Deqlan is 17 Months today!

Hooray for Deqlan!

Our soldier is exactly 17 months today , my how the time flies - cant believe ill be saying he is a year and a half in a few weeks time.

Deqlan continues to entertain us - he loves opening and closing the fridge, freezer, dish washer and washing machine. When i was cleaning up before leaving home this morning, i put a load of washing on to discover Deqlans hidden treasures in the washing machine - a carton of apple juice, a spagetthi spoon, a microwave cover for plates and his helicopter!

Another form of entertainment wish Deqlan Loves at the moment is changing the chanels on the tv - he stands with his little finger exactly on the chanel button, he knows exactly where it is , and presses and watches the chanels change and then runs away and comes back to look if we have changed it back to the correct chanel. Dada actually said no in a very stern voice, and Deqlan just smiled at him as he carried on changing the chanels..oh dear ..we got a very stubborn little soldier on our hands!

The nerves have started kicking in now, only a few more hours before we have seen the ultra sound scan .....i continue to place ALL my trust and faith in God - that all is going to remain totally clear and that Deqlan will continue to be NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE FOREVER AND EVER and I am already thanking God for this result tommorow. Please say an extra little prayer for our Deqlan tonight, and please also pray that he does not get to upset and flustered tomorow so we can let the doctors do what they need to do quickly so we can come home and Deqlan can start eating the food he loves again! When we go for urine tests , we avoid certain foods round 48 hours prior as this can affect the outcome of the urine tests! Lots of Deqlans favorite things - banana's, yoghurt, chocolate, vanilla are the main ones we have to avoid. It helps me at least with not eating chocolate!

Look forward to giving you all great results tommorow - thanks for all your emails and messages and above all prayers for our gorgeous Deqlan

God Bless and lots of love
Mark, Samm & Deqlan

SACRED HEART OF JESUS WE PLACE OUR TRUST IN THEE, ALL FOR THEE OH LORD , OH MY JESUS ALL FOR THEE

Special prayers needed for Austin

Please say a very special prayer for Austin, an NB warrior in the USA,this is an email from his parents:

Austin was admitted this evening with fevers of more than 104, neutropenia, low blood pressure. Of course we have had the code status talk. He has three antibiotics in so far a fourth is coming. His blood pressure has responded some to a saline bolus. Tom www.caringbridge.com/visit/austinmelgar

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAMIAN!

DEAR DAMIAN

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY TODAY , WITH LOTS OF HAPPY MEMORIES!

WE HOPE YOU ARE SPOILT ROTTEN!

MAY THE YEAR AHEAD BRING YOU ALL THE HAPPINESS AND LOVE IN THE WORLD!

WISHING YOU THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

GOD BLESS AND LOTS OF LOVE

GRANDPA & BEV, MARK, SAMM, DEQLAN, LOGAN, CONRAD, MEGS & KEATON

The Games Deqlan plays

HOUSTON, WE HAVE DEQLAN

Look how big i have grown in just 3 weeks!

hello All

hope you enjoying the weekend! Our little soldier is getting up to lots of mischief these days are thoroughly enjoying the new games he has created for himself!

Deqlans favourite at the moment and our most unfavourite is opening and closing the toilet - which he has been doing for a while, but now he manages to put his arm into the toilet and splash the water around! He actually took an apple juice carton this morning and threw it down the toilet! Well, guess where Mark is going now - to buy toilet seat clips that keep the toilet closed! If we Left it , i cant even imagine what else will be thrown down there!

Another favorite is space man! Anything that can fit over Deqlans head becomes his astronaut helmet!

The dogs food has also become a firm favourite - Deqlan know how to get the lid off the bucket and loves playing with the cup that we use to put the food into the bowl with - it goes missing quite often to! The dog pelets also seem very apealling to Deqlan , i have stopped him a few times trying to have a taste.

Deqlan loves opening and closing the doors , especially the doors of Nanna and Grandpas shower and this soon turns into a game of peek a boo!

That has to be Deqlans favourite - i jusy say, OK BYE BYE and Deqlan starts laughing and running away - he doesnt always give me enough time though to hide, and has figured out all my hiding spots so finds me quite quickly!

We also have a few new faces - just wish i could catch him pulling them to take a photo but he is so quick! He loves pulling his nose up and knows that we laugh at him so he doesnt it even more with a smile on his face.

Deqlan doesnt mind playing alone for a little well , but soon comes to find us and takes us by the hand, pants, skirt..whatever he can hold onto and pulls us where he wants to go!

He is making more sounds each day and at the moment he can say a, e,i,o and u - or it could just be my imagination but it sure sounds like it !

Wanted to get our little monkey swimming again today but it looked like it was going to rain so will have to think of something else to entertain our busy little chap!

Spoke to Logan last night, and she is at the Vaal again this weekend with Granny and Grandpa! I hear that a flight with Grandpa over the Vaal is on the cards, i know she is going to enjoy that - hoping to post photos!

I realised i hadnt posted photos from Bron and Kobus wedding ( they had a great time on honeymoon but missed Matt!) and of Deqlan enjoying Dada bathing the dogs - enjoy

Conrad, Meggie & Keaton all doing well, Meggies will be going for some more blood tests next week to investigate causes of her high blood pressure and post partum haemorages, please pray they all continue to do very well !

Update on Wends- the hysterectomy went very well and she had no pain and feeling great!

Update on Kate - all scans still clear and she remains no evidence of disease!

Please pray for a 19 year old girl from our church, Sophia, she is 19 and not responding to chemo anymore please pray for her doctors to know what to do to kill the cancer

Please pray for all our friends and every person affected by cancer!

Please remember the CANSA SHAVATHON happening around all major shopping centres in South Africa on 16 Feb - if not to shave off all your hair, please support by donating and having your hair spray painted and please, please, please send us pics so we can post on the blog!

Special prayers for our Deqlan for Tuesday, as we go for our first ultrasound and blood and urine tests post surgery , promise to post as soon after as i can , but we wont have firm results until round 25 February, but the ultrasound will be re assuring to us, that God continues to keep Deqlan NED. If you would like to please get your uniform of green or camo out in support of our soldier!

God Bless and lots of love
Mark, Samm & Deqlan

SACRED HEART OF JESUS WE PLACE OUR TRUST IN THEE, ALL FOR THEE OH LORD OH MY JESUS ALL FOR THEE

Ash Wednesday

Morning All
Hope you are all well and happy and feeling on top of the world!

Happy 3 weeks BirthdayKeaton, cant believe how quickly the time is going and how big and cute you are getting!

Nanna and I and our soldier attended Mass for Ash Wednesday this morning and it was wonderful! We took Deqlan with us as we knew there would be no children this morning as they are all in school! Deqlan loved the fans in the church but wasnt happy sitting through mass, so Mama and Deqlan went walking through the garden and Deqlan loved the wet grass on his feet ! I did manage to get him to get the ash on his forehead and I did manage did get him Blessed by Monsignour so it was a very special day for Deqlan in deed.

A lot of people came up to us to ask if this was THE Deqlan they had been praying for and where so glad to eventually see his gorgeous face and to see how well he was doing! It was wonderful to feel the support and love our parish continues to pour down upon us! Thank you to you all, you are such a HUGE part in Deqlans recovery!

So, no chocolate from today for me or Nanna and so far so good! Just a little something to give up for the HUGE amount that God gave up for us , by sending His only Son to us so that we may live our lives and be forgiven for our sins.

The Childrens Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation created the following video to request people to do everything they can to request more funding to find a cure for neuroblastoma - please watch it and pass it on and continue fighting as hard as we can for our children and future children to be affected by this monster.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cncf2007

Have a great day
God Bless and all our love
Mark, Samm & Deqlan

WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WE STRENGTHENS US!

OUR WATER BABY

Hope you all had a great weekend , we did, just seem to fly way to fast!

We went for a quick braai at Meggy and Conrads place on Friday night, but our soldier was very busy up and down that he got tired so quickly and we headed home rather early - but it was great to be out and to see Keaton again, who was fast asleep!

CONGRATS TO JAMES AND ELIZABETH ON YOUR WEDDING ON SATURDAY, HOPE IT WAS A STUNNING,MEMORABLE DAY AND LOOK VERY FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT IT! MAY YOUR LOVE BE AS ENDLESS AS YOUR WEDDING RINGS!

Saturday, Great Grandpa, Nanna and Iattended another wonderful mass ! Our very supportive congregation all came to check in on how Meggie and Keaton and Deqlan where doing.

Its Ash Wednesday , this Wednesday which signals the start of Lent, which is a 40 day preparation for Easter. The intention is to give up something significant that you would miss during these 40days as a token of penance and sacrifice, just as Jesus sacrificed his life for us on the cross.

Nanna and I will be giving up chocolate ...ha ha ha ha...Mark thinks this will be very hard for me and thats why i am doing it! To say thank you to Our Lord in any way i can for all the miracles He continues to perform in and around and through Deqlan!

Dada washed his new car in the sunshine and I brought out the sea shell and filled it with water and lots and lots of toys to keep our Deqlan occupied! Well he had an absolute ball and loved Dada spraying the water on his feet on legs! I really battled to get Deqlan out the water and Garden, but he had to get dry some time!

Sunday was spent cleaning up and I had every intention of getting Deqlan back into the water but it was a little chilly in the morning and that to hot later in the day! So after Dada got back from golf we decided to take Deqlan to the shops as we started to get a bit of cabin fever being inside the whole day. It was also late in the afternoon so we knew there would be no one at the shops and felt comfortable taking our little guy out for an outing!

As we arrived at the shopping centre we met Stefan, Nadia and Aidan. We went to ante natal classes together and Aidan was born on the same day as Deqlan. It is the first time Deqlan saw some one of his own age, own size and height and he immediately wanted to get down to investigate Aidan! Well, the boys where in there element!

They run around in a circle coming back to each other each time! Aidan tried to high 5 Deqlan a few times, but he hasnt quite mastered that game yet - Deqlan smiled from ear to ear and Mark and I where so very happy to have a little bit of normal and to see Deqlan having so much fun. I cant wait for him to have his vaccinations again and to start being able to be around other children - what a stunning moment this was to see Deqlan so very very happy!

We then got Deqlan in the trolley and went into Woolies to get our groceries - Mark and I both realised how grown up Deqlan was - the baby is definitely gone! But, he will always be my baby boy!

Today we got the pool out at Nanna's house and again Deqlan was in his element to say the least! We also put the sprinklers on and Deqlan was in fits of laughter - he loves watching the water move round and round and feeling the spray on his feet! Deqlan got so brave he tried to drink water from the sprayer! What a stunning morning , hope you enjoy the pics, Deqlan is definitely a water baby!

Made our ultrasound scan appointment for 8am 12 Feb- then afterwards we will go down for blood and urine tests and will see Dr De Jager round 26 Feb to discuss all the results. Please continue to pray for Deqlan to remain NED for ever and ever!

Please pray very hard for our friends fighting nb and other cancers - there are so many running out of options and we know that Our God performs miracles for his servants - please pray for cures to be found, money to be raised for more cure to be found!

Hope you have a stunning week, hope you are all well!
God Bless, Hugs and love

Mark, Samm & Deqlan

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keaton meets the family

We had a very exciting day yesterday! Meggie took Keaton to the shops for the first time. Aunty Samm played driver/carrier/hugger/supporter/pusher and had an absolute ball - it was my honor and privilige to take Megs to the shops and to help! She did exaclty the same for me and it was an absolute pleasure!

Keaton as as good as gold and i think he enjoyed the outing to! Needless to say nearly every passer by oooeeddd and aahhhed and Keaton and nearly 20 people stopped to ask how old Keaton and all comented on how beautiful he was

We then came to Nannas house, Keatons first trip here to !

Nanna and Grandpa where in their element and Keaton recieved to many smiles to even count!

Deqlan seemed to be a little more at ease with Keaton and kept walking away then coming back to investigate who was on Meggies lap!

Great Grandpa was also invited to meet his newest great grandson for the very first time and was so proud he was beaming from ear to ear and couldnt wait to see his little face! I will treasure the photo of Great Grandpa, Deqlan and I , Megs and Keaton forever!

In no time at all , it was time to take Meggie and Keaton back home !

A little while later , Keatons godfather, my very handsome husband and Deqlans Dada , meet Keaton for the very first time, and as you can tell my the pics was very very proud !

Enjoy the pics - unforgetable moments and memories and dont you think Meggies looks like a model Mom!

Hope you all have a stunning weekend and want to leave you with a thought sent to me this morning by a very special friend, Coreen

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

God Bless and lots of love

Mark , Samm & Deqlan