Our Cup Runneth Over with Blessings....

Our summer so far...

Well, alot has happened since my last post. Jona now has braces. We love Dr. Barron, her orthodontist. He is so kind and really makes her feel very comfortable. However, my little girl looks like such a big girl in these things. But...she is BEAUTIFUL!

Meg just continues to grow. She is still her same silly self. She is awesome entertainment and just so funny. However, she does have a sweet, innocent side to her. Last night we were sitting at the dinner table. The conversation started while Daddy was being picked on. He is so outnumbered at our house and often jokes about how he needs more testosterone around. He mentioned, "We need to adopt a boy" and some how that led to the discussion of Foster Children. I was explaining to the girls how foster children usually come from difficult circumstances and how they need people to help give them a safe place to live, etc. We discussed how my aunt was adopted and came from a family where she was removed because of abuse. Meg, out of nowhere, said..."that's just sad". I replied, "it is very sad when children are abused." Jeff quickly chimed in, "Do you even know what abused means?" Meg's reply was, "No, but is sounds really bad and that is just sad! So sad! Let's not talk about that anymore." She is precious!

We went for Jona's MRI the first part of June and then spent a week at Crier Creek Family Camp. That was the best place for our family to be while waiting for the results of the MRI. We had a blast...as always. What a remarkable place. So...let me just put in a plug for them. Go to the website...www.pinecove.com and see what they are all about. It is awesome. Here are some pictures from that adventure.

Rodeo Night... my cowgirls.

They fought it out in Crud War. They both gave it their best and got each other pretty good, but...

Jona is claming all the VICTORY!!!

Meg loves the "splash pad"

All smiles... always smiling at camp. There is lots to love there.

Jona and her counselor, Uma.

Megan and her counselor, Nappy.

Show your team spirit...Gig 'em Aggies!

We really are showing our team spirit.

Upon or return we spent Father's Day in Center with my dad. We then went to Houston to get results of the MRI. What a blessing. God works in his time... the MRI shows NO disease activity for the first time in 7 years. We are now entering new territory. Dr. Perez is going to start weaning her off the experimental drug, Cellcept. If she goes until the Spring of 2010 with no flare and no meds the doctor will it REMISSION. Keep praying. Stay tuned...

It's Been Busy...

Busy...Busy...Busy!!!

Of, Course we celebrated Easter. (Picture will be posted of that soon.)We went to church and then to the Chandler home for a wonderful Easter lunch. Afterwards, we took a roadtrip/fieldtrip to Seaworld (pix following)

Then came Meg's birthday. Yes, our little baby turned 6. I had some really great friends help me pull off a last minute party. We had originally planned a party in the park with a picnic. However, out of nowhere it decided to get cold...really cold. It was far to cold for a day at the park (we decided that morning) so my dear friend Heather opened her home for Meg and her friends. We are so lucky to have such good friends.

Meg also got her first American Girl doll, Gwen from the family...she was very excited. Later that day she opened another one, Carissa, from Nanna and Paw.

Jona started riding lessons. Picture of her on Jiggs will post soon. For now...meet the focus of most of Jona's attention these days... this four legged pony, Jiggs. She loves the whole experience from grooming, to riding, and learning. We try to ride at least once a week. Sometimes we ride twice if the week isn't too crazy. What a cute pair they are.

She even takes Meg for a ride after her lessons. Isn't she such a sweet big sister. I love my girls!

Jona is still doing very well with the Juvenile Dermatomyositis. Praise God that she hasn't had to deal with much of it other than just our regular labs and taking our meds everyday. That is a walk in the park for her compared to all she has been through in the past.

Jona and Meg are both continueing to do very well with schoolwork. Third grade will soon be over for Jona and it will be time to get ready for fourth grade work. Meg is reading very well for kindergarten. I am so proud of them both. They are very hard workers. Wow, where did this school year go. Homeschooling is super busy with two kids but what a joy they bring me.

We have taken some field trips in the past months.

We went to the Longhorn Caverns. That was great fun.

We also had some fun with our friends at Seaworld...

Meg was AMAZED with the orcas. You are lookingat a little girl who loves orcas so much that we have watched Free Willy 1, 2, and 3 more times than I can count...in a row... and her favorite night-night toy is a stuffed orca that, during the day, I get to babysit when she is busy. This, my friends, is the future marine biologist in our family I am sure.

We fed the dolphins. That was really fun. I didn't love the smell of the dead fish. Those of you who know me well will probably find it very funny that I let my children handle dead fish. Yeah, I know....it took me a lot of self-talk to get over the whole idea of germs and we did everything short of submerging their hands in alcohol afterwards. It was a fun time. They got to pet the dolphins and it was memories that they will never forget.

What a BIG day she had. She was a tired marine biologist after that trip.

Loving My Life

Well, I haven't posted in a while. I need to update Jona's website too. Her health is great right now, by the way. Meg is doing great too. She lost her first tooth with the help of our dentist. It It seems like I have been so busy latelty, but in a good way.

Ya know, I really think that I have the best family in the world...for me anyway. Yeah, sometimes my girls are girls...filled with the emotion, energy, and that extra dash of what we like to call DRAMA...but... all the same, they are so very precious. As for my sweet hubby, he just spoils me. I find myself missing him alot, though. Jeff has been gone so much lately. We didn't think that this job would take him away as much as his last job, but I guess it is safe to say that any job in the Army is going to take you away. I will say, although it is a different kind of hard, having him home a week or two and then gone a week or two is much better than the 18 month deployments to Iraq that we have had in the past.

Homeschooling is great. Some days it is a little overwhelming I think, both for me and my girls. However, having said that, I still would not change a single thing about choosing this path for our family. It has really worked out wonderfully for the most part...except for the days when I want to pull my hair out and the girls want to run away... :-) Just kidding.

Let me just say a thing about some friendships that I have grown very fond of. (You know who you are...) I will say that I have learned alot about friendship lately. I have learned alot about myself as well. Some people say things are situational or coincidental instead of spiritual, but I choose to believe that God orchestrated the chain of events that led me to the person I am today and to the friendships that I have developed. I have really tried to put my focus on becoming the person that God intended for me to be. In doing that, I have developed relationships with a distinct group of women that I truly cherish. These ladies inspire me, make me think, make me laugh (even when in recent days I would have prefered to cry). I get together with these ladies at least once a week for "tea" (but I prefer my coffee) and again for our "mini co-op" for homeschool. I really treasure this time with these ladies. They are such remarkable women. I just hope that they know how thankful I am to have them and that they make my heart smile. I have also made some wonderful relationships in different bible studies. Wow, it is amazing how God can work to bring women together. I have met some women that absolutely awww me. They are amazing and I have learned some really powerful lessons through the wisdom that they have shared with me.

I just got back from my parents a week ago. I love my mom and dad. I think no matter how old I become, I will always be their baby. I layed pallets of grass with my Daddy. He had no idea I could work so hard. We worked our tails off. I loved every minute of it, though. The girls love going to Nanna and Paw's because they get to ride/drive the golf cart all around "the farm".

I also got to visit with my Mam-Maw while I was visiting my parents. She is currently in a nursing home for rehab. She is making such improvements that I know she will be out of there soon. It really hurts my heart to see her there. I just love her so very much.

Well, today was a great day...as you can tell from my blog. However, all great things must come to an end and it is midnight. Morning will be here soon and my girls will need me to be on top of things. I should get some sleep. We will see what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully, it will be as wonderful as today.

December 7, 2008

Today I am starting this blog. Not so sure what this will look like. I really enjoy working on Jona's website, but would like to have a more family oriented site in addition to hers. I hope this will be a great place to put thoughts. We are getting ready for Christmas. The girls are getting so big I cannot believe it. Jona is doing well. We go for a MRI on the 15th of this month and I pray that it will give us some positive results. Updates and such on Jona can be found on her website, www.jonasjourney.com.

I have started doing precept bible studies. Wow...I absolutely have to blog about this because I never would have imaged learning like this. It is different than any other bible study. I am learning so much and am also having to independently think so I really enjoy it. It is very time consuming. I am currently doing two different ones. I am studying Ruth with a friend of mine and Jeff and I together are studying Abraham with some wonderful people that we met through our Sunday School Class (or Connection Group) at church. What a blessing it has been to find these studies. I would like to start this type of study with Jona perhaps in January after I become more confident in it.

I started crocheting yesterday. My friend, Paula, taught me. At first I picked on her saying she was a "Granny" then I jumped into it with her. I guess that makes me a "Granny" too. Jeff loves that I have taken up yet another hobby. I am still working on my scrapbooking. I love that. I need to work on getting Mam-Maw's pictures together for her.

Jeff left today and will be in DC this week. I miss him when he is gone but at least I have a lot of time to catch up on my hobbies. The girls have their crafts they like to do as well after homeschool work is done. It is nice to sit and do crafts by the fire on a cold day.