Snowy Days

The first half of this week we received quite a bit of snow. I would say we have had at least 6 inches if not more. Danny decided that he would have all the snow from the driveway piled in one spot on the lawn for the children to make a snowman with. Here are the results.

P.S. For those inquiring minds who want to know, the baby and I were out doing the grocery shopping while this was going on.

Calm After the Storm

The memorial for Dan's father was Tuesday night. Yesterday we said good-bye to our guests as Dan drove his brother and his son home. We are now in the quiet place you reach when all the craziness of the even has passed.
The memorial went rather nicely. The pastor gave a great presentation of the gospel (most there were unsaved and quite a few of them were drug addicts and alcoholics). I got to meet relatives of Dan's that I have either never met or have only met once in the 11 years we've been married (we've known each other for over 14 years).
It was great having Dan's brother here. He is such a great guy and does a wonderful job with his son. He was widowed at a young age when his son was around 2 years old. He was also a great help around here, always rinsing the dishes or taking out the trash.
The children really enjoyed having their cousin to play with They played many games of Monopoly, Battleship and stuff.
I am however looking forward to getting back to a 'routine' (well our version of what at any rate). The girls need to get back to their school stuff. I need to get back to housework. Dan hasn't been able to do any therapy in a week and a half and I haven't walked the last two weeks. I still have a couple small boxes of papers and stuff of Dan's dad's to go through, but other then that we are all back to normal!

Final Update

Today with the blood pressure meds maxed out, Dan's dad was reading only 95 over 40-something. At 3:15pm they took hims off the medication and a few minutes later they took out the breathing tubes and everything. Just before 4 he passed on.

When Dan's sister finally was able to say good-bye (she tried see you later, I'll miss you, etc. first) they saw a tear roll down Duane's cheek. At the end Dan leaned over and assured him that he would take care of the rest of the family, God was taking care of them all and that Duane could go ahead and go because they would be taken care of. About 30 seconds after he said that- Duane stopped breathing, etc.

Dan is doing okay, trying to stay strong and take care of things for everyone. He has been able to reflect a little and stuff but I am sure it wont really sink in till everything is done and over with.

update on my Father in Law

I thought I would post an update on what is going on with Dan's dad. He has shown no positive changes since Saturday. They have had to change the dialysis so that it is running 24 hours a day. The blood pressure med.s they were giving him to raise his pressure have been maxed out. If the dialysis machine shuts down tonight they will not restart it. If he is still hanging on tomorrow then the family will gather about 3pm at the hospital and they will shut all the machines off. After that it could be either minutes or hours before he passes.

Blogger Friend School #13 Meet My Bible

After a brief hiatus, BFS has started up again. There is a new host for the assignments as Tamara (the original host) is having issues with computer stuff. Thank you Nancy for taking this over, hopefully I can keep up with the assignments!

This assignment is all about our Bibles and how we use them.

1. How old is your Bible? It is 5 1/2 years old
2. Why did you chose this Bible? My dh bought it for me as a gift for our 6th wedding anniversary. It is a NASB Study Bible
   
3. Do you highlight/mark passages in your Bible? Yes and also take notes in the margins
4. If so, what is your system for marking passages? I highlight, underline, put brackets around, almost anything!
5. Do you have notebooks to record things? I start notebooks and journals all the time and never go more then a few months in them
6. If so, how many and what do you record? I will record verses I like, thoughts I have on them, prayer needs, Bible study/sermon notes, etc.
7. Where is your favorite spot to read your Bible? In bed at the end of the day is really the only time I really manage to do anything
8. Are there any special thoughts about your Bible you want to share? Regardless of where we get our Bibles from or what they look like, the important objective to remember is that they are no good to us if we don't USE them. That is something I have not been very good about lately. I can't seem to do anything with consistency
   

My Timothy James

I am SO late in posting this, I just can't seem to get myself doing much on the computer lately. But since I have started doing this for each of the children I couldn't miss one.

My little Timothy turned 3 a week and a half ago. I wanted to share some pictures and some wonderful things about him. First off I thought I would show you all his baby picture as its not often you see an 11# plus little newborn!


Whoever says there is no difference between boys and girls has never met my bunch. My boys have definitely been more headstrong and stubborn then the girls. That and they started playing with cars at a much younger age (and I mean driving them across the floor not just playing around with them).

I am thankful for:
1) Tim's stubbornness (this will be a good trait later in life, right?)
2) giving him butterfly kisses
3) 'no' and 'uh huh' -his two favorite words
4) his willingness to help in the kitchen
5) he is funny
6) the way he and his brother play together (nicely for the most part)
7) he is competitive
8) he loves to be the one to say grace at meals
9) his hugs
10) his curiosity

Please Pray

The last 36 hours have been a rather whirlwind. Wednesday we found out that Dan's dad (Duane) had cancer and we were told that he had 6-12 months to live. Yesterday we found out that it is lung cancer that spread to the liver and he also has an ulcer on his kidney that they were going to operate on last night but could not due to his failing health. This morning they put him on dialysis because his kidneys were not functioning well. Then came the breathing tube because his oxygen levels were at 30-40%. Tonight they went in to see about fixing what they thought was a hole in his intestines and instead they found spots of cancer all over his abdomin. The doctors have asked Danny if he wants them to resuscitate him if his heart or breathing fail him. Danny is right now on his way to get his brother (Brian) who lives almost 1 1/2 hours away (in the snow belt and there is snow falling). Brian has not talked to Danny's dad in probably five years and has decided he would like to see him before he passes. Brian was going to come in this coming Friday but Danny talked him into coming sooner to make sure he had his chance to see Duane. Please cover the whole family in prayer. It is also hard on Danny's Grandma as this is the second child she will have lost.