November 27th, 2011

Well, we had a great Thanksgiving Day here.  I hope and pray that you did also. 


Kevin cooked the turkey, as is his custom.  He has been smoking our Thanksgiving turkeys on the grill since I can remember.  So yummy and the leftover turkey soup is delish!!!  This year I had each of the kids pick a side to make which made my work load much lighter.  Josh did an apple pie (plus he made the pie dough for the pecan pie that I made).  Sarah did the dinner rolls, Zach did the sweet potatoes and Becca signed up for the mashed potatoes.  Didn't leave much for me to do and I was OK with that!  ;)


Here are a few pics from the day:

Becca named the salt and pepper shakers Anna and William.  Kind of funny because during the dinner we had requests for "Anna" or "William" to be passed.  :)


****************************************************


On another note ~ Kevin is almost done with this phase of his chemo.  He has 2 more treatments, this coming Tuesday and Friday.  I'm excited for him that it is almost done.  Then we will move into a whole new phase of his treatment.  We will switch from the cancer center that he has been getting his treatments from to KU Med.  Hopefully we will receive some sort of a schedule for all the testing that he needs soon.  Then we are expecting for him to have his stem cell transplant in January. 


His chemo side effects have been harder for him with each round that he has gotten.  (He doesn't share all that is going on.) This time is definitely hardest on him yet.  He has had some neuropathy in his feet which is a side effect of this chemo.  In the past it just numbed a small part of his feet.  This time it is effecting his whole foot with numbness and pain!  UGH  So those that are praying, keep it up.  We are thankful for those of you that are praying for him!


Blessings,
Kathy

Sort of a Family Update

There are many things changing in the Gentzler household so I thought I would spend a little time and give you a longer update than normal. About two months ago Kathy and I began seriously considering a major change in our lives and this past weekend we went through with it. We are now small business owners here in Leavenworth, Kansas.  We purchased Queen's Pantry, a shop that sells Teas, British Gifts and Foods that has been in operation for 13 years. While we are now the owners we are not yet open because we are moving to a new location.

Some of you may be thinking, "WHat are they doing that for with all of the other things going on?"  I'll tell you in two parts.  First a friend of mine, a cancer survivor and outstanding man, recently told me "You have to keep moving forward."  While the cancer may present a problem it is nothing that will stop us as a family. So we are taking the advice of my friend and moving forward in a new adventure.   Second, owning our own business is something we have had a desire to do for years. Our kids are all of an age that we feel they can be an active part of the operation and we had this unique opportunity come available. So we prayerfully considered the situation and decided to proceed.  Zachary and Rebecca have been a big help this past week as we painted our new building and did lots of moving.  Sarah also put in a lot of work. She was an employee of Queen's Pantry before we bought it and was very instrumental in helping us think through this endeavor.  She also has helped paint and move.  We also had lots of friends lend a hand.  The impact of a large number of people helping out of the love of Christ did not go unnoticed.  We are all looking forward to the adventure and all we will learn as we go.

Joshua has been in Guatemala for the last two and a half weeks on a mission trip.  He is working with a ministry called Global Soccer Ministries and is learning a great deal about day-to-day life as a missionary. He is there for a few more days and we are excited about him coming home soon. 

As for me and my cancer treatments I am enjoying God's blessings as he uses the Docs and the drugs to battle my myeloma.  This last week was another encouraging report with the main marker of the cancer continuing to decrease. My bodies response to the chemo has been very good and my side effects continue to be minimal and manageable.  We are beginning to plan for the stem cell transplant because January will come quickly. 

I am very thankful for my wonderful wife who has been a remarkable rock of strength through the beginning parts of my journey. When I have been low, and there have been days that are like that, she has helped my get back up. She is wonderful and I am not deserving of her love, friendship, and support.  I am very glad she is here with me. I am very sad that she has to deal with all of this though.

As I said a little longer update than normal. 

For all those of you who are praying for us, we thank you.  Your prayers are instrumental in our lives.

Kevin