Hi everybody,

It's been 5 minutes since i wrote "hi everybody".

That sort of tells where this is headed. We're sorry we don't update more often. I guess when things are going well, we don't want to bore people.

We were in Greenville last weekend and one of the family's dear friends said "I check the website all the time and they're not anything new on it. Please let me know how you are doing". That made us feel good and guilty. I'm glad people are still checking on us. Because if you are, that means we are still on your prayer list. And that's a great thing... because we are asking for your prayers now.

Frank hasn't been feeling himself for about a month now. Started out just fatigue, then it moved to back and leg pain, then a rash we thought was shingles (but it wasn't), but the leg pain didn't go away. He was checked for a blood clot and that was negative. So we called UAMS to talk to a nurse. The answer was "come now, asap".

So, we are headed to Little Rock for testing to begin on Tuesday. Frank has Bone Density test 8:30, labs, bone marrow biopsy 10:45, MRI 6:00. Pet scan on Wed, and Dr Barlogie appointment on Thursday.

We are trying not to worry until we have reason to. yeah right. Anybody that's had something on their mind knows that's better said than done. Mostly, Frank is annoyed, to quote him. He had a lot going on this week at work. And being sick isn't something you just pencil into your calendar.

We'll keep you updated as we know something. We are praying the cancer hasn't returned. If it's a back related issue, we're guessing a compression fracture. He had a vetebral-plasty for another compression several years ago and has done great. It can be serious but if they caught it early, it's a fixable problem.

Someone else we saw this summer asked us to update on the kids. They are all doing great.

Chase is starting 6th grade. He'll play football for the school. He wears his pads almost daily around the house. I'm going to need to redo my door frames ~ he doesn't know how wide he is. I can relate. It can be a problem!

Zach is starting 9th grade. The low man on the pole again. I think he's excited, but he's a guy and his vocabulary has been reduced to about 10 words in his "13th" year of living. He's still playing club soccer for Lobos.

Chandler is 10th grade this year. She's still playing piano and playing french horn for the concert band. She has a boyfriend, a fine young man. And, of course, she's driving us everywhere still. She even drove us to Greenville and back on the same day. I think I'm more ready for her to be driving than she is. I NEED her!!

Chandler and Zach are taking 3 of the same classes this year: biology, geometry and computer. They have computer together in same class. They are excited about that and think it'll be fun to have a class together. They have both done mission work this summer, and taken the church conference trip to Padre. It's been eventful for all of them.

Thank you for your continued support of our family and for lifting Frank up in prayer. We knew when this started, that is would be a marathon, not a sprint.

People would tell us all the time: "I pray for you everyday." Frank would say, "please don't do that". That got a look. He'd continue, "you'll get tired of praying for me if you do that. I need you for the long haul. Pick one day week ~ trash day ~ and pray for me then."

So... go take out the trash! !

Only by His grace, Peggy