Thursday, November 29, 2007

Tiffani is doing well!!

I just talked to Sunni and read on Tiffani's blog that Tiffani's surgery is OVER and everything went GREAT!!!! The Lord has proved victorious once again and I know many of us are giving God praise and glory for what He has done today.

The family gets to see her in about an hour! I can't wait to hear that update on how she is. They are SO excited it's over!!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Prayers for Tiffani!

Hey y'all! I just wanted to write a quick reminder to pray for Tiffani, Sunni's (my wonderful friend) sister! She goes in at 6:30 A.M. Thursday for open heart surgery to replace a valve.

If you want specifics to pray for and amazing verses to pray over that family, please go to Amanda's blog. She wrote an incredible post with the perfect verses in the perfect way for them.

I love you Sunni and I am praying for you, your family and your sister!!!

Love,

Monday, November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving Festivities!

This Thanksgiving was amazing, but a little different. Ella and I probably did something that most families wouldn't do, we separated from Dada for the day. Heath's dad, who he doesn't get to see very often, came in town for Thanksgiving. So Heath stayed in Dallas. However, 22 family members on my mom's side, some of whom I haven't seen in a while, all gathered together in Kansas. It was a touch decision, but I decided Ella and I should take this opportunity and go to Kansas, but we were only gone for Thanksgiving day and we met back up with Heath's family on Friday. So we missed having Dada around, of course, but we had an amazing time catching up with some far away family!

We started the morning watching the traditional Macy's Day Parade!!


Every year on Thanksgiving, my mom's family has a tradition to go to a tree farm and cut down their Christmas tree. We always get to take part in this fun tradition the years we spend Thanksgiving in Kansas. I always love it because it's always really really cold! The temp got down to 19 degrees!



My sweet Grandma Angel.


Ella had so much fun playing chase around all the trees! The cold air drives her energy. She loves it. She is her father's daughter!
















My sweet mom! Your prayers are working big time! Her face is almost back to normal!! It's even better than when I took this picture! It's remarkable. We are so thankful.


Ella and my little baby cousin David! They got to sit in Santa's Sleigh!




This year, instead of cramming lots of people in my grandma's house, we decided it would be better and mentally healthier for us to find a bigger place. So we had Thanksgiving dinner in their church gym that has a kitchen connected to it. It ended up being SO MUCH FUN. We played basketball and volleyball and were just plain crazy.

My Grandad and Grandma Angel (my dad's parents) came with us to Kansas this year!! It was wonderful to have them along and have both sides of my family celebrating a holiday together.


Our game of volleyball!


My committed and competitive spirit led to this: Me diving for the ball with no knee pads. Some might think that's stupid, but I think it's taking one for the team! Plus, I was trying to one up one on Heath. It didn't really work.


Our Thanksgiving Feast!


My grandad has so much fun with Ella! Isn't he so cute?!


Friday morning we put up my grandma's tree to decorate. Ella needed to add the finishing touches.


My sister Michelle and her husband Bradley!


So that's it. I don't really have any funny stories. And FYI: Heath is doing better. He's still hobbling around. The x-ray results came back negative, so there is no break. He may have to do an MRI to see if any ligaments were torn, but we haven't scheduled that yet. Thank you for all of your prayers!!!

Love,

Monday, November 19, 2007

And This Is My Week

Thank y'all so much for the many prayers you have voiced for my mom!! She is doing great. Her face has already begun to regain some movement and she feels good. We all know that is thanks to all the people in our lives that are praying!!

On to my hubby:

Last week:
My dad: "Hey Heath. Would you mind helping me on Saturday morning hang the Christmas lights on the outside of our house?"

Heath: "Sure, but you have to buy my breakfast first."

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Heath at my parent's hanging Christmas lights. Me and Ella at home getting ready to go over to a friend's house.

Phone rings.

Me: "Hello"

My mom: "Janelle, you are going to need to come over."

Me: "Why?"

My mom: "Heath just fell off the ladder and is injured pretty badly."

What?! What is this week? What is happening?

So Ella and I jumped in the car immediately and got over to my parent's house to survey the damage.

Heath had a hugely swollen ankle, knee, finger, and scraped up face. I, of course, immediately wanted to take him to the hospital, but he swore to me it was okay and nothing was broken. So we treated it at home with lots of ice and rest.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon:

Me and Heath sitting in the hospital lab waiting to get x-rays done. We don't have the results yet, but the lab technician said she didn't see anything right away, but the doctor would take a closer look.

Heath has been pretty much laid up with ice packs all over. The kicker is that he hurt is RIGHT foot and his LEFT knee. So neither leg is working.







It sure has been an interesting week for us. We've been through the stomach bug, Bell's Palsy, and now a possible fractured foot and pulled ligaments. BUT we are all in good spirits!! God is taking care of us. Everything that has happened this week could have been MUCH worse and we are fully aware of that and thanking God for His provision! One day at a time, right?

Love,

Thursday, November 15, 2007

My Mom

Thank you so much for your prayers for my mom!! They are so appreciated!

Here is what is happening.

Tuesday night my parents came over to our house for dinner and while I was talking with my mom I noticed all of the sudden the right side of her face wasn't moving very well. It wasn't extreme at all or even very obvious, but enough to where I noticed. I asked her if she was okay and she said she just felt a little funny but was fine. I kind of freaked out a little in my head and secretly brought it to Heath's attention so he could see what I was seeing. He did and in private mentioned it to my dad. We didn't want to worry my mom if it wasn't necessary. My dad had not noticed at this point. They went home and my dad observed her through the night. It still wasn't very obvious. However, when she woke up Wednesday morning it was much worse, so they went straight to the ER.

All day Wednesday and Thursday they ran several tests, including a C-scan and an MRI. They weren't sure if it was Bell's Palsy or a stroke. We were praying and praying for it to be Bell's Palsy because that is much MUCH less serious than a stroke.

It was a rough couple of days, but this afternoon we got all the results back and it was NOT a stroke! It is Bell's Palsy!! Bell's Palsy is a virus that inflames the nerve that affects the muscles in the face. It usually heals completely with no trace that it ever happened. The right side of her face will probably be immobilized for another few weeks and then she will start to regain movement. I've known a couple of people who have had this, but I didn't know anything about it. You can go here to read a brief and very understandable explanation of what it is.

We were all very freaked out, but we are praising God for the outcome! My mom is very strong and has a lot of faith, so she remained pretty calm through the entire experience!

I, on the other hand, had a little bit of a harder time staying calm. I kept praying Isaiah 41:10.

"Don't panic. I am with you.
There's no need to fear for I'm your God.
I will give you strength. I will help you.
I will hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you."

It really helped me get through the last couple of days!

I love y'all and would appreciate your prayers for a quick recovery.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Few Updates!

A lot has happened this week, so I thought I would give a few updates.

1. Would you fellow blogging prayer warriors please pray for my mom? I don't want to go into much detail right now as a lot of things are still unclear, but she is at the hospital getting a few tests run and we would appreciate very much some prayers! Thank you!!

2. My family made it through the stomach bug! We are having few lingering effects, but for the most part are feeling good! Thank you for your sweet concern and prayers!!

3. Lynn @ Our Family of Five did a give away last week and I WON! I was SO excited. And this was the prize.


Isn't it cute?! Thank you so much Lynn. I love it and it will come in very handy!

Lynn also back in September was so sweet to pass the Nice Matters blogger award on to me. I was very touched, but never posted about it because I am a blogging slacker. That's right. A total slacker.


4. I will leave you with some pictures from our last playdate!



Ella and Tobey chillin' at the bottom of the slide!




I love this picture of Amanda and Jackson shooting down the slide.


Ella and Jackson


Love y'all!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

That Nasty Bug

My family is in the throes of a nasty stomach bug. My sweet girl got sick Thursday afternoon and threw up many, many times. That is the hardest part of this bug, watching Ella sick. She is 100% better today.

It was inevitable that it would be passed through the family. My mom got sick last night because she had been over helping me take care of Ella. Then, I got sick in the middle of the night last night, and now my husband is laying in bed sick. I am so thankful that we did not get sick at the same time. Heath was able to watch Ella all day, while I layed in bed, overdosed (not really) on Tylenol PM and slept the sickness away. He did such a good job. He took such good care of me too!

So when Heath got sick, I was feeling good enough to take over. I am so thankful for how that worked out.

It was only a matter of time before we got it. It has been working it's way through the staff at our church and their families. I work in the office and knew I probably wouldn't be able to avoid it for much longer.

So here's to a quick recovery and more Tylenol PM!

Love,

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

3 Day Walk Video

I made my first YouTube video! A couple of posts ago, I posted pictures of the INCREDIBLE weekend we had cheering Aunt Ashley and the other women on as they walked 60 miles for the Susan G. Komen foundation. One reason why I took so many pictures was so that I could put a DVD together for Ashley and the girls on her team.

I finally figured out how to get it downloaded and here it is!! I hope you enjoy!! I can not watch it without crying so you might want to grab a box of tissues. I really think Ella had a special anointing of encouragement that weekend!

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Fall-A-Palooza

Heath, Ella and I spent last night at our church's Fall-A-Palooza!! This is the 4th year we've gone, second year with Ella. I've gotta say, it's a LOT more crazy, but a million times more fun with a toddler.

If you can't tell, we are aerobic instructors from the 80s.


Ella starting her areobics!




Jackson and Ella love to dance. They were so into their dancing tonight. It reminded me of "The Routine" from Friends!! haha






"Hi Tobey!"


The cutest Cowboy in town...Joshua.






This was our group last year! Unfortuntely we weren't able to get all 4 of us together again, but I just love this! These sweet babies!


Ella with Heath's wig on.
Can you even handle this?!




Love,