February 26, 2017

Another month has quickly gone by. Can you believe it? We've had some pretty great things happen this month and I thought I would take this time to share with all of you.

When the news of Ben's diagnosis started to settle in, and God allowed Ben and I to truly believe that no matter what the outcome, everything will be okay and that God was with us, a huge weight was lifted from our shoulders. It was at this time that I prayed asking God to allow us to share our story and to use us to help others going through a difficult time. I wasn't sure what that would look like, but I was open for anything. It was shortly after that, that we were asked to speak in front of our church community, sharing our story and how we have felt God's faithfulness despite the valley we find ourselves in. I believe sharing helped Ben and I probably more than anyone. Being open and vulnerable with our community and church family was one of the best things we have been able to do on this journey so far. Ben and I soon saw the huge support system we have through our church. This is something that really means a lot to us! For those of you who are interested, here is the video of us sharing.

 www.southridgechurch.ca/benandamy

I also had the privilege of sharing at a woman's group shortly after sharing in front of our church community. It's funny, in our testimony I said, "there are times I smile, acknowledging God for what He has done"....  and there He was again, answering my prayer, having us speak His love for us in front of others. I get this incredible sense of "God with us" when things like this happen. A content, loving, peaceful feeling comes over me. Something I know only comes from God.


Today we went into church to a service which also struck a few cords for us. The topic of the service was, "If God is supposed to be good, loving, and sovereign, why is there so much brokenness? How can I put my faith in God when I experience so much pain? Why would God allow it? Where can we find comfort?" I cried though a lot of today's service. Not because I felt mad with God, but because this service seemed to reassure me of God's work in our life right now and that's a pretty emotional spot for me! Here is the link to the service below. I highly recommend listening to this service if you too are experiencing a rough time.

Here is the video we watched before the service: https://vimeo.com/71270296

Here is the service link: https://southridgechurch.ca/inspiration/#messages

This month for Ben has been full of a lot of tests and waiting. These tests have been done to determine whether he will 100% be going in for his liver resection. Basically, MRIs and CTs have been done to see if there has been any progression of cancer in Ben's liver. If there hasn't been any progression, the liver resection will be done. If they find any growth in the liver since January, (Ben has been off chemo since January) we will have to re-evaluate the situation and talk about next steps. Our biggest prayer right now is that this liver resection will take place. We will certainly share the results of these tests as soon as we get them ourselves! Last week Ben also started radiation. Ben will receive a total of 5 radiation treatments, consecutively. The radiation is being done on the tumour in the colon, to contain and minimize it. As of today Ben has completed 2 treatments, the last 3 to finish this week. Ben has tolerated these treatments fairly well. Nausea has been a big side effect. Thankfully there has been some medications Ben can take to help him get through the bouts nauseousness. So, February certainly has been a huge practice in patients for us. Some of these tests have been booked from the beginning of February and only took place this week, so you can imagine our eagerness to know what our next steps are! However, God has really allowed us to be patient and calm while we wait. It reminded me of the bible verse below. 

I am hoping by the end of this coming week or beginning of next week I can come back here and share some good news with you all. Thank you, as always, for the continuous prayer! We have AMAZING people in our lives!

       

Next Steps for Ben and a HUGE Prayer Request!

February 9, 2017

Not even 2 weeks home from our dream vacation and we've had a lot on our plate! Ben has had a procedure in Hamilton, 2 doctors appointments and many other appointments in the very near future.

Ben's first procedure was on February 3rd. This was his portal vein embolization procedure, which I mentioned in my last post. It's kind of a complicated thing to explain so I have attached a video here which explains it perfectly! (and saves me paragraphs of writing) Click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_MzFSE2sVo

The embolization procedure took place in Hamilton and was 3 hours long. Ben was awake from the entire thing. He spent the night in hospital and was discharged the next morning. He came home with some pain meds, which he rarely takes, and was feeling a bit tender and tired. Since then he has really been doing well and up and about. You'd never know looking at him! He occasionally does have some pain at the incision site and tenderness around the liver. Other than that I've been surprised at how well he has come around.

2nd doctors appointment today. He smiled for me :)

Today, February 9th, we had 2 doctors appointments. We met with Ben's medical oncologist and his radiation oncologist. We learned that Ben will have a CT scan on Monday (Feb 13th) and start radiation for the tumour in the colon starting February 21st. He will receive 5 days of radiation, Feb 21, 22, 23, 24 and 27th. Each treatment is only about 15 minutes long. This is to downsize the tumour in his colon while attending to the liver. We've been told the side effects shouldn't be as bad as chemotherapy and we pray he feels well for treatments!

Following radiation, Ben has an MRI and CT scans booked on his liver and surrounding areas to asses the cancer. Ben has been off chemo since January 4th so they want to see that the cancer hasn't grown since being off treatment. This is a HUGE step. If the cancer has not grown and stayed the same since his last treatment, we can proceed and Ben can go in for a liver resection. If the cancer has continued to grow since chemotherapy they will have to reassess things. Our biggest prayer right now is that the cancer in Ben's liver has not grown and that he will go in for this liver resection! We are asking our prayer warriors to really pray hard for this! If the scans come back good, a liver resection will likely happen the beginning of March. The resection will remove 75% of his liver, the most you can remove during a resection.

When the liver resection is complete, Ben will wait 4-6 weeks to undergo his 4th surgery since being diagnosed to remove the tumour in his colon and possibly reverse his ileostomy. Following this it sounds like he would receive a few more treatments of chemotherapy, but those details aren't totally firm yet. Ben has an appointment tomorrow, Feb 10th, to meet with the colon surgeon in Hamilton to learn more about this.

The next few months are really big for Ben. This has been the biggest news for us since June. We were been told back in June when Ben was originally diagnosed that he only had a 10% chance of qualifying for a liver resection and yet here we are planning the surgery! We've also been told that Ben is the first case presented to his medical oncologist as being a patient who has stage 4 colorectal cancer who did not qualify for surgery, and now does after receiving chemotherapy treatments. I can only fall to my knees, lift my hands and thank our God for His amazing work and this miraculous miracle. We keep listening to the song "Oceans" by Hillsong and the words are just so perfect,... "Spirit lead me where my trust is without boarders. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my saviour". Trust without borders... "and I will call upon Your name... keep my eyes above the waves, I am Yours and You are mine"

Our wedding rings.
This picture reminded me of the vow we took to one another almost
 8 years now. Through sickness and health...

I continue to be in complete awe of God's work in our life. Having absolutely no control over this situation and giving everything to God has been a huge part of our journey so far. At times this is hard, and it can be trying but He has never disappointed us and He continues to work and show Himself to us. How loving is our God! I am also very thankful for the work God has done in our marriage. He has created one heck of a team between Ben and I. We couldn't do this without each other. I love you so much Ben!

We continue to thank everyone for your outpour of support and prayers! The hands of help with the girls, with meals, monetary donations, help with groceries, house cleaning, lawn care... the list goes on and on... to have friends, family and community rally around us and help us get through this time has been a true blessing and SO unbelievable. Thank you!!

Our Trip to DISNEY and Next Steps for Ben

February 1, 2017

We have just come back from a full 7 days in DISNEY! What a trip! This trip was gifted to us from some very generous people and we are so thankful and beyond blessed. The timing of the this trip was perfect. Ben had stopped chemo to prepare for some upcoming procedures so not being on chemo and being able to experience all of Disney certainly fell at a great time. With that being said, Ben did have his ups and downs during the trip but we rented Ben a scooter and it was the best decision we made. Disney is amazing with accommodating those in wheelchairs or motorized scooters and we were given what felt like VIP service during our entire trip. Ben's parents and my parent's travelled with us to help with the kids and we could have never done this trip without them! Thank you guys for everything!!!  I wanted to share some of our favourite pictures from our trip. We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn, which was exceptional. We visited each park, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, which was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Some of our favourite things were the Frozen Sing-a-Long- a hilarious show for the parents and a perfect sing-a-long for the kids, Turtle Talk with Crush, the Kilimanjaro Safari, the roller coasters including Mine Train, which Brooke braved through, Rock n' Roller coaster, Splash Mountain, and of course the Bibbity Bobbity experience for Brooke. 

This is a trip we will remember for the rest of our lives. It put smiles on our faces and we were able to spend some much needed quality time with family, something we've really needed! Now that we are home the chaos begins with Ben's upcoming appointments and procedures. Tomorrow Ben is already being admitted to hospital for an embolization procedure to prepare him for liver resection which will take place within 3-4 weeks. He will also be starting radiation treatments. So,  as we continue on this journey with cancer we look back on the pictures from this trip and smile feeling extremely blessed to be able to take this time together and blessed for the amazing people in our lives who got us there!

The family by the Tree of Life- Animal Kingdom

Tinkerbell!

Meeting Cinderella

Meeting Elsa and Anna!

A cool, rainy day in the Animal Kingdom, but we all still had a blast!

My dad's cousins, Jerry and Nikki, joined us in Hollywood Studios for an afternoon. They live in Orlando and my parents stayed with them. 

Brooke's Bibbity Bobbity experience!

Princess Brooke at the Lego store in Disney Springs

swimming at the Boardwalk Inn pool!

Surgery Update

January 18, 2017

We are now 4 days away from leaving on our much anticipated trip to DISNEY! The excitement in this house has been at an all time high and as Ben puts it, "Amy has had outbursts of excitement daily!" (He's totally right!) It the midst of all the crazy news in his household the past few months this trip certainly has given us so much to look forward to! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my spare time when it's done!

Last week Ben and I went up to Hamilton for an appointment for genetic testing. Since this type of cancer doesn't run in his family, and he's only 30, they want to see if Ben carries the gene which would help with the future of our kids and his family members. He went off for blood work and we will wait for these results to come. On our way home from Hamilton we received a call from the surgeons office who asked if we could come to her office today, January 18th. This has been an appointment we've been very anxious for.

Our meeting went really well. The surgeon took her time with us and explained everything to us in great detail. This is what we are faced with now...

When we return from Florida Ben will be admitted to hospital for a procedure called a portal vein embolization. This procedure will clip a vein to induce regrowth on the left side of his liver for his planned liver resection to the right side. Basically enlarging the liver to help with the surgery. Ben will have to wait 3-4 weeks after this procedure for a scan where they look to ensure the liver was successfully enlarged safely for surgery. If the embolization was successful, liver resection will take place. During this waiting period Ben will most likely receive radiation for the cancer on the primary site, his colon. This will be to hopefully contain the cancer to his colon so they are able to deal with the liver first. Removing the cancer from his liver is most important so Ben doesn't go into liver failure or the cancer doesn't spread to other organs. Because of the amount of cancer in Ben's liver they will remove 75% of his liver, which is the most you can remove during a liver resection. Ben will be in hospital for 10-12 days as they monitor him in recovery and ensure his liver function studies improve. It takes 2-3 weeks for the liver to improve, or show any signs of liver failure, which we obviously pray will not happen. An MRI will be done about 2-3 weeks after the resection to assess his liver. At this point if everything looks good, Ben can wait up to 2 months to proceed with surgery for removal of the tumour in his colon. At this point if they get everything any recurrence would likely happen within the first 2 years.

This all sounds great right? I mean, at the beginning of this journey Ben didn't qualify for surgery at all, there was too much cancer and now only 6 months after being told that devastating news we are being faced with these next steps. We are nervous but we are hopeful! This does, however, come with a lot of anxiety and a lot of unknowns. This whole procedure is very aggressive and really our only next option. We've been told that if cancer does return to his liver that they cannot perform another surgery. Letting all of this information sink in today has been a bit challenging for me. I'm not sure what I was anticipating... I guess you want to hear the words "lets do surgery and cure you", but of course it's not that easy. We have a long road ahead of us yet. Months of surgeries and appointments. One thing is for sure, God has brought us this far. 6 months ago being told my husband had 2-3 years to live with no chance for surgery, and now planning this surgery is surreal. And totally God's doing. I don't doubt that for one second. We continue on our faith journey with God and pray that God lays his hands on Ben and heals him. We pray all of this is successful and our God continues to help us through this. We don't know what the next few months will look like but I am certainly glad to have God on our side, comforting us and with us through it all.  

We are prepared to enjoy this coming week at Disney with our girls and our parents where we can laugh and have fun and enjoy the time together before diving into these next steps. I continue to be overwhelmed and thankful for this trip. It certainly comes at a great time for us.

As always, we continue to ask for prayer for Ben. As mentioned many times in this blog, we know what the power of prayer can do and we continue to pray hard that Ben can continue on with life healthy, happy, with his two beautiful baby girls and watch him rise above and beat this with the power and love of our God.

Welcome 2017!

January 1, 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And boy am I happy for a new year. I can only pray that it is a little easier on us than 2016. I've been reading a lot of peoples reflections on 2016 as they welcome the New Year and to be honest, I don't even know where to begin with reflecting on the year. See the thing is, this time last year we were closing on our old home, celebrating the New Year quietly at home saying to each other, "this is our year! we'll move into our new house with the girls and this will be the best year yet!"... well, as all of you know, 2016 may not have been our year. But 2016 has taught me a lot.

This year I have learned the true meaning of gratitude. Never in my life have I experienced gratitude the way I have this past year. From the minute Ben was diagnosed the outpour of support that has come in many different ways has been a true blessing to our family. We have said it before and we continue to say, THANK YOU! We thank everyone who has helped our family this year because without you we would not be able to get through this experience. You all have made this so much easier on us to not worry or stress about the little things, and believe me at the beginning  the little things felt like big things! We have been able to focus on our family and the time together without panic. We are truly grateful!

I have also learned what a deep relationship and faith in our God feels like. There are days I cry to my Father asking for Him to help me or asking Him to help Ben. But there are also days I smile, acknowledging His work in our lives and how He has placed people/things in our lives so perfectly. It's amazing how things always seem to work out just so, even though we aren't sure at the time why things are going the way they are going. We tend to look back and see God in our lives. For example, the day Ben was diagnosed. The people who were with him in the ER, friends and friends of friends working at the hospital who knew Ben. Looking back it's amazing to see how God truly has been with us the entire time.

I don't want to look back and list all the things that made this year hard for us. I will, however, try and remember the good things and the things that make us who we are today. As Ben always says, "mind over matter". And he is right!

With a brand new year ahead of us we have some very exciting news to share! (Yes, finally some exciting news!)

Back in October Ben and I had planned an evening out to visit our close friends. My parents came by to watch the girls. As we were getting ready to leave I remember vividly making the comment to my parents, "somehow... someway... we need to get to Disney with the girls. This would be my dream to do this with Ben". We headed out for the evening and hung out with our friends only to be completely throw off with "hey guys, we've done a little fundraiser for you and we have enough for your family to go on vacation." Well, this sure put a smile on our faces! "You guys have enough for a week vacation with the girls to DISNEY!!." *insert tears of joy* !!!! We were shocked! and SO excited! I couldn't believe, and still can't believe, that just a few hours earlier I had made that comment to my parents and then here we were being told we are heading to Disney with the girls! Here is another example of where I saw God. Unbelievable!! I don't think there is anyway we can truly thank those who have made this trip possible for us. We are over the moon to be able to go. What you might not know is that this trip has also brought a lot of joy through the planning stages. Where anxiety seemed to be controlling me, this trip came up and it has been something that brings pure joy and something we can truly look forward to, rather than dreading the unknown. This trip has brought a huge amount of excitement in our home! so, THANK YOU! Every single one of you, THANK YOU!

So, the countdown is officially on! We leave at the end of January for a week and both of our parents will be joining us to help with the girls. We are very excited to be able to do this trip with them. Thanks to our good friends, and their helpful experiences with Disney, we've made an itinerary and this mom has spent hours planning a trip and has enjoyed every minute of it! We've rented Ben a motorized scooter for the days that may be more challenging for him but pray he will have an awesome week. He will be skipping chemo treatment the week before we leave so that we aren't dealing with the side effects chemotherapy brings during the trip. Despite a crazy last year, this is the best thing to start off 2017 and we cannot wait to share our experience with you!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Brooke and her Disney countdown!

We wish everyone a very Happy New Year filled with much happiness and good health!

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11 

Our Christmas This Year (2016)

December 27, 2016

Merry Christmas to everyone! and Happy Birthday Jesus! This year was a bit different for us. Ben had his 13th chemotherapy treatment last Wednesday. We sat with his doctor before treatment and she had asked if he wanted to skip treatment for Christmas so that he wouldn't feel down and out for the holidays. Ben and I both agreed he should continue on with treatment and his doctor agreed too. When the question was asked, Ben looked at me and said "would you stop something thats saving your life right now?" He continued on with treatment and I'll admit, I was a bit nervous entering the holidays with him just having chemo. Dec 21st was treatment day and on Dec 23rd he had his bottle disconnected at CCAC. Ben really struggled with this round, worrying about feeling unwell for Christmas. He had reached out on Facebook asking for prayer and support and the response from all of you was so overwhelming and exactly what he needed to get through treatment.

Christmas Eve came and Ben really wasn't feeling great. He spent the morning in bed while I managed to get the girls and everything that goes along with them all packed up so we could go and visit his parents and siblings in Jordan. My morning was just short of insane. By 10:30am I had completed 3 loads of laundry, bathed two children, hair done, outfits on, both their bags packed, last minute presents wrapped, baked cookies for santa, dealt with a few temper tantrums or fights between the girls, got myself ready and managed to set the table and clean the house to host our family Christmas the next day. I sat down at one point and thanked God for the energy and patience I had that morning. By 11:00am we were out the door and on our way to celebrate Christmas with the Janzen family.

Our attempt at a family photo!

The day was very nice. Sarah, Ben's sister, and her husband Zack were home from Thailand for Christmas. It was so nice to see them and watch them interact with the girls. We certainly miss them when they are away. Ben continued to not feel well. He spent most of the afternoon curled up in bed at his parents house while the rest of us visited together. Ben managed to make it down stairs for a few rounds of crokinole and dinner but shortly after needed to lie down. We all headed off to a Christmas service at church and Ben stayed home to rest. It broke my heart to head off without him. Sitting in church without him hurt my heart too. It brought the "what if" thoughts to my head more than you would think. We went back to the Janzen house after church to play more games, enjoy a few snacks and have our family gift exchange. Ben was up and able to join us, which made me very happy! The company of one another was so nice. I am so blessed to have an incredible family to be married into. Despite our situation there was still a lot of laughter and smiles to be had!

Brooke with her new Frozen suitcase 

Christmas morning was certainly different here. The girls woke up and the excitement to run downstairs to see what Santa had brought was in full force! Ben, on the other hand, was not well again. It took me everything to get him out of bed to join us downstairs. I felt bad waking him but I knew he wouldn't want to miss out. We started with stockings and as I watched the girls open their stockings with pure joy, I couldn't help but look over at Ben who was clearly struggling on the couch. I had a moment of anger. Angry that Ben wasn't well enough to be apart of the exciting time for the girls and angry that this cancer is apart of our life. I would look at the girls playing with their toys, laughing and saying "daddy, look!" "Daddy, LOOK!" and daddy couldn't look because he was half asleep on the couch not well. I hated that he was going through this. I hated that our life right then had seemed so different and difficult. I looked back at the girls and adjusted my sails to think positively. "I will make sure these girls have a great Christmas, I will do what I can". We continued onto the tree and all of "santas" gifts. I was hoping for some pictures but it ended up me helping the girls open their presents while daddy continued to rest. The only picture we managed to capture was of Brooke with her new suitcase. (we have some exciting travels coming up- will share sometime soon) She was pretty excited about this and has been pulling it around the house since Sunday.

My Aunt Erica and I prepping the turkey!

Late morning my Aunt Erica had come over to help me prep my very first turkey! An 18 pounder! I was so excited for this! Thank you for teaching me the ropes. That bonding time when your aunt teaches you how to do your first turkey, I will never forget! and it was way easier than I thought! We put that bird in the oven and it turned out great! My entire family came to our house later that afternoon. It brought pure joy over me to host our family Christmas. I would tell people I was hosting and people thought I was crazy, but in reality this is what I love the most. Entertaining, having everyone together in our home, laughing and being together. I love to do it! The day went off without a hitch. The food was great and the helping hands in the kitchen with food prep and clean up was much appreciated! Everyone lent a helping hand and I never felt like I was at it alone. THANK YOU!! Before everyone had arrived Ben had a good long sleep and was able to join us for most of the day, which made my heart smile.

my poor husband battling this illness

Christmas is now behind us and I'm conflicted with feelings of happiness and sadness. I wish I could say I could wipe the sadness away completely, but that's not reality. My heart hurts for my husband. I hate watching him struggle day by day. The past few days have continued to be hard on him. Early this morning (Dec 27th) Ben and I were both awake at 2am as he vomited and felt really unwell. I wasn't sure what I could do for him other than hold him and try and assure him that I am here for him no matter what. I found myself in prayer a lot the past few days, asking God to help Ben and be with him during this time and heal him! Anyone who has watched someone go through rounds of chemotherapy knows how draining it can be not just on the patient, but on the caregiver as well. This week has certainly been one where God has been my rock and my source of reassurance that everything will be okay and that I am not alone.  As we count down the days into the New Year, I can only pray that 2017 brings good news, good health and positive experiences for our family.

Thank you to everyone who sent us well wishes this Christmas. Thank you for the baking and the meals and all the Christmas cards. We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! I am going to leave this post off with a prayer for Ben.


Dear Lord Jesus Please be with Ben today as he struggles with feeling unwell. I pray that when he is down about being unwell, You give him the strength and determination to get through the day. Lord I pray that you heal Ben's body from this awful disease and that you are working in him during the side effects that come along with chemotherapy. Lord we thank You for Ben and his positive outlook but know it can be draining on him sometimes. Please continue to be with him day after day as he fights this. Thank you for amazing friends and family who are holding us along the way. Thank you for Your love for us today and always. Amen. 

My family over for Christmas dinner

Our Christmas tradition, family stockings!

Coming into the Holidays & Reflections of the Year

December 14, 2016

Well, here we are, the middle of December already. The countdown is officially on for Christmas. I spent a few days doing our Christmas shopping and the chaos is certainly around us. I entered the mall only to stop and just watch people stand in long lines and race from store to store with their hands full of bags. I was torn between two feelings. 1. excitement for the season and 2. sad for those who are going through a difficult time this year. It seems every time we turn around friends, or friends of friends, are being hit with devastating news, grieving, or anxiety around the unknown. It reminded me that we are not the only ones going through trials. It also reminded me that my faith in God is the one thing I can rely on to keep going forward.

Ben completed round 12 of chemotherapy last Wednesday. It's now been 6 months since his diagnosis. There was a lot of anxiety going into this round. The previous round knocked Ben out for almost 9 whole days. The nausea, nose bleeds, lack of appetite, loss of taste, headaches, and fatigue really knocked him down. Brooke and Kendal have learned to let daddy rest on his "not so good" days. Brooke will even say "Daddy, you can just go lay down if you want". She's such a sweetie! Going into round 12 Ben was reminded to use some of the medications to help him get through the crappy parts and well, it seemed to work. This round he has been up and about for the most part. I come home from work and will find closets all cleaned and organized, our basement all cleaned and organized... it's amazing! I'm so thankful for the days he is well, despite going through chemotherapy, and that he is able to help me around the house as much as he does. This shows me his willingness to help me when he can and for that I am so grateful to have a husband to help.

Ben completed two MRIs last weekend. The results have come back with some very positive news, yet again! (PRAISE GOD!!) The MRIs confirmed  that cancer looks contained only to the left side of Ben's liver and little to no cancer on the right side.Previous CT scans were done but MRI reports showed better imaging. Images and reports are now being sent to the surgeon for planned liver resection for potentially February. Ben will need to be off chemotherapy for 4 weeks leading up to the surgery, which at this point looks like it will be taking place in Hamilton. We haven't yet met with a surgeon so most of our questions haven't been answered but as usual we will keep everyone up-to-date on the details as they are revealed to us.

Ben and I took some time the other night to reflect on what has happened over the past year. We sat next to our Christmas tree together and couldn't help but shake our heads in disbelief that it was only one year ago this month that we had purchased our home in Niagara and renovated the entire main floor. Ben did the entire renovation. From demo, flooring, tiles, drywall, electrical etc. (of course some help from friends and family here and there) We were told Ben likely had his cancer the entire time he renovated our house. I remember coming to visit Ben, we lived with my parents during our renovations, and he was so exhausted. He would put in his 44+ hours/ week as electrical foreman of a 60 million dollar job in Niagara Falls, only to drive to our new house to work all evening trying to finish the house for us. At one point during the renovations Ben got quite sick and couldn't get to the house to work. This lasted about about 2 weeks. Looking back it all makes sense. At the time we thought nothing of it, definitely didn't think cancer was in his cards! I wanted to share some before, during and after pictures of the work Ben did. I am amazed that despite him feeling unwell most of the time, he powdered through this house without complaint and in only 4 months. We moved in at the beginning May of 2016. Ben was diagnosed in June of 2016. Another way God was working in our lives. It amazes me how things seem to work out it the weirdest of ways.  

I want to take this time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I know for a lot of people it's a difficult time of year, and we certainly pray in our hearts that you are able to get through this time. We hope everyone is able to be with their family and friends this Christmas and enjoy each others company. Hold each other close and cherish the moments that are among us and most importantly, celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Here are some pictures of the house!

Before

During

During

After (Kendal had to have Mr. Bear in the picture!)

After (minus a little bit of crown moulding left!)

Before

Before

Before

During

During 

During

After

After

After (again just some crown moulding to finish)