Positive results from the latest scan!

SO SORRY I"M JUST SENDING THIS OUT!!!

Jon had his chest x-ray yesterday (last MONDAY) and it was CLEAR!  And his blood work was normal!  HALLELUJAH!  We are rejoicing.  You know God has performed a miracle in Jon's life.  A great reminder at this Christmas season what God did for us by sending His Son.  He loves us so much and He still performs miracles today!!

You know, this process is such a grueling process.  It is such an up and down process.  We are very grateful we have gotten to the point of having scans every 4 months.  And it is nice not to be living day by day wondering what news we would receive.  But there is part of us that lives 4 months to 4 months.  Because I can promise you, sitting in that patient room, waiting for the doctor to come in and announce "your body is free of cancer OR your cancer has come back" is the most excruciating experience.  Jon and I literally sat there on Monday in that IU patient room waiting for Dr. Einhorn to come in and thought, we could either walk out of here jumping for joy OR we could walk out of here with our world rocked once again.  We could walk out of that office and continue life as usual, or we could be making the next plan to kill cancer that had returned.  We could walk out smiling OR crying!  Thank goodness we walked out jumping for joy and Praising God for the great news. And praising God for Dr. Einhorn!  He is the BOMB!

God gave us a great weekend and gave our children a great weekend with Jon's parents.  When Jon and I go to Indy, we try to make the most of our stay in the city.  We love shopping, eating dinner at places we don't normally get to eat at, and just enjoying each other's company (since there is not a whole lot of time for that in our everyday lives).  So this weekend was especially special, thanks to several of our friends.  Saturday, we got picked up by a friend  and headed over to the Butler game.  Now this friend has the HOOK UP.  I will keep it a secret who they are--but if you are reading this, you know who you are!!:o)  She not only picked us up, but we got prime parking.  We had access to the hospitality room where all the big wigs mingle:o)  And then our seats were incredible.  Jon and I LOVE to go to sporting events and because of where we live do not have many opportunities to do that.  Jon and I were in heaven.  It was a great game AND Butler won!  And NO I did not let Jon wear his Duke gear to the game like he threatened!

So then on Sunday, after attending our Indy church service, we enjoyed shopping together and having a dinner date.

Then Monday night we were invited to an event by our dear friend who is in leadership with Dream Alive at the Colts practice facility.  That was way cool because I personally have never been in an NFL practice facility.  I am not going to take time to explain Dream Alive but here is a link

It is a great organization!  Please read about it.

http://dreamaliveinc.org

Anyways, some of you may remember that Coach Pagano (Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts) reached out to Jon at the very beginning of his treatment in Indy.  So they emailed back and forth and have kept up throughout the year.  Well, since we were at his practice facility and office, we were able to thank him face to face for the encouragement he was during that time.  We were able to spend time in his office sharing stories and seeing things that meant alot to him that people did during his battle.  He showed us how he has our picture in his office amongst others that he reaches out to and prays for.  You know, some people may look at this somewhat like meeting a celebrity, we saw it as meeting a friend that had helped us during a very difficult time and has walked the same road!  He just happens to be the coach of an NFL team and is SUPER BUSY!  I am not trying to put him on a pedestal, because he is just a man that cares about others, but in the middle of his season, he took the time to meet with us and allow us to thank him.  I think we can all learn from this.  He is definitely an inspiration to Jon and I as we too try to reach out to cancer patients but get caught up in the busyness of life.  NO EXCUSES!  Very happy for Jon as most of you know he is a HUGE sports fan!  Definitely a fun experience, not everyday do you get to sit in the office of an NFL coach and chit chat.

#CHUCKSTRONG
#COLTSTRONG
#JONSTRONG (as Coach Pagano always writes)

But we will always and forever be:

GODSTRONG!!!!

because without HIM we would be nowhere.

Mark Waghalter's Celebration Service.

Jon and I felt God leading us to go to Mark's funeral.  Not only did God allow us to attend but to also be a part of this celebration of Mark Waghalter's life.  Candace, his fiancee asked me to read what she wrote to Mark and Jon was asked to say a few words from someone that had "walked that road."

This was probably the most moving, touching funeral I have ever been to and it was truly a CELEBRATION of Mark's life.   I would love to take a little time to share some clips of the service.  It was truly life changing for me and my hope is that it was life-changing for many others.

Hundres of people heard the gospel (several times) at the celebration service a few weeks ago.  

Mark,

Your life made an impact, and in case you were wondering--you did make a difference in people's lives.  Your legacy will live on and many lives will be changed!

When your youth pastor, Mr. Dale shared that you affirmed your salvation in the hospital a few weeks before you passed it was very touching.   Touching to know that you vocalized being a sinner and knowing that God sent his Son to die for your sins and accepting Him as your Saviour so you could live forever with Him.  Thankful for Mr. Dale who told his wife he was going to let the Holy Spirit lead what he said to you in that hospital room. Thankful for a man who was willing to lay it all out and be bold in sharing God's salvation message with you and Candace, who later accepted Christ as her Savior.  We loved hearing how Mr. Dale continued to visit you in the coming weeks and how you had a deep desire for him to read the Bible to you so you can learn more about Jesus.

Then how touching it was to hear your brother talk about you holding his hand a few days before you passed and telling him that you wanted Him to know God so that you would see him again in heaven.  And then when your brother shared how you had not spoken for a couple of hours, but you lifted your hand to heaven right before you took your last breath and said "God, open the gates of heaven, Mark is coming through."  Some very powerful stuff!

Jon and I are so thankful to know you, Candace and your parents.  And we came to find out quickly you have an awesome extended family too!  You come from a great Christian heritage and people that care deeply for you.  Jon and I loved hearing the story of how you would wear your GODSTRONG bracelet everywhere and call Candace out when she didn't have hers on.  And by the way, she probably didn't have it on because it didn't match her outfit on that given day.  We were moved to know that Luke 1:37 meant so much to you, "For nothing is impossible with God."  We are touched that we could be a part of your life even if it was through the most difficult time.  We loved how up beat and positive you were through the most toughest time of your life, always saying how blessed you were.  And always telling us you were staying positive and keeping a good mindset.  Thank you for being willing to help out a fellow testicular cancer patient who was in a similiar situation with you.  You were so selfless, only worried about others even through your darkest days.  Jon was so moved and actually broke down when your grandfather told him what an awesome impact he had spiritually on your life.  Again, we are so humbled and honored to have been a small part of your life because you, Candace and your parents were such a huge incredible inspiration and encouragement to us during tough days.

\

I love this picture of you and Candace praying with your Godstrong bracelet.  I remember the day Candace texted this to me.  I had a happy heart!  I loved how we would trade pictures back and forth of being WAGSTRONG and GODSTRONG! 

It was painful to watch your family receive visitors at your funeral.  It was painful to know that Candace will be without you when her and I talked so many times about God healing you (on this earth) and ya'll have a future together.  It was painful to watch your parents, brother, sister, sister-in-law and extended family have to say good bye to you at way too young of an age.  

This is a conversation my twins had the other day.  It went something like this:

Emma Kate:  If you believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven.  If you don't believe in Jesus, you won't go to heaven.  Wyan, do you believe in Jesus?

Ryan:  No!  I don't want to go to heaven.  I just want to stay home!

Outside of this story being super precious, it is so true!  We don't want to leave this earth because we can't imagine what is being prepared for us in heaven.  We just want to stay "home" in our comfort zone.  But Mark, you accepted your fate.  You accepted that God would not heal your earthly body but that he would give you a brand new body in heaven.  So many people heard the gospel because you knew the Lord as your personal Savior and you were surrounded by many Godly people with your parents being at the top of the list! 

It was exciting to see you grow in the Lord through your cancer journey.  It was a GOD THING that we met you that November day almost exactly 1 year ago.  And we are thankful that you remained WAGSTRONG and GODSTRONG throughout your harrowing journey. 

Until we see you again...

Jon and Donna Strebe 

Outline of the past 2 weeks of the Strebe life

Notice:  I thought I would give everyone a good chuckle at the last 2 weeks of our lives.  I promise, this is not made up, dramatized, or embellished at all!

For almost 2 weeks straight someone has been sick!  It all started Wednesday, 2 weeks ago when BOTH babes at the SAME time said their stomach's hurt.

YEP!  For the next 5 days, they ran fever, threw up and had diarrhea.  They were very lethargic.  They took LONG naps everyday and would sleep 12 hours at night.  Here is Ryan at 10:30AM one morning already back to sleep in my arms.  Don't hate me because I am beautiful.  LOL

On the 5th day they had one last throw up session (had not happened in a couple of days).  And then one more day of being lethargic and it was over.

BUT the last day of the babes sickness, Luke woke up throwing up in the middle of the night (this overlapped with Emma Kate's last day of throwing up).  Needless to say we were up all night with both of them.

The above picture is 8AM Monday morning.  Luke was 6 hours into his sickness and the babes were on their last lethargic day.  Don't you love the buckets!?

The above picture is 8PM Monday night.  It got worse.  They couldn't even sit up.

This was Tuesday morning.  The babes were doing a tad better--sitting up at least. It was pitiful and painful to watch at times.

Luke continued until he was dry heaving the next morning.   He was getting weak fast.  So his second day (a week ago Tuesday) he would eat something like a popsicle and it would all come back up.  On that very same day Jon woke up with a bad case of vertigo.  So he rested at home for just a little bit and decided to go into work.  It wasn't 3 hours later he was texting me reports of his situation at school and it was not looking good for him.  He finally texted and said he was coming home.  He ran a fever also and had the stomach issues.  Luke went into his 3rd day and we thought things were better.  He was drinking and holding down a popsicle.  That was until 2pm.  And everything exploded and came out (I won't describe details).  I rushed him to doctor because I thought he was dehydrated. U can imagine, I'm crying on the phone with the nurse.  I"m yelling the at babes to get dressed and go to the bathroom.  I tried to call for help to keep babes but couldn't get in touch with anyone.  On the drive there I was lecturing them not to touch one thing and to not say a word while we were there.

Luke had not moved from the couch for 3 days solid and would even wear a pull up because he had no strength to get to the bathroom in time.  It was awful and I was extremely worried about him.  They told him to take zophran but I think he needed a bag of fluids.  He was one sick boy.  And by the way the babes could not have been more perfect in the doctor's office.  Did not say a word and did not touch anything.

Thank goodness Luke started keeping stuff down and by Friday he got up and played for about 15 minutes.  He was weak as a kitten!

So we were all set to go on a little vaca to Dollywood and Asheville on Friday after Jon's work.  Well, Jon came home from school (his 4th day of the virus) with diarrhea and the shivers like you have never seen.  He packed a little and then I convinced him to lay down.  Within 30 minutes he had a fever.  So we gave him some of his anti-nausea meds from his chemo days and he went to bed.  He felt better the next morning so we left for Dollywood.

Fast forward to Sunday night.  Ryan comes down with the croup.  I could tell it was bad Saturday night but Sunday night it sounded really bad.  I did all the home tricks they tell you but nothing was working.  We decided since we were out of town and at least 30 minutes from the closest hospital we better take him.  Jon, my sister and I drove with Ryan to the hospital.  Sure enough after they determined he did not have EBOLA.  LOL.  They confirmed that he had croup with stridor (he was retracting when we got there which I didn't realize).  They gave him a breathing treatment with epinephrine.  Then gave him a steroid.  They checked him again and were not happy with the fact he was not improving like he should.  So they did a chest xray and it confirmed he had a steeple (which means his passageway was very imflamed and very narrow).

They observed him for a while and he started improving and we finally got back to the condo at 6:30AM.  Our 6 hour ER visit was scary and comical all at the same time. Karen and I had the giggles from lack of sleep.  We kept calling Marcus and waking him up all night because he was in charge of my other kids.  Jon, by the way, did not find humor in our jokes at 3:30AM LOL.

Anyways, we had to cut our vacation short and come home in case Ryan had it happen again the following night.  We were disappointed but we did get to enjoy Dollywood with our family for 48 hours:o)

We are THAT family.  We have so much drama and so many issues.  But then I look and think about how many blessings we have and I wouldn't trade these sleepless nights for the world taking care of my precious children.  I cherish every second.  I even sat beside Luke for 2 solid days on the couch so I could get him exactly what he needed when he needed it and perused facebook way more than I needed to but I have caught up on a lot of things.  My kids and I talked about how thankful we should be that this is a virus that will go away!  There are children that have diseases or conditions that do not go away and they continually stay sick.  Or children that have to take medicine like daddy and are very sick.  So it is nice to keep things in perspective and count your many blessings!

So this Thanksgiving we are grateful to be together as a family.  A year ago Jon was finishing up high dose chemo and getting thoracic surgery.  We are thankful that God has healed him.  We are thankful to not have anything worse than a virus or croup that is treatable.  We are thankful for friends and family that have prayed and supported us.  And we are thankful for a God that heals, loves, comforts, shows grace and mercy and forgives us and gives us an opportunity to accept Him as Lord and Savior to live eternally.

We are blessed to be...

GODSTRONG!

**Just as an added humor, In the middle of writing this blog, I had major stomach issues (won't explain).  The whole time we have been praying I would not get this.  But I'm finishing this blog 12 hours later and I have been fine.  It was just funny I was writing the blog and it came over me!  LOL

"Who dies of testicular cancer anyways?"

That was my response when Jon was first diagnosed with testicular cancer metastasis to the lungs.  As I looked up the statistics there are about 300 men a year in the US that die of testicular cancer.  In my mind I was trying to say it was all going to be OK.  I mean I'm sure those 300 people that died just declined treatment or let it go so far that there was nothing the doctors could do.  That was my justification and my way of believing that no matter what Jon had to go through the outcome was going to be just fine and he was going to live a long life.  

Well, as Jon's situation got more desperate and the first round of treatment did not work and the chances of his survival went down, I became more afraid and fearful of what the future would hold.  I mean, now Jon was one of those rare people that would have to seek more intensive treatment to try and kill this cancer.

Along the path of Jon's journey with high dose chemo and double stem cell transplant, we have met a lot of great men.  Some young, some older, some metastis to the brain, some with a more aggressive type of TC,  from all walks of life with all types of careers, some even right out of college, men from all over the country that we have connected with and in hopes that we have been able to minister to  in some way.

Who dies of testicular cancer?  Unfortunately 2 of these very young men (24 yrs old) whom we have had the priveledge of getting to know have passed away.  I asked you in an earlier post to pray for both of these men.  I will ask you again to please lift up the Waghalter family in your prayers.  Mark passed away a couple of days ago.  He graduated from college a year ago, has a fiancee and should have had such a long life ahead of him.

We have been very open and honest with our children but the one thing we have never directly told them is that cancer has the potential to be fatal, or that daddy could have been one of these men with TC that we know that could have died.

So our children have been praying for Mark.  I received news of his passing the other night while I was out by myself running errands.  It really hit me hard.  This could be Jon.  My heart went out to these parents that lost their young son, this fiancee that lost the love of her life and her future husband, this brother that lost his brother, and so on.  Then I received a message from Candace, Mark's fiancee and this is what it read:

Well, I was in the grocery store when I read the text and I started bawling!  I'm walking through the store, cannot control my tears, everyone is looking at me and I'm trying my best to focus on what I was actually supposed to be buying at the store.  So finally when I was checking out I got a hold of myself.

I walked in the door and little sweet Luke, my 5 year old runs out of his room and says, "O momma, I'm so glad you have your Godstrong shirt on because I have mine on too!"  Well, I lost it again.  I start bawling thinking about what an impact Jon's journey and story has made on so many people.  Luke says, "Momma, what is wrong?"  I blew him off and told him nothing.  He is a very insightful little boy and relentless so he asked me again what was wrong.  I bent down and told him Mark had passed away.  Oh the look on his face.  He was truly sad.  I told him what Candace had told me in the text about the Godstrong bracelet and he just hugged and hugged me and said he was so sorry.

Fast forward to the next morning:  Luke announces to the babes at breakfast that Mark had passed away.  And Ryan says, "Daddy, I'm glad you didn't die because I wove (LOVE) you!"  Well, Jon then lost it.  So we might not have directly told them that cancer can be fatal but they get it.  They know that cancer could have taken Jon's life.

Jon celebrated his 38th birthday today.!  Such a blessing.  We have celebrated!  We have rejoiced for another year that God has given Jon.  We don't understand why God would save Jon's life and not Mark's (or Jaron's).  We have lots of questions but we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is a good God and He loves us more than anyone!  His plan for us is greater than we could ever imagine.  And some of these answers we may never know on this earth.

We are so thankful for the people that we have been able to encourage, minister to and love on while on their cancer journey.  But with that comes walking this journey with them.  And for some their earthly journey has come to an end.  And Satan likes to use that in my life to start doubting that God has healed Jon.  He really sends lots of messages to me that make me extremely fearful, like to the point of panic attacks.  Jon goes back for his appointment December 8th.  This is the first time we have gone a 4 month stretch.  While it is great to get to that point where each scan is farther apart, it also makes me start being very fearful of the future and what the scan will show.  You can definitely be praying in the next month as we approach Jon's next scan.  I have major SCANXIETY!!!  THANKS for praying!

And the Strebe's continue to be

GODSTRONG. 

I will leave you with the verse that I sent Mark about 6 weeks ago:

Romans 15:13

May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The only true and lasting HOPE we can have is to put our trust in Jesus Christ.  There is nothing else on earth that can give us that eternal HOPE.  Mark's mother text me a few days ago and told me Mark had peace with his salvation.  Hallelujah!!

This is Jon-it's been way to long!

Hey everyone,

      It has been way too long since I last posted a blog.  For that I am truly sorry!  I must say, we as a family have very much enjoyed our summer together.  It is the first time since I can remember not working or having to deal with fighting cancer.  It was such a blessing to spend quality time with my family, and even experience what it is like to be Mr. Mom.  Wow, I knew my wife was special, but after taking on her responsibilities I now realize that she is super woman!!
     My wife and I made a trip to Indianapolis two Monday's ago for my every two month check up.  It marked the year anniversary of the start of my high dose treatment rounds.  It is a big milestone as far as the medical field goes.  I am blessed to say that my scan and blood work was totally clear!  Praise the Lord.  We now go from a 90% cure rate, to a 97% cure rate!  Even though, I may never truly consider myself "cancer free", it is a very good place to be!!  Thank you goes out to everyone who has prayed, and continues to do so for me and my family!  We are so very blessed to have people who are so faithful and diligent in their support for the Strebe family.   We now will go back to Indy every 4 months for my checkup.
     When you have a relationship with God, there are times in your life where you cry out to God, and say what are you doing in my life right now?  You don't understand why you have to go through some of the things that you are going through, you just trust that this is God's will for your life.  Sometimes, you never find out why you were given the opportunity to struggle.  For me, I have had many of the moments in my life.  However, I must say recently I have discovered some of the reasons why God has chosen my family and I to be challenged in our fight against cancer.
     It is because of my diagnosis, and subsequent healing that God has given me the opportunity to use my story to reach others for Christ.  Donna and I feel an extreme burden to share our story when appropriate, and use it for His glory.  Many of you know that I was given an opportunity to speak in a local church in Indy last October, just a day after receiving a round of high dose chemotherapy.  An amazing opportunity for a pastor to give up his pulpit to a person whom the only thing he really knew about me was that I was battling cancer, and was a friend of an elder at his church.  However, it was because of Cori's decison to allow me to speak in his church, that I was able to reach the people who attended that evening.  Additionally, I can't tell you how many times I, and in particular Donna has been able to share with others about our experience, and has referred them to my "sermon" that has been posted on youtube.  I have also had pastor's, and bible study leaders from other churches tell me that they have used that sermon to inspire, motivate, and ultimately use for His glory, and the growth of His Children.  A very humbling experience, but such an amazing way to see how God uses even the worst things in your life for His good.
     I was also given an opportunity to speak to our church's youth group this past spring.  It was there that God gave me the words to speak to the young people in attendance that evening.  That night, God moved 7 young people to make commitments to follow Christ.  Again, what an unbelieveably humbling experience to be used by God to move people towards Christ!!
     God also opened the door for me to speak to the staff of a christian organization in Atlanta, National Christian Foundation, where my mother-in-law happens to work.  I was given 20 minutes to share my story, which I preceded to do.  Fifty minutes later I completed my speech :).  For those of you that know me, you won't be shocked that I went over my time limit.  I am not sure I have ever stayed within the parameters of speaking time.  I guess add it to the laundry list of things I need to improve upon?
     During the basketball season, a good friend who happens to be the head women's basketball coach at University of Auburn at Montgomery, asked me to speak to his team prior to playing one of their regular season games.  I was honored that he would ask, as his team had supported our family through our cancer fight, sending us team t-shirts that had been signed by each team member and coach.  To be able to close the loop, and give back, motivating them in the game of basketball as well as life was a tremendous honor!
     Finally, about a month ago, I was given one of the most difficult tasks to give a eulogy for a colleague who had lost her fight with cancer.  My good friend Joy had been diagnosed just months before I was diagnosed.  We traveled very similar paths together, and shared and encouraged one another throughout our processes.  I truly believe that God used me that afternoon to honor her life, and the life of her family.  I was having a discussion with a fellow colleague at work recently.  She began to tell me that she had attended Joy's funeral where I spoke.  She said that she felt like I was totally speaking to her throughout the service.  God has moved her heart to recommit to attending church and because of that her family is now going to church on a consistent basis.
     I tell you all of this, not to puff myself up, or pat myself on the back.  Instead, I want to encourage you to persevere through whatever battle or struggle it is that you are currently, or have gone through in the past.  God will honor your commitment to Him, and He will use the way you handle that struggle for His glory.  You may never know the importance of the seeds that you are planting in people's lives, but you can trust that if you heart is open to being used, that God will indeed honor that and use you to the fullest extent.  Again, thank you for you prayers, love and support.  I will try not to let the gap in between posts be so wide.  God bless!

Jon
   

WOW...It's been WAAAY too long

I'm so sorry!  I cannot believe it has been 3 months since I updated.  At least there hasn't been any "say it isn't so" situations.  I'm going to highlight what has been going on in our lives and will start updating more often.  God is good!

**Jon's dad, John, had double knee replacements.  His new knees are awesome!

**Sara, Jon's sister, got married in May to Paul!  The kids were in the wedding.  What a precious time with family and celebrating this happy time for Sara and Paul!

Oh my gosh, I just have to tell one funny story from this trip.  So I decided to take the kids to Dallas for the wedding a day earlier than Jon was going.  It was the first time I had ever flown by myself with just the kids.  So I mapped it all out and got seats in the back row right by the restroom.  Kids did GREAT!  No problems.  So on the way back I had Jon with me.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  We are boarding the plane.  The babies are in front of me.  Luke is behind me and Jon is behind Luke.  I stop and briefly tell the flight attendant about Luke's severe nut allergy (By the way they don't serve nuts on any of our flights for Luke).  I look up to head back to our Row 5 seat.  I do not see the babies.  I yell "BABIES".  Nothing!  I think to myself, were they in front of me or behind me.  I quickly look behind me and only Luke stands there, I couldn't even find Jon at the point, he was no where in sight.  So I look forward and yell louder "BABIES"  Nothing.  But some of the passengers that had already seated, pointed in the back, but I still don't see my children!  So I yell at the top of my lungs,  "BABIES!"  And 2 little 3 year olds pop up from the very back seat of the plane and say in their squeaky voice, "Yes."  And come running down the isle toward me.  I had to explain to them we do not own this plane and we cannot just sit wherever we like.  LOL.  Can you imagine what those people on the plane were thinking when I was yelling BABIES, and then out comes these grown up children?  Haha or they were thinking WOW, this lady has lost her BABIES.  Oh Goodness!  Everyone on the plane was snickering!

**Jon got hearing aids!  Yes!  He gave me permission to write this!  Everyone that sees him is curious and some people ask why he wears them.  So if you see him you will know why!  The carboplatin he took for his high dose chemo unfortunately damaged his hearing.  He has moderate to severe hearing loss.  The hearing aids have helped a TON.  It has improved our marriage 10 fold:o)  Also I like using them if we are out at a restaurant and I want to hear what the surrounding tables are talking about!  Great for eaves dropping!  So be careful if you are near me in a restaurant.  LOL

**June -- Indy 2 month appointment--Jon's bloodwork and x-ray was ALL CLEAR.  PRAISE GOD.  Here are the kids waiting for Dr. Einhorn to come in and meet with us.  They were marvelous during the appointment, THANK GOODNESS!

**Vaca road trip to Indy, kids got to go and do all the fun things they loved while living there--great fam time! On the way back stopped in Dollywood!

Here we are on a boat on the canal.  The kids begged everyday we walked to canal to ride these paddle boats and we always told them NO because they were too expensive! 

Ryan saying GOOD-BYE to the mini-monorail at the hospital.

Here we are at the Butler field!  So cool to run around.  We stayed right beside it.

This mural has been painted on the canal right below our old apartment since we left.  The boys can't even stand up straight in the picture because they are laughing so hard!  It reminded them of the "old ladies" that lived below us and gave us such a hard time!

Little rain storm at Dollywood!

Gymboree memories.  The kids had a blast!

The kids first night in INDY.  On the canal being GODSTRONG!

**Pool and beach everyday--great family time.  This summer we have savored hanging out with each other and especially Jon!

**Jon went to Liberty for a week to do a class

**Jon's paternal grandmother, GG Roma passed away.  She was 95.  She is now with Jesus.  Such a Godly lady and so glad our kids got to know her.  Our kids were able to go out there a couple of times and spend quality time with her.  We will miss her so much but know that she is in a much happier place!!

**The babies turned 4!!  Yes, they are still my BABIES!  And yes I'm sad they are 4.  But they are not sad so we must embrace this!

**Luke starts Kindergarten in a few weeks!  I will be homeschooling him.  I look forward to my year and will savor every second I have with all 3!  Lord willing, Luke will go to 1st grade at Jon's school next year, Riverview Charter School.

Next week we will head to Indy again for another check up.  Please pray for us as fear begins seeping in the closer it gets.  We still have a hard time not being fearful everytime we go.  We know, we KNOW God is in control.  And we do TRUST Him!  But our human nature takes over sometimes and we just have to pray and ask God to take away the fear!  It's a battle!  The following weekend we will head to Phoenix, AZ for the funeral of Jon's sweet grandmother.

We continue to be GODSTRONG!  And praise God for all He has done in our lives!

Say it isn't so…

Yes, more Strebe drama:

 First of all let me say, I know I told you Jon would be writing a blog post, and he IS going to. I have asked him on several occasions, but in his defense, he was finishing up one of his masters classes (yes, he is already back taking classes for his masters in administration). Isn't he amazing? Most of you remember that when he was diagnosed in December 2012, he was literally in the middle of his masters program. On top of that, he is working at least 4 nights a week (on top of teaching all day) so literally he has been staying up until 1 and 2 am and then getting up and doing it all over again. He will soon write his blog post:o)

 A week ago Ryan came down with a cough that quickly turned into croup. He had croup for the first time in Indy back in the fall. I remember getting up with him and he was gasping for breath. It was SO scary but it did not last long at all. He just kept having the barking cough. Well, this time he had croup AND stridor (he literally was gasping for breath and it was so scary). After we tried all the things we knew to do, we called the nurse and she called the doctor and they said to take him to the ER. So at 11:30pm, we made a 911 call to Jon's parents to come over and sit with the other kids. We left for Savannah with the air cranked as high as it would go. It was FREEZING in the car but thankfully my friend told me to take a blanket for Ryan! So we made the 35 minute ride which by the way seemed like FOREVER! As I'm sitting in the back with Ryan, he literally cannot talk because of his swollen voice box and then he would cough the barking cough and start the stridor. It was just scary! Once we got to the ER they took him fairly quickly and took him back for a chest x-ray and also gave him a steroid shot. By the time we left, 3 hours later, he was a different child! Here is the before and after pictures.

This is Ryan soon after we got to the ER, waiting on his chest x-ray.

Here is Ryan getting his chest x-ray.  Jon figured it was no big deal to be in the "line of fire" since he gets these ALL the time!

 And here is our baby boy at 3am about to leave the hospital with steroids in his system.  He was a MUCH happier boy!

So poor Jon, got 3 hours of sleep that night and then had to work days/nights for the next 3 days.  Now you really know why you haven't heard from him!  I have NO idea why our kids end up in the ER!  I sometimes think maybe I freak out too much, ha.  Well, I think I do but to confirm that I wasn't over reacting I confirmed with the doctor we made the right decision to come into the ER…WE DID!  The last time we drug our feet on going to the ER with Luke, he ended up having an all out asthma attack, throwing up and would not talk at all.  SUPER SCARY!  But like Jon said, we are thankful our kids are not dealing with something more serious.  ER visits for croup and asthma, we can handle!
BTW, Luke now has bronchitis and is on steroids and antibiotic and breathing treatments.  His asthma is just getting so bad so if he gets a cough it goes straight to bronchitis or pnemonia.

Some more fun things:

I crashed my car into Jon's car the other day (NO, NOT HIS SPORTS CAR, HA).  I mean, really??  It's bad enough to have your car wrecked, but to run your car into your own car!  UHHH.  At the time though Jon and I were just thankful no one was hurt and that I ran into a car and not a person!  Keeping life in perspective!

LOVED my Mother's Day.  I have 3 miracle children and being a mom to them is the biggest blessing EVER!  Jon did SUCH a great job of making me feel SOO special and so did the kids.  They all went over the top!  Such a blessing to be married to Jon and have these 3 beautiful children in my life.

Last thing, there are 3 people I would like for you to pray for!  They are cancer patients and have been on my heart lately!  One is Mike, just went through a bone marrow tranplant.  Please pray for his body to recover and God to heal him of this cancer.  Jaron, testicular cancer patient that went through same treatment as Jon at IU at the same time.  He is now doing a clinical trial.  Please pray that God will work in his body through the medicine that he is on.  He is such a strong man, and loves God.  Pray for his wife and 2 little girls!  And the last is Mark.  He is also a testicular cancer patient and also went through same treatment as Jon right after Jon at IU.  He is having some abnormal test results.  Please pray for the doctors as they move forward.  Pray for peace for Mark and his family!

God continues to work on me with my fear issues, especially with my children and Jon.  He definitely keeps giving me MANY opportunities to trust him and give my fears to HIM!  He is so good like that!  Here is a verse He gave me the other day:

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.  When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Thanks and we continue to be 

GODSTRONG!!