I have been praising God in my heart all week for a wonderful blessing He has allowed me to be a part of. The little boy above is Luke Pope. He is the son of my closest childhood friend Danielle. Danielle and I have a long, wonderful history together that began when I was 4 years old. Our lives growing up were intertwined in so many ways and she is dear to me. Though we are not in each other's lives on a daily basis now, when we talk and catch up it's as if we have never been apart. I love her so very much.
About a month ago, Luke, who is 9 years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The doctors scheduled a surgery right away and began making preparations for it. The Lord gave Travis and Danielle the wisdom to get a second opinion as the neuro surgeon was uncertain exactly what type of a tumor it was. They came to St. Louis to a Children's hospital that is only about 20 minutes from our house. At their first appointment, the MRI showed that the tumor was slightly smaller than it had been. They were hopeful that it would continue to shrink and scheduled another MRI a week later. At that appointment, they found that the tumor shrunk such a significant amount that it made the doctors question if it ever was a tumor to begin with. They decided that there was no need for surgery and will continue to monitor his progress in the months to come. The doctors could not explain what happened in scientific terms. Danielle and Travis were quick to tell them that they believed this was a miracle and that the Lord chose to heal Luke. I feel so thankful to have witnessed this process and to celebrate with them how great is our God!
Danielle and Luke right after the good news! Jamie and I were blessed to get to keep the Pope's other kiddos while they were at the appointment. Their family celebrated with a mini vacation in St. Louis after. So happy for them!
Lainey, Abigail, Samuel and Ethan
Playing princess
Some cute, well behaved, little men! Made Jamie and I excited for the years ahead with Cooper.
This was a fabulous summer. So fabulous in fact that we've been living it up and I haven't updated the blog in a while. So, per my momma's request here are way too many pictures of the past few months...
I officially became a soccer mom this summer and am proud to say that I am the loudest mom at the games. Lainey likes it at this point in her life, not sure what she'll think of my cheering her on in a few years : )
We visited Grant's Farm
and the zoo
homemade salsa with things we grew in our garden
Little man took his first steps
Lainey and I had a special "girl day" and she got her first pedicure
We read our first chapter book
We went to Starlight in Kansas City to see Cinderella with my family
We had some good, quality cousin time
We enjoyed the new playhouse my parent's and Seth built in memory of my great grandma
We played all day at an in-door water park 
We celebrated the 4th of July at a small town carnival
We added a new member to the family...my niece, Malloree Grace
We had a wonderful vacation in Branson with Jamie's family
We visited Silver Dollar City and Lainey met two of her favorites
We got small glimpses of what it must have been like growing up in the O'Dell house : )
We found out that another member of the family is on his way! Baby boy #3 will arrive in January for Brian and Crystal!
We caught a glimpse of our daughter's driving ability. Yikes! 
