4th of July (a little late)

We got to hang out with the Sinclair crew for the 4th and we had a great time. We ate dinner at Tom and Beth's home and of course, it was amazing. Dan, Ash, and Gracie got to hang out for a while, but had to head home before the fireworks started to get little missy in bed. Before the fireworks started, we all loaded in the back of Papaw's pickup and pulled away from the houses so we could see the Wolfforth fireworks. We had so much fun! Brooke and daddy played with sparklers and Brooke loved the fireworks! Here are some pictures from the night!

Nonnie, Nana, and Brookie

Brooke started gymnastics!

Brooke started gymnastics this week. It is her first time taking lessons. She was SO excited and did really good! We definitely need to work on her cartwheels, but otherwise, she did great! Here are a few pictures and I will try to upload some video.

Brooke loved her new pink leotard!

She listened to her teacher like a big girl and did everything she was asked to do! Such a big girl!

A little girl kind of got in the way, but you can still see Brooke in the background!

It is Vacation Time!!

We are in Arlington having our family vacation! We came down Monday, stopping in Providence Village to see my high school bff Jennifer and her son Jett. We had fun catching up with them a little bit! We made our way to Arlington Monday afternoon, stopping in the Frisco Market Street to look around, and got here about 4:00. We settled in, ran to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner, and came back to swim.

Tuesday, we slept until 9:30 and got up and got ready. We left about 1:30 to head to Tyler. We met our friend long time friend Laurie and her three kids at Chick-fil-A. They live outside of Marshall, so they came in to hang out with us for a couple of hours. Then we went to eat dinner with Misti and Duane and the kids. We have missed them so much since they moved in December! Brooke had so much fun playing with Hadlee and Hunter.


Today was the big day! The day we were going to the ZOO!!! Brooke has been asking every day if we were going to the zoo. We got to the FW Zoo about 10:30 and it was already 91 degrees. Wow -- it got so hot! We got Brooke a stroller so she wouldn't have to walk the whole time and we had a blast! We got to all the animals and she loved looking at them. I am attaching a few pics of her throughout the day. We made it around the zoo by about 1:00, so we left and went to do lunch at Joe T. Garcias. All I can say is WOW!!! I had the best fajitas on the planet there! It was 104 outside once we finished eating, so we came back to the hotel and swam for a couple of hours. We got cleaned up and rested a bit and then had burgers at Red Robin. Once again, a great little restaurant with killer burgers. We have had a great time on our little vacation. We are going to get up and around in the morning and slowly make our way back to West Texas. Thank God for vacation time!

Brooke and her daddy sticking their tongues out at the giraffes. (by request from Papaw!)

Brooke posing with the kangaroo statue. She is so big!!

Friday Update #2 - 9:15pm

We just finished dinner together at the Wright house. It was an emotional dinner, as we feel like we have been through the ringer this week. We have talked many times this week about how difficult life must be for people who don't know our Lord. As difficult as the week has been at times, we always knew God was in control. Mom, Dad, and Poopsie rolled into town around 6:00 this evening. Mom made the trip fine and was so glad to be home. Brooke and I got here about 6:30 and Nonnie wanted to go walking outside. So we went into the backyard. It was so nice outside, so Brooke played in her playhouse and Nonnie sat in the chair and played with Brooke. It was such a blessing to be home, together. God has truly blessed us.

Luckily, I have talked to Kyle the last two days. He has been worried about mom and we have had two short conversations to update him. I am so grateful that he has been able to call. The stress of him being in a tiny village in Peru, added to the stress of mom's week has almost been too much. So they are good and it made my heart feel better. They will be starting back down the mountain in the morning at 8:00am, so I am asking for prayers for them as they start back down. It is about a 4 hour trip down and he is supposed to text me when they get to the bottom. Hopefully, this is the last "mountain" of the week. I thank you so much for your prayers. We attribute our week to God's merciful hand and we know we have had so many petitioning for us. Thank you and much love from the Wright/Reeves crew!

Friday Update #1 - 10:45am

Well, we made it to Friday. What a week it has been. But the amazing thing is that mom and dad are on their way home!!! They were loading her in the car around 10:00 this morning to head home. They had a good night last night. She couldn't get comfy and finally took Tylenol PM around 1:00am and then pain pills around 3:00am and then she slept until 8:15. She sounded great this morning and is just ready to get home! They are in no rush to get home -- dad is prepared to stop pretty frequently to let her get out and stretch. So we are expecting them home sometime this evening. We will have a celebration blog when they get here to let everyone know! Thank you for all the prayers and phone calls and visits this week. We are truly surrounded by an amazing group of family and friends.

Thursday Update #1 - 10:15am

Good morning! Another round of reports from Zale Lipshy! But today may be our last day of reports from the hospital!!! Dr. Madden came in this morning and said that if she continues to have a good morning that they might dismiss her this afternoon!!! We are so excited!

Dr. Isaacson just left the room and we got a good report. He was pleased with her progress. He said that we would continue to watch her hearing and see what it does. Mom said she could hear things out of that ear and he asked if she had talked on the phone yet. He said that would be a true test of her hearing. So... mom got on Loren's phone and she called Bo out in the hall and she could hear him on the phone! Dr. Isaacson was very glad that she could hear on the phone -- he said that was a good sign. He said that they would be dismissing her today. Yahoo!!! I think they are planning on staying at our hotel again tonight and then maybe starting out for home in the morning. But they are excited about a good night's sleep. They were up and down all night with vitamins, vitals, blood draws, etc... Mom is back to her old self this morning. She is spunky and is ready to get out of here! Her face looks so much better. The swelling has gone down a lot and she looks so good!

You know, this week has been a week of metaphorical and literal 'mountains' in our lives. The anticipation leading up to mom's surgery was torture on mom and the rest of us. Just not knowing what to expect and the worry for mom was about to eat us alive. But we knew that our God is in control and that mom is covered by his healing hand. So once Monday was over and mom was out of surgery, I felt like we had scaled that 'mountain'. Then we got a phone call that night from Kyle. He was letting me know that the guys had made it up the mountain to Cordova. This mountain, part of the Andes mountain range, is 13,000 feet above sea level. The road up the mountain is one lane on most stretches and is treacherous at times. So once we knew he was safe on top of that big mountain, there was another mountain we had conquered! Poopsie shared some wisdom with Kyle before he left - she said that God won't send Kyle anywhere that God's grace won't protect him. And we felt that way with mom too. We know that God had our whole week in His control.

So, as I speak, they are taking her IV out and we are about to get her in the shower to wash her hair and take a bath. Then as soon as they get her discharge papers ready, we will get her across the street to the hotel! I will post again this evening. As I have said before, we can't thank you enough for all your prayers for mom. God is good, all the time!!! Love!

Wednesday Update #4 -- 9:00pm

We just retired to the hotel for the night. Loren and I helped mom with a sponge bath earlier this evening and got her zebra pjs on her. She felt SO much better to be in her own clothes. They told her she could take a shower and wash her hair tomorrow, so she was pretty exited at that news. We left her and dad at the hospital and ran to get some dinner (we had to eat at Pappadeaux's before we left Dallas!) We went back by to check on mom and dad after dinner and they were doing good. She had eaten half a grilled cheese, some chicken noodle soup, and a cup of applesauce. She hasn't been very hungry, but she said she knows she has to eat to build up her energy. She was tired, so we got out of their hair so she could rest and so we could rest as well. It has been a tiring, week, but we are so glad mom is doing better. Love!

Wednesday Update #3 -- 3:45pm

We are now hanging out in the 5th floor waiting room. Some friends from Lubbock came up to visit, so we have just been visiting and catching up. We were sitting here and in walked Nonnie!! We were so surprised to see her! They told her the more she was up, the better she would get. So by golly, she is going to be up and around! She came and sat with us for a little bit. Brooke sat in her lap and they just loved on each other -- they have missed seeing each other this week. She started getting tired, so they headed back to her room and she is resting now. But here is the great news -- her doctor came in after they moved her up here and said that she would be up here 48 hours!!! Which means that she will probably get dismissed Friday!!! Yahoo!!! Nothing is in concrete, but we were glad to hear the words "go home"!!! Love!!

Wednesday Update #2 - 2:15pm

Mom had a good morning. They got her up and walked up and down the hall with her. She did really well. Loren, Brooke, and I got to the hospital about noon and went up to see her. She was pretty worn out, so we offered to leave her alone sso we all went down stairs to eat and let her rest. Of course, while we were eating, they called and were moving her to a room. Typical. So we finished eating really quick and loaded everything up to head to the 5th floor. Brooke was SO excited to see her Nonnie and I think Nonnie was equally excited to see her Brooke. I asked mom how the trip up here was and she said she walked the whole way. They put her stuff in the wheelchair and mom pushed the wheelchair up here. She is pretty wiped out now, so I think we are about to go down the hall to the family waiting room and let her rest. We are just so thrilled to get her out of ICU so she can have some peace and quiet. So thank goodness for answered prayers. We appreciate all your diligence in praying for mom. We feel like she is finally on her way to healing! Love to you all!

P.S. *She is in room 526.

Wednesday Update #1 - 9:00am

Good morning! Well, we are now on post-op day two and are hoping for a good day. They got mom up yesterday afternoon late and she sat in a chair for about 30 minutes. She was pretty queasy and wobbly, but she did really well. We sent several shifts of family through during that time to distract her from the dizziness. She said when she laid back down that she could tell the dizziness wasn't as bad as it had been earlier. She had a good evening. She had a few bites of Jello and some tea and water. They kicked us out of ICU at about 6:30, so we ran to have some mexican food at a great little restaurant called Ojedas. After we ate, Poopsie and Debbie kept Brooke at the hotel for us and Dad and us kids went back up to see Mom. She had been watching Dancing with the Stars and was just chilling. They got her up to use the restroom while we were there and did really well. It took three nurses to stabilize her, but the nurses were impressed at how well she did. We left about 9:30 as she was getting tired. So it was a good end to the day.

Dad and Bo headed back about 7:30 this morning. I talked to dad about 8:30 and he said she barely slept at all last night. They made her sleep at a 30 degree angle to help decrease the swelling in her eye. He said her eye looked much better and that she could actually see out of it! But she is exhausted. He did say that she had eaten some broth, jello, and drank some tea. During the surgery, they had to cut her jaw muscle, so she isn't able to chew at all right now due to the pain. The PA for one of her doctors came around earlier and said that they were dismissing several patients this morning from the neuro floor, so we are hoping that they can get her moved up there this morning sometime. Debbie is leaving around noon today, so we sent her and Poopsie on up to spend some time with mom and I am here at the hotel with two sleeping girls! Everyone is worn out. We will head up after they get her up to her new room. Brooke and Nonnie are going to have a great reunion when we get up there. They both have been waiting to see each other! That is what I know for now. I will update when we know more! Thanks for your prayers! Love!

Tuesday Update #2 - 3:50pm

We have been playing the waiting game today. Brody and Loren took Brooke to a playground at Children's Hospital, which is in the same medical complex as Zale Lipshy. All three of them had a blast! Poopsie's sister and brother in law came by to see us, so Poopsie and Debbie have been downstairs visiting with them. Dad and I have been in the ICU waiting room, just chilling and letting mom sleep for a while. Dad just went back to check on her and they were giving her more meds to help keep her comfy. They still don't have word on a regular room. They are just waiting on someone to get discharged from the 5th floor, which is the neurology floor. The nurse said if a room doesn't open up that she would have to spend the night in ICU again. :( Bummer. Also, he said that they are going to try to get her to sit in a chair about 4:15 and see how she does. PT and OT still haven't been around, but I guess this is the first step. Please pray for a few things for us -- that a room would open up soon so she doesn't have to stay in ICU again tonight, and that she would tolerate the movement of sitting up at 4:15. Thanks for all the comments. I hope that once she feels better she can read all the blogs and comments from you guys and maybe can blog a message of her own!!! Love!

Tuesday Update #1 -- noon

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay between posts -- the wifi at the hotel wouldn't work, so we are just now getting hooked back up at the hospital. I wrote out a 15 minute blog at the hotel this morning and then it wouldn't post, so I am going to try it again. :)

ICU closed from 6-8 last night, so we all went back to the hotel to eat and chill for a bit. Dad and Bo went back to the hospital at 8:00 and us girls went back to the room. We were all pooped and we wanted to get Brooke ready for bed. Brooke was AMAZING yesterday at the hospital. She was such an angel and we were all so proud of her. Dad and Bo got back to the hotel about 9:15 and said that mom was much better. She was getting more like 'Tina' again. She was settling down and the nausea from the surgery was subsiding. So we all crashed hard last night after a hard day and were so thankful that she was okay.

Dad and Bo were back with her at 8:00 this morning. She didn't rest much last night -- she had a CT scan at 2am and blood work at 4am, so they didn't leave her alone much. She laughed about ICU -- she said they were constantly saying "I see you." Brooke, Lolo, and I slept until about 9:00 and got ready and came up to the hospital about 11:00. It was so good to see mom and to get to talk with her. Her right eye is completely swollen shut and it bruised, so she looks pretty rough. The side of her face is swollen as well. They said that the fluids from her incision will pool in her eye, but it will go away in a few days. She was having more pain in her head today, but they were keeping her on the pain meds regularly. She gets very dizzy every time she moves, due to the loss of the nerve that takes care of her balance. Then, she gets nauseaus when she gets dizzy. PT and OT are scheduled to come this afternoon. They will be getting her up and around. The nurse said that the only way to alleviate the dizziness would be to move her around and re-train that left ear. Mom cringed at the thought, as I know it will make her feel terrible. But hopefully it will help the dizziness go away faster. They put in an order for a regular room this morning and they will move her to the 5th floor as soon as a room is available. Her hearing in the right ear is still questionable. She is hearing a few things in that ear, and they are hoping that when the swelling goes down, that her hearing will continue to improve. So we are here, hanging out in the ICU waiting room. They gave her more pain meds and nausea meds about 20 minutes ago, so we are trying to leave her alone and let her rest. We have lots of family and friends who have been stopping by -- we are so appreciative

We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the amazing outpouring of love and support. Our cousin in Beaumont, who is a nurse, sent mom the following message: "The recovery of the patient is in direct correlation to the number of the people in the waiting room." We had the most amazing support system with us here, both in body and in spirit. We know that God is taking care of our sweet mom and we are so thankful for all your prayers and thoughts.

I will post again once we get her moved to a regular room and will let you know her progress. Thanks again for all your love and support!

*Also, I heard from Kyle last night. They had made it up the mountain to Cordova and were trying to get settled. So two major praises from God yesterday -- mom made it through surgery and Kyle made it up the mountain! Please keep praying! Love!

Surgery Report #4 - 4:35

They got mom to her ICU room and we got to go in and see her. She is very nauseated from the anesthesia and has been throwing up on and off. As I said in an earlier post, there was some concern about hearing loss. When we got to see her, she commented that she couldn't hear on her right side. Dad filled her in about the auditory nerve and said that we are just going to have to watch it and see what it does. Dr. Isaacson came in to check on her while we were in there. He said that everything went well. He had her do all sorts of funny things with her face and said that her facial nerve is fine, thank goodness. He had a tuning fork and checked her ears. She could hear the fork on her right side, it was just not as loud as her good ear. He said that there was probably a lot of fluid in that ear and that hopefully she would retain some of her hearing. He also said that her eye would probably swell shut due to the fluid building up near the incision site. But all in all, everything looks great. The doctor said that we would probably have her in a regular room sometime tomorrow as long as she is doing good. We are so thankful for your prayers and we are so glad the surgery is over. Let the healing begin!!! Please pray that her auditory nerve is still in tact and that she gets over the nausea soon!

*As a side note, I have been in contact with Kyle throughout the day. We figure that they are about 2 hours up the mountain to Cordova right now, so please pray for continued safety as they finish the last leg up to Cordova and as they minister to the lost in this village in Peru.

Surgery Report #3 -- 2:00

Dr. Madden came down at 2:00 and said they were done. He said the tumor was larger than indicated on the MRI in January. They did get it all out, but they are concerned that the auditory nerve might have been compromised. We will know more when she wakes up, but we are praying that it is all okay. He said that she should be awake in 45 minutes and that she will be awake in ICU - which is contrary to what we were thinking earlier. Please pray that the auditory nerve is still intact and that she feels okay after she wakes up. Love you all!

Surgery Update #2 - 11:45am

We just talked to Dr. Isaacson. He said the first part of the surgery has gone great. Dr. Madden is now working on getting the tumor out. Dr. Isaacson said that her facial nerve and her auditory nerve are still in tact, which is a great thing. They just have to be very meticulous to preserve all the nerves. He said it would be another 2-3 hours before they finished up. They will take her to ICU when they finish and then after an hour there we will be able to go see her. Thanks for praying -- I will update in a few hours!

Surgery Update #1 - 9:00 am

Hello all! Here is our first update on Mom's surgery progress. We all arrived in Dallas last night and had a good visit with our family and friends. Mom, dad, Brody, Loren, Brooke, and I all shared a suite, so it was good to all be together last night and this morning. We got to the hospital at 5:30 this morning (woah, that was early) and they took her back at around 6:00 to prep her. She was in good spirits. They got her IV started on the first try and we got to visit with her two surgeons and the anesthesiologist. They told us that it would be pretty rough after surgery for her due to the nature of the surgery. She will be in surgery for about 6 hours and then will go straight to ICU for about 24 hours. She will stay sedated most of the time while in ICU, which hopefully will ease her through the rough part. So, they took her back about 7:00 and said they would probably get started about 8:00. So, please be in prayer for her surgeons, nurse staff, and the others caring for her in the operating room right now. The first part of the surgery will take 2-3 hours and then the surgeon will come talk to us. So when we have our first update, I will let you know. Thank you for praying for my sweet mom. Also, please start praying for her post op, as I know she was really concerned about how she would feel.

Updates and prayers.....

Lots has been going around the Reeves house the last few months. The most exciting thing is that I am going to be an aunt again.... twice!!! Shawn and Nette are pregnant again, which is an amazing miracle from God!!! Their twins that were conceived by in-vitro will be two in May (on our shared birthday!) and she is due the end of September! We are just so excited for them! And then, the big surprise... Brody and Loren are pregnant!!! Our newlyweds of 6 months are almost 12 weeks pregnant! It was a total surprise to them and all of us, but they couldn't be happier about it! Loren is due the end of September as well, so Brooke is pumped about getting two new cousins for her birthday (Sept. 14).

Then we have two prayer requests for you. First, Kyle is going to Cordova, Peru for Spring break as part of the 'plant trip' for our church's future mission trips. There are 4 men going with our pastor and will be gone from Sunday, March 15-Monday, March 23. At least he will be back for his b-day on the 24th. I am a little stressed about it, as the selfish side of me has never been away from him that long. Once he leaves Lima on Monday, I will have no communication with him until they come back down the mountain on Saturday or Sunday. In the 15 years that we have been together, I don't know that we have ever gone that long without talking. :( But on the other hand, I couldn't be prouder of him. Talk about spreading the word of God to the ends of the earth. They are going to be sharing God's word on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere in Peru. It touches my heart that my amazing hubby has a heart for God and wants to further His kingdom. So please be praying for him and the other men going on the trip. Pray for their safety and that relationships will be built with the people in Cordova.

Secondly, my mom is having surgery on Monday, March 16th. She has been diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma, which is a benign tumor that is growing above her ear. Her mom had the same tumor, which leads us to believe it is hereditary. It must be removed, because as it continues growing, it will compromise her hearing and other nerves. She is having no symptoms now, as the tumor is small, but has had some problems with vertigo and her ear which led to the finding of the tumor. She was referred to a neurosurgeon in Dallas and the surgery will be at the Zale Lipshy hospital in Dallas. The surgery is at 7:30 the morning of the 16th and will take about 6-8 hours. It basically is brain surgery, even though the tumor is technically below her brain. She will be in ICU for about 24 hours after surgery and then will be moved to a regular room until Saturday, hopefully. Brody, Loren, Brooke, and I will be going down Sunday after church and will stay through Wednesday afternoon as long as she is doing well. I will have a computer with me, so I will post updates as we know things. But specifically, please pray for the surgeons, as this is a very delicate surgery. Pray for my mom's nerves over the next week as she has been preparing for this surgery since January. We have a crew of family and friends going with us, so I know we will be surrounded by a great support system. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Love you all!

Two Seasons in a Weekend....Welcome to Lubbock!

Brooke finally got to ride her new tricycle on Friday because the weather was so beautiful! We loved being outside and getting some sun after the up and down weather. I took these pictures of her riding in circles around our back patio. She is such a big girl and is just blessing us so much!!!

Then, winter hit. I took this picture 10 minutes ago (Monday night) when Kyle and Brooke went out in the snow to get the mail. Yes, the ground is covered in snow in our part of the world, so we are hoping that school will be delayed for a little bit in the morning. That may be too much to ask for, but it doesn't hurt! Happy Winter! Much love!

We are still here....

Well, much to the surprise to some of my blogging friends, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We are still here in our little corner of the world! I thought this blogging thing would be really fun, but once school started, this was the first thing to go! I have missed keeping up with our friends and family and I promise that I will keep up with our blog better!

We had a flabulous (in the past words of our daughter) Christmas and New Year. We had a total of 7 Christmases with family and we had a blast seeing everyone and catching up. The 2nd week of our school break, we moved Brooke to the front bedroom of our house to her "big girl" room. She is now sleeping in her daybed and is loving her new, bigger room. We spent New Years with the Sinclair bunch and celebrated Ashley's birthday together. And this week, we started back into our school routine again. Man, I am tired and it has only been one week. We are so thankful that the weekend is here and we can rest and hang out together.

I am attaching a few pictures from Christmas and New Years. I promise I will do better at updating this year!!! :)

The Family boarding the Polar Express

Merry Christmas from the Reeves!

Brooke on Christmas morning with her new tent!

Many wishes for a wonderful 2009! We look forward to making memories with you!