Maybe A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

As some of you may or may not know, my niece Trinity has been pretty sick since Thanksgiving. She's been to several doctors (see earlier posts) and they couldn't find out what was wrong with her. Well, she finally went to a pediatrician who was excellent. The doctor right away made her an appointment with a GI specialist in Columbia, but the appointment wasn't until the end of April. Sheila got a call yesterday saying they had a cancellation and could they be in Columbia the next day (today). So, they left this morning for Columbia for her appointment at 1:00 p.m.

Ron called me just a minute ago and they really liked this guy as well. He pretty much told them what her symptoms were without even asking them. Ron was amazed. He thinks she has a mixture of two things... 1 is irritable bowel syndrome and the other is functional dyspepsia (see http://www.medicinenet.com/dyspepsia/article.htm for more information).

Here is what we know about this "functional disease". She will be on a VERY strict diet. She can't drink anything but mainly water. She can't eat some of the following: ketchup, barbecue sauce, tomatoes, pizza, fried foods, peanut butter, etc, etc. He has a whole page of things she can't eat and so I told him he needs to get a list to us all so when we have her we won't screw up.
Anyway, he wants them to try this diet for a week and see if it helps her at all. He says 20% of American's have it but most don't diagnose it. But because she is a girl and is little she will probably have to live with it for the rest of her life. And will have to take pain medicine to help with the pain that it causes. She is also going to have to continue to take her Laxative until that gets better as well. He wants them to come back sometime next week and see how things are going.

That is all I know for now. I'm going to try to read up on it more and get some more info from Ron and Sheila so I can better understand it. It stinks for Trinnie because, as she put it, the doctor took away all the good food. But at least it is nothing more serious. I could've been a lot worse.

I'll keep you updated as I know more. Thanks for your prayers! I'm leaving work to go get her Bubby and Sissy from school. Love you all!

Work, Work, Work

Monday I had the day off for President's Day so I headed to my old house to clean it out. I haven't moved anything hardly out of there since Boyd and I got married. So, just in case my parents ever move back, at least they will have a nice clean place to move too. Anyway, man I collected a LOT of stuff over the years. I worked and worked. I'm still not completely done, but getting closer. I did find a dead rat that was just hair and bones and that's when I called it a day. YUCK!! And besides that, the longer I stayed there the more I threw away. I was getting tired of it all, so I thought I would give myself a little bit and then re-group. So I guess I'll go back and hopefully finish it on Saturday. That would be nice.

Sunday Blessings

We had a great time at church on Sunday. We love our Pastor's and our church family. I also got to see Isabella this Sunday. She is Tim and Edie Puckett's little girl and she is SO cute. We relaxed a bit Sunday afternoon and then headed to Boyd's dads to doctor a sick calf. We got her in the lot and she still seems to be doing pretty good.

While we were there, Ron and Sheila brought Zach, McKenna, and Trinity up to us so we could watch them while they went out to eat for Valentine's Day. It was fun having them. They were excited about the baby calf being so close.

How was Trinity feeling you ask... Well, we went to Hercules to Church that night. And Ron and Sheila had said she had slept most of the afternoon. Well, during church her belly started hurting so I laid her head on Boyd's lap and rubbed her belly and it wasn't any time that she fell asleep. We took her to our house and she didn't get up again until 11:00p.m. And she was as white as a ghost. So, I'm not sure what's going on with her little body.

While she was sleeping the 4 of us played phase 10 until Ron and Sheila got there. Then we all watched a movie and called it a night!!

What a blessing my family is to me.

Go Eagles!!!

Saturday Jessica went and helped Uncle Boyd do the feeding and I, well, I was just plain lazy that morning. Anyway, we then got ready to go to the Bradleyville Homecoming at 2:00 p.m. We had a great time. It's always so much fun seeing our friends and family there. Rob, Carrie, Ryan, & Caleb came to the game and so it was fun sitting with them. Caleb has turned into KK's buddy. I'm anxious to have him next week for about 4 days. I should have lots to tell you next week!! ha!!

Hannah Howie was crowned Homecoming Queen and she was beautiful!!

After the game we headed to Ozark to spend some time with Boyd's mom and to get our Valentine's day stuff from her. She fixed a delicious supper for us and we also had entertainment from Quentin, our great nephew. He is so cute, and not to brag or anything, but he's KK's buddy too. He wanted "unka Boy" to go home and for KK to stay. Oh, yeah!! I don't even spoil him and he still likes me, NOT!

We were beat after we ate and didn't make our Wal-Mart trip. We headed straight home. Oh, well. I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart can do without our money for one week!

Dancing the Night Away

Ok, not really, but last Friday I went with Boyd to help him chaperon a dance at his school. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves. The music was really loud and we adults were having to holler really loud to hear one another, but it was fun.

Jessica came over Friday too and went with us to the dance. We got bored and started taking a lot of pictures of us with our phones. That's why they are so dark. We did go into the dance area a couple of times and dance a little, but not much. It was entertaining watching all the kids and making sure they kept the "6 inch" rule. At one point even Boyd and I went and danced to a slow song. You should've heard the kids erupt with applause. It embarrassed Boyd really bad. Mrs. Bedwell took a picture of us dancing and I was going to post it, but Boyd brought it home last night and it was too dorky looking, so I'll pass on that this time.

All in all it was an enjoyable evening!

'Angel' Baby Davis

My niece Ashley, lost her baby yesterday. She and her husband Jake were expecting their first child together and she had a miscarriage. She was around 3 months along. My heart breaks for her and Jake. Thankfully her boys are too young to understand what took place, but not too young to wonder why mommy and daddy Jake are upset. It's just so hard to understand why, but I believe Baby Davis is with Jesus. Please keep them in your prayers.

After I talked to Ashley I called her dad, my brother Kevin, and he was upset too. You hurt when your child hurts. Unfortunately, he knows what it's like to lose a child as well. 'Angel' Carissa was just 1 year and 1 day old when she passed away. A different circumstance, but still the loss of a child. My mom has always said there is nothing worse than losing a child. I believe it.

When people go through things like this, we seem to want to say, I know how you feel, but in reality, if you haven't been down that SAME road, then you don't know how that person feels. I know you are just trying to comfort that person, but it can make things worse. Boyd and I haven't been able to have children of our own and that hurts so bad. It will sometimes make me so upset when someone says, "I know how you feel" when they DO NOT know how I feel. They have children and were able to get pregnant, so please don't say that. This may seem like a selfish thing to say, but take a walk in my shoes or my good friend's shoes who's going through the fire with me. Her and I have gripe sessions a quite a bit. We hurt when people complain about being pregnant, how sick they were or how tired they are of being pregnant. We would LOVE to be sick because of pregnancy, we would LOVE to be big and miserable because of a pregnancy. Or the one that really gets me and I think my friend, is when people say, "just don't think about it", "you're trying too hard", "maybe if you adopt, maybe then you'll get pregnant, works for other people", etc. Maybe some of those things are true, but when you're the person who feels inadequate as a woman because you can't give your husband a child, those are some of the last things you need to hear. Just be supportive and let that person know you're thinking of them and praying for them. Give them a hug, don't say anything.

Ok, so sorry. Just had to vent a moment.

Please keep the following in your prayers:
Ashley & Jake - my niece who miscarried
Trinity - has appointment in Columbia in April
Delbert & Patsy - sweet people from my church and she is battling cancer
Deb & Lou - Had to turn the life support off of their son and he passed away
Joel & Jess - lost their 10 month old little girl to cancer
Dad & Mom - their ministry in Tishomingo

Trinity Update

First, this is a picture of Trinity and my great-nephew Nicholas. Boyd and I got them stuffed stockings for Christmas, and they each got a phone in theirs. So they were talking back and forth. CUTE!
Trinity had an appointment with a pediatrician on Friday. Her appointment was at 12:45 and they were still doing tests at 4:00. We don't have all the results back yet, but the Doctor did want to make her an appointment with a GI specialist in Columbia. The appointment is not until April 20th though. It seems like such a long time away, but they did put her on a cancellation list.

She got to go to church on Sunday but that wore her out. She fell asleep during church, slept on the way home, took another nap, and went to bed by 11:00 that night. I haven't got to see her in several days and I'm having withdraws, so I better get over there and see her. I'll keep you updated as I get information. Thanks for your prayers and please continue to pray for her, Ron, Sheila, Zach, & McKenna.

Catching up...

Saturday my friend of 15 years or so, Tammy, came to visit us. It was SO good seeing her and catching up on her life. (Sorry Tammy, I had to steal this pic from your blog.) I asked her to come down and help me with decorating tips. She is great at this, you should see her house! So we went over a few things and I wrote them down so I would remember. We ate supper and she helped me with my DVD recorder. Boyd and I got it when we first got married and didn't know how to use it. So she showed us how, but sorry Tammy, it still didn't record. You'll just have to come down again!! After that we started playing Phase 10 with Boyd. Our scores went back and forth a quite a bit and both Tammy and Boyd left me on a phase for a long time. When it was time for Tammy to head back and get Choloe, I was ahead, but of course Boyd wouldn't admit to that. He said we had to pick the game back up where we left off the next time we got together. I'm NEVER going to beat him.

Tammy and I have been through a lot together. The ups and downs of singleness and marriage, family heartaches, church troubles, etc. But through all this we are still great friends. After I got married it seems life got busier and I haven't been able to do as much with her, but when we do get together, it feels like we've never been apart. Now that's true friendship.

I Love you Tammy!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Ok, so this is not a great picture of my dad. It's pretty dark. I'll try to get one up of him later.

Anyway, today is his 63rd birthday. We are so thankful that we are getting to have him for all these birthdays. It wasn't that long ago that they didn't think he would make it to his 62nd birthday. Boy were they wrong and we are very thankful they were.

My dad is a wonderful dad, husband, papa, brother, pastor, and friend. He has been such a wonderful example of how a Christian man should be. He talks the talk and walks the walk. He has taught us kids so much over the years. He is also such a blast to be around. He's so funny and witty. When he was so sick and didn't have a hair on his head, he would come in from outside and touch his head and say, "oh, is my hair messed up?" Everytime I would look and see. Hello!! The man was bald. But he's quick like that.

Can't write a post about dad without talking about my mom who just happens to be my best friend as well. We talk about EVERYTHING. Probably some things she would rather not talk about. I can talk to her about anything and she'll always listen and she can do the same with me. Sometimes we'll call eachother and just need someone to listen to us. She is such a blessing to me. She is wonderful inside and out. She has been such a wonderful mom, wife, granny, sister, Pastor's wife, and friend. She was so strong when dad was so sick.

I'll try to get pictures up of them together when I see them in March.

Love you dad and mom very much. And Happy Birthday again dad!!!

My heart is heavy...

I'll try to update you with everything that has been going on, but right now my heart is so heavy for some people and I just wanted to share a few thoughts.

I got to work this morning and was catching up on some blogs. I came across one and it was about a man and woman named Joel and Jess and their little 10 month old baby girl Cora. Cora had been having bad ear infections and couldn't get healed from them. Come to find out, Cora had cancer. She had a tumor on her kidney and spots on her lungs. When the did the testing she was already Stage 4 and only lived about 2 months. She died just a short while ago.

Then a friend from church went to Boston because her son had fallen at a construction site and had several injuries and they had to make the tough decision to take him off life support yesterday and I haven't heard as of today what has taken place. But I can't imagine having to make that decision about your child.

And another friend from church, such a sweet, sweet, lady and she has fought cancer for a long time. There are so many obstacles that she overcomes and then there seems to be new ones waiting for her. But she has such a joyful attitude and her husband is so supportive of her. Her hardly leaves her side. What a blessing they have been to all of us.

I mention these to say this. We have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes I get down in the dumps about situations in my life, but it is nothing compared to what these people are going through. We are selfish people sometimes and it takes me reading or seeing people go through hard times to really realize how blessed I am.

To watch your own child die from an accident or a terrible disease had got to be so hard. But yet our Heavenly Father gave HIS son to die for ME. He could have saved Him but He chose not to. He wanted to give us life everlasting. I've read in a book where it said, "He couldn't bare the thought of eternity without us". He gave us HIS son so that we might be saved and live forever in paradise, but it's up to us to accept it. Why would we not want to accept the free gift?

Thank you for allowing me to share what was on my heart. I pray that the Lord will be with all these families I mentioned. I pray that the Lord will give them peace and comfort right now and the days ahead. And that He will make His presence known in their lives and wrap His loving arms around them.

So thankful!

Trinity is feeling better...

I got a text message from Sheila yesterday saying Trinity was having a good day. We're thankful for that. It's about time she has a good day!!! KK does NOT like seeing her little buddy sick. I can't wait until she can get out and enjoy things again. She even made the comment to her mom... "remember back when I could go to church." How sad is that. But hopefully this Sunday she'll get to go see her friends.

We didn't do much on Tuesday night. I watched Biggest Loser and I'm just not into this season as much as I though I would be. Maybe I'm just jealous that they are there getting help and I'm not. Sure would be easier to lose weight if I was there on the ranch, but I know it would be hard work to but totally worth it. I hope I would get Bob though because I don't think Jillian and I would do well together. I'd want to punch her lights out! ha! After watching Biggest Loser, I was a good girl and walked 2 miles. Boyd cracks me up while I'm doing my walk. I'm always telling him he needs to do it with me, so he'll lay on the couch and move his legs around for a few minutes and rest. He's so funny!

Last night when I got home, I worked on putting recipes into my recipe book. I had so many on scrap papers so maybe now I won't lose them. Then I ate and laid down. Of course I fell asleep, but so did Boyd. He got back up and I continued to sleep. Felt really good though this morning. He said when he came to be, I was all over the bed and couldn't get me to move. I did eventually.

I'm really excited... Boyd and I are going to start our own foster home. I did it before Boyd and I got together and loved it. I'm so glad he's willing to do it with me now. We are still waiting for a miracle baby, but maybe our miracle is a child who is waiting for a miracle to have parents. I love this one verse of a song. It says...

They tried for many years to have a baby of their own
But God knew a little girl that didn't have a home
Someone else's burden, is their blessing in disguise
And now she's got a mom and daddy there to hold her when she cries

I LOVE that! I pray that the children that come in and out of our home will not only feel safe and secure, but feel the love that we have for them and to come to know the Love of our Heavenly Father. That is a precious Gift.

Please pray that Boyd and I will be a blessing to those children.

Have a GREAT day!

Trying to play catch up...

I think things are starting to finally thaw a little bit. Friday night Boyd took me on a date for HIS birthday. We went and got some food at Wendy's and took his mom some food and ate supper with her. It was fun getting to chat some with her. I always enjoy hearing stories about my adorable husband. Even though he is red faced while she tells them. Then we met up with Elva and Sharon and went to an 8:30 showing of Australia. It was excellent. We didn't realize though that the movie was a 3 hour movie. But it was fun.

Saturday we got to sleep in and then we headed to his dad's to go check the fence. We needed to make sure no limbs were down on the fence and that none of the fence was down. We walked most of the property, so I'd say I got my walking done for the rest of the month. It was SO pretty though. Boyd had to go a climb up this cliff or sorts and I did not want to so I walked on down the other way and was going to meet him there. Well, there is a beautiful water fall. Picture above. This pic does not do it justice. Especially with that crazy blonde in the picture. The fall was still pretty much frozen, but the part that was running was awesome. We had a good day, tiring day, but fun.

Sunday was my man's birthday. The big 49. I told him it was his day to do whatever. He went to church with his dad (our church was canceled). So I got lunch ready for the guys when they got back. After lunch we started playing phase 10 and he beat me AGAIN! Then we watched the Super Bowl and cheered on the Cardinals. :( It was a fun game though. Then I went to bed and he stayed up to mess with his baseball cards. He didn't have school again on Monday so he got to stay up late.
I got this disgusting picture from my sister in law yesterday. It's my brothers big toe. Ewwwww. A piece of steel fell on it and broke it. Ya think! I can't imagine how painful it is. I talked to him last night and his pain medicine had wore off so it was hurting pretty bad. McKenna had called me to tell me that they had one their game and so had Bub. YEAH!!!!









Ms. Trinity had another doctor appointment today and the doctor apparently thinks all this stuff is in Trin and Sheila's head. Trinity is starting to have joint pain now, which could be growing pains, but she is still having bad stomach pain and still not eating well. She is starting to have BM's with the help of laxatives, but she is NOT back to where she was before she started getting sick 9 WEEKS ago. Sheila is frustrated and hopefully she will take her somewhere else so we can get this little girl well. Sheila sent me the above picture the other day. Isn't it precious. She's our little angel thats for sure.

I went to eat with my friend Kayla Jo today and that is always a treat. We have a LOT in common, not just our names. We are going through some of the same struggles, so it helps to talk to someone who HONESTLY knows how you feel. Love ya Kayla Jo!!!

Well, I better close this for now and get with it. I 've got to go serve a subpoena in Branson this afternoon. I LOVE my job!!! Have a BLESSEDl day!