Happy Days @ Home!
So much to tell about Emily’s adventures since the last update! Where shall I start? Well, let’s see….Emily, Trey, Eddie & Dawn ventured to Morehead City for the Albacore Fishing Tournament Benefit for the Duke Children’s Hospital and Brain Tumor Foundation the weekend of 10/26. She & Trey both placed second in their division! You know how they love to fish so that was real exciting for them! They attended a really nice tournament dinner held at the Aquarium and really enjoyed that too. 
Neat place to dine with the “fishes”!
On Monday 10/29 Emily went to Duke for bloodwork while Eddie & Grandaddy loaded furniture and belongings from the apartment to return back home. It was kind of sad to tell their apartment neighbors good-bye, especially Mr. Tom! 
They’ll be sure to visit him when they go for appointments at Duke! Mr. Tom checked on Emily everyday while they’ve been living in Durham. It was a HAPPY TIME though, knowing that they are back “homie home” for good! 
Dr. G began Emily on another round of an oral chemo and wants her counts to come up more before trying the injection chemo protocol he’s thinking about. So, in about 4 weeks they may implant another port in her tummy and begin this type treatment. Looks like the time frame for that will be around the beginning of December and the approaching holidays. 
Emily and some neighborhood friends enjoyed a pre-Halloween gathering at the home of Donna & Kris on Sunday evening. They all enjoyed good food, kids playing games and parents dressed in costumes for the benefit of the children. There were kids, toys and games and food everywhere! Costumes of all sorts from pumpkins, football, witches, pirates and Emily & Trey’s parents made a handsome Cowboy & Cowgirl couple! I believe the parents had just as much fun as the children!
On Halloween Emily was delighted to go enjoy the Fall Festival at Barlow-Vista Baptist with all her church family. 
She greatly enjoyed this event and then topped the night off by returning home to ride the annual hayride around her neighborhood with all her friends trick-or-treating. That hayride was abuzz with children laughing and moms and dads giggling while riding an old fashioned hayride! Sometimes you just can’t take the kid out of Moms & Dads! 
They were all cute, kids and parents!
Yesterday, 11/3, the Hollis families all got together with cousin Myra & Jimmy Phillips for a fish fry in Swansboro on the river. The children all loved pulling Jimmy’s crab pots up from the dock and Trey was eager to pick a crab up and scare everybody! Nana even hung over the dock trying to pull a pot up for Shelby & Emily. I had the camera ready cause it sure looked like she was going to topple over headfirst into the cold water! We looked back to shore to see Emily’s Grandadddy Eddie Earl and great Uncles Durwood & EJ standing there snickering at our dock activities! We all had such a great time visiting and eating fresh spot and flounder and lots of other goodies. Emily was able to visit with all her Grandaddy’s brothers & sisters, Marie, Vernice, Durwood, EJ and her Great Great Aunt Dunnie, and many cousins that we don’t see very often. 
Too many to name!!!
Today Emily didn’t make it to church. She wasn’t feeling too good and was very tired. 
As you can read above, she’s been one busy girl. Pray that she gets rested up today and ready to conquer another week of quality play time and visits! 
Love,
Stephanie
“Nothing is ever too hard to do if your FAITH is STRONG and your PURPOSE is TRUE…So NEVER GIVE UP and NEVER STOP – Just journey on to the mountaintop!” — Helen Steiner Rice
