Hi Guys!!! well, i am still alive and surviving my two weeks alone!!! it helps that this is a very busy year for me....i am gone a lot driving kids where they need to be and going to meetings for MOPS. So, the time has gone by fast. Don and Jarrod are doing good. i don't get to talk to them much...it is hard to find a time with the 8 hour time difference since i am not usually home when they are ready to talk. Jarrod did have a run in with some monkeys....:) one day in the middle of the afternoon between meetings don went to the room to rest up for the night meetings while Jarrod (our 20 yr old nephew) wanted to go for a walk and take pics of some of the animals. sounds simple enough right??!! well, he found some monkeys and started to take some pictures and the monkey's did NOT like that. These are wild monkeys remember....not monkeys in a zoo. Well, the monkeys decided they would see how fast Jarrod could run and started to chase him. He ran all the way back to his room.....when he entered the room don was like "what the heck"....Jarrod must have had a pretty funny/scared look on his face:) i am sure they will have plenty of stories to tell when they get back. i told the girls about Jarrod getting chased by the monkeys and Maddie said "did Jarrod cry??".....she asked them on skype and daddy told her "yes" with Jarrod laughing in the background!!! So, they are doing well. they get home on Tuesday afternoon so hopefully the trip home goes ok...i know it will take a lot out of don and i am preparing myself for my husband to need lots of rest time when he gets home!!!! The girls and i went to my moms in Colorado Springs this weekend since she had the weekend off from work. on Saturday we went to the Royal Gorge outside of canyon city and we had a GREAT time!!!! the girls were really good and it was a beautiful day and not crowded at all!! the pics are below from our day and you will also see Maddie sporting her new purple cast!!!!!!!!! tomorrow we go back to the children's hospital for ex rays....they want to keep a close watch to make sure she is healing just right so we go for ex rays once a week till she gets the cast off!!! i will let you know how things go. Enjoy this pics!!
Well, a quick update to let you know that don and Jarrod arrived safely and are in South Africa. The first leg was much better than the second leg. The second leg took a lot out of don but he is there and resting up for a great week!!! I have skyped with him once today...not sure how much that will work out with the time difference and me actually being able to be home when he is ready to skype but we will see. He looked and sounded very tired tonight but was planning on getting a good night sleep and taking it easy in the morning. Jarrod is being a great help so that is good. Over here Madison DOES have a cast on and she did break her arm and will need to go back to the children's hospital once a week to have ex rays done to monitor her arm. she did great getting her cast and the doctor said that she was one tough cookie!!! I am at my moms tonite...we are having a girl sleep over and then we are going to a pumpkin farm tomorrow. I will take pics tomorrow and update later this weekend. So keep praying for Don and for his strength and health!!
Well, we were supposed to spend this weekend watching my Buckeyes beat Don's USC trojans....that didn't go as planned and we were supposed to have a nice football party here at the house...that DID happen but not without some drama before hand. Saturday afternoon taylor and maddie were in the toy room and as the "story" goes....the story that comes from a five year old and three year old.....is that Maddie was on the chair looking out the window at a bird???!!!!....not sure if that is the truth or what actually happened but both girls still swear by that story so it must be true...while on the chair looking out at the bird she FELL off the chair and landed on her left arm. Immediately there was a scream that brought both me and don running because it was a HURT scream....not a whine, fight or tired scream!! she continued to cry and could not bend her arm and was in a lot of pain. so we went down to the urgent care and had exrays done. the doctor told us that he couldn 't confirm one way or another if her arm was broken or not....so he was going to send the exrays for someone else to look at. so since saturday we have been icing it and keeping it wrapped and in a sling. She is NOT using that arm...just doing everything with her right arm.well, we got the results of that today and she DID BREAK her left arm. so, on thursday we go to a specialist to see if we need a cast or what the best plan of action is. The trick is that the specialist is in downtown denver and now i get to coordinate taking maddie there and having taylor at school and all that. I guess i know i won't have too much time to be worried about don. A good point my mom made today......the way things turned out....I AM glad that I am going to be HERE on thursday and not leaving on Wednesday with Don to Africa!! I guess things do all work out for a reason huh. Jarrod (our nephew) is here and he and Don leave tomorrow morning. I am praying for don's safety and his heart....he hates leaving his baby here esp. when she is hurt!!! Emily sent Taylor a shirt from her college....Taylor University....she is so proud of her new shirt....she told everyone at school today...that her FRIEND EMILY sent this to her IN THE MAIL!!! So pray for Maddie....taylor broke her left elbow when she was three....so four days before she actually turned four....maddie followed suit with her broken arm.....the joys of motherhood!! any tips on how to keep children from actually jumping on and off furniture...man!!
Breathe out....my year of chaos has begun!! i have NOT had the camera out at all the last couple of weeks so no pics today!! i have however gotten some flack for no posts so i guess you can listen to me ramble!!! September is a crazy month....starting today i have both girls in school for 3 hours...opposite times so really no "free" time for me yet this year!! and a lot of running around. September is also the month of travel for my hubby. he was gone last week for meetings. he is in town this week and then on the 17th he leaves for Africa and will be gone THE REST OF THE MONTH!!! Don is going to Africa with Youth For Christ to be a part of a young leaders development process!! It is a great program that develops young leaders from all over the world!! Don is in charge of the 20 or so young leaders from the US and their development process the next couple years!! he can explain in much better detail but it really is a great project. I was originally going to go with him to Africa to help him with the physical demands that his body will endure, but over much thought and prayer i felt like it was too long and bad timing to leave both kids for that long!! So, our next solution was to ask our 20 year old nephew to go and be Don's helper!! Jarrod is going to be a junior ministry major in college this year and will gain much knowledge while helping his uncle on this trip!! So, i will hold down the home front here and Don will go. We need lots of prayer for ALL of us....the girls are old enough now to hate it when Daddy leaves...every day i will here "i want daddy", "i miss daddy", "is daddy coming home now?" questions from little ones who don't understand time yet and that two weeks is a long time!! So, pray for our girls and while you are doing that....Pray for their mommy to be FUN, PATIENT, and STRONG:) Don will need lots of physical prayer....he has never traveled overseas before and this will be a long and draining process for his body. Pray for strength and patience on his part. Pray for him to know what he can do when he is over there and when he NEEDS to rest!! But BEFORE ALL of this happens....we get to celebrate tomorrow....a few days early because of Don's trip..... MY BABY is turning the big "4"!!!!! i can't even believe that!! We are celebrating tomorrow so I WILL take pics tomorrow and do a post on that little child tomorrow or Friday at the latest!! And Maddie is VERY excited to be 4 and be "big".Another thing on my plate is that MOPS started up last night!! I love MOPS!!! Our first meeting got off well and we all had a lot of fun!! i am on the steering team and in charge of our moppets program which is the program that lines up volunteers to take care of our kids!! It is always great to get around other moms and relate to them!! That is it for now...pics will come soon!! have a great week everyone!!
