Once Again...

My grandfather was in a car wreck this weekend and broke his neck. Yes, this is the grandfather who lost two of his daughters and his wife in the past eight months. He was air lifted to Erlanger in Chattanooga, TN. The situation is horrible... a joke... madness. That's all I will say for right now.

My mother is trying to get a lot of things done today and I just ask for you to lift her up in your prayers. She is almost sleep walking at this point. She needs energy, patience, comfort, strength, and guidance. Please pray God will open a door today and my grandfather will get the treatment he needs and the hospital will be held accountable for some HORRIBLE things they have done and for so much they haven't done! Thank you.

Please pray my grandfather will be brought closer to God during this time and that he will be given strength and a calmness in his spirit... he is literally about to lose his mind. And please pray for the rest of the family members who are just SPENT at this time.... they so need God's very hand upon them to renew them and walk with them during this time. Thank you all so much for your faithfulness in loving us and praying for us during this time. Much love to you all.

P.S. Today is my precious mother's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom. I love you so very much... I love you crazy.

Turtle Sadness Today

UGHHHHHH...........

Seriously, the sadness that overwhelms me on this rainy day is... crazy. It has brought me to tears and a lump remains in my chest and throat.

Yesterday, while driving Abby home from school, I passed a small turtle on the edge of the road. "Oh.... Abby, we need to help that little guy before he gets hit," I say as I cross the median to turn around and save my new little friend (as I often do for animals around the road).

When I approached him, he hadn't moved and I thought to myself, "What am I going to do if he is already dead... now my day is going to be ruined... why can't I just keep driving!" I reached down to pick him up and there were ants all under his belly. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... you poor baby." But as I picked him up, his little legs jutted out and a glimmer of hope surged through me. But then I turned him around and saw that his precious little neck and head was bleeding.

So this is when it hits... a rush of emotion that is not normal. I seriously started crying and was overcome with such grief that this little guy was just sitting here, dying slowly, all by himself. Since my car is in the road (with my flashers on) and my daughter has now climbed into the front seat for better viewing, I gently placed him in the grass and told him how sorry I was that I had not been able to help him, got into the car, and drove away.

Abby can see that I am upset and asks, "Did we crash the turtle Mommy?" "No," I answered, trying to stop crying for mercies sake, "Someone else hit him honey." So I started praying out loud, "God, thank you for the precious animals you have created and for their place in this beautiful world. My heart is saddened deeply for this precious turtle and I ask that you let him die right now and not suffer by the road any longer. Please allow him to come quickly to heaven to play with you and Lodie. Thank you Lord. Amen" Abby chimes in that she wants to call daddy and tell him the turtle died.

So I worry about that turtle all day, every time a pain seriously arises in my gut and throat. I managed to FORGET him until this morning when I was returning from taking Abby to school. As I passed the spot, I looked for him and he wasn't there. Animals must have gotten him last night. Mercy. Please God let him have been dead.... why does my mind do this!!!!!!!!!!

Then... oh yeah... then as I pull into my neighborhood this thought comes crashing into my mind... "Why didn't you take him to your vet Dawn!?!!!" GREAT... now on top of GREAT sadness for this turtle... GUILT... one of my great old friends... GUILT! Why in the world did I have to go there!? My vet is a wonderful man who has a love and compassion for animals that I have always greatly admired. He is wonderful and HE could have done SOMETHING for this precious little guy.

So that's my yesterday afternoon and this morning. Turtle Sadness suffocating any joy I am feeling from feeling better. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I have come to a new understanding just recently why possibly I feel and respond to these situations in such a manner. Of course, I think it comes from my childhood. After my parents divorced, I lived in Alabama on my grandparent's farm. Although there were wonderful things on this farm like baby chickens, apple and cherry trees and weeping willows to play under, it was a dark place to me. Animals were raised and killed there. This tormented me as a child.

We had a chicken house and this is where many of these feelings started seeding themselves in my soul... I think. The big truck would come with thousands (maybe just hundreds... I don't know I was like twelve) of precious, tiny, fuzzy, and yellow baby chickens. They swarmed the freshly cedar lined ground of our very long chicken house and just ran around and chirped. To catch one was easy. Then in my hand, I would hold this tiny, soft, warm and fragile little baby chicken who would look at me and chirp.

The first day, they were all safe. The second day, things changed and they were in danger. I knew what my grandfather was doing as he walked up the road with his large white bucket swinging in his hand. I had seen it before and been horrified to my core. He would open the door to the chicken house, step inside and close it behind him. As I watched him disappear from the my spot in the kitchen window, emotions or anger and disdain would start creeping into my throat as I envisioned his steps.

Walking slowly up and down the length of the chicken house, the baby chicks would scamper away from his feet. If one moved too slowly, limped, or dared not move at all, he'd bend down, pick it up, bang it on the ground to kill it and toss it in the bucket.

I had the terrible job of washing the feeders in the chicken house with ammonia water. The first time I saw him do this, I thought I was going to explode. He was a great authority figure and you didn't talk back to him or even look at him funny. I marched over to my aunt, who washed feeders with me, and asked if she saw what he was doing! "Yes, Dawn," she replied, "He has to do that so any sick chickens don't infect the rest." She was fine with it. My anger surged even more. What was wrong with these people? Who can just pick up a baby chicken and smash it into the ground without even flinching!?

I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed that day as I watched my grandfather add to his bucket. "What if some were just tired," I thought. What if they could get better if just given some time...? I mean it's crowded in here. What if they just weren't afraid of him and that's why they didn't run away!?

Bitter thoughts about my grandfather, paw paw, filled me and I felt he was detached, inhumane, thoughtless, uncaring, and just plane horrible. In addition, I was a child and I was helpless. With all my might I wanted to march up to him and yell at him what I thought, but I could not. So inside it remained... and grew.

When men from the church came to slaughter the hog, these feelings grew. I'll leave out details that made this event even worse. When my grandfather tried to get to me to hack off a chicken's head, these feelings grew. When the large chicken truck came back to get the chickens that we had fed and taken care of and take them to be slaughtered, these feeling grew. I'd cry as they were stuffed into crates and taken down the road, helpless, on the way to the death with no options, no choice, no chance.

So... this is why I HATE hunting and think it is ridiculous that men get a jolly out of tricking animals, tracking them down and killing them... sport... please... go bowling for crying out loud. This is why I let most bugs go out of the house... most. This is why I stop on the side of the road and try to save a turtle, take a bird to a shelter that I have found in a parking lot, and once tried to hide and save a baby chick in the basement of my grandparent's farmhouse. This is why I am saddened so deeply today about this turtle. This is why I am on the verge of becoming vegetarian. And this is why I need some serious counseling!

Our Timing, God's Timing, Life's Timing

Saturday night, just before 8 p.m., we received a call about a baby girl we'd just found out was available the day before. Don had just seen her picture that morning and we'd not really been able to talk about it fully... or pray. After answering the call, we were asked to make a moment's decision to commit to flying out to the West Coast on the first flight in the morning to meet and possibly adopt this child.

Our minds were racing. If we made this commitment, the mother wanted a conference call with us in 15 minutes. The room swirled as there were various issues to discuss. How long would we be there, what would we do with the dog, how long would Abby miss school, could my mom come down and Don and Abby fly back here after a few days while I stayed and finished the legalities and paperwork, was she too young, and yes... can I, should I be traveling when I was still recovering from surgery? Why was it happening so fast? Was it the right decision? This was/is what we have been wanting... why now... why not just five or six days later when I am more healed and when we could have time to talk and pray?

Needless to say, it was horrible. The moment was full of panic and stress and this unseen force of... something... something that didn't seem right. I had asked, pleaded for five minutes with my husband before we made the decision and so I called back to say that we just couldn't do it... not like this... not now... this very moment and hour. It was horrible. Just horrible. And so, I write this to ask for your prayers in our walk, wait, and journey to find and be available to the child God wants us to love for Him, for the child that Abby asks for every day and prays for every night, and for the wisdom and eyes to see when it is HIS leading.

As I sat on my bed that night in tears, I realized that if we had said yes, we'd be scrambling to pack, making arraignments for the dog and getting little sleep before morning came. I thought about her sleeping in her bed at that moment, having no idea how our worlds had just brushed each other so closely... yet not really touched. I prayed for God to raise up the family that could meet that demand and be there for her.

I don't know if someone was found that night. I do believe God has a plan for her and is taking care of her. And I do feel more peace each day in knowing that I could have not traveled that day... or the next... maybe today. But I do know if that situation was truly our situation... it would have waited for a mommy to heal. I find comfort in that and continue to wait for another phone call.

Out of Touch...

Oh where do I begin? I had surgery last week and no, there are no pictures. Actually, at my post-op on Friday, there will be pictures of my insides... that is blog worthy if I ever say so! My husband's eyes still bug out when he tries to tell me about them, as he got to see them while I was knocked out! "It's not dark at all... it's like walking into a fully lit room!" he exclaimed. Don exclaiming anything is exciting. "What!?" I ask... not following. "It's like right there and all lit up and stuff... you wait... you wait until you see," he assures me.

Well, all laughing aside, today is a good day. I am still convinced that they pulled my belly button up over my head while I was under. Either that or a nurse tripped and fell to the floor with half of it in her hands.... if only it were Grey's Anatomy! They found and removed endometriosis and so I am hoping for a much less painful life now! A biopsy of my uterous came back normal too and so there is a small to medium chance that I could have a pregnancy that goes full term. Although this is what I am told... I do not count, wish, hope for it... that would be a bonus... a miracle bonus. Just better health is what I am clinging to... so we'll see. For now... I am just mending.

Homework Girl

As of now, we are excited about homework and are finding a routine that works. We're doing half after she gets home and has a snack and the other half before bed. It's so hard to make her sit down and work after being at school all day. Plus I know her brain is just so tired. So I am hoping this will work for her and us!

Today she had a math sheet and a color key sheet. She worked very hard and I was/am very impressed with the great job coloring she has done and how well she stayed in the lines. This one (post) really is for Abby and Grammy... so hang in there with me!

Even though she wanted to skip the bricks... she got a second wind and finished the sheet! She also did a great job matching the colors to the key!

I had the hardest time getting her to put it back in her folder to go to school tomorrow... she wants to keep it on the fridge. I see the future of my fridge becoming very colorful again... and I love it!! I'm ordering new magnets for her off etsy to hang her new work with!

SIDE NOTE: On a side note... I have the photo editing blues! Don slicked our hard drive this weekend and I lost my photo editing software only to find it's been discontinued! So my pictures look horrible! Oh the difference good software makes! Ughhh... so hopefully after shopping around I can find a new one and get my pics back to looking good.

First Day of First Grade!

What a blessing it is to see our precious one start first grade! She was so excited and a tad nervous. I was more nervous for her this year than before! I followed her schedule at home all day and prayed her through all her activities!

I was sad for her because she had a seizure at 5 a.m. and so she was still a bit droggy and aprehensive when I dropped her off. But when I picked her up she was happy and chipper and thrilled about her first day!

She has a very sweet teacher and we are very excited about the amount of help she is getting this year with her work. We are also hopeful that she will be able to learn better as we are in the process of tapering down her topamax (one of her three seizure meds). We are convinced her very high levels are to blame for her inability to retain and process information. We have researched the side affects online and are saddened to see that adults on 75 mg can't function properly... she's been on 245 mg a day along with THREE OTHERS! MERCY.

It's so hard to balance her quality of life with seizure control and the amount of medication she is on. We want her to be able to learn and develop yet we HAVE to keep the seizures away... so, your prayers, as always, are appreciated as we increase her Keppra levels and decrease her Topamax. She has had several seizures this month already and so we remain on our knees and wait to see what happens.

We'll keep you updated.

Drivin Down the Highway...

In Huntsville earlier this week, I had some good time with David and Cynthia. I really enjoying spending time with them. The air conditioner in my CRV conked out Saturday and so I had to take the convertible on our trip to Sharon's funeral. Of course David and Neener thought that was great and we put the top down and had some fun on the way back to the hotel after dinner one night.

I have made several trips to Huntsville lately and have been so struck with how beautiful the drive is... they don't call her "Alabama the Beautiful" for nothing!

The state has held so many bad memories for me, it's been refreshing to see her in a new and grown up light! The cliffs and mountains and lush green trees are just beautiful.

This has been a year for funerals for my family. I am still kinda in a daze at how much has happened so quickly with my mom loosing two sisters and her mother in less than eight months. Abby was more upset about Sharon's funeral than any of the past two. I think it's because we were just there visiting her. She was really upset about the idea of putting her in the ground. I tried to explain the idea of a soul and it's separation from the body but bless her heart, she just couldn't really grasp it. So we skipped the graveside service on this one to give her more time to understand that Sharon wasn't really being put into the ground.

Life is so precious and can be so very short. It strikes you deep inside how final death is. But there is a wonderful peace that overshadows it all when you know the departed are in heaven with their Father. I couldn't stop smiling on the way there. Just thinking about her in the GLORY of heaven, walking with the Holy Spirit and in the glow of the Son of God and in the very presence of God Himself... I could not be happier for her. What amazing things she has beheld already. What beautiful and unthinkable music she is hearing from the angels. It is hard to really grasp the thought of what heaven truly is like.

Dancing with the Lord Himself!

My aunt Sharon went to dance with the Lord last Saturday, August 2. I am so thankful she did not have to suffer with the brain tumors... it was very quick. She had such a hard life, I can only smile to think of how BLISSFUL happy she has to be right now in the presence of her Lord and King, whom she loved so much.

My continued prayers go out to her daughters, Candi and Jaime... to her precious grandchildren... and to her best and faithful, loving, and precious friend Sandy. And also to my mom and my aunt Cynthia... may the Lord cover you all with peaceful healing and divine comfort.

Life Keeps Coming...

I wish I could write something funny and light, seriously, I do... but the mood is so far gone! Life is running at me hard right now and I am so very very tired. We took a few days last week to sneak away to our lake house and it was much needed and appreciated... although the peace was short lived.

Abby had two seizures this morning that confirmed my suspicion she had one a couple nights ago... and so up again we go on one of her drugs to try and stop them. You see, seizures are tricky little creatures... that's how I see them. The longer she goes without having one... the harder it is for her to have one. Once they start breaking through... it's like they remember how to do it or the path they took and she can have another one easier... so I actually see them as visual little creatures of havoc. I hate them.

On top of that, in addition to the various heavy family issues... I went to the girlie doctor today. I have had two episodes of what I think are ovarian cysts rupturing and have been in some pretty hefty pain. My last episode was this past Saturday night that has left me in pain since. So today I was told I need to have surgery... soon... to check some things out and to see if I have endometriosis. I have been having issues since I was about 16 and so I am ready... I am ready for the next step and hopefully some answers and relief.

So that's the latest in a small nutshell... I will attempt to leave on a lighter note. Having looked at some of my friends blogs that include much more fun than mine (hmm hmm... Teecy), I have decided to add a little list of ten things you may not know about me (or care to know) to try and lighten things up.

1.) As a child, half my bed was in the closet to give me more floor space to play on in my room!

2.) My first kiss was in the 8th grade behind some bushes in his yard (he was a neighbor).

3.) I love frosties with hot salty french fries.

4.) I have written a couple of children's books that have not been published.

5.) I love to watch golf on television... and college football and basketball.

6.) I love storms. I think they are a personification of God's awesome power and beauty.

7.) I love dogs and really do not care for most cats.

8.) I used to have to clean feeders in a chicken house on my grandparent's farm when I was a child with bleach water... may have something to do with my fertility issues! ha

9.) I get passionately angry about things I do not agree with like abortion and taxes!

10.) I spent two summers in Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) as a kid before it became a compound and it was two of the coolest summers of my life!

There... see... everything is not so bad!

Let us Rejoice!

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalm 118:24

In the midst of the pain my family is walking through, there is great joy in this past year of health that Abby has been so graciously given! We celebrated her 7th birthday this past weekend with a big birthday celebration!

In Huntsville, we got to spend some time with aunt Cynthia and uncle Hoyt (Floyd! :0). After visiting Sharon, we went to dinner with them and Abby had some pre-birthday celebration with a present and some carmel pie! I'm not sure what she liked better, "Happy Feet" or the pie! Thank you aunt Cynthia and uncle Hoyt! WE LOVE YOU!

After spending the night in the Hotel with Grammy, we made our way back home Friday in time for Abby's birthday dinner celebration at her favorite restaurant, Thai Spice, and back to the house for some more presents!

Saturday we had a fun party with lots of wonderful friends! Fun and photos to follow soon.

Adoption Update

We received some news that has led us to feel this last situation is not for our family. It has been very hard to come to this decision but we have a peace that God is in control and that we are making the right decision. We continue to wait and now have two more children to pray for... it was a sibling group.

Call upon the Lord... and He will answer...

Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. ~Psalm 69:16-17

Life can come at you so quicky that you are left standing breathless and trying to feel your feet on the ground. You know that God is good and your faith is strong and yet you feel such a void in the inner most part of your soul that it chokes you. It is in these times that you must fall into the arms of the Lord with every ounce of trust you can and lie still.

My heart is breaking to see my aunt Sharon become consumed with cancer. Her physical body is being taken quickly and people who love her are watching with a helplessness that can't be put into words. It is happening so quickly.

My mom flew into Huntsville last Thursday and Abby and I met her there to go spend some time with Sharon. Her daughter Candi is taking care of her with strength and grace that only comes as a gift from our Father Himself in times likes this. I pray He continues to keep His hand upon her.

I am blessed to have so many prayer warriors in my life. I ask you to pray for Sharon. My prayer is that she does not have to suffer long and can be in the arms of her Lord and Savior soon. I pray she will be filled with love and comfort from the Holy Spirit and that she is covered with a precious blanket of peace. Please remember her daughters, Candi and Jamie, as well... her sisters, Cynthia and Debora, and her precious friend Sandy. Thank you all so much.

Adoption and Prayer Requests

Several of you have been asking about our adoption process. We are now considering a third situation and we need prayers from our friends. I do not want to share any specifics now as it is personal and just a huge life decision, but I do request prayers. God knows the issues we are weighing and bringing before Him and asking His guidance on and I do believe so fully in the power of prayer. So my little prayer warriors... very special and dear friends... hit your knees and ask God to clearly guide and show us what He wants for us. I pray for open and close doors as He has done before. Thank you all so very much. Your friendships mean so much to us.

I do also ask for prayers for my aunt Sharon. My mom's sister is very ill and her brain tumors have gone from four to six. She is not doing well at all. Abby and I are meeting my mom in Huntsville this week to spend some time with her and the family. Please also pray for her two daughters who are taking care of her. I pray for strength, courage, hope, peace, and strong faith for them all during this time. Thank you so much.

Abby is almost at two weeks seizure free again. We praise God for His faithfulness, mercy, and love! She will be seven years old this weekend and we are having a blowout party to celebrate her health and life! We are all so excited!

Barbie Makeovers!

My, my, my... these girls needed help! I do not promote bleach blonde ideals and so I am surprised it took me this long to give these girls a whack!

Abby actually came to me this morning and asked me to give one of them a hair cut. I happily agreed that this was a good idea and she went and got the rest! So, while she napped (didn't want her to watch and become scissor happy) the girls went to the spa. The funny thing is... I loved it. I may have just found another hobby... Barbie Spa. You can drop your Barbie off and run errands and when you return... she will be all hip and modern... no Pam Anderson wanna be around here!

I found myself looking at the way their hair was connected and coming up with their style. Then they all three had to be different. I knew I wanted one super short and so I did her second. She's my favorite, of course, and I chose the one with little pearl earrings so they would show up! Yeah...seriously... and then I gave the third one layers. I thought about bangs but the way it comes out of their head is pretty much straight up so I thought that would be a nightmare!

So she got some wispy long bangs that kinda fly out on the sides! (laughing hysterically)

So it is very clear to see that I had way too much fun playing the Barbies while Abby napped. She came downstairs just now and is thrilled with their hair. She's looking for others for me to cut! You will notice that the Barbies are naked. That is because most six year olds can only undress them and can't bend them enough to get the tiny clothes back on them! This is one of the reasons I loved the magnetic polly pocket clothes than then in turn made children ill and even die when they ate them... mercy. We are cursed with dolls that can't be dressed. So... I decided that they needed to have a photo of themselves dressed... for all our sakes as well... and so here they are... the three Barbies with their new looks!

Call me for an appointment... space limited!

One of the best books ever...

"An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself fully as if there were no others." --- A. W. Tozer from The Shack

I love to read. I love a book that I can't put down. I love a book that haunts me, calls me back, and leaves me wanting to reread it again. I love a book that changes me.

The Shack is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Young is a brilliant writer and I can't help to think the Holy Spirit itself has left fingerprints on this piece.

The way Young personifies the Trinity is so intimately personal and real... just as they are. The way he describes certain scenes is almost like getting a glimpse of heaven... or having your "eyes touched and healed" for just a moment.

I devoured it in two days and now I am going back to reread it. There are parts I am going back to to savour and pray about. I am also making my list of people to send it to as a gift. So I say to you... READ IT, READ IT, READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fourth of July Festivities...

The Fourth of July is always a fun holiday for us. We had our second annual pancake breakfast with friends who gather at our house to watch the parade pass around the corner! I was half asleep and didn't take any photos!

After cakes in the cul-de-sac... we caravan on our golf carts to the corner where we watch a "Hometown Parade" with the perfect blend of Patriotism, local advertising, free samples and coupons, and cheese factor!

After the parade there is some down time before we have friends over again for a little cook out. I was BUSY fighting the brigade of flying critters to take any photos of that gathering as well! Then after we have our fill of burgers, dogs, steamed corn on the cob, fresh fruit, and Angie's amazing fruit pie... we caravan on our carts around another corner to the lake to watch fireworks! This year we had the amazing and much appreciated gift of a gentle breeze! It was great and the fireworks were spectacular over the lake!

We love to gather with our friends and share life. It makes me very sad for SO MANY who are in foreign lands fighting wars right now. My heart goes out to them and their families as they sacrifice so much for this country and what she stands for... I pray for their safety and that they all return home soon... and I say "Thank You".

One Week Celebration!

Praise God for one week now with no seizures!

"I shall say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Psalm 91:2

Abby's "First" PB & J

Well, not the first she has eatten... of course... but the first she has made all by herself! When I asked her if she would like to make us sandwiches for lunch, she responded with much excitement, "Do I get to use a knife!?" That was the highlight! But here she is... making our lunch all by herself and loving every moment of it! We had been at her Brain Balance evaluation that morning and one of the questions she was asked was to explain the steps to making a PB & J. That type of processing is very hard for her and I was thinking that if she had actually made one, she'd have a better thought process of how to do it!

She was just giggling as she put the knife in the peanut butter jar... it was so cute. She was spreading the peanut butter on the same side with the jelly and I explained to her they each had a side... "Oh... sorry, that's my fault," she replied! But you know... who says they can't both be on both sides!

She added our carrots, our pickle and our chips to the plate and walked them to the table with a very wide and TOOTHLESS smile of self satisfaction! I love it!

Speaking of satisfaction... we are now at six nights seizure free! We are thrilled to have several nights and are looking to make the one week mark tonight! We only had to go back up to .75 mg on the medication we had decreased from 1.5 mg and so if we can hold here... that's better than we were! She wakes up each morning and we shout, "We praise you Jesus for no seizures!"... very sweet... I do believe the King of Kings does smile at that moment!

We did some worksheets today during our "school time" today and was blown away to just watch her trace a number and then write it three more times without tracing! It was great and she was so proud! She also finished a color key sheet by herself and knocked out a pattern worksheet... getting them all correct!

Blessed... blessed... blessed!

Our Precious Abigail Grace


This little smile brings so much pure and full joy to my inner most soul. We are running through our summer in rapid fashion! Abby has already finished one week of swimming lessons, has finished her first round of brain balance and finishes her evals tomorrow, has been to Poppy and Grammy's for a week and a half and is now going back for the Annual Family Reunion this weekend! She continues to grow like a weed and I am amazed sometimes with how grown up she can look and sound. One of her new things to say when you ask her a question is, "Oh... ok... sure!" It sounds so grown! We have seen much improvement in her processing abilities and her expression. Up until yesterday morning, we'd been seizure free for over 5 and a half months. Sadly, she had one yesterday morning but not last night or today and so we press forward and remain on our knees before the Lord for His mercy and continued healing.
So she has another round of swimming lessons when we get back. Look at her go! This girl was free style swimming on her second day in the pool with her wonderful instructor Ms. Grace! She loves it and is turning into a little fish!
Please pray God will keep the seizures away with His mighty and powerful hand! Thank you and be blessed!

Celebrating with David... aka "Brazie"

I am going to have to do this in bits. I am trying to catch up on life after being gone for almost a week and a half! We just returned from Virginia where we celebrated David's 18th birthday on June 1st and his graduation on June 5th! My mind still hurts to think my little Brazie is all grown and heading off to college! It is definately an "I feel so old" moment... I am having more and more of those. (sigh)

I am so proud of my youngest brother. He just totally is one of the coolest guys I know. He is smart, funny, talented, thoughtful, kind, funny, God loving, adorable... and ... did I mention funny yet?

My parents had a huge party for him on the 1st and it was wonderful to see him with his friends and surrounded by so many people who love him. Especially since his "thoughtless" girlfriend of nine months dumped him just days before his festivities!

Had to get that big sister vent in! He's hopefully getting a really cool job for the summer (should find out anytime) and then will be heading off to Liberty in the Fall. Hurts my brain... badly!

So we combined these events with a much needed vacation trip. I miss my family so very much. We are so blessed to be close and it is very difficult to the be only one not living there. Epecially now that there are three grandchildren. I am missing my two nephews grown up and they are missing Abby... sniffles... sigh... moment... ok, all better now.

My beautiful sister has some festivities all her own going on! She will be heading off this Fall as well... to join the Air Force! How cool is that!? And she looks adorable in a military hat... you know that is very important and everything! She has just not been feeling the college thing and is hoping to go into pharmacy with the Air Force. Her processing is later this month and then she'll be given a class date!

So Abby took this last picture at David's graduation. She is always wanting to take pics and so after I sat down she came over and said, "Let me take a picture of you guys." I handed her the camera and she immediately started barking orders... "Ok, be quiet, I am going to take your picture, ok, now everybody stick your tongue out," she piped! It was hillarious and so we "obeyed" and ended up with a cute picture by Abigail Grace Photography! She is such a hoot lately and yes, we are still seizure free!!!!!!!!! That's five months and counting!!!!!!!!! She started swim lessons today and I stay amazed and THANKFUL each and everyday for the life God is graciously giving her!