

AND NOBODY BETTER LEAVE A COMMENT ABOUT THE POOR DEMISE OF THAT LITTLE OL' BENCH!! LOL
Another one of us. We felt like the papparazi were hounding us! So many cameras!

All of mom's brothers. Back row: Clarence, Elzie

Front row: Ballard

Mom in center, with her sisters.

Mom with all her siblings. They were all able to attend this year!

Mom again with all her siblings!

Shane and Kristin off and running on the four-wheeler.
Here they are driving up Andy's driveway. Yes folks, that's a driveway!

Kristin and Shane

Shane with Olivia (Tara's daughter) & Kelsey (Sherry's daughter).

My brother John, with our cousin Teresa. They could pass for brother and sister,

don't you think?

Driving on Hwy. 52 through a little town called Keystone. You can click to enlarge enabling you to get a better look at the coal cleaning site ahead.

Uncle Clarence drove me down into the site. After working in the mines and owning a fleet of coal trucks, he knows these mines like the back of his hand.
How do you think the "Cap & Trade(tax)" will affect the folks living in the coal fields region of West Virginia? They've already been hurt by the environmentalist movement over the years. Interesting that a democratic congressman wouldn't even agree to come and look at how the mountain top mining works before voting against a bill which would help the mining industry. The entire mountain top is rebuilt after extracting the coal, creating actual real estate space for farms, etc.

Approaching the coal which had already been cleaned, awaiting to be loaded into train cars.

Now, Iaeger Pharmacy, but back in 1960, this was Clark's Clinic. Guess who was born here?

Can One Have TOO MUCH FUN????

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? My fun-o-meter is tilted to FULL!! What with our road trip to West Virginia for a family reunion weekend before last and then another reunion here in Florida this past Saturday, I can honestly say I've had enough fun to last me all year! I've been dying to get a post on here about all the happenings and funnies but have been too busy or utterly exhausted! A good exhaustion mind you! Laughter so hard, my sides and jaws hurt! Tears of emotion, my eyes are red and puffy! Long car rides, my joints are screaming! House full of company, up too late talking!

This is all good and not to be taken as a negative.

I'm so proud and so honored to have been able to visit and love on my family and friends over these past two weeks!

So where do I begin? I suppose it best to begin with our family reunion. I know my poor sissy is dying for some photos so here goes! Our first day in West Virginia was spent at my cousin Donna's home. What a sweetie she is! When we're together, I think all we do is giggle! Her poor hubby was a trooper and put up with us in good humor! Thank you Lennis!

Donna cooked us a good, hot, country breakfast our first morning with her. Look at that homemade gravy, biscuit, sausage AND bacon, fried farm egg! YUMMY and oh so fattening!

My cousin Donna and I with our Aunt Carol Jane.

The woodsy view right off her back patio! This is on the side of a mountain by the way!




The view off of Donna's back patio. I so enjoyed taking my morning coffee there. I listened to the birdies chirp, and enjoyed the cooler morning weather. There was almost a "nippiness" in the air! What a nice break from the humid, wet heat here in Florida during the summer.

The scenery looking off of Donna's front deck! A country highway, mountains full of trees, all kinds of neat sounds, but peaceful, very peaceful!

Later that evening, our Aunt Rachel brought her two grandbabies by to swim in Donna's pool. She didn't know that mom, Shane, my brother John and I were there. We hid behind the kitchen door, giving her plenty of time to step inside. Then we jumped out and hollered, "HI!" I'm not sure what she uttered but her face was a prize to see!

Shane living the life at Donna's!

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In the first video below, you'll see the little fox that would come down out of the woods about three times a day to eat whatever scraps Lennis would throw out for it.

I love living in the country!

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The second video is a sample of Lennis playing and singing. He had just tuned his guitar before heading off to church. I asked that he sing something for me. The clip is very short, as my memory card was full! After this, Lennis and I sang something together. For the life of me, I can't remember what we sang! I do know it was alot of fun being with these two sweet Christian people.

I'M OUTTA HERE!

Below are photos taken at last years family reunion! We acquired a key from my dad's cousin so that we might enter Uncle Armour England's family log hewed cabin.

To read the journal entry, click to enlarge.

We had a blast reading some of the old journal entries found in this old journal in the log cabin. Entries were made by many different England family members. Some of the entries by the teen age daughter about her boyfriend made us blush! Other entries by the adults concerned things such as who helped rebuild the porch, who brought the supples, who came for Sunday dinner.

An old woven cane chair. My grandpa Booker made many of these in his life.

The view our of my cousin Tara's dining room window!


I fell in love with this old bowl found inside the log hewed home.



The exterior shot of Uncle Armour's log house.


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Leaving early for a road trip! We'll be attending a family reunion in the mountains of West Virginia this Sunday. Josh,Tiff, Shawn and Jewel left my house at around 7:30 tonight. They'll arrive there about the time that mom, my brother John, Shane and I start our trip. Josh and Shawn are going white water rafting on Saturday. I'll try to entertain Jewel and Tiff while the guys are flailing down the river!

Their excitement and planning for this road trip caused me to wax nostalgic for my younger, care free days. I guess I can live my life vicariously through theirs.

More later. We sure would appreciate prayers.
Love
Pam

Sitting In a Puddle of Tears

You will be too after watching this video! My aunt sent the link to me tonight and I'm so glad I took the 12 minutes to watch it in it's entirety! It was heartwarming to see that many Americans are still patriotic and not so shallow as to think only of celebrities and their status! Please watch!

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Killed in action the week before, the body of Sergeant First Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Georgia, just south of Atlanta, on June 11, 2009. The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough, Georgia. A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time. People lined the route for miles to pay tribute to one of our fallen. Nowadays one can be led to believe that America no longer respects honor and no longer honors sacrifice outside the military. Be it known that there are many places in this land where people still recognize the courage and impact of total self-sacrifice. Georgia remains one of those graceful places. The link below is a short travelogue of that day's remarkable and painful journey. But only watch this if you wish to have some of your faith in people restored. Please share widely.

Funeral procession for SFC John C. Beale - 12 min
http://e.blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip.tv/rss/flash/2257594&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf&feedurl=http://repdavis.blip.tv/rss/flash&brandname=blip.tv&brandlink=http://blip.tv/%3Futm_source%3Dbrandlink&enablejs=true

Missing Her

Just wondering if anybody else is missing Laura Bush as much as I am. The following link is of a short, pleasant interview with her by Ann Curry. I was tempted to not post this particular link so as not to promote NBC (National Obama Network), but in reality was happy they did this piece. Also, notice the website which I found this video on.

Enjoy watching a few minutes of this feminine, classy First Lady!

Laura Bush interviewed by Ann Curry

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UPDATE ON MY MOTHER

Mom had blood work done today at Moffitt checking to see if the die which was injected for her CAT scan last week has totally left her system. She can't resume taking any of her medications or supplements until they are certain there are no traces left.

While there, her surgeon also met with her. Mom said when the Dr. walked into the exam room, she asked, "Where's your daughter today?" I think that shows effort on the Doctor's part to want to connect with her patients. Have I told you how great Moffitt Cancer Center has been to us? Yes, I think I have!

Moving on....for now the team is more interested in knowing what exactly is going on in mom's collar bone area. The word lymphoma was in the reports. So...a biopsy will be scheduled for the neck area next week after mom (we) return from our family reunion in West Virginia. For now, the removal of the abnormal lymph node in mom's breast is put on hold. They'll deal with that after this other biopsy. In the meantime, mom plans on having a blast with her sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, and few aunts who are still living.

Thanks for your prayers and if you wouldn't mind, could you pray for our safety on the road? Three car loads will be driving up from Florida to West Virginia on Thursday and Friday. Then back home on Tuesday.

May you feel the warmth of God's love today!

From Guatemala

I was touched by the following letter from a friend of ours who serves the Lord in Guatemala. I posted it, thinking my readers would enjoy it as well. (All 5 of you!)

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July 4, 2009

Dear Partner in Ministry,

The 4th of July usually is a “down day” for me as I miss enjoying with fellow Americans all the hoopla that accompanies this great day. However, this year we had 15 fellow American missionaries join us for a potluck around the grill. We decorated our porch with red, white and blue and shared with our colleagues our citizenship commonality. My brother Joe and I treasure this day. Presently, Joe is serving as one of the pastors of Mclean Bible Church, Vienna, VA at the Tysons Campus (www.mcleanbible.org/). In a letter to his staff he captured, in his singular way, one of the reasons why the Henriques brothers have a profound love and loyalty to the United States of America. I have enclosed his letter along with recent pictures of Joe and our father. Enjoy!

In His grip,

Bob

MRSaturday, July 04, 2009 9:21 AM

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Dear Tysons Staff,

I love the United States of America for many reasons. My 21 years as Chaplain in the United States Air Force/Air National Guard contributed to that love and loyalty. But for the most part, that love came from my father, an immigrant from Portugal. He came as a stowaway in the early 40’s, became a legalized citizen via seven years of duty in the Merchant Marines, and went on to be yet another example of an immigrant who came to the land of opportunity with nothing and turned into a model citizen of integrity and industry. My father, 92, and my mother, 83, now live with us.Recently, I gave my father a small American flag. He looked at it for a couple of minutes and then said with deep feeling, “There used to be a time when this flag wasn’t mine, but, now it is.” Dementia has slowed his thinking process, so, after pausing for a little while longer, he continued, “It may be a small flag, but, it is still beautiful.” He carried the flag in his front pocket for days after.I write these things to encourage all of us to love our country. Love should be the result of deep appreciation for its constitution rooted in biblical thought, for education available to all, freedom of thought, a democratic process, and opportunities for work, entrepreneurial or otherwise. We are citizens of heaven – the land that we love above all others – but, we are also citizens of earth, saints who are in Christ and also in America. Pray fervently for the Lord’s truths to permeate our culture and society. Pray earnestly for the hearts of the fathers to turn to their children, and, most importantly, that many will turn their hearts to the Lord.

Happy Fourth of July!

Joe

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I hope your INDEPENDENCE DAY was awesome!

Let Freedom Ring!

Put on some good patriotic music...

Invite some good friends over...

And don't forget the toothpicks!

Oh and one more thing,

Join THE FOX NATION!

Be Safe Everybody!

and for my dear friend, Mighty Mom, I edited the next line!!

Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Let Freedom Ring!

Short Video Clips of My Great Nieces!

Notice how the girls giggle when Shane asks Abbie if she likes Pooh! (she had a little Pooh Bear appliqued on her dress)
When Shane first asked, "Do you like Pooh?" they thought he meant another kind of pooh! What you're about to see in the last two videos are reenactments.

About Your Comments..

The comments left on my last post were so comforting and full of love. Thanks to each and every one of you (all Five! haha) who took the time to read and leave comments.

Susan, your comment about seeing mom cook and playing hostess with her present health conditions looming over us, is all GOD! Isn't HE awesome? We are so blessed! She isn't worried a bit but has every peace that all is going to be okay. Maybe it's because we've been through so many scares in the past 18 years since her initial surgery, but they've all come back benign. We seem to be a little nonchalant about it all I guess. However, we do have a different feeling about this one. Maybe because it's concerning not just a lump they found but an abnormal lymph nod and something strange going on in her neck. That part is all new to us. We don't take the prayers of you and others lightly. They are so very much appreciated! She is at Moffitt today for one last test before her surgery.

Gregori! I thank you for the award sir! I haven't received one in so long! I went to your blog and wrote out a nice, long comment but for some reason it wouldn't post! I then scrolled down and tried to comment again about the toilet paper object lesson being one of my brother's favorites, and once again, my comment didn't post. I really do visit your blog but it doesn't seem to like me! *pouting*