Kiet's funeral...a year later

Almost one year ago Creekview High School lost a popular student named Kiet.  This is the message I shared at his funeral.  

I pray these words might help someone as we revisit this anniversary.

My name is Michael Cone and I am a US History teacher at Creekview.  As well I serve with the Young Life ministry here in Carrollton.  I am not a formal pastor but I love Jesus and I love the kids of this community.  I didn’t know Kiet super well but I knew him.  I knew him in the hallway smiling and being silly.  I knew him on the football field tackling much larger running backs, I knew him at Pep Rallies dancing and happy to show off.  Some might ask why I am up here if I didn’t know him well.  I am here because my heart is broken for this community, for this school for this family.  I may not have known Kiet well but I know you well. Many of you feel the same way.  You didn’t know Kiet but you know and love someone who is heartbroken over the loss of Kiet.  You feel compassion for your friends, your heart breaks as a parent, you mourn as a teacher.  Kiet touched your life whether you realized it or not.

Jesus himself mourned and wept over the loss of a friend.  In John 11 Jesus losses a good friend Lazarus

When Jesus saw them weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.  He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep.

Jesus who is God in the flesh, the creator or the universe, the All mighty, Our God who loves us so dearly that he gives us life and sustains us—also suffers with and for us

I have come to see the true miracle in this story is not only in the power of God to raise Lazarus from the dead—but the MIRACLE that the Almighty God of the Universe represented in Jesus mourns.  Just as Jesus suffers, just as Jesus weeps for Martha, Mary and all who loved Lazarus, so too does God mourn, suffer, and weep with us and for us when we suffer.

God knows the end of our story just as Jesus knew the end of Lazarus’ story.  But God not only gives us life and sustains us—He loves us so very much that he gave us his only son, Jesus.  And the true miracle in this is that we now know that God loves us so tenderly—so dearly—so completely that God suffers with us in our time of pain and loss!  God who knows the end of our story suffers with us too.

Gods love for us is the only way I have been able to make it through this week.  The ups and downs, the waves of emotions that have flooded over us.  Just when it seems to calm another wave of emotion comes crashing down.

I have used the analogy of being caught in the waves of the oceans with many of my students and friends over the last few days.    I would like to walk through some of those.  Friday morning before our worlds cracked open I saw the rise of the tides.  At the end of first period one of the coaches from across the hall asked me to cover his class as there was an emergency he needed to deal with.  My room was full of Wranglers preparing to load my car for the game Saturday, my phone was ringing as I was late to an ARD meeting and I kind of blew off coach in his moment of need…I see now the waters were churning.  When I came out of that meeting 45 minutes later the halls were rumbling slightly.  Mama Reese greeted me in tears and told me the news that would rock all of our worlds.  Kiet was dead and the waves came crashing down.  As I walked upstairs the district crisis team was assembling outside the office across from my room.  The waves were rising.  Kids were asking questions, the school had sent an email to the teachers but we were instructed to not talk about it yet…the storm and waves were raging inside but we had to appear if like they were not.  We had 15 minutes of reading time and I couldn’t focus…the word was beginning to get out on social media and just as a tsunami sucks the water out to sea before it comes crashing in I began to brace myself and pray desperately for our school.  The announcement for the football players and support groups was announced.  We hoped to tell them all together while surrounded with counselors who could help.  I tried to usher those kids out of my room calmly and not appear shakin but I was feeling like I am drowning as the waves crashed down.  Kids hear the news in the halls, sobs wail out, we are slammed by the waves.

As the students file into the auditorium many of them float in stunned silence.  As the information about Kiet is confirmed the wails of pain come crashing down again.  Waves of tears, heart ache, anger, confusion, shock.  Then a calm…then an amazing moment.  David Blough stands up and says If you want to pray please join me up front and an amazing sound of 200 plus students standing in unison.  I see our kids coming together.

That afternoon the community begins coming together, candles are collected, towels are printed with Kiet’s #9, pictures are printed and framed, and remembrances are planned.  As I stood at the sound table against the wall that night I could see the darkness begin to fill with light.  I thought it was awesome that 100 or so kids and parents had shown up to honor Kiet so I climbed on top of a garbage can to take a picture.  Much to my delight the sea of candles extended much, much further then I could have imagined…over 400 teammates, friends, parents, teachers, administrators and community members raised their hand to honor Kiet.  I see our Creekview community coming together.

Saturday morning football is rare here and I believe set up intentionally as God knew we wouldn’t be ready Friday night.  It was amazing and emotional to see thousands of Creekview fans dressed in red and wearing Kiet’s name, number and his quotes all across them.  Our opponents also honored Kiet with a beautiful giant poster, and wrist bands and ribbons.  I see our Carrollton Community coming together.

At the end of the game, after the victory, after the fight song, after the school song, after the team had already headed to the locker room, 2000 fans stood in silence.  Hands raised holding up the number 9…WOW!!!!!  I see our family coming together.

That may be the most amazing thing that comes from this tragedy.  People coming together.  I’ve watched students being kinder to one another, we were hugging and comforting each other and calm had come to the sea.  Students were selling things to raise money for the family.  People were eating a lot of Chick fil A and donations were pouring into the chase account to help the family honor Kiet. 

Monday Night we hosted a Young Life meeting for kids to share favorite memories about Kiet.  Over 100 kids and leaders shared about his smile, his laugh, his dancing, his Yeah Boy, his ability to pick up the ladies, his heart for his friends, his compassion for those who hurt and his love for life.  Kiet’s love for life and his pursuit to get the most life out of every day is what came across in story after story.  Almost like he knew he wouldn’t be on earth for a long time so he needed to get the most out of every day.

That is Jesus desire and goal for each of us.  To live life to the full.  John 10:10 finishes with Jesus saying I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.  Jesus wants us to get the most out of every day.  To live in a way that we never imagined with excitement and joy, with energy and passion.  That is how Kiet lived.

I want you who knew Kiet personally to think about a favorite moment with Kiet, a favorite memory of him seeking to get everything out of life.  And I want you to hold on to that moment. 

At the end of our time Monday night we had a giant wave come crashing.  A heartbroken friend shared about a choice he and Kiet had made the night Kiet died.  A poor choice that broke open our worlds.  That choice causes a lot of waves and a lot of confused feelings and a lot of anger.  But just as that was a choice Kiet made that night and a choice that friend made to share that night our choice is how we respond.  I challenge you to hold onto that favorite memory of Kiet’s and not onto the poor choice.  But I beg of you to remember how that poor choice ended up and how much hurt that caused you and to think about that when you have to make a similar choice to make.

The first part of John 10:10 says, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;  That thief is the evil one, the devil, Satan whatever you want to call him.  That evil one is the voice that sits on ALL of our shoulders and whispers into our ear.  The one that tells us we’re not good enough parents, that it’s our fault that Kiet died, that makes us feel like there is no hope.  That evil one is why death even exists.  But I’ve come to remind you that the second part of that verse is what Jesus promised.  That HE has come to give us life, LIFE TO THE FULL.

You have a choice here.  Do you want to believe the Evil one or the God of Heaven.  Do you want to attempt to get the most out of life following the hollow promises of this world or do you want the Life that Christ promised us?  Do you want to believe some theory or idea that some person made up on Facebook or do you want to believe the truth that has been promised to us over and over again for thousands and thousands of years.

Romans 8:28 tell us …we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him(Jesus)

Your choice is how you will respond.  Will you choose to follow God through Jesus Christ, will you choose to trust Him who promises that all things will work out as He planned?  I sure hope so.  That is the choice I made over 20 years ago, that is the choice I made that allows me to stand he and proclaim that this is hope even in death.  Maybe God is using Kiet’s death to reach you, to begin a relationship with you, to help you live Life to the full.  The choice is yours.

Isaiah 41:10

'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Psalm 30:5
     Crying may last for a night,
       but joy comes in the morning.

Romans 5:5 (New International Version)
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Helping Creekview America Heal

The last few weeks have been a tough time at Creekview High School.  We lost a senior, a freshman and two alumni in the last three weeks.  In that time God has called Cone to speak at two of the funerals and one of the candle light vigils.  As well he has done the best he can to minister to the families and love on his high school kids.  Today he "preached" the funeral for Trey and below are the words he shared. 

Please forgive any grammar errors.  Cone didn't have time to get Mrs. Stevens to proof read.

Fred Henry Pupenbroke the third.  Trey.  Trey was a caring brother to two beautiful sisters Tiffany and Stephanie.  A cherished son to Fred and Cheryl, a kind grandson, a dear cousin and a beloved friend to so many.  A leader and inspiration to all who knew him and a pain in the rear to his coaches, teachers and directors.  

Trey was one of the most kind and compassionate people you could meet.  While he was wildly popular amongst the mainstream kids his most enduring quality was his heart for those that didn’t always fit in.  His ability to reach out and make people feel special. A gift that Trey probably didn’t even realize he had.  I don’t believe he always did it intentionally, I think it just came natural.

So many people had a crush on Trey…both girls and guys.  So many girls wanted to be with him and so many of the guys wanted to be him.  Ashley Dowell wrote a beautiful blog about Trey and how she was dealing with his death.  She quoted her friend Kali “He was the guy that when you talked to him in the hallway, you ran and told your friends about it.”  She goes on to say “He was a vibrant person with a huge personality and an even bigger heart.  His eyes were the clearest blue and when he smiled; your heart couldn’t help but go crazy.  He was loud and always up to some sort of mischief but all the teachers laughed at his crazy shenanigans.”

Trey’s Shenanigans drove many of the adults in his world crazy but we almost always ended up laughing after the fact.  Whether it was embarrassing the tar out of Ms. Goldberg-Snyder by asking her to the Homecoming dance in front of her freshman English Class or stepping out of line at Graduation to give that same Ms. Goldberg-Snyder a hug, or ignoring Coach Laningham’s play call and asking the huddle what they want to run, Trey often walked to his own beat and did what he wanted to do.  I don’t believe he ever ignored directions or choose his own path out of spite or meanness but out of a Trey’s sense to make people smile or laugh.  He didn’t care about bending the rules if his hug or smile or joke would make someone feel special.  That was a gift of Trey that drove his coaches and teachers crazy but made those around him feel special.

I first met Trey through his sisters.  I had the privilege of teaching Tiffany back in the early 2000’s.  She then went to YL camp with us and I was able to know her deeper.  I believe she influenced both her sister to Stephanie to go to camp years later and Trey to go to Wyldlife camp (our Jr. High program).  I believe that decision impacted Trey’s life and more importantly his eternity.

When someone dies we often say things that attempt to bring us comfort.  God needed another angel, Trey is watching over us, we will see him again one day, this isn’t goodbye it’s see you later.  But how do we know this to be truth and not just a cliché?  I believe the bible reassures us of these truths.

1 John 5:11-13: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

John 11:25 “Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I remember years ago Sally Purdy telling me that Tiffany and Stephanie’s little brother went to Wyldlife camp and gave his life to the lord.  He prayed the prayer of salvation and he was forever connected to his heavenly father.  When I heard of his death on Friday God quickly brought back that memory and I am so thankful as it brings me so much joy, so much assurance. I know in my heart and believe with every fiber of my being that Trey is with Jesus. 

My hope is that you will see Trey again someday in Heaven…but I’ll be real honest with you.  It won’t just happen.  No matter how good of a person you believe you are or how much you love Trey you won’t see him in heaven unless you also commit your life to Christ.  I say this not to scare you, to say you should choose to follow Jesus simply because you will see Trey again…I say this so that you will seek out true life in Jesus Christ.

I don’t believe there could be a more amazing testimony that in Trey’s death YOU found life.   Think about that.  If through Trey’s death you found real, true LIFE.  I know he would desperately want that for you and I believe he would give up his life in an instant for you to have salvation.

Trey’s love for life and his pursuit to get the most life out of every day is what comes across in story after story.  Almost like he knew he wouldn’t be on earth for a long time so he needed to get the most out of every day.

That is Jesus desire and goal for each of us.  To live life to the full.  John 10:10 finishes with Jesus saying I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.  Jesus wants us to get the most out of every day.  To live in a way that we never imagined with excitement and joy, with energy and passion.

So if Trey sought to get the most out of life why did he die so young?  I have no answer for that question that will truly bring comfort.  Death is a horrible reality of the world we live in.   The bible tells us that when sin entered the world our time on earth would be limited.  Romans 6:23 clearly says that “the wages of sin is death…”,   I am not saying because Trey sinned he died.  I am quoting the bible that says because sin exists in the world all of us will die.  What I think would be even more tragic was if any of you continued physically living but died on the inside because of this.  So many of you are struggling with the why’s, the what if’s.  You are blaming yourself for something you had NO control over.  You are beating yourself up and dying on the inside and that is just how the evil one wants it.  The first part of John 10:10 explains that, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;  That thief is the evil one, the devil, Satan whatever you want to call him.  That evil one is the voice that sits on ALL of our shoulders and whispers into our ear.  The one that tells us we’re not good enough parents, that it’s our fault that Trey died, that makes us feel like there is no hope.  He wants to steal our hope, He wants to kill our love for life, He wants to destroy our worlds.  That evil one is why death even exists.  But I’ve come to remind you that the second part of that verse is what Jesus promised.  That HE has come to give us life, LIFE TO THE FULL. 

Romans 6:23 has a second part also.  While the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Eternal life in Jesus.  Paradise in Heaven…where I believe Trey already is.

You have a choice here.  Are you going to get consumed by the Evil one and die on the inside while pretending to live or are you willing to believe the God of Heaven, the creator of the universe, Jesus Christ God in the flesh who desperately wants to have a relationship with you and bring you REAL LIFE.  Do you want to attempt to get the most out of life following the hollow promises of this world or do you want the Life that Christ promised us?  Do you want to believe some theory or idea that some person made up on Facebook or do you want to believe the truth that has been promised to us over and over again for thousands and thousands of years.

Another cliché people throw out is everything happens for a reason.  I prefer the biblical view of this.  Romans 8:28 tells us …we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him(Jesus)

How will this work out for you? Will you find life in Trey’s death?  Will you choose to follow God through Jesus Christ, will you choose to trust Him who promises that all things will work out as He planned?  I sure hope so.  That is the choice I made over 20 years ago, that is the choice I made that allows me to stand here and proclaim that there is hope even in death.  Maybe your answer to why is that God is using Trey’s death to reach you, to begin a relationship with you, to help you live Life to the full.  

Isaiah 41:10
'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Psalm 30:5
     Crying may last for a night,
       but joy comes in the morning.

Romans 5:5 (New International Version)
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 15:13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Diastasis what?

Diastasis Recti...fancy words for split stomach muscles. After I had the twins I was doing a "test" to see if my stomach had gone back to normal after pregnancy. The test was to lie on the floor with my knees bent and to feel my stomach... I felt a hole. Umm ok, not healed yet, right? I/we go to the chiropractor regularly. When I told him, he winced and said, "Oooh, you have Diastasis Recti! You can work out all you want, but those muscles aren't going to grow back together on their own... you have to have surgery to fix that." What? Diastasis what? Are you kidding me? He also told me that it (my stomach muscles)is part of my core and if I don't fix the diastasis then I would be looking at back problems in the future. It makes sense, but really that sounded intense. He told me that I would want to wait until we were finished having children until I fixed it. I talked to my OB, she agreed that I had some damage and sent me to a plastic surgeon. I went to the plastic surgeon back in April and we set up an appointment for August. She couldn't do the surgery until I had baby #4, sweet Charlie. When I went to that first appt this was all an in the future, hypothetical surgery. The thought of getting a "Tummy tuck" sounded great, but after Charlie was born and I went in for my before surgery appt., I started to get nervous. I talked to a few people who had had the surgery done and they told me about the recovery. I started to reconsider having the surgery. I asked the surgeons opinion and she agreed that while Charlie was still so little and I could pick her up(and she was not walking around) that I should go ahead and have the surgery sooner than later. Our insurance was another reason why we decided to have this done sooner than later. :) August 31st was the day...the day for my new recovery to start. It was going to require a lot of counting on others, asking for help, and a lot of just being still. I had no idea the amount of pain that this was going to have. The surgery was four hours. They fixed the diastasis(I call it a big gap in my muscles, it was about 2 inches wide...a hole right down the middle of my stomach). This was considered a hernia surgery and then there was a bunch of extra skin (2 lbs to be exact) that they got rid of. The skin part was the part that was considered cosmetic and not covered by insurance. I could have gotten the muscle repaired, but not had the skin part done. Who wouldn't get that part fixed after getting the muscle fixed? I am surprised that I do feel a little better than I thought I would, but it still hurts a ton! My back hurts almost as much as my stomach. I walk hunched over because my muscles are so tight, this will loosen each day. In surgery they went in through my csection scar (6 in), but now it goes from hip to hip. They separated the skin from the muscle, then sewed up the muscles. Then they pulled ths skin down as tight as they could(so much that the skin that was above my belly button is now below my belly button). I am still on pain meds and can't pick up my little people, that's what hurts my heart. :( Thankfully we have awesome family and friends who are taking care of us. They said I can't pick up the twins or Ashlynn for 3wks after surgery, maybe more. It just depends on my healing and how I feel. I have someone helping me and our family 24/7, because I can't be left alone...since I can't pick anyone up. We have friends bringing us meals, people coming to clean our house, play with our children and just giving me time to rest. Its amazing how blessed we are. I am so thankful that I was able to have this surgery so soon, and that recovery has begun. I am ready to move on the next chapter in our lives. I have been pregnant my whole marriage (we got pregnant within the first 6months, but miscarried) I was either pregnant or miscarrying or recovering for the past 5 years. We are ready for our next phase of life. We are thankful for our trials that have made us stronger and for our children who have helped us love deeper. The Lord never promises that life will be easier just by trusting in Him, but I can't imagine doing it without Him. Thank you Jesus for all that you have given us!

Newborn pics

Here are some great pics from a friend who is getting into photography. She is one of our former Young Life girls and now a Young Life Leader with us. Check out some more of her pics here.

Charlie Grace

Now that she's 12days old I guess I can get around to blogging about our newest addition. :) I've been a little busy, so please forgive me... Here's the story of Charlie's birthday: My water started leaking somewhere around 3-4am. I decided not to freak out because I wasn't having any contractions and with Ashlynn I had a big "gush" and knew for sure that it was my water breaking. This time however it was a little different. I was certain I was leaking water, but didn't know how imperative it was that we go to the hospital right away. I decided to Google "How do you know the difference between amniotic fluid leak and just urine"... Mike woke up at some point and was like, "What are you doing?" I nonchalantly told him I thought my water was breaking, but no need to get up yet, I would let him know. I waited until 7ish to call the on call doctor. I described to her what I was experiencing and since we were having a c-section, she was still breech, did I need to hurry. She said it sounded like I was in labor and to go ahead to the hospital to "get the show on the road". We had our high school neighbor come over until Mike's parents could get here. The kids were all still sleeping, so we didn't want to disturb them. We got to the hospital, went straight to L&D and got admitted. They asked a ton of questions, did a litmus paper test to see if in fact it was amniotic fluid, and checked me the old fashioned way. :) I was not dilated and they could not say for sure that I was leaking amniotic fluid. My Dr. was on the floor with another patient, so she came to see me and said basically, you're not in labor, go home and we'll see you soon. I think I was in shock and didn't try to stick up for myself. So, embarrassingly we gathered our things and left. I felt so stupid and didn't want to tell anyone that we got sent home. We got something to eat and went to Mike's school to take care of some paperwork that needed to be notarized for daycare and faxing info to insurance. While I was standing there filling out papers, all of a sudden I had water everywhere, all the way through my pants to the floor. I calmly walked over to Mike and said, "This is not normal!" Went to the bathroom, got cleaned up and went to run another errand. This time getting out of the car I gushed again. Came home tried to call my Dr. to ask some unanswered questions and lay down. I decided to take a shower and when I couldn't stop the fluid that we were going to my Dr's office to have her personally check me. (I was supposed to have had an appt with her that morning anyway.) Mike dropped me off at the door, I told the receptionist what was going on and she said she could fit me in. I went into a room and described my day to the Dr. and she said alright let’s check you instead of just talking about it. I scooted to the end of the table and gush, she said, "Oh that's for sure your water, let’s get you upstairs" (she's located in the hospital). I just started crying again (and had been all day) and was so thankful that this was it and she was about to be here!!!! I just said, Thank you Jesus! We went back to the same L&D room. Everything that I had answered earlier sped up the process for me, so that was nice. Mike sent a text to the family letting them know that this was it and we would let them know when she was here. Charlie Grace was born on 7/26 at 7:07 and weighed 7lbs. 2oz. I think that 7 will be her "lucky number". Charlie is super sweet and a really good baby. She had jaundice really bad when we left the hospital and had to get checked again once we got home. I figured out that I was waking her to feed her every three hours and who really wants to do that? So, I figured I'd let her wake me in the middle of the night when she was hungry. So, I've been able to get a little more sleep that way...3hrs instead of 1 1/2-2hrs. It's the little things.... :) Ashlynn absolutely loves baby Charlie and asks to hold her every time she's awake and sometimes when she's not. She did not like me breastfeeding her! It was kinda funny, she kept sticking out her tongue like she was disgusted and saying, "No mommy, no mommy, don't let her eat you!" I tried so hard not to laugh. She's really cute and sweet with her though. The twins like her too, Isabell likes to go up and lean in to her as if to give her a hug and Owen likes to give her kisses. Thanks for all of the sweet emails, texts and calls. We feel very blessed during this cray time of change. If you want access to our Care Calendar send me a message, we would love to see you soon. :)

Added to Our Favs...

I added a new blog to our favs that I hope you can help pray for this sweet momma. Stevie was diagnosed with brain cancer about 2years ago, had brain surgery, went through treatments, in the middle of treatments found out she was blessed to be a mommy!, has been doing great, but recently had a routine follow up scan that showed some gray area. Had surgery to find out that it was a reoccurrence of the tumor, just met with her Dr. and it was not good news. It (Cancer-stage3) was beginning to come back and had some flares of stage 4 along with it. (I hope I didn't botch this up too bad, but wanted to kind of catch you up quickly) Anyway, please pray for her and her family. She has a great support system, she's a fighter and trusts in the Lord and His plan. She has even a great reason to fight now that she's a mommy! This May Mike was the DJ for the "Head for The Cure" in North Dallas for the second year in a row and I'm sure will be again next year. It was sad to hear the stories of lives lost due to brain cancer and the people that did not survive for this year’s race. We want to see Stevie back again next year and praising God that He is bigger than cancer and we need your prayers to help make that happen. Check out her blog, her sister Tyler is great at updating and explaining all that has been going on. Thanks for joining "Team Stevie" in prayer and if you see anyone wearing a pink t-shirt with black writing that says "Team Stevie", now you're in the know. :)

Counting down to Cuatro...

It was funny this week, my sweet friend Sandy asked that I help her in her countdown to the Olympics. She and her roommate Susan are heading to London and will get to see the Olympics live! Sandy has always loved the Olympics and this is an amazing opportunity, I am so excited for them. Anyway, Sandy is also a big scrap booker, so she is going to scrapbook about the Olympics. She has been counting down probably for at least a year now. :) She asked if we would be part of her countdown for her scrapbook. She wanted the whole family in a picture with 21days as the countdown. So, I had some great ideas, but my follow through lately is not exactly up to par with being 8 1/2 months pregnant. I forgot when we had some people here to have them take our picture, so figured that our 3 cute girls holding 21 would be good. Mike had a great idea to have one of us holding 2 kids for the 2 in 21 and the other holding 1 for the 1 in 21 and then have the pics side by side for the scrapbook. I really wanted to have an Olympic symbol~ the five colored rings and each of us holding one or at least a picture of the symbol. I failed at that. :( I know that it will make her scrapbook fun to have lots of friends holding countdown pics for her. I decided to post a picture on facebook, because that's what I do, but didn't put a caption with the picture. I just tagged Sandy and Susan in the pic and sent them a text letting them know that is was there. We started getting likes and comments about the countdown and that people were excited for us...ooops, forgot that we have our own little countdown going on until #4 gets here. I went to the Dr. on Friday and am 34 1/2 weeks, but measuring 35. Ashlynn came at 35 1/2wks and the twins came at 36wks. I really don't think that I am going to make it much past 36wks. I just don't think that my body can handle it. When I go back to the Dr. again I will have a sono to see where we are and make a plan, she didn't think that I would make it much past 36 either as I was leaving her office she said, "Assuming your still pregnant, I'll see you in 2 weeks". Everyone thinks that she should come now and part of me does too, but we want her to be healthy. As miserable as I am right now, I can suck it up a little bit longer to have a healthy baby. We had one of ours go to the NICU and really don't want to revisit there again. So, for now I will keep on smiling and keep on "cooking" this baby.