The Misty Stone

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-25T12:13:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

I’m cheating this year and sending out a Christmas E-letter; forgive me!! I hope all is well with all of your families and that you are taking time this year to stop and remember the birth of our Savior.

It has been a busy year in the Prox household—we started out running (err…driving) on January 1st and just kept going! I started the year by driving to MN on New Year’s weekend so the best doggy surgeon in the country could operate on our dog’s knee. (Thanks Dr. Katie!! He’s doing great!) A 26 hour drive is long enough but I was 7 months pregnant so, Dr’s order’s, I had to stop for 10 minutes every 2 hours. That makes for a very long drive! Kyylyn was out of commission for 8 weeks—crate and leash walked for 8 weeks!! It was torture on all of us! We went through a LOT of acepromazine—for the dog not me!

Our new baby was suppose to be born on April 3rd so I quit (yes, totally quit!) my job at Animal Health Center two weeks before that. I was planning on one week of Spring Cleaning and one week of doing nothing. Well, the cleaning got done but on March 28 (my first day of “nothing”) my water broke at 9 am. Josh, who had gotten off work at 8 am, had just gone to sleep, so I had to wake him up to take me to the hospital. He made it through the day on coffee and adrenaline and at 8 pm that night we were holding a 6 lb 14oz, 19 inch long beautiful baby girl. Charys Alyzabeth had made her appearance a week early. By the way, her name is pronounced Care-iss A-lizabeth, and it means “a special kind of kindness” (ask Josh about that one). She has been a wonderful blessing from God!!

The end of May we bought a house in Ozark, Alabama, about 20 minutes from where we’d been living and from Josh’s parents. (Who, by the way, are thrilled to have one of their grandchildren near! The other is in Germany!) Josh loves owning his own piece of God’s earth. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with large kitchen and laundry room, as well as a carpeted den. The rest of the house is hardwood floors—they are beautiful! It also has a huge fenced in back yard (that Kyylyn enjoys) and is in a nice quiet neighborhood that I enjoy taking my morning walks in.

I started Happy Tails Pet Services (Josh came up with the name) and do some pet sitting, dog training and puppy classes. This month marks 2 years for Josh as a security guard on the Army base near our home. The company he works for (CDA) was in the process of switching to a new company (Santa Fe) in May. The week before we were suppose to move, Josh (who was working nights) found out that for the next several weeks he had to do training (during the day! Who needs sleep anyway?!) and multiple doctor visits. (Of course you can’t combine checking blood pressure and a drug test—everyone from the night shift has to come at the same time on two different days and wait for 3 hours each time!!) Some wonderful friends from our church got us moved to the new house so Josh didn’t have to worry about it. When the new company took over, Josh was moved to a tough schedule 3 days, 2 nights. It was suppose to last for 3 weeks tops, 3 months later he was still on it. He did eventually get to the schedule he is on now, which is wonderful! He works Friday to Tuesday 5:30 AM to 1:30 PM. So, we get to enjoy our afternoons and evenings together.

In July we flew out to Colorado for a 10 day visit at my parent’s house. Both of my brothers and their families were there with us, so we had a wonderful time! The nieces and nephews had a great time and they all adored baby Charys. God has blessed us with a wonderful family on both of our sides!

Charys is now 9 months old and just as sweet and beautiful as can be (ok, so I’m a little biased, but she is!) She is crawling around and just last week crawled up to Josh, pulled herself up on his leg and said “Da Da”; I think she actually knew what she was saying!!!

Well, that was our wonderfully busy year--God truly has blessed us!!!

With all our love,

Josh, Sarah and Charys Prox

New Arrival

2009-04-18T13:51:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone!

Well the newest member of the Prox family arrived--and she came one week early!! My water broke Saturday March 28th at 9:15 AM. Poor Josh got a whole hour of sleep after working all night before he had to get up and take me to the hospital. We got there at 11 and I was dilated to 4. I got my epidural and at 8 pm Charys Alyzabeth arrived. (By the way, her name is said Care-iss Ah-lizabeth--and yes, she has a burp rag with the pronunciation embroidered on it!!!). My mom flew into Panama on the following Monday and just left on Tuesday. It was wonderful having her around!!! She cooked and cleaned when I didn't feel like doing anything--and she helped on the night shift before Charys had her days and nights straightened out!! She was wide awake for several hours each night. (ok, so all 3 of us were!!). She about has it figured out now--she eats and goes back to sleep--which is very nice since I'm on my own at night--Josh works midnight to 8 am. She will stay awake for 1-2 hours twice a day and then sleeps the rest of the time. Which is nice--I can usually get at least one nap in during the day. I haven't quite gotten the hang of getting up every morning and having breakfast ready for Josh yet, but I'm working on it!! And I'm proud of myself--he has had breakfast several times this week :o) Right now I'm hanging out at my in-laws watching movies on TV. Josh is sleeping and hasn't called that he's awake yet but he should be getting up soon.

I'm loving being able to stay home with the baby!! And I'm really loving that I'm not going back to work!! I'm not sure how we'll pay off medical bills but I guess God will have to provide for us.

We also have a contract on a house in Ozark--we're waiting for the loan people to inspect the house to make sure its up to par. It's a USDA loan so the house has to pass their standards. If we get it I'll put pictures up and tell you all about it. It would also be nice to have a bigger house b/c I wouldn't have to be as quiet in the house while Josh sleeps, our house is not really small, just laid out weird, so I try to stay pretty quiet so he can sleep.

Anyway--just in case you're not on facebook--here's some pictures of Charys!!! (sorry I don't know how to turn the pictures the other way--I know I'm not high-tech at all!)

WOW......

2009-02-24T12:57:00.002-06:00

Hey look at this!!!!! After several months of not being able to sign into my blog--the computer decided to let me sign in!!! How cool is that!!!!! Anyway--I do apologize for not writing, but I just didn't get to a different computer to write.

As of this coming Thursday, Lord willing, I have 5 weeks (give or take a little!) before we are holding our little girl!! She's due on April 3rd and I could be wrong, but she may decide to come on March 28th, for 2 reasons. #1 My mother-in-law said it couldn't be on that day b/c they are going to Atlanta to watch the play The Passion of the Christ and #2 my mom said not to have her the last 2 weeks of March since she already has 3 grandkids born those 2 weeks. And since I have SO MUCH control over that they are telling me this :o) I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the baby decides!!

I'm still working for now, I'm trying to take at least one afternoon off every week just b/c I get so exhausted by the end of the week. And today happens to be my afternoon off. Which I desperately need. I have to pay bills and then do dishes--other than that I am going to relax and put my feet up!!!

So updates from the past several months. The pregnancy is going fine and we decided on a name--Charys Alyzabeth (pronounced Care-is Alizabeth), like I said, she's due April 3rd but we shall see :o) She may be an April Fool's baby like her Aunt Ashleigh (so if we call y'all on that day to tell you--we're not making it up!!!)

Kyylyn tore the cruciate ligament in his knee, so over New Years I made a very long, very quick trip up to Minnesota (about 26 hours there and 23 or so on the way back--yes I stopped for two nights!). I got up there late Thursday evening, Dr. Katie did the surgery on Friday and I left Saturday am to head back to the warmth of AL. It was SOO great to see my "family" up there!!!! Heartland will forever be "My clinic" even when I'm working somewhere else. The Lord was gracious and I got to drive in the week between two massive snowstorms. Kyylyn's been on cage rest since-though the last week we've let him loose in the house finally. And for any of you who know my dog--yes, we went through a LOT of tranquilizers!!!! He is very ready to be off restrictions--we'll take x-rays on Friday and see if he is free to go yet---I hope so!!!! He is SOOOOO hyper!!!!!

Josh found out his new work schedule 2 weeks ago. It'll be interesting...He's now working nights; Midnight to 8 am, Wed thru Sun. And the first week he got changed to that we had revival meetings at our church every night, so it was a tough week for him--he didn't get a whole lot of sleep!!! We had the Musical Merrills at our church (www.musicalmerrills.com) and they are wonderful!!! I really enjoyed the music and the preaching.

Well I think that about sums up things for now. Again a apologize for not writing the last many months--I would occasionally check to see if it would let me on and low and behold--it worked today!!!!!!

I'll talk to you all later--hopefully in not too long :o)

Sarah

Here it is....

2008-10-11T13:46:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone,

Ok so this the "official" announcement I guess--for those of you who don't know yet :o) Lord willing, on April 3rd, Adyson will be a big sister. I went and got my first ultrasound 2 weeks ago at 13 weeks. (yes Josh came with me--I refuse to go to apointments alone anymone) Everything looks fine so far and according to the ultrasound tech we have a "very active little one". (um, must be related to it's daddy :o) It had it's little feet sticking straight up and kicking and would wave it's little hands (couldn't get a picture of that) and it had the hiccups and the little mouth would open every time it would hiccup and it's whole body would bounce! It was adorable!! (no we don't know boy or girl yet--can't tell that for a few weeks yet.)
I must admit I was very very scared going into that apt--I have not had good experiences my last 3 ultrasounds. I was crying the whole time. But for the first time after that I got excited, still very scared, but at least a little bit excited. I still have my moments of "flashbacks" to different times with Adyson and will start crying out of the blue. I suppose that's normal. I do wish for the "naively happy" pregnancy again though. I didn't have it for long but it was great while it lasted. Guess I probably won't ever have that again. Oh well.

But SO FAR this one seems healthy and all is going well!! (other than health insurance, but that's another story). So here's the ultrasound pictures of our 2nd child.

Prayer Request...

2008-10-01T11:38:00.002-06:00

Ok, so this time it's not totally my fault hat I haven't written for a while--I couldn't get the computer to let me sign in to the blog. I'm on Josh's computer right now.

I need to send out a prayer request to all you blogging people. Candace had little Chloe on Monday afternoon--she made it through delivery and they got to spend a little time with her. She passed away Tues at 1 AM, in between her parents. That family needs a lot of prayer right now. They are going home with empty arms and that has to be one of the worst feelings in the world--even worse than finding out you'll be having those empty arms. My heart is heavy for them, so please pray hard for the Lord's comfort in this tough time.

Sarah

stuff

2008-09-10T12:06:00.003-06:00

Of course, it's been awhile. I know. I'm horrible. I havn't really been that busy so I can't even use that as an excuse. I went up to Birmingham for a vet conference a few weeks ago and when I came home....I had a complete fence!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! Ok VERY excited about that. So is my dog. He can chase squirrels, chipmunks and shadows to his wire-haired heart's content! He managed to get into the neighbors yard a few times (he can't get back into ours though...) but I think Josh has all the holes blocked now.

Jen and George also can down from CO to visit us. George had never been to the beach so they went to FL for a few days and then visited up over labor day weekend. AND got delayed by 2 days flying out due to Hurricanes (they were flying out of Pensacola). But they did end up finally getting home and we had a lot of fun--it's nice to hang out with old friends!!!!

Well I gotta go back to work--Josh has to take me since my car decided it wanted to stay in the driveway this morning. The security light is flashing again. So apparently it wasn't the alternator, other suggestions have been starter (tested fine), battery (also tested fine) and connections and ignintion. So I don't know, but as soon as Josh got back home it started again. Oh well, if anyone has any ideas let me know. Thanks!!

Sarah

PS I accidently lied on my last post--Candace is due this week, keep praying that little Chloe can make it through delivery safe and emotional support for the whole family.

Marine's homecoming...

2008-08-11T19:02:00.002-06:00

And in case any of you haven't read Ashleigh's blog recently...her Marine is back home!! WOOHOOOOOOO!!! Welcome back to the States John--enjoy your family time! (And come visit us when you get a chance :o)

And for all the families and soldiers who are not out of harm's way yet--THANK YOU and my prayers are with you.

Sarah

PS I've told some of you about Candace and her baby Chloe, (see march 16th post--sorry don't know how to put the link thing in--you'll have to find it yourself), but keep them and their family in your prayers--the next week is going to be VERY hard on them. They've had a very hard decision to make and there is a very very good chance that Chloe will not live long enough to take her first breath. Please keep them in your prayers.

5k run

2008-08-11T18:40:00.006-06:00

Hey everyone!!
Sorry it's been a bit--I meant to put this post up last week but I didn't get to it--imagine that! My MIL and I were in a 5k last saturday-we jogged about 1/2 of it and we wern't the last ones!!! We didn't finish in our best time BUT we finished! :o) It will be my first and last jog/walk. I may do one as just a walk but it was just way to tough on my back to try to run. Josh's uncle adjusted me yesterday when they were up to visit (he's a chiropractor) so I'm feeling better now. But anyway, here's some pics from the "Possum Trot". Yes, we were down at the Possum Day--complete with 3 real possums, who off course were all sleeping b/c it was during the day--but they still had them. When my MIL called to register the guy told her to be sure to stay for the festivities including kid's and adult's hog-calling and rooster crowing. (No I'm not kidding!) It was an interesting day. Josh came along to be the photographer so hopefully these come through.

Life is a day at the beach...

2008-07-21T18:45:00.002-06:00

Ok, so not EVERY day is a day at the beach--but Saturday was!!! And it was wonderfull!! There is at least ONE advantage to living in lower Alabama-2 hours from the beach!:o) Josh and I went with my in-laws and our little nephew Kollin. It was his first day at the beach and I think he enjoyed himself. They had a little floaty thing for him and he just lounged in that in the water and fell asleep. He didn't get to play in the sand (he walked through it) but at 8 months he doesn't get the concept that everything is not suppose to go in the mouth, so maybe next year he can play in the sand at the beach. The water was nice (Josh thought it was too warm) but I enjoyed it. We went snorkling--didn't see much, then water was too clear, but I did see a stingray!! It was a little one--about dinner-plate sized. I turned around to find Josh and when I finally got his attention I couldn't find it again so Josh said I was making it up. AND neither of us got very sunburned (and if you know Josh at the beach) THAT is incredible!! I also flew my first "stunt kite" a kite that you actually steer to keep in the air. I didn't do too bad and Josh did pretty well. Then we went to Cici's pizza for dinner--that was good, I enjoy that place.
So that was our day at the beach.

And hopefully by tomorrow we'll own another car--we're looking at a 99 Taurus that has 67,000 miles on it. It drove nice and is in good shape and it's a good price. so hopefully we'll have that soon and that means we can get rid of the purple car!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!! Ok, just a little excited there.

Well that's it for now. Talk to you all later!

Sarah

Happy 4th of July!!!

2008-07-04T14:16:00.002-06:00

HI Everyone!

Wow, writing twice in one week--don't get used to it :o)

I have time to write today--I'm at my in-laws waiting for them to get home so we can go to the fireworks tonight. And the reason I'm waiting is b/c Josh had to drop me off before he went to work b/c my car only has 3 good tires and everything is closed today!! So tomorrow we're gonna get new tires so I can have my car back. I blew a tire out on my way home from work Wed night (the same one we had repaired about 2 weeks ago) but I had a nice Blackhawk pilot from North Dakota stop and help me put my spare on, so it wasn't too traumatic for me.

We got a new Dr. at work--his name is Dr. Farris; his wife is also a vet, she works on Ft Rucker and with another vet in Enterprise on Wednesdays. I think he'll do well--he's got a good bedside manor and knows his stuff. He's fairly laid back but he's a hoot to work with. We are gonna miss Dr. Lester though. He retired last Thursday after 49 years of Veterinary work. Wow that's a long time!!! I don't know how he'll take to retirement--he's still getting up at 4:30 every morning!! It's like the farmer who's been getting up at 5 his whole life trying to sleep in--it just doesn't happen. I guess he'll need to do a lot of early morning fishing!!

I guess that's it for now.

Happy 4th of July everyone!! Even with it's problems we still live in the best nation in the world!! Keep praying for her and for our soldiers who are defending America with their time and blood and for the families who are waiting at home for them. Thank you all for your sacrifices--here is one grateful American!!!

Sarah

PS Happy Birthday Stacie!!! I love you!!!

Small update...

2008-06-30T11:58:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone!!

Ok, yes I've heard about not writing more--I know, I know!!!! So I'm writing now--it'll be short though--I'm on lunch break :o)

Josh goes full time today!!! Woohooo!!! I'm psyched about that!!! He's gonna be working at Caren's air field (not sure if that's how you spell it or not) but he's working "C" shift which is 4 to midnight. And that part is a bummer cuz I work 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM so I guess the only time I'll see my husband is lunch breaks and weekends. My pastor said it'll help stop any marital problems--it's hard to have problems when you never see each other :o) Oh well, he'll put in his time and hopefully he'll switch to a different shift in not too long.

That's it for now--gotta go back to the clinic.

Sarah

Mother's Day

2008-05-23T14:25:00.005-06:00

Hi everyone!!

It seems that every time I start a blog I apologize for not writing for a while. Oh well, guess I shouldn't break tradition SO I'm sorry for not writing earlier :o)

My parents left the snow and cold of Leadville CO to come down to warm, sunny (and humid) Alabama. They got to stay for a week and I took two days off (wed and Thurs) Fri, Sat and Sun were already my normal days off. We didn't really DO a whole lot while they were here (I know, you're suppose to jam pack a vacation full, but occasionally it is nice to take the time off and actually relax!! What a concept! :o) But we did go out to eat alot and my mom and I went shopping a lot and Dad and Josh put new brakes on my car. We also went down to the beach on Saturday (Josh's mom came with us too). And yes, we all came home looking like lobsters. Poor Josh! He blistered his chin and his lips and he even put sunscreen on and had a hat on!! The water was cold when you first went in but it "warmed up" quickly. I guess I prefer that over August when the water feels like a hot tub and you don't get cooled down getting in the water. And guess what? Josh's mom got my mom to go into the ocean on a floating bed thing. IN THE OCEAN!!! My mom was in the ocean!!! I think she enjoyed it even though she was scared. Me, my MIL, Josh and my dad went snorkeling--it was Dad's first time and he really enjoyed himself. If they didn't live in the mtns I think he would have found a new hobby! We saw some big black and white fish, some little fish that jumped out of the water and I saw a puffer fish!! That was cool!! We also saw some little jelly fish. I'm a wuss so I promptly left that area.

God was also nice enough to arrange everything so my parent's were here over Mother's Day. I was very much dreading that day. My first mother's day and no baby to hold. It's not fair (yes I know, life is not fair; but still!!). I had already decided I wasn't going to go to church that morning--I went into a state of depression just reading about the mother's day program in the bulletin. So we decided to go to Macedonia Baptist church, right up the road, for Sunday School and then we'd go to the park and have a cookout.

Well, even in unexpected places, God gives us hope and understanding. After our class ended they started asking us all kinds of questions; at first we kind of tried to dodge some of them but we finally had to explain that I was avoiding our church for mother's day and then we were having a cook out. I felt bad skipping church and felt guilty that Josh and my parent's couldn't go either but the couple we were talking to smiled and nodded knowingly and she said "we have fertility problems--we've spent 9 years avoiding church on Mother's and Father's day, but we adopted our daughter two years ago, so this is my 2nd mother's day to celebrate. We completely understand!" Wow, God is good!!

Then we went to the park and had our cookout--it was wonderful! For a day that I was making myself sick dreading it, it did turn out very well. I also got a Mother's day card and mug from my parents (they said it is very hard to find a card that doesn't say "happy Mother's day") but the mug had the verse "But happy are those...whose hope is in the Lord their God" Ps 146:5. I cried when I got those but it was still nice. And Ashleigh, my very sweet SIL, called to tell me happy Mother's day, even though it wasn't happy, I was still a mother and she wanted to tell me that. And my other SIL Katy, told me that someone asked her the other day if she had nieces or nephews and she told them yes, but she was in Heaven. I broke into a big grin and started crying. It's nice to know my precious child is not forgotten.

Well, now that I've written a book I'm going to close this and maybe start on the one about my birthday (if we don't leave before that!! We're going to Georgia for Memorial day!)

Sarah

Camping

2008-04-26T18:22:00.003-06:00

Well, for our trip starting out so badly--it really wasn't too bad! :o) We got there Friday about 3 pm and started to set up camp. It was windy but we got everything set up, unfortunately we never did get a fire going SO we went to Big B's Bar-b-que for dinner (it was good!) then that night it started pouring about 1 am. I mean pouring, fortunately our tent did very well and the only place that got wet was the front of the tent where the wind was driving the rain straight at it. But for it's first real "initiation" into camping--it did well!!
We went canoeing on Saturday and went to a trail a ways away. The plan was to pull the canoe up onto the shore and then go hiking. However, the place where the trail meet the water was not real conducive to landing!! It was a very sharp incline and we landed in-between a few trees and bushes and Josh got out and decided that it would be best for me to sit in the canoe while he pulled it up onto shore. Ok, for future reference, that is a VERY bad idea. Yeah, you guessed it--I landed in the water!! It was a chilly walk but it was fun. Then we canoed back. Again, it was too windy so we couldn't get a fire going (ok we got one going--we cheated and got a firelog from wal-mart!!) so we ate out a lot. We had breakfast at the Huddle House Sat and Sun morning and it was REALLY good! Then Sunday afternoon we drove back. It was a nice mini-vacation! We enjoyed it.
So that's about it. We went out to Lake Tholocco on post today for drag boat races. It was interesting. One of the engines exploded--the driver was fine but there goes a LOT of money down the drain! I got a little sunburned on the face but not too bad.
That's it for now--maybe I'll get pictures up some time!!
Sarah

How our "plans" never seem to work...

2008-04-11T08:29:00.003-06:00

I know, it's been a while!!! This won't be long cuz I only have a few minutes. Josh and I are attempting to go camping up at Lake Martin. We were planning on leaving early this morning. Josh was going to pack and load everything yesterday so we could leave early, but as he was leaving to start his list at 8:15, work called and said "can you be here 9-5:30 today?" So much for THOSE plans.
SO, Josh got off yesterday at 5:30 and got to packing. I had to go to my friend's house to finish a scrapbook for a military couple in our church who is leaving Sunday (so yes, we HAD to scrapbook!). And I didn't get off work till after 6!! So all said, we got to bed a little after 11 with almost everything done.
We borrowed a canoe from our pastor and we had it attached to the top of the car (tricky in the dark!!) and we planned to leave at 9am. Well, we left the house at 8:45 (we are good!!) but we got onto Rucker Blvd, hit 50 MPH, caught a gust of wind and the canoe moved ALOT. OK, so we have another kink in our "plans". Good thing Josh's dad is an engineer. He's figuring it out as I type. Our car is a really pretty Grand AM, but NOT designed to carry a canoe!!! Oh well.
I gotta go, hopefully we'll be leaving shortly and I may get a new post on when we get back, and hopefully we won't get too wet!!!
Sarah

Happy Easter!!!!

2008-03-23T14:05:00.002-06:00

Hi Everybody,

Happy Easter!!!! I am so thankful our Lord died for our sins and then raised from the dead so that we can see Heaven!! Isn't that wonderful! And because of that hope, one day I will get to meet my daughter! Praise God!
(And also praise God that His word is accurate and true even when our world as a whole denies it--Josh is watching a thing on the History channel about the "myths" in Genesis. They have EVERY explanation for all of them EXCEPT that it actually happened and that God did it! Very sad really. I'm glad I can trust that God is in control and His word is true. sorry, little rabbit trail as I read back through my post :o)

I'm over at my in-laws for Easter dinner and then tonight we're going to their church for an Easter cantata (however you spell it!) that Josh's dad is in. The other Josh and Sara came over for dinner--I'm glad we have good neighbors--it makes life much nicer! Josh (not mine) is going to SEAR school tonight. For those of you that are like me and don't know what that is--it's 3 weeks of survival training and apparently it's fairly intense. Everyone dreads it and comes back several pounds lighter and there are psychiatrists on call 24/7 for the soldiers when they come back from it. That's the extent of what they are allowed to tell civilians. So, with that said, Josh tried to eat a bunch today since he literally does not know where his next meal is coming from. It is turkey season--maybe he can catch one :o)

My Josh just fell asleep in front of the TV--he worked 12-8am last night and didn't want to sleep through Sunday School cuz he was scared he might not wake up for church!! He had a group that did a "dramatic reading" about the hymn My Redeemer. They did fairly well for only having one rehearsal before today. We also had 6 girls that sang (they did well) AND we had a Cello and violin play with Brittany and I (we both play flute). They are two teenage girls that started playing when they were 8. It was wonderful!!! It was rather cramped up front--our church is very, VERY small but it worked out.

I think that's about it for now. I'll talk to you all later.

Sarah

The God of Comfort...

2008-03-16T12:40:00.002-06:00

I love my sister-in-law's blog. If you've never been there you should read it. (I can't do the cool word link thing but click on the "heart and home" over on your left :o) You can always see her heart. Sometimes it is side-splitting funny, sometimes heartbreaking or heartwarming, but you can always see her heart. And her heart is first to love God and then her family and that is always apparent. I am so proud of her and the way she handles herself and the boys while John is in the "sandy spot".

When my first ultrasound came back as "birth defects, possibly fatal" and the next day "99% sure she won't make it full term", Ashleigh was a bright light in my darkness and depression. She cried on the phone with me and wrote such beautiful things that warmed my heart. Her first post about Adyson was called "The God of All Comfort". That post is the first page in Adyson's scrapbook. The verse is "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God". 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

I was comforted greatly all through this ordeal (and still am getting and asking God for it!!) but it has changed the way I pray for people. One of my friend's daughter lost her 20 week along son--the week before we lost Ady. He was perfectly healthy and normal until she got an infection and he suddenly died. Sara and I are now kindred spirits in motherhood that has no responsibilities. I can truly pray for her now--when before it was a quick, "Lord be with them, strengthen them, help them". Now it is heartfelt, with tears and sometimes no words at all. But we have the Spirit to utter groanings when we can't say anything, when we can just cry out.

At our revival meetings on Thursday, another lady in our church told me about her future daughter-in-law's sister (and then I got to speak with her mother at the Bridal Shower on Saturday). They have been trying for several years to have a baby. She found out she was pregnant and on Tuesday, at 14 weeks she went in for her first ultrasound. The dr said her baby's skull and top part of his/her brain is not developing. (I think it was called ansiphalis-or something similar). Their baby will almost 99% certain make it full term, and then will have to be delivered by c-section, and then wait to die. One baby lived for 1 year in a vegetable state, but most only make it a few hours or days. My heart breaks for them. I know the pain, the uncertainty the "why God? Why?"

I can now see a tiny bit of hope through our situation. I know the pain she is in, the agony of waiting, the pain of dreading saying "goodbye" to your firstborn child. Maybe, just maybe I can be the bright light, like Ashleigh was for me that first week, and get her through one step at a time, that I "may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith (I am) comforted of God." I ask you to pray for her and her husband, and their precious little one. And pray that God will give me the words, or silence and tears, to help comfort them in some small measure.

Sarah

Spring...

2008-03-01T19:38:00.003-06:00

It is a beautiful spring day here in AL!! The sun was out and it was nice and warm without being hot. Much different than a year ago today when the tornado tried to level the high school. They had a memorial service at the school, but I was working. This afternoon I even went out and roller bladed--and I didn't even hit the ground!! I haven't rollar bladed since early high school--so it was nice. I also finished Ady's scrapbook.

I'm making progress. I held Kollin today--twice and I didn't even cry! Ok, so that may not sound like much, but Kollin is my 4 month old nephew who (with his parents) live at my in-laws and just in the last week or so have I been able to go over here without crying; so the fact that I held him (the only time I've held him since we lost Ady was at the memorial service) is really good. Maybe I will get healed here eventually.

Well gotta go--Josh's Aunt and Uncle are here for the weekend.

Sarah

New Neighbors

2008-02-29T19:24:00.002-06:00

Hi everybody,

We finally have new neighbors moved in above us. Guess what their names are. Yup, Josh and Sara (and Josh is 26). No, I'm not kidding!! (She doesn't have an "h" on her name) And guess what kind of dog they have. Yup, you guessed it again--a German Wirehair!! In the land of an entire vet clinic that had never HEARD of a wirehair--we have one living above us. Ok, he's a cross of some sort--but he looks like a Wirehair except for his ears. And he's MUCH less hyper, more well behaved and more submissive than our big jughead. The first time they met they ran for 30 minutes and Gromit was ready to lay down (in the kiddie pool no less :o) but Kyylyn was still ready to run and run and run some more. I think they are going to work out MUCH better than the last people. The first day they were there (their stuff wasn't even there yet) they raked the yard, painted and finished the bathroom, added the partition things to the cupboards and came down to meet us. They are really neat people. They're from North Dakota and he just started (or is going to start) flight school.

I'm making it through work. My body is pretty much healed I think but my mind is not working like it's suppose to. Doc will tell me something and I will hear and comprehend, but I will turn around and not remember what he said. It's VERY frustrating--I'm hoping it won't last very long or I'm gonna go nuts!!

Well I think that's it for now-sorry it's not very long.

Sarah

Memorial Services

2008-02-16T13:02:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm finally getting on to write again. Sorry for the delay!

Thank you for everyone who's been praying and thinking of us. The cards are wonderfull and Ashleigh and Chantel--the flowers were beautiful!! Thank you!!!

Colorado was beautiful and snowy. LOTS of snow in Leadville. The back fence was nearly buried and the front fence was (with the help of several snowplows). The mountains were covered with clouds the whole time we were there but it was fun to be in the cold again. The altitude was about ready to kill me!! I'm not used to 2 miles high anymore! I guess that's cuz I'm living at about 300 feet (give or take). We left just in time though--our flight went out EARLY Tues morning (thanks Jen and George for sacrificing sleep for us!!). We were one of the first flights out of the airport and we still took off 50 minutes late (had to wait to be de-iced). Many flights were cancelled in the next several days, so it was good that we left early. I was complaining about it originally but God knew what He was doing giving us the early flight out!

It was really nice seeing family and friends up in Leadville--it was REALLY good to go home! I really needed that. We had a memorial service at the church on Sunday night--it was very nice. Mr. Schutte kind of ran things and played "The Untitled Hymn" he was going to sing it but Mrs. Schutte said he probably wouldn't have made it through. Mrs. Schutte also gave us a little stuffed mouse--a very cute white mouse with pink clothes and a pink bow. (It was actually about the size of Ady). (And they chose the mouse b/c I brought rats home from college that my parents were less than thrilled about :o) But it was a very nice service.

We also had a service in AL the Saturday after we got back--it followed close to the same format as the Leadville one. When I showed Pastor the list of songs we wanted he said, "well, Laura is singing 'Day by Day' and the Norton kids are singing 'It is Well'". So that was nice--they did a great job. The kids also sang "Jesus Loves Me"; 3 verses, the last one I'd never heard but it fit nicely. Josh's dad also got up and spoke for a little bit. Almost everyone from my work came--it was great to have them there supporting us. There were lots of tears, but it was nice. It ended with "I'll Fly Away"--b/c that is our hope--and that's what we are clinging too right now. Ady's up in Heaven and we will see her again, but it's still very tough in the meantime.

So I guess now we just start to go on with life. That's much harder than I thought it would be. I started work part-time this week. I still get very tired by the afternoon, so I don't know how next week will go--I'm suppose to go back full time. But it's helped getting back into a schedule. But there are still times (especially around babies and baby things) that I start crying and get depressed, but then I start praying, hug Josh, and keep going. Hopefully it will get easier as time goes by.

Well I gotta go--I'm gonna go help my mother-in-law plan how to make a guest bedroom into a sewing/cardmaking/scrapbooking/guest bedroom :o) Thanks for everything from all of you--we greatly appreciate it!

Sarah

News...

2008-01-28T08:25:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody.

This isn't going to be real long--I don't have the energy today. But there is good news and bad news. Good news is that as of 9:24 PM on Friday Josh and I became parents, the bad news is Someone else is going to be raising her. I guess that has good news in it too. Because that "Someone" is God and He is a perfect parent--He won't let any pain, disappointment or tears come into her life. She is now a happy, perfectly healthy, beautiful child. I don't know, will she still be an infant in Heaven? or will she be 5 years old or grown? I don't know. Guess I'll have to wait and see. But I was talking to Meg yesterday (she had a miscarriage this fall)and reminded me that now little Charlotte has a friend to play with!!

We're going this morning to sign papers for our little Ady to be cremated. I'm not really looking forward to it. That's just something parents shouldn't have to go through. We'll have a memorial service for her at our church sometime after we get back from CO. We haven't got anything other than that planned. We'll keep you posted. That's it for now--at some point I'll probably write about getting to hold her but I"m not ready for that yet.

I probably won't get on till after we get back from snowy Colorado, but thank you all for your comments, support and prayers. We definitely appreciate them all.

Here is one of the poems that I put in her scrapbook.

Your little body may die,
But your spirit will live on
And has already flown to
Our Saviour’s arms.
We shall see your face
And hold your hand.
For all is not lost,
You are in our Lord’s hands

Sarah

I'll Fly Away...

2008-01-24T16:40:00.001-06:00

Hi Everybody.

One of the first times I remember hearing the song "I'll Fly Away" was after Mrs. Schutte's Grandfather (I think...) passed away. About 30 or so of the Schutte clan was up in Leadville and got up to sing in church--of course leaving about 30 of us sitting in the pews :o) (we don't have a really big church). If you've never had the chance to hear Mr and Mrs Schutte sing, you are really missing out and when you get to hear 30 of them sing, it'll bring tears to your eyes-it's so beautiful. But anyway--they got up and sang a good old Southern Gospel Version of "I'll Fly Away"--rejoicing that their loved one was in Heaven. I'll never forget that.

I know you are wondering where I'm going with this, but I hadn't felt Ady move since Saturday evening and was starting to get worried. Last night as I was in the shower the words of the song started going through my head;

(I'll Fly Away Words and Music by Alfred E. Brumley)

Some glad morning when this life is o'er,
I'll fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away.

Chorus
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away.

Just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away;
To a land where joy shall never end,
I'll fly away.

So, that's what was going through my head.

I had gotten very depressed and worried suddenly on Tuesday--something I couldn't explain other than telling Josh, "I want to get another ultrasound just to see if she's getting better or worse". Wed night Paster preached on worry and how it doesn't need to conquer us--I talked to God confessing my worry, but I still had that feeling that "something's not right". So this morning I called the clinic and asked if I could come in and have someone listen for the heart, they told me to come in and when we got there they took me to ultrasound. The US tech kept the screen turned away from me but looked at it, looked at the nurse and just slightly shook her head. Then she turned the monitor to show me. Adyson's little heart had stopped.

Our precious little Ady has "flown away" to our Saviour's arms. I don't know that I'm rejoicing but in a way it's almost a relief. The last month and a half of waiting has been torture; Not knowing and just waiting. The dr. said I could wait (at the latest) till early next week to be induced to "deal with the shock and emotion of it" but we've been dealing with it for a while now, so I'd rather get it over with. So, first thing tomorrow morning (1/25) I will be induced. Pray for us- it's going to be a tough day. Now we have to deal with the loss, but I think so far it has been easier than when we found out we would lose her. Now there is no slight hope of seeing her alive here--but we have a sure hope of seeing her when we get to Heaven. For that I am very thankful. We will be traveling to CO on Wed to visit my parents for about 5 days, so pray for traveling mercy's and for no snowstorms on Wed or the following Tuesday. Forgive me if I don't get another post up soon.

Thank you for your prayers in the last few months and for the next few weeks and months as we deal with this loss.

Sarah

Kickboxing???

2008-01-10T14:42:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody--sorry it's been a while--I'm actually back to work now :o) That's good--it helps pay the bills!!

I had a dr. apt last Tuesday and basically he just went over the report of what the specialist had said, but one thing I had misunderstood from the specialist was that if we lost her, I would miscarry. But the Dr. said since I'm so far along I probably won't miscarry, but that she would die and then they would induce me and would try to avoid doing a c-section. I think that's worse than just miscarrying. Oh well, everything in God's timing and way I guess. He also said there was not much point in doing any more ultrasounds since they're assuming she's not going to get better. But in the event that she's still alive in April, I want an ultrasound b/c if things have changed and she has problems that are fixable, I want to deliver in a place that can do them and hopefully at a reduced cost. He also said that the condition she's in not, nothing can be done for her, so if she is born (with the problems she has now) all they will pretty much do is "comfort care". Keep her warm and feed until she goes home to be with the Lord. I don't know what would be harder--losing her before meeting her or after a day or two of having her. Guess it's not my job to worry--God will do what He deems best.

However, maybe it's my false sense of "mommy to be" hope, but I think the prayers are working!! When I first felt Ady move, it was very very slight and not much pressure, but last Thursday all of a sudden the girl's taken kickboxing lessons b/c she's been kicking hard!! The amount of strength that she gained in less than a week is amazing!! So, keep praying--maybe we'll get our miracle yet!!

Pray also that Josh will get a lot of hours and be able to go full time in a few months. This week he hasn't worked much.

Well, that's it for now I think, I'll talk to you all later,

Sarah

Day by day...

2008-01-01T13:59:00.000-06:00

One more thing; on Sunday night we sang two songs that really touched my heart. The first was "Count Your Blessings" and I could do that having just felt my daughter move for the first time, especially when I didn't know if I would ever get to feel that. The next one we sang was my favorite hymn "Day By Day". A high schooler and I both play flute with the piano's at church so I was sitting up front when we played it and listening to everyone sing, I started crying. The pastor's youngest daughter brought me tissues, which was very sweet. But here's the words to that song--they've meant alot to me in the last few weeks:

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He Whose Name is Counselor and Power;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T13:38:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!!

I can't believe 2007 is over! we've been in Alabama for almost a year, but I don't know if it feels that long! Last night we went to my in-laws church for New Years. My dad-in-law was the "MC" for the evening (he did a wonderful job!)--he hosted the "Name those Christmas lyrics" game and "Are you smarter than an elementary school child?" (there are no 5th graders in their Christian school :o) Those were "interrupted" by commercial breaks from the "sponsors"--people doing little skits. It was very entertaining. We left early and got home a little before midnight. Josh ended up working yesterday from 3:30 to 8:30--they haven't called him for today yet--I was kind of expecting someone to call in "sick". Oh well. Josh's mom is making her infamous chicken pot pie tonight so we're over at my in-laws for the evening. I am now officially wearing my maternity clothes--I'm kind of an emotional eater and I think I've gained about 8 pounds in the last 2 weeks!! I went from "my jeans are tight" on the Tuesday of my ultrasound, to "these jeans are cutting off my circulation" on that Friday. Oh well--guess it's ok to indulge when I'm pregnant and it's Christmas (no shortage of junk food around :o)

I go to my next Dr's appointment tomorrow, I have a whole list of questions to ask and Josh gets to go with me! He can ask for "days off" when they won't call him, so he got one of those for tomorrow so he can go with. I guess that's it for now.

May the Lord bless you in this new year!!!

Sarah

Movement...

2007-12-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody

Hope all your Christmas' were great!!! I was surprised when I pulled up the blog--Josh changed it--I like it! And yes, I know Meg--I need more pics. Sorry. I did try to take a picture of my enlarged belly, but it didn't work to well so I have to get Josh to take it for me. ( I officially had to start wearing maternity jeans this past weekend--I had to go to Goodwill to get a pair b/c the ones I had are still too big! But I found 2 nice pairs that fit right now).

Guess what??? I felt Adyson move this morning!!! The storm knocked power out last night and I heard Josh looking at his watch on the nightstand and rolled onto my back (I've been trying to be good and sleep on my left side :o) As I was laying there I felt a bump, bump and then another bump, bump. I know it wasn't my stomach growling--I think Ady just didn't want to wake up and was rolling over to go back to sleep. But I was psyched--my baby is moving!!!! I reached over and smacked Josh cuz I was all excited--he was like "that's great--it's 5:30 I'm going back to sleep" Ok, he didn't SAY that, but I know my husband. He's more excited about it this afternoon though :o) So for right now, our baby's still kicking (literally). And she's got good genes--they told Josh he probably wouldn't make it either--and he's doing fine.

Well that's it for now. I go in for my next Dr's apt on the 3rd, so we'll see what he says about when to get my next ultrasound. Talk to you all later.

Sarah

PS If you post a comment and it doesn't post right away, wait a few days--Josh has to check his email and "approve" them before they show up!!

New Name for Christmas...

2007-12-24T15:53:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody!!!

Merry Christmas!!!! (one day early :O)

Well, we went back and forth and back and forth but we finally settled on a name. Her name is Adyson Celeste. Meaning losely, "Child of Earth, Gift of Heaven". For short we'll call her Ady.

Josh and I had our Christmas this AM, and we were going to have Christmas at my in-laws tonight, but it'll have to be late b/c they called Josh at 3:30 and said "be here at 4:30". But at least he's at the gate that closes at 8:30 so he'll be back about 9 to open presents. Yesterday they also called him at 3 and told him to be there at 4, so we waited till this morning to open presents. Oh well--holiday pay is good!!!

So that's it for now. I'll talk to you all later!!!

Sarah

God's Strength and Peace...

2007-12-21T17:24:00.000-06:00

Well, the last few days have been really rough, but we seem to be managing.God truly has blessed us!! I know all the prayers are working b/c I can feel God's arms around me and hear His voice saying "I am in control, nothing happens that I don't allow. I am with you--and your precious child also." Not to say that I still am not crying alot--I picked up the ultrasound pictures from the clinic--there's a really cute one of her hand, and I started crying. And when I was at Wal-Mart picking up a scrapbook to start for our little girl, I walked past the baby clothes and yup, you guessed it, started crying. I almost felt foolish walking through Wal-mart with tears in my eyes, but I guess there is a time for everything under the sun--including crying!!

But then there are the times of peace--when I walked Kyylyn (my dog) around the lake and it was a beautiful blue sky and everything was fresh after the rain last night. I could cry out to God and feel His presence, love and hope as I walked. I know there are people that have a peace that their child will be fine--I can't say I have that, but I definitely have a peace that WE will be fine--no matter what happens. (But I will keep praying for a miracle!) I went to the library to pick out books to read to my baby--and one of the first ones laying out was entitled "God Made Me Special". It was a great reminder that He made our baby "special" and she is "fearfully and wonderfully made", no matter her problems, and she is precious to Him, and to us.

I don't know how to thank everyone for their prayers and support--even people we have never met--but THANK YOU!!!! And thanks Ash, for your encouragement--and for her many "blogging" friends, especially the different stories of hope that they have.

Josh has now finished his classes and is officially starting his new job as security guard on Ft. Rucker tomorrow. That will be a huge blessing. It is "part time" for 3 months and then they are usually offered a full time position. I put part time in quotes b/c they are only scheduled for part time, but if anyone doesn't show up, then they are the ones that are called and part timers generally end up getting about 35-40 hours a week. That puts a damper on any plans we make for the next 3 months since Josh will be on-call 24/7; but God knows we need the money (especially since we may very well have many more medical bills coming in the near future) and as I heard my dad say once "when you pray for money, sometimes you get a check in the mail, but more often than not, you're provided with overtime!!" We've gotten the check (several actually--and cash too!) and now we are getting the OT. God is good :o) This job has benefits but still doesn't have health insurance, but they pay an extra $3 an hour for you to get your own. So hopefully I will be able to get some and while they most likely won't cover me right now(or any bills having to do with the pregnancy), at least if God sees fit to heal the baby and she comes and needs medical attention, she will be covered.

So that's it for now--keep us in your prayers as we learn to deal with the "wait and see" part of this. But at least we can "wait on the Lord" and He will give us strength to "mount up on wings as eagles". We praise God for His mercy and His strength--and for praying family and friends. Again, thank you.

God's will...

2007-12-20T13:14:00.001-06:00

"All things work together for good." Romans 8:28a.

People like to quote that verse when things "go wrong". Some people see it as everything that happens will be good. But most people forgot to quote the rest of the verse.

"All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to HIS purpose." Whose purpose? I know what most people's "purpose" is--and I’ve been guilty too, wanting it easy and life to go good. And sometimes it is, but what do we learn in that? What is God's purpose in our lives? Again, we have to keep reading: "For whom He foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." Wow, what a high calling. To be like Christ--and trials, if we let them, will help us to this end. Why am I saying all this? Well, for those of you who don't know yet (or got the tearful 1/2 version that I could barely choke out), here's the scoop.

We're having a girl!!! (We’re going to choose a name tonight). For Christmas presents for our parents, we got my ultrasound moved up two weeks (Tues the 18th-on my 18th week of pregnancy) and we were hoping to put the ultrasound picture in either a pink or blue frame and give it to them for a surprise (and no it was not easy keeping that a secret from future grandparents that I see everyday!!). Well, the tech did the ultrasound (didn't really say anything), left for 20 minutes and came back for about 2 minutes before the Dr came in. He sat down, and as gently as he could, told me something was wrong. There was what appeared to be a cyst at the base of the skull, and the spinal cord appeared to be growing outside of the spinal column, and that there was a very, very good possibility of major birth defects--possible fatal, and they wanted to send me to a specialist in Birmingham the next day. It took a minute to register before the tears came. I drove back to work almost in shock, and then lost it at work telling them I wouldn't be in the next day. Josh was in class and unreachable, so I called my mother-in-law and through lots of tears and "what?", "slow down", "repeat that" and "don't panic yet", I got my story of the botched Christmas present across. So yesterday, the two of us took the long trip to Birmingham (3 hours one way) to see the specialist.

They did an ultrasound, lots of measurements and then dropped the bombshell. He was very suspicious of Turner's Syndrome (not 100% but 99% sure); that is a chromosome problem--generally an extra one (or 1 1/2, 1 1/4 etc), and can vary from mild to severe. The "cyst" that Dr. Pollard had seen was actually what's called a cystic hygroma (CH)--that is fluid around the brain and in the neck. Apparently her little lymphatic system isn't working right and so instead of putting the fluid back into the bloodstream, it lets it leak wherever it can go. In our baby's case, around the brain, neck, spinal cord and abdomen. I'm not real experienced with ultrasound, but I can see more than most people thanks to Dr. Candace and Dr. Ralph, and from what I could see, it was bad. According to the Dr., there is a very, very good chance of miscarriage and a very slim possibility for a full term baby, BUT if she makes it that long, he was doubtful that she would live more than a day or two.

SO, needless to say, it was a very long, tearful ride home. While it is a "genetic" problem, it is not our genetics that are the problem--neither Josh or I are a carrier and none of our future children will be anymore at risk than this one was (~1in 25,000); According to the dr, 3 in 100 pregnancy's have very bad and/or fatal birth defects and we are one of the 3. Also in the Dr's words--"it's just a fluke thing". No, not a fluke. God has a plan and He made her perfect according to His will. Why? I have no idea, but it is His will. But I also know, she is not dead yet, and God can do miracles and can fix her little body and make her perfectly normal, or special needs, but alive. However, I know He can also choose to take her home at anytime. Not what I want to happen, but I guess we will accept what God brings our way.

So, all that said. Pray for us--for strength and wisdom. We very well might just be getting over and accepting this news when we lose her and have to go through this again. So keep us in your prayers. It will be a tough Christmas but we "can do all things through Christ who strengthens" us. And if God decides to take our precious child home, we can try to follow King David's example--pray fervently for God to heal the child, but if he takes her home, weep and then--rejoice!! We will meet her in heaven--maybe for the first time and she will have a healthy, glorified and perfect body. And she will have already been in the arms of our great Savior, Jesus Christ.

Baby's heart

2007-11-10T10:22:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody!!!

Sorry, it's been a while since I've written and I actually have news to share!! #1--we have ANOTHER new nephew! (2 in 2 weeks:o) Merritt Will made his appearance into the world on Nov 1st (missed Halloween by one day!) out in California. Mom and baby did fine!! I don' have any pics of him ( I obviously haven't seen him!) but you can get on Ash's site to see him.

Josh's brother left for Germany on Thursday. He's pretty excited about leaving.

I also had my second Dr's appointment on Wed--I'm 12 weeks now, and I got to hear the baby's heart!!! That was really cool!!! There is a little human being inside of me--how anyone can say it's just a lump of tissue I have no idea!!! That was exciting, but unfortunately Josh didn't get to hear it with me, b/c the Dr's app. was already scheduled before his schedule changed. So that was a bummer.

Josh and I are going to the Peanut Festival in Dothan today. Yes, the Peanut Festival. We were watching the parade on TV and then we'll go around noon. We also have an adult Treasure Hunt at our church at 4:30, so we'll actually have a busy day today.

We'll that's it for now, I'll talk to you all later and let you know how the festival wet!!

Sarah

Just Stuff....

2007-10-27T13:34:00.000-06:00

Wow, 3 posts in 2 days--I'm doin' good!!!!!!

Anyway, nothing exciting today. I'm over at my in-laws. Josh's brother Eric is home on leave for 2 weeks and then he is leaving for Germany for 2 years. He's in Army Intelligence (I know John--oxymoron). Josh's Aunt and Uncle from Mississippi are coming up tonight to see Eric and little Kollin. And I'm wasting time on the internet b/c Josh is outside "playing". He's making a treasure chest for junior church. They don't use the one they have much b/c it's made of cardboard, so it's not real durable, but Josh went to Lowe's this morning and got some supplies and is using his dad's table saw to make it.

I took Kyylyn on a nice long walk (about 45 minutes). And yes, I mean I took Kyylyn for a walk--NOT the other way around!!! I read the book "Ceaser's Way" by Ceaser Millan (I think that's spelled right), anyway he's the "dog whisperer". It was a very informative book on dog "psychology" and how we cause alot of the "issues" that dogs in America have b/c we treat them as people instead of dogs. It was very interesting. Very controversial to some people b/c he basis everything on the "pack structure", leadership (dominance) and followers (submission). People take to those words with dogs about as well as they take to them in marriage; maybe that's why marriages in America have as many "issues" as the dogs have!!! (sorry, up on a soap box there) But seeing how the man can have 30-40 dogs living in a pack at his office with no problems (and many of the dogs are rescued and were very dog and/or people aggressive before he got them) I think he just might know a little about what he's talking about. While I don't agree with everything he says, I have tried many of his suggestions and I have been taking Kyylyn for walks (and for any of you that know how Kyylyn walks) for me to walk him without a Gentle Leader or prong collar and have him walk right next to me without pulling or stopping is AMAZING!!!! Hopefully he'll totally have it down by the time I have to push a stroller and walk a dog at the same time. So that's my exciting news for the day.

I've been looking at nursery stuff online. I think we've decided on a "pond" theme. Mainly frogs but also with ducks, dragonflies, lilly pads ect. It'll work well for either a girl or a boy (you can bring out boy or girl colors form it), but I think we'll wait till we find out what it is (IF we find out--that's still up for debate!!!) before we order it. I'm also looking at gliding rockers--I want one for the nursery, and there was one on sale at Kmart this week, but it only came in pink, so that was a no. But I guess I'll keep looking :o) there's bound to be one on sale sometime in the next 7 months that I actually like!!!

Well, I think that's it for now. Guess I'll talk to you all later!!

Sarah

New Nephew!!!!

2007-10-26T16:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, I didn't add more stuff before I hit "ok" on the camping blog, so I'll just make a new one even though it's like 2 minutes after the last post! We have another nephew!!! Kollin Michael was born on Monday at 1:31, he was 7lbs 8oz ( I think) and 20.5 inches long. He is really dark!! and cute!! Not that I'm biased or anything. Oh, if you're wondering WHO had the baby, it's Josh's brother Michael's fiance' (not my brother's wife...yet!!! Maybe in another week or so--though that one's suppose to be a boy too). But anyway. Here's some pics.
This is Michael, Katy and Kollin:

Here's Grandma (Josh's mom) and baby

And here's Kollin!!!

and here's Daddy and Kollin

Camping trip and pics!!!

2007-10-26T15:43:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody!!

Here's some pics (hopefully) from our camping trip. We left on Friday a few weeks ago and came back Monday. We went to Wind Creek State Park on Lake Martin-the largest man-made lake in AL. We paid an extra 3 dollars to have a lake-side site--we put our tent right next to where the water should have been, but the water was anouther 60 feet down the beach. The lake was 14 feet low (maybe more by now). There were a lot of sites that had docks from them but with the water shortage the end of the docks were 50 feet from the water. The marina was the only place to get a boat in the water and they had added extra metal onto the docks so they still hit the water!!! It was very nice though. We had beautiful weather. One day the high hit 85 (I got sunburned sitting outside reading!) but the rest of the days were about 75 degrees--very nice. And the mornings were beautiful!!! Our tent faced out to the water, right where the sun rose. Josh insisted that we leave the window open and I'm glad he did, because it was a breathtaking view of the sunrise to wake up to!!! (some of the pictures are taken from inside the tent) It was nice and crisp in the morning--about 40 or 45 according to the thermostate on my bag. But here's some pics for you.

Oh, we didn't have a stovee, we had to "rough it" and use the old fashioned fire to cook. We ate well though. Pork chops; eggs, bacon and grits. It was really good (we couldn't have popcorn though--I was bummed) but we also had coffee--the old fashioned way. It was good!!!

1st check-up

2007-10-15T13:33:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody,

well I had my first check-up and they gave me my "official"due date. any wild guesses? no? Ok, May 20th. For those of you that don't know, that's also the date I happen to have been born on!!! Oh well, I may have birthday cake in the delivery room--think they'd allow that?? I know it wouldn't have candles on it!!
I didn't really get examined at all (I got bloodwork which I assume was all normal b/c I haven't heard otherwise--however that may also be due to my phone...more on that in a minute) but I got to meet my dr. He seems really nice. He was patient and answered each of my questions totally and was very helpful in what I can/can't do. I CAN drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day. HALLELUJAH!!! I thought I was gonna have to give it up for a few months. But I can drink it. I also started my pre-natal vitamins. so far I'm not sick at all and my back's the best it's been in a while--mostly due to the fact that no one at work will let me pick anything but a chihuahua up and I'm not even allowed to hold a big dog. But that's good--maybe my back can get healed before I put a ton of stress on it by having a big belly.

oh,about my phone--if you've called me lately and my phone went straight to voicemail it's not cuz my phones been off (I rarely turn it off--I'll turn it to vibrate but not off). It's b/c my phone is doing something weird and keeps saying "service unavailable" which I could believe at my house cuz we get bad reception, however Josh's phone is the exact same model, company and I can hold both phones and his works and mine doesn't. I figured out it wasn't working on Thursday (once or twice earlier that week it hadn't been either I found out) but after turning it off/on several times it started working and I suddenly had 6 messages that weren't there before and no "missed calls". So, if you call me and I don't get back to you, it may be b/c I didn't get your message/call or my phones not working to call you back!!! So I apologize in advance, and Steffi--I'll try to call you now that I know you called (4 days later). Anyway, that's all I have time for. Josh and I went camping this weekend so I have today (Monday) off. Hopefully I can get on later today and tell you all about that and put some pics on, but for now, I need to go get my puppy out of the kennel and take him swimming b/c I'm sure he's got a LOT of pent up energy!!!

Talk to you all soon

Sarah

Baby News!!!!!

2007-10-04T14:26:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody!!!

Guess I'm writing about once a month now--hopefully I'll be keeping you better updated in the next few months. If any of you did not receive my email, I guess I'll repeat our news--Lord willing, a new little Prox will be born somewhere around the end of May!!! Yes, I'm pregnant!! (my mother-in-law is saying "finally!!!" and I know many other's are joining her) but I go in for my first Dr's apt on Tues afternoon so I'll update you and hopefully be able to say "both of us are healthy". I'm trying to eat healthy and get all of my recommended daily vitamins and minerals in but there are a lot of them!!!

Today I went to Dothan to the Kohl's Grand Opening, so I got some maternity shirts and a pair of jeans--I'm hoping the jeans will make it through at least a couple more pregnancy's. Everything else I'll try to get at thrift stores--not that I need them yet--I'm only about 6 weeks along, but I might as well buy them when they're on sale right?

I am asking for some prayer though, yes, safety for the baby--especially at my job--being a tech is not the most "pregnant-friendly" job around. But also for money issues. We don't have insurance and we make too much money for medicaid. Fortunately, they seem pretty good about working with people without insurance down here but from my estimations (and assuming a normal pregnancy and delivery) we're looking at about $4-5000 (without ultrasounds and lab work--I don't have estimates on that--we have to fill out more paperwork) but I guess that total isn't too bad--it could be MUCH higher, but quite a bit of that is suppose to be paid "up-front" so pray that we'll be smart with money, that God will provide and that WE will TRUST Him to provide (He hasn't let us down yet so I guess I'm not as worried as I otherwise would be.) And if it comes out under $5,000 that's still cheaper than my Grand Am was by $500 :o) And I guess this is a little more important than going into debt for a car!

Oh, speaking of God providing, I was very blessed on Tuesday. I was dealing with not a fun situation on the way home from work and wasn't sure what to do or who to call. I got home and was reading the junk mail trying to occupy my mind when low and behold, Steffi called. I had just talked to her 2 days before so I wasn't expecting to hear from her anytime soon, but I answered and the first words out of her mouth were "God laid it on my heart to call you and give you a 'phone hug' and tell you everything will work out. Now, what's going on?" I tell you, I couldn't speak for a few seconds and almost started crying. There was NO WAY she could have known anything was wrong except for God telling her, so it was just a blessing to me and a great reminder that God does care and He will provide, even if it's a friend calling out of the blue to say everything's gonna work out. And I'm thankful for Steffi to listening to that "still small voice". How many times does God lay someone on our hearts and we kind of brush it off as some coincidence or not important or say "I'll do it later"? If Steffi had ignored that, both of us would have missed out on a huge blessing; so maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere huh? :o)

Well that's my news for now, so I really will try to keep you updated and even try to get an ultrasound pic on here for you when I get the chance. Thanks for reading and praying,

Sarah

I'm sorry....

2007-09-02T12:50:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody.

Ok, yes, my poor blog has been extremely neglected lately. And no, I don't have a good excuse--just haven't done it. Sorry! Not that much exciting is happening here anyway. It's finally cooled off. We've gotten rain for the first time in a month and half and of course it would come over Labor Day when every one is trying to be outside! Oh well. We really REALLY neeed the rain!!! Josh and I were gonna go camping this weekend but Josh ended up taking a shift for someone on Saturday night and I have to go in on Monday morning to take care of the kennels at work. So no real vacation for us. We'll probably spend a good portion of the weekend at my in-laws b/c Josh's brother Eric is home from Arizona. He's in the Army training for intellegence (yes, I realize the oxymoron, "Army Intellegence", but I won't go there!!) He's in the middle of the desert--this is the first time he's been home since he left for boot camp several months ago. Speaking of being at the in-laws, someone at work asked me what I had done the night before and I answered that I had dinner at my in-laws and then hung out there for a while. Darrel asked if Josh was working and I told him yes, he was. He gave me the weirdest look and asked "you go over to your in-laws by YOURSELF??!!!" I had to laugh, apperently that's an odd thing to like your in-laws??? Oh well, guess I'm weird (but we all knew that already :o)

I live trapped a stray cat in my backyard, spayed her and let her go again but an 8 or 10 week old kitten came along with her too. So I'm keeping the kitten (a really pretty little calico) and trying to tame her and find a home for her. No I'm not "keeping her" keeping her--she's at the clinic. I have my limit of cats!! I named her "Riah"-short for Mariah. She is taming down nicely but she's still a scaredy cat. Her mom is black and white and I was trying to name her. we have a little black and white kitten that comes to our clinic named Moo Moo. I couldn't quite name an adult cat "MooMoo" but it got me thinking, so I named "my" new outdoor wildcat "Moolatte" (you know the drinks from Dairy Queen? Yes Dr. Candace, I think of you when I call "my" cat now.)

I think that's about the news for now. I survived the "worst heat in AL" that anyone can remember in recent history!! We had like 12 days of over 100. That's just stinkin' hot!!!!

Well, Im gonna go now. Sorry I havn't written for a while. Talk to you all later

Sarah

Independence day.

2007-07-04T10:30:00.000-06:00

Happy 4th of July!!! I thank God for the freedoms that we have in this country. Grant it, there are things that are not good in our country, but I firmly believe we are living in the best country in the world!!! Let's hope we can hold off the liberals for aother few years. But the freedoms are wonderful. We can go to church and worship with no thought that we may be harmed or killed for going. We can say what we want(for now)without penalty and hopefully it will stay that way and they will keep cutting down the "hate speech" bills. But I am thankfull for this country.

And I couldn't get away without saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACIE!!!" Enjoy your fireworks and I'm really sorry I can't be there for your birthday (the first of many I'm afraid.)

We got our purple car back. It's running better and will idle for the first time since we've had it. It's still not running smooth like it's suppose too but hopefully it will run for a while till we decide to sell it. however, we know that we have to turn the battery off so it doesn't get drained (after 4 batteries in 4 months, Josh put a switch on the battery so if we're not driving it we flip it off). I told the garage that but they didn't turn it off. We know this b/c Josh drove it to work last night and when it started to rain at 9, he went to roll the windows up and the battery was totally dead. And of course, since it was the 4th, everyone got off early at 8 (except Josh), so at midnight I went to jump Josh's car. It went for a while, but then it died 3 more times and I had to jump it everytime till we got it to a spot we could leave it for the night. And to make it better (besides the rain and soaked seats of the Cavalier) the 3rd time I jumped the car, the Grand Am's gas gauge went from 1/4 of a tank, to full and back down to empty. (after 1/4 of a tank the gauge doesn't work until it's on empty). But thankfully we made it to the gas station and then we finally got to bed at 1:30. And of course I had to get up this AM to do kennels at work but oh well. I'll get a nap this afternoon.

I think that's it for now, I'll talk to you all later. Happy 4th!!!

Sarah

Forgot one...

2007-06-28T17:36:00.000-06:00

Oh and here's a picture of my new haircut.

That's it for now!!

Sarah

2007-06-28T15:59:00.001-06:00

Hi everybody!!
Somebody told me that I needed to have more pictures on my blog so I'm going to try (yeah, me and computers I know!) But we'll see how it goes. It got up to 100 today--Kyylyn and I went to the park twice--it actually didn't feel that hot. I also made josh a bithday "dinner" for lunch today. (His b-day is Saturday but I'm working on Saturday so today was much easier to do!) I've been driving my father-in-laws truck around--it's a big Dodge Ram!!! But everyone is asking me if I'm a pilot b/c the truck has a big "Enterprise Helicopters" and "Helicopter Rides!" on it. But that's ok. It's a little harder to park then my car--it takes up a lot more room in a parking spot! Oh, the reason I'm driving the truck is that the little purple car is in the shop. It left me stranded at the bank last week and I told Josh it was either getting fixed or we were getting a new one. I called around looking for a mechanic and we found one who would "diagnosis" it for $35. They had it for a week before he finally called yesterday and thinks he found it. According to the computer there is nothing wrong with the car--I don't think so!!! But it's not the injectors (which is good--those are expensive). He thinks it's the computer--he ordered it in and hopefully he'll get it tomarrow and I can get the car back--not that I mind driving the truck! (except the gas milage) but if it rains poor Dad has to ride his motorcycle instead of driving the truck! So hopefully I can give it back soon. Ok, well enough talking :o) here's my pictures (hopefully).
I had bought a trashcan with a lid to put in the bathroom so Kyylyn wouldn't get in to it. Great idea right. Yeah. I heard a "thunk" in the bathroom and went to investigate and this is what I found...

And this is Duncan in the box the cell phones came in (by the way, if you don't have our new numbers email me and I'll give them to you.)

These are the new bikes. Mine's red and Josh's is white.

And this is the pile of "lumber" that we have after the back woods was bushhauged. (that's gonna be a great bonfire!!!)

Warm Weater

2007-06-09T15:12:00.000-06:00

Well, I think the "warm" weather has officially arrived. It's like 95 out today and it is stinkin' hot!!! Great pool weather if we had a pool (no, Kyylyn's doesn't count!). But it's not humid yet, surprisingly. So while it's hot, it's bearable. Once the humidity kicks in I'll be dying--especially when I have to drive Josh's car that doesn't have air conditioning!!! It's a convertible, but it's a toss up whether it's hotter to have the top up and the windows down but be shaded from the sun or to have the top down and have the sun beating down on you--that sun is intense!! Wow! I can start getting a tan with the top down just driving home from work! The heat's taking it's toll on poor Kyylyn. He just pants all the time. I don't want to shave him because he's got a double coat so the bottom should actually insulate him a little bit from the heat, but if it's shaved off the poor guys totally exposed! A lot of the time when we're at Josh's parents house we leave Kyylyn in the car--he settles down nicely and we leave the window open so he can hang out if he wants, but I've been telling Josh he's got to watch it, cuz even with the window down all the way he could overheat really easily. This morning he went over to his parent's house for "a few minutes" and an hour later went back out and poor Kyylyn had his head out the window panting up a storm. He brought him in to the AC and got him cooled off, but the poor guy didn't have a good morning--or afternoon either. We went shopping and he had to stay at home in his kennel, b/c it's too hot to even leave him outside in the fenced in back yard (that and he would dig a hole in the grass to get down to cool dirt--not a trait the Josh's dad appreciates very much!!)

But anyway, we went shopping for bikes. We've been to Wal-mart looking at some bikes and finally went and got them today. I'm not allowed to run/jog for exercise and even walking a lot aggravates my back so I'm suppose to be swimming, but I'm having issues finding a pool to use. But Josh's uncle said that I can bike to exercise. It won't help strengthen my back, but at least I can get some cadio in (hopefully) without hurting my back. To ride on post you have to wear protective gear (a helmet and gloves) and also a reflective belt or vest. It is a pain to find those!!! Where's Cabela's when you need it!!! That, or even Fleet Farm (I really miss that store--and Kwik Trips too!! Ready made, fresh GOOD coffee for 63 cents--you can't FIND even decent coffee at gas stations here!!! Steve, if you even need to find a gift for either of us, or when you come down to visit--bring some Kwik Trip Coffee beans!! I'll pay you back!!!) But anyway, back to the bikes ( I know I get sidetracked easily!!) Josh got a road bike, but I wasn't quite confident enough on those little tiny wheels, so I got a "hybrid", it's not really a mtn bike but it's not a road bike either--you can ride it on either but it probably won't excel at either of them. Which is fine, cuz I'll be jumping back and forth and I don't plan on riding down a mtn or biking 50 miles on the road so it ought to be perfect!!

Oh and Josh found a second job--he'll be working with a security company that wanted an EMT also. he;ll work 4 PM-midnight Monday thru Friday. And with that schedule he can keep working with Tim doing the used car thing. So poor Kyylyn is suddenly going to be spending a lot more time in his kennel.

We're also getting new cell phones. We should be getting them next week and I'll send you all our new phone numbers. I just hope it works in the house--that's my main concern. We got a good deal through AT&T and they gave us 2 phones for $1 a piece. And they sound like they should be decent phones. I'm psyched--I can download songs and put them on the phone to listen to them!! So now I don't need to keep "ipod" on my wish list--cuz that's the only reason I wanted one, so I could listen to music while I worked out.

Well, Josh is telling me that it's time to go, so I'll talk to you all later!!

Sarah

Just Stuff

2007-05-28T18:24:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody,

I know, I know--yet again it has been awhile!! I was doing SOO good there for a little bit. Not that much exciting has been going on. Josh and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on May 15th. Josh's parents rented a condo down in Florida for the weekend, so after I got done with work on that Saturday we went to Florida and laid on the beach for the remainder of the weekend (I got a little too much sun :o) Oh well. we went out to the sand bar about 50 feet or so off shore (any further than that and shark attacks become much more common) but we went out to the sandbar and stood on it for 10-15 min. When we came back in, not 10 min later there were dolphins out swimming where we had been--just missed swimming with the dolphins. We also saw a flying fish--I'd never see on up close and it just about scared me to death--it ran into my leg, but it was really neat to see. We tried to scare him to make him fly but I guess we weren't scary enough, he just swam away.

We went and played Mini Golf too--the first game I won!! (The biggest score in golf always wins, right???) J/K. I lost big time, but the second game I got a hole in one (woo-hoo!!) and I actually won!! I think that's about a first for me--any of you that have seen me mini golf know this. There were all these itty bitty frogs around the course---no bigger than my pinkie nail, but man were they loud!! We just about crushed one of them on the green with the ball. And of course, the animal lover in me had to move the frog off the green, but it took me a while b/c I was scared to pick him up without squishing him!! I ended up just chasing him off. And the pond was full of tadpoles that almost looked as big as the full-grown frog! We also saw a cute little tree frog on one of the posts. ( I know, leave it to me to see all the animals while out playing golf) .

I also turned a 1/4 of a century old on the 20th--halfway to 50, man I'm getting old!!! We had a baptismal service at church, however, we don't have a baptismal in the church, so we go to Pastor's house to do them. They have a 4 foot deep above ground pool. 2 of pastor's children were baptised and two of our military pilot students were also. Afterward, they had a lunch for the singles, but Pastor invited us to stay so we had lunch and played table games and volleyball (yes I played and I didn't even hurt myself!!!) So it was a fun birthday. I also went out and bought scrapebooking stuff for my present from my mom--I can now finish our honeymoon scrapebook!!! That is a lot of fun, especially now that I have a table in my room and can use it! I'm still saving up money to buy paint for my room (it's gonna be blue and purple with an accent of lime green--I know out of character for me, but I think it will look good), but other things have been pressing for money lately--I don't know if that will ever change!! Oh well, God is faithful and we have enough. Actually we even have a little extra here and there (not a lot mind you, but some). We bought Kyylyn on of those cheap plastic kiddy pools ($11.88 at Wal-Mart!) so maybe he won't dig in our yard as much to cool off--he digs a hole and then lays in it. Josh's dad is less than thrilled about that--especially when it happens not only in our yard, but in his too!! So we thought maybe getting him a pool might help. So far he'll walk through it but that's about it--he's not quite sure what to think about having to step into the water--normally he just jumps in and swims!! But I think once he gets used to it he'll enjoy it. And if not--I already spent one Sunday afternoon sitting in it and reading my book!! Hey if I can't have a real pool or be close to the beach I will make do with what I have :o)

Well I think that's all the exciting news for now. (I know, I lead a very boring life!) Hopefully it won't be another month before I write again!!

Sarah

Kyylyn's New Discovery

2007-04-28T11:03:00.000-06:00

Hey Everybody!

Sorry it's been a while since I've written. Just haven't gotten to the computer to write. Not that there's much exciting going on. Though my puppy is going to be 1 yr old on the 30th, but I don't think we'll be out of puppyhood for a few more years!! Dr. Katie was definitly correct when she looked at Kyylyn and told me that I had a "Marley" on my hands. (If you haven't read the book "Marley and Me, life and love with the world's worst dog". I HIGHLY recommend it!! It's about a typial American Lab--pysco and strong!!!) And yes, I think I might have one on my hands.

Kyylyn discovered how to get out of the screened-in porch and NO, it's not through the door!! Up until two days ago, we'd take him out in the porch and play ball and let him run around. The most he would do was put his paws up on the cement ledge that's about 2 feet high. He never scratched at the screen or tried to go through it. Then 2 days ago, Josh had him out in the porch when the neighbor's dog decided to chase after a squirrel. I don't know exactly what he was thinking (maybe he was planning on landing on the ledge??) but he jumped 3 feet before the screen and hit it in the middle and kept going. The force of the screen trying to stop him, sent him into a 1 1 /2 turn summersalt and he preceeded to land in the mud on his head about 5 feet from the porch (we know b/c it had just rained and we could see where he landed). He jumped up, totally uneffected (does that suprise anyone?!), chased the squirrel and came back. Fortunatly the screen was already unattached at the bottom from where Duncan had shoved his way through (yes I have 2 creatures that are mischevious!! And everyone wants to know why I don't have kids yet!!) so that saved the screen because the rest of it just tore loose and pulled the staples out (no big hole in the screen). We were hoping it was just a fluke and that he didn'trealize what happened (like when he jumped the baby gate and didn't know how he had gotten over) but the next morning I brought him in from outside and let him off the leash so I could get his food, he went and launched himself through. Very beautiful form, nice and high (probably at least 4.5 feet), perfect landing. He's the perfect agility dog if only he'd listen!!!!! And no, I was not thinking that when it was 6 AM on my day off and the dog took off on me. However, surprisingly, he let me catch him right after that. So, from now on, Kyylyn doesn't get to stay in the porch anymore. Josh fixed the screen yesterday so we let Duncan back out there, and um,any guesses on what happened? Yup, Duncan pushed his way through the bottom again. We were watching close so he got apprehended before he made it too far, so once again--Duncan is banned from the porch.

So, I think that's about it. Josh and I are going to be an aunt and uncle again in October, and this time from Josh's side. Yes, we were suppose to be the first one's to make them grandparents, but Micheal's girfriend is pregnant and is due the end of October. In a month or two, she'll find out what it is. Then we can have a neice or nephew near us again!! that'll be nice, regardless of the improper order. And maybe I won't have to hear as much about how my mother-in-law needs a grandbaby!!! But I doubt it (ok, she's really not that bad about it, just occasional hints here and there but I just have to give her a hard time back!!! :o)

So that's it, I guess I'll talk to y'all later (see I'm starting to get the Southern thing down!!)

Sarah

2007-04-16T18:09:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody,

Just wanted to ask for prayer for Josh's family right now. His grandpa just passed away today. He had late stage Parkinson's and has been bed ridden for quite a while and hasn't been able to do anything for about 8-10 months. Then about 6 months ago his mind started to go. Hospice has been coming in for a while taking care of him and every one's been expecting it for a while, but I don't know if that makes it any easier on them. I'm not sure when the funeral is yet, but most of Josh's family will be driving or flying here in the next week so pray for traveling safety for them.

On a lighter note, Duncan is feeling better. I gave him Metacam and started him on antibiotics for his feet, but he started sneezing on Saturday and Taijah started on Sunday so now I have two cats on antibiotics. There's been a really bad upper respiratory virus going around--we've had several cats die from it in the last month or so, so I'm hoping to ward the bacterial part of it off some. Good thing my cats are easy to medicate--put it in a bowl and they lick it out!!! Oh and Duncan didn't learn his lesson. Josh fixed the screen and we let him out again. 10 min later Josh looked out and he was outside the porch--he'd pushed his way through again!!! So, porch privileges are lost for the cats and Duncan is NOT happy about it! He sits at the door and cries but he's stuck inside now.

We finally got our bedroom decorated--Western style :o) I'm sure that doesn't surprise too many people. I'll see if I can get some pics of it and show you. i still don't have a table for my scrape booking room so I can't show you pics of of that either. Oh well, maybe before we move again in a few years it will be set up!

Well , I think that's it for now. Thanks for the prayers in advance.

Sarah

Duncan's Adventure

2007-04-13T11:20:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody,

Yesterday morning I got up to let Kyylyn out at about 6 and when I went out Duncan ran out onto the porch (this is a normal ritual). However when I went out to leave for work he was nowhere to be found. He had pushed the bottom out of one side of the screen and disappeared. I went out and called him for a few minutes, but had to go to work, and then Josh looked for him for a bit before he went to work. I was hoping he'd come home for dinner (if you know my cat, you know he doesn't miss a meal!!) but he didn't. I started crying when I came home and the only one to greet me wanting food was Taijah. So anyway, I was worried sick about my poor pampered, declawed house cat being out in the wild for the first time. Josh kept saying "he knows his way home". I know he knows his way home--if he's ABLE to come home. Being a vet tech I know all too well the dangers for cats outside, cars, dogs, coyotes, mean people and nice people who rescue and keep "strays" (he did have his collar on though so if any one found him they would know who to call). So I cried myself to sleep when he didn't come back. I can't even imagine what parent's go through if a child is abducted or wonders off--it's bad enough when it's "just" my cat!!! But when Josh got up to let Kyylyn out this morning, Duncan was back in the porch waiting to come in. He was walking all hunched up and with short strides on his back end, so I was thinking maybe he hurt his back or hips, but they seem ok. He got into a tangle with something though--his poor little back claws where splintered and broken down past the quicks, and his pads are all worn. He's used to carpet not pavement and gravel!! But I was just thrilled that my little buddy came back relatively unharmed. If he got in a fight with another cat, he might show up with an abscess but worse things have happened. Hopefully he has learned his lesson and won't wander off anymore but I doubt it!! So that was Duncan's adventure.

Nothing else exciting going on. My back's doing much better even starting to lift again this week, so that's good. I guess I don't really have anything else to write so I'll "talk" to you all later! :o)

Sarah

Lessons in Southern Culture...

2007-04-09T19:36:00.000-06:00

Happy belated Easter everybody!

Well, I learned more about Southern culture---buck dancing!! I didn't know that was an actual style of dance but apparently it is. You basically just kick you feet back and forth a lot. I wish I would have had a camara to record it and show you. The youngest was a 3 yr old boy and the oldest (who won) was 81 yrs old! Oh, by the way--the place we saw this at was the Rattlesnake Rodeo (no I'm not making this up!!) They actually have a contest for the person who can bring in the largest living rattlesnake (Yes, there are people that want to do that). But it was interesting--we watched the only rattlesnake race in the world. We also watched what I'm sure is one of the few "greased pole climb" in the country!! No one got up but it was interesting to watch. Josh's dad flew his helicopter all day giving rides to people. We would have stayed for the Tracy Lawrence concert at 8 PM but it was cold (for down here--yes every one up North can laugh) it was 50 degrees!! But it was chilly with the wind and sitting on cold bleachers.

And my back is getting better--Thursday I just stayed home and iced it and ran the electric stimulation thing. I didn't lift anything last week and this week I'm strting to lift smaller animals and my back feels good tonight so hopefully it will be getting better!

I think that's it for now--I gotta go home and go to bed!

Sarah

Alabama Flowers

2007-03-30T10:01:00.000-06:00

Ok, here are the pics of the flowers around here. Oh and for you people that still have snow--it was 91 yesterday and 90 the day before :o) Now it's getting too hot for me and it's only March!!! Oh and here's a pic of our over-grown puppy staring at his ball. He'll bat at it like a cat but when it quits moving he'll sit and stare at it a while before hitting it again--he'll entertain himself for 30 min with it (and for those of you who know my dog, that's impressive!!) Well I gotta go--we're going down to Mississippi to Josh's aunt and uncle--he's a chiropractor and will hopefull get my back put back in (and yes it's cheaper to drive there and back then spend the money to go to one here!) So I gotta go back

Sarah

Just stuff

2007-03-24T15:33:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody!

I need to get my camera out and take some pics of the flowers around here. I can't believe how beautiful it is!!

I just wanted to clear up from my last post that Lindsey was born on the 20th not the 19th---sorry for any confusion :o) I started writing on the 19th and finished on the 20th.

Anyway, I got my first taste of "Back woods, country Alabama". Jake and I went out to a ladies house to euthanize her cat. She gave us directions that ended with, "there's a little path right before this sign, take it to the RV and he'll take you too my house." Oooook. So we did that. We pulled up to this RV that looked pretty beat up (it had two flat tires and was pretty much rusted out around the two good ones) and there was junk all over the yard. We pulled up and a man came out to meet us and told us he'd drive us back to her house b/c the truck was too big to fit on the "road" (I put it in quotations b/c it wasn't more than two tire ruts with overgrown forest on either side). Anyway, so before we could get in the car, he pulled the bags of trash out of a little Honda (though it looked more like a Rabbit) that I figured didn't run. It was rusted out and all of the tires looked almost flat. But he told us to get in so apparently it ran; we climben in, the ignition switch was gone; he twisted some wires to start it and off we went down the little path. At one point I thought we were going to high center going over a pile of dirt that was a "bridge" over a little creek, but we made it through. He was definitely right--the truck wouldn't have made it w/o some major scratches down the side. The poor little car was almost too wide--I don't think we went 10 feet without hitting branches. So we got to the end of the path and the lady lived in a 15 foot RV with no windows and a where there WAS a floor, it was untreated plywood (and she was in bare feet--I would have gotten splinters!). Anyway that was rather interesting. Very, very sweet southern lady that loved her animals--3 dogs and I counted 3 other cats aside from the one we euthanized; and she was correct in saying she lived in a beautiful place. It was WAY off the beaten path and she lived on the shores of a little pond. All of the bushes had started to bloom, so I'm sure in a few weeks it will be beautiful. But that was really my first encounter with the "rednecks of Alabama" that Jeff Foxworthy talks about and calls himself! So that was my excitement for the day.

We took Kyylyn out swimming. Last fall (the last time we were able to take him swimming) he wasn't sure about the water. He liked wadding better than swimming (we had to coax him to swim) and he didn't notice water fowl in the slightest. And there was no way he would jump into the water--he didn't like getting his head wet. Well I went to the park on Wed to walk him around the lake and he just about dragged me into the water!! He JUMPED into the water after the ducks!!! (I only got one pant leg wet--I got him stopped before he totally dragged me in!) So on Thursday we put him on a 50 foot rope and let him go swimming. He chased ducks and played fetch for 45 min!!!! If you've been around Kyylyn, you know he gets sick of fetch after about 5 throws but he was jumping in the water, swimming back and asking for more!! He probably would have kept going but we could tell he was getting tired--his swimming was started to not look as strong, so we left. But we went again today and he is just loving this "new" sport. I bet we could get him to "dock jump" now!! However I haven't found a dock to try it on yet!

So that's the excitement for today. Oh and I just read Ashleigh's blog---I was only kidding about the "evening out the score" comment!!! But I guess since you wanted to take me seriously....CONGRATS!!! Now we'll have to see if it will be Girls-4 Boys-1 or Girls-3 Boys-2 :o) The anticipation is horrible isn't it? Well, I'll talk to you all later--enjoy the snow up in the mtns--I'm kinda jealous--but I am liking this 80 degree weather! and Steffi, enjoy your rain--you moved to WY, you may not see anymore for a while!!!!

Sarah

Springtime, babies and basketball...

2007-03-19T14:12:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody,

Spring has sprung in Alabama!! The dogwoods are blooming and so is everything else--it is beautiful!! And the weather is wonderful too. Yesterday was "chilly" at 65 degrees or so, today it's suppose to be high 70's. I'm already spoiled :o) but like I said--in a few months I will will not be as happy about the weather. Somehow I don't think it's like CO--Co only has one type of weather--beautiful!! This summer it may not be like that here. Oh well. (It is interesting that I wanted to get married in the springtime so I got married in May. That wouldn't work down here! May is going to be the start of summer!)

I got a tulip from my Secret Prayer Pal at church and so far I havn't killed it. (I missed inheriting the green thumb from my grandma Fowler...) but if I manage to keep one flower alive I have a wonderful spot for a flower garden--I just have to learn what to do!! I didn't do so well with my ivy up in MN but give me a four-legged creature and I can do fine with that! I'm starting to research a little on flower gardens but most of the info says for first timers to start with a sunny spot--this one is not! It gets about 1 hr of sun late morning and about 2 hours in the afternoon. Other than that it's shady so any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Josh started his job today. It doesn't really have a name so I'll tell you about it. All used car dealerships have to have a sticker or paper in the window of the used cars that tells about it (milage, cylinders ect) and if they don't have it it's a $11,000 fine PER CAR!!! Anyway, a guy in our church, Tim, runs his own little company--he goes to the dealership, scannes the barcode on the car and prints out a sticker to put in the car and the dealership pays him for it. He is overwhelmed with all the dealers that want his business and can't do it by himself anymore so he's going to hire Josh as a private contractor to help him out. That's about as much as I know.

Oh and guess what? I just found out a few minutes ago--we have a new baby neice! CONGRATS STEVE AND VICKIE!!!! Oh and congrats on being big sisters to Charity and Stacie too!! (that's girls-3, boys-1; John and Ash you need to even out the score a little more :o) and for those of you who were suspicious of the title---NO we are NOT ready to try and help out yet!!!) Poor Steve's really outnumbered now!! Anyway, our new neice's name is Lindsey Danielle (I think I spelled that correctly-if not let me know). Stacie thought it should be Lily May Rose, which isn't a bad name but I do like Lindsey. When I talked to Steve the girls were just on their way over to meet their new baby sister. And the slacker didn't have any pictures up yet; man, you'd think he'd stayed up all night with his wife or something...Just kidding Steve!!!! Whenever we get pics will be good! (What kind of little sister would I be if I didn't tease you?? Lindsey take note!)

I'm trying to work in a 20 min workout into my day, every day. I was doig really well at exercising and was in shape until I hurt my back last Sept; then I really couldn't do anything as far as workouts. Then when it finally healed up in November I was out of shape and I couldn't convince myself to start jogging again when it was below 20 degrees outside!! So I figured I'd come down here to nice weather and start working out again, however, I was down here a few weeks and hurt my back again. It's startig to heal now (it still hurts if I do too much) so right now I'm just trying to walk and/or run with Kyylyn for 20 mins a day and do some lowerback and abs workouts to try to strength it back up again. As my husband says--you're too young for back problems!! I agree! I bring that up b/c one of my co-workers Darrell was "trash-talking" at work and made the comment that he could beat me in basketball "anyday". Well the competative spirit in me didn't take that too well so I told him he didn't have a chance at beating me and it ended up we were going to play and see who won. However, once I got home my husband vetoed that idea--He said he knows how I play basketball and that I would hurt my back playing. He is probably right!! (and as John always says "basketball will hurt you") That was the only contact sport I was allowed to play in school so I play hard and rough and yes I would probably hurt my back again. So hopefully by the end of this summer I will be well enough and in-shape enough to take him on.

Well I guess that's it for now--nothing else exciting going on down here. Talk to you all later.

Sarah

2007-03-10T17:16:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody!

We had a carwash today at work to benefit the tornado relief fund. We made $450 and a bag of dog and cat food. We had to wash a big Alabama redneck truck; the top of the tires literally came up to my chest and there was red AL clay all over it--he'd been playing in a cow field but he paid us $50 for cleaning it (we couldn't reach he top though). The guys were complaining every time they got wet cuz it was "too cold" to get wet. It was 80 degrees--perfect weather for me!!!

Kyylyn's been in his crate since Josh left at noon so I need to go let my puppy out--he's probably getting pretty impatient! Talk to you all soon.

Sarah

Beautiful AL Weather

2007-03-08T12:16:00.000-06:00

Wow, writing two times in one week--I must be getting better at this :o) Actually I just had two days off this week cuz I'm working this weekend. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone who is in the freezing cold and snow (HA HA!!) know that I am in shorts and a t-shirt and am very comfortable!!! (yeah, you can laugh at me when it's 100 degrees and 100 % humidity in a few months, but for now I am enjoying it!) I sat outside in my screened in porch at 9 am, in the shade (we have too many trees for the sun to hit the porch) and drank my coffee and I was very comfortable. Soon I'll have to switch over to smoothies in the morning instead of coffee b/c it will be too hot to drink hot liquid! Well I guess that's about it for now.

Sarah

Post Tornado...

2007-03-06T10:19:00.000-06:00

Hi Everybody!!
This is the first chance I've had to write since the tornado hit (internet, tv and phones has been down at my in-laws and the libarary is in the middle of town which is off-limits right now). And if you havn't heard about it by now you must not watch tv!! (not that I'D personally know--like I said, no tv or internet!) Anyway, a tornado came through on Thursday and did a lot of damage in Enterprise. My clinic is about a mile from the high school that got hit. I got back from lunch at 1:10 and two of my co-workers were watching it rain--it was really coming down--I was dripping wet just running 20 feet from my car to the door! The rain suddenly let up some and I noticed that the clouds were starting to move. As we watched they started moving faster and then started swirling. Not two minutes later the tornado appeared and went behind the building out of our sight. So like brillent people we ran to the back of the clinic to watch it. We heard a sound (like they say) like a train and saw debris start spinning and flying in circles (turns out that was downtown) and that's about the time we ran inside. The phones and power were out so we went home about 3. However I couldn't go home b/c the road to my house was closed--you may have seen the pictures of the forest with the tops of the trees gone? They were all laying on the road we have to take to get to our house. So I went to my in-laws instead. All of us and everything we own is fine (we lost a trash can lid--that was it). However, from what I've heard 8 high schoolers lost their lives and 7-800 houses were damaged heavily or destroyed, along with a good portion of the high school. But as our preacher said yesterday. There's an earthly reality "life is tough!" and a heavenly reality--"God is good--ALWAYS!!" So you might ask in that tradgedy how can you say "God is good?" One of the familys in our church had a high schooler, Joshua, there. Usually the mom doesn't pick the kids up if school is closed--she lets them take the bus home (school closed at 1, the tornado came at 1:20) but she felt a small nudge telling her to get him. She went to the school and waited in a long line to get him called out and almost left rather than staying, but again she felt she needed to stay. Her son was called out of the hallway that collapsed and was sitting between two of the kids that died. They were even one of the few cars that made it out of the parking lot that was ripped to shreds. God is good!
Another family's house was damages--windows and doors blown off--but noone was injured. Their neighbors had a choice of going to the bathroom (like most people do) or the closet. They chose the closet. When the storm was gone the roof was gone and the bathroom was buried under a load of beams (they're still not sure where they came from...). Out of that many homes hurt only one other person died. God is good! Not that he's not good to the people who lost someone they loved or all of their possesions. God griefs with them--Jesus wept when Lazurus died--and he knew he would live again! And God knows what it's like to loose a loved one. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, will not perish but have everlasting live." He gave His Son for us--he grieved too. So even in grief, God is good. On Saturday a whole group of the high schoolers got together with some of the area pastors. 15 students came forward to accept Christ and be saved. Through this tradgedy God is building his kingdom. "But if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." What a promise. "And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God and are called according to His purpose." Many of the funerals are today, so keep praying for those that are grieving and heartbroken and for our community to gather around them and show them Christ's love and support.

So that's my take on the tornado that came through. What other excitement?? We joined Faith Independent Baptist Church last Sunday, and here's the pictures of the chuch. It's growing a lot so they are looking for a new building. They run 60-80 in the AM and that pretty much fills up the church. They bought a trailor that was behind the church and converted that into a Sunday school/Jr. Church room. So here's those pics.

Our house looks more like a home, though it's not decorated all the way yet. Here's a picture of my desk that I got for $30 at a permanent flea market (for lack of a better description) that's set up down the road from us.
And here's a pic of our living room. (I didn't show my closets, bedroom or kitchen b/c of my lack of good housekeeping skills :o)

Well I think that's about it for now. Tracy--hope you're enjoying all of your snow :o) I can't believe it--I leave and MN FINALLY gets a good snow storm!! Even Kyylyn was excited to get out! Figures.

Oh and Toni, before I left you were sayiing you wanted to go to one of the Southern Baptist churches down here--we went to Hillcrest Baptist Church which has a membership of about 3,500 (that's about the size of the town I grew up in!!!) but anyway, they had the people all singing and swaying with their hands in the air and clapping and yelling out "Amen". It was rather interesting. So if you ever come down you can go there to see your good Souhern Church!

Alright, i'm really going now--hopefully I'll write sooner next time!

Sarah

Finally in our house!!!!

2007-02-17T08:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know with blogs you're suppose to write like every day or every other day, but this is me we're talking about!! I'll be happy if I get one on every 2 weeks!
But anyway--we got into the house last Thursday (or the thursday before--I don't remember!). Kyylyn loves the extra room to run, he can actually stretch out and run across the house!! A new "trick" for him--he gets excited when it's dinner time and Taijah was up on the fridge. so instead of putting his paws up on the counter and barking at her like normal be jumped up ON the counter. My 65 pound dog had his butt up on my counter chasing the cat!! I don't think he relized what he had done. He hasn't done it since. We're going up the "Nuts about Mutts", it's a "pet show" to benefit the humane society so we're taking Kyylyn up there and a little lab cross to see if I can find her a home. I almost brought her home but we couldn't get a fence up in the yard and I couldn't have 2 hyper dogs without any place to run. so I'm gonna try to find a home ffor her. She is just a sweetie; someone tied her up to the back door of the clinic and left her. She is just a cuddle bug--she would rather have a pat on the head than canned food.
Other than that it's just been work for me. Josh is waiting to hear back from the Wal-mart distribution center about a job but they said it could be 3-4 weeks.
I'm gonna try to get pictures of the put-together house and maybe of the pet show today--no gaurentees though!!! Talk to you all later!
Sarah

Here We Go...!

2007-01-25T19:02:00.000-06:00

And we're off... our new house is coming along swimmingly and my dog keeps barking his "fool" head off right outside the door! Now Sarah wants to write and tell you all about the house, but me first..! (evil cynical laugh) The house is great, we ony get the bottom half, but all is well. There is a lot of work yet to be done, but with help from Sarah, my Dad and Mom, Eric and a few others that are not mentionable here, we'll get the jobs all done in no time. Thanks for checking in and have a good evening!

Hi everybody, ok, technically it's not "our" house--my in-laws are trying to buy it right now--I say "trying" b/c the closing hasn't gone through yet, but the soon-to-be former owners have been gracious enough to let us do work on it and move our stuff in but we aren't allow to live there until the closing goes through--legal liability stuff. But, with that said--I'm going to tell you about my house :o) From the front it looks like a single story house, so to get to our lower half of the duplex you have to go around back. Once you get in the kitchen is huge!!!! I don't know what to do with all the cabinet space! It's two bedroom, 2 1/2 bath in our lower section (upstairs is 4 bedroom, 2 bathrooms). The bedrooms aren't that big, however, the bathroom and walk-in closets double the room size, and I'm going to have a room (not the second bedroom) just for my scrapebooking stuff (my mom-in-law says it would make a better nursery...NOT yet!!) We also have a large, totally screened-in porch that Duncan already loves to be out in! We have a huge yard (a full acre and a third), however it is a forest (literally) and a snake haven (sorry Dr. Katie). I havn't seen any yet, but I learned once I got here that there are 5 (count them 5) different types of poisonous snakes. Copperheads, cottonmouths, coral, rattlesnakes and water moccasin's. So with that said, Kyylyn is not allowed to run in our yard until after it is burned out (literally). There is a small part of the backyard that is not forest so for now he can be tied there but he barks constantly. There is also a shed out back that Josh hopes to make into a boat building shop (and no matter what he says he is not building a boat on my porch!) So that's all about our new house. As soon as we get moved in I'll write again and let you know how it is! Hope that explains all the pictures!

Welcome...

2007-01-23T08:49:00.000-06:00

As you can see, this is the first...

Alas! - this journal, if you will, is in part, here to chronicle my life and that of my family. Also it takes this place, as a forum for artistic and admonishing expression. And lastly but not leastly, your thoughts and wishes are welcome, though disagreement will be treated with respect and your view will be digested and considered, I will moderate all and every comment placed here.

The overall purpose of my blog is very broad and rather emcompassing. -This place has been created for the mutual benefit of all who stumble upon it.- This one will write of that and I will write of this. (Actually I will write of my work, and enjoyable pursuits, and sometimes my frustrations. Each person may write of his own fruition) That said, this space is brand new, and as such is not yet fully develpoed; I wlecome your suggestions and cirtiques of my work here.