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Journal

Aug. 3, 2017 3:11 PM

Hi everyone!!!

Wow! Time has certainly been flying by for us. As you might have guessed, no news is definitely good news. Tate has been doing GREAT! God is SO good! Tate will turn 15 in just a few weeks and he will be a freshman in high school next year!!! So many things have happened in the past 2 years! We've gone on family cruises (Jan. of 2016 and 2017), Luke got engaged, Lilly continues to run XC, track and cheer at Paris High, and TATE continues to play LOTS and LOTS of golf! Tate golfs with the Red River Valley Jr. Golf Association, and he also competes in the North Texas Junior PGA and East Texas Junior PGA tournaments. Tate just had his 6th month check-up with Dr. Kao. He continues to have pacemaker and heart check-ups every 6 months. The current pacemaker that he has was implanted 7.3 years ago and as of July, it showed that the battery still has 5-6 years left! What a miracle MODERN technology is!

Tate's oxygen levels at rest hang out around 94-96. When he's up and moving around he tends to hang out around 91-92. He has grown so much in the past year! Tate has officially outgrown me! He's 5'5 and weighs 118 lbs. He is SUCH a happy young man! He loves to help us around the house (usually he will surprise us and clean the garage, pick weeds, etc...) He does this kind of stuff just to be nice! We love that kid so much! Tate's favorite food is crab legs, escargot, Chinese food and chocolate covered strawberries!! When he's not playing golf, Tate enjoys watching and making videos and learning about sports cars. He is currently very interested in real estate and big dreams about his future!

Luke is 25, and is in his 3rd year of medical school. He currently resides in Harligen, TX for his clinical year of med school, but he'll be back in San Antonio next July. Parker is spending his summer working at Pine Cove Christian camps in Tyler! He's been SUCH a trooper! He tore is ACL in late April, and had surgery to repair it on May 10. Parker will be a senior at UNT where he continues to work as an RA in the dorm. Lilly will be a senior at Paris High where she's ranked 7th in her class. Besides her activities that I mentioned earlier, she is also an Editor in Chief of the 2018 Paris High Owl Yearbook.

Duane just started his 11th year at Wal-Mart Pharmacy. Next week I will begin my 13th year at Aikin Elementary. We celebrated our 28th anniversary on July 29th!!! We also enjoyed celebrating Parker's 21st birthday with him in Las Vegas in early June (4 weeks post-op).

Much LOVE to all of our prayer warriors! We continue to praise God for his mercy and love towards our family. May God give each one of you health and happiness in the year to come!

Tate - 3rd place at Indian Creek - North Texas Jr. PGA - July 2017


Potawatomi Festival - Shawnee, OK 2017


Camp Moss - Fort Gates 2017


Luke proposed to Lauren in October!


Lilly goes to prom!!! Junior Year 2017


Parker's 21st Birthday trip to Vegas!

Parker's ACL Repair - May 10, 2017


Getting a treat after Tate's golf tournament at Prairie Lakes!

Lilly's Junior Year of Cheer - Homecoming!!!


Thanksgiving 2017








AUG. 21, 2015 8:35 PM




It happened! It REALLY HAPPENED! Tate Christian Lewis turned 13 today! It seems almost impossible to think that before he was even born we were told that he might need a new heart by the time he was this age. Tate is doing so well & his heart is holding strong! GOD IS SO GOOD! I wanted to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of the Lewis family. We finished out the 2014 school year strong. Parker enjoyed his first semester as an RA in Crumley Hall at UNT. Luke graduated from UT Dallas and on June 3 he was accepted in to MEDICAL SCHOOL at The University of Texas San Antonio Health & Science Center. We couldn't be more proud of our big boys! They are working so hard and doing great in college.






Lilly received 2 very special awards at the Paris High Sports Banquet this year. She was the MVP in Cross Country as a freshman and she was also named the "Runner of the Year" for the Paris High School girls track team!!!


Parker gave us a scare in late April when he crashed his Jeep Liberty. He ended the last month of school at UNT on foot, but his patience paid off when he became the proud owner of a 2011 Ford F150.


Tate has been blazing a trail in golf! He has done quite well and has played with 3 different organizations this past spring and throughout our summer. He competed in the North Texas Junior PGA, Ark-L-Tex golf association & our original association, the Red River Valley Jr. Golf. We have so much fun going to his tournaments and watching the kids from all over play.







We got to attend Luke's White Coat Ceremony at UTSCHA on July 18. It was SO incredible seeing your son take his first step in a life long journey to help others through medicine. I truly found myself in disbelief that I was about to become the mom of a medical student.





We enjoyed 2 trips to San Atonio & a trip to Austin this summer. We saw the musical "Hairspray" at Zilker Summer Theatre. We also did everything Austin-y that we could find to do. The kids enjoyed swimming in Barton Springs and looking around at some of our favorite things about Austin.




We also enjoyed attending the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Festival in San Antonio in June. It was our time to attend festival, and I can promise you that it won't be our last! It seems impossible that school starts again tomorrow! Luke is a firs year med student, Parker is a sophomore engineering student at UNT, Lilly will be an incredibly busy sophomore and Tate will be in the 7th grade. We always appreciate reading your messages. Thanks for letting me share posts about our lives! Heart hugs to each one of you! HLHS-Hope

~Cheri


FEBRUARY 10, 2015 8:35

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Feb. 9, 2015 8:35 PM



Tate's 12th Birthday - Aug. 21, 2014


Christmas Card picture 2014

We had a great first semester of school and enjoyed spending time together for the holidays. Luke was able to come home and spent a full 5 days in our home! We miss him so much, and his senior year of college and scribing in the Presbyterian Hospitals ER's keep him SO busy. We rarely see him, but our time is very special when we do get to spend some time with him. Parker loved his first semester a UNT. He did the unthinkable and after rounds & rounds of interviewing he became the only ROOKIE RA at Crumley Hall. As of today, he's LOVING his new friends, job and playing some Mafia Game on the weekends. Luke and Parker are both making great grades in school. Parker was on the Dean's List for his first semester of college. Lilly girl is BUSY! She ran cross country and even earned a varsity letter! I'm not sure she enjoyed running and being at the school at 5:50 each morning, but she definitely enjoyed her teammates and their new coach. Tate's newest adventure is playing the drums in the band. He and Lilly both performed in JB at PCT in September. Tate's highlight of the semester was acting in PCT's Haunted Theatre. He really, REALLY loves Halloween and trying to scare people at the theatre.
Our Christmas holidays were amazing! Everybody got more goodies then they deserved! Drumroll please.....we spent Jan. 11-18th on a Carnival Cruise to Cozumel, Roatan, Honduras and Belize. What an amazing time we had!! WE LOVE CRUISING! We're already looking forward to the next time we can go.

Tate has been healthy other than having a stomach bug in late January. He is still playing golf, and is supposed to start playing in a new golf tournament league in the DFW area in just 2 weeks! He has tournaments on Feb. 21, 22 and 28th. He's so excited to play on professional courses. Tate will return to Dallas to see Dr. Kao in the next few weeks. He was supposed to go in January, but he seems so healthy right now that we have been putting it off (especially since he missed 5 days of school for a cruise and then 2 days for his stomach virus/fever). We appreciate all of those who continue to pray for good health for our family. We love that life that God continues to bless us with. We continue to Fully Rely on God for good health and happiness. HE has blessed us more than we could ever imagine and we praise HIM for his goodness to us.





COZUMEL Jan. 13, 2015




AUG 24, 2014 6:15 PM


It's incredibly hard to believe that yet another summer has quickly flown by! Tomorrow begins the 2014-2015 school year. Tate is anxious to start 6th grade this year. He's most excited about playing the drums in band AND taking art class (while his homeroom goes to PE each day). He's been feeling well other than a HORRIBLE and I mean EXTREMELY HORRIBLE virus that he came down with just 2 days after coming home from Camp Moss. One of his cabin mates had to leave camp on Thursday and was taken to the hospital. It just happened to be a kid that had a bed next to Tate at camp AND had happened to grab on TAte's pillow and roll around on his bed a couple of times. Needless to say, it was the absolute worst 5 days we've ever had with Tate. He had excruciating headaches, constant vomiting and high fever. He was so miserable that he would just roll around in pain and beg me to help him. It was heartbreaking! He saw the pediatrician 3 times and we spoke by phone often. Dr. Cutrell even called us from the beach in Florida to check up on Tate. He finally began to perk up on the 6th day, but was very weak for another day or two (and happened to lose 4.6 lbs in just one day). 2 days after Tate recovered our poor Lilly girl came down with the same nasty virus. It patterned itself exactly as it did with Tate. So, the first 1/2 of July was NOT fun at all!!

Tate had a fabulous year playing in the RRV Junior Golf tournaments. He medaled in all but one tournament and even won a plaque for being the overall 2nd place winner at the Tournament of Champions in late July. We have such a GREAT time watching Tate and his friends play in these tournaments. We're glad he loves golf, and love that he'll get to enjoy it even as an adult.

Luke hasn't had much of a chance to come home this summer. He's been busy working as a scribe in the Plano Presbyterian Emergency Room. He's spent what little free time that he does have working on applications for medical school. He's anxious to start hearing back from some of the schools this fall.

Parker graduated on June 6 and then spent his summer as an intern for the Potawatomi Nation. He loved being a part of the Potawatomi Nation Leadership Program. He received his Potawatomi name (Wagetchwa Ojeandis) at the end of the summer. Translated it means "Sees Like a Bluejay". The PLP was a once in a lifetime experience for Parker. We feel so blessed that he was one of only 9 students in the nation to be chosen for this honor.

Lilly is already off and running and will be a FRESHMAN at Paris High. She's been running at 6:00 AM for the PHS cross country team. Their first meet will be on Sept. 11. She's also had cheer on Monday evenings throughout the summer. It seems in some ways that we didn't even get a real summer this year.

We traveled to Kansas City for a few days in early August for a quick family vacation. We had the BEST time shopping, eating, touring the Harley Factory, eating at the T-Rex Cafe and going to Worlds and Oceans of Fun. Duane took Parker & Tate to play golf one evening while Lilly and I took the shuttle to Country Club Plaza to get in a little more girl time/shopping. We also enjoyed attending the American Idol Live Concert in Tulsa, OK on July 28. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!!

Here's to an upcoming fabulous school year! Thanks for checking on us. Hope you enjoy our pictures as a quick recap of some of our summer fun!

PARKER - Potwatomi Leadership Program





CAMP MOSS 2014





LILLY - FRESHMAN CHEER July 2014




JULY 23, 2014 5:15 PM

Just leaving Tate's appointment. Tate's Echo was GOOD!!!! We are so happy! His EKG was his own "normal", 02 was 96�BP was 95/55 and he has grown 1.5 inches! He's 4'8 and weighs 85 lbs. Soooo.....the interesting news is this- Tate's heart was not in 3rd degree heart block today?! He was in a normal sinus rhythm!!! His heart is beating ON IT'S OWN at 80 BPM when for 5 years his underlying rate has been 29-32 beats per minute!!!! Dr. Kao said that we won't get excited about it until next time, but it's still awesome news for today. The St. Jude Pacemaker nurse is going to research Tate's pacemaker history for the past 6 months to find out how long his heart has been converted over. It doesn't change anything, he will always have his PM, but it's fascinating none the less! We don't go back for 6 months!!! Thanks for your prayers! Thank you GOD!


PARKER GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL ON JUNE 6, 2014




May 27, 2014 8:54 PM





Paris High Senior Parker Lewis Selected for Prestigious Summer Internship

Posted on May 27, 2014 in Paris ISD by eParisExtra

Parker Lewis, a senior at Paris High School was 1 of 10 students in the United States recently selected to attend The Potawatomi Leadership Program in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Parker was one of 2 Texans selected and will join 9 other students from California, Maine, Illinois, Washington and Oklahoma for a six week internship from June 20-August 2.

Students were chosen based on overall GPA’s, teacher recommendations and the writing of 3 essays.

The six-week Potawatomi Leadership Program brings a group of 8-10 promising young tribal members from around the United States to Shawnee, Oklahoma to learn about the government, culture and economic development of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

At its core, the Potawatomi Leadership Program strives to give interns an accurate perception of the Potawatomi Nation as a whole, and cultivate talent from within to ensure that younger generations are prepared for a role in the future governance of the tribe.

Participants spend their workday visiting tribal departments to hear directors and employees explain their roles. Between departmental sessions, participants tour tribal enterprises and attend board meetings. They also connect culturally by learning about their family heritage, participating in tribal ceremonies, attending language classes and learning traditional crafts. By the end of the program, participants leave with a comprehensive knowledge of the individual tribal components.

Besides attending scheduled daily sessions and events, PLP participants must write three papers. They must also complete a final project which they will present along with a final reflection to tribal leadership at the end of the summer. Parker will receive a weekly stipend as well as $1700.00 at the completion of the leadership program.

Along with this stipend, Parker will receive an $18,500 college scholarship from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

Parker is a direct descendant of Emma Wesselhoft and Chief Abram Burnett of the Potawatomi Nation. He is the son of Duane and Cheri Lewis.






MARCH 3, 2014 8:40 PM

WOW! What a difference a week makes. We had a horrible week, probably the worst week that we've had in 4 years (which is when Tate had his last surgery). Parker had a golf tournament in Paris at the Country Club on Monday. The bitter cold temperatures were beyond favorable for a tournament. Duane worked the late shift on Monday so that he could spend the morning watching his buddy play golf. He got WAY to cold...to the point of trembling for several hours. We think he possibly had a virus. So, to make a long story short, he got home from work super late, having been very fatigued from a long weekend, and having had an abundance of caffeine throughout the day. He had a very mild (petit mal) seizure that lasted for about a minute. Parker wanted to immediately take him to the hospital, but Duane is very stubborn. I was able to call at 7 the next morning to get him in with his neurologist. He had an MRI at 2:00 that afternoon. Unfortunately at 6:20 that night we received a call from the nurse at the neurology center that Duane's doctor wanted to see him the next morning. So......thus began a week of waiting for answers, no sleep, and very little food consumption due to the fear of the possibility that this was something bad. However, let's just fast forward from Monday to Friday and see just what my birthday surprise would be!!!!



So, a BIG, HUGE celebration was obviously in order! We spent Saturday night in Dallas. Lilly and I enjoyed some girl time shopping at the Stonebriar Mall while the boys hung out at the PGA Superstore. We enjoyed eating meals at In and Out Burger, Chuys, Taco Cabana and Chipotle (some of our favorites). We spent Saturday evening watching Luke's rugby game at UTD, and watched another game (in the icy weather) before heading home on Sunday afternoon.

WE ARE EVER SO THANKFUL and SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED BY GOD'S GOODNESS TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!! Matt. 17:20 F.R.O.G.

This is a picture of Lilly on Thursday, Feb. 27 after she had just finished racing her first event of her 8th grade track season. She won first place in both of her events by beating the same girls that beat her the previous year. Here's a picture that I took of her after she raced to her Daddy to celebrate her victory! (We had been waiting ALL day for Duane's results from his neurosurgeon when this was taken. Unfortunately wouldn't get any results for another 17 hours!!!!





FEBRUARY 13, 2014 9:40 PM


11 years ago today Tate had his 2nd open heart surgery called the Bi-Directional Glen Shunt, and today he had a great cardio appointment! We didn't have an echo today, because he had one in late July, so we will wait for 5 months to do his next echo. His EKG was normal (for Tate), oxygen was 95-96�BP 107/66, he's grown 1 inch since July and is 4 ft. 6 1/4 inches tall, and his pacemaker has 8.5-10 years left on it. He had a really cool St. Jude pacemaker rep/nurse named Rob that checked his PM. Rob lives next door to Demarcus Ware from the Dallas Cowboys, AND just last week he did a pacemaker check on a dog! So, Tate was thoroughly entertained while his pacemaker was interrogated. Feeling blessed and VERY hungry! The tire incident kept us from eating before the appointment, so we're getting ready to meet Luke & Lauren at Fuzzy's for some food! Thank you God for our precious gift! *Tate said to mention that Rob looked just like Will Ferrell.*

TATE ON HIS BAPTISM DAY! Feb. 2, 2014






December 2013 Christmas Card





NOVEMBER 28, 2013 8:33 PM

28 days somewhat condensed into 1 post: I'm thankful today and EVERY day for a God that saves and heals! Not a day goes by that I am totally in awe of the miracles he has provided for our family. I often wonder why He chose to heal Duane fully from brain cancer while others suffer so. I sometimes am frustrated and wonder why our Tate had to be born with only half of a heart, but then I quickly remember how blessed we are that Tate is doing SO well, while other HLHS babies never even make it home. I'm forever thankful for the wonderful family that God has blessed us with us, a Godly mom and stepdad that are so helpful & loving and are the most loving grandparents to our children, a Dad that worked so hard for many years to provide for his kids while his health allowed & loves spending any moment he can with our kids, in-laws that visit and always pray for us, my siblings who are each so very different & unique and never fail to make me laugh, our two oldest sons who made mature decisions and unselfishly put aside their desires to attend large universities & instead are attending schools where their academic merit scholarships allow them to attend for almost nothing... so as not to burden us with college expenses (knowing that we will forever be paying for Tate's medical bills from the past). I'm thankful for a job that I really enjoy, a PCT theatre family who we laugh with, escape the world and "play" with all while surrounded by people we can trust! I'm thankful for everything God has given me! I desire to be a blessing to others. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!





October 6, 2013 7:33 PM


Tate's "I AM" poem, age 11. 5th grade

I am artistic and enjoy playing Xbox
I wonder about my journey in life
I hear ducks shouting
I see Shamu in the moonlight
I want to be in the PGA
I am artistic and enjoy playing Xbox

I pretend that I'm Dr. Suess
I feel an eagle scoop me up
I touch a miniature giraffe's neck
I worry that I won't play in the PGA
I cry when Holter monitors come into my life
I am artistic and enjoy playing Xbox

I understand another big brother is about to leave for college
I say God protects me through bad times
I dream about being able to make a Gilley suit
I try to be able to putt in one stroke
I hope I do well in school and be kind to everyone
I am artistic and enjoy playing Xbox


September 25, 2013 7:33 PM


We've had a great first month back in school. I've managed to survive being at work each day by myself. Sadly, none of my own babies are with me at Aikin any more. Tate's a big 5th grader at Crockett Intermediate, Lilly is enjoying her 8th grade year at Paris Junior High, and Parker Texas is a SENIOR at Paris High School, and last but certainly not least, our sweet Luke is already beginning his 3rd year at UT Dallas. He's enjoying his studies this semester and spends every Monday and Thursday in Dr. Kao's office for a medical internship class. I find it really awesome that he's in the very office that Tate has been in hundreds of times! Luke said the first time he had to go into the cath lab it really bothered him because the case was an 18 month old little boy and it made him think about Tate being in an operating room all alone. He eventually got used to it though and was able to get past the sadness.

It's hard to believe that my kids are getting so grown up. Truly, it's sad! I think about it all of the time, and it always makes me get a little teary eyed. It's so exciting to see the awesome young people that they are growing into, but I still miss my little babies!

Tate had a fabulous birthday party this year. We took him and several of his friends to Top Golf in Allen, TX. They had so much fun hitting golf balls into the targets. Such a fun place! He took several of the neighborhood boys with him for his special day. We ate dinner at Fuzzy's Taco Shop (Tate's choice). It was a great evening and SO worth getting home at midnight on a work night! The kids didn't have school the next day, but it was the first week being back to work for teachers.

We spent almost every free moment during the month of August and September at Pine Ridge Golf Course. Parker has been working incredibly hard to better his golf game so that he can compete at the varsity level this year. We're SUPER proud of that kid! He's done some great things and some great growing up the past 12 months. He made A's in 2 college classes this summer and is currently enrolled in 3 dual-credit classes at PJC. Parker has also spent extra time all summer studying for his ACT test. He's already made an awesome score, but just recently re-tested in hopes of raising his score.

We had Pat and Lora here from Colorado last weekend for the Paris Homecoming. They had a great time on their mini-vaca to Paris. We enjoyed catching up and laughing together! It's always great to spend time with the people you love the most!

It's hard to believe that October is right around the corner. We enjoy the fall days, but NOT the cold weather that is being predicted for this winter. I mean, we seriously do NOT enjoy being cold!! Duane's already threatening to get out his electric blanket and we haven't even made it to October. Maybe we're just getting old?
I will update in a few weeks. Thanks to any of you that might actually still check up on us.

We always covet your prayers for good health for our family. God is SOOOOOO good!




August 21, 2013 9:20 PM




This boy...... Happy Birthday to our amazing Tate. A true gift from God, a blessing beyond any that we could ever imagine. You are truly the strongest little boy I've ever known & throughout 5 heart surgeries, 4 heart caths, a stroke at age 3 and various hospital stays you NEVER fail to fight with all your heart & find a smile from within you to comfort us! Your laugh is contagious! You are the heart of our entire extended family! You are loved more than words could ever begin to describe! Have fun being 11!!




June 30, 2013 5:20

Tate had a great week at Camp Moss! Summer is in full swing around here. Tate and Parker have both competed in the Red River Valley summer golf tournament program and are truly enjoying themselves. They've both earned medals which is ALWAYS fun!!!

We enjoyed spending the weekend at Lake Whitney with all of Duane's family for Dan & Judy's 50th Wedding Anniversary! It was such a special time together! We truly had a ball.

I've been a little worried about Tate the last few days. He got super sore on the jet skis at the lake, and has continued to feel "sore" and complains quite often of having tummy issues. Today he's finally acting a little better, but he's truly stressing me out! He even told me today that he doesn't want to go to the doctor because he knows they'll say there's something wrong with his stomach. So, if you're actually reading this (in cyper world), I would ask that you pray for Tate to feel great and to have a great check up with Dr. Kao in the next week or so.

Here's some cute things he told us about camp this year:

TATE'S OBSERVATIONS FROM CAMP MOSS: 1. Fish are fun to paint & make impressions of when they're still alive, even if you have to throw them back in the water afterward. 2. Lots of the kids have voices that are raspy which makes him feel better about his "seal" sounding barky laugh. 3. The counselors sometimes wear earplugs during their break time. 4. Some of the kids have chests that sink in like his does, but everybody has a zipper. 5. His horse sat down on him while he was riding it (he said (while laughing hysterically) that this was an "Explosive event and was definitely on his Bucket List"). This event sent the horse wranglers into a panic! 6. "Those doctors and nurses SURE are organized and coordinated people". 7. There was a tarantula in my shower one night and Brian said "just leave it alone" so I tried to drown it. 8. The food is actually pretty good. 9. Fishing is awesome because we actually catch a lot! 10. Theme night was fun, but it was "Hot, I mean my tin man make-up was dripping off of me!" 11. There really are 1 inch bats without wings that look like tiny, greasy baby chimpanzees. 12. They really should let the little kids go to watch the big kids graduation. 13. This year was the best year EVER!!!



THEME NIGHT "The Great Oz"




Tate's Signature Cheesy Grin that assures us he's doing A-OK at camp!

May 31, 2013 9:20 PM

The kids had a wonderful end of the school year! Lilly received 14 awards at her awards assembly, including the award she worked so very hard for this year "Academic Athlete". This award means she had the highest overall GPA for all of the girls in the 8th grade. We're so proud of her accomplishments this year. She also earned the highest grade in her math class and the most improved cheerleader award. Another blessing was that she was named the Outstanding Long Distance runner on the girls track team. All in all, a very rewarding year! Tate and Parker finished the year on the A/B Honor Roll! We're proud of all of kids and the hard work that they do in school. Luke has already completed his 2nd year of college and is home for the summer! It's been weird for us going to school every day knowing that Luke is just chillin' at home. He's keeping busy looking for a job in Paris, as well as burning the highway up between here and Dallas to visit his beautiful girlfriend Lauren.







April 29, 2013 9:20 PM

Happy 13th Birthday to our beautiful Lilly! I can't believe you're already 13 years old!



We had such a great time celebrating Lilly's birthday this year.
We met up with family in Dallas from both sides of the family & had a blast together at the Ranger game and seeing the musical "Wicked". Lilly was in Austin until Sunday morning at the State FPS competition. She flew in just in time for the musical!!


Lilly and Tate on her 13th birthday!

Luke, Lauren and Coltin at the Ranger game.

CLOWNS!!!
Lilly finished her 7th grade track season and did an amazing job! She medaled in each one of her 9 events this year (5 meets total). She won 2nd in district in the 2400 m run with a time of 9:43, and she won 3rd place in the 1600 m run with a time of 6:13. Look at this decorated girl!!!

AND........not to be left out, look at this kid!

Parker had his best tennis season yet! He won trophies at 4 different tournaments. This one was our favorite for obvious reasons!

Tate's spending all of his free time playing golf! He's so excited about playing golf this summer in the Red River Junior Golf league. He talks Nana Cheryl, Parker or his Daddy into taking him to hit balls or play a hole or two as often as he can (and as you know, TATE can be very persistant!)



March 31, 2013 9:20 PM

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

March 9, 2013 9:47 PM

SPRING BREAK 2013

Wow! I just lectured Parker on his choice of airport friendly clothing since he chose to wear shorts to Denver & will be camping out in the OKC airport tonight! I told him he looked ridiculous and that Marc always looks nice. His reply, "Well I'm NOT getting robbed in the airport all night, my goal is to look like a Hobo! I mean mom, seriously, which sleeping beauty are they going to rob? The guy in the Rolex, or the guy in tattered camo shorts and a hoodie from the 7th grade that smells like McDonald's French fries?"


February 28, 2013 9:47 PM

Today I turn 45 years old! It's hard to believe that time is going by so quickly. I enjoyed a birthday dinner with my family at "The Cow" tonight, and a delicious fried chicken and Coca-Cola cake lunch at my mom & Rick's house on Sunday!!!!! I was so excited to get the perfect Brighton "Heart Mom" sunglasses from Duane. Lilly helped him pick out the perfect pair for me! I also got the perfect matching wallet that matches my Fossil purse from my parents. Parker got me the yummiest candles and Duane got me a leaf blower! Yep, it's something that I've truly been wishing for since last summer.

So, besides all the gifts, cakes and joy of being with family, I've had such a great week! It started off by Parker being inducted into the National Honor Society on Sunday afternoon. The day was just perfect (other than Tate waking up with a tummy/bottom end virus that hit him hard at 3:00 in the morning). Parker's induction ceremony was super nice! Monday brought excitement when Lilly's ACT scores came in the mail. She scored high enough in Science (21) as a 12 year old to receive State Recognition!! She'll be awarded a medal and get to go to a special dinner celebration out of town in May. Tuesday was a fabulous day spent with Lilly and Duane at Lilly's first track meet! Our brave baby girl ran 2 long distance races in her first ever track meet. She took 2nd place in the mile and a half, and also 2nd place (lost by only 1 second) in the mile run. Parker had a great day on Thursday when he brought me home a 1st place tennis trophy from his tournament in Texarkana, and on Friday Lilly found out that her FPS team made it to STATE as 7th graders!!!! They were competing against 8th and 9th graders, so this is huge! Lastly, today (Sunday) Luke's rugby team from UTD just finished an undefeated season and WON STATE in San Antonio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of my kids. I love them with all of my heart, which brings me to Tate... we head to Dallas on Wednesday for his 4 month check-up with Dr. Kao. We're praying that the Enalapril has helped relieve his heart of some of the workload and that Dr. Kao will be pleased with the improvement. PLEASE pray for a good report for our precious boy!!! WE love him so much! He's so excited about ordering some yellow/black (personalized) soccer cleats this week with some of his Christmas money. In case you didn't know, Tate is a shoe FANATIC!!!!!

Thanks for checking in on us. Please let us know you've stopped by. Please continue to pray for good health for Tate, Duane and the rest of our bunch.

Much love to all of our family and friends.....
FULLY RELYING on GOD,
Cheri and family


January 28, 2013 9:47 PM

HAPPY 2013!!!

We have had a fabulous month! December was a horribly difficult month for our family. Tate was sick, the rest of us got sick, and then Tate was sick again. His color was bad, he felt bad, school was bad, and just basically this momma was SCARED and SO worried about her boy! This has been a horrible winter in general as far as illnesses go for people in our part of the United States, and I guess we were part of that trend! Thankfully we were all healthy and ready to SET SAIL on January 6. We cruised with a family group of 18 out of New Orleans. We sailed to Key West, Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. It was a wonderful trip! A WONDERFULLY FUN trip!!! We enjoyed seeing so many things. In Key West the kids enjoyed the Pirate Museum and shopping. We all enjoyed touring the home of Ernest Hemmingway. Tate was fascinated by the 45 cats on the grounds! WE then enjoyed more walking and shopping before returning to the ship. Both days in the Bahamas also included shopping and spending time at the beach. The kids were treated to a Banana Boat ride by Uncle Michael and Aunt Heather while the big kids enjoyed a snorkeling trip where they each retrieved a starfish. Tate's color and energy was great on this trip and it continues to be great. I'm SO thankful for his health! We made a tough decision to change one of his classroom teachers at Aikin. This has been a great move for Tate. He's enjoying not feeling quite so pressured and stressed and is back to enjoying going to school each day.

Tomorrow is Lilly's last basketball game of the season. Shhhhh.....her daddy doesn't know it, but I'm going to surprise him and pick him up at work so that he can go to the game. He hasn't been able to see even ONE of her games because of his busy work schedule. His birthday is on Friday, so tomorrow is an early birthday treat for him. Lilly made a 1 on her choir solo last Saturday in Mt. Pleasant. I'm really proud of her!

Parker is also due some praises! He brought home a letter yesterday stating that he's met the academic requirements and has been nominated for the National Honor Society!!!

Luke has a rugby game at UTD on Saturday. We're planning a trip over and will meet Nana Judy and Papa Dan so that they can attend the game.

This is going to be a FUN birthday weekend for Duane and Parker Texas!!!

Thanks for checking in on us! Cruise and Christmas pictures will soon be posted!!

Lots of love to each one of you.

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family
Matt. 17:20

December 24, 2012 4:45 PM

Merry Christmas to all of our Caringbridge friends. It's hard to believe that 2012 is quickly coming to a close. We've been so busy the past couple of months. Tate had his follow up visit with Dr. Kao on November 15. It was rather frustrating for us because the eclectrophysioloigst wasn't able to offer any suggestions to help Tate's thickening around his ventricle, so reluctantly, he was placed back on Enalapril. This medication should help his heart to not have to work quite so hard, which will hopefully help the thickening to stop altogether! Tate has been sick with strep-throat, followed by the flu this month. He had a horrible upper respiratory infection while we were in Houston over the Dec. 8 weekend watching cousin Russ marry Andie. Their wedding was possibly the most fun party event we've ever attended. It was FABULOUS!!!! We came home from Houston and then I got sick, followed by Lilly, followed by Parker and then finally Duane and Luke. So, in one months time all six of us had to have antibiotics. Tate ended up having to have a second (stronger) round of antibiotics to help him fully recover from his respiratory infection. He missed 4 days of school right before the Christmas vacation started, although he was able to still participate in his Dynamic Drummer concert and his school talent show.

Tate's hoping that Santa will bring him an RC truck and some new wrestlers. He also wants some new sea monkeys to keep at Grandpa Mike's house. He wants a laptop from mom and dad.
Lilly is wanting clothes, clothes, glittery stuff and more clothes for Christmas this year. Parker is hoping for an Iphone 5 and Luke wants a new gun that he will share with his dad.

So far during vacation we've enjoyed baking Christmas cookies at Nana Cheryl's house, playing card games with the family, going to movies, eating out, and just enjoying having big brother Luke home with us.

We leave on a family cruise on Jan. 6th!!!!!! Woot, woot! We are counting down the days now. We're so excited to be traveling with 18 family members.

Lots of fun pictures to follow! Thanks for checking in on us. We love all of our friends and prayer warriors!
NOVEMBER 10, 2012 8:47 PM

Tate went to see Dr.Kao in late October. This was a follow-up appointment from when she noticed the area of thickening around the only ventricle that he has. She'd asked us to come back in four months to recheck his heart. Thankfully and by God's mercy, it appeared that the area of Tate's heart hasn't worsened, although it is still there. We will return to Dallas on Nov. 15 to see Dr. Fenrich who is an electrophysiologist from Austin. Dr. Kao is hopeful that Dr. Fenrich will be able to adjust Tate's pacemaker somewhat so that it will help and possibly approve the thickening situation. We would appreciate your prayers that this would help Tate's heart considerably.

Parker received his letter jacket this week! He looks SO handsome in his new jacket!


Duane and Lilly attended the "Daddy and Daughter Date Night" at Paris Junior High on Oct. 24. They had a FABULOUS time together! They looked amazing and enjoyed each others company. The school had guest speakers, guest dance instructors, door prizes, decorations and really great food! It was a VERY special night for Lilly and her daddy!


October 31, 2012 8:17 PM

Happy Halloween!

Tate had a great Halloween weekend. He won his age division at the Paris Zombie Walk. He won a trophy, t-shirt and several gift cards for free Kid's Meals to restaurants in town. We enjoyed our usual Halloween activities and trick-or-treated a few of our favorite places before returning home to give out candy to over 300 kids! Tate enjoyed acting like a statue and then scaring older kids when they came up to our front door! Tate loved being a Sock Monkey Zombie and Lilly made an especially cute Dorothy from the "Wizard of Oz".



ZOMBIE WALK WINNER - Ages 9-11


September 30, 2012 9:27 PM

We've had such a wonderful September! Beautiful weather, healthy days and a fabulous start to a new school year!

All four of our kids are doing great in school. Luke's just completed his first exam week of his sophomore year at UTD. He's enjoying a new adventure by living in an on campus apartment this year. 2 of his 3 roommates were in his dorm with him last year, so they've been able to jump right back into the swing of things with campus life! They just competed in a fun "Oozeball" tournament on Friday. It sounded like they had a fabulous time!

Parker is enjoying his junior year at PHS. He's super busy playing golf, tennis and participating in Robotics and Cat Gut. He got to order his new letter jacket last week. I'm so excited for it to get here! I think he'll receive it sometime in October.

Lilly girl is busy being Lilly girl! She's doing great in school and is especially enjoying her new role as a PJH 7th grade cheerleader. She LOVES cheer, she LOVES Catv, she LOVES Choir, she LOVES athletics, she LOVES her teachers, she LOVES playing soccer, she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES everything!

Tate is all about being a 4th grader! He was given the honor this week of being selected as the 4th grade science teacher's official lab assistant! He's thrilled with his new job! He also tried out for and made the Aikin choir and a drumming group called, "Dynamic Drummers". Tate has been QUITE ornery lately! He sometime forgets that he's 10, not 16 like his big brother Parker. He is currently on girlfriend #2 of the school year! I'm not sure I'm quite ready for him to have a girlfriend and I've expressed this to him! Let's just say that he feel hard for Maddie, but didn't find it hard to move on to Cecilia! LOL! Tate is busy playing soccer again this season. He's moved up to the U-11 age bracket and his coach watches him VERY carefully. Tate plays defense, which requires some running, but not very much. His new team is called the "Bombsquad". I love their colonial blue color (their team name....uhm, not so much!)


Tate the lab assistant with Mr. Stephens!

We return in October to see Dr. Kao. I'm anxious for this follow-up visit because it was 4 months ago that she noted some changes in Tate's echo. If you're still following Tate's journey, then PLEASE pray for him to have no new issues with his heart.

I have to sign off with something funny that Tate said on Friday night as Duane was driving our family home from Dallas. Tate quote, "Did ya' ever notice that the older Dad gets, the LONGER it takes to get anywhere?" Buahahahaa!!! It was so hilarious! I love my kids so much!

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

Matt. 17:20 "If you have FAITH, as small as a mustard seed, YOU CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS."

August 21, 2012 7:27 PM

HAPPY 10th Birthday Tate Christian Lewis! You're a miracle,an inspiration to many, a gift from God and the happiest little boy in the world! We love you SO very much!

Last pic of us with Tate as a 9 year old!!! It's almost birthday time!


You are such a blessing in our lives! We love you!!

PARTY TIME!!!!


HAMMING it up with his friends!!!





HURRICANE HARBOR - Aug.2012


LA FAMILIA before Luke heads back to UTD




Sunday, July 22, 2012 7:27 PM

The summer is flying by! We're all doing great. Tate seems to be doing great since his cardiology appointment in June where Dr. Kao noted that he had some thickening in the heart muscle in the apex of his ventricle. Hopefully she was correct in thinking that it might just be Tate's normal heart growth. We will go back in September and have it re-checked.

Tate had a FABULOUS time at Camp Moss (Cardiac Camp) with Children's Medical Center Dallas the week of June 24-29. Camp Moss is absolutely the most wonderful week for 120 cardiac kids each year. The campers get to spend the week at a special camp located at Camp John Marc in Meridian, TX that is staffed by cardiologist and cardiac nurses from CMC. The theme this year was a Hollywood/Oscar's/Super Heroes theme celebrating 20 years of Camp Moss. Tate had an amazing time. He enjoyed fishing, kickball, going to crafts and the night time cookout with the older kids the very best! He loves making new heart friends each year.

CAMP MOSS 2012


COYOTE CABIN


CRAFTS and SUPER HERO GAME NIGHT


Parker has enjoyed a relaxing summer and has been a huge help at home doing chores (some bigger than others)like painting the baseboards in our kitchen and bathroom, building a new paved path in our backyard with Duane, and also just basic chores like taking out the trash, watering the yard, etc... Parker plays tennis on Monday and Wednesdays from 2:00-4:00 at Paris High. He's also managed to get in some golf, but not as much as he would like or that he needs to get in in order to be ready for the start of the school year. Parker leaves on Wednesday to go to Dallas with our church youth group. They are going to a Youth Evangelism Conference and will be enjoying hearing 2 Contemporary Christian bands and will also enjoy time at Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor and a Texas Rangers baseball game.

MY HANDSOME PARKER 16 yrs. - JUNE 2012


Luke hasn't had the most wonderful summer. He's been detailing cars 6 days per week at Paris Chevrolet. Did I mention that he said the days were
L-O-N-G?? I think it's been great for him to see what hard, manual labor can be like. It's been a true inspiration for him to continue to do well in his schooling. Luke celebrated his 20th birthday on July 9th! It seems hard for me to believe that he's already 20 years old. His friends threw a surprise birthday party for him which he really enjoyed! They truly did surprise him!!! He's had a great time this summer (in his rare days off) to spend time with 10-12 of his high school friends that he graduated with. I've been so impressed with the way they've all remained close friends and I think it's awesome that they've had such fun days together this summer.


Lilly has had a fabulous summer. She had a wonderful time at Mt. Lebanon at church camp this year. This was her last year at camp and she absolutely had an incredible time! She has loved attending this camp since she was in the 3rd grade and she actually cried real tears when she got home this year because she was so sad that it was her last year to get to go. Hopefully she'll have another chance to go back their someday as a counselor!

UNCLE CHARLIE and LILLY


CRAZY HAIR NIGHT - REAGAN & LILLY


This past week Lilly enjoyed learning 15 cheers at the Jr. High cheer camp. I can't believe that she's going to be in the 7th grade! She's thrilled to get to be a Paris Wildcat Cheerleader. Lilly will attend volleyball camp next week, and the following week she will attend CATV camp. CATV is a television show produced at Paris Junior High. 42 students applied this year and only 10 were chosen to be in CATV. It's right up Lilly's alley!

MEGHAN, LILLY AND LOGYN -CHEER CAMP


I forgot to mention, but Luke tried to cut off his finger about 3 weeks ago. it was a REALLY, REALLY bad cut! He had to have several stitches (a disaster at the hospital with the awful on-call ER doc), but he's finally almost healed up. He damaged the nerves, however, and so the feeling has yet to come back much in his finger.

I directed the SMAK music at FBC last week. The musical this year was called, "Let's Rock." Lilly played the role of Jazz, and Tate played a hilarious roll as Worthington Billingham. They were both fabulous and the musical was a big hit!





Duane and I will celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary next Sunday. We're flying out to Vegas on the 29th (our actually anniversary day) We'll be meeting up with Dan and Tee. We're so excited about our upcoming trip. We can't wait to see Beatles LOVE for the 3rd time!!!

Well, my family and the tv show "Big Brother" is calling my name. Here's hoping that you're having a great summer. May God bless and keep you!!!

F.R.O.G.,
Cheri and family


AIKIN FIELD DAY - June 5, 2012



FATHER'S DAY - JUNE 2012

Luke 19, Parker 16, Lilly 12 and Tate 9



Sunday, June 3,2012 8:27 PM

It's hard to imagine that my baby boy is finishing up his 3rd grade year! And.....DRUMROLL please..........TATE CHRISTIAN LEWIS has just accomplished an amazing feat that none of our other 3 kids have ever accomplished. Tate has had PERFECT attendance in school this year. You have no idea what a big deal this is for us, because this little boy that has 1/2 of a heart was one of only a couple of HEALTHY kids in his class that didn't miss one single day all year long. God is so good! Tate is also going to finish up the school year on the A and B honor roll for the entire school year. We're SO proud of him!



Lilly's award assembly was last week. Lilly got 8 awards at her assembly. Her favorite award was that she had the highest grade in science in her entire class! We're SO proud of our Lilly girl! We're really enjoying having Luke home for the summer. I have many pictures to post and stuff to catch you up on, so I plan to do that next week. Can you say 3 1/2 more days of school!!!
Woot Woot!!! Check back this time next week and I'll have alot more things added in our journal.




F.R.O.G.,
Cheri and family



Friday, May 18, 2012 11:07 PM

11 years and 345 days ago on a cot in a family "sleep room" at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, OK, I found myself crying out to God and begging Him to spare my 33 year old husband's life. Our family was given the grim news that the lemon sized tumor that was removed from the left frontal lobe of Duane's brain was a high grade, malignant tumor. This beast was a type of Glioma known as a Gemistocytic Astrocytoma. We were given unfavorable odds. As a mother of a then 8, 4 and 5 week old, I begged and pleaded with God and promised Him that if he would spare my husband's life that we would do everything humanly possible to be a source of hope, a shining light on the darkest day for another family someday. Never in my wildest imagination would I ever believe that it would be a precious family, so close to our hearts that have been prayer warriors for us throughout the years. An amazing family that is SO involved in our community, our FBC Youth Dept., a family that's precious mom is a teacher with me at Aikin Elementary, a family that has 3 boys and 1 girl, JUST like our very own. A family who's children have played soccer on the same teams as our sons, attended church camps together, had typical childhood arguments with, and YES even as recently as 2 months ago dug teenage boys vehicles out of muddy fields until 4:30 in the morning with! An amazing family who as a family of six have prayed our very own family through 2 brain surgeries, radiation, chemo and even 5 heart surgeries for Tate. They have inspired us and given us support and hope in days of sadness.

Today we find ourselves numb that such wonderful people are facing such a trial. Our hearts are BROKEN for you, but we are rejoicing in knowing that GOD DOES HEAL and that all things DO work for good for those that trust in the Lord!

I BEG you God with all my heart all all my faith in YOU to completely ease the worries of this family. Give them a peace that surpasses all understanding. Allow them to focus on YOU, your goodness and your HEALING powers! Allow them to look around them each and every day and see blessings around them that they might have missed without this trial in their lives. More than anything God, allow others to see YOUR love and light through them during their darkest days so that they can draw others closer to you! We KNOW that you are a God of MIRACLES! We BELIEVE! We ask our friends all over the United States to join us in praying for Chris for complete healing of brain cancer and also for Amanda, Sarah, Sam, Will and Ben.

Matt: 17:20 "If you have FAITH, as small as a mustard seed, you CAN move mountains."

FULLY RELYING ON GOD for complete and PERFECT healing!

We love you (with the love of the Lord) Whitaker family!!!! LIVESTRONG!!!!!

MOTHER'S DAY - 2012





Monday, April 30, 2012 9:07 PM

Happy 12th Birthday Lilly Elizabeth Lewis on April 29th!!! Lilly had a wonderful 12th birthday. She enjoyed having 5 of her friends over for a sleep over on Sunday night because today we had the day off from school. It was a snow day that we didn't have to use, so we got to take the day off! Sunday night we took Lilly and her friends to CiCi's for dinner, followed by a trip to the movie theatre to see "The Three Stooges." This morning I took all of the girls for pedicures and then to lunch before they went home. They seemed to have a great time and we heard lots of laughter until the wee hours of the morning!

OUR BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

The month of April has absolutely flown by! We've been extremely busy with soccer and PCT Children's Theatre. It's hard to believe that as of today we only have 27 more days of school this year! It's even HARDER to believe that Luke is almost finished with his first year of college. He will be home this weekend and will be here for the entire summer!!! We're so excited to have all 6 of us back together again.

I accompanied Lilly on a school trip to Austin on April 13-15. We had SUCH a great time. Her PROJECT SAM group came home with 1st place medals. They were a wonderful group of kids to travel with.

Parker has kept very busy reffing youth soccer games this month. He's been excited about earning some of his own money again. Parker also finished up his tennis season this month. He had a good (first) year on the school tennis team and really enjoyed his coach.

Luke traveled to Nebraska to compete in the National Rugby Tournament on April 13-16. I have some amazing pictures that I'll try to get posted this week. He scored in their final game of the season against a team from California.

Other than allergy issues and a respiratory virus that we spread throughout our family, we remain healthy! We're SO blessed that we're all doing well. My worries towards all of my kids (especially Tate) are never far away. I guess that's what mommas are for?!

I'll end by saying that we lost some very precious neighbors over the last few weeks. Sonny Shiver passed away about 8 weeks ago and then his precious wife, Diane Shiver, passed away last Wednesday morning. It's been a very sad time for our family to lose Ms. Shiver. She was a precious lady and we will certainly miss her!

Thanks for checking in with us.

We continue to be in AWE of God's goodness and mercy.

Fully Relying on GOD,
Cheri and family




Saturday, March 31, 2012 10:07 PM




The month of March has brought great days and beautiful weather! I can't believe that our winter basically didn't exist, and we move right on in to my favorite season of the year! Until 2 days ago, everybody had remained extremely healthy in our family, but on Thursday Tate began running fever. He was seen on Friday morning at the doctor's office and because he looked suspicious for strep-throat and because he has a huge hole in his mouth from where he had a giant tooth extracted a few weeks, he was started on antibiotics. Yesterday Parker woke up with intestinal issues and last night Tate started in with the same problems. So, for the most part we've had the easiest (healthiest) winter ever for our kids, and hopefully whatever tummy troubles have invaded my boys will leave just as quickly as it started.

Luke and Parker were fortunate enough to spend 5 days in Colorado for Spring Break. They went to visit their Uncle Pat and Aunt Deena and had a fabulous vacation with lots of skiing and fun! Our entire family spent a fun day in Rockwall at Shenanigan's on Friday of Spring Break. It's a very fun place where we bowled, played glo putt-putt, played several games of laser tag, followed by a couple of hours in the giant arcade.



LAST NIGHT OF SPRING BREAK....Taking advantage of every last minute before going back to school on Monday!


I had a GREAT REAL birthday with my family this year! We celebrated at TaMolly's and I had several of my family members there. It was a really fun day. I finally got a new vehicle (which was close to my birthday, so I call it my birthday present!) We went to Dallas and purchased a Mercedes GL450 which seats 7 people. It isn't brand new, but close enough and is in MINT condition. I absolutely love, love, lvoe my new vehicle and hope to drive it for many years!

Luke is doing great in college and will be competing at Nationals in Rugby with the UTD Rugby team in just 2 weeks. He's making good greats and making lots of great friends and memories of his first year in college.





Parker's always busy having fun, but recently has had to focus more on his grades. He continues to play golf and tennis and loves hanging out with friends at the tennis courts.

Lilly's FPS Service Project team made it to the state meet in Austin. I'll be driving her and a couple of her classmates to Austin on April 13.

Duane works long, hard hours and when we're not at work we continue to drive kids around to their practices, rehearsals and any spare moment we have is devoted to doing LAUNDRY! The never ending chore!

Here's hoping that you are enjoying your SPRING as it has TRULY SPRUNG!
Thanks for stopping by and prayers for Tate and Parker to recover from their tummy troubles would be GREATLY appreciated!

Many thanks as we FULLY RELY ON GOD,
Cheri and family







Monday, FEBRUARY 20, 2012 9:07 PM

We've had a wonderful beginning to our New Year. January brought us absolutely GORGEOUS weather in Texas. In fact, I'm not sure that I remember ever having temperatures in the 70's this time of the year. Thankfully the flu season has been a big MISS this year for our community!!!! I love that we've been lucky enough to avoid all of the winter illnesses.

I spent almost every evening during the month of January at rehearsals for the PCT production of "Bye Bye Birdie" We had an AWESOME cast and out of our 8 performances, 6 were sold out!! The best part of being in the cast was making so many new friends, and being able to share some happy memories with Lilly and Tate. Tate was even recognized by our Director (Alan Jones) after our last performance. It was definitely a special time for us!






In other news, Luke has begun playing on the Rugby team at UTD. Their team is currently undefeated with a 6-0 record. Luke is LOVING it! He really enjoys the players on the team and enjoys having a coach that is such a great motivator.

Parker turned 16 on Feb.1 and was able to get his license on Feb. 2. He then managed to get his Jeep stuck in about 75 feet of barbed wire the following evening with a few of his friends, but uhm......we'll just leave well enough alone on that one. However, I'm quite sure that Duane & Chris Whitaker will never forget being out until 4:30 in the morning with their young drivers.

My mom and Rick just returned from a 14 day cruise to Hawaii. They had a great trip, but are super happy to be back home.

Tate's latest news is that he's going to try playing outdoor soccer again this season. He's playing with an U-8 team which "size wise" is perfect for him. I hope he can keep up just enough that he feels accomplished in this endeavor.

Well, I'm exhausted, so I'll add the pictures that go with this post tomorrow night. Here's hoping that you have a great week (OH, and HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY!!!)

Fully Relying on GOD,
Cheri and family
Matt. 17:20 "If you have FAITH, as small as a mustard seed, YOU CAN MOVE mountains!"




SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012 8:43 PM

I received a call from Tate's pacemaker nurse in Houston this week. She was concerned when she heard that he had been in a wreck on the Polaris with his brothers over Christmas break. So, to be on the safe side she had us get his pacemaker checked out here in Paris at Dr. Cutrell's office. I'm SO happy to report that everything is working BEAUTIFULLY with his pacemaker. We thank God for this good news!! Play practice is keeping us incredibly busy. We've sure enjoyed having Luke home for a few weeks and we still have exactly one more week to enjoy him! Tate had his friend Carter spend the night last night. The boys had SUCH a great time! They are just the best of friends and are absolutely adorable together. I love listening in on their funny conversations. It's hard to believe that our first sesmester of school comes to a close on Thursday. My kids will enjoy a four day weekend next weekend and I'll enjoy a 3 day weekend!! Here's to a healthy and happy 2012!!! Praising God ALWAYS!



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2011 9:45 PM





We had an incredible Christmas! I can't believe that tonight we're already bringing in 2012. We were able to travel to Artesia, New Mexico to celebrate Christmas with Duane's entire family. We had such a fabulous time on our mini-vacation. We started out the Christmas break by attending a Dallas Mavs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game at the American Airlines Center. We were able to spend the night in Dallas, finish up Christmas shopping the next day & also attend Tate's six month cardiology appointment which is described below in the Dec. 19th post. While in Artesia we traveled to Roswell, NM and took Tate to the UFO and Alien Museum. He LOVED it! We were so impressed with his knowledge of various things in the museum. He's obviously been reading up on Aliens and was SO PROUD to be able to share his knowledge with the rest of us.










WE HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS!!! 8 inches of gorgeous snow covered Artesia, NM while we were celebrating the holidays!





We attended a Christmas Eve service at the church where Duane grew up in Artesia. Christmas Eve was spent at Papa Dan and Nana Judy's house. The kids enjoyed opening presents Christmas morning at Dunkin' Dan and Aunt Tee's house. Santa brought Tate a new Steel Cage Wrestling Ring, Tech Decks, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Sea Monkeys and Monster Trucks. Lilly got tons of American Girl outfits and a new comforter for her bedroom. Parker was happy to receive a Golf Net and a PS3 game while Luke received an Electric Guitar Amp. Tate and Lilly got new shoes from us, along with tons of other stuff (Lilly got a new phone, Tate video games and TONS of wrestlers) Luke was thrilled to receive a Mosin-Nagant gun from us while Parker was excited about getting personalized license plates and window tinting for his Jeep. We had a fabulous Christmas with our fabulous family. God has blessed us in so many ways! While we were in Artesia, the boys had a wreck (in the snow) on their Uncle Dan's Polaris. They were all very shook up. Tate gave us a good scare because he was EXTREMELY pale and somewhat in shock after the accident. He slept for 4 or 5 hours and threw up several times after the accident. We were so scared that his pacemaker might be messed up, but so far SO good! We definitely enjoyed the 8 inches of gorgeous snow we received while in Artesia. The kids were SO excited that they got to celebrate 4 Christmas this year!! They had 2 in New Mexico and then 2 in Texas (one with Grandpa Mike and one with Nana Cheryl and Poppa Rick) We were all thrilled that we got to see my sister Heather and her kids Maddie & Jack this Christmas!!!!!
We drove to Pittsburg, TX on New Year's Eve to visit with Duane's Granny, Uncle Lanny, Aunt Ginger & Whitney and Nana & Papa Lewis. Again.....we are BLESSED with an amazing family! All the celebrating and presents would be NOTHING if we didn't have such special loved ones in our family. A FAMILY'S LOVE is the best gift of all!!!!!!!!!!!!!


















Well, I'm exhausted on this New Year's Eve and so I will sign off for now. We hope that you've had an amazing 2011!!! GOD IS SOoooooooooooooooooooooooo GOOD!!!! Please drop us a message in our guestbook. Much love to you all.

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011 10:20 PM


We're exhausted from a long day, but I wanted to give a quick update from Tate's 6 month check-up with Dr. Kao.

Tate had a great appointment today in Dallas. His EKG was good, BP was 107/87, oxygen was 94. For the first time in years we didn't have an Echo, but we'll have another one in June. The best news was that his almost 2 year old pacemaker is still showing "new status" on his battery life! He paces 100n his bottom lead and 11n his top lead. The only not-so-good news was that Dr. Kao think...s Tate's pectus is slightly more pronounced. This is the deep indention in his chest from his sternum being broken 5 times. She'll continue to monitor it and watch for any signs of it compressing on the heart. It will eventually have to be repaired by placing a bar in the chest for six months. It's a VERY painful surgery & what we fought off the last time we had surgery in Houston. Overall a good appointment. Fabulous day of shopping and fun after a RECORD short appointment! We were only there 1 hour 20 minutes!

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 9:20

It seems hard to believe that fall days and cooler weather have already arrived. We have had a WONDERFULLY healthy month!! We are so blessed, so thankful and continue to praise God for HIS healing powers and continued blessings of healthy days for our family.

November has kept us busy and in full "School Mode". Monday through Wednesday evenings we don't arrive home from our many activites until after 7:30 at night. This has kept us busy, tired, but we definitely sleep well after our high energy days.

Tate is so excited to be starting indoor soccer with Coach Todd. He no longer plays outdoor soccer due to the high Texas temperatures, however, he is THRILLED for the opportunity each December to be able to play indoor soccer.

Lilly participated in the Crockett Talent Show this month. She was in a light/dance routine with several of her friends. The "GlowBusters" were a hit at the talent show and received rave reviews from all of their peers.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was so much fun taking my dad to lunch at a local buffet and then spending the afternoon and early evening at Nana Cheryl and Poppa Rick's house. We had TOO MUCH good food! It was such a nice day! Thanksgiving night brought Black Friday shopping with my two big boys. Our usual Black Friday shopping trip included buying laptops, toys, and even a couple of watches. Parker spent his own hard earned money on a 40" Flat Screen TV. He's so proud of it and loves having it upstairs all to himself.

I'm THRILLED to report that Tate and Parker made the A/B Honor Roll this six weeks and Lilly made the A Honor Roll. Parker's Chemistry and Spanish Class got the best of him, but he pushes forward and is working harder than ever.

Tate sees Dr. Kao in just a few weeks. I can't believe it's already time for his 6 month check-up. We're anticipating a very good report from Dr. Kao.

Many Blessings to each of you.

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31,2011 9:20 PM

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!!



We had a fabulous time this month and it ended on a GREAT note by the opportunity to enjoy a traditional Halloween together! We LOVE Halloween in Paris, TX. SOoooo much fun!

We started out the month by traveling to Dallas to spend the day at Six Flags "FRIGHT FEST". It was an amazing day and we were amazed by Tate's willingness and eagerness to ride EVERYTHING! We probably allowed him to ride more than he should have, but he had so much fun that we just didn't have the heart to tell him know.



Just off the BATMAN and ready for more!


Just a few days later, Duane took our 3 boys to see the WWE wrestling "Super Show" in Dallas at the American Airline Center. The boys enjoyed their "MAN NIGHT" (actually an entire day) by shopping at the PGA Super Store, dining on Chinese food for lunch and then shopping for new jeans and shorts together in the mall. They made a full day of it and had such a great time together. This was an especially neat treat as 41 of the WWE wrestlers were in the ring at the same time for the ROYAL RUMBLE!



We enjoyed spending the day with Kimberly and Seth Rippentrop on Oct. 22 at the Children's Medical Center "RED BALLOON RUN". Tate and Seth were represented on the "Hearts of Fire" team. Luke volunteered the even for a Health Organazation at UTD. Tate LOVED having his big brother join us at Children's!








My FOUR most treasured gifts from GOD!





Lilly has enjoyed playing in a few soccer games this season. The schedules have been really crazy and we've had to miss a couple of make-up games. Luke & Parker have appreciated the opportunity to make some quick cash by reffing soccer games on the weekends.

Healthwise, Tate has been doing great. His only complaint is a toothache and so he will have 2 tiny cavities filled the week of Thanksgiving vacation. Tate has finally hit 60 lbs on the scales and is SO VERY proud of finally reaching the BIG 6-0. I've had some UTI issues this past month, but saw a urologist today and was given a clean bill of health.

We have enjoyed GORGEOUS weather for the past 2 weeks and are so thankful to finally have a break from the excruciating heat that we experienced this summer.

We are always thankful to those of you who take a moment to stop by and check up on us.

We are so blessed by God to be on this side of so many serious health issues of the past. IN HIM WE GIVE THANKS DAILY!!!

Fully Relying on an AWESOME GOD,
Cheri and family



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 9:20 PM


UTD CAMPUS and RANGER GAME (9-11-11)



The month of September has been a whirlwind! It's shocking to believe that the first six weeks of the school year has aleady ended. Tate is doing GREAT in school and GREAT healthwise! We're continually amazed at his strength, endurance and determination in all that he does. His laugh is SO contagious and he laughs so hard at so many little things that he just puts a smile on our faces! Tate is still in a 3rd grade Gifted & Talented (self-contained) classroom. It continues to be challenging for him especially in math, but he's adjusting well to being a 3rd grader. For all you HLHS parents out there, I will tell you that Tate does have fine motor issues due to a stroke he had after his Fontan. He's extremely coordinated and athletic (as much as his heart will allow him to be energy-wise), so Gross motor skills have NEVER been an issue for him. Fine motor skills are a real struggle!

We've not only gotten into the swing of school (me teaching full-time for the first time in 11 years), but we've also adjusted to being a household of 3 kids instead of 4. Luke's LOVING college life in Dallas! We've really, really missed him, but we're thankful that he's only an hour and 20 minutes away from our home.

We enjoyed a Texas Rangers game on Sept. 11th to help celebrate Poppa Rick's birthday and tomorrow we will travel to Six Flags by way of UTD to pick up our favorite college student.
My younger brother (Pat) visited from Denver on Sept.15-16. We had an AMAZING weekend with the always entertaining Pat Hamilton! We ate at Don Lalo's, Weezy's and Pat treated my dad and my 3 younger kids to an airplane ride with our childhood friend Steve Neuman. He flew his plane down from Kingfisher, OK and gave a ride to my dad (who gave him HIS first airplane ride in his plane when Steve was around 6 years old). We also enjoyed an evening at the Choctaw Casino with Pat. He's always the life of the party and he kept us laughing so much that my stomach was sore! We all wish he was closer to us because we just don't get enough of Pat!



Parker's enjoying his Sophomore year in high school. School seems easier (so far) for him this year. He's busy, busy playing on the Paris High golf team and is the proud new owner of a 170.00 Ping driver! Parker spends his Saturdays and Sundays reffing for the Paris Soccer Association.

Lilly loves being a 6th grader. She has a great (young and fun) homeroom teacher this year! Lilly has just moved up to Under 14 girls soccer. It's a whole new experience for her since she's only 11 and one of the two tiniest girls on her team. She's very determined to do well and is working super hard at practice. On Tuesdays she attends theatre at PCT. Lilly is enjoying being an office aide at her middle school. She's HILARIOUS in so many ways...so organized, creative, LOUD when she talks, bubbly, MOODY, sensitive and just ALL PRE-TEEN!!!

I hope that you're enjoying happy days. We're always thankful for those of you that continue to care for, PRAY for and check up on our family.

May God bless you! Here's to FALL days and COOLER temperatures!! Woot! Woot!

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family


Airplane Ride! Sept. 16,2011




SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011 3:20 PM





We have had the busiest month! August has flown by, but it was a wonderful time. Duane and I enjoyed our 22nd wedding anniversary in Las Vegas on Aug. 1-4. We have the most awesome time together in Vegas. I wish we could go more than once per year, but am always thankful to be able to go at all! We were able to see Beatles Love again this year and plan to see it next summer when we return for our 23rd! Coming home from Vegas was bittersweet because we were so anxious to see our kids, but were also coming home to face the reality that our oldest would soon be leaving for college. We moved Luke to Dallas on August 16 and it's been quite the adjustment for each one of us. We're all handing our "missing Luke" sadness in different ways. Duane has especially taken hard! Luke seems quite pleased with his roommates. We pray that he stays focused on school although we also want him to experience and enjoy college life. Lilly got braces on her teeth on August 8th! She looks like such a big girl now. (sigh) Parker received his driver's permit while we were away in Vegas. Nana Cheryl took him for his exam and he passed with flying colors! Luke spent the summer free time that he had helping Parker fix up his red Jeep. The Jeep is looking really neat! Parker's very proud of the Jeep, but even MORE proud that his big brother did the work for him!

I went back to work full-time this year after 6 years of teaching 1/2 days. I'm adjusting to morning duty (which starts at 7:20 EACH morning!) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being on campus with my Tate boy! Speaking of Tate, he's doing FABULOUSLY after battling strep throat and fever in early August. Here's some things he wrote about himself the first day of school (August 22, 2011). He's proud to be a big ol' 3rd grader this year!

PROUD TO BE ME!
My name is TATE.
My birthday is OGAST 21.
My favorite subject in school is WRITING.
If I could go anywhere on vacation, it would be CARNIVLE CROOS.
When I grow up I want to BE A COP.
My favorite animal is MONKYS.
My favorite hobby is WRITTING.
My favorite food is CRAB.
The best thing about me is I WHINT ON THE MAKE A WISH.
I am really good at SOCCER.
I need to improve on MATH.
My favorite place is PEANK CHINA.
After school, I like to PLAY WITH WRESELERS.
My pet peeve is GOWING TO THE POOL. (He didn't know what a pet peeve is)
When I feel sad, it helps to LAY IN BED.
I I could change my name, I'd call myself CHRISTIAN.
My favorite time of year is CRISMAS.
I wish I were as tall as WWE KANE.
I'm good at SOKER.
If I could rule the world, I'd BE A SUPER HERO.
I could make school a better place by BENG NICE.
If I had $100, I'd BUY ALL THE WWE TOYS.
The best thing that happened to me last year was GETTING A 100 ON A TEST.
My favorite possession is MOM AND DAD.
If I lived in another country, I'd like it to be JUMAKA.
On my birthday, I'd like to GO TO MIGET RESLING.







SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2011 10:00 PM CDT
HAPPY, HAPPY 9th Birthday to our half hearted MIRACLE BOY! We love you Tate and we are so blessed and honored that God chose us to be your family!!!!!!






Saturday, July 16, 2011 8:40 AM

CAMP MOSS 2011 - TATE





Mt. Lebanon 2011 - LILLY


STUDENT LIFE on the BEACH (Orange Beach, Alabama 2011) - Parker


Wisdom Teeth Extraction - Luke




BIRTHDAYS, CAMPS,GOLF, WISDOM TEETH EXTRACTION, SWIMMING at THE DOLPHIN, LATE NIGHTS PLAYING CARDS WITH THE FAMILY...these are all reasons we love SUMMER!! Hope this finds everybody having a happy and healthy summer. We've been enjoying a wonderful summer. The kids are busy all the time, but are having a great summer. We absolutely cherish this time of year with no homework and a more stressfree life without so many activities. Tate had fever for a couple of days late this week. His white count was on the low side so the doctor thinks it was probably just a virus. He seems to be doing much better now & didn't run any fever yesterday at all. I'm going to make this short, but wanted to post some pictures from our busy few weeks.
HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY LUKE PATTON LEWIS!



Monday, July 11, 2011 11:15 PM

Dear Tate’s Family,

We had a great week at Camp Moss and are excited to share with you some about Tate’s week at Camp. A lot happens at Camp and we hope you have heard many stories about camp activities, cookouts, new hob­bies and interests, theme nights, new friends, and more! By sharing with you a little more about the week Tate had at Camp, we hope you and Tate will talk more about Camp so you can learn what Tate gained, en­joyed, and learned during the week at Camp.

Tate was in the Tonkawa cabin. Check out the photos to the left to see what Camp and the cabins look like. Tate’s counselors were Austin Miller, Tyler Mobley, Kla Wolfe, and Sara Kaiser. We think it is important for you to know who the cabin coun­selors were, but as a part of the Camp John Marc camper protection plan, campers and volunteers/staff cannot have contact with each other outside of the Camp setting unless the contact is ap­proved by the Camp Director. This includes contact through social networking sites such as Facebook. If you have any questions about this policy please be in touch with Mellissa Myers, one of the Camp Moss Directors.

The pictures on the right are from Projects. At Camp John Marc every camper chooses one activity to go to every day. This is called their “Project” and Projects are designed so that campers leave camp with new skills, outcomes, and interests. Tate was in the Fishing project. By practicing their fishing skills each day, campers in the fishing project learn how to tie basic fishing knots, remove fish from the line, and identify the fish found in the Camp John Marc lake.

At Camp Tate did four other activities a day in addition to Projects. One of these activities is always swimming. The younger cabins (called scheduled cabins) stay to­gether for all activities and try every activity at Camp at least once during the week. The campers in the older cabins (called free choice cabins) choose two of their activities each day. A ropes course, boating, horseback riding, fishing, arts and crafts, sports and games, arch­ery, cooking, pottery and more are all offered at Camp.

Each night at Camp was a different all camp activ­ity. Take a look at the Camp calendar to see what Tate did each night at Camp.


Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday


Welcome to Camp Night!
Pirates Theme Night
Cookout
Kickball or Capture the Flag
Party Night

We had a lawn party with
hamburgers, and ice cream
sundaes and then went to Chapel for a
Welcome to Camp
program.

Campers sailed away on a Pirate
adventure in search of the fountain of youth.

Each cabin went to a different cookout
location and made chicken
fajitas, fry bread, and homemade ice cream!

The younger campers played a big game of kick­ball complete with cheer­leader and an opening pitch while the older campers played a big game of cap­ture the flag.
We ended Camp with a party with snow cones,
music, karaoke, and bingo.



At Camp each cabin is hosted by a Camp John Marc staff member. The CJM Host eats each meal with the cabin in the Dining Hall and spends time in the cabin most evenings. (Make sure and ask Tate about eating meals at Camp. At Camp we serve all meals Family Style and as a part of our meal plan campers wait to eat until everyone is served, eat with napkins in their laps, and follow other mealtime etiquette. We think this teaches important life skills.) Katherine Gresback hosted Tate’s cabin.

We hope you enjoy the picture below of Tate at Camp!




The week at Camp is made possible because of the partnership between Camp Moss and Camp John Marc. The Camp Moss directors were Mellissa Myers (mellissa.myers@childrens.com), Cheryl Butler (cheryl.butler@childrens.com), and Chelsea Baugh (cbaugh@childrens.com). Please be in touch with them if you have any ques­tions about Camp Moss . Also, if you are missing anything sent to Camp we send all things left behind with the Camp Director. Check with them if you are missing something. For questions about CJM you can reach Annie Stewart (astewart@campjohnmarc.org) at the Camp John Marc office.

Campercerly,

The Camp Moss and Camp John Marc Team





SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2011 9:15 PM

LUKE'S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

JUNE 11, 2011


FATHER'S DAY June 19, 2011

Tate had a great check-up with Dr. Kao on Tuesday! His oxgyen level was between 93-96 his blood pressure was good. His heart looked great on the EKG and Echocardiogram. The pacemaker check went great and he has 9.75 years left on his battery!! So happy for the great check-up. He enjoyed the day in Dallas a little MORE than usual because we found a GREAT sale on WWE wrestlers at Toys R Us. He also enjoyed eating Wendy's for lunch and Chinese food at the Allen Outlet Mall for dinner. Tate's having a GREAT summer! We joined The Dolphin Swim Club this summer. Tate and Lilly are having a fabulous time swimming with their friends at the Dolphin. Luke and Parker have even ventured there a few times and enjoy playing volleyball with their friends. Lilly is in Houston at her cousin Jill's this weekend. She's having a great time playing with Jill & baby Julia. Parker has just finished up his speech class at Paris High School. He took the class to free up a class during the regular school year. He was happy to get speech over with in 2 weeks rather than taking it for an entire semester. Luke just bought a new Saab 97X for college. Well, not new, but new for Luke! Parker purchased a RED Jeep Liberty from his Aunt Tee exactly one month ago. So, we have 2 fresh new looks in our drive way. Luke is busy reffing summer soccer games and working at the FLC at our church. He's also taking a government class online which he DOES NOT like! Like Parker, however, he's happy to get a class out of the way!

The big news for us is that TATE leaves for Camp Moss tomorrow. Camp Moss is the Children's Medical Center HEART CAMP that we've known about since he was a newborn. It's a special camp devoted to children with chronic Congenital Heart defects. This year there will be 8 new 8 year olds that are ALL Hypoplastic Left Heart kids! We're so excited for Tate to have this big boy experience (and we're trying REAL HARD to be brave!) Tate's thrilled, but Duane & I feel nervous about having our little man away from us. Tate's cabin have 6 HLHS 8 year olds in it with 4 CMC staff members. He'll be in GREAT shape! I can't wait to relay the adventurous stories on to you when he returns from camp! So, until next time......WE FULLY RELY ON GOD! Thanks for checking in on us! (Check back soon for new camp pics.)


Tate in his "V-Neck Club" shirt! June 24, 2011


PARKER'S NEW JEEP LIBERTY- May 28,2011


LUKE'S NEW SAAB - June 19,2011

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011 11:15 PM

Talk about high's and low's! This month has absolutely brought with it some of our most happy memories of all times, but also it has brought some unbelievable frustrations! I'll start with the good! Lilly had an amazing 11th birthday on April 29th. We had such a special day. She played her last soccer game EVER on the Puma Girls and we then went with all the grandparents to CiCi's to celebrate her birthday dinner & open presents. She got all kinds of fun stuff for her birthday, but was particularly fond of the money she received from her grandparents, 2 beautiful necklaces (a rhinestone cross and a hot pink moveable teddy bear) from Grandpa Mike, LOTS of Justice clothing from her 3 brothers, and American Girl doll accessory sets from me and Duane. Her cake was super cute and represented that we were leaving the very next day to go on a 7 day cruise! SUCH AWESOME TIMES!!!!

Our cruise was pure bliss! We enjoyed such a wonderful time with our loved ones on board the Carnival Conquest. We visited Montego Bay,Jamaica and Grand Cayman for the 2nd time and also had a port of call in Cozumel, MX this time. It was SO much fun for everybody! Our favorite activities were (eating, shuffleboard, eating, attending karoke, eating, watching the awesome shows, eating, Camp Carnival, eating, Awesome Port-of-Calls, and eating! Lilly and Tate were treated to some new Jamaican clothes by Dunkin' Dan and Aunt Tee! This picture was taken after an amazing night on the ship! I love their Jamaican gear and their pink little faces from their day of fun shopping in Jamaica & sliding into the ocean at Margaritaville.


So my frustrations this month were mostly job related! Anxiety over not knowing whether or not I would have a job for the 2011-2012 school year. Our school district has decided to do away with the job sharing program that I've loved for the past six years & was so upset to learn that I would need to re-apply for my current teaching position, re-interview, in order to secure my job for the upcoming school year. I was extremely bothered by this for several weeks!

Enough of that....May brought Lilly being inducted into the National Elementary School Honor Society, Awards assemblies for all of our kids, senior pep rally and a VolleyBoy Tournament! I can't believe that it's almost time for Luke to graduate from high school.

LUKE & MADISON PHS PROM May 14, 2011


PHS AWARDS ASSEMBLY (Luke and Park show off their awards)

Parker's Freshman Awards

Luke's Awards

Lilly's Induction into the National Elementary Honor Society

FIELD DAY FUN FOR TATE!

"GOLDILOCKS on TRIAL" May 7-14, 2011

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 9:15 PM




EASTER MEMORIES 2011

Luke 18, Parker 15, Lilly 10 and Tate 8


COME SAIL AWAY, COME SAIL AWAY, COME SAIL AWAY WITH ME!! We're SOOoooo very excited that we'll be leaving for Galveston on Saturday. Our ship sets sail on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM. We're so excited to have a fun week together with both sets of grandparents and Dunkin' Dan and Tee. I went today and ordered surprise shirts for Luke and his 3 siblings in honor of Luke's Graduation Cruise! I can't wait to see how they turn out.

The weather has been NUTS in Texas this week. Tornadoes everywhere! Thankfully we've missed any actual tornadoes although we've had some horrible weather.

We REALLY enjoyed our Easter weekend. Lilly had a soccer game, but the rest of the time we spent just chilling out and getting things organized for our trip. Easter morning we enjoyed a lovely church service followed by lunch with Grandpa Mike at Don Lalo's and a trip to the movie theatre to see "HOP"! It was a fun day. We always enjoy dyeing Easter eggs together as a family. Such special (and fun) memories. It's sad to know how quickly this school year is winding down. I'm SO not ready for Luke to be a high school graduate! I can't believe how quickly the years have flown by. He'll always be my baby boy! I'll update again after our cruise. Thanks for checking on us.

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

TUESDAY, APRIL 19,2011 11:15 PM

ONE YEAR AGO tonight I lay sleepless in my bed at the Houston Ronald McDonald House. I knew that in just 6 short hours my baby boy would have his chest cut open for the 5th time in just a short 7 years of life. I look back and praise God for amazing love & healing power. I've thought alot this past week about why we were chosen to be Tate's parents? I'm not sure why God entrusted us with four amazing kids?! They TRULY are my reason for living! I count my blessings and consider it an honor that we were given our children & I'm quite sure God has a little more faith in me then I have in myself for entrusting me with a special CHD child. I've "revamped" Tate's Journey video and added a new song. HE'S MY SON...and I thank God for allowing him a chance to live a happy life. I pray that God will allow all four of my children to be healthy and to live long lives. I also pray for healthy grandkids!! So many people take good health for granted, but it truly something that one should never take for granted. Today I'm also thankful for a husband that is so wonderfully patient, loving and probably the BEST daddy around!
I'm so proud of my kids and each of their special talents, personalities AND that fact that they're all 4 on the honor roll this six weeks!!!
In just 10 days we SAIL off for a fun week in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel, Mexico!!!! I can't wait to have some much needed family fun time! I can promise you that I'll spend much of my time in thought about how far we've come in the past few years! GOD IS GOOD!
We've postponed Tate's April cardiology appointment because he's doing AMAZINGLY well! We'll visit Dr. Kao in May for a 6 (make that 7) month check-up, EKG and ECHO!

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011 6:48 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOMMA tomorrow!!! I love you mom. You give me strength, wisdom, unconditional love & are an awesome role model for your grandkids.

I just wanted to quickly share this email I received from Duane's brother today (Dan, or as we prefer to call him DUNKIN'Dan)

Cheri,

Can you please just bring a wheelbarrow full of cash??

Fishing you need 300
Grand Cayman tour 210
Cozumel Rental cars 20
Chananaak park 100 (if we go)
Rental snorkel gear 13 a piece 78
Total 708

Duane's gambling habit 5 thousand
Cheri's shopping Habit 6 thousand (you always have to win)
Luke's beads for the girls.....50 bucks
Parker's golf ball to hit off the ship...50 bucks
Lilley's necklace (you may have to bribe her to go to camp carnival) 50 bucks
Tate's monkey......A real one from Jamaica!!!!! 500 bucks
Spending money to buy the rest of your travel partners souvenirs! 500 bucks (we
like the good stuff)
Rick's "funny" cigarette....well because you only live once and he wanted it!!
20 bucks
Dinner for your favorite travel partners at Jimmy Buffets Margaretville!! 150
bucks.

Grand total $13,028 or a wheelbarrow full.


-----Original Message-----
From: duaneandcheri@suddenlink.net [duaneandcheri@suddenlink.net]
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 9:05 PM
To: 'judy lewis'; 'liberty528@zianet.com'; Dan Lewis;
'rwaldroupe@suddenlink.net'; 'cwaldroupe@suddenlink.net'
Subject: RE: Tour Update

WOW DUNKIN'...YOU da' MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As they would say in Jamaica - -
RESPECT!!! (visualize knuckle bumps!)

Thanks so much for your hard work on this. Would you please give us a run down
on all cost for our family so that we'll have an idea of how much $$$ we need to
bring.

Thanks again! WE SAIL IN 26 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2011 10:21 PM

Tate performs in his 2nd grade TEXAS program!


Sleepy boys that are excited about their WWE trip to Dallas!

Luke & Tate at a photo shoot for the Lamar County Coalition

Dad celebrates his 68th on March 23, 2011
We continue to enjoy happy, healthy days! I can honestly say that NOT A DAY goes by that I don't feel such complete gratefulness for the long stretch of good health that our family has been blessed with! WE ARE TRULY BLESSED! Sure, just like others I have days where I feel grumpy or get irritated about the daily grind, however, those are the days when I'm suddenly reminded of how far we've come and how thankful we are for those BORING, DAILY GRIND kind-of-days that we used to long and pray for! Luke had an absolutely AMAZING soccer season! It sadly, heartbreakingly came to an end last Friday night in Princeton, TX. It was the most amazing soccer game that I've ever witnessed. The PHS Wildcats faced a 4A school in the first round of the playoffs. Creekview is a school with 2000 students (more than 2x the students at Paris High). Our fearless Wildcats faced the "giants" with determination & perseverance. The amazing defense (led by my own co-captain Lukie) held Creekview to 0-0 at the end of regulation. The score was still 0-0 at the end of two 10 minute overtimes. The game then went into a shootout where we lost 2-1. Such an amazing group of young men! Our hearts swelled with pride at their galliant efforts!
Luke and Lilly will be traveling to Austin on April 8 to compete at the state level for FPS. Lilly's team & their "Project Paris" project will also be traveling to Wisconsin in June for the International Competition. Lilly's so excited to meet kids from Japan and Austraila!

Duane, Parker & Tate enjoyed going to a WWE RAW Live performance on March 7th at the American Airline Center in Dallas. They had a FABULOUS time & got to see numerous wrestlers! Luke recently won an 800.00 Air Force Essay contest. He will receive his money at a banquet at Texas A & M Commerce on April 9. Parker had a fabulous ski trip during Spring Break. He flew to Denver to stay with Uncle Pat & Aunt Deena. Pat & Parker enjoyed skiing Beaver Creek & Breckenridge. They really enjoyed their special time together.

It's getting late & I want to get some pictures loaded, so I'll sign off for now. Enjoy the rest of March!!!

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011 8:00 AM

Happy Tuesday morning! It's SPRING BREAK for the Lewis familY!! We're all enjoying some much needed time at home to catch up our cleaning, organizing and just "general regrouping" to finish out the school year! Since my last post I celebrated my birthday in style! My mom made me her famous fried chicken and Lilly made me a beautiful fudge marble cake. I enjoyed spending the evening having dinner at my parents house (along with my brother Shawn & sis-in-law Robbin). I was spoiled to some new tennis shoes, purse and perfume and tons of Bath & Body works by Duane & the kids! Luke got me an awesome pair of Yellow Box flip flops for our upcoming cruise! My mom & Rick gave me a GIRL DAY OUT pedicure with she & Lilly. They also gave me some awesome Brighton add-on earrings! I've worn them every single day since I got them. Shawn and Robbin gave me a beautiful birthstone charm to add to my Brighton bracelet that my parents gave me for my birthday.



Tate & friends at his 2nd grade Valentine Party! Feb. 14, 2011


Tate, Kylie, Grace & Parker celebrate Valentine's Day 2011


SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2011 11:20 PM

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here's the video I promised! We had a great week followed by an even better weekend! Tate slowly began making progress in getting over his strep throat/tummy issues. The fatigue from running fever took him a few days to over come, but he seems to be back at 100 Nana Judy & Papa Dan visited us from New Mexico this weekend. We had a wonderful time! They got to see Luke and Parker play soccer on Friday night at the NEW Wildcat Stadium. Saturday was spent playing games, shopping, eating at La Familia and seeing the adorable movie "Gnomeo and Juliet" Such a great movie! It's really late and we have 6 days of school this week. Yes, unfortunately you read that correctly! We have to go to school on Saturday to make up for one of our snow days. Can you say BOOOOOO!!! As for my sweet Tate (who is always plenty tired by Thursdays), I'm going to let him go to school until 10:30 on Saturday to be counted present, and then his Daddy is going to come whisk him away for a fun & relaxing afternoon at home. Hope you have a great week! PLEASE sign our guestbook! Seriously, it's been like forever since we've heard from anyone. Is anyone really there??

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 4:20 PM







Hello faithful friends! We've had a very unusual few weeks. Since my last post we've missed 5 days of school because of icy/snowy weather. This has been a CRAZY winter for East Texas! We're usually lucky to have one snowfall a year that last for less than 24 hours before it's melted. We were actually quite thankful for the unexpected first 4 days that we had at home. Luke was recovering from a stomach virus and the hip injury that he received in a soccer game earlier in the season. This extra time at home allowed him to fully recover from those issues and he seems to be back to the old Luke. In fact, we just returned home from seeing him play in the first District soccer game of this season. They beat North Lamar 4-1.

Tate has been feeling pretty good, but yesterday began feeling really bad at school. He was pale, threw up and then late last night he began to run fever. I took him in to the pediatric clinic this morning and he was positive for strep throat, but negative for the flu. We've already picked up his antibiotics and he should be on the road to recovery soon! I'm so thankful that I took him on in today because I know that he doesn't want to miss his 2nd grade Valentine's party on Monday.

The kids all continue to be busy with LOTS of homework! Parker must constantly work on algebra and Spanish, while Anatomy & Physiology seems to be Luke's hardest class. Lilly is so organized! She always has alot of math homework, but stays on top of her work. Tate keeps us busy with needing to review spelling words each night, read a book and work on their weekly math take home papers.

Tate's REALLY looking forward to March 7. He'll be attending the WWE Live! show in Dallas at the American Airline Center with his daddy and big brother Parker. I know they're going to have a fabulous time.

Duane and Parker celebrated (ICY) birthdays last Tuesday! Parker thought it was really awesome that school was cancelled on his birthday. He got to not only miss school that day, but the following 3 days as well. We did manage to brave the bad roads and go out to eat at "The Cow" on Tuesday night. We then traveled over to Nana Cheryl and Poppa Rick's house where they had a Devil's Food Chocolate cake waiting. Parker LOVES this cake w/ homemade icing that my mom makes for him. Parker's big present this year is a ski trip to Colorado! He flies out of Dallas on March 17. He can't wait to go visit Uncle Pat and Aunt Deena & get in a couple of days of skiing while he's out there!

This month we celebrate CHD Awarness Month. I'm busy working on a video montage of each one of Tate's surgeries from the Norwood to his most recent pacemaker repair surgery.
I plan to post this TOMORROW, so please check back to see what life has been like for Tate during his hospital stays.

He's SO LUCKY to be an HLHS Survivor! I borrowed this from Maribeth Gillis' webpage "Half a Heart and Full of Life"

We continue to praise God for the blessings HE's given our family!

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family


SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2011 7:50 PM

Just another night in the Lewis household, but this was priceless and I wanted to remember it forever...

Parker says - "You absolutely have NO COMMON SENSE Lilly. It's ridiculous that you don't even know how to cook macaroni and cheese." Lilly - "It doesn't even matter Parker because I'm going to MARRY a pharmacist that knows how to COOK and CLEAN house!" (then she storms out of the kitchen & leaves Parker stirring the noodles) Good times, good times!
The noodles have finished boiling and Lilly shows up just in time to stir in the cheese BUT Parker won't let her & lectures her about just wanting to do the fun part, you'...re so lazy Lilly, nobody will ever marry you until you get your ears pinned, so on and so on. We then sit down for dinner and Duane asked Lilly to say the prayer. Her prayer goes something like this, "Dear God, thank you for helping us to be MOSTLY healthy, thank you for our food, please God help Luke's hip to get well soon so he can be stronger in soccer, please help us to make good grades in school, (AND THEN)....and God, we KNOW that sometimes we should be nicer to each other & that sometimes we say things we probably shouldn't say or do, SO PLEASE GOD help some of us to KNOW WHEN we should let others DO THINGS!!!!!!! ( I then had to bite my lip from totally laughing, I looked over at Duane, he looked at me and....we LOST IT!)

Parker, "You know Lilly, God doesn't really care if I let you STIR THE CHEESE, but way to totally try to catch him off guard by saying such nice things first!"

FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2011 8:36 AM

This has been a long week! Tate continued to have tummy problems off and on for 8 days. I was starting to really panic about it, but I was also having stomach issues. I spoke with a friend and she assured me that she and her three children had similar symptoms that lasted a full 2 weeks. So, THANKFULLY the past two days Tate hasn't complained even one bit about his stomach. My stomach has been fine the past two days too! So, we are finally feeling better, but our Luke tested postive for Type A influenza yesterday. He had been feeling kind of bad and then woke up with over a 102 degree temp. We're dosing him up with Tamiflu and we've started Tate on Tamiflu for preventative measures.

Otherwise we've had a great start to our new year, although this school week has seemed REALLY long. We're ALL ready for the weekend!

Here's a rap Tate wrote this week. I thought it was pretty good and wanted to share.

"I RAP LIKE A G-6 YA, YA
ALL THOSE GIRLS OUT THERE ARE JUST MESSING AROUND WITH MY NEW RAP.
IT'S RITE HERE SO YOU MUST BE PREPARED FOR THIS NITE IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG NIGHT.
I KNOW ALL MY PLANS IN LIFE NOW WOOD YOU LET ME BE FREE FOR MY LIFE IT'S JUST A STORY OF OF MINE I KEEP FOR MY LIFE IN MY BRAIN...THIS IS OVER BUT 1 LAST THING,
MY LIFE IS SPESHOLL TO ME!

Tate Christian Lewis, Age 8
Jan.5, 2011


Hope you have a great weekend!
F.R.O.G.,
Cheri and fammily

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2011 5:55 PM



We've had a wonderful year! A year full of good health, a great vacation, the kids made A's in school and God gave us much peace, joy and happiness. We really had a wonderful Christmas...TOO GOOD! I always feel somewhat guilty at how spoiled our kids are on Christmas. We really LOVE celebrating the birth of Jesus, and probably go overboard with the gift giving. This year Santa suprised Tate with lots of Tech Deck ramps, WWE wrestlers, Monster Trucks, Wii game, Toy Story movie and many other fun things! He also enjoyed a brand new bike from Nana Cheryl & Poppa Rick and new golf clubs from Nana Judy & Papa Dan. His favorite gift from us was a unique skateboard and accesories from Game Exchange (one of his favorite stores.) Lilly enjoyed lots of American Girl items, crafty stuff, Just Dance 2 for the Wii, a new Flat Iron from Dunkin' & Tee, cute Justice clothes, and lots of doll furniture, nailpolish, perfume, etc... Parker wanted a new personalized Puma Backpack, camo stuff, money from the Grandparents, a fancy putter from Dunkin' & Tee and an Epic 4G phone from Dad & Mom. Luke had a great Christmas too with a new PS3 from Santa, a high power fancy flashlight from Poppa Rick & Nana Cheryl, a GPS from Nana Judy and Papa Dan, LOTS of UTD items from us and a BIG surprise was a flat screen TV from Dunkin' and Tee which will serve as his Christmas and graduation gift!!! So, as you can see we had a wonderful Christmas! Blessings galore! I got a new Canon camera from Duane, he got boots from me,and we both got Epic 4G phones (just like Parkers).

We've really enjoyed being at home the last 2 weeks. In fact, I think we need just ONE MORE week at home and I might have this place "almost" organized! Duane is at the movie TRON in 3D w/ Parker, Lilly, Tate and Douglas Tsang right now. We've also seen True Grit & The Tourist at the movie theatre this week (both were GREAT movies.)

Today was the beginning of Luke's senior year in soccer. They had the annual alumni game at noon today in the new Wildcat Stadium. It's always so much fun seeing the former players come back to scrimmage the varsity soccer team. Luke's team won 6-2 in a FUN game! I especially liked all the crazy dance moves and antics from the alumni players. Happy times!

WE hope that God blesses you in 2011. We're anticipating good health, NO surgeries and a cruise in May to Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel, Mexico. My current New Year's goal is to get in shape and lose some weight before our fun trip.

Thanks for checking in with us. I haven't had anyone sign the guestbook since September (hint, hint)!! I have NO idea who still checks in with us...but we would SURE enjoy hearing from you!

Fully Relying on an AWESOME GOD,
Cheri and family


Saturday, December 25, 2010 6:55 AM

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!!






MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010 8:55 PM

Just wanted to quickly share a picture of a very happy and PROUD Tate! He finished all of his Christmas shopping and wrapping last night.




Tuesday, December 7, 2010 9:55 PM CDT

Is it seriously December? I can't believe that another year is almost to come to an end. We continue to be incredibly busy most every day of the week & our weekends are ALWAYS filled with family activities. Most recently Lilly & Tate were involved in the Paris Community Theatre production of "A Christmas Carol". I was SO proud of my precious Peppermint and Tiny Tim. The show was super cute and has kept us SUPER busy! Tate & Lilly are busy playing in an indoor soccer tournament for the next 2 weeks. This has been so much fun for Tate to be able to play soccer again. We opted to not allow him to play outdoor soccer due to the Texas heat (and the size of the large fields) This was a hard thing for Tate to accept, but we made a promise that when it was time for the indoor soccer season we would allow him to play. In case I've never mentioned it before, Tate is an OUTSTANDING little athlete. I truly believe that if he didn't have HLHS, he would be an incredible athlete. Most days we totally accept that athletics just was in God's plan for Tate, but on some days it still makes him very sad, and honestly it makes us sad to. I would totally be lying if I didn't admit this.

I enjoyed attending "UTD Scholar Day" with Luke on November 21. It was a really special for me to be able to tour the college campus with Luke, have lunch in the cafeteria with him and to be able to show at the Stonebriar Mall for his senior picture clothing. He really likes UTD and is hopeful that it will be his college home next year.

Lastly, Tate had 2 cavities filled yesterday at Dr. Spencer's office. Tate has been doing GREAT! He's only missed 1 day of school the entire school year and that was when he went to Dallas to see Dr. Kao.

The kids are all working VERY hard on their grades & are doing a great job in school. We are blessed with good kids that make wise choices in the lives. I pray that God will always protect them from the evils of this world.

Thanks for continuing to stop by our webpage. Christmas pictures will be posted in a week or so.

Much love to each of you.

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

Sunday, November 20, 2010 5:49 PM

We've been SO, SO, SO busy! I can't believe that within the next week we'll have a houseful of family for our Thanksgiving Holiday celebration. Keeping up with school & the MANY activities our kids are involved in has been keeping us happy (but tired) most of the time. Most recently we celebrated Cat Gut/Cheer Senior Night at the last home football game of the season.


We were also thrilled that Lilly won a big essay contest and won a $1000.00 US Savings Bond. The school had a BIG assembly to honor Lilly. She had no idea that she'd won & was shaking with excitement when her name was called. The school had notified us about a week before the assembly and wanted us to be there for the celebration. We waited in the opening to the auditorium until the read her name & then we all came out to surprise her! It was a WONDERFUL day!

November 9, 2010 Contact: Crockett Intermediate (from PISD Press Release)




Going green is paying off for Crockett Elementary School fifth-grader Lilly Elizabeth Lewis who has been
awarded a $1,000 United States Savings Bond as part of the 2010 Luminant Scholar Program.
“We’re embarking on another Luminant Scholar Program and excited to continue challenging fifth-graders to
look for innovative ways to protect our environment,” said Phil Wilson, senior vice president of public affairs at Luminant.
“It is our hope that this essay-writing competition will motivate students to make positive environmental changes in
their communities and to continue learning through the scholarships and grants we award.”
“If we can get everyone to do what Lilly wrote in her paper, we will be in good shape,” said Luminant Scholar
Representative Troy Sellers. In her essay, the fifth grader said the first place to start in efforts to protect the environment
is to start a “Heroes Club” in school to be heroes of the environment. “In this club, we could do many things, such as
going to the parks in our city and cleaning them once a month,” she wrote. “We could also encourage others to do the
same and to not litter in the parks. “
“We could also make a car pooling routine where we could all have our parents take turns taking us and picking
us up before and after school. This routine would be great if there were a lot of kids because then you wouldn’t have to
drive very often,” she said. “Heroes Club” could also encourage those who live closer to the school to walk, ride bikes or
any other activities to go to school that do not waste any energy.”
The fifth grader also talked about scheduling a day for the school to conserve electricity. “We could have a day
where we have the entire school try to not ride electric scooters, play on video games, computers or watch TV for the
whole day, she said. “This would save electricity and help the environment and we could prove to each other that if we
try we can do anything!”
Her action plan also called for encouraging others to buy recycled clothing, backpacks, lunch boxes, school supplies
and more to help save the environment. “With everyone joining together, we could make a difference in our environment
and SAVE OUR FUTURE!” she wrote. “This would take teamwork and effort, but with everyone working together
we could succeed in this goal.”
Lewis’ essay now advances in the Luminant Scholar contest to compete with winning entries from 30 districts
across the state. Three top winners will be selected, with $5,000 grand-prize Luminant grants awarded to their schools
which Paris ISD has won consecutively for two years. Grand-prize winners will be announced in December at the conclusion
of the program. Visit www.luminant.com or www.energyfutureholdings.com for additional information.







MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010 9:29 PM


Happy November everyone!
We've continued to have a very busy semester. The last time I updated was right before Tate's 6 month post-surgery visit with Dr. Kao in Dallas. My mom drove over with with me and Tate-Man on Oct. 22. Tate's appointment was GREAT this time! His blood pressure started out slightly elevated at 120/85, but it was checked later before we left the appointment and it was within a normal range. His EKG was completely normal (well, Tate's "normal" which will never be normal), his 02 levels was around 95, his ECHO looked great (very tiny leak on tricuspid valve) and the best news of all was that his batter is STILL showing that he has 10 years left on it!!! Yea for technology & autocapture features programmed into his pacemaker settings!

We had such a great Halloween! We absolutely love Halloween and we always enjoy taking our kids through our old neighborhood (Morningside) and then on to our own neighborhood where the kids love running around with the other neighbor kids & enjoy going through a Haunted House that one of our neighbors makes each year.

Luke, Lilly and Tate all made straight A's for the first six weeks of school. Parker was SO close, but barely missed an A in Spanish and Algebra. We're so blessed that our kids do so well in school.


We've been so excited to watch the Texas Rangers play in the 2010 World Series, but as I'm currently typing this they just lost in game 5 and are the runners-up in the World Series.

Tate & Lilly are busy with their last 4 weeks of rehearsals for "A Christmas Carol". Tate's not so sure he's enjoying his role as Tiny Tim, but I think he'll get more excited about it when the actual live performances begin.

Hope all is well with you and yours. Please take a moment to sign our guestbook.

With a thankful heart this Thanksgiving season,
Cheri and family
Matt. 17:20





WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2010 7:49 PM

Camping at Pat Mayse Lake
Oct. 16-17, 2010



October 2010 TEXAS vs. OU Day

We hope this finds everybody healthy and happy! We continue to be SO busy each day! Things are going great with the Lewis family and we're thankful for our friends that still come to Tate's webpage to visit us. I just realized today that Tate's officially 6 months out from his 5th heart surgery!! We THANK GOD for his continued blessings on our family. Tate is doing GREAT in school this year. He's in a talent pool class and just made straight A's on his report card.

Tate just went on his first camping trip last weekend with his Uncle Shawn & Aunt Robbin. He had a wonderful trip. He loved riding his bike around the lake, eating S'mores by the campfire (Uncle Shawn bought marshmallows that were the size of baseballs), playing "Ghost in the Graveyard", and even playing cards & sleeping in a tent with Parker and cousin Matt. On Sunday afternoon we drove out with Luke & Nana Cheryl and Poppa Rick. Shawn and Robbin treated us all to a hamburger cookout. It was REALLY beautiful at Pay Mayse Lake. Such a fun way to spend a beautiful Sunday.

Luke and Parker are busy with refing soccer games all day on Saturdays and in the afternoon on Sunday. They're so happy to be making their own money (and they're each making 100 dollars each weekend). Lilly is a BUSY girl! Lilly and Tate are both in the upcoming performance of Paris Community Theatre's "A Christmas Story". Tate will be playing the role of Tiny Tim and Lilly has a really cute part as a girl named Peppermint.
Lilly's having a great soccer year and she made Dynamic Drummers at school. They practice on Tuesday afernoons. She has soccer on Monday and Thursdays, Theatre on Wednesdays and Volleyball on Tues/Thursday at 5:30. We are SO busy! (Have I said that before?)
Parker is playing golf with the Paris High School JV golf team. They had their first tournament yesterday at the Paris Golf & Country Club. Parker loves golf and is getting better all the time.

Luke, Lilly and Tate all made straight A's for the six weeks and Parker would have made straight A's if he just didn't have to learn a foreign language, ya know? He missed an A by just a few points and plans to make that A the next six weeks.

Tate will be traveling to Dallas with me and Nana Cheryl on Friday. He will be having a full cardiac work-up. I will let you know how his appointment goes sometime over the weekend.
We also found out yesterday that he has some cavities that need some attention, so he will have the first one filled on November 10. There's a correlation between cavities and heart kiddos, so we have to stay on top of it at all times.

We hope you enjoy the beautiful Fall Days!

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family





THURSDAY, September 30, 2010 8:49 PM

We've had an EXTREMELY busy couple of weeks with trying to get back in "School Mode". I can honestly say that we're ALL SIX exhausted beyond words! I'll start off by saying that Tate is doing great in school. We are so proud of the academic progress that he's made over the summer. He's working hard and has matured so much. He's in a talent pool class and is on track to having a great school year.
Healthwise Tate has been doing great! In fact, he's doing so well that I backed his September appointment back to Oct. 22nd. We didn't start the school year until Sept. 7, so I hated for him (and me) to miss a day of school already, so we will see Dr. Kao next month.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 9:29 PM

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - 2010

Tate and Mrs. McFadden - 2nd grade

2nd GRADE can CERTAINLY WEAR A BOY OUT! (crashed in our bed after the first day of school)

We are off and going full speed with the new school year now 6 days behind us! Tate is LOVING school this year. His confidence in his academic abilities has grown leaps and bounds! Luke, Parker and Lilly are also enjoying school! Luke and Parker are at the brand new Paris High School which is just an amazing facility! IT IS HUGE!!! Lilly is thriving in her new intermediate school. It's a completely different pace for her, but she is LOVING it. That girl is all about being organized & loves the whole school scene. I've had a very good start to the school year although I must admit that teaching Kindergarten students does provide its challenges. WOW! They are busy, fearless little creatures!

This week is homecoming week for Paris High. We've been having special dress up days each day this week! What a fun week, but with it being the second week of school it's been a little crazy (but in a FUN kind of way).

Tate came down with a horrible upper respiratory virus the first weekend of the school year. He felt pretty crummy on the 2nd-4th days of school but is back at 100 Tate was scheduled to go see his cardiologist next week, but he's doing great right now so I'm going to back it up to mid October. I just hate for him to miss a day of school this early in the year, so I'm going to bump it back a few weeks.

Luke took his ACT in Hugo, Ok on Saturday. Duane and I drove him up for the test. He's feeling really confident that he did well. He scored a 31 the first time around and is hoping to do a little better this time.

Parker's enjoying playing on the high school golf team. He's new to the team and isn't officially on the team (yet) but he's practicing with the team & preparing for tryouts.

Duane is busy working, working like always! He saw his medical doctor this week for his yearly check-up, blood work, prescription refills, etc... He seems very happy with his job and loves seeing our kids so happy!

We are truly blessed each and every day that God gives us good health and happiness.

I'll update soon!
PLEASE sign our guestbook & thanks to those of you that do remember to sign for us sometimes.

Fully Relying on God,
Cheri and family

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010 5:49 PM

TATE the GREAT turns 8!!!!!

We had a FABULOUS time helping our AMAZING TATE celebrate his 8th birthday! Duane's parents drove in from New Mexico for a quick weekend visit with Duane's Granny. We met them on Friday night (after Duane got off work) at Medieval Times in Dallas. They actually purchased the tickets for all of the kids, but it just happened to be near Tate's birthday which made the day "all the sweeter"!! We really had a fun time being silly, yelling & cheering for our knight (the evil green knight) and just basically enjoying some great fun/family time! On Saturday we spent the day in Dallas shopping together, having lunch, and then Dan & Judy took Tate to Harbor Frieght Tools to shop for his birthday presents. Tate has ALWAYS been a collector! He collects Schleich Knights & Horses, Matchbox airplanes, Monster Trucks and NOW he has decided that he wants to start his own tool collection. We drove home to Paris and had only 30 minutes to spare before Tate's birthday party in Paris with family. We enjoyed dinner at "The Cow", lots of presents, and then he literally partied the night away!!!! I finally made him put up his new Itouch at 12:05 in the morning on August 22nd. He "milked" his birthday for ever last minute. Such an amazing little boy!

Healthwise Tate has had a WONDERFUL summer! In fact, my kids are always extremely healthy during the summer months. I love this break from the pediatrician's office and germ infested classrooms at school. Tate's next visit with our cardioloigst is on Sept. 21. We will have all of the usual work-ups: EKC, ECHOCARDIOGRAM, PACEMAKER CHECK, etc... We're anticipated ONLY good news from his next doctor's visit.

I will head back to work on Monday and our kids will start school this year on Sept. 7. They are LOVING having the extra 2 weeks of summer vacation. Paris has a brand new high school that was JUST completed this week! It has been an 18 month long project. The teachers are all getting moved/settled into their new classrooms and our entire district has a new "look". Lilly will now attend the "new" Crockett Intermediate School. I will miss her TERRIBLY! I loved having her stop into my room every day for her lunch money over the past few years. I didn't take that for granted, as every day last year when she would pop in with that big beautiful smile I would think to myself, "I'm going to MISS that girl next year"!
Tonight Duane and I will attend the PHS Wildcat Soccer parents meeting. I can't believe that we'll have 2 high school students this year!! Luke begins his senior year and Parker will be a freshman. They are so lucky to be able to attend the new high school together.

Thanks for always checking in on us. We LOVE our friends/family and are so extremely blessed to have you as our faithful prayer warriors.

I would ask that you help me in lifting up prayers for Traci & Mallory Shoemake. I previously posted about Steve's motorcycle accident. Steve passed away on August 12 (which was his daughter's 13th birthday) We love Traci & Mallory and would ask that you would lift them up in the days ahead as they move forward in a new chapter of their lives. They loved Steve SO VERY much!

Much love to EACH of you! Count your blessings each and everyday!!!

Fully Relying on God,
The Lewis family
Matt. 17:20

Saturday, August 21, 2010 11:49 PM


HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY to our precious, precious boy!!!! We love you Tate and are so thankful that God chose us to be your parents! You are an amazing little boy who has SUCH a LOVE OF LIFE! Your smile & zest for life puts a smile on our faces each and every day! WE LOVE YOU TATE CHRISTIAN LEWIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Hospital Information:

TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL - HOUSTON but currently
AT HOME: 5465 BRITTANY LANE
PARIS, TX 75462
cell phones (903)517-3950 & 517-3951

Links:

http://smilequilts.com/tate.html   TATE'S SMILE QUILT