JACK

"He is the delight of my eyes, and the darling of my heart."

Need I say more? Happy birthday, Jack!

Woodward Family Party

Last night was my family (Woodward) Christmas party. It was delightful. I have the coolest family. The food was divine, the entertainment was joyful (talent show from the grandkids), the gifts were too generous, and the pageant was funny.

The kids totally get into the pageant and talent show. My niece was supposed to be Mary for the pageant, but Ellie had her heart set on being her, so we had two...and I was the donkey for Ellie. I think I was pretty nice to participate :). The kids all get dressed up. I left my camera home, so my sister took these and sent them to me. Hopefully my brother will send me some of Jack. Ellie's in the middle on the little couch.Ellie holding our newest little cousin/nephew, Charlie. He's SO loveable!

Johnny

Happy Very-Belated Birthday to our Johnny! Poor guy has had a crappy year, so we were all very glad to say goodbye to 43, and hello to 44!! Okay, he's going to KILL me for being so open about his age...but I'm just glad he made it to 44! And, he looks AMAZING for his age...most people are shocked to know he's no longer in his 30s :).

Anyway, the first half of his "43" was full of fun adventures in Maui, Dominican Republic, and Alaska...and those are just the few that were not close to home :).

Then it all came to a crashing halt in July. Poor guy. I haven't been good about giving updates lately...I guess it's because it's not great news. He's still suffering from terrible headaches daily - yes, daily. We've had some good news that his brain abnormalities continue to heal. But last week we learned that John has "IGG Deficiency Disorder". Basically, John's immune system is compromised and can't fight off infections like most people. So, it increases his risk of getting meningitis again and other life threatening infections. However, there are good treatment options. John may have to start a monthly routine where they take his plasma out and replace it with someone else's infused with immunoglobulins. We really don't know much more, or what to expect, but John now has an immunologist (in addition to his infectious disease specialist, neurologist, etc...) who has run gazillions of tests on him this week and we will get the results the first week in January. Then we will have a better idea of exactly what we're dealing with.

I'm not going to lie. This has been rough. It's been so hard for John. He wants to feel good, and he wants to have the energy he used to. I actually think it's been years since he really felt good. It's taken huge a toll on him physically and emotionally. I'm just so grateful for good medical care. He has the best doctors.

It hasn't been a walk in the park for me either. But, I'm very optimistic. John will get better. He will feel more healthy once he starts treatment. Eventually, I hope to have the old Johnny back. The one I married six years ago. I'm confident that will happen.

Happy Birthday Johnny! I love you!