Time Goes Zipping By....

I am so sorry. You have been so kind and wonderful to be praying for me. You have been concerned for me, and I have been non-existent. May I please explain my warped sense of thinking during all of this time?

Surgery really did wipe me out for a few weeks. But by week 3, my schedule was beckoning to me and I was itching to stop being a zombie. From that point on, there has been so much happening that I have barely sat at the computer to check emails much less be able to do any writing. The thing is this....even when I have had a few minutes to write and even think on the possibility of blogging, I felt too guilty to write with not having the time to visit others' blogs. How one sided of me to write and share but not enjoy visiting with you. So my solution was to not write at all. I am sorry. Can you forgive me?

If you would like to know the highlights of events during the 2 months that I "purposed" to recover just keep on reading. I have to laugh because with all the joys, memories, and things to do....it is a good thing I "purposed" to take time off or I would have really been busy.

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First on the list was family camp. All I can say is "wow" when I look at this picture. There I was almost 3 weeks after surgery and still filled with Oxicodone when my hubby took this picture. We had pulled into camp and I moved from the passenger seat of the borrowed camper to the camp chair and there I stayed...half asleep and enjoying the outdoors while others ran around me playing volleyball and singing campfire songs. (Notice Kekoa being my ever present protector)

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The following week was our annual youth adventure to the YWAM ropes course. I think you can look at the pictures I posted by following this link. (If that doesn't work then go to this link and click "TDE at YWAM Ropes Course".) I didn't participate this year. It was hard to not gear up and jump in. But making the food and supervising was enough for my energy level. The later half of the day found me sleeping in a shaded grass area and shrinking away from the 95 degree weather.

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Next on the calendar was to immediately put the finishing touches on planning and putting youth camp into motion. It was a blast. Was I tired?....yes. But God put wonderful people around me to help with all the cooking and implementing of meals. Shopping for, preparing, and feeding 25 people for 4 days went off with great ease.

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At the same time camp was happening, I received joyous news that my brother and sister-in-law had their baby girl. I am now an auntie! We were hoping that I could be there in the delivery room but Little Angel-girl had different ideas and came early.

When I became a mom, I thought my little girls were so perfect when they were born.....but something sure pulls in my heart every time I hold this precious one in my arms.

My brother and sister-in-law formally asked Hubby and me to be Angel's god-parents and said that if anything ever were to happen to them that we are the only people they would want to raise her. Oh how I cried.

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Did things slow down then? Nope not a chance. It was time to celebrate Pippin's 18th birthday. She had been planning all summer long to take a few days off from her beach job and spend time with us. My plan was to surprise her with a big party.

Surprised her we definitely did. Here is what happened when she returned home from a few hours of distractions and found a house full of people and decorations.........

Yes, she was so surprised that she completely ran out of the house in shock. I caught her in the driveway and dragged her back in to enjoy the fun. She warmed up quickly and enjoyed all the joys.

She would give me such an embarrassed death glare for sharing this picture.......

This is a picture of a picture that my mom had been saving for "Pippin". It was taken when she was 9 months old. (Yes the red head is me. I know I look nothing like that these days.) So the true story goes......

We were in a photo shoot taking tons of pictures and she was getting bored. Innocently, she looked up at me and grabbed at those dangle earrings that sparkled ever so greatly. I had just told her a firm "no-no" and pushed her hand away when that look went across her face and the photographer snapped the picture. That giant picture was posted in the studio in an Oklahoma City mall for 3 years because of the funny candor on her face.

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The following week I hosted a party celebration for my new little niece. I love this picture of her and me together. She had so much expression already in her face and only being barely 2 weeks old.

The dress that she has on is the same outfit that both myself and my brother were christened in. Then my girls were dedicated in it as well. I washed and ironed it all up so that Angel could do the same thing. Our youth pastor came to the party and performed such an amazing dedication. He held Angel and rocked her as he told her first bible story and prayed over her. He spoke destiny and purpose over her life and taught that just as little boy Samuel heard from God, Angel too can be sure of never being "too young" to be used in great things. There was not a dry eye in the house.

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The next day my mother-in-law came into town for a couple of weeks. It was fun to spend lots of time with her and her girlfriend. We shopped, giggled, ate out a lot, and spent a few days at the beach visiting Pippin.

While we were at the beach, my step-daughter and her beau came for a visit as well. So there we were all at the beach and a wonderful thing happened.....they got engaged!

(I think it is really interesting how this picture came out. It was simply a quick snap with my cell phone. I love the highlights and shadows.)

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While we were shopping and beach combing, Puddin' was spending the week in California doing something of a missions trip. She and 91 others gathered just outside of Fresno at a YWAM gleanings farm and processed something like a "bazillion" peaches. All week they worked the conveyor belts that sorted peaches and then set them on pallets in the sun to dry. Those were then packaged and shipping to countries in need. she had an amazing time and is already talking about doing it again next year.

This is one of the many sunrises that she was privileged to be able to see as she woke up and got ready for a full day of working the conveyor belts and turning peaches.

The peaches couldn't just be thrown into the machines. They had to be sorted from good and bad. They had to be on the belt system a certain way so that when they went through the corer there wouldn't be wasted fruit.

This will give you a small idea of just how big the project was.

All of those pallets are filled with peaches drying out in the sun.

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So that just about brings you up to date with my summer spin.

What is on tap now? Well Pippin and her friend Rixxi are in the process of moving back here this week and getting set up for all things normal now that their summer jobs are finished. From here they will be focusing on college and jobs while Hubby and I will cheer them on in the best way we know how.

Puddin' is back in school and working on her sophomore year of studies. She is much more comfortable and easy going about it all this year. Well, as comfortable as high school can possibly be anyway. She enjoys her classes but the highlights of the week are youth events and worship practice where she is the regular drummer now.

Soon, my sister-in-law will be finished with her maternity leave and I will have the joy of being Angel's daily caregiver. They emailed me this photo 2 nights ago. Look at how much she has grown already in just a month.......


At the moment, I need to go pick up Kekoa from the groomers and then pick up Puddin' from school. I will be back SOON to share more events and thoughts.

I pray my blogger friends are doing well and I intend very soon to be able to visit each site and do some catch up....if you will still have me.

I Can't Think of a Title ;-) ........

(I took this picture of Kekoa a few weeks ago after one of our walks. He loves to find treasures on our walks and carry them home. This particular pine cone he carried for a half mile just so he could interrogate it in our front yard.)

Good morning! Thank you so much for your well wishes and prayers. You make me smile.
It has now been a week and I am doing well. I have started a bit of walking to get this body moving again. The doctor says that is good to do so I will obey. Monday morning I shuffled my way around our block (2/10 of a mile) and felt so good that I did it again in the evening. Okay so now is when you shake your head from side to side and say "tisk tisk". Yes, I did feel good doing it but soon realized I pushed myself too hard and regretted it. So yesterday I laid around all day and didn't walk around the block until Hubby came home. That seemed to be the right amount because I slept better and feel pretty good this morning.

Having surgery on one's stomach area is a strange thing. It is an interesting numb feeling on the outside while at the same time also feeling like I have done something like a bazillion stomach crunches on the inside. I can bend down now and lay on my side. My walk is getting more natural and not so much of a shuffle. I have learned that if I crouch by the bedside I can let Kekoa go from the bed to my legs to the floor without picking him up. (Small potatoes to one person is great progress to another.)

Puddin' is doing a great job of taking care of me and doing all the things around the house that I normally do. It is an adjustment for her. I tend to be of the mindset that I don't have the girls do much around the house on a regular basis simply because they are busy with growing up and having something always on their calendars. I know that is really not the right way to think and they need to learn more....but that is where I am at right now. All the same, she is doing it all right now since I can't lift anything for the next month that weighs more than 10 lbs. That means our laundry as well as hers, all the dishes, and all the cleaning that never ends. She is doing it all with a smile and that blesses me.

Right now our friends are rotating through with meals for us and that is a delight. I had put a bunch of freezer things together for us before surgery but nothing beats having a warm meal brought to the doorstep around 5pm. I am getting quite spoiled.

I have tried to visit you, my blogger friends, but have found my comments to be a bit loopy with the oxicodone I am taking. Thank goodness for the spell checker on Firefox. Boy I really thought my comments were more coherent than what the browser has proved to me.

Pippin is doing great at the beach. She is full on busy with work now and isn't able to call as much as she used to. When she can, she sends us cellular pictures of things around town. Her favorite thing to do is to grab a picture of the daily sunset for us to see. I love the beach!

Ok, I think it is time to go lay back down now.

Thank you again for your support! I treasure you.

Showers of Love and Healing....

I was able to come home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. It is so nice to be home. I never thought I would say this but....I enjoyed my stay. Every nurse I had was so nice, caring, and patient with me. Even when I was slow, even when I made a mess, even when I lost my dignity, even when I asked for pain meds at 2am........they were right there for me like I was the only person that mattered.

I didn't think I would actually share this because I find that some are embarrassed by the procedure. But the more people I talk with, the more I think it is important for you to know....sorry men......I had a complete hysterectomy on Wednesday. After listening to all the stories of women who have done the procedure, I thought for sure it would be painful to even breathe and I would be in so much pain. The truth is that while I am slow and uncomfortable, I am doing well. There are even times when I forget I am uncomfortable. Instead of feeling like I have had my insides taken out, I feel more like I have done sit ups for a solid day.

I am grateful it is done, grateful it was an option, and grateful for the results. It turns out that there were other things going on that didn't show on the pre-surgery ultrasounds. All is well now and I am on the road to recovery. I will be slow for a while and won't be much more than a spectator in many summer events but that is okay. I already feel better in some ways than I have for a long time.

I was blessed with so many visitors, flowers are everywhere,

phone calls are plenty, and meals are being set up.

For now though, it is back to bed for me.

The pain pills are singing me a song.

I will visit when I can.

Back At The Beach.....

Last weekend we took the youth group to visit Pippin at the coast. We had such a great time. The weather was perfect with a bit of clouds and breeze. There were only a few sprinkles throughout the day so everyone enjoyed the sand, beach combing, and shop browsing.

As soon as we got there and set up camp, everyone ran to the shoreline to get full of sand. A couple of people in the group are avid sand sculptors so they showed off their talents with these creations......

What day at the beach would be complete without burying your friends in the sand? These two guys were in a hole deep enough that they were standing in it! Then they had a race to see who could get out first....unassisted!

It was a group effort to dig this hole. These 6 people are sitting down in a hole that was shaped like the seating of a hot tub. See the cutie second in from the left? That is my Puddin'.

We were able to spend a full day with Pippin because she had the fortune of being off work that day. How perfect! When it was time to leave, it was so hard to say goodbye. Up until that point her stay there had felt not real because she knew we would be visiting with the youth group. But now, I don't have a projected return visit on the calendar.

Praise God we live in the 21st century with cell phone technology. I talk to her at least twice a day (usually she initiates the call) and we text back and forth throughout the day with comments and pictures of stuff in general.

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What else has been keeping me busy?

Well, it is that time of year where I am preparing all of the lesson plans for children's ministry. I just went to the copy store day before yesterday and ran off some 704 copies of things needed for my faithful teachers. That covers all the lesson between now and the end of December. Now everything is organized and filed, schedule assignments are ready for the next two months and I will pass out all of the new lesson plans this weekend.

I am desperately trying to really think things through and make sure all is in place because this time next week I will be returning home from a surgery and I am told it will take me a while to recuperate. It is not that no one else can do what I do. It is just that I tend to multi-task quite a bit and I wouldn't dare ask any one person to take over all of those things single handed. (I know...not very fair the way I threw the surgery thing in there. Sorry about that.)

Is it major surgery....yes. Is it life threatening.......no. Will I be better off once I have re-couped....definitely.

I am told that I will be in the hospital overnight and then I will want to sleep a lot the first couple of weeks. Re-coup time is projected to be 4-6 weeks. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around that because I am not one for sitting still or letting others do things that I am capable of doing myself.

So I wanted you to know that because....

a) your prayers are always coveted

b) if I am not in the writing world for a bit you know why


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There has been tons of boy stuff going on here lately and I am getting quite skilled at sitting these young men down and firmly saying, "What are your intentions for my daughter?"

But after sharing that little tidbit, I will have to save the details for another time. Again not fair I know.

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I just had to share these with you.

Usually when I return from the grocery store, I come bearing some sort of toy for little Kekoa.....because he obviously doesn't have enough toys.

The quality of the videos are not great because it is just my cell phone but I think you will get the idea of how this goofy little fuzz ball keeps me smiling.

Pippin Is Set Up and Kekoa Loves the Beach.....

Puddin' and I got home from the beach last night after getting Pippin all set up. It felt very strange and not real to leave her there. We will be taking the youth group out this weekend to play in the sand so it only feels like I have left her for a few days of friendly visiting.

Our friends have set up a wonderful place for her to live in their home. She has been lavished with so much care and affection in their preparations. I know it will be a memorable summer for her. Pippin's orientation begins today and then she is on the work schedule after that. I think she is looking forward to getting busy.

While Pippin was getting introduced to some of her co-workers, I decided to introduce Kekoa to the sand and surf of the Oregon coast. Oh my goodness that little boy got busy. He chased the sand that his paws kicked up, tormented the seagulls, and made friends with every dog and person on the beach. The waves were slightly intimidating to him but he went nuts running around in the waters of the inlet.

He was so covered in sand and seaweed by the time I said we needed to take a rest. I washed him down in our friend's front yard with the water hose and he loved every second of that too.

As if I don't spoil him enough, he loved walking around town and visiting with everyone we met. Cannon Beach is one of the most dog friendly places I have ever been to. Just about every store owner has a special water dish or doggie treat set up for the furry visitors. Children tackle dogs on the sidewalk in big bear hugs and grown ups ooh and aah at one another's fuzzy friends.

I guess he likes the beach as much as I do now.

Before we left, Hubby surprised me with buying a 24' retractable leash for Kekoa. I was so grateful for it. I think Kekoa was too. Once he felt that strange new feeling of sand in between his toes he just couldn't help himself.