Tom & Brenda's Family Journal

We are blessed with a wide view of sunsets at our farm in Alto, Michigan.  This sunset from late November shines over our field.  It symbolizes for us the sunset on Tom's months of chemo as well. Tom had finished chemo on Tuesday, Nov. 20.  This gave us much to be thankful for this year. Our family had a blessed Thanksgiving. Our daughter Jennifer and her husband Sudeep hosted Thanksgiving this year.  This was a first for Jennifer.  She did a great job.  Kristen and Chris came from Ohio and joined Tom, Eric, Jennifer, Sudeep and I for a delicious meal.   We also celebrated Kristen's birthday that day.  Spending time together was the highlight for me.  Our plans were to go shopping on Black Friday; however online shopping was so much easier. Later that weekend we celebrated our daughter-in-law, Sherry's birthday.   November and December are big months for birthdays in our family.  We still have two m...

Tom had his treatment this week without any problems.  His blood numbers had not moved from the previous week which was good news.  He now has 7 treatments left.  We are cautiously looking toward the end of chemo.  There will be celebrating when we are done. The last post I made was about the 'waiting room' that we feel we are in now.  Our lives have been put on hold while he goes through his treatment.  At each week of chemo he receives a blood test that determines if he is healthy enough to receive treatment.  Each time he receives his treatment, he is one step closer to being done.  But waiting or postponing treatment is discouraging. Some of our family attends Ada Bible Church near here.  I often watch the services during the week.  The Bible teaching is an encouragement to me.  This week's sermon is part of a series called Choosing Joy Under Pressure.  I have been watching with great interest. Jeff Manion's sermon...

Campfires and s'mores Spending time at Sandy Pines has been important for us this summer.  Sandy Pines is a member-owned campground in Allegan County.  It is 27 miles from our house in Alto. We have been enjoying many days there.  It could be sitting around a campfire in the evening or hanging out in the hammock reading. Eric and Savi sharing a stack of books on a summer afternoon Sandy Pines has many special events.  We've enjoyed a Halloween celebration in July and Christmas in August.  I have decided that summer is a much better time to have these special days.  Trick or treating without a winter coat is great fun.  Decorating your place for Christmas in warm weather is fun. For Christmas in August, the entire park becomes a Christmas wonderland of lights and inflatables. Santa even comes and greets the golf cart visitors.   Viewing Christmas decorations from a golf cart I know I haven't updated our family blog rece...