This Blog Has Been Temporarily Interrupted By...LIFE

The best thing I have to say about this holiday season is that we survived...barely!

In early December I visited several doctors about a visual loss that I have suffered in my left eye. After 11 vials worth of blood tests, an MRI, a Carotid duplex scan, a couple of EEGs, and an Echo cardiogram with bubble test - it was determined that I have a possible vitamin B12 deficiency!!! There was nothing in my brain as my kids were saying so it was good to hear that it was not life threatening. So now all we have to do is give me my B12 shots, try to figure out why my body does not absorb B12 and pray my eyesight returns to normal. The doctors have differing opinions about weather or not my vision will return so I am just going to pray.

I received the results of all my tests on Christmas Eve which was also the day we found out that my Father in Law was in the hospital with some heart problems - his defibrillator had zapped him in the middle of the night. The news was that he would be home in time for Christmas. Unfortunately, they did not send him home for Christmas so my MIL and FIL spent their first Christmas morning in 53 years apart. My FIL remained in the hospital after Christmas so G and I got in the car and headed to Tucson to spend the day with him. They were keeping him in the ICU which concerned us and there seemed to be very little communication with doctors and that proved to be frustrating. We enjoyed our visit and headed home Friday night. Saturday we were told by the family that he was doing even better than Friday. By Sunday after church our phone was ringing telling us that he would not live through the day. We packed up the kids and some clothes and headed out. We left the kids with some cousins and grandparents and drove the longest drive ever across Tucson to the hospital. We went into the ICU and were surprised to find my FIL talking to us and making jokes about how he was going to charge admission to all the people parading through his room! Based on his extremely low blood pressure and lack of appetite we started preparing ourselves for the probability that he was not going to make it home. The days that followed are a blur of long days and nights at the hospital, visits to hospice facilities, a trip back home for more medical tests for me and to get more clothes - and lots of tears.

My FIL, Morgan, passed away on New Year's Eve morning around 5:45. He had had G's sister call G at about 5:00 that morning so that he could tell him how much he loved him and how proud he was of him. He even sounded pretty good on the phone so the call 45 minutes later to tell us he had passed away was a bit of a surprise. The human will is an amazing thing. I don't think I can make it through a post yet about what a wonderful man he was so that will follow soon.

Morgan - you will be missed and never forgotten by the family that you devoted yourself to. We love you...

Our last family photo taken in October - minus one nephew that was at a band competition.

Snow in Southern AZ?

We went to Tucson last weekend for the U of A vs. ASU game - GO CATS!!! (We won). The big boys went to the game with the dads and my sister in law and I took the small ones to the mall to see the "snow". How do they make it "snow" in Tucson we wondered? Turns out, it is some sort of foamy bubble mixture so all the moms in the crowd are yelling at their kids to not catch the "snow" in their mouths! I have seen plenty of snow in my lifetime and never once did I see people wince in pain when the real stuff got in their eyes but I saw that plenty last weekend. One thing is for sure, the kids didn't care one little bit what was shooting out of those "snow" machines, they were just having fun. There was talk of building a snowman, but sadly, there was not enough accumulation of foam!

A New Christmas Song

RJ has come up with his very own Christmas song (sung to We Wish You a Merry Christmas). Really, I think he doesn't know the words so here is his version of happy happy happy happy...

He sings this song with all his might several times a day. On this particular morning, RJ didn't know I was video taping him (or he would have turned into a giant ham!). Notice he is laying on the floor under his ever present dollar store umbrella :-)

A Visit With You Know Who!

Last week we went to see Santa. RJ was a little shy at first but warmed right up when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. RJ wants a SpongeBob fishing pole - sweet - $11.89 at Target! Next G Man - he wants a XBox 360 - HA good luck with that one! I think I would rather eat during the month of December than fill that wish. Next D - he wants - ummmmmm....this boy has always clammed up and blanked out for Santa. Even though he is 15, he was unable to come up with a single item to help the old guy out! I told him we would mail a letter and let him know. We only have one believer left in our house so I am trying to treasure these visits to Santa while they last. Do you think I could get the boys to come home from college and sit on Santa's lap???

Bad Dreams and the Dollar Store

In the past few months, RJ has been having a lot of bad dreams. These bad dreams end up being the family's worst nightmares, as RJ ends up in either D's or our bed for the rest of the night and he is the only one that gets any sleep. As a parent, I have always said that I am not above bribery - it seemed to work for potty training, trying new foods and other childhood obstacles so why not for sleeping in your own bed?! So last night I offered RJ a trip to one of his favorite places if he slept in his own bed all night. This morning he came bounding out of his room and triumphantly announced that I owed him a trip to the Dollar store today! That was the promised reward - the Dollar store. After seeing the other brothers off to school we made our way to the dollar store, where, after much deliberation over all of the available treasures, we ended up with this...

Exactly what every child living in a warm, sunny place needs! It was about 74 degrees today - December 2nd!!! In his defense, it did rain last week and the little umbrella does have his favorite color (green) on it so I am sure it seemed like a great purchase to him. At least he can always use it to shade himself from the 110 degree sun in the summer!

Thanksgiving Wisdom from RJ

After taking a look at the raw Thanksgiving turkey, RJ asked, "After you cook it, does it turn into a Chicken?"...hmmm

All meats in our house turn into chicken once they are placed onto RJ's plate - he is convinced that chicken is the only meat he likes. The entire family can be eating steak for dinner and his looks just like ours but we call it chicken. Whatever works!

Thankful for...

God's grace and love in my life. Thank you for my loving husband and my 3 amazing boys, our home and the food in our cupboards. Thanks for our families and great friends. Thank you for sending your son, and remind us all that he should be the focus of this season!

My Aunt sent this to me and a friend helped me figure out how to post it. It is called cardboard testimonies and is worth the 8 minutes to view. It seems right now that there are so many struggling in our world with money, relationships, material possessions, and so many other things that have become our focus. I just wanted to take a minute to remind all of us that God never leaves us and he can free anyone from anything. God loves us all regardless of how worthy we are or (MOSTLY) aren't!