Surgery tomorrow

I would be lying if I said I was not scared of my surgery. I am nervous, today, about what will happen. I have a peace knowing this is the right thing to do and fully trust that God will be watching over me and the doctors but, as a fallen human, I am nervous. Please pray for the doctors and my family. I hate having to have others wait on me and feeling as a burden to someone else. I have a lot of people praying and supporting me and I am very thankful for everyone. Grace and Peace to you!

500 Hits...

on my Blog site that is, ha. I am looking forward to a nice weekend for Father's Day. I am going to hang out with the kids at the pool on Saturday and then go up to Estes Park to be with my dad on Sunday. My brother and his family will also be up there and mom always cooks a big meal after church. This will be my last weekend before the surgery and want to make sure I take advantage of it.

I Love My Wife

I too often forget to take the time to tell Betsy how much I love her and how much I appreciate everything she does and how proud I am to have her as my wife. I try to tell her but I get too busy in the daily routine of life. I think the thoughts in my head and I know how lucky I am but I am not always good at communicating it out loud the way she needs to hear it. I believe in God's plan for marriage that if a husband would love and cherish his wife then he will be respected by her and that is what we need as men is to feel respected and wives want to feel loved, protected and cherished.

I notice what Betsy does in a day like running along side Lucy while she learns to ride her bike feeling exhausted but doing it not for herself but our daughter. Betsy has great patience for children. She will allow our oldest daughter, Morgan to help cook dinner in the kitchen and learn valuable skills for later in life. I would just get frustrated because of the mess it would make and get mad. Betsy is also a Godly Christian woman who tries (everyday) to do the right thing and be an example to those around her. Betsy is faithful to me and trustworthy. I am very lucky to have her as my best friend and wife.

This is what I want her to know; that you are beautiful, I love you and I am proud of you!

Derek

T-Ball

Time to rewind the clock and start again with Lucy. It seems like yesterday when I was teaching Morgan how to throw and catch and now she plays fast pitch softball. Here are a few pictures of Lucy's first season of T-ball. She wants to be just like her big sister.

Good catch!She also wants to be a cheerleader; hence the outfit.

You go girl! Show all those boys how to play.

You can do it Lucy!

Lucy learned to ride her bike last weekend without the training wheels. She has no fear! Lucy wanted to do it and was not going to to stop until she did.

Early Fathers Day for Grandpa Grogg

Since Jim is in town we thought it would be a good opportunity for Betsy and the kids to let him open presents early. Here are a few shots...

Morgan Softball 10U

Morgan loves three sports or activities; skiing, softball and basketball. Here is Morgan in one of her games this season for the 10U Erie Tigers... Don't watch me, watch the ball!...Morgan playing 3rd base.

Morgan is one of two pitchers for the team. This is her favorite position.

Great batting stance; just like her daddy, ha :)

Our spunky child

Cute picture of Lucy doing who knows what, ha.

After the storm

Here are a few pictures of a beautiful rainbow left after the storm and tornado; God's beautiful reminder to never flood the earth again. Look close and you can see a double rainbow.

Over the weekend; Tornado's, Golf Clubs and Grandpa

Over the weekend I had a chance to go with my dad to pick out some new golf clubs at a Titleist Demo Day. This will be my motivation after surgery to get back my strength and do my exercises. After returning Jim made it in from Cincinnati, Ohio. Jim is Betsy's father. He will stay for a few weeks. We had Skyline Chili dogs that night with ingredients he brought from Ohio (my favorite)! The following day, Sunday, we went to Village Inn after church and upon exiting saw a tornado right out from us. It was amazing! we never get tornado's on our side of the interstate (western side). It moved away from us but it was pretty scary at first. I captured a picture while driving back home in the hail (I was pulled over to the side:). This is when it started to weaken.

Surgery update

After my last appointment we confirmed a date of June 24 for the back fusion. The procedure will be around 10 hours total. They will start with the front with the disk replacement and then finish in the back to secure it in place. I should be able to be back to work and driving after 3 weeks and then around 6 months of light activity while we monitor the progress of the fusion by X Rays. I should be back to normal activities by this time next year...DW

Balloon Festival

The Erie Town Fair was this past weekend and they start it off with a balloon festival launch in our neighborhood. Here are a few pictures from our driveway of the balloons floating overhead.
This was my favorite...

Lucy like this pink and green balloon.

They floated right over Morgan's bedroom. Morgan and her friend, Abby watched right out the window...

Field Day

Here are a few pictures from Morgan's 3rd grade field day last Friday:

What would field day be without the potato sack race?
Morgan concentrating on the free throw contest...

Do I have to hold this boy's hand, ha :)

The 3rd grade class with teacher, Mrs Fraser.

Continued Back Pain

For those who are not aware of my history; I have had two previous surgeries to correct a herniated disk at L4/L5 and L5/S1. These were back in 2003 and 2006. Both surgeries were focused on fixing a pinched nerve that shot pain down the back of my right leg. Now, it is time to fix the pain in my back. The pain has been increasing and not allowing me to continue with a normal quality of life. The issues are degenerating disks, stenosis, arthritis, slight herniation and a few bone spurs but the degenerating disks are the main problem. These are in the same region of L4 down to S1 (lower back). My mother and brother have the same issues and my mom had a fusion to fix the issue and recovered remarkably and enjoys a high quality of life. I will be undergoing the same procedure in June. The surgery involves placing small morsels of bone in the front of the spine (in the disc space) and along the back of the spine so that the bone grows together and fuses that section of the spine. They will put pins through the discs to hold it together with a rod. I will keep you updated as it gets closer. Please pray for a peace of mind...DW

Spring Recital

Morgan played a solo on the piano during the RMCA Spring Recital for students and parents. I was so proud of her! Morgan played "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven. Morgan and her 3rd grade class also participated in a heart touching, beautiful play called "YOURS". It was performed as a hand mime and a parent captured it on video and posted it to the link below. Please take the time to watch. Go God!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-x7sU9QsF0