A Family of Friends

Deuteronomy 6:4-7
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

My family has been gifted a wonderful treasure, a Godly Grandpa and Grandma who love their Lord and their family. My parents recent labor of love has been to create a wilderness retreat where the families of their 5 children can gather and share family time together.

Last weekend we enjoyed the fruit of that labor as pieces and parts of the various families melded as one for a whirlwind of activities. There were lazy afternoons at the river, tea parties in the woods, airsoft wars, little princesses all dressed up, and loads of food prepared and very quickly consumed.

Roll call totaled up at 27 this year: 2 Grandparents, 3 Aunts, 2 Uncles, and 20 (out of 27) cousins!


The Patriarch of the Clan


Grandma and Moonchild Making S'mores


Cousins Galore


Sweet Friendship

Please Pray

I'm pasting in a recent e-mail from my sister-in-law and asking all of you to please join me in praying for my dear niece, Amanda, who has been suffering for so long.

"For Amanda things are not looking as encouraging. In the last two years she has undergone so much!!! So many C.A.T. scans and M.R.I.’s, an M.R.V., an E.C.G., numerous x-rays, months of physical therapy, hundreds of Dr. visits to here p.c.p., back surgeons, neurologists, pain specialists, oral facial pain specialists, chiropractors, a deep tissue message therapist, an acupuncturist, optometrists, an opthamologist, as well as dentists and endodontist’s. She has had several root canals done to try to alleviate the intense pain, unfortunately only making matters worse, causing severe T.M.D., which makes here jaw lock so that it can only be closed manually,as well as adding to the pain she already was dealing with. She has had back surgery that has left her unable to walk on her own, although, for the last 3-4 weeks she has been able to use only a cain and she is able to walk with support, but without full control of the legs, sadly, she has not made any progress in P.T. since June. Oddly, one of the back surgeons asked her prior to surgery, when she had quit smoking because her bones are dried up like someone who has smoked all their life. Of course, she has never smoked, neither has she been around it. Her shoulders for no reason known just pop out of joint. She has to take inhalers on a daily basis for asthma she developed almost two years ago now. She has lost more than half of her eyesight, and sometimes her eyes blur altogether, making it impossible to see. This has been a help though, as it sent her to the opthamologist, who, suspecting intra-cranial hypertension, sent her to a new neurologist, who ordered a lumbar tap to measure the opening pressure of her spinal fluid, (it is supposed to top at 150, hers is 300 and something,) which gave another specialist another piece to the puzzle enabling him to give a tentative diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia. Below is a description I pasted from websight.

DESCRIPTIONTrigeminal Neuralgia (TN), also known as Tic Douloureux, is considered by many to be the "most terrible pain known to man." The electric shock-like pain generally is on one side of the face and is spasmodic, coming in short bursts lasting a few seconds. Several attacks can follow each other within minutes. There are often trigger points, places on the face which, if touched, trigger an attack.. Eating, shaving, applying makeup and talking can be triggers. There can be periods of remission when pain is completely absent. These periods of remission, which can last days, weeks, months, even years, are unpredictable and without medical treatment, the pain usually returns.1. TN is a very rare condition. Statistics vary, but TN occurs in approximately 150 per million people per year. Medical literature notes this condition is rare for anyone under age 50.

For over two years Amanda has not had remission, with the exception of a very light let up in August of ‘04.Other concerns are that since Amanda had the spinal tap done about five weeks ago she has only been able to stomach rice milk and a couple of times some gelatin snacks. She attempts to eat every few days, but is unable to keep it down. Plus, since her back surgery, April 5, she has had a headache of migraine proportions, only it can’t be a migraine because migraines don’t continue for so long. ( This headache is beside the spinal headache she had after the tap.)

So we continue on. Amanda, taking to heart very much the words of her boss from the Courier Herald, tries really hard not to let her pain affect others. This is a huge load for her to carry. Thank you for keeping her (and us,) in your prayers."

Yesterday, Amanda, had another lumbar tap and is experiencing excruciating pain. Will you remember her before our Great Physician?

Progress Report

The builder called Tuesday evening with exciting news...our foundation had been poured!



After weeks of waiting, and watching, and seeing nothing change the project is moving forward.



Hopefully, upon our return from Idaho next week, we'll see the frame of our new home on the hilltop.

Please return my brain!

One last accusation aimed at my dear friends who left us on Monday. Did you take my brain home in one of your backpacks? I've found the other lost items...the 288 patch and the headphones...but this critical item in my life still seems to be at large.

Here's the evidence...I'm trying very hard to do laudry today, very unsuccessfully. I loaded the machine with soap and water, but came back an hour later to discover I'd never shut the lid...so I did and left. Now I've come back to make the transfer to the dryer only to discover that I'd forgotten more than shutting the lid...I'd never put the sheets in! Okay, I'll try this over again soap, water, sheets,AND closing the lid.

Maybe the snooze I've been fighting off is a good plan afterall. But it's a bit late in the day for that, guess I'll see what a cup of tea might do for me.

Celebrating the 4th and Our Family

The day was tailor made for us.











We needed time to reconnect after the busy days of graduation, a houseful of friends, and brotherblogger's week away at Scout Camp.











We needed time to enjoy what God has placed in His wonderful world.













We needed time to play.










We needed time for each other!

Fun in the Sun

Life doesn't get much better than this.

Friendship,

conversation,

a sunny beach,

and shelter!

One more memory to treasure.

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Precious memories are triggered by the simplest of things. Like the shoe pile by the front door last week while we savored every moment with our adopted cousins from A Circle of Quiet. This jumble of shoes is a symbol of the friendships forged in our loving home-group, of barefoot dancers in the back yard, of forgotten socks (whose are they?), and of the love and laughter shared among our families.
Thank you, dear friends, for this memory!
And when, once again, we say goodbye....don't forget your shoes...shoes....shoes.....