The Keiki Edition

The Next Chapter
This weekend was full of many heart-felt memories. Our pastor (my honorary dad) of 22 years retired. We are 99.9% happy that he'll be able to enjoy this season of his life with health. We are 0.01% feeling sorry for ourselves!

We had a celebration of his time and Ronda made her appearance. It was quite an honor to be a part of their celebration. I even got to lead the whole program off with my Ronda skit. What could've been a very sad and tearful event, turned out to be a celebration of them with laughter and fond memories. We got a chance to visit with all of their children (they have 4) and their families. For me, this was better than any high school reunion. Youth group and church was where I spent my time, so this was a coming home of sorts.

Health Section
It's true that the family who sneezes together, stays together. Even when those sneezes turn into strep throat. N was such a champ this weekend, going to church and the celebration. He didn't lead on that he was as sick as he is. He's home in bed with strep and a cold. Poor guy. I'm reminded of that line from Romeo & Juliet "...a plague on both your houses." Now if we could just get the house to sell, maybe the plague will be lifted!

Zoe had a physical therapy appointment yesterday. Now that she's feeling better, we have started the twice-weekly therapy. Mo used to be her friend because she could get Zoe to do things Zoe really wanted to do. Like helping her crawl and become mobile. Now Zoe can do those things and really doesn't want anything to do with Mo. I feel bad because it will be a character building opportunity for Zoe, but we want her to be able to do all the things other children can. She'll thank us later!

Around the World
When I got home from work yesterday we had two packages on the table. One was for D & E, who we'll let open the package next time we see them. One was for Zoe. The post office stamp indicated this was sent from Hawaii, so you know it's something fun. Zoe's Great Grandma, who we call G.G., always finds the perfect gift (she's in the front row with N's arm around her). At Christmas she sent Zoe a book called Island Opposites. It is one of Zoe's favorites and she reads it to me every time we're in the car.

However, nothing could've prepared me for the gift Zoe was about to open. It was her first, grass, hula skirt. Once we got it on her, she wouldn't let us take it off. When I started to take it off for her bath, she started to cry. She was doing her hula dance all through the house. She got a couple new books, a very cute bikini that I'll get pictures of later, a couple dresses, and a shirt from the Sea Life Park. The grass skirt was her favorite. Even daddy, who was so sick, got the biggest smile when she greeted him at the door in her ensemble.

The Extended Family
This last week has really been stressful for our extended family. My honorary mom, Lily, has a brother in the hospital. He went in because of having pain around his spleen area. Once they did testing, they realized it was lymphoma. This past week has been an emotional rollercoaster as they tried to determine what kind of lymphoma he had. The Lord is great and the answer we got this morning gives all glory to God. The lymphoma is curable. They gave me a ton of medical terminology, but I can't really remember much after I heard it was curable. My uncle Robin is a man I truly respect for his hard work and work ethic. He's had some major trials in his life, but he's overcome them with great spirit. I'm so glad to hear this was his diagnosis.

This week has been a reminder of how much we are surrounded by the people that are examples of love. They demonstrate a genuine love, not through the things they do for us, but by their character. N and I are so fortunate to have these people in our lives as examples. Thank you for being in our lives and for showing us the meaning of true love. We are truly blessed by each of you.