Happy 30th Birthday, Justin!!!

Today is another milestone in Justin's life--he's turning 3o! As of 0157 this morning, Justin Perry Birt is 30 years old. What a lot he's accomplished so far and we are so very proud of him! We love you bunches, Justin--Mom and Dad

What a beautiful home I have

One of the things having cancer and having to spend a significant amountof time taking it easy has shown me is that the area around my home is beautiful. And while we are planning at some point to downsize to a smaller home I have counted my blessing for this home and for this time of being able to enjoy it. For the past few visits Adam has been sneaking around the backyard taking pics of this and that, trying to expand his portfolio. Here is just a sample of his work. Enjoy!

Mama and Dart at the end of the day

A great day was had by all!

Enjoying a rest after a baseball game...
"I did too eat it"!
Don't you just love the way little kids eat?
Hmmmm....what's this thing?
Dessert!!!!

Okay Jude...where's the ball?
I'm ready, Justin!
Enjoying the afternoon....
Hey buddy, you're supposed to hit the ball and run the bases....

The Mama helps Dart with the ribs

While things are far from perfect...Mama is feeling better every day

Happy 4th of July!!!

What a beautiful day we all had yesterday and our "photographer" got some great family pics here at "Birtville" yesterday afternoon. I'll share them with you all in just a bit. First, I hope everyone took a few minutes to stop and actually remember why we have the 4th of July. Independence Day. Yes, we'd have the 4th of July anyway, but I hope you all took a few and remembered. Remembered the stories from American History when you were in school. We had to memorize dates and names and places. Treaties and declarations, sayings, and who fired on who at Lexington. And we whined and carried on about it. But all in all, what we need to remember is this--a lot of American's have given their time and even their lives to make this country what it is today. Are we the greatest? That's a matter of opinion and we've all got one of those. What does matter is that because of all those people, we are FREE and INDEPENDENT. And that's why we celebrate the 4th of July--OUR Independence Day. I hope you all had a wonderful one! Now on to the pictures.......

Adding the cream

Taylor "mixing it up"

The finished product

The Cooking Class

These are the pics from their cooking class....yummmmyyyyyy!!!

The completed hydrant

Steve said he used most of the paint thinner he had to get paint off Shelby....

Community Service

Last week Steve took Taylor and Shelby to Winterport with him for a few days while he worked. One day they went and took cooking classes and on another day they went a painted fire hydrants for free! Here are some of the pictures that Steve took.

Taylor's KFCU Commercial

A few weeks ago, Taylor was called upon to play a part in a commercial for Katahdin Federal Credit Union in Millinocket! Here is her debut.

Congratulations, Justin!

Justin received word on Wednesday, that he had passed his Professional Engineering Exams in Civil/Structural Engineering. Needless to say, he is very happy and we are so proud of our #1 son!

Final Pathology

Good news abounds!!! We received final pathology reports yesterday on the Mama's alien that she'd been growing and it's official. Pending clean reports every 6 months for the next 5 years, Mama is likely to do just fine. There was no other tissue involvement or metastasis. All the cancer went away with the kidney. So thanks be to God above!!!

There's no place like home.....

And no, we're not getting reminisent about the land of Oz. We are just enjoying the fact that the mama has made good enough progress to have come home from the hospital on Thursday morning. While it has been a few very tough days keeping pain under control and keeping her down, Mama is home and on the mend. All the flowers, cards, and visits from friends have helped tremendously and she is soooooooooooo incredibly appreciative of all that everyone has done for her. From the prayers to the meals, all of our family and friends have taken it upon themselves to keep the family well fed both in body and spirit. Thanks to all who have given of themselves!!! God will bless each of you!

4 days and counting.....

Life changes so very, very fast. On Friday it will be exactly one month since I was diagnosed with renal cell cancer, and on that day I will hopefully be having it all removed and that will be the end of it. While getting rid of my kidney and the mutation growing inside of it doesn't present much anxiety and dread, the thoughts of surgery, recovery and then the subsequent CT scans, X-rays, and labs every 6 months for the next 5 years and then waiting for the answer to the question, "Has the cancer returned?" produces a bit of anxiety. And distraction. I have been so incredibly distracted this week that I haven't been able to accomplish much of anything that is productive.

I do look forward to having the summer off though. I'll be able to get my nursing class prepared, and I'll have the chance to sleep in the mornings. I am hoping to learn how to use my mother-in-laws knitting machine, finish some of my projects that I started a long time ago. I also look forward to catching up on some reading. Have a bunch of new books and think I will also read the Harry Potter series again. So while I have a nasty disease and will be having a pretty nasty surgery, there are some good things coming out of it. The ability to "stop and smell the flowers" so to speak is something I will truly enjoy.

Maine Potholes

As anyone from Maine knows our springs are full of "potholes" in the pavement from the nasty winters. Well, two weeks ago our family hit one of those "potholes" but not in the way imagined.
"The Mama" has been diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma (Kidney Cancer). Subsequent tests have shown that the cancer has not spread and she will be having surgery to have the kidney removed on June 6. Provided all the pathology from this is clear, she should continue to live a long and healthy life! Will keep you updated.