Quick Update!

Hi all!!
This is gonna be quick -- we leave for our cruise Sunday morning. M'Lys and A'Lise are coming in today. Dad, our deer that's been processed in Hamilton, and Kathy get here tomorrow. The cleaning lady never showed today. I'm not packed. You get the idea!!!

Just a couple of quick praises / prayer requests: My friend Stephanie is back in the hospital because her white blood cells bottomed out. They can't give her the Neupogen to bring them back up because of the "Sweet Syndrome" she developed. Please pray!!! Baby Addison is doing great. We could have told the nurses to expect that -- her Mama is one competitive chick when it comes to Nertz. AND she did the 3-Day 5 months pregnant!!! Finally, a HUGE praise -- Elise Goertz got home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. How cool is that???

Here are a few pix from our Christmas -- it's been a bit crazy!!!

Alan & Amber gave us a bunch of steaks from Omaha steaks. The girls aren't that into the steaks -- they just had fun "playing" with the dry ice that was in the ice chest!

Here are a couple of the doll outfits for the girls.

Christmas with the Stephens and Daman families...

Abbie's Gingerbread house from school....

M'Lys made these cute reindeer hats for the girls....

Ya'll have a wonderful holiday!!! I'll send pix from the cruise and more news as soon as I can!

Big Hugs,

d.

Prayers Needed for Baby Addison

Hello All,
If you don't know my friend Nichole, you're missing out. This woman has an incredible spirit. So many people say they can't do the 3-Day because they can't walk that far. Well, Nic did it 5 months pregnant!!

A week ago, she woke up in the middle of the night and was in labor. They have no idea what happened, but they had to do an emergency C-Section. Nichole, her family and Baby Addison could all use your prayers!

Thanks!
- d.

Hi Everyone,

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for all of your help and support. I am happy to say that Addison Elizabeth is doing absolutely amazing. She was born on the 13th weighing in at 1 lb 10 oz, and 13 " in length. They took her off the ventilator that same day, weening her onto something called a CPAP. They took her off of that yesterday, and she is down to just 1 liter of oxygen in her nose. She is breathing completely on her own. All of the doctors keep telling me that she is doing much better than any of them expected, considering the fact that she was 12 weeks early. Since we both lost a lot of blood in labor, she was given a blood transfusion. There is also some level 1 bleeding in her brain, which everyone tells me sounds much worse than it really is. Hopefully it will just be reabsorbed, but it's something that they will keep an eye on. They are feeding her now, 1 cc every hour, and she had her first big poop today. She had two tubes in, one in her umbilical vein, and one in her umbilical artery. The venous one came out today, and hopefully the arterial one will come out in the next couple of days. As soon as that happens I will be able to hold her! The staff at Plano Medical Center is really taking good care of her. Everyone tells us that she could start "acting her age" and we may have some set backs. So far though, it's only been progress. I really believe in the power of prayer, and I thank God for such great friends to pray with me! Thank you all again so much for everything!

From my Aunt Teen....

MY FIRST CHRISTMAS IN HEAVEN

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below,
With tiny lights like Heaven’s stars reflecting on the snow,
The sight is so spectacular; please wipe away that tear,
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,
But the sound of music cannot compare with this Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me; I see the pain inside your heart,
But I am not so far away, we really aren’t apart.
So be happy for me dear ones, you know I hold you dear,
And be glad I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above,
I send you each a memory of my undying love.
After all love is a gift more precious than gold,
It was always most important in the stories that Jesus told.
Please love each other as the Father said to do,
For I cannot count the blessings or love He has for you.
So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear,
Remember I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

Merry Christmas from the Biggs Family!

We ate our blacked-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, but this year they didn’t work. In honor of Granny, who loved to hear news of our family more than just about anyone else, we give you….

Our Little Moments from 2007

As 2007 began, we were still trying to get unpacked and settled into the new home we’d built in McKinney. Sweet Sara Beckett joined our family February – May and introduced us to life with a 16-year-old girl in the house. Jake barked all night. D’Lyn and friends began building “Team Tiara” for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Abbie played her first season of soccer. Biggs coached Abbie & Kait’s softball teams – the Red Hots and the Groovy Girls. “I’m half doe, half buck. I’m a duck!” As the drought ended in North Texas with the wettest spring ever, we contemplated the purchase of an ark. “I’m half Mommy, half Daddy. I’m a goose!” Abbie had mono. The girls spent hours riding bikes with the neighbor kids in front of our house. Jake barked all night. We discovered Rosati’s pizza. Mmmmm…. Kaitlyn never walks more than ten steps before she starts running. We found out we were moving to Houston. Biggs took the girls camping at Lake Ray Roberts while D’Lyn put offers on two houses in Houston. Abbie’s softball team rocked the coach pitch league. Jake barked all night. We moved to Houston on June 16. The playhouse made the trek, thanks to Uncle Alan, a big truck, a 4-wheeler, and moving a tree in our backyard. The tree still hasn’t recovered. On June 20, D’Lyn’s Mom was diagnosed with a tumor at the base of her skull. The next month was a blur of hospital stays and tests. We were blessed to have family and good friends “fill the gap” for us. The Sandusky, McCall and Jones families incorporated Abbie & Kait into their homes, families and churches, so D’Lyn could spend time with Granny. When Granny joined Jesus on July 21 she left a hole in our lives and hearts that can’t be filled. Through everything, God demonstrated compassion, love, and His amazing power to care for us even in the tiniest details. D’Lyn began writing again. Abbie rode in the Grand Entry at the Snyder Rodeo. We began meeting new friends in Houston and enjoyed re-connecting with dear friends from before. We hosted a debut party for High School Musical 2. Pa bought a big, new boat. Belly Flopper…. He’s in there! Jake barked all night. The girls swam a lot. Abbie started 1st grade at Keith Elementary – about ½ mile from our house. Kaitlyn started her last year of preschool at The Met – about 25 minutes from our house. Yikes! Our Opening Weekend dove hunt made the Dallas Morning News. Biggs finally got a riding lawn mower. Abbie was promoted to the GT program at school. Slug Bug! Kaitlyn’s new school is the “huggiest” place ever. Abbie is making a fortune off the tooth fairy! Jake barked all night. We had season tickets for Rice Football and a parking space with our name on it! Both girls played fall soccer, and Abbie turned into quite the goalie. Kaitlyn turned 5 and celebrated with a cookie decorating party. D’Lyn & Biggs celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to Vail. We rented a Hummer, hiked up the mountain twice, rode mountain bikes and horses… and were very sore by the time our vacation was over! Jake barked all night. Biggs got an iPod for his birthday, so he’s cool now. From Abbie: “Kaitlyn, your piece of lasagna is the square piece because your head is kind of square.” Kaitlyn sings all the time -- and in tune! Grandpa Weldon booked a cruise, so he could take Aunt M’Lys, Aunt A’Lise and the Biggs Bunch on a vacation over the Christmas Holidays. Team Tiara raised over $38,000, contributing to the $6.5 million raised in the DFW Breast Cancer 3-Day. D’Lyn walked all 60 miles with no blisters. Biggs, Abbie & Kait made the trek to Dallas to surprise Mommy. Susan G. Komen for the Cure flew D’Lyn, Suzi Bruin and 15 new friends, AKA “The Talent,” to L.A. to shoot a TV commercial. A new HEB opened just up the road! Abbie turned 7 and got a hunting vest and cap for her birthday. A&M beat Texas. Kaitlyn learned to ride her bicycle without training wheels. Biggs got a deer. Kait’s learning to read. The other day, she came in and said, “Mom, what does W-I-I spell?

As you look back on your own little moments in 2007, we wish you the greatest of blessings!

Christmas Card Outtakes, Part 2....

The Picture that Didn't make the Christmas Card....

Men Get Breast Cancer, too!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071214/ap_on_he_me/male_breast_cancer

Check this out....

Okay. Ya'll HAVE to watch this. Especially the Christmas down in Africa part!


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Keep your damp hands, and your damp feet, off the chalkboard!!!!

This has been running through my head way too much in the last couple of weeks. I think it's because I'm knee-deep in making doll clothes for the girls for Christmas. I mean Knee-Deep. I'll post some pictures this weekend.

But you see, SJ was one of the people who helped teach me to sew. In fact, I was at her house doing 4-H sewing when Ronald Reagan was shot. Crazy huh? Anyway, she's been at the front of my mind a lot lately. So has her trademark admonition!!! (I was short -- those weren't my feet!!!)

I don't know what it is about BHS memories, but I couldn't get away from another one last night. We were at Biggs' company Christmas dinner at a rather fancy hotel down by Rice. One of the appetizers was grilled Quail. Well, this poor thing was laid out spread-eagle on top of some corn casserole patty. I'd never thought about how dead frogs and dead, spread-eagle quail had the same shape until last night. But I swear, it looked just like the frog that Kate Ph. stood up in Mr. C's Science class that time. Do ya'll remember that?

Oh, the memories....

Breast Cancer 3-Day Ad

The commercial isn't out yet, but the Full-Page, Running in Oprah Magazine is!!!!

I can't figure out how to load a file, but I know how to put a link on here.... http://www.knockknocktx.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/3day-283_oprah_lores_11-21-07-1.pdf It will take a little while to load -- it's huge.

My friend Stephanie is much better at all this than I am. While you're on her site, take a moment to pray for her. I'm praising God that she should be out of the hospital tomorrow!!!

The cool thing about the ad is knowing the back-story behind it. The big picture is of Cissa. Cissa lost her cousin this summer to a long fight with breast cancer.

Along the bottom.... Those chicks on the left? No idea.

The next picture is of Jewel -- an amazing woman in Dallas who has single-handedly been responsible for raising awareness of breast cancer among black women. There's no telling how many lives have been saved through her perserverence!!!

The mother and son are Stephanie and David. You've read Stephanie's story on my blog. Please pray for them. My running-buddy Suzi is in the background of that picture!!!

The picture on the far right is of Ed and Sherry. They live in Victoria and are just the sweetest, in-love couple you ever did see. Sherry is about 7 months past chemo. They rock!

One in a Million, that's Me!

Saw my foot doctor again yesterday. I've had three weeks of these ultrasound treatments along with the anti-inflammatories, and it just hasn't really helped my foot. I'm beginning to get frustrated and a bit down about it. I need help!

Well.... He did a set of X-rays for the first time since August, and it seems I've done something that very few people do. I've fractured my bone spur. Don't ask me how. But the plantar fasciitis has caused a bone spur (we knew that), and the bone spur has a little bitty line across it on the X-ray, which supposedly illustrates a fracture.

What to do? They're doing an MRI later this week to get an idea of what's going on with the plantar fascia -- the tendon that runs the length of my foot. The problem is that if there is indeed a fracture on the bone spur, it won't ever heal itself. They'll need to do surgery to get it out of there.

YIKES. With the cruise coming up in 2 1/2 weeks, there's no way I can get it done before the end of the year. What a mess!

I do have to say, though, I'm very thankful they did the X-ray yesterday. It explains the continuous pain and the fact that nothing they've done so far has really worked.

I'll keep you posted!

Abbie's Letter to Santa

(As written.)

12-5-07

Dear Santa
I have ben a good girl this year. I think you are the luckieist poursun I ever hourd of! do your raindeer land very quitly I never her them land on the rofe? say hi to the riandeer for me. how have you ben this yaer? how is your wife? dos rudofs nows stil glow? how meny presints do you mack a yaer? how is your wife? I would like a Ipod and a fur real freind. have a vary Merry Chrismas love
Abbie Biggs

Dress Update / Prayer Request / Cookie Exchange

Okay, guys. Just a really quick entry to bring you up to speed on a couple of things.

First, please pray for the Biggs family, particularly for Jacquie. They are probably going to bring Jack home in the next couple of days. He's really not in good shape, not always lucid, etc. He will require 24-hour care. Pete and Jacquie have to decide if that will be nursing care (where they will try to help him get better) or hospice care (where they will just keep him comfortable.)

Second, I was wrong about the last dress I bought -- it wa 2002 when I bought one to wear to watch Rana Beth in the Miss America Pageant. (How could I have forgotten that trip???)

Finally, my cookie exchange is tomorrow -- 9:30 a.m. If you're in the area, please come -- you don't have to RSVP -- just come on. All are welcome!

Many Blessings,
d.

You'd better sit down....

Are you sitting down?

I have BIG news!!!

Are you ready?

(Drumroll, please.)

I bought THREE dresses today!!!

Okay. Maybe that's not as big of news to you as it is me, but do you have any idea how long it's been since I've bought a dress??? 1998. That's right. As far as I know, the last time I bought a dress, it was for the MCFA Christmas party. Wow....

I've bought a lot of skirts, but no dresses. Until today. But today, the floodgates opened. Yeehaw!!!

I needed something to wear to Biggs' Christmas party. AND I needed dresses for the cruise Dad is taking us on during the Christmas holidays. I asked Biggs what he thought, and he said I should wear the "fishing lure" pants I always wear for dress-up occasions. Those words... "Always wear." YIKES.

So I saw a dress in an ad that I liked, and I just went and bought it and two others that were WAY on sale!!!

And I had to share it with you!!!

Three More Prayer Requests

I have three more prayer requests for ya'll.

The first is for Elise Goertz. Elise is a Kindergartner at Abbie's school, and they found out a couple of weeks ago that she has cancer again -- for the third time. The first time was in her bone marrow. The second in her spinal fluid. Now this time it's in her lungs. She's going to have to have another bone marrow transplant. Please pray for her and her precious family.

The second is for my new friend, Carrie Miller. Carrie is in the Sunday School class we just joined. She's 39 and has breast cancer. (Another young survivor.) Her lump was 1-inch when she found it, but chemo has shrunk it to 1/4 its original size. She has two more rounds of chemo, will have a lumpectomy after Christmas and then radiation.

The third prayer request is for Biggs' Grandpa Jack. He's had a rough year. He broke a hip, then cracked a vertebrae. Now, he's back in the hospital with breathing issues. Pray also for Jacquie & Pete as they weather this latest storm. Jack lives with them.

Thanks for your prayers!
- d.

Merry Tossmas!!

Check it out!

http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005834.cfm

We Need a Christmas Miracle!

I know there are some mighty prayer warriors who check this blog, and I'm asking you to pray for a Christmas Miracle for my friend Stephanie. Stephanie is a member of "The Talent." You can read more about her walk through breast cancer on her blog at: www.KnockKnockTX.com

In short, the "cocktail" of drugs they've been using to keep her cancer in check isn't working anymore -- and they're switching to a new protocol. I'm asking that you join me in praying that this works.

But more than that, I'm asking you pray for a Christmas miracle -- the kind that makes doctors scratch their heads. The kind that can't be explained away. The kind that gets Stephanie on Oprah -- not because "The Talent" should be on Oprah, but because she won't be able to tell her story without sharing how God orchestrated it. And in that story, God will be able to work through Stephanie to reach so many people who are hurting, and who need Him so badly.

I know this is a tall order, but we're talking about the maker of miracles. He created man, parted the seas, bestowed His Grace on us. Our all-powerful God can heal Stephanie.

Thanks for helping me storm the gates of Heaven on Stephanie's behalf.

Much love,
d.

Fat Momma's French Toast

Hello All!
I found this recipe last year and made it for Christmas morning. Our family LOVES it!!!

Beware: It can certainly turn you into One Fat Momma!!!

Holiday Hugs,
d.

Fat Momma's French Toast

From the kitchen of Dowell House c1870...a Bed & BreakfastMcKinney, Texas

Ingredients

1 stick margarine or butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1/2 to 3/4 cup pecans

Loaf of French Bread, cut in 1" slices

2 cups milk

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

cinnamon and granulated sugar to taste

Directions

In 13x8x2 baking dish, melt margarine or butter. (If you use a different dish, this recipe is a little unpredictable, but still works out ok.)

Add brown sugar and corn syrup to melted margarine and mix well in baking dish. Sprinkle pecans (chopped if you're cheap, or halved if you're rich) on sugar/butter mixture.

Spread each slice (at least 1" thick) of French Bread heavily with cream cheese and place with cream cheese side down, on sugar/butter/pecans mixture in baking dish.

Mix together milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour over the bread in the dish. Sprinkle cinnamon and granulated sugar to taste on top.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, bake in 375 degree oven for about 45-60 min until puffed and lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving. Dust lightly with confectioner's sugar and serve.

If you're really ambitious, (and careful) you can flip this over on a serving plate before dusting on the confectioner's sugar. Be careful of the hot syrup! I have also made this in individual ramekins and turned each over on a serving plate, which makes serving each person less messy (well, less messy at the table, anyway).

Good accompaniments are fruit (preferably something like grapefruit which is a nice counterpoint to the rich sweetness) and sausage, bratwurst, or bacon. Orange juice and coffee round out this breakfast. This dish is a filling main dish which can be served as an egg, bread and milk serving.

Variations include using maple syrup instead of corn syrup, and using 2 layers of bread in a deeper dish with the cream cheese layer and some type of fruit preserves (orange is good) in between the layers.

This breakfast is not for anyone on a serious diet or who has had a cholesterol warning from the doctor lately, but it is SINFULLY rich and comforting!