The Craziness Continues

What a summer - we are SO glad to see the summer of 2012 gone!!

We made it through Kara's giving birth and gall bladder surgery.  Forrest is a joy.  We went camping the last weekend in July - Brian really wanted to be there for his first fishing trip!!

It was cute to watch Brian explain to Forrest there are no fish in Arizona!!  Forrest did amazing on his first camping trip.

When we returned home David shared the news that Sarah is pregnant. Since they broke up in June we were more than a little surprised.  David resigned from his internship and found a position working for a plumbing company doing quality testing on new homes before they are occupied.  Long hours but he seems to like it.  We don't see much of Sarah but understand she is doing well - the baby is due February 21, 2013.

We are finally in our new home - thank You Jesus!  Our original move in date was June 23, then it became July 10, July 19, July 31....  We closed on August 15!! 

Now comes the move.  We ended up hiring a couple of day laborers from a center.  David was pretty much down for the count because of shoulder surgery on August 3.  Jake was there all the way!!  Jay and Megan came over and painted and helped with the move.  Megan needed to tutor so they left about 2:00pm on Friday. 

I (Vicki) had to work, but was headed home about 2:00.  A few minutes after I left Brian phoned - Jay and Megan had been hit head on.  They were be taken to Good Samartian Medical Center (a trauma center).  The woman who hit them crossed the center line and hit them.  She refused to let the Officer see her phone....  At the scene Megan could not feel her legs and they had to pull the door off.  Jay's chest was swollen and hand messed up.

At the hospital I waited.  Because of the severity of the accident I was not allowed to talk with him but I stood by the ambulance door so he see I was there.  Megan arrived about 20 minutes later.  We did have the opportunity to meet Megan's Dad and Step-Mom.  Angels were surrounding these two - they were both released from the hospital about 6:30. 

Jay had surgery on his hand a week later - there are four pins in it and the doctor's are uncertain on what his mobility will be....  We will see how this impacts his tattooing...

So the summer of 2012 brought our first grand baby - Forrest Neil in June.  All three children had surgery.  We moved.  The attacks and adversity of this summer were crazy. 

My emotions have been all over the place -

• Joy - what an amazing thing to hold Forrest, to watch Kara be a Mom, to have him smile at me....
• Sadness - David is wonderful with children, his dream to be a Children's Pastor is on hold...
• Hope - Jay and Megan's lives were spared - God has something major He will use them for...
• Pain - not being allowed to be a part of the grand baby to be...
• Frustration - unforgiveness.  Families so need each other, to push one another away to not deal with the pain makes no sense.  Families are where we should be able to say what we think and still feel loved...  Life is too short to hold grudges.

Still - God is on the throne.  He is worthy of all glory, honor and praise.  My simple prayer is others will see Jesus in my life. 

God is great.

What a Crazy Ride

The last week and a half has been crazy - attacks from every direction.

Eight days ago in the ER with Kara.  They couldn't find anything, so she made an appointment with her doctor.  By Wednesday the pain was so intense she couldn't stand it so back to the ER.  This time they discovered it was her gall bladder.  Apparently common in women who have just given birth.  After getting her stabilized she had surgery on Thursday.  She is home but can't lift over five pounds for four weeks.....

Our home we were supposed to be in by now will not be ready until mid-August.  We are terribly disappointed with Beazer.  They lack communication and planning skills.  It will be good to finally be moved in.

Brian was driving down the interstate and blew a tire directly in front of a semi....  The DPS officer who saw the entire thing said it was a miracle.  We say there are some angels in critical condition!! 

Then yesterday the Kia had to have two tires replaced.... we are supposed to be limiting our spending in anticipation of our closing!!

This afternoon my Mom called - her hot water heater broke....

All of this simply lets us know that the evil one is not happy with our actions.  We have no clue how God is going to use us - but we are REALLY excited to see where the journey is headed.

God is so good.

Hurting Children

One of the worst parts of being a parent is when you child hurts and there is nothing you can do but love on them. 

Kara is having the typical hormone swings after giving birth.  She doesn't want to leave Forrest with a sitter in a few weeks.  How well I (Vicki) understand that!!

David broke off his relationship with Sarah.  He is focusing on Jesus right now. 

While we want to take the pain on ourselves and make things better..... all we can do is pray for them, love them and be there.  And have the knowledge that God is also loving on them. 

God is so good.

Guapo and Gramma

Our world has forever changed.  Forrest Neil joined us this morning at 10:28am weighing 9 lbs, 1 oz and 20.25 inches long. 

He was delivered by C-section because of his size - it ended up the cord was wrapped around his neck - three times.  God is good.

I am not sure I realized how much this one event would impact me.  When Tom called to let me know - I cried.

When we made it to the hospital - there were tears in my eyes.  God is so good.

As we begin this new season in our life - being grandparents, we can hardly wait.  To take him to the zoo, camping and the beach.  To shower unconditional love on him.  To talk to him about how much Jesus loves him!!

As we drove home I wondered if this is how our Heavenly Father feels about us - totally, completely head over heels in love with us.  He wants the best for us.

God has blessed us so much - we have each other, we have some pretty amazing children, we have a brand new awesome grandbaby.  

We can't wait to see what God has next for us.  We know He is about to shower us with even more love, more blessings because we love Him and we are being obedient to His word.

Life is short, we are hanging on to Jesus and loving every minute of it.

Thank You Abba Father for this new little life.  May he grow up to be a man after Your heart.

God is good beyond our imagination!

Furniture

Over the years we have developed some distinctive taste in furniture.  Pretty rustic, laid back.

As we are preparing to move we have put a living room set on lay-away that will more closely match our style. 

Since our rental home has built-ins we knew we would need an entertainment center.  Brian also needs a desk (no, he doesn't share well!).  And David wanted some bedroom furniture....

Well, the Craigslist Kings, aka David and Brian, went to work.  In three days we found a wormwood desk that is great; a bedroom set for David that includes two dressers, two nightstands and the bed frame AND an entertainment center that is better than we could have imagined!  All for $500.  Is God good or what?

Before we move we will sell some of our current living room set, single bedroom set and other miscellaneous stuff.   It is so amazing to watch the furniture come together. 

God is so much more than good to us.  Thank You Abba!!

Colorado

The last week of April Brian, Vicki and David headed to Colorado.  Brian and David took part in a Tres Dias weekend.  Vicki hung out with Joyce.

The trip up there was beautiful.  Lots of snow on the mountains, ice on the lake. 

The view from Rex and Joyce's home is magnificent to say the least!  We arrived on Wednesday.  It rained Thursday - beautiful and a stark contrast from the 105 in Phoenix the day before we left.  It is so relaxing just to be there - no television, no news.  Just resting in Abba Father's arms.  Something Vicki desperately needed!!

On the way home we found this little park in Placerville.  We also stopped at Four Corners, my how that has changed.  When I was a little girl it was a marker - that is it.  Fifteen years ago we took the children there and there were some booths set up - now they have built structures with a snack bar, nice bathrooms and a Visitor Center scheduled.

We have such amazing family and friends up in Colorado.  It is always special to spend time with them. 

God is so good to us!!

So it has been a while.  No reason in particular - just doing life. 

We are so excited about:

• our new home
• our growing family
• our new grandson
• the mighty work God is doing

Hopefully the slab will be poured this week.  The tentative move in is mid-July.  David will round up a bunch of his friends and get the job done.  We will be replacing our furniture so will have the new stuff delivered there. 

A couple of weeks ago Jake, David's best friend, moved in with us.  He is a delightful young man who works hard and loves Jesus.  They are absolutely crazy sometimes - it is good.

Forrest will be born in about seven weeks.  It will be a fun season.  We actually purchased a pac-n-play to keep at our home for our grandbabies to use.  It will be odd to be called Gramma and Guapo.

God is doing great things.  David is amazing in his internship  - it brings us great joy to watch him interact with the children.  We had the privilege to facilitate a pre-marriage conference - what fun.

God is about to do great and mighty things - we are praying with anticipation knowing He will bless us beyond anything we can imagine.

God is so good.