OK, I know that I have been super, super slack....but we have had lots going on around here (all good!!)

Christmas was a blast, and our trip to Orlando was amazing. I really think that I had forgotten what it was like to go on a long vacation like that with the boys. We have taken a weekend, here or there, but this was SOOO exciting for everyone. And we did it ALL!

We stayed at Give the Kids The World, a resort near Disney that is only for Make a Wish kids. We had a condo with two bedrooms and a full sized kitchen that was decked out for Christmas with 4 trees and all of the pictures on the walls were wrapped to look like presents. This place was special, and the staff was great. There is an ice cream parlor that is open daily from 8am-9:30pm, so we broke the Crowley world record and had ice cream EVERY DAY!! One day I even offered a banana split for breakfast, but the boys didn't want to give up the amazing waffles that they serve for breakfast!!

We had one day at SeaWorld were we got to get up close with the dolphins and fed them, two days at Universal and Islands of Adventure where we rode Men In Black 4 times and ET twice and Jake and John went on the "Hulk" roller coaster that look soo scary. Three days were for Disney, and we did all four parks. Epcot was surprisingly the favorite, but I think it was because we rode Test Track multiple times. The boys did the "pirate adventure" and got made up like pirates and we rode Pirates of the Carribean twice. And Eli got a one on one with the power rangers!! I have never seen that child without words, but he just grinned the entire time.

Every day we opened the park we were going to, and we didn't get home until 8 that night. The boys loved the magic light parade at Magic Kingdom and the lights on the castle were amazing. We ate out at all of the boys picks, from NBA Cafe, T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe, and Mythos in Universal. All very cool places!! I am attaching some pics, but I can only say that it really was a trip of a lifetime.....and the boys so deserved it after the past three years..especially Eli.

Now we are looking to April 25 and end of treatment....we are in 2010, a year that I have been so waiting for I cannot stand it. On Thursday Eli had his next to the last lumbar puncture and we were all chatting about it. Kinda reminiscing about how little Eli was when he first came in, really still a baby. And here he is a little boy now...wow. Our nurse practicioner, Lori, said that they can do his bone marrow biopsy in April when they do the last LP so he won't have to come in for another procedure. It really isn't required anymore for whatever reason, but she knows me and knows that I want that final reassurance before stopping the meds.

May 15 is our PARTY date, so everyone put it on the calendar. No details yet, but plan on it!!

On another exciting note, John has taken a job in Tampa, Florida, that will take our family away from Charleston. We have always known that our stay in Charleston would not be forever...but I do know that God's hand was in all of this. I could not have been placed in a better place or with better friends, caregivers,(and family) as I was during a most difficult time in our family's lives. Leaving before now would have been impossible for me, and now it is easier. The timing could not have been more perfect, as His always is. Now I have the fun task of getting the house ready to sell (please pray) and keeping it clean with my three swamp rats all day...uggg!!

Thanks for checking in...and for the prayers. Keep 'em coming, we are in the home stretch!!

Maria

Please also pray for those in Haiti. Dad has heard from the leadership there that there is near total devestation....