tomorrows the B-I-G day!

I have to apologize to everyone, I thought I mentioned Charli's eye stuff a long time ago! When Charli was born she had a clogged tear duct. She had trouble with it off and on (mostly on!) all the time. After the second round of chemo we started giving her Bactrim, that took care of it! We were SO thankful! But, soon after she became allergic to it and we had to discontinue the antibiotic...it came back, and with a vengeance! She has trouble with both eyes, and it is not fun! I don't know if it causes her a lot of pain, but I do know it gives her sore "raw" eyes below and above her lashes. Some times after sleeping she wakes up and can't open her eyes...sometimes even both eyes. It is the saddest thing :-( So tomorrow she will have surgery, and we PRAY it will take care of it forever!!!

We have to be at the hospital at 6:00am...bright and early, of course Charli can't eat or drink after midnight. I am sure she will be so happy about that in the morning. :-(

Can I go hunting with you daddy?!

I'll be the most quiet hunting buddy EVER!!! (just like my mommy was!!)

so big!

i love my chairs!

Who is this little pumpkin?

I don't know how to say this, so it comes out right. So please just try to understand where I am coming from!




We have been so blessed by kind deeds along the way. Please know that NO act of kindness and/or awareness has gone unnoticed. However, it is when someone goes above and beyond your expectations that it seen as truly amazing. I hope no one takes offense to that, and you can understand what I mean.




My sister, Rachelle, is a teacher at Broken Bow Public Schools in Broken Bow, NE. I know that when all of this happened to Charli she had a very rough time with it. She and her husband, Shaun, have two adorable little girls, Ryen (4) and Macey (2). Macey was only 18 months old when Charli was diagnosed...so I think it hit a little close to home. PLUS, I am the baby of the family...so everyone always feels more sorry for the baby :-)! ANYWAY... I feel that Rachelle had a great support system in her friends and family out in "Bow", and what I am going to show you will help all of you to see it to. I remember that shortly after Charli was diagnosed Rachelle and Shaun came to visit us in the hospital with a cute little bear in tote. If I remember the story correctly, one of her students brought her this bear because of Charli. Actually, I think Rachelle was in class with that girl when she got "the news" (I may be wrong, seems like a lifetime ago!). What I am trying to say is that they have been great to her, and I am still amazed in what they have done.




So many people have since forgotten about what has gone on. They see/know that Charli does not seem to be battling the cancer daily anymore and just assume that things are good, and go along their life. But, it seems the people of Broken Bow (and many-many others) have not forgotten! In fact, they are becoming witness to the disease and making sure others hear about it too. AMAZING.




I have gotten several emails from "Amy", to be honest...I have no idea who she is, but she has been great and a huge part of our life the past few weeks. Amy is a co-worker of Rachelle's. Amy wanted their school to do something to help raise funds and awareness to NB. Please keep in mind that I have no idea who Amy is, and I have never met her. She is doing this as a friend of my sisters, and a great human being (and I am sure there are others who are helping, but I don't know their names!). She has contacted Lunch for Life, and was able to get them to print informational packets regarding NB with Charli's picture and a short story that I wrote about her and our journey. She is going to work on a project for their school and community, and I believe students are involved in this as well.




Does anyone else see the greatness in this? Much like a few weeks ago when my cousin contacted the newspaper and they printed the article in their paper (in Minnesota). You people are doing GREAT things for this disease, and you don't even realize it! And, when I thank you from the deepest part of my heart you act like you have done nothing. You are nothing short of heros in my book.




So, below is the write up that will appear in the Broken Bow newsletter. It gives me the chills each time I think about what this "stranger" is doing for our family, and the difference she is making...and I couldn't point her out of a lineup if my life depended on it.




Thank you to ALL OF YOU who are going above and beyond our wildest expectations. Charli will never fully understand everything that is going on, and the lives you effect and save may never be able to thank you...and my thank you doesn't seem to be enough. Sadly, another child will be diagnosed with neuroblastoma - BUT, it is because of the funds and awareness that YOU ALL are raising, that they will be able to live and tell their story to their kids some day. I hope you truly understand just how awesomely amazing that is...and how wonderful you are.

Class Service Project
by SESC Preschool and CHOICE Program Students

Who is this little pumpkin?

(photo taken by KB photography in Columbus, NE)

This is Charli Ann Preister, niece of our own BBPS teacher, Rachelle Haines. Charli was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in March of 2007.

What is Neuroblastoma? NEUROBLASTMA IS CANCER. It is a particularly deadly cancer that targets infants and toddlers. Childhood cancer claims thousands of young lives annually and is the number one disease killer of children; more than genetic anomalies, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined. Each year more brave parents are forced to fight a losing battle for their children, not just against cancer, but also against the lack of public awareness needed for research and funding to find a cure. They cannot win this fight on their own. They need champions who will carry their message, who will raise awareness and funds for research, and who will remind them that people do care.

The SESC Preschool and CHOICE Program students are teaming up to help fight this horrible disease that affects a member of our very own staff. In November, these two groups of students will be promoting a “Lunch for Life” Lunch Bag Drive. They will be distributing lunch bags to all staff members and any students who are interested in participating. They ask that everyone donate one day’s lunch money to help fight this disease.

Lunch for Life was founded by parents of Neuroblastoma patients as an effort to raise both awareness of the disease and the money to fund promising research studies on it. Their idea is a simple one: ask friends, acquaintances, and coworkers to donate a day’s lunch money to help fund research for a cure of this deadly disease. A small donation of $5 to $10 per person, something that people could readily afford, would make a big difference if enough people were involved. To learn more about “Lunch for Life” visit the website http://www.lunchforlife.org/.

If you want to get to know Charli better, please visit her website http://www.brenda-chad.blogspot.com/.

yes, a night or two!

Today I took Charli in for her "pre-op" appointment (for her eye surgery next Tuesday) and one question they asked me was "Has Charli spent a night in the hospital before?" "ummm, yeah...a night or two!!!!"

We are a go for surgery on Tuesday, probably around 7:30am at the hospital. Generally they do them at the surgery center (at the eye clinic) but for one reason or another Charli's will be done at the hospital. We expect her to do great, and have wonderfully beautiful eyes by the end of next week!! (her eyes ARE beautiful, but they will be even better!!)

And, in typical Preister fashion - many things must be going on in our house at once in order for us to fully function! Kasper (the white dog) seem to be pretty sick, or something. Our vet thinks that he has had one (or more) seizures. Unless they continue on a very regular basis, it doesn't sound like there is anything they can do for him, as far as medication goes. Hopefully this was a one time thing, with no long term effects. Poor guy.

I don't even know what to say after that...so I will go into the pictures now!

shy smile! (you can see my sore eyes:-( )

no, you stop!!


I heart NASCAR!

I can cook better than mommy (that takes a lot)

mommy & me!

silly mommy...that tickles!!

mmm, yummy granola bar!

let's play music!

too many toys to choose from!

mooching off of daddy!

playing with grandma!

lessons learned...

5 important lessons to learn from a humble pencil.
1. It tells you that everything you do will always leave a Mark.
2. You can always correct the mistake you make.
3. The important thing in life is what you are from inside and not from out side.
4. In life you will undergo painful sharpening which will make you better in whatever you do.
5. Finally, to be the best you can be, you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you.

What does a monkey say?!

We had a great trip this weekend! This was our first trip as a family for just us...and we had so much fun!

Saturday morning we met our friends Eric, Courtney, and Landon (link to his page to the right) at the zoo in Omaha. We went through the desert dome, ate lunch, and then went through he lied jungle! After the jungle we started our walk around the rest of the zoo! We saw monkeys, tigers, lions, bears (oh my), birds, fish, penguins...you name it we saw it (except the elephant, that was too far away!). After about three hours Charli finally conked out, so we headed for the hotel. Once we got there and had a snack we all went for a swim in the pool! After supper we all went down for bed! The kids did SO great together, played so nice...it was amazing to see them play together after all this time! This morning we got up and had breakfast together and let the kids play around a little bit before taking off. We all had a great time, and hope to do it again soon! Charli did great :-)

Here are some pictures to enjoy...I have received several emails saying "get those pictures up!!".(they are very much out of order...sorry!!)

just like our last hotel trip...she found the Kleenex!

the big kids, getting ready to go home :-(

Charli in her fall jacket from Grandma...a little big yet!

playing around after getting home!

Landon going for a fly! (big tough Eric doing the tossing!!)

Charli flirting with Landon!

running off some energy before bed...the halls are SO much fun!

finding fun toys with friends!

what do you think is in there Landon...let's check it out!

zonked out at the zoo!

peek-a-boo!

mommy & me in the pool!

1,2,3...fly!

let me climb out!

daddy telling me about the penguins!

sharing toys!

they played SO great together!



their first meeting! Are YOU that boy I have heard all about!


our family in the zoo!

Chad, Brenda, Charli, Courtney, Landon, and Eric!!

we had so much fun!!

Charli tried to chase this bird, he ran away!

wow, the life of a fish - swim this way, swim that way!

the extreme

I know this is late, and I am sorry! I hope that ALL of you are watching Home Extreme Makeover tonight. The family that they are helping is from Oregon and has a little girl (8 years old, I think) fighting cancer. She had stage three pediatric cancer, and was able to fight the beast. She has now relapsed into stage four that has spread into her bone and marrow. What an amazing family and little girl. So many things that they have said hit so close to home, I hope you are all able to catch it to not only see it for yourself, but get a glimpse into what we have felt.

I am so excited about the awareness this will raise to the cause, what a brave little girl. What a strong family.

silence

FYI: We have something a little new in our house tonight...silence! Charli has had several rough nights lately - but tonight she acted like herself, that is so nice! I think she is working on a molar, so I imagine she is having some pain with that. Last night started off really well, but didn't go so hot throughout the night...but I will take whatever progress what we can get!



I got this in an email from a friend (Linda) today...I really like it - so I am passing it along to all of you who take time out of your day and your life to check on our daughter! (thank you by the way!!)



Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin.

God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.

He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc

Then, He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.



This was passed on to me from another pumpkin. Now, it is your turn to pass it to a pumpkin. I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch. Happy Fall!

honesty makes the world turn

Have any of you ever seen the show "John & Kate plus 8"? It is a show about a family who had a set of twins, followed by a set of sextuplets. I have only caught it a few times, but I really enjoy it. This couple seems to be honest all the time about whatever it is going on in their life! Why can't everyone be like that?

I really dislike when people try to act like things don't go wrong in their lives. I totally understand trying to be strong, and not let things get you down. But, the truth is - bad and annoying things happen to everyone. So, if we were all honest about it...when it happens to our friend, sister, brother, neighbor, etc it wouldn't seem as bad for that person - because they would know that they aren't alone. Does that make sense?

I will give you an example!
Right after I had Charli, I had about four days where I was really sad! I wanted Chad to be home all the time, and when he wasn't I felt bad. When he did get home from work I wanted him to be inside with us, even though it was still summer and the yard needed mowed etc. He was great at making me feel better and helping me snap out of it! Looking back I was only sad at night, when he would be home and had to do other things...I wasn't sad all day. But, I thought I was so strange for feeling that way because no one talks about that. Well, after the fact I tried to make it my mission to let my friends know that it happened to them - just as a warning! As I started to talk about it, I was told by many friends that it happened to them too. WHAT?! Why didn't you warn me if you knew it could happen?! Why...because people are too proud to admit that something wasn't perfect. I don't get it.

I have always been the first to admit that when it comes to many things I feel like (and generally don't) have a clue! I just wish that others weren't always to proud to do the same! No one has the perfect life, and in my opinion if we would just communicate our problems, downfalls, and issues everyone would have an easier time!!! If your experience can help someone through their experience I think you owe it to them to help!!

cancer can do a lot of things, but...

WHAT CANCER CAN’T DO
Cancer is so limited…

It can not cripple LOVE,
It cannot shatter HOPE,
It cannot corrode FAITH,
It cannot eat away at PEACE,
It cannot destroy CONFIDENCE,
It cannot kill FRIENDSHIP,
It cannot shut out MEMORIES,
It cannot silence COURAGE,
It cannot reduce ETERNAL LIFE,
It cannot QUENCH THE SPIRIT,
It cannot LESS THE POWER,
OF THE RESURRECTION.

timing is everything

Someone sent me a great email today, and this was attached - it speaks for itself...I think we could all take this advise at some point or another.


A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience raised a glass of water and asked:

"How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.

It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I ! hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued,

"And that's the way it is with stress management

If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,

as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,

We won't be able to carry on. "

"As with the glass of water,

You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden "

So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down

Don't carry it home.

You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now,

let them down for a moment if you can.

So, my friend, why not take a while to just simply RELAX.

Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.

Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while

Life is short.