Good News

My niece "B-Beth" (Elizabeth) has come home from the hospital. They have taken her off the seizure medication and she hasn't had another seizure. She had a million tests and they all seemed to be rather inconclusive as to why she had a seizure. Her MRI or EKG (can't remember which one) did show some seizure activity, but it wasn't manifesting itself physically, which is good. So she's home and has some medication to take in case she does have another seizure (which we're praying will never happen again) and she sees the neurologist again in 3 weeks. Thanks for praying! I think this is a good outcome. It would be nice to know why the seizures occurred, but we're very happy that the doctor's didn't find anything wrong.

The Car Trip

How does a mommy keep the peace when stuck in traffic??
Surprise toys!! Check out this adorable travel Thomas train and track! This provided us with hours of peace & quiet.
Then there was the Thomas story board (thanks Christi - this is what you gave Christian for Christmas). Christian and I made up story after story about Thomas and his friends.
Let's not forget McKenna. She loved reading books in the car.

We have accumulated some great "car toys" that we don't ever play with at home. And they are all nicely packed away for the next car trip.

I can't decide

Which one is your favorite?

A Few More

The next batch...

...of vacation pictures!

These were the steps that we had to climb (and then go back down) to get over the dunes to the beach. Just picture us dragging our stroller up and over these. It was always worth it once we got the stroller to the other side because then I could walk McKenna down the beach and it made it easy to keep the sun off her. I did notice that we were the only insane family with a stroller on the beach.



This last one is Christian's most favorite picture from our vacation. He loved being in the big waves with daddy.

No News

No real news on my niece Elizabeth. She had a ton of tests and hasn't gotten any results yet. Keep praying. She has tried to eat, but can't keep anything down. She is also extremely lethargic. I'll keep you posted.

B-Beth

McKenna with her cousins B-Beth (Elizabeth) and Hannah!
My precious niece B-Beth is in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit right now in Richmond. Please, please pray for her. I can hardly write this without crying. B-Beth woke up from a nap today at her Grandmommy's house and threw-up several times and had a seizure. From what I understand the seizure didn't stop until the paramedics gave her some medicine in an IV that went into her bone (how awful is that?). She has already been through way too much in her young life and now she is being poked and tested for just about everything to try to figure out what is going on. Pray that she sleeps well tonight and that my brother Tim and his wife Erin get some rest too. Pray that the doctor's will be able to find out what caused this and one of our biggest prayers is that this will not re-occur and that these test won't reveal anything that's wrong that can't easily be fixed! I'll keep you posted if we find out anything of significance.

One of the best nights of my life

August 6th was one of those evenings that I never want to forget. After we unloaded all of our stuff into our hotel room we headed to the beach.


The delight on Christian's face was priceless. It had been a little over a year since Christian had been to a real beach. I think he was expecting to see a beach like the one at the lake. He was so overwhelmed with the grandeur of it all. He couldn't stop running and jumping. So fun to sit and watch and enjoy it through his eyes.

He LOVED the ocean. He squealed and giggled every time a new wave would get his feet.

The best part of the evening was watching Ryan with our kids. He's such a great father and most of the time I'm too busy to see it. He's so patient and kind with them. They trust him completely. And he knows how to play, not just supervise. He and Christian have so much fun together. I love it that Ryan enjoys Christian. It's not work for him to spend time with him. Ryan really is Christian's best friend, although Christian will tell you that Nate is.

McKenna's eyes were so big, just taking it all in.
Ryan loves his little girl.

Christian's first dip in the ocean. The waves were rather calm, so the boys went out pretty far and Christian became confident in the water. And that was it. The rest of our stay he could care less about the pool. He wanted to go in the waves with daddy.

As the sun was setting over the dunes I walked McKenna down the beach in her stroller and just drank in the moment. The only people that were around were my three favorite people in the whole world. Sea gulls called to one another, shells and jellyfish were washing up on the shore and I kept thinking of this verse..."God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31 McKenna fell asleep to the lull of the waves and the boys laughed and chased each other (and some poor birds) for the next hour.

"The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea - the Lord on high is mighty." Psalm 93:3-4