All That Counts

We told the boys. We told them that no matter what happens in all our unknown tomorrows, no matter the fact we have no answers to their questions today, no matter that at all because ...

We are together. A family. Through good times and through the worst times.

Through times of rejoicing and celebrating. Through times when the stress is too much to bear.

We might not be able to count on anything else in life but we can count on each other. That our love for them will never, ever change.

We can hold on tight to those we love and need the most and know with a certainty that our circumstances do not dictate our relationships. We may grieve, and cry and scream and in fact tremble with terror many a day, and we do. We are.

But all that REALLY counts is each other. Jobs will come and go and circumstances may change but what counts is that we are together.

No doubt, the boys are shaken, we are all bent into the prevailing winds and feel as if we have no strength left but you know what? We DO. Together, with our faith, we are strong. As long as we remember what's really important we will survive this too.

Your support right now is such a blessing, your thoughts and prayers mean the world to us. Your offers of generosity are overwhelming, and although we are so honored that you would even CONSIDER our little family worthy of donation, we want to assure you we will be ok. Take what you would have given us and find someone else having the worst month of their life and bless them unexpectedly. I don't write here to ever expect something in return but simply want to freely continue to share our lives with you. Your prayers, comments, wishes and emails are payment enough. I cannot say it loud enough or wide enough but THANK YOU.

A very special thank you to Laureen Carruthers for generously providing me with the pictures of my family, and allowing me to use them freely. They bring GREAT comfort.

Capturing My Family

It's been a few years since we have had family "portraits" taken but for some reason, with all this new talk of cancer and surgery I felt a NEED to capture the moments of us together. My friend Laureen generously, amazingly, and overwhelmingly offered her services to do a photo shoot.

Now if you know teenagers, you know that this sort of thing is not high on their priority list of fun things to do. You add to that fact that our photo shoot was done DURING a Canucks Playoff Game which is at the absolute top of the fun things to do list at our house, and well, let it hereby be known that Laureen Carruthers is a MIRACLE WORKER.

These are a few of the pictures she took, go to her blog to check out some more. Go to her site if you ever need a photographer. Her work is a amazing.

Because not only did she take some amazing pictures of my family but Laureen (and the magic of her camera) managed to make me NOT look like the tired and stressed mom I am. Thank you Laureen for giving me this opportunity to reflect on the beauty of my family. The joy these pictures have brought me is enormous!