A Fun Week

We've had a busy, but FUN week. On Father's Day we headed to a water park and spent the day loving on our Daddy. It was a nice time to "get a away" and just enjoy being together as a family.










Next, we were able to meet some of our best friends from Edna while they were in town for a gymnastics meet. It was SO good for me.....I sure miss them a lot! Micah and Caed have been "boyfriend/girlfriend" since birth (basically). It's funny now because you can tell they are growing up. They are a little more shy now about the whole "dating" issue. ha! Little do they know...... Jennifer and Shelton and Todd and I have already arranged their marriage. :)






Then.....sprinkled all throughout this week was VBS. The kids had a great time!








Caed had a verse he memorized and said before a big crowd of parents:
"Give freely and become wealthy......be stingy and you will lose everything. PROBLEMS 11:24"

I personally think "PROBLEMS" could easily be substituted for Proverbs, don't you? ha!





Crazy hair day!


*Caed is continuing to do wonderful! Our main struggle is keeping him hydrated. If you are from TX, you know how "insanely" HOT it has been this week (and in Dallas....hitting triple digits). However....Caed has been drinking and drinking and drinking. So much so I am having to make double the ORS daily! This is such a praise!! We are not having to hound him all day long to drink. He is the one coming to ME and asking for refills. Hopefully this will only continue. Next blood draw is this coming week.

Reagan's First Solo

....short but sweet

The last 'first time'

Caed's official first year of baseball has ended. And what a year it was! According to Caed and his teammates.....they are the CHAMPIONS! (since they won ALL of their games) Little do they know Celina t-ball doesn't keep score - everyone WINS!! ha... They were a good little team though.



This was the beginning......for 2 beyond ecstatic parents dreaming of the day their son could be out on the field playing ball "just like the rest." But he wasn't. This little boy was different. He had endured a year of tremendous pain and suffering. His world had been turned upside down in the blink of an eye and his family torn apart. Everything he knew.....was no longer. But OUR GOD was there! He held Caed in his protective, loving, merciful Hands, and because of that......our child was able to experience every little boy's "right of passage."

Every coach, parent, and child on Caed's team this year was new to us. We had never met or seen any of them before. Therefore, none knew of Caed's medical history. I had tried to "briefly" explain to Caed's coach at the beginning of the season without overwhelming him. I don't think all the "short gut info" was something he was expecting when he called that night. :) But because Caed is just on tube feeds 15 hrs. a day.....he has lots of "free time." Therefore Caed was never hooked up when he went to practices or games. I truly believe the coach forgot most of what I told him about Caed's condition....(not to fault him). But when you see Caed out and about....playing....running....jumping.....swimming.....being silly.....people forget. I forget! Caed ended up being one of the better players on his team this year. I think he just naturally has some God given athletic ability, and it definitely showed out on the field. So, today when Caed's teammates joined together for an end-of-season party and to hand out trophies......it definitely caught people off guard to see him wearing this backpack and a tube going into his tummy. They had NO idea. And CAED!!! Like I said....he was one of the best.

Times like these do 2 things for me:

1) make me a little sad and cause me to remember that Caed IS different. None of the other little boys have to be hooked to a machine every night. And their mommies probably don't worry when they are getting their little boys dressed b/c of a G-tube protruding from their abdomens. When we go to swimming pools or water parks, I see all the little kids and their bare tummies. They have no scars running down the middle of their abdomen and a G button sitting on top. Sometimes it's just a constant reminder that he may look and act normal outwardly....but inwardly he is not. (I am also aware these are the times satan attacks me most)

2) it also makes me THRILLED beyond words to see him OUT.....playing and fitting in to the rest of the group just like he's one of them. And 9 times out of 10, no one knows. They think he's just a regular little boy having fun out on the t-ball field or sliding down a water slide. That blesses my heart! THANK YOU GOD for your healing power!

We had a terrific 1st season of baseball. It started out a little rough, but Caed jumped in there and did wonderful! His coach told Todd and I he'll be looking for Caed in a few years for the select team. I have no idea whether baseball will be "Caed's thing" or not. He definitely is good enough, but the Lord may have something else he wants him to do. We don't know. But....regardless what it is......we just pray the Lord uses Caed...... to touch others and show them of the Mighty Awesome God we serve!

Thank You Lord for your continued Faithfulness!



(Caed....sitting bottom left)


safe!!!!!!!!


handing out trophies



At last! The much anticipated TROPHY!!!!!

Fun in the Sun

Art Camp

Reagan's last day of Art Camp has come and gone. She LOVED it! The high school art teacher (and friend/member of our church) taught it and did a wonderful job. Not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely far exceeded anything I thought "art camp" was. Reagan learned so much, and was introduced to many different art mediums. (glass, pottery, clay, canvas, chalk, sketching, wire sculpting, watercolor, and others I don't even know) Here is a look at some of her work:

(if you click on this picture, it will enlarge and you can get a better look) :)









Thank you Judy! She had such a wonderful week!!

Sometimes......

...you don't know what you have until it's gone......








This was a few remains of our house and yard after last night's "tornado." To drive around town....wow! It just makes you thankful it wasn't worse. Our power went out last night about 7:00...and JUST NOW came back on almost 24 hrs. later! Made for an interesting day. My mom joked with me about my last post, and how today was definitely not part of the "normal, daily grind."

I guess from living in Tx. all my life, I have learned to LOVE thunderstorms and gasp......even tornado warnings. In high school I even had the desire to be a "storm chaser." I'm sure watching the Helen Hunt movie Twister helped matters as well. Even yesterday, as the 75+mph winds beat against our house, Todd and I had the wooden doors open and eagerly watched out the glass ones. Reagan kept reminding us that probably wasn't the smartest, safest decision. She was right. While the storm sirens let out their bone-chilling call and others hid in their bathrooms,etc....Todd and I watched as our backyard was becoming obliterated. As devastating as it is watching your personal possessions blow away or destroyed....there is still something so awe-inspiring about storms. Maybe it's the presence of something more...something bigger. (and of course I'm not referring to "Mother Nature") The sheer power. And to think we only experienced a mild one at that. Reminds me of Jesus calming the storm in Luke 8:22-25. It doesn't tell us what exactly he said, but only that He rebuked the wind and waters....and "the storm subsided." Instantly. That's power. I'm pretty certain that during last night's excitement, absolutely nothing would have happened had Todd or I (or the best, most experienced meteorologist) stepped outside to command the winds to stop. (other than blow away ourselves!) And yet just the spoken word from the God of the universe, who Himself actually put the storm into motion to begin with.....all things changed. In an instant.

It's no fun losing part of your fence, shutters, shingles, and trampoline, and yet in a strange way.....I'm thankful for last night's storm. We were without electricity for almost 24 hrs. In a world that LIVES by electrical power......it's tough. Everything had to change. The food in our frig/freezer had to find a new home, Mommy had to get creative with meals, the kids had to use their imagination to entertain themselves, and we had to find light from alternate sources. Definitely humbles you to lose something that you are used to having. Things we not only take for granted, but selfishly develop the mindset we somehow DESERVE them. For the last 24 hrs. I have felt somewhat "helpless." My "normal daily grind" was affected due to the lack of electricity. So now that we have it again, I am actually looking forward to laundry, dish washing, meal preparing, etc.... Sometimes you just don't know what you have until it's gone.

Yet it's more than just losing the modern conveniences we've grown accustomed to. It's times like this when your normal life is altered in some fashion, and you realize the 1000's of blessings that are daily taken for granted. Whether a loss in life, in health, in job, in possessions, or in dreams........I believe God uses them. Uses the pain, disappointment or devastation to remind us how GOOD He is! How He loves giving good gifts to His children and how spoiled rotten we have become. Instead of beaming with delight and gratitude, we toss it aside and look for the "next gift." (sound familiar?.....what has become our version of Christmas morning, perhaps) Maybe sometimes he "takes things away" because he wants our undivided attention. Not punishment, but love. Undying LOVE! He takes the distractions away and puts the blinders on. So that all we see is HIM!

Next time your life is altered.....will you stop.....look for HIM....listen to His loving voice....and trust in His hand? He sure must love you a lot to want your undivided attention!

All good....

...labs came back "much better!"

His hydration level is up and all looks great. We will go back to once a month blood draws (unless we see signs of dehydration)

Thanks for your continued prayers...........................we look forward to a "normal" fun-filled summer!

Caed's special visitor

If you have learned anything about Caed this past year, it would probably be his love for TURTLES!! Well, you can imagine his delight when I saw this little fellow walking across the street and up into our yard this morning. Caed was thrilled...yet uncharacteristically cautious. I assume he's learned from his experiences with "Timmy" (my parents' turtle) that it's best to stay quiet and calm. Caleb however doesn't know this rule, so Caed made sure he kept him at a good distance as not to scare our little friend away. He literally sat in the street for a very long time just waiting and watching, but finally gave up when it was evident Mr. Turtle wasn't going to budge with an audience. We went inside, and I kept a periodic watch to see where he was off to next. The last we saw he had made it up into our flower beds, but......then soon vanished. Caed has been so disappointed ever since. Mr. Turtle even made his way into Caed's bedtime prayers tonight (hoping he found his family).






We have had a good, non-eventful (which I praise God for) week. Reagan has been attending an Art Camp up at the high school in the mornings, and the 2 boys and I have just been up to the normal day-to-day grind here at home. We are still awaiting the results to Caed's lab work from last week, but are expecting to hear something tomorrow. He has been struggling a lot with one of his legs (knee) probably for the past 2 weeks. He will usually come to us at least a couple times a day crying in pain. All we can do is give him Tylenol, and thankfully it seems to help pretty quickly. And of course........the usual push of his ORS (drink)!!!!

Bloodwork and Baseball

.....that sums up our week.

We went in for this week's blood draw yesterday (don't know results yet), but are sure praying for his hydration level to be better than last. It is a constant battle getting him to drink, drink, drink. I know he's getting so tired of hearing it.

We also are getting to make up several of the t-ball games that got canceled earlier in the year due to all the rain we got in May. Tonight's game was extra special because Caed got to finally play against his best friend, Reid.


Best Buds!



Caed (1st baseman).....Reid (runner) - not the best combination. They were a little preoccupied!!



Now, Caed is the runner and Reid was 3rd baseman.......once again they caught up on any unfinished conversations.



Go Bobcats!!!!!



Reagan and Caed told me they were married and their names were "Todd & Lori"