Please Pray

***update as of Friday, April 11th***

First of all, thank you so very much for all of your concerns and prayers for my Dad. I can certainly see them working in him. Praise God!!! I had a really nice visit with him last night, just the two of us, and he feels so extremely grateful to be alive. He knows that this was a major wake up call for him to make some major improvements in his life and to live life to the fullest. We talked about all the things he'd like to do now that he's been given a second chance at life, vacations he'd like to take, new ways of living, etc. It was great. I felt this awesome sense of thankfulness that I was able to be sitting by his side talking about our future. His amazing sense of humor was in full gear and all his nurses not only love him, but find his mood to be very refreshing compared to the typical mood of their patients. He certainly keeps them laughing! They moved him out of ICU yesterday and have been closely monitoring his care. If everything continues to go well, he may possibly be able to go home tomorrow afternoon. Gracie said she wants to bake him a cake (an all natural, organic, sugar free, whole wheat, flax seed, omega 3, healthy cake of course ; ) and hide to surprise him when he comes home. She said, "like a surprise party". So sweet!

As far as my Grandmother goes, we are hoping that in the next several weeks (possibly longer)she'll be able to come back home with the assistance of a full time nurse. If this happens, it will be a wonderful answer to my prayers. Deep down in my heart, I can hardly bare to think of her ending her life in a nursing home. I wouldn't want it that way and I'm certain that she doesn't either.

Thanks again for all the support and prayers that you've given my family. We certainly appreciate it!

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We got a phone call last night at midnight that my dad had been taken via ambulance to the hospital for a heart attack. After being mostly unconscious for an hour and a half due to the lack of blood flow to his brain the doctors were able to do a procedure to clear up the main blockage and get his heart pumping again. They said he barely made it. It was his main artery that had been blocked. They said had he not gotten to the hospital when he did, most likely it would of been too late. Josh stayed at the hospital along with Sam until 2:30 am until he was mostly in the clear. Sam is his dear girlfriend whom I love so much and am so thankful for the care she gave my dad to virtually save his life. Had she not been there, I can only imagine what would of happened. I will forever be grateful for her. As of this morning, he is still in ICU and they will not let visitors in to see him until 11am. We are waiting to hear from the doctors as of what their next step of care for him will be.

Also, my Grandmother (my Dad's mom) took another big fall while we were on our camping trip and broke her c0llar bone along with other injuries. Her mind has been slipping rapidly and the Dr.'s have hinted around at possibly diagnosing her with alzheimers . She is currently in a local nursing home and is so terribly sad to be there. My Grandfather just recently gave up his driver's licence so now he is going through his own battle of juggling this new sense of loss of independence. They both feel so distraught that they have been taken away from each other. They've said they feel like they were forced into an unwanted divorce. The Dr.'s have also hinted that they think that the nursing home could be a wise choice of full time residency for her which I cannot even imagine happening. They would only continue to grow sadder and sadder. I love my Grammy and Pop Pop more than words could ever say and it is so hard to see them go through this.

My dad has been totally consumed with his parents care right now that I think he felt he didn't have the time to worry about the chest pain he has been feeling these past several days. He's always been such a loving man that puts everyone else's needs first, and this is a prime example of that.

I ask that you please keep them in your prayers and I know that God will carry us through this difficult time.

Watch this cute video of this sweet little girl...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

Field Day

Colton had field day today with his school, Olivet Private School. I was in charge of the tug of war event which was quite entertaining. I couldn't believe how much thought the kids put into their strategies to help them win. Colton's team wound up winning this event for his age group so he was super excited. In the end, he came home with two first place blue ribbons, a purple participation ribbon and one proud mama. The encouragement and praise that was exchanged between the children was an awesome sight! I'm sure everyone who lives near the park was wondering what all the screaming and applauding was about as the kids and us moms got so pumped up during the awards ceremony! Thanks to my Aunt Joyce for taking such good care of Gracie and Fletch while Colton and I enjoyed this day together.

The project and an update...

So several of you have asked to see some pictures of our RV project. We still haven't completely finished every detail of the remodeling job, but for the most part, it's done. Here are a few photos...






Also, as far as housework goes (an update from the venting I did awhile back) things I guess are going a little better. I think so anyway. At least I feel more at peace about it. I still have constant housework to get caught up on but overall I have a much better sense about it than I did a few weeks ago. I haven't been letting it weigh me down as badly anyway. I still have my ever growing to-do list that I keep a close eye on and dream of the days I will be able to cross more things off. Today we are working on the boys room to get the rest of their bamboo hung up and their Poppy's long board hung from the ceiling. It's been one of the projects on my list for about 5 months now. I'll be glad to cross that one off just in time to make room for one more project : )


Fletcher has not been a great sleeper at night lately, I think ever since our camping trip, so that has been a bummer. He also has a runny nose so Josh says, "We can't let him cry it out, he doesn't feel good". I guess Fletch should be thankful that his Dad is a softy because I'm at the point where I feel like there is no reason he shouldn't be sleeping through the night at 1 1/2. It's easy for Josh to go get him and bring him into bed with us so the crying will stop and he can get some sleep, but it's me that has to deal with him wanting to nurse all night for comfort. Ugh!!! I know it's just a stage that we're at and it certainly won't last forever, but I love my sleep and desperately crave it. But thankfully for Fletch, I love him more.

Suwannee Springfest

So we are back from our trip (actually got back on Monday) and finally got our computer fixed yesterday. Just before leaving for our trip the backlight went out on our 3 month old Dell notebook so the only way to see anything on the screen was to shine a flashlight on it and look very closely. It was so frustrating being without a computer! I had no idea how much we relied on it. But now we're back in business so I'll share with you a little about our trip...

We went camping in our RV at the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak Florida for the Springfest which is a big Bluegrass festival. We had such a blast even after having a nightmare of troubles on the drive up. After putting on four new tires and a fuel filter later, we arrived safely and thankfully had a completely uneventful ride home. In the back of my mind I was somewhat expecting some troubles being that it was our first trip in the old RV. I knew there would be some kinks to work out and we certainly had our kinks. We camped next to my brother Brian, sister in law Kelly, and my two nieces Ava and Kaya and also our good friends Ken, Rhaina and their two children Eli and Rhen. At the fest there were so many amazing bands that played from morning till night (till 3 am on some nights)! We had so much fun dancing, relaxing on hammocks, having good times with family and friends, swimming in the Suwannee and the kids even got to go Kayaking with Uncle B! We were even able to work it out so the girls got a night out and the guys got a night out (well, actually they got two nights out but that's just usually how it goes for us girls ; ) The RV wound up working out so nice for us and we were so comfortable in our "home away from home". I told Josh my favorite part was being able to take hot showers in the morning. We were also blessed to enjoy four days of such beautiful weather! We enjoyed some nice cold mornings and evenings, perfect for relaxing around a fire, and warm sunshiny days perfect for enjoying the cold Suwannee River. Here are some pictures of our trip...

Boys, boys, boys!

Us at a Donna and the Buffalo concert. It was awesome!!!

Fletch enjoying the concert.

Josh and Gracie having fun dancing

Hoola hoop fun!

Gracie and Ava making a "grass cake"

Eli and Colton have been friends since they were 6 months old!

Our sweet girl relaxing and enjoying some bluegrass.

Fun in the cold.... Suwannee!

Crazy Uncle B. and Aunt Kelly.

Ring Around the Rosie...

"Way down upon the Suwannee River..."

Gracie and Rhen

Rhaina, Rhen and Fletch jammin' to the music.

Three silly girls on the hammock... Kaya, Rhen and Gracie

Nap time!

Notice all the bug bites!

It doesn't take this boy long to find the dirt!