Sunshine and Showers

Did you ever notice how when it rains, it POURS?  Its been that kind of month for us.  Really, each thing in and of itself has been no big deal.  For some reason though, each LITTLE thing, comes in multiples until they all look rather large.  Honestly, I wake up each day and just remind myself that its a NEW day - to just take it as it comes in that day.  And I'm ok with that.  Just can't seem to get out from under that cloud sometimes. 

Its been almost a month since my last post.  Many times over the last few weeks I have thought of something that I really wanted to share - and then time got away from me.  I feel badly that I didn't have a "special" birthday post for Olivia.  My girl is 12 now.  Her birthday was on the first day of school.  She tends to get a bit overlooked because we are so caught up in the rush of fall: football season starting, school starting, dance starting... you get the picture.  But, amidst it all, she remains my cheerful (most of the time!), fun-loving (always!), beautiful (more each passing day!) girl.  Her birth was one of the best things to happen in a somewhat dark period for us.  Paul and I were struggling 12 years ago.  But, Olivia brought an amazing ray of sunshine into our lives when she came into it.  She was by far our easiest baby.  6 lbs. of loveliness right from the start :) She was, appropriately, born on Labor Day - I labored about 12 hours to deliver her, and our lives were changed forever!  Parents of a GIRL! And along with that, all the drama that girls bring! She was the first granddaughter on my side of the family, and let me just say - VERY spoiled! But it didn't spoil HER, at least, not much;) She is my joy, my friend, my helper.  I can't and DON'T want to imagine my life without her.  She is growing into such a wonderful young lady, I look forward to all the ups and downs middle school, and then high school will bring.  LOVE HER SO VERY MUCH.



5th grade graduation, 2012





 Our ongoing troubles with the water heater finally became an issue we HAD to address this weekend.  For the last several months, we have been babying the old girl along - the heating element had been replaced a couple years ago and now the reset button has finally given up.  Rather than buy a new one now, Paul thought he could replace the elements again.  No such luck.  After several hours of fighting with (and cussing at) the thing, he decided we just needed to bite that bullet and buy a new one.  This is in actuality a good thing - the old one, because of its issues has been a BIG electric hog.  We hope the new one will help this! Because it is as old as our home (and trailer-quality to boot!) there is no water shut off by the heater - this means Paul had to shut off the water to the house alltogether.  We have now been without water for 16+ hours.  Something he had to do of course, but it makes life difficult for all of us - and 6 people with no water (no TOILETS) is not so pleasant.  We are all a little grumpy today :) Only a little though, because we know its only temporary, and he did fill up some containers of water before he turned it off.  Hopefully, the installation of the new one will go smoothly!

I do have great news to report on Zak/heart issues  too.  After he went in for the echocardiogram and was released to play we had a follow up visit with the cardiologist.  He said everything looked good/normal, BUT he wanted to make sure.  So, he restricted Zak from sports again until he had a stress echocardiogram.  We went in this past Monday for that.  The tech who performed the test said I could call on Tuesday for the results and most likely he would be cleared to play - which is exactly what happened!  Our prayer that his heart was healthy and everything normal was answered!  He was able to practice the rest of the week, play in the game on Thursday, and participate in his strength/conditioning class too.  Our God is good, all the time!

Its been a time of showers within our extended families too.  Paul's cousin Dan lost his fight with cancer after a short, courageous battle.  While we grieve for his loved ones, we rejoice that he is Home and no longer in pain.  My brother-in-law had a scare too:  he ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung, not the bad chest cold he thought he was fighting.  After 5 nights in the hospital, he is home healing.  It was a scary time, and I am very glad my sister is the amazing woman she is! She is my hero - strong and courageous:)  I also just found out my uncle, who has been dealing with heart issues for many years, is not doing well either.  I pray for him, my aunt, my cousins and their families. I know this is a scary time for them too. My aunt is still fighting the good fight against cancer as well.  She is going in for treatments and I know, no matter what happens that she will WIN, because a victory over cancer isn't always what we expect when you are saved.  Its hard to leave all our troubles and cares in God's hands - but He does know best, we need to trust and have faith.  Please lift them all up.

My old girl (the truck!) is still ailing too.  The brake issues are not completely resolved, even with new brakes.  The anti-locks are being weird.  Not sure what is going on there.  And, we need new tires. Again.  I drive way too much...   I need to borrow a phrase from my Aunt Sheryl with this, she called a vehicle she drove a "faith-mobile".  This is entire appropriate when I think of my truck - I don't drive a suburban, or a truck, or a GM vehicle, I drive a "faith-mobile"! I pray every day that she will get me where I need to be! Hand-in-hand with this is the search for another car.  Zak REALLY wants to buy his own.  I REALLY want something smaller to drive back and forth to work and put HIM in the faith-mobile, since he will be driving a much shorter distance.  We'll see what happens.  We still need to get him in for the driving test and his license, so the search continues...

But, its a beautiful day! Sunshiney, 70's... The best of fall weather.  We take the good with the bad.  Each day is new.  And, our God is GOOD, all the time! ALL the time, our God is good! Blessings to you, enjoy the moment!