Saturday, November 28, 2009

Friendship and Thanksgiving




"May there always be work for your hands to do, may your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine on your windowpane, may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."


- Irish Blessing



Eric and I are so blessed to have such a great family but today I want to talk about our friends. We a truly blessed and thankful to have the support of our friends that are in our lives. As you go though life you cross paths with many different people some will stay and others will go. My dad always said if you can count your friends on one hand than you were lucky.....I guess Eric and I are super lucky than. Over the last 2 years not only have we continued to have friends that we have known for a long time we have developed new friendships. These friendships have help sustain us though these very difficult times. The kind words, words of encouragement and faith and sometimes just the hugs have made us smile on the most difficult days. Today I just wanted to say thank you for all that you do for us. We are so lucky to have more friends than we could ever count on our hands!


Now on to Thanksgiving.....we had a wonderful time with famliy 22 in all (and 6 dogs) at our house. Eric was a good sport and did very well with all the commotion. He rested when needed and this helped him get thought the day. The food was wonderful and the company was better. Everybody brought something and helped the day go smoothly. I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving as well!


Finally, Eric continues to be about the same, no big changes on the health front. As the weeks have past he is more tired, and a little more weak. The tumor by his left eye continues to put more pressure on his eye making it difficult to see. He seems to have pain if he has a lot of sensory input (ie. Thanksgiving) but it passes. He is moving a little slower and needs more help around the house. If we get up and do things in the morning than he feels pretty good but once at home he gets very tired. Eric has commented on how hard this is and how hard the fight is right now. He is fighting to be here for Christmas and and my birthday so continue with the words of encouragement and the prayers. I know it is what gets me through and he needs it more now than ever.

Love and God Bless,
Hallie

P.S. This is one of the pictures that we took last week.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thought about you guys on Thursday, 22 people is a big dinner but SIX DAWGS!!!!! Daaaaam!!!!!

Glad you guys had a good Thanksgiving, as always praying for you.
BobM

Anonymous said...

Eric and Hallie, I have enjoyed reading your journey blog throughout the past few months. I don't always comment but each new post is something I look forward to. Please know the kids and I have been praying for "Mr. Botkin" since the beginning of the year. We will continue to pray for a miracle. God is Good! Glad to read you had a nice Thanksgiving and I just love your family picture on the lawn!
Kristen Vela

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful photo of your family! The sun is shining on all of you. Thanksgiving is a time to extend heartful thanks for what you have and I am so thankful for all of you - you all are such an insipiration. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Chrissy Nigrelli

Anonymous said...

Eric, Hallie & Hunter:

We continue to pray and are holding to the fact that we will see a miracle. We think about you so much and know that you are in our thoughts. Can't believe you did Thanksgiving for 22 and six dogs! I can't keep up with the five in my family and three dogs! The pictures of you guys are so awesome! I've always wanted to stay at the Grand Californian and Disneyland at Christmas is always the best! I love the "snow" and people watching. Take care and thanks for always keeping us up to date. You are truly amazing Hallie!

Terry & Liz Miller

Anonymous said...

My prayers and love to you all.
LCS

The Seldons said...

We are thankful to have you all for friends! 22 people and 6 dogs at a family event sounds very familiar! Hope the rest of your holiday season is happy and pleasant.

Anonymous said...

Eric & Hallie,

As we all are, I am hoping a praying for the miracles of miracles with many many many more Christmases and Birthdays and the greatest gift of all,Eric's health restored.

Six Dawgs what a Thanksgiving. Course only dawg lovers would understand. I do, I have 5 with me all year long. The only bummer is that the back yard is a mud hole. But that to is a blessing for what would a retired firefighter do if they didn't have paw prints to clean up after let alone a turd or two.

Thanks for the update on the battle.

Love you guys,

Tony Braun