A new year

Sorry it has been a week since our last entry. The holidays went well and Addie and Ryan had a wonderful Christmas. Ryan's appetite has finally started to return and he is eating so much better now that the radiation is complete. He and Addie are extremely excited because we have reservations for three nights (this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) at a hotel with an indoor swimming pool in Knoxville. We thought it would be a great little getaway for them before the chemotherapy starts up in a couple of weeks. We are going to try and go to the Knoxville Zoo and do some other fun stuff on the trip, so they should have a great time.
Please pray for next Tuesday as that is the day Ryan goes in for another MRI to check on his progress and to make sure the tumor has not begun to grow back. Although we don't expect to hear anything bad, the thoughts of cancer are never far away. It is kind of like that proverbial pink elephant that is in the middle of the room but you try and go about your business acting as if it is not there. Cancer certainly puts the rest of your life in perspective. It is hard to care too much about anything else right now. Personally I feel worn down by the whole weight of what we are about to embark on for the next year with chemotherapy. Pray for Mary Lee and I to be renewed as this year begins so that we can be strong for our kids. It would be nice if as Christians we were always walking on the mountain tops but the reality is that for all of the peaks there are just as many valleys we have to trudge through at other times.