The Howerter Family Homepage

Mark Hayden was able to come home from Barnes on Saturday!  He was in the hospital for less than a month!  He is feeling well, but he is very susceptible to infections right now.  Please pray for Mark’s health and that the transplant is a success.

John and I went to the Wildwood Springs Resort in Steeleville, Missouri, this weekend with Bart and Laurie to see the Amazing Rhythm Aces.  John and I have now seen them there 4 times, and this concert we believe was the best.  We had a great time hanging out with Bart and Laurie too (as we always do).  We woke up Sunday morning to a bad storm and no power at the resort.  It was pretty dark in the building, but they did fix us a fantastic breakfast.  When we got home, we had over 3.5 inches of rain in our rain gauge!  We also noticed that we had a branch fall down and land on one of our swings out in the yard.  The swing is definitely hanging sideways, so I hope it is not ruined.  We sure have had our share of rain and storms this spring and summer.

Our good friend Mark Hayden had a stem cell transplant on August 30 due to a recurrence of leukemia.  As of yesterday, his ANC number (something in his blood) was at 1.325, and it needs to get to 1.5.  It needs to stay at 1.5 for 2 days, and then he will get to come home.  He should be able to come home Monday unless something goes awry.  They told him when he went in that he would be there for 30 to 100 days, and it looks like he will be in there for less than 30 days!  Thank You Lord!  Please say a prayer for Mark that the new stem cells are doing their job, and that his “sick” bone marrow is completely gone. 

Josiah is going to preschool this year at Cherry Hills.  Today is his second day.  I got to pick him up last Thursday on his first day, and he told me, “Grandma it was so much fun!”  Sara said he just went right in and started talking to his teacher even though he had never met her.   That makes it so much easier on Mom when they are not sad to leave you.  When I asked him what they did, he told me all about their snack.  That is my grandson!

Elijah has started school at Calvary Aacademy, and he loves Kindergarten.  Ryan told me that on the first day of school he came downstairs with his backpack on at 7:00 a.m.!  He goes all day, so he is pretty tired in the evening.  He is doing very well and learning lots of things.  I miss him because he is not there all day when I babysit, but I have been trying to hang out with him some after school.  He loves getting to buy his lunch, but he also has a very cool lunch bag.   He looks so big with his backpack on when he comes home.  It makes me sad because I don’t want him to grow up.