Hello Friends and Family,

First let me apologize for not posting as I had originally said in the previous blog...now let me say to you we had a great time of celebrating Christmas with our family all together but we did miss the Great Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles, cousins etc that all live in Va. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

We are about to close out 2008 in approximately 2hrs and 20 minutes and as I look back at the last year and a half I see how God has worked and I stand in awe of His love, mercy and grace and blessings through sorrow and joy. First the death of Dave's Dad, then Christy's heart attack, then Brooke being attacked by someone in her apartment which sent her to hospital for emergency surgery, the death of Dave's brother in May, the trip to Boston and surgery on Hayden at Little Rock. It has certainly been an eventful time in our families lives. I have said all this to say God has been so faithful to us even in the times of travel through the valleys and the unknowing of what the future holds. There is a song by Leona Lewis called footprints on her spirit cd and it really has spoken to our hearts through all this trying time of valley walking. One of the nurses at Little Rock Childrens hospital told us about the song, I do not listen to secular music much and she is a secular music artist but this song is a good one. It talks about how He promises us that He is always there and when your heart is filled with sorrow and despair He will carry us through when you need a friend you'll find His footprints in the sand. Great song!!!

Now let me give you and update on Hayden and some prayer requests: Hayden is doing well with his eating but is having a little problem sometimes when he drinks any liquid it sometimes comes out his nose which is a little disturbing to me but Dr. office at Vanderbilt said this was normal being the surgery he had and where they had to go through the throat area. But anyways pray that this does not cause a problem with chronic sinus infections, etc. and it will heal enough that this will no longer be happening

Now about future surgery: Christy said Dr. Levtch(sp) at hospital in Boston called and said he had talked to Dr. Al Mefty and seen MRI's and for her to please get Hayden registered at Boston for his radiation and to "stay tuned" and I ask what did that mean and she said she would need to talk to Dr. Al Mefty and find out so she has a call in to Al Mefty's office and this being a holiday has not gotten a call back as of yet. So if he is going to Boston we feel like there may not have to be another surgery and that Dr. Al Mefty and Dr. Levtch feel they can get rid of the remainder of tumor with radiation which will be a great answer to prayer. So please pray we will get answers to these questions soon and also that he will be healed without more surgery and radiation will go smoothly. Also please pray Hayden will tolerate the radiation w/o set backs and it will remove the rest of tumor and keep it gone. I will let you all know when we know about what's next.....

Sorry this is such a long post on this blog but that's what I get for not doing this for a while....please forgive me I will try to do better. Thank you all for your prayers, love and support for Hayden and family we are so blessed to have you precious people standing in the gap lifting your prayers up daily for our beautiful family. We pray for you all a very Happy, Safe and Healthy New Year and God's richest blessings for the New Year of 2009.

P.S....Today is Dave's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!!!!! AND my Mom and Dad's anniversary HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! WE LOVE YOU!


Still Praising Him for His love, Mercy, Grace and faithfulness,
Mime

After Turkey Day

Hello All,
Trust you all had a great Thanksgiving Day and returned to your homes safely and turkey stuffed. We (Johnson and Chitwood family) went to West Tn to Dave's Mom's house and Dave and Jeremy spent the weekend hunting. On Thanksgiving evening Papa, Brooke, Christy, Dave and Mason and Hayden went to see that super dog movie Bolt and the old ladies stayed at home and cooked and had some quiet time while they were gone. (We celebrated our Thanksgiving on Friday evening). We had a very nice time at Memaw's (Dave' Mom) and came home on Saturday. Christy, Dave and boys came home on Sat. eve also and when they came out of Henry Horton park they hit a deer but thank God it only hurt the car and not any injuries to anyone inside. Christy said it could have been a lot worse because it was and embankment on both sides of the road and they could have rolled the car but God sent his angels to take care of them.
I believe Hayden enjoyed his thanksgiving turkey but he missed seeing his cousins because they all have been sick and Kim (Landon, Kinley, and Carley's Mom) did not want to bring any germs for Hayden to catch, and for that we we are thankful. We sent some dough ornaments for them to paint to put on their tree, because we didn't get to do that at Memaw's. Hayden is continueing to get stronger each day and is really enjoying being at home with brother. They are very active boys!!!!!

I have missed my blogging because where Dave's Mom lives is out in the country and there are no towers around we even have trouble using our cell phones they don't pick up inside her house. I must close for now and get my Christmas stuff out and up and work on the Christmas play for church. I will try to keep you updated at least a couple of times a week.

Here are some prayer requests: Hayden will continue to get stronger each day and put some much needed weight on, he is very thin right now. Pray that he will stay well and not catch any kind of flu that is going around right now, because his immune system is weak from surgery.
Pray for healing but if he has to have future surgery that all will go well. Pray for Mom and Dad and Mason that they will get some rest and stay well. Thanks again for all you prayer warriors that lift us up daily.

Still Praising Him for His goodness and blessings,
Mimi