A long awaited update

Hello Deqlans army

Hope you are very well!

Thank you for the stunning Birthday wishes - i had the best Birthday ever and I recieved the best gifts ever - Deqlan and his health!I couldnt ask for anything more!

I had a spectacular day - it started off with Mark and Deqlan waking me up with pressies and hugs and balloons and streamers and oreos - yes oreos! I was spoilt rotten with cds and dvds of two of my favourite artists - Cold Play and Corine Baley Rae.

We then arrived at Nannas house where Nanna and Meggy greated us with Happy Birthday to me! The table was decorated beautiful with balloons and streamers delicous cake,cards and presents! I was given the most stunning and meaningful gifts , including a beautiful Bible from my Mom and Derek, with book marks with all the versus that have been with us on this journey - like - I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU DECLARES THE LORD and - EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE. I was also spoilt with an appointment at the hair dresser and vouchers to go shopping! Meggy also spoilt me rotten with gorgeous sunglasses, pjs and a cd that means so much to me - snow patrol - chasing cars - this song reminds me so much of Deqlan when he was having all of his ops at Kloof - and the words - IF I LAY HERE, IF I JUST LAY HERE, WOULD YOU LIE WITH ME AND JUST FORGET THE WORLD - thats all i wanted to do - just be with Deqlan and forget about all the stress and worry around us.

We where then wizzed off to Irene Dairy Farm for the most unforgettable surprise breakfast! Meggy and Nanna had made special arrangements for us to sit at an outside table in the corner away from everyone else and away from smoke or children -to make it possible for Deqlan to also be with us! He was in his element being in the open watching and hearing the cows - he had an absolute Ball and it was an amazing feeling that all of us could be out together on this very very special day!

I was then dropped off at the hair dresser and decided to cut A LOT of my hair off for a change and a new start! She wouldnt cut it as short as i asked for but its on my soldiers now much lighter to in this heat!

We then came home for a little rest and to pack the bags for our next stop, My Gran , Great Nanna - I am priviliged and honored to share my Birthday with hers! I havent seen her in 6 months as we feared Deqlan or I picking up a bug at the old age home. We made special arrangements to meet Nan and Grandpa outside in the garden away from people . Nan was in here element to say the least- she was so taken with Deqlan and continued to say how big he had grown. Nan laughed and laughed at Deqlan and all the expressions on his face . Was lovely to see Nan and to spend some time with her - she was so appreciative of all the gifts - no matter how little or large - she loved every single one of them. I thank Our Lord every day that I still have both my grand parents and that Deqlan still has both his Great Grandparents! Cant wait for Nan and Grandpa to meet Keaton, their second great grandchild in Feb!

We returned to let Deqlan have a little nap - he hasnt been out and about in 6 months so was tired from all the excitement! We then went home and I was told that Mark would be taking me out for dinner and Meggy would be watching our soldier for an hour or so. As we got to Meggys house I was greated by a surprise Birthday party that Mark had arranged with Megs and Conrad, Nanna and Grandpa and Great Grandpa - what a HUGE surprise! We had a lovely braai and i was totally blown away at how they kept this such big surprise from me. Thank you to you all for the most stunning Birthday I could have ever imagined - I love you all so so very much!
Deqlan had us in stitches of laughter - he was amazed at my mom pretending to be a blue police light - those of you who have seen the Leon Schuster you must be joking movies might know what i am speaking about - well Nanna kept Deqlan laughing for about 20 minutes ! It was wonderful to watch!

Then on Saturday we went to CHOC to hand over our CHOC Boxes to Yolandie at the Pretoria House. She was delighted at the amount of boxes and the beautiful stickers that Dada and Nanna created for the top of the boxes, to wish each Family a Merry Christmas from us all! We walked through the house and where delighted to see how beautifully it was done - three seperate family rooms, a dining room area, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry area, tv room and a lovely big pool and garden area to play in at the back of the house.We where amazed to see the amount of groceries collected from the CHOC Wizards bike run - the packets covered the entire Kitchen floor - wow - we where so delighted and so excited - thank you again to Elriza and Jo and all at Wizards - what a succesful day and how kind and generous you all are. Yolandie is so grateful and thanks you all for your donations and huge help in putting this project together. Especially to you Megs, for asking what you could do to help and putting this huge project together and for so succesfully finishing it off - i am so proud of you and i know Keaton is going to inherit your huge heart and generosity. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this for Deqlan and all the other families who desperately need our help - they are going to have the best Christmas ever!

Afterwards, My Dear Husband took my shopping for my Birthday and i was spoilt by choosing some lovely clothes that i cant wait to wear! Thank you my love you spoil me rotten, thanks for an unforgettable Birthday !

Our little soldier is doing great - his hair is growing by the day- gorgeous blonde and curling slightly - cant wait to see him with a full head of hair - he has never had one. He seems to be teething again and pulling on his ear - the two definitely go together so we will just watch him carefully. His appetite is great and we see lots more colour in his beautiful cheeks. Deqlan is keeping us all very busy as he doesnt want to sit still for to long - he just wants to walk and explore and discover! And he is growing taller ! So wonderful to see Deqlan thriving it really is - thank you Dear Lord for the greatest gift of Deqlan and for the mircales you have performed in him, around him , through him and all the miracles to still come!

We went to collect the pack of scans, letters, information, tests etc from Doctor De Jager on Saturday, that he had prepared for the surgeon to review. I took it through to Morningside hospital yesterday and expect to hear from the Doctors by today or tommorow re surgery or not - the measurements are smaller then what we thought - the remainder of the tumor is 1.16 cm by 2.48 cm according to these enlarged scans so thats great news, and I continue to Praise and Thank Our Lord for this each moment i possibly can.We are a bit anxious to hear what they suggest and ask you for your prayers that together with the doctors we make the right decision.

Enjoy the photos of the past few days, let us know how all of you are and please continue to pray for all of our friends battling neuroblastoma and other cancers

We got great news from our friend Keira - her port has been taken out and she did great! What wonderful news!

Even more good news, our dear friend Ruan , with leukimia, had a bone marrow aspiration done last week and its now totally clear! He had 98% involvement when first diagnosed - so another miracle right in front of us, thank You Dear Lord!

Scared Heart of Jesus we place our trust in Thee, all for Thee Oh Lord, Oh My Jesus all for Thee!

God Bless and lots of love and hope and Blessings

Mark , Samm & Deqlan