Hi, my name is Leslie & I'm a bad blogger

Yes, I know, it has been forever again and I know all 2 of you that read this are really sad! I feel like this summer has been really busy, but as I write this I find it hard to remember what has been so busy about it........

Oh, yeah. In May my Dad had his successful stomach surgery. He now has a new stomach and esophagus formed from his large colon. He has done remarkably well and is now on his second and prayerfully, his final round of chemo. My Dad is a great man, I have always known this. But this illness has given me a new picture of him. He has always been the one to stay positive through this whole thing. "Shield" us kids from some of the more scary stuff. But after the surgery the stories of his faith really came out in a way my Dad has never really shared and it was/is amazing. He shared with visitors the confidence he has in is Dr.s. Here's the story.

When my dad first learned of his diagnosis of course my mom took it hard. She was crying and my dad leaned over and said, "God never gives you more than you can handle, and he has a plan and we need to trust in Him." When the went to meet with his surgeon, my mom got a little choked up again and the Dr. came over to her, put his arms around her and said, "God never gives us more than we can handle, and He has a plan, and we need to trust in Him." They both knew at that moment, that they had the right surgeon. And they did. Wow, what a man this Dr. is. He prayed with them, prayed for God to be with them in the surgery and gave Him the glory publicly when things went well.

Another story I remember.....When I first went back to see him in ICU, he already had his humor back saying "I still don't know why yall were all so worried, I told you I would be fine!" Still protecting. And later that evening when my Aunt and I went back to see him. He talked about the AA sobriety prayer. (Not that he is or has ever been an alcoholic, but my Aunt gave him a plaque with the prayer on it back when he was a 30 something VP and needed some guidance) He talked about the line that goes something like "Give me the strength to fix the things I can and let go of the things I can't." He said that helped as 30 year old and it helped him get through this. Just giving it to God, because he knew he as a human couldn't do anything about it.

Those are a few of the stories that stand out. But I give praise to God for what HE has done for my dad, and know His healing hand is still watching over him. I am so thankful for my dad and his quiet faith.

So, that was May.......

In June, the most memorable thing was our trip to Port A for the Second Annual Beach trip with the Heflins. (I say beach trip now, instead of Port A trip, because I'm not sure Doug will ever go back there) Before we left, Doug had what he thought was a zit in his nose, that might have become infected. Well, it was a little more than that. Upon arriving to Port A, he was in so much pain, that we went to the lovely Aransas Pass ER. Where waited and waited only to be told to come back in the morning. Well, Doug went back in the morning and turns out he had a staph infection. He received IV drugs and was sent home with some more drugs. But by evening he was running a high fever and feeling worse. The next morning we got up went home and straight to the ER. Where he received more drugs. He was REALLY sick. It took him a few days to get over it, but he finally returned to normal. (Normal for Doug, anyway. HA HA) But Lauren had a great time at the ONE day (instead of 3 days) that we got to spend at the beach. (See pics below) She is now a beach fan, which makes me very happy, because I could LIVE at the beach. She was not scared of the waves at all, and would have stayed in the ocean all day had the sand not been almost as much fun.

Sand is fun!

Running Carefree in the water (also fun)

Chairs dug into the sand, yep, fun. (See poor Doug in the background?)

Sand & Water, double the fun!


Feeling the breeze through the hair, pretty fun.

At the end of June Doug and I went to Seaside, FL. If you haven't been or don't know what it is, look it up. It is amazing, a little piece of Heaven on Earth. We usually pick Cabo for our adult vacation, but decided to stay stateside because of the chaos that is Mexico these days. At first I was completely bummed about that and about driving to our vacation spot, but it only took a few minutes of being there, to figure out it was not such a bad place after all. Completely relaxing and fun. We played golf (I had a once in a life time hole, where I eagled on a par 4), laid at the beach, ate great food, relaxed in the pool and just enjoyed hanging with each other. Loved every minute of it. Here's some pictures.

Wish I could say we built this, but I can't

Sandy toes.

Bud Alley's.

The Eagle

The Pool

The Gravel Road. Good food with a duo playing guitar and singing.

Doug in the water on our last beach walk of the trip.

The Red Bar. Yummy Food and tons of fun.

That gets us to July. When we got back Lauren went to her first ever VBS. She loved it and is STILL talking about it.

And then, there was last week. Remember me like forever ago writing about the hole in my ear? Well, I finally got it fixed. Last Tuesday I had surgery to repair it. Have to say, that lake trip, while it was very fun, when all was said and done, probably not worth it. I had previously stated, it was worth it, but I lied. It's not so much the pain, but the constant state of motion sickness I felt for the first week. I am finally feeling back to normal, but man this better work, because I will not have ear surgery again. So I am sidelined from doing anything that will make me sweat. Meaning no running. I'm hoping I can catch up in time to do the SA Rock N Roll half marathon in Nov. And I've gotta say thanks to the In laws who not only kept Lauren while Doug and I went on vacation, but also all last week when I was bed bound. What a blessing they are. And gotta give my shouts out to all the friends who have provided rides and dinner and/or help with Lauren while I go to my many Dr. appointments. Ever since the surgery, I have been getting shots to boost my white cells so I can heal from all this. (You remember that mess, right?) So I have been going 3 days a week and have needed lots of help. Love you, my SA friends!

So we've got a few things coming up........My Uncle's Benefit next weekend, then Lauren and I are headed to Ft. Worth for a week. Lauren Starts school 2 days a week in September. Doug and I are going to Chicago for a U2 concert (the same week). And, once again, I will try to do better at this blogging thing. Yikes!