Because it is the end of the year... and I have not updated in dayzzzzzz. I thought I would post our year update/Christmas letter.
If you are at any way connected to or have donated to the trust, you have already seen all the words on this post! I did, for fun and interest, add more pictures!
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2013 has been a rough year for the Chastain’s. It has also
been a great year. We have celebrated so many awesome and wonderful things this
past 365 days… all the while carrying a load that, at times, seems too heavy. We are lifted up, encouraged and comforted,
not only by those who love and support us, but by our Heavenly Father, who knew
not only this path He had chosen for us to walk… but who provides a way for us
to walk it with grace and strength.
Let’s start the family updates from the youngest up, shall
we? That starts us off with one feisty little booger, Ryder. Ryder is 2, turns
three in January. He is the strangest, sweetest, most infuriating child I have
ever had the privilege to parent. He is loud, hilarious, smart, strong and
cuddly. He is also stubborn and has to do everything himself. This year he has busted a front tooth clean
away, leaving him with a nice hillbilly hole in the front of his mouth, and
been on the receiving end of 7 stitches in 2 different locations on his face.
He is rough and tumble, and all boy. He also is a lover and wants a hug about
every 30 minutes. He stretches me as a parent. And I love him to pieces.
Rigg turned four on June 19th.
He is obsessed with transformers, mazes, puzzles and asking why. About
everything. He started preschool in the fall and I have seen an enormous change
in him. He is more curious, more imaginative… and now knows all his letters,
can count to “furty” (30) and is sounding out words. Rigg is a thoughtful child, he contemplates
what he hears and sees and asks deep questions. He is learning about Jesus at
his school, Trinity Lutheran School, and at his Bible study. I have been able
to share the gospel with my son over and over this year. He asked me on the way
to school one morning “how do you believe?” He also stretches me as a parent,
but in a totally different way than his brother. He is sweet, thoughtful and
energetic. I am blessed to love a son like him.
I am spending my time juggling all
the different aspects that come with being a stay at home mom and wife of a
cancer patient. I have learned to take over the bills, the home and car
maintenance, and the hospital and pharmacy runs. All the while still doing
dishes, laundry, loving and disciplining two growing boys and trying to keep up
with friends and family. I have an amazing support system. If I am in need of
anything, I have too many people waiting in line to help. I am constantly
overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of how much my little family is loved. We
have been blessed this year to have been given the gift of house cleaning. For
the whole spring and summer a sweet girl I went to high school with paid to
have my house cleaned once a week. When she was no longer able to do so, 12
families pitched in and have finished off the year with once a week cleanings.
BEST.GIFT.EVER.
I have taken a very small leadership role in my bible study,
Bible Study Fellowship. I am a substitute discussion leader and an overall
fill-in where they might need me. The boys also attend BSF and love it. It is
such a joy taking the boys and watching them learn the same lesson I am for the
week. Along with BSF, I also started a small Etsy shop this year. Etsy.com is a
site where people who make items can place those wares online to sell. In my
shop, Printed Joy, I am currently doing art prints and cards. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/printedjoy)
God has blessed my little shop more than I expected! I am filling 1-4 orders a
week since opening and having so much fun designing not only the art offered in
my shop, but custom orders as well. And,
let’s not forget our family blog… which I am so bad about updating as often I
used to. (www.andyandcari.blogspot.com)
The blog has long been a baby of mine, I love to write and process all
that God has done and is doing. It just seems lately my life is full with other
time worthy things, and the poor blog falls by the wayside. I still try to keep
updates on the Captain (Andy) as close to real time as possible.
Ah, the Captain….
A year ago, on Thanksgiving 2012,
Andy was in the ER getting news that his tumor had returned. He underwent his
second brain surgery on November 26th 2012. Since that day we have
hit the ground running, so to speak, dealing with all the things that come with
battling cancer. Radiation was done in Bloomington, IN for the first 6 weeks of
2013. While Andy was getting himself to and from treatments, resting at a
wonderful facility in Bloomington (Jill’s House) and working on healing, I was
home with two boys… trying to live a normal life as a single parent for a month
and a half. Since that time Andy has slowly, ever so slowly, declined
physically and cognitively. All the chemo and drug trial treatments, all the
medicine, all the side effects from radiation, chemo, and drugs… have left him
weak, tired and worn. Andy has had a couple different hospital stays, some ER
visits, and a few scary moments. He has battled with massive swelling, drastic
drops in blood pressure, and blood clots in his lungs and legs. He spends a lot
of time resting and sleeping. It is an ongoing discussion between me and his
amazing oncologist… the struggle between letting him rest and trying to find a
reprieve for the fatigue and discomfort. His energy level is low and he is only
up and going a few hours a day. It has been a hard transition for me, picking
up all that Andy once did. But God has been gracious and has provided all of
our needs… even some of our wants!
He still has 2-6 months of chemo
treatments left, a number that will be determined by MRI’s and doctors as we
get closer to that point. The drug trial drug he is on is supposed to stop the
growth of the tumor, because of this he will be on it indefinitely. We spend every other Thursday at the
hospital, getting treatments, seeing doctors, waiting in hard chairs. It has
been a life shift… But God is faithful and we do not feel abandoned. Nothing is
wasted, and we know God is using this for a purpose. Our prayer is that in
every aspect of our lives, that God would receive glory.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly was are wasting away,
inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory. So we fix our eyes not on what
is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.” ~ 2 Corinthians
4:16-18 ~
Love,
Andy, Cari,
Rigg and Ryder
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