Happy New Year from the Recker's

Blazer Game December 2013

3rd Annual Express Christmas 2013

Happy New Year Friends & Family!  We wanted to give you a sampling of some of the highlights from the Christmas season.  There's a few pictures here to show you what we've been up to.

As the Trailblazers got off to a great start this season, we've been faithful, loyal, enthusiastic fans, watching every game we can and going to a few as well.  Mark & Kelley went to a game in early December.  It was a great outing and we were so grateful that Mark was feeling up to going.  We've determined that our grandson, Moses, is the key to the Blazers winning, particularly when the game comes down to the fourth quarter.  He has a red and black hat and Keenan & Becca make sure he's wearing it when the Blazers play.  Since this ritual started the Blazers have not lost a game.  Fellow Blazer fans, you're welcome!  :)

Moses with his lucky Blazers hat.

Cutest Baby Ever, and his parents

One of our family traditions, "Express Christmas", started 3 years ago.  The idea is to do a variety of Christmas related activities in a short period of time.  We decide ahead of time what the categories will be and then pick names out of a hat to determine the teams.  This year Becca, Noah & Kelley had Christmas train set-up and decor, Taylor, Keenan & Lexie (Noah's girlfriend) had dinner prep and Mark & Tyler had Christmas tree set-up and decoration.  We set a time limit, usually 1 1/2 hours to complete each task, then we sit down for a meal together prepared by the Dinner Team.  It's a fun way to kick start the Christmas season and we have a great time working together to pull it off.  After dinner we worked on gingerbread houses together.  It was a great evening and a memory-maker.  Sometimes I think we have the best kids on the planet--always willing, eager and excited to do these silly things their parents come up with.  :)

Please continue to keep Mark in your prayers.  Overall, he is doing well despite ongoing fatigue and headache pain.  He had a minor setback in early January and fractured a vertebrae in his back.  The prescription for healing is rest, ice, heat and time.  We will check back with his Dr. in about 4-6 weeks to have his back x-rayed.  Right now, it is not causing any more than minor discomfort.  Mark is planning to get on his recumbent bike again very soon.  It's hard to keep him down for too long!  Thank you all for your continued words of encouragement, cards, emails, prayers and not least of all, food. We are blessed and can see God's grace and kindness all around us; often it is in the words of encouragement or acts of kindness from friends, family and even strangers.  We hope that you all are experiencing some of that in your lives too.
                                                                     

Gratitude

Family Beach Trip 2013

Mark & Noah,  Lincoln City

Mark & Kelley

We realize it has been a while since we've updated the blog with news of Mark's health.  While we understand that friends and family want to know details, it is hard to know exactly how much to say.  Also, things change quickly with Mark, sometimes there are big changes even within the course of a single day or hours.  We've also learned not to live and die by the words of Mark's doctors.  We found ourselves on an emotional roller coaster; we've got to remember that despite what the doctors say, we can still hope and pray for a miracle and we ask that you all support us in that. Pray, pray, pray!  Thank you!

Right now, Mark is stable.  His most recent MRI showed no tumor growth since the last MRI 6 weeks prior.  That is something we are thankful for!  He will continue with at least one more round of the oral chemotherapy.  It is a 5 day treatment with 23 days off.  He tolerated the last round very well with his only real side effect a decreased appetite and fatigue.

We are looking forward to Christmas with our family.  We had the best Thanksgiving ever this year.  Mark felt great all day and was able to engage with family.  We played a game, worked on a puzzle and had great food and conversation.  We are so grateful for those good days and this was one of the best.

We want to thank the many people who have supported us with prayers, food, yard work, cards, house maintenance, garage repairs (thank you Eric!) and many other jobs and tasks that we have been unable to do ourselves.  Many of you have asked about helping us financially.  We are humbled by the thought of your generosity.  We have held off on accepting donations because we had a hard time justifying doing so.  We are not poor by any means; however, the medical expenses add up quickly.  We have an account set up through US Bank for donations for medical expenses.  It is under the account name: MARK RECKER DONATIONS.  We will use any funds that come in for medical expenses incurred following Mark's brain surgery, subsequent hospital stay in October and his ongoing medical care with his neurosurgeon and oncologist.  Donations can be made through any US Bank branch.  Any donations above and beyond what we need for medical expenses will be donated back to fulfill Mark's dreams for technology and exterior upgrades at Silver Crest and Pratum schools.

Again, we are grateful for this wide circle of friends, family, students and even strangers who bless us with their love and support. Continue to pray for healing and strength.  We appreciate you all!

Thank you!

A few weeks ago, we posted some practical ways that you, our friends and family, could help.  We've been amazed at the response.  Thanks to Andrew Murphy, administrators & staff from the Silver Falls School district, Eric Anderson, Doug Frogner, Tony Huserik, Dale Rohr and probably some others that I am forgetting.  We are so grateful for all that you have done for us.  We will have more opportunities to help, I'm sure.  Life doesn't stop or slow down, and it's been hard to keep up at times.  Your support is appreciated.  Thank you for your kindness.
Mark, Kelley & family

Practical ways to help

. . . and there are many more leaves yet to fall.

I know that many of you feel like you'd like to help, but aren't sure what you can do.  Here are a few ideas:
1. Yard work: We are drowning in leaves!  We could use some help raking leaves, trimming bushes, etc.
2. Winterizing (sp?): Doing whatever needs to be done to get the house ready for winter.  Mark has always done this and I've never paid much attention, but I imagine putting covers over outside faucets was included.
3.  Taking bottles/cans back to store.  Maybe there are some teenagers out there who might like a few extra bucks? We'd love to have you take those off our hands.

Please email Kelley at mnkrecker@gmail.com if you'd like to help.  Thank-you!

Family Photos

The family all wearing Recker's Runners t-shirts; even baby Moses--his shirt says "Future Recker Runner" :)

Noah holding baby Moses for the first time.  What a cool uncle he's going to be!

Becca made a beautiful birthday cake for Kelley's birthday.  Sooooo good!

Just a few pictures of the events we've shared over the past few weeks.  We are enjoying spending time together, as always, but every gathering has an added element of making the most of being together--more hugs, more pictures, more sweets! 

Christmas Tree Run

 About 7 years ago, Mark came up with an idea for what would soon become the annual "Christmas Tree Run".  He invited all the k-8 schools in the Silver Falls School District to come up to Silver Crest Elementary (one of his 2 schools).  The kids were encouraged to run a cross-country course that took them through a Christmas Tree Farm adjacent to the school.  All kids were rewarded with a participation ribbon.  Kids are not pushed to "win" but to complete the course, at their pace.  Over the years, attendance has grown.  I believe I heard someone say that this year there were about 700 runners.  The kids wore shirts this year that said "Recker's Runners" all pledging to run in his honor.  Wow, what a testament to the positive, healthy influence Mark has had on the kids of the Silverton community.  I'm feeling a lot of love for my husband today. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BixwMz93L_Y

Rest and Recovery

Dear Friends & Family,

We've been home nearly a week now.  Mark is getting stronger every day.  Today we walked across town to the post office. . . our longest walk yet since before the surgery!  We have been trying to ease back into "normal" life.  We've had some visitors this week and it's been nice to connect with friends and family. 

We will check in with the surgeon next week. Decreasing the steroids will be the next step and will hopefully address Mark's ongoing depression and fatigue.  We would appreciate your prayers as Mark continues to recover and as we work together to create a new normal.  We are confident that God has good things in store for us.