Sad news, New baby, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

Since I originally started this blog so I could record different events of my family, I guess I should post a few recent things.

First of all, we found out my Mother in Love had Breast Cancer this past Fall. She had a suspicious lump that was discovered through a Mammogram last Spring that turned out to be benign. They discovered the Cancer during a follow up Mammogram this past Fall. Had she not had that lump last Spring, she would have waited another year to have a Mammogram and the Cancer could have been in a later stage. They caught it very early so it was at Stage 1. She opted to have a double mastectomy so she wouldn't have to worry about the Cancer returning. Her lymph nodes were clear and as for now, no other treatment is needed. Praise God she is doing well and has done well with her recovery. We were blessed to be able to drive out to Nebraska to be with her for her surgery and to help with the first few days of her being home recovering. It was sad news that she had Cancer, but God was faithful to see her through the surgery and to allow us to get through the crummy weather safely to be with her.

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We have a new addition to my extended family. My newest nephew, Jude Christian Eggenburger, was born on November 14, 2011. His Mommy is the middle child of my family, Leah (aka Lele). His daddy is Jason, not to be confused with MY Jason, and he is little brother to the only other girl in our family besides Emily, named Lucy. I call her Lu. I got to go up to NYC for a short visit around the first part of December. He is such a sweet, handsome and GOOD baby. I miss him, his big sister, his mommy and his daddy..... terribly. :(

Here are a few pics that I took while I was there.

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This month we also celebrated my Benjamin's 7th birthday. Time sure flies by quickly. We scheduled a party at a local play place called Out of This World Pizza and Play. The kids had a lot of fun, until 20 minutes into playing Ben came up to us complaining that his neck hurt. He was climbing in the inflatable maze thingy and fell on the back of his neck. Not exactly sure of the details. After he came up to us, he laid his head down on the table and then couldn't lift it off the table without complaining about the pain and crying (he doesn't really complain so we knew he was hurting). Anyway, we left my brother in charge of the few guests that we invited and then headed off to the emergency room. They had us in and out of there within 2 hours. They did a scan of his neck and nothing was broken. WHEW! They put a neck brace on him and told us to keep it on him until he was comfortable without it. His party was on Sat the 17th (his birthday)

and the neck brace was off by Tues the 20th. He's back to his normal self now. It just stunk that he missed his whole birthday party. We told him we'd make it up to him.

Here's how he spent his birthday (excuse the poor quality of the pics)

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Last but not least, we'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year to all. I know that there are so many who are hurting this Christmas season due to a loss of a close family member. Fathers, mothers, grandparents and way too many children. My heart breaks for each and every one of you. I will lift you up in prayer today and every other day.

Our Christmas Card this year