Easter 2015 in pictures

Easter 2015 in pictures!

I don't really do Easter baskets cause Sam doesn't like sweets at all, Sarah and Selah can't eat them but I did get Shad and Steve Star Wars Easter bunnies:)

 Getting Ready for church-it took Steve and Shad to get Sam's shoes on, I just stood there and laughed!

 

 

 

 

I had the smart idea to take pictures before church!  Much easier although Jon was still at the prison doing his service

 

 

 

 

 





the loves of my life!!!



 

 

 

 

                                                     Selah and her nurse Rose who is like her Grandma:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shad

 

 

Steve

 

 

 

 

I caught Sarah looking so pretty

 

 

 

 our worship team practicing.

Sam enjoyed the egg hunt, he'd find an egg, laugh and then throw it as hard as he could!!!!

Sarah was not impressed!

Can you believe that Shad is only 4.5 months older than Sam?????  Sam looks really small next to Shad!!!!


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Yesterday was THREE years since we met our girls

WE had just walked through the door that you can see over Jon's shoulder and saw them.  I didn't know who to grab first so I grabbed Selah and had my hands on Sarah.  What a moment....worth every penny, every effort, the ride on the all night hell train.....I don't think I've ever been any happier than right in that moment, so glad we have this picture even tho you can tell we'd not had a shower, no make up or hair fixed.....didn't even brush my teeth cuz we ran out of bottled water BUT I was there and I was with them!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

I had such an anticipation about today's service.  The Resurrection just seems so alive and real to me this year.  This morning as I sat in a nearly full church (yes pastors and their wives love Easter LOL) and sang the songs that I sang as a child, those truths seemed timeless. 

"Up from the grave He arose
with a mighty triumph o're His foes
He arose the victor of a vast domain
and He lives forever with His saints to reign
He arose
He arose
Hallelujah  Christ Arose"

And

" He lives He lives
Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way
He lives He lives
Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives
He lives within my heart"

And even some new songs/hymns like

"Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all"

In my heart I know whatever is going on in this world, or in my personal life is just temporary.  Just as certain as Jesus rose triumphantly some 2000 years ago, He is coming back.  He will rule this world one day in all of His glory.  No other religion has an empty tomb......or a risen Savior!


BlogSpot is having technical difficulties so I will have to do another blog to share some Easter pictures!

Good Friday thoughts

For many years I just kind of skipped over Good Friday.  I mean Easter is so much more fun and victorious isn't it?  Good Friday is hard, gruesome, painful and sad......it's a hard thing to deal with.  What Christian hasn't wondered WHY God demanded the physical death of Jesus?  I mean He is God right?  He didn't have to allow it......  
I know all the theological reasons.  I can quote you chapter and verse but it took until now that I realize just how much it sets Christianity apart from any other religion.  Christians had THEIR God, the God of the Universe come and die for them!  He didn't require them to sacrifice human lives for Him, He came and died for them, for me....that is mind blowing. 

On this Good Friday when the world is in chaos and our country is in turmoil, Jesus is still Lord of All.  As we see hatred for Him spreading across the world from so many different ways, He is still the God who gave His Life, the Only one who came out of the grave victoriously and the One who is alive on His throne! 

That's what I know to be true!





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OH my almost a week has gone past since my last post....

Catch up....
Jon is fine, no one else got sick.  We still don't know what he had!

Steve has his application and all his financial aid stuff done for the fall!  We went on Wednesday and got him registered and applied for some endowment scholarships too:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some pictures of our babies......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam & Selah ready for church last week

You can STILL give to the humanitarian aid for Ukraine at
http://www.life2orphans.net/make-a-monetary-donation.html

Like them on FB
https://www.facebook.com/Life2Orphans?fref=ts

Lots of News

Well of course life stays interesting around here!

Thursday Jon came home from work so very sick.  I noticed he pulled in early and I went outside to meet him and was shocked at how he looked.  He was fine all day then within minutes got a chill and nausea.  By the time he drove home, he could hardly walk in, he was leaning to one side.  I got him to bed because of course he resisted going to the ER, what man doesn't?  After throwing up a few times and feeling no better he let me take him.  To backtrack, the night before we saw one of our favorite companies had had a recall on some products because they had Listeria ( a serious bacteria) in them.  I only saw one item on the list that we'd bought some of, but they were already eaten.  Jon did have a couple of the other products in the last week or so and I told him not to eat anything else.  Well when we got to the ER I told the doctor about what all he'd eaten and the fact no one at home or work was sick and they tested him for Listeria and put him on meds.  We won't get the results till next week but since there is a possibility that it is Listeria, they thought it was safer to deal with the sickness as if that is what it is.  Today he is back to normal and outside with the kids.  I'm glad he's better, I don't think I've ever seen him so violently ill but one other time in 25 years of marriage!

BTW, I CLEANED the whole house with Clorox.  I'm the Nazi germ killer!  Somebody throws up in MY house and I'm squirting Clorox in every conceivable place!  I'd swore that I was not cleaning this house again ( we are taking up the carpets and painting after we leave) but nothing like someone throwing up to get me to cleaning! 

In other news, we are still waiting on the house.  I think all the indoor things are done, but the septic system could not be done this week because of the rain.  We are hoping it is done on Monday!  Our old house is pretty much packed up.  I've even gone through 3 of our 4 sheds, mostly throwing away old junk.  We are at the point now, that I've had to buy a few small things that I'd packed up LOL!  I'm still cooking with one pot, one skillet and a few other pieces LOL. 

The BIG news is......  our oldest son is going back to college next semester.  He wants to transfer his credits from the community college and put off going to work at the prison.  He is going to go to our Alma Mater, Southeastern College now University.  He/we have gone back and to on this and we've let him make his decisions.  The only reason Jon and I have been hesitant about him going to SEU is the COST!  It is a private school and even with grants/scholarships he will owe quite a bit every semester whether he lives on campus or commutes (45 minutes from home)  We'd like for him to have the experience of living on campus so we are all going to "bit the bullet" and just commit to him doing that!   The three of us have talked this to death over the past year and Steve has always had the last vote.  We've looked at pros and cons of everything and all we can do is hope the right decision will be made.  We are very excited for him -just worried about the $$$!  But things always work out one way or another......

The whole "money" thing is something that is staring me in the face right now and feels a bit overwhelming.  We have lived in our church's parsonage in lieu of a salary for almost 10 years and soon we are going to be getting used to paying a mortgage.  Plus all the things we need for the new house.....  Now college in a few months..... YIKES! 

I've always said to others how faithful God has been to us financially and we've done our best to make wise, prudent decisions so I'm just going to trust that God will provide for us and give us the wisdom to continue making wise decisions. 

We HATE to be in debt.  We paid off all our bills (except for my student loan) when Sam was born and I had to quit work.  So we've been basically debt free for years except some medical expenses .  We didn't want Steve to start life in any debt and we still don't so we are praying about how this will all work out.

I don't mean to be biased, but Steve has been and is the best boy in the world LOL  MOST of the time!  We've never had any real issue with him and we've remained close through the teen years and now into his early adulthood.  In many ways, it's been like our family has had THREE adults in it for a long time.  So we want him to have the absolute best life possible.  We are looking at every aspect to figure out how he can go to college and not get into debt.  He is working but we don't want him to work too much once he starts school back.  Some kids can work crazy hours (like I did) and it doesn't affect their school, Steve needs more time to study and work on things.  He is a more detailed person.  Jon is the same way, he worked summers and went to college without working during the school year.  But I know we'll figure out things, with God's help. 

So we are going next week to reactivate his application there.  He was basically accepted but then chose to go to the lower cost community college last fall.  At least he has a semester under his belt and has some credits to transfer.  Of course we can't find any of his codes to go into either college system and transfer his credits (do the paperwork for the transfer)  but he is going to go do that on Monday. 

Well we are looking forward to a quiet weekend I hope!  Hope you all have a great weekend. 

Living in Florida

Jon and I signed up for testing with a company called LifeLine Testing for various stroke/heart attack issues.  We had about 7 tests done, most we haven't gotten the results of but we did get our cholesterol back.  Mine is down from 202 to 168!  Jon's is down from 210 to 178~! Our triglycerides are still too high & both of us are too low on the "good cholesterol by a few points.  But all in all we are already seeing an improvement despite our lack of vegetarian  eating the past week or so.  Both of us were perfect on our fasting sugar level- mine was 86 and Jon's was 91.  We are committed to being healthier!

Since the appointments took far longer than expected, Jon didn't go into work today.  We had a late lunch and did a few errands.   Then we went walking out in the  Withlacoochee Park late this afternoon. 

 

 

Above the tree line on the tower

 



 

 

Observation Tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE living in Florida, even with the bugs, humidity and heat.  When I'm out in the woods and can smell the swamp (LOL it doesn't stink to me) I'm happy!   I can feel myself relax and breath in deeply.  Of course I might not breathe too deep or a bug might come in LOL!

 

We have lived here for almost 10 years and we've just discovered this hidden park that backs up to one of the reserves we hike in often.  It's like we are in shock that this place exists!  The Withlacoochee River Basin is large.  It is from the middle of the state almost to the coast.  We didn't realize how close it actually comes to our house on the east side.  Jon is over the moon at finding a new area to explore!

 

This, these pictures are the Florida I know and love.  Theme parks and the big cities are ok, but this is what I love about Florida PLUS the beaches!  It really doesn't get any better than this.

 

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Well a friend brought me more boxes and lots of  bubble wrap.  I guess I really need to get to work on doing the breakables. 

 

Hope you are having a good start to your week!

Put A Fork In Me I'm Done Part Two!

Oh yeah......

Well we took Selah to her doctor's appointment today.  He took another xray and then did a Cat scan.  She will have to have another hip surgery.  Let me see if I can explain the two issues we have going on....

First most kids like Selah "pull in" their limbs, Selah extends her's out. That is odd. We were told that when she was first in the hospital.  So when a child does that, it makes them straight like a board. 

Second, due to the years neglect and of her lying in a crib, she never developed correctly.  At the stage of crawling, a child works its hip/sockets and they begin to fit in to each other.  She didn't have that stage.  She went from being in a crib to being stood up and taught to walk.  She didn't walk well nor did she bend her knees.  All that comes into play now.  Because of that lack of normal skeleton development, she doesn't have the correct hip/socket alignment. 

So our doctor did not do the first surgery aggressively enough.  Obviously he wanted to help her, without hurting her or over doing things.  I appreciate that but now he is going to have to go back and do some more surgery, one thing he is going to do is an abductor release. .  We have a date set for May 5th, which is ironically the THREE year anniversary of the day we left the orphanage with them for good.  It's also two years since I had to take Sam to NY to have most of his left eye taken out.  When I noticed the date, I choked up for a minute but I'm just going to think that it is a positive thing.  Leaving the orphanage was GREAT and Sam was much happier with the eye out (no more pain)  So I'm thinking that this will be a good day for Selah and solve her problem once and for all!!!!

So I'm tired after a very long day at St Joseph's!  Selah was a trooper and did great. 

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Pray for wisdom for Dr D.  He may have our other doctor to come in and do her Botex shots at the same time, he is really researching the best way to do all of this.

And if you are wondering WHY we are so aggressive in her treatment knowing she will never walk....let me answer that.  For a child like Selah, one of the most important things is to be able to keep her mobile.  Even if that mobility is being able to be moved into different positions.   It keeps her from bed sores, broken bones and scoliosis.  I've seen kids in orphanages bent like the letter C from scoliosis.  The more that Selah can be up in her stander (where she is strapped on a board and stood upright) and up in her wheelchair, the better for her.  So we do all of this for the quality of life! 

She is not in severe pain and we are able to move her, just have to watch her for any signs of pain.  The pin is still in her hip, but not in the right place. 

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The little kitten I was taking care of took a turn for the worst and died.  Although the boil on his neck was healing up nicely, it probably was a tumor that extended inside.  I found him gasping for air one morning and he died within minutes.  We buried him on top of Brownie's grave.  She was a huge dog that loved her cat friends.  I can't tell you the times I called her to see her head come out of her doghouse, along with a cat or two's head:)  There will never be another dog like her. 

The other four kittens are doing good.  Their eyes are opened and they are loving us playing with them.  I will sit on the ground and rub a kitten's belly and one of the other ones will butt his head into my hand to be rubbed.  They are won't be two weeks old until Wednesday.  I can't believe how loving they are already.  I've not had baby kittens in my house before that were this young.   The Mama Cat has been so good.  She grieved when the little one died and was taken away from her.  I felt bad for her. 

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Another good thing, Sarah has been putting weight back on her left foot.  We don't know what caused her not to be able to do it but now she is back to normal. 


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We did have a GREAT time at the Habitat for Humanity's annual fund raiser held at the Lowery Park Zoo last Saturday night.  Shad and Steve were the featured speakers and there were hundreds if not a thousand there:)  They did great.  Steve really just introduced Shad and then he ended it for Shad.  They got a standing ovation and I was bawling.  I'm so proud of my boys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Zoo was having Zoomations a lights festival.  It was pretty but Shad just wanted to see the animals.

 

 

We have a plan for our summer vacation.  It's going to be a "staycation"   In the past it's been hard to go places just for Shad and Steve because of our little ones.  Now that we have found the world's best babysitter, we are going to do a few days of activities with them that the little ones can't and don't want to do.  One thing Shad wants to do is to go back to the Zoo.  We also want to go to the beach without having to take the little ones.  It's hard to play with Shad and watch the little ones at the same time.   We might take him to a water park too.  We've always felt that Shad missed out on some things Steve was able to do but now with someone we trust who can watch the little ones, we can give Shad a little more attention just for him:)  

 

Sam and Sarah prefer to be home in their normal routine and they love our new sitter also.  A Sam Funny.....Saturday night he was sitting with her on the couch and she asked him if he wanted to go play with his toys and he said NO quite plainly!  He might have a crush on her- she's a pretty girl! 

 

 

 

 

Here's a picture of Shad and some of his friends singing a special in church Sunday.  They were cute and quite good.  they learned the song after very little practice!

 

 

 

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And we are just waiting on the house, it is soooo close to being done.  We are still looking at moving in the next week or so.  The house is a mess - we have boxes everywhere!   The majority of things are packed.  We NEED to move soon LOL

 

 

 

 

So it's been a busy week.  Lots of different things going on, some good and some not so good but we keep going on:)

 

 

 

Put a fork in me I'm DONE!

You can NOT make up these type of days......


I don't even know where to start..... Our dear sweet Brownie was put to sleep today.  It was confirmed she had untreatable cancer.  Jon took her and brought her home for us to bury.  He was with her loving on her till the end.  We had a graveside funeral for her.  Jon said a prayer and thanked God for whoever decided to put her in our fence that cold night eight years ago.  He said something like "someone didn't want her but Lord we sure did"  She was a faithful friend and it is so odd not to have her in the yard.  I realize how much a part of our family she has been.  We buried her in the church cemetery, under a tree.  Steve shoveled her site.  It was a beautiful spot where she used to walk with Jon.  We buried her with one of her balls.  It was emotional to say the least.  If any dog will be in heaven, I have no doubt it will be Brownie!  I really can't believe she is gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these pictures that my friend took last May!

 

 

 

 

Pictures from our funeral...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vermont kept going up to Brownie, they were good friends.  Brownie was a friend to any animal unless it was another dog trying to live with her LOL  She was a bit jealous!

 

 

Then as soon as we could finish we took Selah and Sarah to the local ER for xrays.  Sarah has not put weight on her left foot since Monday.  Selah has seemed to have some pain off and on for a couple of weeks.  We were there for hours, but at least we were near home and didn't have to drive to Tampa.  Sarah seemed to just have a slight sprain but Selah.....  is seems her hip has dislocated again despite the pins that were put in last July.  I talked to her specialist over the phone and we will go in for a 3-D scan in the next few days.  She is not in a lot of pain, only if she is on the stander or in PT so all that is stopped for now.  Otherwise she doesn't get her frowny face or tears. 

This is a sweet picture....

 

Jon on one side with Sarah and Rose on the other side with Selah....

 

 

 

Once we all get home, Steve ran out for some supper for us.  He had driven into a restaurant parking lot and had called Jon to see what he wanted.  I heard Jon say "who is screaming?"  I could tell Steve wasn't answering him so I grabbed the phone and screamed for Steve!  He said it looked like a man was kidnapping a women.  I told him to call 911.  He did and he also got a partial photo of the license plate of the car.  Steve tried to hem the car in but the guy sped off over the grass.  Steve waited there until the cops came and he gave them the info.  One officer seemed to know who it might be, it might be a domestic violence situation.  Anyhow Steve was pretty shook up! 

 

 

What a day!  On top of that one of the white kittens had a boil, cyst, or something on his neck, it seems the mama cat busted it and has been cleaning it up.  The kitten is eating fine and is quite round.  We hope it is nothing serious.  The kittens' eyes are opening and they all round and nurse vigorously .  Sometimes Gladys their mama looks at me like "how do it you it with 5 kids???"  LOL I feel her pain!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Well I have had more than my share of life's drama today.