Thanks Laurie!

This post is in honor of Laurie who so sweetly sent Mia this awesome sweatshirt when we got home home from Vietnam. It hasn't fit until now. Mia's gotten quite a few compliments in it. I LOVE it! Laurie owns and operates Mandy's Moon at www.mandysmoon.com . She sells gifts and unique items on her site, including many many items from Vietnam. Laurie has two BEAUTIFUL girls from Vietnam herself, one just joining her family last year. So...thanks Laurie!

Dad Update, Formal Fundraiser, and Mia Photos

Warning...Photo Heavy!

First of all, THANK YOU so much to everyone who posted, emailed, and called about my dad. He was released from the hospital today. He'll have a defibrillator installed in about a month. Other than that and some new meds and cardiac rehab there's not much else that can be done. But, thank God, my dad has been athletic all his life and apparently he has good genes.

Secondly, the Friday night after dad's heart attack Mia's big sis, Hannah, had a formal occasion fund-raiser to attend. She got all dressed up and looked SO pretty. I told her I was going to post her photos and of course all I heard was, "I look fat", "my arms look huge", "I look like I'm slouching"...seventeen year old comments. I do agree that she doesn't photograph true to what she actually looks like; she never has. She is really tiny skinny small (chesty but small) and in photos she does look larger than she is, but my NO means fat with flabby arms! I was so proud of how beautiful she looked! I took her in all her dressed-up-ness to the hospital to see my dad. I think it made him feel better, and her too, for her to show him what she looked like in a gown. She's such a tom-boy; it's amazing to see her frilly.

ready to go


put the camera down! CAN WE LEAVE!


at the hospital


fun with a friend


Thirdly, Hannah is in a photography course at her co-op. She was given the assignment to take some black and whites at a populated area. She got some great shots, but then Mia was ready to be the star for the camera so big sissy got some cute ones of her too at the playground. Ignore the hair! We're letting it grow out and between the static and the wind on the playground it ended up a mess.

Please Pray!

Please pray with me for my dad, Mia's "poo-pah". I went from so excited to finally being able to upload the previous post to being pretty stinkin' low to have to post this. On Thursday morning my dad suffered a heart attack at my home.

It was totally the Lord that the events happened how they did. For the past week my mom has told me that my dad has had to take a Nitro pill when he wakes up and that he seems more short of breath lately. He had a dr appointment earlier in the week but had to cancel because they live on the top of a mountain and there was too much ice and some snow to be able to get off their mountain. They rescheduled but it wasn't for yet another week. Anyway, I've had the cruds with sinus issues and a bad cough. Early Thursday morning, like 5 am, I woke up thinking my head was going to come off (like pounding burning headache complete with dizzy and nauseous). I knew I had a busy day and I just needed to go to the ER and get a shot to make my headache go away. My husband had already left for work, so at 6 am I called my mom (who is up then getting ready for work) to see if my dad could run me to the hospital to get the shot and take my kids to co-op. She said she'd call when he got up and let me know. Thirty minutes later he was up and mom said he'd come get me. She told me he'd had one of his now usual mornings with having to take a nitro.

About thirty minutes later my headache COMPLETELY disappeared. I've NEVER had that happen. I called my mom who by then was on her way to work and I told her I was better. I tried to get hold of my dad to tell him not to come but I couldn't get hold of him. It took a long time for him to get to my house. When he did, he told me he'd had to stop in a parking lot and take another nitro. I told him to just rest and hang out and I was going to take the kids to co-op. But then he started looking really bad and started really struggling to breath. I told him to get in the car and that the kids could just skip co-op today. I was going to take him to the hospital. The hospital is about 4 miles away. He got in the car and started not being able to breath and he slumped over holding his chest and wouldn't respond to me.

It was really strange. I was so completely calm, just talking to him and telling him we were almost there. It seemed like all the rush hour morning traffic just got out of my way. I didn't even have my hazards on. We pulled right up to the ER doors and there was someone there. I told them my dad was in trouble, couldn't breath, was slumped in my front seat, and unresponsive. The wheel chair was RIGHT THERE. Immediately they got him out of my car and straight back in the ER. By the time I parked the car and got in, he already had the nurses and two doctors attending him, he was already hooked to the EKG machine, iv's were already in. It was amazing. Within an hour and a half he was out of the cath lab, where they'd done a heart cath. They were superb. Daddy had suffered a heart attack in my car.

Had he been at home, Mom would have already been gone to work and he would have just been there unable to get help.

The bad news the diagnosis. Three of his four bi-passes are completely blocked with blood clots. If the docs do surgery it would dislodge the clots and cause a stroke. There's nothing they can do. The docs said that most likely he'll have another heart attack, and again there's nothing that can be done. Good new is that the one bi-pass that is open is very open, and it's the strongest bi-pass. Also, he has grown new vessels around the blocked passages. They are tiny and not moving as much blood as the passages would, but they are allowing some blood to get to important parts of his heart.

Last night I spent the night in an armchair in the ICU. He'll be there until at least Monday.

Please join me in praying for my daddy. He's an awesome man who every single person who meets him absolutely loves him. He's man with no enemies who has a huge heart of compassion for any human and all animals. (can't kill a spider, takes them outside carefully balanced on tissue paper! cried when he ran over a snake!) He loves the Lord and has no question about his future, he only worries about me an mom and the grandkids once he leaves us. He's 80 years old, but still has a good mind, helps me homeschool the kids, and lives an active life. I'M NOT ready for him to go yet.

Thank you for your prayers!


Dad fishing...catch and release only if he does get one


Dad teaching Jeremy how to fish...neither one caught one single fish!


The Great Out West adventure with my three oldest kids summer '07


Dad, aka Mr. Safety, making sure the beam won't fall on Isaiah (who is playing around an old mine...hello!)


Dad laughing at our assembly line at Thanksgiving

FINALLY!!! (two months later!)

whoo-hooo

After two months of trying to figure out how to convert a .avi file on a mac (thank you Nicole!) I was able to compress the video and upload it to youtube.

The video I'm speaking of is the Vietnamese Fellowship Children's Choir which I assisted in directing to "preform" at my ministry's banquet (in November).

The quality is not-so-great, but you can get the jist of what's going on. Mia is on the far right on the bottom row in the pink aoi doi and Kimberlee is right next to her in the light blue aoi doi. (I'm the extra large figure wearing black crossing the stage and messing with the microphones.) The kids are singing Jesus Loves Me in English, then in Vietnamese.

Shameless

Nicole has tagged me as a shameless manipulative ploy to get me to update this blog. It is true though that it has been two months since I've posted. I've had so much going on in so many different areas of life that I really haven't been able to a) even decide which subject to blog about and b) actually find the time to write. So, here my answers to my tag:
1. What is your occupation? I work for a non-profit agency as the "Ministry Project Coordinator"
2. What color are your socks right now? olive green and dark brow argyle
3. What are you listening to right now? the bathroom vent running (and wondering who left it on)
4. What was the last thing you ate? crow, lightly salted..I was completely wrong about something and so sure of myself I argued with my husband about it, then, well...oops
5. Can you drive a stick shift? absolutely! I learned to drive with a stick shift and I personally think it is a lot more fun drive a stick than an automatic
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? purple
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Nicole
8. How old are you today? 33
9. Favorite drink? margarita, on ice...or just the tequila if no ingredients available
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? soccer

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? OH YES, it started in sixth grade
12. Favorite reality TV show? The First 48
13. What was the last movie you watched? In the Name of the King (WAIT FOR VIDEO!!! borderline b grade poorly directed left over Lord of the Rings and Lion Witch and the Wardrobe props with cheesy scores and bad acting)
14. Favorite day of the year? The day after the last day of school for my kids...the first official day of summer vacation
15. What do you do to vent anger? It depends who I'm mad at and what I'm mad about! anywhere from stuffing anger to totally exploding complete with door slamming, hairbrush throwing, and yelling (that would be extremely mad at husband)
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? hmmm... no toy really, my favorite "play" was with my three "imaginary" friends (I won't get into this!)
17. What is your favorite, fall or spring? SPRING! I love spring, it means summer is almost here. Flowers, colors, the days start to get longer and the birds are chirping and playing. It's so wonderful. Fall is ish, it means stuff is starting to die and where I live it's really ugly when the leaves are gone.
18. Hugs or kisses? Oh, I'm so not a huggy person. I'm all about my personal space. I enjoy my bubble and do not want anyone in it. And, oh God forbid if a girl hugs me and her boobs are all squished up against me. gag... Kisses, only from my husband or kids.
19. Cherries or blueberries? really, do I have to choose? yuck Dole candied cherries, or blueberry muffins, maybe. other than that...yuck
20. Do you want your friends to email you back? if there needs to be a reply, if not then no
21. Favorite dessert? Christmas goodies
22. Who is least likely to respond? can you repeat the question? respond to what?
23. Living arrangement? husband and I own our home and live here with our four kids, in a house that seems so small until I am reminded how the majority of the world lives. I'm blessed.
24. When was the last time you cried? day before yesterday
25. What is on the floor of your closet? hahaha! i don't have a closet! small house remember..
26. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? well, i'm not sending this, just posting it. friend i've had the longest that may see it? does anyone actually read this?
27. What did you do last night? my husband took me to dinner, which is a rare treat. we went to bonefish grill and there was a hair in my bambam shrimp appetizer, that I almost choked on, so I canceled my dinner order and that was that! won't eat there again
28. Favorite smells? smells freak me out. i have a heightened since of smell and smells bring back memories. i enjoy odd smells that remind me of my home (like Pledge or Bounce dryer sheets) or a good memory but nothing like a certain candle scent or anything. i'm overly sensitive to colognes and perfumes; even lipstick scents ~ ewwww.
29. What inspires you? Christian martyrs
30. What are you afraid of? hahaha! Monk has nothing on me! Where to begin... spiders that surprise me (i'm fine if I see them and then can approach them, just not when I turn around and BAM there's a spider), ticks ~ even if I see them from a distance, being too deep in water where I can't see the bottom, standing near things way bigger than me like an airplane or a whale (yeah, like that's ever happened, speaking that I'm too afraid to get into water too deep), being in a bad car accident, my children being in an accident, fire, laying my head back in the sink at the hair salon...because I'm afraid of aneurysms, taking bigger than 1/2 teaspoon bites at a time because I'm afraid of choking, the thought of cremation, and the worst fear of all that I would willing combine all the above fears together and experience all at once to just avoid this mother of all fears of mine...CLOWNS!!!!
31. Plain, cheese, or spicy burgers? spicy (don't get me wrong, I LOVE the cheese!)
32. Favorite breed of dog? American bulldogs
33. How many years at your current job? four this year
34. Favorite day of the week? any day that I could possibly sleep in just a little longer
35. How many states have you lived in? lets see... for most my life I've lived in the state of rebellion and confusion, but now I live in a state of purpose and awe
36. Celebrity crush? Oh, I'm right there with Nicole! Viggo Mortensen! whew ~ is it getting hot in here??
37. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? does a four wheeler count?
38. Who is your favorite NFL team? Tennessee Titans! COLTS SUCK, they are nothing without Manning and you know what, show a little state pride it's not about a man, who btw isn't even FROM TENNESSEE!
39. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? no
40. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? 100 degree weather, I'm not a fan of the cold

So, I guess it's my turn to tag...so, Shelly, Sherri, Susan, and Sarah (who also doesn't update enough!) tag you're it!

And, I guess I'll have to update with some pics of Mia once i find my camera charger...