So actually, today marks the end of a very long journey for us. This is the last of many procedures we have endured. I'm just so overcome with gratitude to be finished...for her and for us.
There are so many words to say about this, but I decided I wanted to quickly share the lesson we had at Family Home Evening tonight.
There is a story in the scriptures about ten lepers. When Jesus entered a certain village, he met ten men suffering from a disease called leprosy. They pleaded with Him to have mercy on them. They cried out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13). Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. As they went to do so, they were healed.
Even though all ten lepers had been healed, only one of the men thought to return and thank Jesus for the miracle He had performed for them. The man “turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at [Jesus’] feet, giving him thanks” (Luke 17:15–16).
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I feel like the one tonight. At the end of 2008, Rylee's blood was 90% leukemic. Today...she stands a 94% chance of surviving. We always want to be the one that is grateful and never the 9 that forget. We know what we have been given and we hope that we can live up to that blessing.
Thank you all so much for your ongoing encouragment and support! We're amongst the survivors now- that feels so great! We have finally arrived.
And just to make you aware (some stats):
- An estimated 259,889 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia.
- An estimated 43,050 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed in the United States in 2010.
- The most common type of leukemia in children is acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), which will account for about 5,330 new cases this year.
- About 31 percent of cancers in children aged 0-14 years are leukemia.
- The most common cancer in children 1 to 7 years old is acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
- The leukemia death rate for children 0 to 14 years of age in the United States has declined 76 percent from 1969 to 2007. Despite this decline, leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under age 20.
- About 447 children under the age of 15 are expected to die from leukemia in 2010.
If you ever have the chance to donate to childhood cancer research....do it! Do it for Rylee and all the other children who have fought and survived.
We had a great Halloween. We decorated (not carved or painted) our pumpkins. These pumpkin parts were a great find- very kid-friendly! I loved how fun it was for the kids to pick their faces, plus it was clean and the kids were able to do their pumpkins independently for the most part. Your pumpkins don't wither away either- I just took the parts out and now they are "fall pumpkins" on our doorstep for Thanksgiving. 
Jace (football player) had a Halloween parade and party and Rylee's (cute bee) preschool class dressed up too. Little bubs went as a skeleton and was as cute as can be. We went trick or treating around our neighborhood & the weather was actually great! I wish Idaho always had a warm fall.
