Thank You Chris!!!

James just finished his 13th radiation treatment. He is very tired and notices it is painful to swallow. He has been up for about four hours at a time before he gets exhausted. The radiation seems to be going as expected. We have managed to keep ointment on his skin, which appears to have protected it from being burned. We are trying to meet the basic demands of our lives and keep hoping for brighter days ahead.
James' brother, Chris, flew in from Alabama last week. He has been staying with us and taking James to and from radiation. He has been such an amazing help. He has taken care of car problems for us. He cooks, cleans AND grocery shops. He has won the hearts of our kids. He helps Ava walk. He let Adalyn help him make cookies tonight. She was in Heaven!! We are going to be VERY sad to see him go.
Adalyn has been waiting for enough snow to make a snowman. It snowed a lot here today and, even though it wasn't very wet, James managed to make enough stick together for a snowman. It is fun to enjoy some "normal" things all the while so much is anything but normal.
We got all of our Christmas decorations out on Thanksgiving and have LOVED having so much Christmas spirit in our house. We are enjoying a more simple Christmas-time this year.
Adalyn continues to say things that keep us thinking and laughing all the time. Her Grandpa recently had his knee replaced and has been in the hospital. Adalyn asked how Grandpa was doing in the hospital with his cancer. We have never heard her say cancer before. She is just a thinker. I keep telling James she is going to have post traumatic stress disorder by the time she is 4 from all of this. Ava fell on Adalyn's head today and I told Adalyn it was an accident and that Ava didn't mean to do it. Adalyn replied, "it isn't an accident, it's a problem." She insisted that I tell Ava to say she is sorry, even though Ava can only say "dada". Adalyn is learning a lot and just loves to sing and dance. She has started to tell us that she won't be seeing us on certain days because she has a dance class or a sleepover scheduled. Adalyn is just growing up right before our eyes and hardly has any accidents anymore. James helped her make a reward/potty-chart, which she has loved. It was her Grandma's birthday a couple of days ago and Adalyn said she wanted to make Grandma a potty chart for her birthday. Afterall, who wouldn't want a potty chart and to be rewarded after using the bathroom successfully?