Is it really May 2010?????

Was the last time I posted really August of 09???? Geesh I am more of a slacker than I thought. It has been a whirlwind of a year. Last September, Alex turned 1 and we had a wonderful party at the house with family. We all had a great time and Alex enjoyed all his toys and the cake. I think he liked the balloons more than anything. Alex continued his treatment about every 6-8 weeks and if you kept up on Caringbridge, you already know he finished up his treatments in December. He has done great and as of today, still no sign of his Cystic Hygroma and we do not have to go back for a year unless we notice something. He is just growing up and into everything. He will say anything you say and loves to chase/be chased by Ella. He has all but 4 teeth, that was not a fun process especially with all 4 molars coming in at once. But we got through it. Other than that and a 24 hour virus that we all got except Ella, he has been really healthy. He loves to be outside and doing anything Ella is doing and loves to be with Daddy. He is enjoying going to my Mom and Dad's to spend the night. He will try to sing "Old Mac Donald" I will sing the beginning and he will sing "Eee Eee Oooo" he is just a delight and I am so thankful for him, even in the middle of his new temper tantrum stage which consists of stomping his feet, saying "NO" and throwing himself on the floor. Ugh....these are the days!!

Ella, wow has she ever grown up right before our eyes. She is finishing up Kindergarten....I can hardly believe it as I type it! She has done really well. Honestly, I didn't know how she would do because she had just turned 5 when she entered Kindergarten so she is one of the youngest in her class. I didn't know if we may have to hold her back a year or not. She is such a little perfectionist (I have no idea where she gets it from). She would just get so frustrated if she didn't get something right on her homework the first try. It took a long time for her to realize that you have to practice to get things right. After the new year we really saw such an amazing transformation in her patience and her abilities. She has just done so well. We had an end of year talk with her teacher and she calls Ella her little success story and is really proud of Ella and how well she is doing. Ella cheered for Upward Basketball this past winter and really loved it. She is now taking swim lessons and is a natural. She LOVES the water!! We all joined the Y where she is taking lessons and have really enjoyed it.

Summer is upon us and we will be taking the kids to the beach for a week with my parents in mid June and Ella loves that and I know Alex will love it as well. We usually celebrate her birthday at the beach which makes it extra special for her. Of course we won't be doing a lot for her birthday this year because in July we are taking her to Disney World!!!!! This will be her first time there and she is excited but doesn't really know what to expect. I hope she has a wonderful time and loves it as much as I hope she does. We will not be taking Alex, he will stay with my parents for the week. He is just too young. Of course we will go back in a few years with both kids when Alex is older but this will be Ella's special time. She had to watch me and Mom or me and Stephen take Alex on multiple trips to Charleston last year. Although, she knew he was seeing doctor's while we were there but still, in her mind, we were taking Alex with us on trips and leaving her home. That was not easy on her. Plus, what 5 (actually she will be 6) year old doesn't want to see Cinderella and her castle??? We are really looking forward to it. We were planning on using my Delta miles to fly down and stay in a cheap motel but then I found out that my Delta miles can pay for hotels and we were able to book a resort for a week using my miles. Wow!!! We would never be able to afford a nice place like that so I am very thankful. Speaking of travel I went to the Dominican Republic last October to assist with their Upward camp as well as their medical mission. I loved it, and was so thankful to be a part of a mission that I normally don't get to be a part of. I am always going for Upward Sports, that I rarely get the opportunity to do humanitarian needs missions. I got to be a part of both and love it. It was an amazing time and you can't help but have a broken heart for the conditions that these beautiful people and oh the little children....they have no idea the desperate situation they are in. They just smile, with their dirty little faces with tattered clothes, if any at all and they are just beautiful. It shows me just how greedy I am and how I really don't need for anything, I just have selfish wants. Those are lessons that I need. After the Dominican I had a break from travel for several months. I returned to the Czech Republic in Jan. to see an Upward Basketball game. They were piloting a new Upward Sports program that our team has been developing for 1 1/2 years so that was amazing to see it in action. Plus, I LOVE Prague. It's the most beautiful city I think I have ever seen (even Sydney, although Sydney is a close second. I have been to Canada several times this spring for training and am now doing more domestic travel promoting our new International mission program to US churches. As far as I know I only have one more big trip (to the Ukraine) this summer. These things tend to change quickly so I never really know.

Well I better wrap this up. I will try to keep this current and not let life get in the way of writing about it :)