Deep In the Ice Fields of Texas!

I mean...the damage I'm seeing is for REAL! Wow! I am so excited to hear more details from you tomorrow. What a crazy turn of events in Texas. I hope you've weathered the storm and have had opportunities to serve and help those around you. As far as the Draper Horsley clan goes...everyone seems to be doing well.. McKay got his ACT score back this week. He did great and I am super proud of him. He took it without much studying. We never pulled the BYU ACT study class together and when I finally got in touch with Cara, so encouraged us to sign up for the February 6th date, even though it was just a couple of weeks away. McKay met with Cara a handful of times and got a 32. I think he feels good about it. I'll send a pic of his score breakdown. Now we just need to get him on the BYU bandwagon. He's pulling a bit of the Calder "BYU is kind of dumb" thing right now. I think he'll figure it out... Henry is keeping things upbeat and silly. He's a lot of fun. He actually talked to Daniel about you and the discussions. I think he made some headway and he was excited about it. He will have to tell you about it tomorrow. That would be really cool to get that going! Gwen is changing course and wanting to hang out with friends at night. Darn! The tween life is coming on strong. She's just the best sister and so happy...I'm not sure I'm ready for another super social kid! And Jane...she's the funniest and keeps us on our toes. Just chattering about who she's in love with and who she's marrying and all that stuff ALL. THE. TIME!!! Dad is hanging in there and seems to balance even more lately with Grandma and Grandpa around. I am in awe at his ability to balance work, family, church and now aging parents. He's the best. My week was extra fun because I had the opportunity to go up to a cabin with my high school friends and sleepover and ski the next day. It was the best! We seriously stayed up until 5 AM?!? Whhhhhat? So much to talk about. So many funny memories. The ski day was seriously one of the best in my books. Great snow, blue skies and some new ski gear so I wasn't even one bit cold. I'm still kind of on a high from that. On the way home from my ski/sleepover adventure, I was just so full of gratitude. I really was blessed with the greatest high school friends. They are all terrific women and so faithful. They serve and are awesome mothers and wives. I am especially grateful for my friend Jenny Covey. I'm not sure how I got so blessed to have her as a best friend, but I will be eternally grateful for that in my life. She really helped shape me and make me want to be a better person. The way her father and mother taught her and lead the Covey family is absolutely amazing. She is so full of wisdom and great advice even to this day. I am just a better person because of her. As I counted my blessings and thought about my life, tears streamed down my cheeks. I said a prayer of gratitude outloud and thanked my Heavenly Father for the many, many blessings and for the joy and happiness in my life. I know where much is given, much is expected and I have a lot to do. I hope I can fulfill my responsibilities. Everyone was happy for me to come home. I was hardly gone at all but I received a warm welcome home. Needless to say, I CRASHED! This old lady isn't used to staying up so late, haha! Today we had Grandma and Grandpa Calder and Jay's family for dinner. It was really great to be together. They are the best. Lara is really not feeling well. She just wasn't blessed with great health. She's got all these nasty digestive issues and can hardly eat. Plus, she was like burping the grossest, manly burps at the end of the night. I was seriously dying! And you know how much I love belching! Especially truck drive belching!!!! Anyway, it was great to be together. On Friday night we went to dinner with Craig and Jalynn. We had a fabulous time catching up on our missionaries, families, and aging parents. Craig's mother just passed away in January from Altzimers. They had a lot of great advice for us and it was just comforting to have their support and love. Kenzie is hanging in there. Her comp is seriously tough. My heart breaks for her but she will get there. I just don't understand the reasons for having crazy people train. Am I wrong?? We got some sad news yesterday from Bishop Robinson. He sent around a message letting us know that his brother, Mike Robinsons - who I think was your teacher's advisor in the Young Mens - fell on some ice at a job site a couple of weeks ago...in fact, this is his email. He wrote it much better than I'll tell it: " I have also added my brother on this prayer roll. I know he has moved and not in our ward anymore. But he was a member of this ward for over 25 years and I know how much Mike and Laura were loved by so many. About a month ago Mike fell on the ice on one of our jobs. At first, he thought he cracked a few ribs, but the pain continued until he went and had an x-ray which showed a fracture at T-12. Soon after that his arm went numb and his legs became extremely weak where it was difficult to walk. On Wednesday he had a full back MRI to find out the problem - only to find many tumors throughout his spinal column. Several are pushing heavily on his spinal cord. Because of his previous bout with Melanoma, they think this is a return. He has been in the hospital having every scan and test available wondering if it was somewhere else in his body. On Thursday we got the good news that it was not in his brain or lungs or anywhere they consider soft tissue. We were so grateful, but the reality is they do feel there is a 90 -95 percent chance that the many tumors in his back are malignant. The biopsy will not come back until Tuesday or Wednesday. As a family we are devastated at this news and are praying for a miracle that this is not as bad as it seems. I would like to ask for the addition of your faithful prayers to that of our family for Mike and Laura. I believe in the absolute faith of the wonderful members of this ward family. When it comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I don’t think I know anyone with more faith than Mike. Wednesday, when Mike got the call from Dr. Grant Hawkins, who is also our cousin, he put his phone on speaker so we could hear it together. We were thinking back surgery not cancer. Grant suggested Mike go straight to emergency at IMC hospital. As he got into my truck to drive to the hospital, he looked at me with a lot of emotion and said, “thank God for the gospel of Jesus Christ”. Those words and the way he said them will stick with me forever. For as he said them it was as if he was also saying “thy will be done”. I do not know If I have ever loved my brother more than in that brief moment of pure testimony." So sweet. We love Mike. He is definitely in our prayers. He honestly asks about you whenever we see him at the gym! Life is good. Life is fragile. And I couldn't agree more with what Mike said..."Thank God for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!" We are so blessed to have our knowledge and faith. We love you and we are praying for you! Keep up the great work! Keep trying to bring people this Gospel so when they are faced with the storms of life like Mike Robinson, they will repeat those words of faith and testimony and that is what will bring them through the storm. So many good things are happening. So proud of you. Can't wait for the update! Missing you a ton today and always. Keep changing lives. Your hard work and effort make a difference. Love you tons! MOM :) Pics: Skiing and my over nighter with my high school friends, McKay's scores, and dinner with Gma, Gpa, and the Calder's today.