Still haven't figured it out

We decided to turn around from our "vacation" to come home to be with my dad. He was sooooo sick, it wasn't even funny. We drove 1200 miles west only to turn around and drive 1200 miles home. We drove 2400 miles total in 4 days. We arrived home on Saturday night, got the kids settled into bed and half unpacked the van. I then headed to hospital to see my dad and figure out what was going on with him. When I arrive in his room in the ICU he says" so I'm having surgery in the morning". I had spoken with the Pulmonologist earlier in the day and he informed me that my dad had several "empyema' in his left lung which is basically a pocket of infection in his lung. The only way to fix this horrible condition that he is in is to operate and remove all of the infection. They determined that it needed to be done quickly and that it couldn't wait until Monday since his condition was worsening.
During the time I spent in the van driving home, I had a lot of time to think. I am so thankful that Jesus loves me, if He didn't I know there is no way I could have gotten through this. I still don't understand why, but I do know that He knows why and that is all that matters.
To date, dad made it through his surgery to "clean out his lung" and is doing well. He is pretty messed up in general, now taking more than 15 pills a day with too many problems to list, but he was released from the hospital on the 25th of August and is staying with us at our house in the meantime so that I can nurse him back to health.
I have a long road ahead of me with him, but I will keep praying that God knows why He is using me in this way and that He knows what I am supposed to learn through all of this.

Continuation of Why?????

Ok, so we wake up on Thursday morning and start our driving. I decided to call and check in with my dad who was supposed to be heading out on the road today as well. When I call him, he sounds terribly sick on the phone and tells me he is going to the hospital because he thinks he has pneumonia.

"great" i say, you can't drive yourself there, (after hearing his symptoms) so I call Joe and Ashley to bring him to the hospital, because of course he hasn't told anyone about his ailments.
It turns out the Dad gets admitted to the ICU for DKA and possible pnumonia, with poor kidney function and who knows what else is going on in his lungs.
Now keep in mind, I am now 700miles away from home. What do I do? nobody really has that answer.
Where do I go from here, do I turn around and cancel the trip only to get home in two days and find my dad well and ready to go on "vacation" or do I continue on and wait for him and the rest of the family to join us in yellowstone when he is "better"......so somehow, we decided to keep driving west.
Now I am in Rawlins Wyoming and all I can do is PRAY!!!!
While we were driving through the last 100 miles of Wyoming, we drove through the most amazing weather in the mountains that I have ever seen. It was incredible, crazy lightning, sun shining , double rainbows, total down pour of rain so that you couldn't even see where you were going. Then the sun was shining so bright and the reflection of the sun off of the pavement was blinding. And then there was the mountains, oh how I love the mountains. God is so good, He has provided for us in ways I can't even understand but Why this????? That is all I can say, Why this, Why now? why my dad? why ?

Why ????? continued

Why??? ? What a question!!!!

I should be blogging more often, Lord knows I will be able to write a book some day. That book will make you laugh and cry all within pages of one another. We left home yesterday to start our trip out to Yellowstone/Montana. For sure the last 48 hours have been just a whirlwind of adventure.

Our main reason for this "vacation" was so that my entire family can be together as a united group of people who love my mother and to depart with her ashes, by her wishes, in Yellowstone Park. We have an amazing house rented in West Yellowstone for the week and Eric, myself and the kids started our drive on Wednesday morning. We drove a little over 600 miles and stayed in a Best Western hotel in Nebraska ...can't remember the name of the town.
We woke up at 330am because Melody got sick, she puked all over the bed. Luckily she didn't get any on Carter, but it was all over. Once everyone got settled back down, we slept until 700am.

Just another day......

Today was a special day for me, it's hard to say why, but something happened to me at church. I was really spoken to today, for some reason the message really got me. I will follow Jesus, I will do all I can to follow Him. It makes me so happy to announce this to the world. My children and husband are so precious to me and I realize that they are gifts from God. He didn't have to bless me with them, but He chose to, and I love Him for that. I can't even explain how much it means to have an unconditional love in my life, not only to give it but to recieve it. I will not take this love for granted, I will Follow.

Happy B-day from Spring Break

Happy Birthday Grandpa. We are on Spring Break in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This is our thrid day here, and the first that has been overcast. We rented a condo on the beach, and they have several swimming pools and hot tubs. We are having so much fun on the beach, so we decided to get you a birthday video from there. Take care and we hope you have a good birthday. We love you.

Melody's Dance Class

We got to observe Melody's Dance Class last night - here is the video. She's the best one in her row! Carter doesn't have any pants on because he peed them in front of everyone. Jen suffered some collateral damage - notice the wet spots on her shirt and pants. Not surprisingly but still remarkable, she handled it with pure grace. By process of elimination, we have E on the camera. Enjoy.