Happy New Years!!

Well it has been quiet around the house the last few days. Amy, Lauren, and Rich left to go to Winterfest in Lynchburg, VA on Sunday morning. Sandra, Cindy and I are just hanging out here at home for New Years Eve. We are missing all of our friends that we usually party with on New Years Eve. Sandra and I went to see "I Am Legend" earlier but it wasn't one of the greatest movies we have ever seen.
Sandra and I would like to ask everyone to pray for Nathan and Trish. Trish is in the hospital and is not well. You can read her story at: http://www.cfhusband.blogspot.com/ Rick, Steve, Burnie, and I are going to Durham tomorrow to lay hands on and pray for her. (James 5:14 (New International Version)(NIV) 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.)
Cindy is getting better. She has been out a few times since getting home from the hospital. She even went outside to sit on the porch for a while the other day and she got caught in the rain.
We hope everyone has a great New Years Day.

Sweet!!!

Hey everyone, Hope you are having a great Christmas Day!! We had a great service last night at church. It was the first Christmas Eve service in our new building. We were almost filled to capacity. There were about 240 people there to celebrate the Lord's Supper. We sang some traditional Christmas hymns too. Thanks to Rachelle and Bonnie for leading us in the singing. This morning Rich's dad Dickey came over for breakfast and gift exchange. Sandra worked hard and made an amazing breakfast.

Oh Yeah!! I open my special gift this morning. It was a Canon XTi camera. Rich tried to fake my out and make me believe it was a surf board. I'm really stoked that everyone went together and got me this camera. Now I can put some more pictures on our blog site. I'll update everyone in a little while with how our day goes. We are supposed to go over to Dickey's house and play some pool on his new pool table.

Christmas Eve!

Well it's Christmas Eve and I am just about finished with all of the shopping! I have to go to the grocery store this morning and get all the stuff for breakfast tomorrow. Everyone will be stopping by to see what we gave each other, and to have some of Sandra's great breakfast. Thankfully we never have to make a big meal for Christmas Dinner because we always go over to my father's house for dinner. Thanks to Brenda for working hard on Christmas to feed us.
My favorite part of Christmas is on Christmas Eve when we will go to church this evening and celebrate the death of our Savior, Jesus the Christ by having communion. I know that everyone celebrates His birth this time of year but without His death his birth wouldn't be that special. His birth didn't bring forgiveness, salvation, reconciliation, peace, purpose for life, eternal security, and a hope for the future. It's by our faith in His work on the cross that brings all of these things. At our Christmas Eve service it is a good time to forget about the hustle and bustle of the "Christmas Season" and to remember what is really important.
I can tell that it is getting close to Christmas day because Rich (Lauren's boyfriend) is getting all excited about what he got me for Christmas. It's driving him crazy not to tell me what he got me. He has a hard time keeping secrets! He's been asking me for the past three days "If you could have anything you wanted for Christmas, what would it be?". I think everyone went together and got me something really nice but you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out. I will update tomorrow!! Tom

Well we have been home since Wed. night and things are a little crazy. I am a week behind at work and with our regular Christmas activities. Sorry to say that no one will be getting Christmas cards from the Lees this year. We just don't have enough time to get them done.
Sandra is doing a great job at playing nurse to Cindy. Cindy can walk around the house but she is a little slow and unsure on her feet. She is also needing a little help getting dressed and that kind of stuff but she is doing pretty well.
I'll share a little story from our hospital stay: From time to time we had to step out of the room while Cindy was sleeping or they were doing something for her. Sandra and I were walking around killing time when we saw a bulletin board with some notices on it. We were reading the notices when we came across a notice for some volunteers for a sleep study. The pay was $600 for two nights of study. We joked about signing up while were there, and making some extra money. The next night we had to leave the room again so we were walking around the section of the hospital where they do the sleep studies and observations for Sleep apnea. A nurse asked us if we were her patients for the night. Sandra and I just laughed (because of the previous nights discussion). The nurse asked us what we were up to so we explained that we were from out of town and our daughter was in the hospital.
She asked us if we had place to sleep!! We told her that we were staying with some friends. She then told us that if we were ever at the hospital and needed some sleep to come see her. She said if there was an empty bed in the sleep study rooms we could come in and sleep there. We had a good laugh about that. As we left and told her thanks she replied "I'll be praying for you guys and your daughter".
Well things were a little exciting around here tonight. Jenny, Mya, and Tommy arrived today and we exchanged gifts tonight with them. It was fun to see them want each others toys!
We get to go to Grandma's tomorrow and have Christmas with Sandra's side of the family. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Tom and Sandra

Home

Well we made it home today!! The doctors gave us the ok to leave the hospital this afternoon. We got home around 6:00 tonight. Cindy still has a ways to go before she has completely recovered, but it is sure good to be home. Thanks again for all of your prayers. Continue to pray that she heals up and that she doesn't get any infections.
On another note: Jennifer (our oldest daughter) had a meeting with Tommy's (our grandson) teacher today and she said he is making great progress. He is autistic.
Oh yeah, the house looked pretty good too when we got home and Rich had made some chicken and dumplings for dinner. Tom and Sandra

Thanks Everyone!!!!

We just want to say thank you to all of the friends and family who have prayed and called while Cindy has been in the hospital. Especially helpful have been Nathan and Trish. We have been staying at their apartment at night. It has been nice to see familiar faces while here in Durham (not to mention saving money).
Today we got to see a doctor kiss a pig! Seems that they were doing some kind of fund raiser here at the hospital. Peace Out!!

Getting Better!!

Well, today was a pretty good day for Cindy. This morning they took the drain tube out of her nose and they changed the dressing on the incision in her stomach. Cindy was able to eat a Popsicle and make a little action on the other end too. That is a good thing!!!! The doctors say that she should get to go home Wed. or Thur. She will have a vacuum drain in her belly for about 6 weeks and Home Health will have to come and change the dressing three times a week. This will allow her incision to heal from the inside out.
On another note: The girls back home are learning a little Independence. Lauren and Amy have been doing some things that the live in maid usually takes care of. Rich said "no one thanked me for cooking dinner!!!!". Sandra says "Welcome to my world!!!".
While here in Durham we ran into an old friend from church that we haven't seen in about 5 years. Beth Newman (formally Sweeney) came by to see Cindy and prayed with us. Spending about 45 minutes with her made us all feel like we had never been apart. Just imagine what it will be like when we all get together for eternity!! Oh yeah, she had a beautiful baby boy five months ago and he is such a cutie. Thanks everyone for your prayers, Tom & Sandra

Still In Durham 12-16-07

We are still in Durham with Cindy. She is doing better today but still has a ways to go. She was able to get up and walk just a little bit today. She still has a drainage tube to drain her stomach out. In the next couple of days they will begin to re-introduce liquids and food into her system to make sure everything works. If there is a blockage or an infection we will be here longer. There is no way to predict what will happen until she eats and drinks. Please keep praying for her and us. You can check out our blog daily @ www.kittyhawklees.blogspot.com Tom and Sandra