Summer is here!!!

Wow, I cannot believe it has been over 2 months since I last posted!  Well, in our case No news IS good news!  We have had a whirlwind of activities going on around the Pigott Household. God has been so gracious to us to give us some sweet memories over the last few months.  The big kiddos have finished school.  We officially have a 7th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader and YES MISS Halie turned 4!  So many milestones.  I can hardly believe it!  I will briefly recap all the corners we have turned.  In April,  Halie Nicole after a year of Chemotherapy, Surgery, Radiation, A Stem Cell Transplant, Immunotherapy and Maintenance treatment (which we are currently in the final stages of treatment "Please Jesus")  Turned four.  For those of you have known us best this journey through the dark road of Cancer began last year on her birthday.   In hindsight that is when she started to get sick.  She did not feel well when she turned three but, What a joyful celebration turning 4 was.  On, April 27, we enjoyed, celebrated & Praised God for the life of our precious daughter.  What a joyous day!  Then in May we were so blest to get the opportunity to go to Squirrel Creek Ranch with Texas Children's Hospital.  What an Amazing experience.  Thank You, to the Faust family for opening your hearts and home to our children.  It was a time of healing for our family.  As many of you know we had been trying to go on this trip for a couple of weeks but we got sick with fevers and tummy aches so we had to cancel our first trip and yet our sweet Child Life Counselor arranged for us to get invited again and our Awesome God planned it to work out the weekend that marked the 1 year Anniversary of the day Halie was diagnosed with stage 4 MYCN Amplified High Risk Neuroblastoma.  It was not a day of reflection on the events that turned our lives forever upside down like I thought it would be but a day of rejoicing and joyful tears as we shared the faithfulness of our God for all that He has brought us through this year.  Last year on May 21st Halie was lying in a hospital bed, unable to walk, getting her first central line, experiencing her first surgery and chemotherapy, with such an uncertain future......Yet on that same date a year later with curly hair growing in place of her smooth bald head, a scar instead of a central line dangling from her chest and smiling and laughing as she plays with families who have walked and are still walking this road with us.  She spent the weekend running around Squirrel Creek Ranch, swimming, fishing, riding a horse, laughing, playing with her family, friends, nurses and our sweet Breanna, looking healthier than we have seen her in so long that I was overwhelmed by how blest we are... What a joyful experience that was.  Words cannot express the gratitude I have to God that a year later we are all together the 6 of us celebrating the end (please Jesus) of treatment -- A day I have to say we did not know if we would see....  Praise be to God,  for that wonderful experience.  He alone knows the healing that time alone began in our family.  What a joy!  So, now we are starting our Summer.  We are healing as a family, trusting God to help us reconnect after a year of seperation.  Learning to trust Him day by day as we start a new faze of life with Cancer, with being back at home with our family.  In so many ways it is scarier to look at being done with treatment.  CANCER, There is soon to be nothing keeping it at bay, fighting the cells that are so relentless and determined to return.   In July Halie will complete her last round of Acutane and we will have our End of Treatment scans.  We will as always do a Disease evaluation and determine if she is indeed in Remission, we will (please Jesus) start down the road of scanning for five years to check for evidence of disease.  Even after all our Precious, brave warrior has been through the relapse rate is high for Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma and for 2 years we will scan every 3 months and then for three years scan every 6 months.  We will also, start to check for signs of damage to her heart, hearing, kidneys, liver function and a multitude of other things to see the damage done after a year of harsh treatments to such a young child.  God will sustain us and we are continuing to look to Him for our strength to face whatever challenges the future holds.  For me as a Mom, the future is at times so full of hope and I am so thankful for all that God has taught me on this journey and yet their is always that fear.....  What if it comes back????  I am learning to give it to He on whom we have set our hope.  He alone holds her (all of us in His hands) and I have to press forward.  Not without fear mind you but with a confidence not in myself but in the One who is my Hope.  You see what He has shown me this year is that I am going to fall short, I am going to give in to my fear at times and be overwhelmed by my lot in this life but, in His kindness He will lift me up, He will carry me, strengthen me and lavish His love on me, He will remind me that this is not our home.  You see he remembers that I am but dust and that without His living breath in my life I cannot live the life He has called me to.  So, whatever the future hold for us we will walk in confident trust in Him who holds all things together.  He is our Hope.  --- Now, please remind me of that in July when we scan....;) Enjoy the new pictures