FUN, RELAXING DAY!

Getting some R & R~
That is exactly what mom did today! We all had fun waking up this morning and going straight to mom's big King size bed!!! All the girls got in bed with her as we let Claire watch "Strawberry Shortcake"! How fun! Brooke and I got mom all ready for the day and even fixed her hair! She felt soooo good afterwards! We all ate breakfast from McDonalds and drank McCafe coffee's! Yum... Mom's favorite coffee! Decaf of course. Brooke and I got on a major cleaning kick after we ate. Mom rested in the living room while the guys watched sports-of course. :) Brooke and I got ready for the day and headed to Walmart to get some groceries, etc.

Let's just say Walmart has issues with their card swipers - It did not like us at all! It took us 4 times to finally pay! See, dad had given us some cash so we used that and then we used a gift card (which worked fine) and then we had a remainder of $10.28 so I was just going to pay for that with my check card (didn't work), credit card (didn't work), Brooke's check card (didn't work), OMG - finally I wrote a check! Whew.....If that didn't work we were fixing to just yell "does anybody in the store have $11 we can borrow!" hahahaha! It was so aggravating but funny!

We got home and had the boys unload the groceries and we all put them away. The other Forrester crew came by to visit while we were at Walmart. We just missed Ross and Hannah but got to visit with Uncle Donnie and Aunt Ramona! We love you all!

Mom took a couple of naps today while we were cleaning and at Walmart. She is doing so well though getting around and talking. Praise God! She can read cards, newspaper, etc. almost perfectly! We have had such a relaxing day getting to spend with her and dad. It's nice to get to hold her and hug and kiss her. It feels so good to have your mom hold onto you. Oh, how we've missed her!

Claire has kept us entertained all day playing with her new singing/dancing dog that MiMi and Poppy had for her! She has also been playing with her miniature golf set Aunt Ramona got her! She's the future "Little Miss Tiger"! We hope! :) Brooke and I will be cooking some dinners tonight for mom and dad to have during the week. We are going to make several so they can freeze them and warm them up when they want!

Thank you to everyone for all the cards, phone calls, and gifts! Our community is so incredibly supportive and we can't thank you enough! Every one's faith, prayer, love, and support continues to give all of us strength! God bless you!
The Forrester Family

I am going to add a link: This is from Ryan's "Aunt" Lana from Palestine, TX. She wanted to share this and said, "It is a beautiful testimony to the love that the Lord has for us."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ9ZNwWehPk

Nana Banana visits!

Hi everyone,

Grandma (gigi) stayed with mom today and they had visitors....mom's mother, aka....Nana Banana and Grandpa Carl (her husband) and mom's Uncle Harold drove them up to Stigler. They had a good time being here and left early afternoon.

All the "kids" made it home safely to Stigler to be with mom this weekend. We gave her the Brighton items for a belated Valentine's Day present, and she immediately had to put them on with a huge grin and said, "oh, how cute, I love them". :) We've also enjoyed the cards/letters from her kids at school....along with the Girl Scout cookies. Yum! You can never go wrong with some GSCookies! The article in the Stigler Newspaper was great, thank you Mrs. McAdoo! To the others who contributed to the article, thank you as well. It was inspiring and an honor to read an article to celebrate mom and her soon-to-be next accomplishment.....brain cancer survivor~
Love, The Forrester fam

Back to work dad goes....

Hi! Dad went back to work today and grandma (gigi) came over to stay with mom. Grandma helped out around the house doing cleaning, laundry, and visiting with mom. Dad said his day back at work was good. His co-workers and clients were all so nice and showed such wonderful concern.

Hillary and I went to mom's FAVORITE jewelry store tonight....
We got her a cute necklace and earrings, that should make her smile this weekend along with having Claire there, I'm sure of that!! :) We'll all be going to Stigler this weekend to be with mom. (sorry to the Cariker's to miss Emily's wedding....we had planned on being there, we know it will be wonderful and she'll be a stunning bride--CONGRATS!!!!)
Love, the Forrester's

HOME at last!!!!

Home sweet home....Stigler at last!

Mom and dad made it from Houston to Stigler today around 5:30 p.m. They said they had breakfast at the hotel, their friend Janis Hawkes picked them up, they went to the airport and flew home around 12:25 p.m. today. Breck and Claire met them at the airport (everyone else had to work), then they came over to our house in Broken Arrow. I was able to leave work early around 2 p.m. so I could come home to see mom and dad and to get ready for my Teacher of the Year reception for Union Public Schools. GiGi and Gramps drove up to be here and Greg Kasbaum (Breck's dad and mom's former boss...aka "Popsicle") came into town to see her and be at the T.O.Y. reception. Missy and Richard (Grammy and Bub to Claire) and Hillary were also there as well to support us all! :)

We all visited and loved on mom and dad before they headed back to Stigler. Mom looked good! She had a cute head wrap thing on to cover her scar and her bruising/swelling looked great! They got home safely and mom was pretty tired. Dad said they took it easy the rest of the evening. Aunt Ramona and Uncle Donnie (dad's brother) fixed a yummy dinner for them...THANK YOU for doing that. Keep them in your prayers because this will be a road we will continue down for however long it takes! :) Love to all! The Forrester's

Here are some pictures of us today at the T.O.Y. reception, mom and dad couldn't be there and we were missing them bunches, but we all understand and we know that mom can't be around a lot of people right now due to possibilities of infections, etc....we all know that if it's anything to do with teaching, school, and/or family mom would've been their in a heartbeat! :) You were there in spirit mom and dad, we love you!

Grammy& Bub--Claire enjoyed the balloons so much, she was almost "carried away" with it...literally! :) Also, thank you for the flowers and card of encouragment. We love you and are blessed to be so close to you here in Tulsa for your continued support.

GiGi and Gramps, thank you for the steak dinner tonight, we all had a good time of food, fun, and fellowship! Thank you for driving up today to see mom and to be there for the banquet. It is always fun being with you. We love you and look up to you both for your Christian like spirits and your constant faith in the Lord.

Greg, thank you for being there to see mom, she thinks SO highly of you...not only as the former superintendent of Stigler schools (her boss), but as a friend, mentor, and a part of our family. We loved you being there to support mom and encourage her today. Did you see how she teared up when you came in??!! Awe!! Also, thank you for being there to show support for me today at the reception. Love you!

Friends and co-workers at Saint Francis Non-Invasive Cardiology!!

Wow! Where do I even begin! Let me just say that I am incredibly blessed to have such amazing fellow echo techs: Krista, Dennis, Jen, Ai, Jill, and Ben, nurses, doctors, and other staff members in my life! You all have prayed so much for mom and my family! I even was given a PRAYER CLOTH that had been prayed upon and passed around in one lady's church! How precious is that for me to give to mom to hold on to and keep with her wherever she is! There have been so many hugs and gracious acts given to me during this life changing experience! Norma - I am so blessed to have you! You have gone through this exact same experience with your son and have comforted me all through my experience and I know you will continue to! You are my "guardian angel" who always looks out for me no matter if it's work related or personal! I love you! You have supported me so much through this and will continue to I know it! Thanks again for all of you who have given me gifts! You have no idea what all of that means to me! I love you all very much!

Here are some pictures of some of my staff and teammates at Moore Elementary . I love you all and cherish our friendship. We are so blessed to work for such an amazing school. Thank you for the support for our family, you have wrapped your arms around mom through me and I truly, truly, truly am honored and grateful. Just like members of Stigler community and the schools as well as dad's co-workers....everyone has just been so amazing and rock solid through this with us. Thank you for all your shoulders to lean on, tissues to cry in, and hugs to be shared for days/weeks/months/years to come! Thank you for helping us smile and still "CELEBRATE" our daily life!

T-Shirts!

Hi everyone, The above info is a t-shirt order form to raise awareness for mom's type of brain cancer. The Stigler New Century Club will oversee this project in honor of mom. Thank you to all who put forth the effort to get this idea started, implemented and now another method to help raise awareness for brain cancer. Thank you all again, you have been so wonderful!!! The link below will take you to this flyer if you want to print it or post it at your workplace, etc.... Thank you again to all involved and all who want to buy a shirt already! :) Love, the Forrester's

http://mail.unionps.org/exchange/kasbaum.brooke/Inbox/Emailing:%20Doreen%20Shirts%20Flyer.EML/1_multipart_xF8FF_2_Doreen%20Shirts%20Flyer.jpg/C58EA28C-18C0-4a97-9AF2-036E93DDAFB3/Doreen%20Shirts%20Flyer.jpg?attach=1

Oncologist meeting....

Hi all!

Mom and dad met with her oncologist today and they are going to do her treatments at St. John's in Tulsa. It will be approximately a six week treatment of radiation 30 times and chemo (by pill form). Her blood platelet count has to be higher before she can start chemo though.

They were having lunch around 3:00 when I talked to them, so I'll keep you updated on what they did later in the day this evening. Thanks and have a great day! :)

UPDATE @ 10:35 p.m.---Later in the day they rested, dad went to Target to get more of mom's prescriptions, walked around at the hotel, and then dad asked her if she was hungry....she said no, but soon decided that a SONIC burger and milkshake sounded delicious! :) Too cute!! Dad of course was happy to do so, and got his sweety what she wanted....awe!

**They will be flying home TOMORROW! :) Please pray for their safety coming home.

Love to all and thank you for your persistant prayers, they ARE and will continue to make a difference! -The Forrester Family

Discharged and in a hotel....

Hi there everyone!

Mom and dad were able to be discharged today around 11:00 a.m. from MD Anderson. They had to wait on her prescriptions for over 2 hours. EEK! All was good after that though....

The hotel shuttle came to pick them up and take them to their hotel for the next few nights. For most of the day they just relaxed, rested and took a few small walks. Mom will meet w/ her oncologist tomorrow and we'll see what her treatment plan will consist of.

We're SO thankful that she's doing well enough to come home soon and know that she'll heal and feel more comfortable here at home. :) Thanks for all the support and prayers once more....keep them a comin' :)

Love and good night, the forrester's!