Surgery

Sophie and I (Deb) will be traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio on October 2. She has doctor appointments on the 3rd-5th and will be admitted on the 7th with surgery scheduled for Monday, October 8. They anticipate a 7-10 day in patient stay if all goes well.

Shawn will be at home with the other kids except for a few days when he comes to Cincy while Grandma is here.

Praises:
*We were able to change insurance last year so that we can take Sophie to the hospital with the doctors with the most experience for this surgery!
*We have college friends who are letting us stay with them for the days prior to being admitted. We don't have to pay for hotel expenses, and best of all we get to catch up with "old" friends! (Thanks, Peg and Greg)
*Not only does Sophie seem to understand what's going to happen, but she has also been accepting of it!

Prayer requests:
*For the surgeons and surgery to go well
*That the diagnostics don't show any other abnormalities that we aren't aware of already
*Health for the whole family!
*Perseverance and patience for the patient and the parents!
*Sophie can't eat for at least 7 days after...she loves to eat....enough said!
*Travel mercies

He doesn't know I'm saying this, but if you would feel like blessing my husband with a meal, please call our home!

We will be posting details to our new Care Pages account. If you would like the link please email us or leave a comment with your email address.

Happy Birthday, Katie!

How did this happen?
My baby girl is SIX!

When we became parents of a "baby/toddler" 5 years ago,
(in our 40's!)
we did have the thought....
"what are we DOING?!!"

But we knew it was God's will,
and we were excited!
And you know what...I have NEVER regretted it!
This child has been a blessing!
I guess that's why it says in Psalm 127:3
"Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him."

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!!

Saturday

We all love Saturday. No school! No work!

Sophie climbed into bed with us yesterday  morning and sang this little song:

"No work, no work! I got my Daddy!"

:)

Ripstick Basketball

We are trying to encourage our kids to be outside and exercise instead of inside playing video games.
Zack taught himself how to ripstick, with some tips from big brother Josh. Then tonight he was doing this! Sophie is working on rebounding and passing!

More Back to School!

Now everyone is back to school!
Matt started Monday. He is saving money by living at home and commuting.
(which is why his picture is with the car!)



Josh started his sophomore year in HS on Wednesday.
Starting midweek and with a half day is so nice!

Where does the time go?
I can't believe how old these guys are!
I don't even feel old enough to be their mom!

Back to school

Ryan is back to school, well, back to campus!

He was SO READY to get back!

He volunteered to be part of the move-in crew just so he could move in early. 

No more summer job.

He said good-bye. He was bouncing in the driver's seat as we neared the town.

  

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Bring stuff in...

Getting organized

Meeting up with a friend, Kiley.

Then a trip to Walmart and to Sam's and I drove off for the 5 hour return trip with an empty van.

Wish I had pictures of his roommate, Rohit and his girlfriend, Anna,

but they were both coming back the next night.

First Day of School

First Day of School!

Mom insisted we take pictures! 

I was lucky to get all these smiles....

Cuz one little girl just wanted to do school. 

What was with taking pictures anyway?

And here are the boys in our class:

So handsome!

When they start getting on the bus, it's easy to say, smile here or

 I'll follow you to the bus with the camera! 

They were very cooperative and smiled without too much trouble!

Not that they were as excited as Sophie to begin the school year.

Cuz,

 they're not!

So "summer" is over and back to the books for these boys.

But Sophie has been doing school all summer! 

She LOVES school and literally begs for it almost every day!

It's so special to have a student who really WANTS to learn!