The Christmas That Flu By

Hi!
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
Mine was, well let me tell you what mine was like:
I spent most of the day fighting off
what started out as a nagging cough,
which quickly turned into a
bone-chilling, teeth-chattering,
103 degree fever, wring out the bedsheets,
burning eyelids, constant headache-y,
coughing-fits-to-the-point-of-wretching,
so-sick-that-even-I-didn't-care-that-
I-would-be-offline-for-4-whole-days flu.
I cannot remember the last time I was so ill.
Hopefully, I kept myself locked in my room,
that nobody else will have caught it.
:::knocking on wood!:::

Fast forward to now...
Ryan and I are at the hospital
where she is undergoing
her 6th and FINAL chemo!
It has been a hellish 4 months,
but the end is in sight.

Four years ago,
I bought a "Hope" ornament for our tree
and Ryan posed with it.
We did not know the significance
of this word back then.
Every year she has posed with the word
and here is this year's photo
I like to refer to it as Ryan's Hope:



The only thing I have scrapped recently,
was for the January gallery
over at http://www.writeclickscrapbook.com/
We were asked to scrap our favorite b&w photo
and just recently Andy and I went to
his niece's wedding where this photo was taken.
We just recently celebrated 33 years
since we started dating and
I made a page about just that.:



I have missed scrapping on a regular basis
and I am hoping that it will be
just like riding a bike,
you never forget how ;)

Have a great week!
-Jody

Merry Almost Christmas!

As Christmas Eve falls upon us,
I'd like to take this opportunity
to thank everyone who has visited
and/or commented on my blog this year.
Our world was sadly shaken to its core once again
by my daughter's illness,
but the outpouring of support, love and hope
from readers around the world
has truly touched my family.
We will never forget your kindness.
These two simple words will never seem like enough,
but "Thank you".
Merry Christmas from my family to yours,
and in the immortal words of Tiny Tim,
"God Bless us, every one!"
Love,
Jody

Simply Christmas #3

For every normal photo
I take of my girls,
there is always a not normal photo as well.
For this page,
my husband got in the act:



So I had all 3 girls pose in front of our big tree.
I then posed our dog Sweetie.
The only one left was our sweet bunny Delilah
who lives in our basement.
Luckily, we have a tiny lit tree down there
and she was more than happy
to be my model:



I'm off today to hopefully finish
the last of my Christmas shopping.
Oh, who am I kidding?
It wouldn't be Christmas,
if I wasn't out last minute shopping
on Christmas Eve closing the stores at 5:59!

Have a great day!
-Jody

Simply Christmas #2

Every year, my girls pose in front of our tree
while wearing a santa hat.
(Which reminds me they haven't yet this year):



I can't believe how fast Christmas is approaching.
I. NEED. MORE. TIME.
Every year I say I am just going to
relax and enjoy the holidays
and every year I am a frantic lunatic
trying to get too much done.
Come back and visit again :)
-Jody

Simply Christmas #1

Hello!
Over at Write.Click.Scrapbook,
we were given some goodies to create with,
and here is the frist page I made:



I used a photo I loved from last Christmas
and paired it with the beautiful
rub-ons, patterned paper and floral ribbons.
It was so simple
because they coordinated so well together,
and you know how much I like simple ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
-Jody

Are You Ready?

Hi again!
Hard to believe that there is only
8 days until Christmas!
Are you ready?
I am nowhere near done with
decorating, addressing, shopping,
wrapping, shipping, baking,
and any other "ing" words
that go with Christmas!
What I did finish doing
was I finally took our annual
Christmas card photo!
I sent out a photo
of my 3 girls together,
but I really liked how
their individual photos turned out.
First up #3:



This one is very excited this year,
still believes, but will not pose
with any mall Santas anymore. lol

Next up #2:



This one cannot take a bad photo
and she knows it. lol
She wants to be a model.
:::sigh:::

Next up #1:



This one got herself a new 'do!
I love the darker color on her,
makes her blue eyes just *pop* now.
The wig is really lovely,
so soft and silky, if you didn't know
it was a wig, you truly would not know.

Next up is #4,
who actually smiled for the photo:



Ryan just finished up round #5 out of 6 treatments.
I am sad to say each round has become more difficult for her.
Both mentally and physically.
She got sick more times this round
than all the others combined :(
We don't go back into the hospital
until New Year's Day!
That in itself is a Christmas miracle!

I put together a little book
to help me with all my Christmas to-do lists.
Who to sent cards to,
who I bought presents for,
cookies that will be made, etc...
It has been such a help
to have everything I need
at my disposal at all times!:



Our family is very happy to be together again,
these weeks apart are very hard on all of us.
Hope you all are doing well!
Have a great weekend!
-Jody

O' Christmas Tree

We finally bought our tree!
We ended up at Kmart,
where my husband picked out
the largest tree in the store.
I think we needed the Abominable Snowman
from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to put the star
on top of the tree!
It's a nine-footer, pre-lit.
That bold little hyphenated word
brought so much joy to my life
it oughtta be illegal.
The mere thought that I would never again have to
untangle hundreds of Christmas lights
made me feel like The Grinch
when his heart grew 3 sizes!

I took a bunch of photos of #3
decorating the tree.
Sadly, she is the only one left
who still believes.



So today over at W.C.S.
there are some lovely decorations
for you to check out.
I was the lucky recipient
of some lovely scrap goodies
and today's post includes this Christmas banner
made by yours truly.:



Only 17 days, 11 hours, 9 minutes & 4 seconds
left until Christmas,
not that I'm counting or anything!

Have a great day!
-Jody

A Rainbow Kind Of Day

Yay! December is here!
One month closer to January
and for Ryan to be well again.
Poor thing, we went on Monday
for her weekly checkup
and when they took her blood,
they found out she had VERY low
hemoglobin and white blood cells
so back we went on Tuesday
for another blood transfusion.
She is feeling much better now!

December also means a new gallery over at W.C.S.
This month the theme was Holiday Food & Drink
and I made a page about the hundreds of cookies
I bake for Christmas Day.
They. Are. So. Good.
Full of chocolate, sugar, chocolate, peanut butter,
chocolate, brown sugar, and more chocolate!
I make at least 8 different kinds
and when I get to my sister-in-law's house for dessert,
everyone is always so happy to see me.
Well, my cookies that is.



So funny, yesterday it rained all day long,
but late in the day a rainbow came out.
I took this photo from in front of our house
and went on Facebook and at least 8 other friends
posted the same rainbow.
Cracked me up.



Have a great day!
Jody