GJ georgia jewels at Coffee and Cones!

I am so excited to say I just put my jewelry in my fourth retail store, Coffee and Cones! It's an adorable local coffee shop owned by a local girl who is showcasing local artists. In addition to selling my jewelry, we are going to start a monthly "Girl's Night Out" and I am going to teach a class there to a group of girls who can sign up in the shop. Coffee, desserts, and jewelry... I'm there!

Happy Daddy's Day!

We spent Saturday at the lake and celebrated Daddy's Day a day early. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. "I'd rather be at the lake with my family than on a golf course anyday." That's what this daddy says. Thank you for being a Father who chooses to spend time with his family and places such a high priority on our time together. Thank you for playing with Abby and loving her in such a precious way. We love you. Happy Daddy's Day!

Jen's In...

Don's precious daughter, Jennifer, and her new husband, Daniel, came to town this weekend to spend Father's Day with us. They are two of the most precious people with full servant's hearts for the Lord and a ministry for teens. After a "little" persuasion, we got Jen out on the tube for a spin and she didn't even fall off!

Daniel on the tube!

I LOVE to see that "little boy" grin that comes onto every man's face when they get on the tube and start riding the wake. It's a pure expression of enjoyment that is precious. Of course in this picture, Daniel looks a bit more determined than full of glee! We had a great time with Jen and Daniel this weekend and can't wait to have them back again. We love you guys!

1... 2... 3... "I can't do it!"

OK, so here we are... on top of a dock and looking down into a lovely and inviting lake and thinking of jumping. "To jump or not to jump". Of course once I was up there, there was only one way down for me. I had, in fact, jumped a forty five foot cliff into the ocean in Cuba... I could handle this. After "trying" to jump for about three minutes... my hands were shaking. I wanted to go with every thing in me... my feet just wouldn't move. My heart was trying to work it's way out of my throat... but finally, I jumped.

SPLASH!

Yes, that is Abby's splash! Just seconds after I jumped... this girl was right on my heels... or head I should say! I did have time to swim away but we were floored at her MOXY! She actually went back up and jumped again! After a time of reflection, Don and I have actually decided not to allow her to do this anymore for now. It's so hard to really support her adventurous spirit... but keep her safe. I had very troubled thoughts about looking out my kitchen window and seeing her jump out of the top of a tree. So we are going to pull her back a bit and wait until next year.

Continued Praise!!!

Abby continues to do well and we believe she has remained seizure free for almost two weeks now! Thank you Lord for your grace, mercy, favor and touch! We are sleeping with her on a random basis now and so it is hard to say, for SURE, but we believe she has been sleeping well. We've just transitioned her back to her room to sleep and when Don is away on trips, she sleeps with me a few nights so I can get an idea of what's going on.

This has been really hard. Since December, she has been sleeping in our room so we could monitor the seizure activity. This can be stressful on a relationship. It's a move of faith and trust on my part to "let go" of her like this, but I believe it is the best thing for us all at this point. She usually cries and can't talk for a few minutes after having a seizure and so I am thinking if she has one, we'll know.

Prayers for God's hand to remain upon her, for our faith and trust to remain strong, and for wisdom in the decisions we constantly make for her are still and always appreciated.

The Slide!

We discovered this slide on our last visit and wasn't too sure it would hold any of us. After I went down and didn't topple the thing over, Abby was all about it. Since we were thrown out of the tube, our adventure girl has become fearless and this is now one of her favorite things to do at the lake!

Abby Boo and the beach

We just spent a week in Seaside, Florida... our favorite beach in the South. It's our third annual trip and we can't get over how much Abby grows in between visits.

The first time we took her, she didn't want to touch the sand and was on a horrible diet for seizures, choked on an avocado piece and we literally were screaming down the beach for a doctor. Luckily a nurse ran up and beat it out of her... she was already blue. Mercy... then last year she was way into the beach and doing much better. This year... she LOVES the sand and was jumping into the water and is ten feet tall!

UPDATE: We had a bad spell with her a few weeks ago after she had two seizures during the day. She'd not done that in over two years and so we just braced ourselves. We increased one of her glyconutrients from three to four a day to six. We also decreased her seizure meds because she was showing some hard side affects. So far, in the past three weeks, she's had only about two seizures. We are SO very thankful and continue to try and walk this path one day at a time.

She is loving the summer and starts her third session of swim lessons next week. She is already swimming with her face in the water so I am hopeful she'll be like a fish after this one... even though our FAVORITE swim instructor, Erin, has moved away.

Layin on a blanket in the grass...

Sunsets at the park

Seaside has an amazing park area where families gather at night for live music, plays, and sunsets. It was such a treat to go down each night and watch Abby meet new children and run and play with them. This night, she played with daddy and we had a spectacular sunset as a backdrop.

Nice hat...

This picture CRACKS me up! She put her shades and hat on at breakfast and was sitting next to me like this. I HAD to get a picture and of course she wanted to see. When she looked at the screen, she just stared at it for about 20 seconds... then she looked at me like, "What has happened to her!?". I thought I would fall off the stool laughing.