Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

First of all, Erin Hope was this years Honorary Chairman of the local American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. She was given special recognition at the start of the Relay and walked the "Survivor's Lap" with many other survivors, including several other young people. She also lit the "ceremonial candle" during the moving luminary service. She lit the big ceremonial candle and then lit a candle from one of the many luminaries that were placed in her honor and they both stood in the middle of the darkened stadium on the fifty yard line. The only other lights were the hundreds, maybe thousands, of luminaries encircling the football field and spelling the word "HOPE" in very large letters in the stands on one side of the stadium. It was an awesome and very moving moment! Pictures to come.

Also, you may remember that Erin Hope was in the hospital for entire week a couple of weeks ago. We were also concerned that her blood pressure and heart rate had dropped. Her blood pressure issue resolved before she came home but her heart rate remained low, around 30-40 beats per minute. The doctors had no other explanation than maybe one of the tumors was causing pressure on the phrenic nerve which when stimulated, can decrease the heart rate. Well, guess what? Her heart rate is anywhere from around 60-80 beats per minute currently and we have seen it only once at 55. Praise God! Her doctor has no explanation but we do!

Also, Erin Hope had to take her End of Grade tests (EOGs) the very next week after being in the hospital. These are the tests that determine if a student can progress to the next grade level. We had reason to be concerned since she had missed several days this past year plus being out the entire week before the tests. Also, she has been struggling with math. She is in the fifth grade. Well guess what, again? She passed all three tests! Praise God, again! God is so good! Her teachers and principal have been very supportive of her attendance and assignment needs. We thank God for them.

At the time of the writing of this update, Erin Hope and her mom are in Washington, D.C. on a school field trip and will return home Tuesday night. They called last night, very tired but excited about seeing our nation's capital.

Other news in the family: Erin Hope's brother, Andrew has started T-Ball for the first time and he is a really good player. He is having a lot of fun! Erin Hope's sister, Hannah, passed all of her end of grade tests as well and scored very high. We are so proud of all of them!

We are still praying about treatment options for Erin Hope. Her doctor called this past weekend to discuss our top choices. Every conversation that we have with him, he just sounds so grave about Erin Hope's outcome. He always reminds us of the option of doing nothing to ensure that her quality of life is optimal. That is what we will do if our Heavenly Father tells us to do that. But, we nor she, have given up. We feel that God has promised us that she will recover and that He will do it in His time and His time only. Please, you Christians that believe God still heals the sick, claim it in your prayers for Erin Hope. If you don't truly believe, then please don't pray. There must be unity in our prayers.