Quick Update

Jon is receiving the last of his 3 days of chemo.  We are finishing up here at the clinic today (Saturday). He will have rest days Sunday and Monday (will still come in to get fluids).  Then on Tuesday he will have his stem cell transplant--"rescue."  Some of you have asked if they will take his stem cells again.  The answer is they took all they needed before he began the 1st round of chemo.  So they will use what they have frozen for this round.  Again this week the medical team has reminded us that Jon would die from the amount of chemo they are giving him without this "rescue."  I believe that Jesus is using the stem cells to rescue his body but ultimately Jesus is rescuing him.  I love the mental imagery of that.  Jesus came to this earth and died on the cross to rescue us from this fallen world so we could live eternally with Him.

Jon's parents left, boo hoo.  They were here for 2 weeks and actually had to see Jon at his worst but then got to see him bounce back somewhat to the point he was able to do some activities with us.  Jon's best friend and his wife came for a week.  That was during Jon's "off" week and it was perfect timing because Jon and Matt could hang out and we even all enjoyed a double date.  I have a friend that lives here from the past (graduated with Mark and good friends with one of my good friends) and she was able to babysit the kids while we went on our date.  Huge blessing!  Now Sara has flown in from Dallas and will be here for a week with us.  Yea for Aunts!

On a side note, we are moving apartments.  I do not have the energy to even write about it or think about it.  A friend here has offered to completely help move everything and Jon's sister, who is here now, said she would coordinate it all so that we don't have to even think about it.  And I'm NOT.  We are just going to do it because it is the right thing to do.  Period the end:o)

On another side note, Emma Kate was up 2 nights ago throwing up all night among other things, LOL. It was a rough night for all but pray that Jon will not catch what she has.  Poor girl.  It was a sad sight for sure.  It was the first night Aunt Sara was here so great initiation for her.  I did take care of Emma Kate but I'm pretty sure Sara got no sleep because at one point it was me, Sara, and the twins all in a queen bed!  Emma Kate and I finally moved out to the couch so she could do her thing!  OMG, she reminds me so much of me when she is sick, it's scary!  Well, she reminds me of me in general and that is scary too, HA.

In closing, I got a card in the mail from a friend and in it, it had a great reminder of something.  Our 3 children are completely trusting us through this process.  They are putting their complete trust in us that all the decisions we are making for them are what is best and will not bring them harm:  childcare, new places we take them, the classes we put them in, the apartments we are living in, etc.  So us as adults need to trust in Jesus the same way!  Are we?

Please pray for Jon as he speaks in church tomorrow night.  He is so excited about this opportunity to share about what God is doing in his life.  He was saying that God has provided these opportunities and he refuses to let them go to waste!  He is such a good communicator, pray that the words that flow from his mouth will be from God!

Strebe's continue to strive to be...

GODSTRONG!

We went to another apple orchard/pumpkin patch.  The kids had a blast!

 Isn't the picture above adorable?  Look how cute they look in this little school bus.  Now look at the picture below.  Pictures can be deceiving.  This was taken right before.  Emma Kate is draped over the bus, Kristina is trying to get Ryan in place and Luke is doing who knows what.  Just thought it was funny!

 Ryan LOVES tractors.  He was in heaven!

Doesn't Matt look cute with his purses?  We had him doing EVERYTHING while here.  He could write a book on all that we (I) got him in to.

Chick-fil-A had family night and the owner has reached out to us and been fabulous.  So we went and joined in the fun--hayrides, pumpkin decorating, and good food!

Jon and I were able to go on a date to PF Changs before this 2nd round.  It was so fun and great to see him enjoying eating again and actually have enough energy to spend time with me!