Recognizing That Voice

     I am not a morning person.  At all.  My natural tendency is to talk with my family or work long into the night, but because my family has schedules that require them to be places early in the morning, I make myself get up and do whatever needs to be done.  If I can get on a roll, sometimes a lot can be accomplished when I get up, but then I usually need to crash at some point during my day.  Thank God for power naps!  Other times, though, I just can't get going, and my time can be piddled away on stupid stuff.  That has a way of getting me into trouble at times, so I've been asking God to help me in this area of my life.  Old habits die hard, and there have been countless times where forgiveness has been sought. 

     Another thing God's been teaching me about is the concept of obedience.  That's a constant, isn't it?  You would think that we'd get that one mastered when we are young, but somehow there just keeps on being more life lessons to be learned no matter how old we are.  He's been working on showing me how to recognize that still small voice as being His and how I am to act promptly and obediently when I hear it.  That's a tough one sometimes. 

     This morning He had a way of combining all those lessons into one.  When I first awakened at 4:30 and saw the clock, I rolled over and was just glad that Kelsey had decided to skip swim practice this morning, which meant no one had to get up till 6:30.  Then I woke up again at 5:45 and just couldn't get back to sleep.  I went downstairs in my sleepy state, sat at my computer, and had this little voice going in my head that said, "No, just get in the shower."  I continued to look around my desk at what needed to be done but again, "No, just get in the shower."  (I hate showering first thing.  I much prefer to stay in my jammies as long as possible.)  Next I successfully walked past a little pile of laundry on my kitchen table but couldn't resist the little pile of socks that needed to be matched up on top of the washer, but partway through, again, I sensed, "No, just get in the shower."  Okay, Lord, I get the picture!!  There was just something in that moment that felt so disobedient about folding my laundry even though everything within me wanted to get that done!

     So off to the shower I went.  Then all I could hear was, "Just get to the hospital."  And then I started getting scared.  What was going on with my husband or what call was I going to get that would make me so glad that I was ready to go for the day?  The feeling just wouldn't go away, so as soon as I was ready, I went downstairs and grabbed my little devotional and my Bible and read a short little thing about God's presence and peace.  God's peace totally came over me between 6:30 and 7 while I was getting three of my four kids out the door, but as soon as they were gone and I was tempted to make a pot of coffee, that voice just came over me again that said, "Just get to the hospital."  I let Kelsey know that I was leaving, and off I went. 

     When I stepped into the elevator around 7:25 a.m., it hit me that a lot of people are normally at work by that time of the day, and I just smiled and laughed at myself because it was feeling like such a major accomplishment for me.  Oh, I can get places early when I need to, but serving my family early in the mornings has been where God has had me for a long time, and I'm very thankful for that! 

     The minute I stepped into this hospital room, it was apparent that God was calling me to serve my husband this morning.  He was grumpy and irritated.  He was annoyed at how much noise can be made during the night and how many interruptions there can be in what should be a peaceful night of sleep.  He wanted his teeth brushed and his hair washed -- now!  He was bound and determined that he was going to get up and walk today.  I couldn't decide if I should be mad at the nurses for not taking better care of him or be thankful for the fact they hadn't and therefore there was a little more gumption in him today than yesterday!  I convinced him that we needed to call the nurse for a little help because all he had accomplished by last night was a few seconds of standing beside his bed. 

     By 8 a.m. two very gracious sweet nurses and one doting wife had met all his needs.  He's finally out of his initial hospital gown, and his bedding is fresh and clean.  He conquered four steps over to the chair, and they even came back later to take him on his first little walk successfully! 

     And here I sit.  My feet are propped up on his bed, my need for caffeine has been met, and my heart has been laid bare before all of you -- another act of obedience I felt compelled to do this morning.  I guess this is God's away of giving me a whole bunch of accountability partners!  My husband has now been on two little walks, and we're sitting here together waiting for the doctor to arrive.  I'm very content with the fact that the socks aren't folded but that I'm here with him.  There is nothing more important today than meeting the needs of my husband.  Thank you, Lord, for him.  I love this man so much. 
    

    

Surgery? Done.

     As I sit beside the hospital bed of my husband, it feels all too familiar.  We spent 11 of our days in this wonderful Genesis East Hospital earlier in the year, and now we're into our 2nd of another 4 to 7 days again.  For a split second yesterday, I thought about trying to convince myself that it would be like a little mini vacation for us, but that didn't last long.  There is nothing picturesque or yummy or fun about it.  It's just a little room that is too cold for me and too hot for him, the bed isn't wide enough for the two of us, and there are enough gadgets surrounding him that even trying to lean over for a kiss on the forehead seems a little difficult.  The only food we've seen yet are the ice chips he's been given and the food that's been brought here for me from home.  The view out the window is pretty drab and cold.  Definitely not the vacation spot we need! 

     But the service is really pretty good, my man is stable, and we're on the other side of surgery!  Ever since May, we've known that this little season of our lives would be coming, and we chose to wait it out this long on purpose.  It's not easy having the provider of your family be out of commission three months out of a year, so we wanted to make sure the timing was ideal inasmuch as we could help it.  This is typically our slower season anyway, so we figured we could just as well spend it in the hospital if spending time in here was necessary and we could pick our time. 

     Monday night we fired up the grill and made sure that we had a good meal because once midnight rolled around, he was only allowed clear liquids and laxatives.  Yesterday he had nothing but a few ice chips, and when he asked for a popsickle this morning, he was greeted with another cup of ice.  We arrived at the hospital yesterday at 10, and they finally wheeled him off to the operating room at 12:30.  We were surprised to learn that the doctor's intention was to first try and remove the stent from his colon without opening him up, but we were also told that there would be about a 20% chance of that being successful.  It wasn't.  Around 2:30 they told me that they needed to go ahead and cut him open, and by the time he was out of recovery and settled into his room, it was around 6 p.m.  The doctor met with me and informed me that the surgery had gone very well.  They took out another 8 inches of colon where the stent was embedded and then he hand-sewed the ends together.  While he was doing that, he somehow made the determination that when he had the surgery done in April, there must have been a leak where the colon had been stapled together and that there was probably infection and that the body's way of dealing with all of it was by forming scar tissue.  There was so much scar tissue formed that that's why the stricture happened, but if it hadn't formed and shut off the leak, that would not have been good either.  All we can do is hope and pray that his body heals properly this time.

     His night was long and painful, and his recovery seems to be going a lot slower this time.  Last time he was so proud to be up on his feet and walking around rather quickly, but he has yet to do that this time.  The nurse tried to get him to do it this morning, but he was ready for more pain medication, so that was prescribed instead.  He's sleeping peacefully now, but I have a feeling they'll at least have him sitting up before too much longer. 

     Yesterday was a long day for me.  The kids were all here at some point throughout the evening, and I was so grateful for their company.  This morning I prayed that God would bring some friends today, and between 10 and 2 we have already had five visitors!  It's been quite the party room!  He dozed off and on throughout their visits, but it was sure a welcome treat for me.  I'm debating whether or not I should slip home for a couple hours or just stick it out for the duration of the day and evening.  I have plenty of things with me to keep me busy, but the thought of a little power nap on my couch right now sounds really appealing.  Thankfully supper is being delivered to our home, so there are no meal concerns for me tonight.  Ah, "vacation." 

     And in the last two minutes, he's asked for the door to be closed because of all the noise in the hallway, and as soon as I got back from doing that, he suggested maybe it was time to go for a walk.  I guess I'll be sticking around a bit longer!

     He's sitting up!

P.S.  Well, my decision has been made.  I'm staying right here beside my husband.  Right after I pushed the button to publish this post, I was asked by the two attending nurses to push the red "staff emergency" button because he was light-headed, dizzy, falling over, and having a very scary-looking spaced-out moment.  I've never seen so many nurses flood a room so quickly!  He's laying back down now, and I guess we'll be trying that again after a while.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

The Year-Long Wait

     It was a year and two months ago today that Heath had his first seizure totally out of nowhere.  At that time a lot of testing was done, and we were completely shocked one week later when we were told that he had a 1cm tumor on the left occipital lobe of his brain.  It rocked our world in a season of already being unusually rocked, but at that time we were told to wait and see what would transpire over the next couple of months.  On December 7, 2010, we were thankful that the second MRI revealed that the tumor had not changed, but we were then told to wait a year for the next MRI.  A year!  Two days after that he had his second grand mal seizure, so his seizure medication was increased, but he's been seizure free since then.  Other than being told he couldn't drive for six months after each of the seizures, he's really been able to live a very normal life.  Every once in a while, he'll have a headache or some other little thing that makes us wonder what's going on inside his head, but there has never been enough of a concern to warrant taking him in sooner than scheduled.  Thankfully his doctors are only a phone call or even an email away, and they have been very good at responding to any little questions we've had along the way. 

     A year has been a long time.  There has not been a day that's gone by that I haven't looked at my son and wondered what we would learn at the end of the year.  My prayers have been somewhat bold in that I would even pray that the tumor would be shrinking and gone by the time we would go back.  Sometimes I would pray that there would at least be no growth at all.  My curious mind would always be tempted to play out the "what-if" scenarios in my head.  What if it had grown by a millimeter?  Would they suggest surgery for something little like that?  Would it be better to have that happen and have it be gone than to always wonder if it was growing?  What if it had grown slightly but not doubled?  Would he face chemo, radiation, surgery?  What if it had doubled in size?  What if it had spread or more tumors showed up when we went back?  Would Heath be facing challenging doctor appointments or a hospitalization in the very same month that we’re sending Harris back to the hospital for his repeat colon surgery?  How would we handle having two men in the hospital in different locations for very different things?  Would Harris have to postpone his surgery?  It’s set up for next Wednesday, November 30, by the way, and the dread factor is very high.  Every time my mind was tempted to entertain all those questions, I'd have to remind myself to hold those thoughts captive and not borrow trouble and just wait it out.  That is way easier said than done. 

     Finally sometime late summer or early fall, the appointments were actually set up for today, November 22, two days before Thanksgiving.  We knew that if some kind of treatment were to be needed, we wanted to have a little time to plan and prepare so that once his semester is over in early December, he could get started.  We knew that our holiday plans could end up in total upheaval, and we certainly couldn't let ourselves even contemplate the thought of trying to get away for the holidays on a family vacation like we'd all really like to do.  Everything has been hinging on today's appointment for a while now.  I sensed in my spirit a few days ago that everything would be okay, but even so, yesterday was particularly hard.  Prayers for my anxious heart were answered when I finally just entrusted our son back to the Father who gave him to us and leaned on the understanding that God loves him even more than we do and that we had to trust in God’s plan for his life, no matter what the outcome. 

     So we started out the day at 10 a.m. by seeing a physician's assistant who was filling in for Heath's regular seizure doctor.  Since he's been seizure free for a year, we anticipated this appointment to be pretty noneventful, but it turned into quite a discussion regarding his medication and the long-term effects and plotting out what it would look like to make the switch to a different one down the road.  We have instructions on what to change when, and we’ll be going back in May for further consultation.  We still have no way of knowing whether the seizures and the tumor have anything to do with each other, which is frustrating, but it is what it is. 

     The next two hours were spent leisurely having lunch together, Heath, Jenny, Harris, and I, and thankfully the time went by pretty quickly.  We arrived back at the hospital at 1:20 for his MRI check-in time of 1:30, and by his 2 p.m. actual appointment time, they already had it done.  We moved to the third department of the day and proceeded to fill out more paperwork and waited for our 2:50 appointment with the neurosurgeon to find out the results of the MRI.  We were told he was running behind schedule, and we found this to be the longest wait of our day.  We were all anxious but very tired too, and an iced coffee would have definitely been a welcome treat by this time.  The nurse practitioner finally gave us a hint of good news about 10 minutes before the doctor came in the room around 4 p.m. for his typical very quick appearance.  The tumor had not grown at all, so we were all very relieved.  He said that it could either be a very slow-growing kind of tumor or a developmental anomaly, which is something he was maybe born with and that we would have never even known was there if he hadn’t had the original seizure and tests.  His recommendation is to just come back in another year to check it again, but if there are any major challenges between now and then to make sure and call. 

     Relief?  Yes.  Definitely.  Of course, we know that we now have another year of “wait and see,” but at least I think we all feel a lot better now that we know it hasn’t grown in 14 months’ time, and we are very, very thankful for that.  It was a rather silent, tired, and contemplative ride home in the rain today, but we are all feeling a little less stressed.  We’re ready to enjoy the holiday weekend with our family and give thanks to God for His goodness to us.  We are also very thankful for you, our friends and family, who have been praying with us through some very rough times.  We want to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  Very, very good. 

Go Play On The Swings???

     It's been awhile.  A long while. 

     These last three and a half months have been the most grueling, exhausting, and frustrating months I've ever personally known, and believe me, I've had some challenging moments in my lifetime before this one!  If I could share my life story in this public setting, I would, but in order to maintain the privacy of others who are also involved, it's just not something that can be shared here.  In this particular season of my life, it's been a matter of facing a 43-year ongoing battle and trying to find some kind of healing.  There have been so many obstacles and hurts and tears along the way, and at one point my biggest struggle was why God doesn't seem to hear our prayers or seem to care to do anything about them.  No matter what was happening, it felt as though there was very little hope for our situation. 

     After finally allowing myself to verbalize that to a friend, she was able to share her own pained heart with me, and we were able to pray together.  What a sweet time of fellowship!  Later on that very afternoon, God did something that is just so like Him.  He put in front of me the most perfect devotional that was all about being tired of waiting on God, and in it was the verse I have at the top of this blog as well as this verse:  “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."  Psalm 27:14.  It was such a beautiful answer to prayer at the most perfect time, and I was so thankful. 

     But then He did something else that was really awesome.  After weeks and weeks of diligently searching for the right person to help walk us through this valley, God led us in a very roundabout way to a man who seemed to be the most perfect fit.  A ten-minute phone conversation with this man was all it took for me to end up on the floor in a thankful mess of tears.  God had provided just enough hope to keep me moving forward just when I so desperately needed it the most.

     A short time ago, there was a meeting held with this man and a few other main participants.  There were people huddled in prayer in another location, and lots of other people were praying for us as well.  Even though the stress level was high, there was a sense of peace and assuredness within me that God was in this thing.  Only He could have brought us to this place like He did. 

     After a couple hours' worth of discussion, some of us were given the directive that we desperately needed:  "Go play on the swings!"  In other words, "Take a breather.  You've done what you need to do.  Let it go.  Take time to heal." 

     Those words of wisdom have been ringing loudly in my head, and I'm doing all I can do to keep on letting go and put it back in the hands of God and the help He has provided for us.  That's so much easier said than done.  An issue of this longevity is not quickly undone, and even though we're supposed to be "playing on the swings," the reality is that the long-term effects still have a way of infiltrating our lives on a daily basis.  There is so much healing that needs to take place, but I'm just thankful for a God who understands our hearts and knows everything.  I'm clinging to that promise right now. 

     It's time to turn my focus back on my own family.  Next Tuesday we will be heading to Iowa City with Heath to check on the tumor that was discovered on his brain in September 2010.  When it was checked last December, it had not grown, so we were told to wait a year and see what happens, so the time has come for us to see whether it has grown or not and assessing what, if anything, needs to be done with it.  My prayer is that it will be gone!!  What a great thing that would be to give thanks for this Thanksgiving!  The very next week Harris will be heading to the hospital for his repeat colon surgery, and he'll be healing from that right on through the Christmas season.  My prayer there is that this time there will be no complications and that his body will heal properly. 

     If we could all just go "play on the swings" for the next couple of months, we would!  The thought of putting our family on a jet plane and flying away to some island far, far away and coming back in 2012 has crossed my mind many times, but that doesn't seem to be a realistic option.  It's sure fun to dream about though!  I'd even settle for a week away if I could figure out how to make that happen!  Nevertheless, we are approaching a holiday season that will be vastly different from the norm, but we're just going to have to trust in God's perfect provision and plan for our family's lives.  When we are weak, He is strong, right?  If I'm supposed to be playing on the swings, I just as well start pumping my heart out and bellowing out the words of "Jesus Loves Me!"

Holding Fast

     I’ll be honest.  Choosing joy right now (as explained a couple blog entries back) isn’t always the easiest thing in the world to do.  In fact, some days it’s just downright difficult, and it takes a lot of effort to just find the good in what’s going on around me.  Sometimes when people ask the most simple question, “How are you,” it takes energy just to say, “Fine,” when in reality one or two more simplistic questions might be just enough to cause all the tears that are lingering just beneath the surface to be spilled all over the place.  Depending on how well-informed the person is, the dam may let loose a little bit, but then there are my precious family members right here at home who witness the majority of those tears and who are helping me shoulder the burdens.  Whether they are directly engaged in helping me process all the thoughts, emotions, and possible solutions that are raging through my being or whether I’m silently sorting through it all in my own head and heart, either way, my stress filters down to my family at times, and it is so unfair.  My heart just wants to protect them from all the pain that haunts me.  They are drug into it whether they like it or not, but thankfully God has given them to me to keep me grounded.  They are my biggest blessings, and when I can consciously and deliberately choose to focus on joyfully serving them, I can detach myself from the bondage of the other circumstances and just enjoy the beautiful life God has given me.  I’m so incredibly thankful that God recently had a special way of confirming that little whisper of instruction to me.   

     In fact, He’s just been pretty cool with things like that.  Over Labor Day weekend our family decided to get away from life by going on a little camping trip, so in an effort to just totally relax, I opted to indulge myself in a Christian fiction novel while we were gone, which is something that rarely happens.  Little did I know that the story line would involve a main character who discovered a brain tumor and who successfully endured a lengthy waiting period before the successful removal of her tumor.  Keep in mind that it’s now been a year since we first discovered the tumor on our son Heath’s brain, and we are anxiously anticipating his follow-up appointment in November.  This story, even though it was just a story in a book, gave me a great big dose of hope on so many levels just when it was so desperately needed.   

     God used that author to minister to me so much that when that book went back to the library, another one came home with me.  It’s taken me much longer to get through this second novel, but when I recently found myself in the deepest pit of despair I’ve probably ever been in, God used this author again to show me a true picture of what depression looks like in a Christian’s life and confirmed in my heart that I have personally not hit that level of concern.  Thank you, Jesus!  After a while you begin to wonder if you’re losing your mind.  I’m so thankful that there are people in my life who would encourage me to get help if they felt I needed it and who are praying for me and who are there to support me. 

     One of those people is someone who goes way back to my childhood.  She knows and understands me better than most, and we’ve prayed each other through many storms in our lives.  After a brief email to her one morning last week, she felt very compelled to earnestly pray for me that afternoon in particular.  It happened to be an afternoon that I was mindlessly working on a project all alone.  Darkness was invading my heart, and even the music from the Christian radio station wasn’t soothing or encouraging or uplifting to me that day.  It was even kind of annoying to me because it felt as though there was hope for everyone’s situation but mine.  Normally I would find myself singing along and thinking about the messages of the songs, but on this particular day there was only one time that some lyrics just popped out at me and really caught my ear and my heart:   “Help is on the way.”  The song was familiar to me, but no other words before or after in the entire afternoon seemed to register in my mind.  This time, though, the words were very loud and clear, and it was as though those were the only words God wanted me to focus on that day.

     Imagine the tears that fell from my eyes later on when I got home and read this email from my friend: 

As I pray for what to say to you, God reminded me of one line from “Hold Fast” by Mercy Me, the line, "hold fast, help is on the way," and I looked up the song, and it has a great message ... but it's not from me cuz it was a God thing, so please take it not as from me saying it but as from the singer or as a gift of God to you tonight.

     Our God is so cool like that.  He knew I needed that more than life itself that day.  Maybe you need to hear the message in this song too.  We may find ourselves in a place where it would be easy to just give up and not trust Him anymore, but He's worth clinging to even when it feels like our strength is almost gone.  Hold fast!  Help is on the way! 

In The Silence

     "Be still and know that I am God." 

     Needing prayer.
Thanks.

Choosing Joy

(written Friday)

     Today . . . even if it's just for today . . . I'm choosing joy. 

     Let's face it.  We all have things that come up in our daily lives that frustrate us and cause us some temporary pain.  We fix them rather quickly and just move on with our normal tasks of the day.

     We all have some things that we deal with for a longer chunk of time.  It may be for a week, a month, a year, and sometimes even many years.  It may be a health issue, a financial issue, a relationship issue . . . you name it.  God never said our lives would be easy, even if we're following Him, and oftentimes as soon as we get out of one crisis, we find ourselves in another one.  We systematically work our way through them.  Sometimes these crises come rather infrequently, but then other times, like has been the case for our family this last year, they just seem to pile up right on top of each other a bit too frequently, and you find yourself struggling to make sense of all of it.   Thankfully, though, many of these issues eventually come to pass. 

     And then I would dare say that a lot of us have some kind of pain deep down inside that's just always been there.  An issue that just never seems to get resolved.  A feeling we can't seem to get past.  A struggle we continually do not know how to face.  A hurdle that just can't be jumped over no matter how hard we try.  A disease that affects our entire life.  Oh, it may not be something that causes us grief every moment of every day or even on a regular basis at all, but somehow it's just always lingering in the background and in the far corners of our mind.  It might just be something that we personally and privately deal with alone, or it might be something that affects not only us but many people around us, and the ramifications of the whole thing can be so incredibly complicated. 

     That's where I've been for the last month.  For me, it's an issue that has been present in my life for as long as I can remember.  The level of severity of it has always been high, but lately it has reached an even higher notch on the scale, and there is no evidence of it backing down anytime soon.  It has been the most mentally draining and emotionally exhausting month of my life, and when you add that to all the other stressors of our "normal" life lately, it's really, really difficult to know how to keep picking up the pieces and moving forward.  If I could snap my fingers and fix things, I would.  If I could find something tangible to actually do to make a difference, I would.  I'm trying.  If I could pray a little harder and ask God for the millionth time to bring relief, I would.  And I have been. 

     But the fact remains, there are no easy answers.  There is no quick fix.  In fact, there are many obstacles -- big ones.  The actual root of the problem is something that greatly prohibits any normal attempt at fixing the problem, and that plays a huge factor in the whole dilemma.  Consequently, my heart and mind has once again become consumed with trying to figure out how to make some real necessary changes for all involved.  Those closest to the root of the problem have almost become immune to it, even though their lives are greatly affected by it.  But it's like a ripple effect.  Those who are a little bit further away get caught in the middle because they know the problem and are used to it.  They know that things are not right, but sometimes it's easier to just overlook it and try to pretend it's not that bad.  Then they have a wake-up call and find themselves challenged by those from the outside looking in who can clearly see the issues at hand and who can't fathom why something hasn't been done to fix it long ago.  But then we get back to the root of the problem as being the prohibitor for healing once again, and it goes on and on and on.

     For all who are involved, it's deep.  It's painful.  It's horrible.  It affects our lives in ways that most people would never be able to understand.  It's a part of my life that isn't easily shared, but it's a huge part, and there is a whole lot of healing that needs to happen right now in not only my life but also in the lives of those around me.  It's kind of scary to poke my head out and expose this part of my life, but God has blessed me with so many friends and family who truly care, and it's time to just lay it out there and humbly seek your prayer support. 

     After consciously realizing that I was taking my stress out on my family yet again, God recently nudged me to simply choose joy.  Even when the storm is brewing all around me, for my sake and my family's sake, I must choose joy.  That's easier said than done when you're desperately seeking answers and the inward turmoil is about to engulf you.  But the joy of the LORD is my strength, and I must simply keep laying my burdens before Him and then focus on the joy and blessings that He so abundantly gives me.  Relying on that strength has been crucial for me all my life, and I simply cannot give up now.   

     So today . . . even if it's just for today and hopefully again tomorrow and the next day . . . I'm choosing joy.  I'm choosing to spend my day doing some things that I love to do.  I've walked and prayed.  Flowers have been picked from my yard and put on my kitchen table.  Plans are set in place to make some foods that I know my family will enjoy this weekend.  Thoughts have been circulating in my head of how to best be a blessing to others.  I've come here to write again, which is something I've really missed.  And just because writing leads me to pictures and pictures lead me to wonderful memories of my family, I'm choosing to end this by sharing some memories of our summer. 

Thank you, Lord, for my family.

Thank you, Lord, for those who are praying for us.

Today . . . I'm choosing joy.



We had a couple fun weekends of camping with the Westerkamps.



It's amazing what one cousin can get another cousin to do.

Pizzas in the fire -- oh, yeah!

Detasseling and swimming can wear a girl out!

The annual tractor ride around parts of Iowa

Even the kids enjoy the tractor ride!

Cousin time at my sister Sheila's house

We had shirts made for my family's big annual campout.

That's a whole lot of descendants!

My grandma and grandpa, ages 90 and 94, celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in April.  They're going for the big 70 next April!

After all the little kids had a few whacks at the pinata, they started chanting, "Grandpa!  Grandpa!  Grandpa!"  It was a priceless moment to see Grandpa out there with his cane!

We had a whole lot of fun family activities planned, but the rain had a way of interrupting, which forced a whole lot of people into one shelter house for a while.

Our kids and a couple special friends. 

Cousin time! 
I love how Jenna brought her purse along for this . . .

Mudding!!!

Normally these kids would have been covered with mud from head to toe, but we had some unfortunate vehicle challenges, which prevented some of the normal "fun." 



Kelsey's workouts have definitely paid off! 
None of these boys could accomplish the same feat!



Good times with cousins from Michigan

Keaton headed off to church camp with his friend Jordan
the morning after we arrived back home.

Haley enjoyed some little trips with her friends.

Kelsey's friend Diana invited her along on a week-long houseboat
trip to Lake Powell in Arizona.

Cousin Camren came to town for a few days to celebrate his 10th birthday.

Keaton moved to middle school and is now a 6th-grader.

Kelsey is now a sophomore in high school.

A couple nights before we took Haley to college, we had the chance to meet up with a third cousin of mine, Tarah, and her kids and parents.  She was on her way back to Africa to meet up with her husband, so Haley was thrilled to have the chance to learn more about their work in Uganda, which is one of the places Haley would love to go someday.  She was even more excited when Tarah extended an open invitation to her.



We moved Haley up to Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, where she will be studying psychology as a freshman.



It was a group effort!

Heath is going to the same school, but he will be commuting from home as a second-semester junior this fall.  He is majoring in accounting.

So hard to believe we now have two kids in college!

Our kids -- our pride and joy.