Update on Grandpa

My grandpa is doing much better. The doctors found out that it was a bleed from some small capillaries in his stomach or intestine because his blood got too thin. When you are on Coumadin you need to have frequent blood tests. Well, grandpa hasn't had his blood tested in awhile cuz he fell about a month ago and has been homebound. As a home health therapist it infuriates me that a nurse practictioner from the doctor's office has been "checking in" on him and refused to order home health nursing. The home health nurse would have checked his blood at home, negating the need for grandpa to leave the house to go to the lab. This practictioner should have known the need for the frequent checks. ALL of this could have been avioded!! I have advised my mom to bypass her and get him home health ordered by the MD at the hospital at discharge. Poor grandpa, grandma and all involved...so much stress and it could have been avoided!!

My Grandpa

So, yesterday I posted about being thankful for our health. I got a call a couple hours later that my grandpa, Vince was in the ER. He has multiple medical problems and was bleeding internally. It didn't look good and we made tentative plans to head there today. As of last night he was less critical and looks to be okay. They've given him 3 units of blood, blood plasma (to clot his blood), dopamine to raise his blood pressure (it was 80/30 when he got to the hospital) and flew him to St. Louis for better care.

I worry about my grandmother, my 4 uncles, my mom and our family. We are very close and hurt when one of us is hurting. Good thing is our support system and faith are strong.

My family could use some prayers as grandpa pulls through yet another medical scare.

I'm thankful for...

It's Thanksgiving and I thought I'd write about the many blessings I am thankful for!

1. My family: Jordan & Lance and all of our extended family in five other states. I am blessed that I have a great marriage and we have the support and love of a big family.

2. Our many friends, here and in IL.

3. The beautiful children and their families that I get to spend time with every week.

4. The freedom to worship our God and homeschool Jordan in a free country.

5. Our health...the whole family!!

6. The chance to live in a beautiful part of the country where God paints beauty in each season.

I could go on, but I should start cooking for our dinner later! Happy Thanksgiving!!

More organizing...

I'll tell you, I'm on a roll. Today we cleaned and organized Jordan's room. Here are some before and after pictures. (For some reason they are not loading like I want so you have to look for the ones that go together.) Took us 2 1/2 hours to complete this task...whew...I'm tired!

We've got SNOW!!!

Not sure how much we are going to get, but it is coming down!! I wonder what our winter is going to be like?

A beautiful fall (?) day...

Feels more like winter....27 degrees today with a high of only 35! We had some snow last night, just a dusting, but two counties in the southeast part of the state are on a delay for school this morning.

We ran up to the seminary to get pictures of the famous ginko trees. The leaves fall like rain (see attachted photos). The other two years we have been here, the leaves have fallen on a day I worked. I got to see it this year and get some good pictures!! This is a great photo op for people, but too bad it is so cold this year. Brrr...I think I need some coffee.

A night out & Adoption Update

Night out: Lance & I had a great date night out, using a gift certificate we received...thanks Zane, Colleen & families. It was one of those really nice restaraunts!! We had so much fun! Nice to reconnect!

Adoption Update: I've had a lot of people asking for an adoption update. We wait. Nothing new to report. We are waiting for a birth mom to pick us. It would be nice to have a baby in the house for Christmas, but God knows the best timing for us. So for now, we wait.

Contemplative thought...

I've been asked to tell my story at a "Blue Christmas" service here in December. Not the part of the story about loss and grief, but the part about victory over pain. The victory in Jesus through comfort and healing. I have a lot of time to think while driving about the area. A song on the radio keeps reverberating in my head. "Here I Am" by Downhere. In the chorus it states, "Somehow my story is part of your plan". It is neat to look back on the last ____ years of my life and see how it has been shaped and molded to bring me right here...to this place...right now. I feel that if I can touch one person's heart through my experiences, then what we went through wasn't in vain.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

It's raining

And we so need the rain. I keep thinking that if the drought doesn't break soon, all of our moisture is going to come in the way of snow. One big one would be nice again; I am just not looking to weeks of ice like last year.

Enjoying an evening of sweats, hot chocolate and a favorite Tuesday night show...AHHH!

Another Fave Five Friday...

It's been a really good week!! So...here it goes:

1. Couples' Connnect on Monday night was awesome. We (and 2 other couples)made a gingerbread house for a contest and we won! We got gift certificates to a local diner. Then, we heard from the seminary's president and his wife about marriage in maturity. They are a great couple and had a lot to teach us.

2. Meeting with First Steps on Monday. Not usually a favorite of the week, but I got a lot of information on billing insurance and found out how to expedite the process.

3. The election is over!!

4. We got to babysit Carolina (see picture above) on Thursday night and had a blast!!

5. One of my babies took 6 steps yesterday!! We've been working on this for some time! My job is so rewarding!

6. (Okay...I have six this week) Lance & I had a quiet evening last night after Jordan went to spend the night with a neighbor of ours. She is having so much fun living in a neighborhood!!



Have a great weekend!

Our trip to TN!!

We had a great, relaxing weekend away. It was nice to spend some time with Bonnie and Dayle. Enjoy the pics!

Smoky Mountains!

Went to Townsend, TN this weekend with Lance's parents. Had a great time...pictures to follow...hopefully tomorrow!