Devastation

So I posted a few days ago that GG Del needs some prayers. Today we finally got some news. GG Del has cancer in her bones and her liver. This is what has been causing her so much pain for six plus weeks. It is great to have some answers but I can't seem to stop crying as my heart is breaking for what is ahead for her. I always wished that when it was time for her to go she would she would pass quickly and in her sleep. That is still my wish for her but now I am just hoping that she can get to that point with little or no pain.

Above is a picture of GG Del with our family. This was taken at Easter time of this year. She is the one on the right.

GG Del means the world to me and our family. I posted this about her just a few months ago. She is still very sharp and has her mind so we can all be grateful for that. I am not sure what the next few weeks and months will bring for us but overall I hope that we can find comfort for her and that we can control the pain. I also hope that we can cherish the times we have left and we can find comfort in our heavy hearts!

Florida Memories Day 3

On the Third day of our vacation to Florida we decided it was time to take the kids to the beach. We have never had all three kids at the ocean at the same time. I was excited to see how they would react to the water and the sand. We packed all of the kids up, the beach towels, a picnic lunch, waters, sand toys, beach umbrella, water toys, and headed to the beach. It was a blast. The kids did no know what to think of the water at first because the waves were loud and they were crashing into the sand but eventually we got all of the kids out in the water and we did a little body surfing. They LOVED it.

Mike also brought a fishing net along so he waded out and brought back all these little fish and the kids had a blast picking them up and putting them in the buckets. This was so much fun and then the birds came! YIKES. Pretty soon we were surrounded by the birds as they all wanted the little fish. The kids thought it was cool and I was just praying that no one would get pooped on. At one point E and KJ were chasing the birds down the beach.

The kids also enjoyed being pulled on the boogie boards up and down the beach. This was some good exercise for Jon, Mike and myself. It was so much fun to be at the beach and let all the kids enjoy. We are not used to how hot the sun is down in Florida so we all got a little sun burn that day even with SPF 30 and SPF 50 on but we learned our lesson. We headed home from the beach and all 4 kids took a nap that day. They were wiped out.
While the kids and the dads were napping, I ran over to the outlet mall that is located near their house. Boy did I get some serious power shopping done. It was awesome. Every store had so much stuff on clearance. I did get some great deals and I was really happy that we had our car seat bags so I could get a lot of the stuff home.

When I returned from the outlet mall, it was time for dinner so we all headed out on the boat to go catch some dinner. While we were out on the boat we saw dolphins. I was thrilled as I remember paying a lot of money in Hawaii to go see some dolphins. As I watched my kids look at the dolphins, I wondered if they really knew what a treat it was to be on a boat, on the gulf, and watching dolphins. I am sure they don't but I am sure grateful that we were able to be there at that time and experience all the new things. We had an awesome meal and when we were heading home, there was a great sunset so we snapped some pictures. I think this night on the boat is my favorite memory of our trip. It was so relaxed and we all had so much fun. When we got back to M & H's house we all went swimming. What an awesome night.

GG Del Needs Some Prayers

GG Del is my Dad's mother which makes her my Grandma and the kids Great Grandma. GG Del has not been feeling well. We are having a heck of a time figuring out what the problem is and she is scheduled to have some more tests soon. She had an MRI done a few weeks ago and from that they could tell that her shoulder is bad. Now that she has more pain that has come back, they want her to do another MRI and she refuses. She does NOT want to get back in that machine ever again! Now you can see where I get it from. I HATE the MRI machine. However, I wish she would do another test so we can figure out what is going on with her. Now we need to wait another week before she can have the CAT Scan done. Poor thing. I hate that she is in so much pain and that she lives so far away.
I spoke with her yesterday on my way home from work. She told me when we were hanging up that I need to pray to Jesus for her and ask him to help with the pain. This choked me up and the first thing I did when I hung up that phone was to pray. So my request to you is to pray for GG Del that she starts to feel better and that she can continue to live by herself, in her house, and be happy.

Florida Memories Day Two

It's about time that I get back to posting on our vacation to Florida. Everyone slept great the first night and everyone got to sleep in until about 8 AM so that was nice. Once everyone was up we decided that it would be fun to head to Tampa and go to the Florida Aquarium.This place was very cool. Their were birds all over along with tons of different kids of fish, sharks, sea lions, and there was even little stations where you could touch Sting Rays and some star fish. The kids loved it and Mike was an awesome Tour guide through out the aquarium so he had all the kids very interested in the exhibits. They LOVED it. There was a pink bird ( I can't remember the name of it as it is not a Flamingo) and it was just sitting on the rail looking at us. It then decided to take off and it just started walking down the path so KJ was chasing it to get it back in its "Cage". It was cute.
After lunch we went to check out the sharks and then we were going to stay and watch them feed the sharks but the kids all got restless so we decided it was time to let them get their swim suits on and go in the water park at the aquarium. It was the coolest water park we have been to yet with a big old ship, water that shot out of the ground, a covered sandbox and an area where you can shoot water back and forth at each other. It was HOT day so the adults ran around in the water too. After about 2 hours at the water park we told the kids that it was time to get Ice Cream so you can imagine that we did not have any problems when it was time to get dressed and leave the Aquarium.
All the kids got an ice cream treat which they enjoyed. We then decided to take a trolley ride. This was a huge highlight too and you can imagine the kids delight when the Trolley driver let all of them blow the horn. Lucky for us the Trolley Car was Air Conditioned as it did break down on us for about 30 minutes. Nonetheless, the kids had a great time riding the trolley after the trolley ride we headed back to M and E' s house. When we got there we were surprised with a Birthday party for all of the kids. It was the day after the trio's Birthday and it was E's birthday. The kids were thrilled as they got to have cake and balloons again. We then ended the night in the pool doing some swimming. It is safe to say that everyone was pooped out that night. What a fun day we all had.

Daddy is our King!

Today is Father's Day so I thought it would be appropriate to honor "daddy" on this blog. Lucky daddy has been on a four day fishing trip so he has had the ultimate treat of a little R & R for himself. We are all anxiously awaiting his arrival so we can honor him on this day for dads.

Jon is such and incredible father. He is so dedicated to A, E, & K even when he is bogged down with work or projects. He knows just how to speak their language and can entertain them for hours with his fun ideas like this and this. Jon is blessed with many things but one of his biggest blessings is his ability to connect with children. It has always amazed me, even before we had our own children, how Jon can relate to kids. He knows how to play and have a good time. Since I don't have this quality, I feel that this is such an awesome blessing. It really makes my heart swell to see him interacting with our kids. He teaches them so many things and they all adore him for this.

When we were headed home from Florida, we were getting on one of the airplanes to head home. The flight attendant asked us "who is in charge of this group?" In which KJ replied "Daddy is cause he is the KING" You can imagine how this had the entire first class section and all three flight attendants laughing.When Jon has to be away from all of us due to his work, it amazes me how these kids miss him so much. Out of the blue they will come up to me and say "I miss daddy" and I reply "so do I" and give them a big hug. Some nights KJ has a hard time sleeping because he misses daddy so much. This breaks my heart but I always reassure him that daddy will be home soon. I always love the mornings when Daddy has come home the night before but the kids were already in bed so they did not get to see him. They usually come into our room and expect to get me up and then Daddy is there. THEY ARE ALWAYS THRILLED! Those are such AWESOME moments.

We are all so blessed to have Jon as our "Daddy" and "Husband"! He is such an incredible Father to the kids and best friend to me. So on this day to Honor Dads, Jon I hope you know how much we love and appreciate you and all you do for us! Happy Father's Day Babe!

Florida Memories Day One

It is time now to post about our vacation to Florida. I have decided that I am going to do posts on our vacation in parts. This is Part one. I have discovered that going on vacation causes me a lot of anxiety but once we are there it is so worth it. Besides, as Jon always tells me, "If we forget something, they have stores in Florida"!

We started our travel day on the kids 4th Birthday. Grandma Mary made the kids special Mickey Mouse pancakes and put candles in them. This was a hit and it ensured that the kids had a good breakfast before we headed to the Airport. Although, I think it is the getting there and back that makes me the most anxious. As I have mentioned before, I hate to fly. Here is what I have to report on the flying. The kids LOVED it. One way to get over your fear on flying is to take three 4 year olds on an airplane. Tell them that seat recliner button is the turbo button and that they have to push it so the plane will take off. All three of the kids got so into it that they were shrieking with delight. It was very funny. Everyone around us was laughing right along with us. Especially after Aimee yelled out "Mommy, it tickles my tummy" and then proceeded to belly laugh very loudly. The girls shared the window for the trip out and KJ sat next to Daddy (his best buddy) and learned all about airplanes. I do feel sorry for the man that was sitting in between Jon and I as I kept passing things past him and talking over him but he did not seem to mind. I think he got a kick out of the kids and their excitement. I am convinced that the way to get over your fear of flying is to take three very excited 4 year olds with you and to watch their innocence and delight on the airplane. I know this helped me relax.
Once we got to Florida we then proceeded to the baggage claim where Jon left me and KJ to fetch all 6 bags. He then proceeded to the rental car place to get our van. A very kind man with a cart came over and loaded all our bags up and told me he would bring us to the Car Rental and wait until we got our van and then bring all of our bags to the van. This guy was awesome as he not only waited for us, he entertained the kids, and then proceeded to follow us to the van where he unbagged all of our car seats and prepared them so Jon could install. I proceeded to keep the kids by me and load some of the bags in the back. Overall the whole process took about 15 minutes and then we were out of there and on our way.
We arrived at our friends house about an hour later. They have a little boy E who is exactly one year and one day younger than our kids. He was very excited for us to arrive. The kids were very excited to meet him and get to his house.
All of the kids had a great time getting to know each other and Jon and I were able to relax and have a cocktail. The friends we went to visit are some good friends of ours that we do not get to see very often. We always have a great time together and we wished we lived closer so we could see them more often.
After an evening of swimming in the pool and playing with all the toys it was time to go to bed. The kids were thrilled that they all got to have a sleep over together. It really worked out well. Jon and I were thrilled that we actually made it to Florida and we had three days ahead of us to make some memories with the kids.

Funnies

Today while we were at Vocation Bible School the kids were having a snack. I asked KJ if he was done eating and he replied "Yeah, I am done eating but I am not done thirsting so don't throw my Lemonade away"

Tonight as I was tucking Aimee into bed we said prayers. When she finished I asked her if she wanted to pray for anybody and she said "I want to pray for everybody" then after a pause she said "except for monsters and dinosaurs".

We're Back!

Gasp....It has been well over a week since I have posted anything here! I have a good excuse but I feel way behind with the blog. We returned home from vacation a few days ago and I am happy to report that we all had a great time. I don't have time to post now about it but it was so much fun to get on an airplane, fly to Florida, go to the beach and out on a boat, eat fish, see fish and other ocean life, IT WAS A BLAST! I will post about the trip soon. Here is a picture of all five of us on the trolley ride!

Today we are off to Vacation Bible School and then I am off to work! Yikes...the vacation is over!