Our Journey in 2012

We live a full life. There isn't anything wrong with that, unless God gets pushed out of it. In my life, God seems to get put aside for too often. I have great intent, but often I find things draw me away from my time with God. Over and over I am convicted as I listen to the messages that our pastor preaches. I have realized that I have several idols. I just haven't quite figured out how to get rid of them nor have I figured out what all really is an idol for me. As for kids, Emily's knee is finally healing well. She has to do PT for a little while. She went Monday and discovered fluid in her calf from the surgery. It was warm to the touch. The PT said that was a bit concerning and can cause blood clots. Because of that, our surgeon had her have a venus duplex done on her leg to rule out any. We are thankful that there are none. Her knee hasn't been an easy surgery. We thought it would be, but it has taken far longer then expected. I didn't realize what all he had done while he was in there. Evidentally, it was quite a bit. She needs the same thing done on her other knee. We're not sure when that will happen. She is doing well and really enjoying helping out with the youth group. She met with a few of the girls on Saturday and did a "photo shoot". What fun! She is really enjoying her photography class. Here are a few shots from her first project. She got a 96 out of 100 on it. It was all about color. He loved the flag the most!

Erin is pretty homesick. She is really missing us. She is struggling having her heart in school and life at Houghton. It breaks my heart. We are planning to go visit her ... I can't wait. Pray for good weather because the only thing available is a campsite. It's been very, very chilly at night lately. I don't hear a lot from Sam. He seems to be doing well. He is coming home this weekend. I might know a bit more then. I do know that he is beginning to seek some spiritual answers to his future. I love it when my kids begin making major decisions based on God's word. It is a very, very cool thing to watch. Jacob has played 5 games now without his shoulder coming out. I thank God for that. His surgery is now scheduled for Oct 24th. We changed it so that he could attend the soccer banquet. This weekend, he will be escsorting a young lady to the homecoming dance. I feel very strange about it. In the past, I have known quite a bit about the dance partners of my children. Whether it is because he is the 4th or because he is not very talkative (maybe a combination), I know very little about his date. That makes me very, very uncomfortable. It isn't like me not to know. What I do know, she seems very nice. Ri is doing great in school. I meet with the gifted coordinator to move him ahead in math. He is outstanding in math. It is kind of crazy! He is excelling in just about everything academically. As for health, he still gets pretty winded and sometimes has bouts of breathing issues. But all in all, he is well. Elizabeth cracks us all up. She is LOVING having Emily home. Right now, she is into referring to her as Emmi-poo. Not sure where that came from. The things she says are hysterical. I don't have time to write them down and honestly, I forget many of them. .. but as I think of them I will try to put them down. One thing she did recently was watch The Voice with Emily. It is a program where the judges sit with their chairs facing the audience and their backs to the artist performing. The artist sings and if the judge wants that particular singer on his/her team, they push a button and turn around. If noone turns around, the singer is off the show. If anyone turns around, then the singer gets to choose which judge they want to coach them. Well, Elizabeth and Ri turn their backs to the TV and take a cup to be the button that they push if they like the singer and want them on their "team". Evidentally, Elizabeth pushed her "button", turned around, pointed to the singer and yelled "I want you on my team".