Cuppies and Joe

So, two of my friends (who happen to be one of the cutest sets of twins) and their family opened up a dessert and coffee shop in Oklahoma City. If you live in the greater OKC area or are passing by any time soon, you should stop by and partake in one of the many fabulous cupcakes. My personal favorite is "The Don" which is and italian cream cupcake with italian icing....Not only is there great food and incredibly amazing servers, but the atmosphere is great with little nooks to curl up and read a great book in, wifi, and live music on tuesdays and saturdays. Come by and check it out!! 23rd and Shartel

www.cuppiesandjoe.com (click on the title and it will take you straight there!)

Xander Update

Here is the latest update from Ricki Lea....

Thursday, November 20, 2008 6:33 PM CST

I first want to say thank you for praying for us this week, Xander did really well!

The doctor called today and informed me really quick that the news was "not bad"! We learned that Xander's MIBG was negative, meaning that there was no lighting up, there was nothing detected. This is very good news!!! Xander's bone marrow has changed a little bit: In April 2008 the left side was 0nd the right side was less than 1Now the left side showed 5nd the right side showed 2-3We know that when a bone marrow biopsy is done they are only able to "test" from the sample that they get, therefore it is not 100ccurate. The doctors feel that this change is not significant enough to change Xander's treatment. They feel that it is the best thing for Xander to be on right now. Although it may not be a "cure" it is keeping the cancer stable. Doug and I are fine with keeping the treatment the same for now. We will retest Xander's bone marrow in January and then go from there.

Of course I cried at this news and had to explain to Xander why I was crying!! It is not the worst news we could have received by far. Doug and I know that we could have been told a lot worse today. But it still takes some time to digest. More than anything we wanted to hear "no cancer" today.

My heart is truly thankful for the news we received. With all of my heart I know that God will deliver us from this somehow and someway! At times it seems like Xander will be on treatment forever and we will never live "normal" lives. I told Xander today that we will keep praying, keep trusting, and keep taking the medicine. He seemed to be fine with that. He was more concerned about EATING, he is always starving after school. Talk about living for today!!!


Have a Happy Thanksgiving, I know we will.
Thank you for praying faithfully.
love
Ricki Lea

The Khaki Shorts Club

A couple of months ago, I was going to a meeting with all the softball coaches in the state of Oklahoma. I asked my friend, Erin, (the head Deer Creek softball coach), if I needed to wear a Deer Creek t-shirt to the meeting. She told me that I could wear whatever I wanted, and of course, I showed up in jeans and a cute shirt. Well, she forgot to inform me that it is a hidden rule that as a softball coach you must wear khaki shorts...I have never seen so many pairs of khaki shorts in my life....there were different shades and definitely different styles, but almost everyone in the room had on khaki shorts.

Well, i have plunged into the khaki pants club...The last two months have been filled with practices, games, bus trips, road trips (with the music of choice of high school students), laughter, yelling, and really long days, but i have loved it. I love the relationships that are formed and I love being part of a team again. I know what most of you are thinking...don't worry, my khaki shorts are pretty cute!!

Moore Babies!!!

There has been so much going on, but the most exciting news is that Doug and Ricki Lea are going to have another baby!!! This will be their fourth....and my sixth niece or nephew!!! YAY!!!!! I LOVE BEING AN AUNT!!!

Blogless....

Sometimes your blogless because your schedule is so crazy!!! I started school a couple of weekends ago, and also softball. I have had many nights were I leave my house at 6:30 and I get back at 10:30, but I have really enjoyed being a coach and the relationships I have with the girls...My JV team has not won a game yet...in fact we have lost most of our games by at least 6 (which is A LOT) in softball..

If you want to see some pictures that my brother took (www.capture1000words.com), hit on BLOGLESS and then go to Deer Creek.

Going back to Cali, to Cali, to Cali.....

So, the other reunion I had was with a lot of people that I lived near in Turkey..we met up for Allyson's wedding in Cali!! It was so much fun to see everyone..the reunion included time with the kids, in-and-out, a wedding, a quick trip to the beach, spending the night at Derek and Kim's new place, and about a 24 hour adventure to get home.. Here are some pics...

Reunions

This past month, I have had a couple of reunions...I went to my ten-year high school reunion where the most surprising thing is that no one was really surprising...seriously, I really think that 90% of the people look and acted EXACTLY the same...I cannot say that I looked really different either...besides having hair a couple of shades darker and banges (which my friend Kacy always reminds me of), I look pretty much the same...and the funny thing is that I bet ten years ago if you would have polled people on what I would do when I was older, they would have said that they thought I would have been a teacher and a coach...which is exactly what I am doing....but I kept thinking that I have a secret...the Lord has changed me in so many ways that maybe they cannot see....maybe everyone else had the same secret....

Preview

Here is a preview post of the Cali post soon to come!!

Chess Pie and Milk Three Fingers High

I have spent a lot of time lately wondering what it is like to be 95. My great uncle Doc lives with my parents, and so I have been observing and spending time with him all summer long. He gets up every morning and the paper is waiting for him on the table...someone comes and takes him to lunch everyday, he comes home and takes and nap (while reading the paper), we have dinner, he tries to finish the paper, and then he watches the news. He does not talk much...and he is slightly hard of hearing, but I have learned a lot in the past couple of months. For example, today he told me he wanted milk three fingers high and then someone had to explain what that was....He also told me that when my great aunt was sick (she was in a nursing home with alzhiemers), he would visit her every night before she went to bed and bring her a piece of pie..sometimes chess pie (which I did not know what that was)...Every single night...But this past week was when I learned the most...Ever since we started working on my house, he has asked if he could help. So, my mom took him over and he painted some shelves....The best part is (besides the picture)that he has asked my mom everyday since then if he can go back. Like I said, I have learned a lot in the past couple of months...