It seems I've fallen off the face of blog land. If you follow me on Facebook many of you know that our life has been a little crazy. Since my last post our lives have been full of Christmas' with family, a water park trip, wrestling, health issues for Gabe and my dad & the loss of my job.

Now with all that said I have to be honest when I say that for the past two weeks I have been feeling very much defeated. However, I'm taking each day one day at a time and I know fully that no matter what is going on yesterday or today that God truly has my path all set out for me. Because I have faith I can really truly believe this even as we sit and wait for results from the biopsy that Gabe on Tuesday. Now does this mean that I'm not worried or that I don't have anxiety as I wait? Nope, I have it all. It just means that as I wait I have great friends & family that are praying with and for us, I have the word of God that tells me to Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22. We go Friday for a follow up with Gabe's Doctor and hopefully we will get some answers then as well. 

 The picture above is the doctor showing Gabe and John the tissue that they took out of Gabe's cheek for the biopsy. This was a very hard process as the tissue kept falling apart, it took much longer that the doctor had planned and poor little Gabe ended up coming to sooner than they wanted and was in a lot of pain during the last 10 minutes of the biopsy. Good this is that because of the medication that he was on he doesn't remember anything about this day. The bad part was that John and I will probably never forget it. We were able to be in the room with Gabe during this procedure which ended up being both a curse and a blessing. We were blessed to be there but so helpless when he started screaming for help and there was nothing that we could do but hold his hand. He is however the strongest little boy that I know and we are so very proud of him.

On another note Dustin is in his second year of wrestling this year and has been doing very well. This has totally been a blessing for our family. To watch him grow and learn the sport so well and it's given us all something to cheer about as we wait. This week we go to Plainwell for Team Districts and then this Saturday it's off to Lakeshore for Individual Districts. We are excited to see how our team does and also excited for Dustin as he gets ready for both of these meets.

 Wrestling is John's sport, he wrestled in High School and was very good. He enjoys spending time with Dustin at practices teaching him moves and talking about how to get ready for matches & talking with him after matches about what he did well and things that he could try to do differently. Watching these two together warms the heart.

As for my Dad his surgery went well and the doctors feel that the mast that they took out was fatty tissue and not cancer, an answer to prayer for sure and as far as a job goes I'm praying that my Photography will really take off and that I will continue to give my time and efforts to my family while God continues to bless us as He always has done. 

The Big Red Machine

Vicksburg High Schools Marching Band fondly know as The Big Red Machine competitive season has come to an end. What an amazing year these kids had. We have without a doubt the best band! This past Tuesday they had an indoor performance to close their season and in true fashion of winning anything this announcement was made on Tuesday. Now I wasn't present for this so I have no idea how the band director actually made this announcement but this is my thoughts:

Big Red Machine you've taken 2nd place at Otsego & Kentwood, A Division 1 rating, 1st place at Grandville, Lakeshore & Jenison what are your plans now????

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!! 

Yep that's right The Big Red Machine is going to be playing at Disney World Spring Break 2014 and we in the Fuller house are thrilled. We've got lots of fundraising to get done and lots of saving to do but we can't wait to watch with pride as The Big Red Machine takes over Disney World! This is also exciting for us as Gabe's birthday always falls over Spring Break so he will be celebrating his 9th birthday at Disney. How cool is that!

If you haven't seen this band perform you are missing out! You can find some of their performances on You Tube. Also if you are interested in making a donation to the band you can contact me and I will get you the information. These kids need all the help they can get.

A Summer Ends and Fall Begins

Summer is quickly coming to an end which in the Fuller household is a pretty sad thought. We will soon be taking our boat out of the slip and getting it ready for the winter and longing for next summer to arrive. But in the mean time we have more than enough stuff to keep us busy and to help the time pass by. 

September 4th was the first day of school for us. This is our little man all ready for his first day of Second Grade. Yes you read that right Second Grade, I can't believe it myself.

 When people say that they grow up fast they aren't kidding. I kind of knew this already since I've been watching our older kids graduate and go on to college but this one still seems like he should be a baby. 

 We are still spending as much time as we can in South Haven until we have to take the boat out. A couple of weeks ago my Mom and Dad came and spent the day with us. The water was to ruff to get the boat out for a ride but it was a fun day to watch the waves crashing on the pier. Because the waves were so high not many people were on the pier so I was able to get this almost impossible picture of the light house with no people in the picture. 

She may be 14 years old but she is still Daddy's little girl and will be that for as long as they are both alive. 

 Here are a couple of things that will keep us busy for the next few months. Shenira is a Freshman in High School this year and is a part of the High School Marching Band. "The Big Red Machine" we are so excited to have a child back in the band this year. We love traveling to their competitions and parades. They can really get a crowd on their feet. This band is always very highly ranked in all of the competitions that they perform in and work very hard to earn each award that they are given. 

Dustin is a Junior this year and is playing on the Varsity Football Team. Last Friday night he got his first interception and we all went NUTS! We are crazy proud of him for his determination and his love for the game and enjoy going to all of the games home and away. This photo below is a picture of mentioned interception. I was able to capture this exact moment but not much after that due to the intense amount of cheering and celebrating that was going on after it!

The team is 2-2 so far and have some strong teams ahead of them to play but win or lose we are proud of our #40 he's out there everyday at practice and even when he doesn't get to play we never hear him complain. 

Lastly the end of summer mean fair time. We enjoyed going to the St. Joe fair last Monday with Cousin KatieBeth as this has become a tradition for the four of us to go together. There are a few must do's while we are there, petting the little monkey, eating corndogs, elephant ears & fries, riding rides and checking out the animals. This is a great family night for us and we look forward to it every year. Our pocket book not so much but hey it only happens once a year!

 

Mackinac Island Boat Trip

This past weekend we took Gabe and Shenira to Mackinac Island. We traveled down the Inland Waterway to get there. Just having the two kids was so different. Tony had to work, Jordon went on a back packing trip with the youth group and Dustin had football practice so they were all unable to go with us. Needless to say we missed them but still had a great time. 

Because most of our trip was spend going down rivers at an idle speed Shenira got to drive the boat while John would rest beside her. 

 This is what a lot of our trip looked like. There really are no words to describe how beautiful it was. Even when it was cloudy and sometime rainy it was still so pretty. 

 Once we got settled on the Island it was off to do some shopping. The Big Store was a favorite spot for my clan. 

 We found a nice taxi driver that let the kids pet his horse which made both of their days. 

 This is the kids at the entrance of the harbor where we docked our boat.

 The boat all docked up home sweet home for 2 nights. 

Saturday we got up and decided that we would ride our bike around the Island. It's 8 miles all the way around. We took it very slow and stopped many time as I had been sick for 3 weeks prior to this trip and still wasn't feeling the best. But, taking the breaks worked out in my favor because I was able to get all kinds of great pictures of the kids.

 About half way around the Island we saw a bunch of people pulled over to the side of the road. They were all looking at this Bald Eagle. It was so cool to see one out in nature and not in a zoo!

 After the bike ride John thought it would be fun to cool off at the back of the boat. If you can't tell by this picture "cool off" was exactly what he did!

 These are the locks that we went through in Cheboygan once we entered they lifted us up 15 feet so that we go out the other side and continue on our trip home. This is Shenira helping John keep the boat off of the cement wall.

 One of my favorite pictures of the trip. This would be Gabe reaction after coming up from below to find out that he dad drank the rest of his pop while he was down below. Mind you the pop had sat there for two hours. This was priceless. 

 This is John and I standing on the spot that we stood 9 years ago when we got married. It was sad going back, all of the trees and flowers were gone and it wasn't nearly as pretty as it was 9 years ago. We went back home and looked at our wedding photos you would never know it was the same place. 

Relay For Life

We had another great year for Relay for Life. We had a surprise party for my mom this year and invited many friends and family to join us in celebrating her 4 years as a Cancer Survivor. She was so surprised and it was great! Everyone showed up just before the Survivor Lap and were able to join her which meant the world to her. 

 Mom and Dad with the 3 J's.

 Mom, Dad, The 3 J's and spouses 

 Mom and Dad with the Fuller's 

 Mom and Dad with the Esienberg's

 The whole family minus Dustin. 

 This is my Mom with one of her sister and one of her brothers. Thank you Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dan for being there for mom it was awesome. 

 If we were having a party we had to get her favorite cake. She loved it. 

 Mom and Dad with the Copas' and Plaster's 

 Group hug from Nana thanking the kids for coming and supporting her.  

 New this year were Luminary Bags. These things were so awesome. This is mom with hers. 

 This is the Fab Five helping Nana out. Next year the Super Six will help as Daelyn will be older!

Praising God for another year with my mom and for another year of her being a Survivor.