The Beautiful Dallas Skyline

THE BODY CAST IS.......

OFF!!!!!!


and that's all I have to say about that! :)

I'm Sad

I am so sad. We went to Ministry group last night, and returned rather late. Too early to put the turkeys away when we left and it was late when we returned. We forgot to put them away.

They are in a fenced area, and roam around freely during the day time. This a.m., at about 5, I heard the duck going crazy. I just figured it was waking up and being "the duck that thinks its a rooster", like in Babe.

Apparently, the duck was running for cover and alerting us that our turkeys were being attacked by dogs. I didn't see the dogs, just the end result. 5 dead turkeys. It is so frustrating to have them fenced in, and they SHOULD be safe, only to have their lives taken from them for some dog's sport. If it were a wild animal, they would have eaten them. But, just like before with the sheep, 1 was eaten and the rest just left for dead.

I feel terribly that I didn't put them away. At the same time I feel angry that people don't put their dogs away and make sure they don't roam or pack.

So what is the Lord trying to teach me? Is he trying to take away the things that I love? Prying my hands off of my worldly desires to be a "real farmer?" Or is he saying, "get a dog stupid~!" I honestly don't know.

I know that if we move to Ukraine, we will most likely not have an animal. Is the Lord trying to prepare us for that? BUT... if we live in the country we will have an animal, but I doubt we would live in the country.

I don't know. I think for now, I'm going to pray and get a dog. That will solve both issues for now.

I'm just so sad.

The Visit

I cannot put into words right now, how much the last 2 weeks has meant to Mike and to me and the girls.

It is always nice to see relatives come and visit. But when you haven't seen them in so long, and they bring little new relatives who coo and drool and smile and laugh, it just warms your heart so.

We had a whirlwind of 10 days of delight and joy. Joe, Becca and Sam visiting, playing backgammon for a gillion times, cooking, creating and enjoying each other. They were such a huge blessing for all of us. And our little Sam, just makes us melt with delight. He is a doll, dimples and all. He is rambunctious, gives me many memories of days gone by, and I just KNOW the Lord has wonderful things in store for him.

One of the neatest things was seeing all 15 kids and grandkids in the house at the same time. What a great bunch of people, young and old. What a huge representation of talent and love. What a wonderful family. I was so sad that Mike's mom and dad couldn't come down and visit, but that will happen again, in time. We are so blessed as a family. My words fail to express my greatfulness to the Lord for the awesome things HE has done.

The New Kids on the Block are Here

And they are sooooo Darling!

Sam Minich is 6 months old, Will Minich is 5 months old. The cousins have seen each other and seem to like each other alot! Of course Gramma and Grampa adore them both.
So, here are the pics from Yesterday!

Kids Learning English

Kids Learning English can be such a fun experience and a Funny experience.

I remember when Sarah had been with us for about a year and was starting to use "phrases" that she thought she understood. One time in the grocery store, she cheerily looked at me and said, "Mommy, You make me sick!" with a big smile on her face.
When she saw the look on mine, her countenance fell and she when I asked her "what did you say?" She said, "oh I don't think you'll want me to repeat that one." LOL
So I explained to her what it meant, and she was horrified. :)

Fast forward to Erika. I was putting her on the bedpan, which made it even funnier.

She said, "I'm just crapping all the time!" I looked stunned! I said what? She said, I crap alot! I asked her, "where did you hear that?" I then realized she had a very puzzled look on her face. I asked her what she meant. She pointed to her wrist and neck and said, You know "crap". Ahhhh, that is CRACK dear. She pops and cracks alot.
That was a good laugh!

We were sitting at the donut shoppe waiting for Daddy to come out with kolaches.
I saw a man walking by with an Australian Shepherd. We have been looking at dogs, and one of the kinds we have been looking at is an Australian Shepherd. I said to Erika, "Look! there goes an Australian Shepherd!" She replied, "Oh! And he has a dog!" I nearly spit out my coffee. :)

School Days

It is that time of year again. We were off to a great start. School started on August 1st. The girls are all reading!!!! Yea! This makes it so much easier on mom. Now we are working on perfecting our reading. We started, then had a slight break for Erika's surgery, although Uncle Bob took on the challenge and helped the girls through some schooling. When Erika and I left for the hospital we had covered up to Marco Polo in our history book. When we returned, Anna and Sarah were covering George Washington ALREADY! Wow Bob, what a task master! :)

We are looking forward to a very successful year full of excitement. The girls are waiting anxiously to go to a Planetarium after they memorize all the planets.

Science seems to be a favorite for Anna. Erika seems to really like history and Sarah loves math and reading.

I'm so very proud of all of them. The picture is what they looked like on the first day of school.

Our Anna

I just want to say something about my precious little Anna. She is such a trooper. She silently watches as her sisters seem to get much limelight. Not because they seek it, that is just the way it is. She is such a great sister. She helps care for them when they need her, gets thier socks for them, helps with all kinds of extras and doesn't complain, most of the time. :)


Anna LOVES animals of all kinds. She is very interested in Bindy Sue Irwin, and loves to visit her website online so she can look at Bindy's snake. I think we have a little vet on our hands. :)

This past few months has been very hard for Anna. She lost her Dear Uncle Jim to Leukemia, her sheep were eaten by coyotes, (the one she bottle fed) her sister went to a great camp that she couldn't go to and then had surgery. She didn't want to have surgery, but she has silently handled being sidelined lately and I am so proud of her.

She is a GREAT KID.

The Past Week

Whew! It has been a whilwind of a week and a half. Erika and I left for the hospital on August8, leaving Anna and Sarah in the good hands of Daddy and Uncle Bob.

August 9 was surgery day and Mike came up to spend the day with me so I wouldn't have to sit alone. I wasn't able to be alone this time. I was alone when Tim had a similar surgery and I didn't want to experience that again.

Erika came through the surgery well, but lost a lot of blood. She was in terrible pain for about 3 days. Just a slight movement of her pillow or a bump on her bed and she would go through the roof in pain. Poor baby. It is so hard to see them suffer like this.
She also had a hard time with oxygen saturation and needed to get blood. We now know that she is O positive. A universal donar!

She was able to come off the oxygen on August 14. We came home that night, after she spent about 12 hours on room air.

I just love kids. She went to the child life room and after playing a few games turned and said, "I just love this hospital, it is so nice".

We are so fortunate to have so many friends too. 3 fellows from the prosthetic department stopped to see her and make sure she was ok.

The Folks from Peaceable Kingdom camp called twice to check on her and sent a camp bag for her.

Her Sunday School teachers stopped by, as did one of our Elder's and His wife. Stand and Berny Schultz. How sweet.

Plus numerous calls and well wishes. She HAS to get better and walk soon. :)

But for now:

We are home, she is in a body cast, still on some pain meds, but overall doing well.
The hardest part is the bed pan service. I think we have it down to a science now.
She has to be rotated, and keeping knots out of her hair is a challenge.

I'm so proud of her. :)

Melanie's visit

We had a great visit with cousin Melaine this last week. She is a delight. I picked her up from the airport and immediatly let dad and mom know that the package had been safely delivered. :)

She played with the girls, learned about the animals, learned to play backgammon and we hunted several stores until we FOUND cotton candy!!!!

We took her to see the new Rat movie, Rattatouie, which was quite good and very funny.
We look forward to seeing Mel again.

Erika and Mom go to Camp

Yep, we went to camp. When we were about an hour out of town, I had this chill go through my body. I was thinking, "were we supposed to bring tents?" AHHHHH! I started sweating, thinking about this ole' body sleeping on the ground. No way that could happen.
We arrived at the camp, and my heart was overyjoyed. I saw a very beautiful lodge, rocking chairs, and then we were led to the cabin. A large log cabin with lots of beds and real mattresses. YEA! This was gonna be cool!

Oh my, was it ever a great week. We did all kinds of things,but what impressed me the most was the giving hearts of so many young people who shared their lives with us.

One fellow in particular was a young man, on his way to college in New York. He was deaf, and could read lips quite well. I could have brought him home. He was just a joy to be around. I tried my sign language skills out on him and found out that I accidently know a bad word.:( He so eleoquently showed me the right way to say but. :)

Erika was able to do so many things. She climbed on ropes, did arts and crafts, swimming, bean John with the ball, air hockey, dancing(she loved dancing)miniature golf, high swings, archery, horse back riding, learned about metal crafts, watched movies in the theatre, participated in a skit,fished, met new friends and had a wonderful time.

She got to know Robert the guy who makes her legs pretty well, and also John, the guy who fits her for her legs. She made some friends with other children especially Kash, a beautiful girl who was born with no arms.

Oh my, we had a great time.

Our week was a week of peace. No staring. No glaring... just acceptance and love.
I will never forget it, and the wonderful parents I met. :)

Unpacking

Well, it has been 14 months since we got back from Ukraine with Erika. What an eventful 14 months. As I was cleaning out our closet, I noticed a carry on bag that we had used in Ukraine. It still had a couple of straggling items in it, so I took them out. As I was taking them out, I noticed a business card that somebody had given us in the internet Cafe' we went to in Kiev. I decided to check up on the folks who gave us that card, as they were there doing the same thing we were.

WOW! Do they ever have a story. It is interesting how our lives intertwined for just a moment in time, but the stories that come from that meeting are so life changing.

They adopted an 11 year old little girl. Her story is amazing. She suffered unspeakable torment at the hands of her parents. Then, she was taken to an orphanage after being shot and burned.

You can read her story at http:spaces.msn.com/ukarineadoption

Birthday Girls

Wow! Today was a neat day.

Sarah turned 8 years old. This is such a special day, because Sarah was so very happy and excited about her birthday. She never mentioned her previous life or the negative things that used to happen on birthdays, such as NOTHING, and then being scared at her previous home. Her first birthday with us was interrupted by a phone call from the previous family and she broke down in a pile of tears and wet her pants in a panic.

Last year was much better, but she had lots of memories.

This year, however, was flawless. She was HERSELF! Do you know how important that is??
Do you know how special that is???

It is AMAZING! Birthdays are a time of remembering, a time of reminiscing, a time of remembering the day you were born. Unfortunately the day Sarah came into this world, it was a traumatic day. Her unmarried mother rejected her. She placed her in the care of the Ukrainian Government, where she was systematically neglected for many years.
She was then placed in an orphanage, then finally adopted at 5, only to be rejected again. She didn't have a chance. Or so it seems she didn't.

The Good Lord saw fit to intervene in this little one's life and here she is all bubbly and smiley and full of life like any 8 year old should be.

I'm so proud of her. So proud to be a part of her. So proud to be her momma.

Happy Birthday Sarah, you are more special than you will ever know. :)


I'm going to add to this post about Erika's birthday.

She woke up so very excited about her special day. Our friend Kenny came over to work with Mike and observed her looking for presents. He said, "I've never seen anybody hide gifts before." Erika turned around with a big smile and said, "that is what our family does!" "We hide our presents and look for them!"
She was having such a good time. :)

This is Erika's second birthday with us and she has established that this is OUR tradition! Isn't that the coolest thing?

These 2 days have made me so very happy. The girls are so settled and comfortable.
More so than I ever thought possible. God has been so good to us, simple birthdays, simple joy.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

When our son Tim was born, he was very premature. Because of complications, and a pretty bad hack job of a delivery, he had a massive brain hemmorage at 16 days old. This caused him to have Cerebral Palsey. They didn't tell us that he had Cerebral Palsy. They sort of let us find out on our own. When we started asking questions like, "why doesn't he bend his legs? Why is he so stiff? Why can't he turn over? Whey can't he sit up?" Then, they said, "Oh yeah, he has Cerebral Palsy." gee thanks.
I wish I had known that before. I could have spent a lot of time reading up on it to know what was ahead for us, and what we could do to help him.

I think the hardest part of having a child with disabilities is the isolation one feels from the general public, not the disability issue itself. It is hard sometimes continually being asked questions. Always being stared at. At home, it isn't an issue. Don't really notice anything. But then in public, it's another story. I'm not that shy, but do wish for anonimity sometimes.
Just to blend in. Nobody notice. Nobody stare. I remember one time when I went with Tim to the store when he was about 17, we kept getting stared at. For a while I couldn't figure it out. I actaully went into the bathroom to see if something was wrong with my hair or face. Then it dawned on me. They were staring at how he walks. LOL I had completely forgotten that it isn't every day that you see somebody walk like Tim. I really don't even notice it. But others do.

So, here we are, all old and everything. And now, we have 3 little girls. 2 of them have missing limbs. One, just her leg and some fingers, with some deformity of her existing leg and arms. The other one, has arthrogryposis, and had to have both feet amputated. They are wonderful, beautiful girls. Sweet beyond sweet. But what do people see? They see disfigurement. They see missing legs. They see "HANDICAPPED". And yes, we are back to being stared at all over again.
The sad thing to me is that nothing has changed over the past 25 plus years. People still don't teach their children not to stare. They still whisper while looking at you and don't smile. They still point. The same kids that made fun of our dear son, and stared at him, are now the parents of the kids who stare today. Nobody seems to learn, and that makes me sad.

So here we go again. Educating people that we do not know. Rising above the hurt, to say, we are just people with feelings.
And NO, you don't need to feel sorry for us. And NO our lives are not terrible. And NO we are not "catchy".

What we like to share is how wonderful, rich and full our lives really are.
After all, how many people can break their leg, drop it off at the hospital and pick it up the next day like we do?
How many people can take thier feet off when they hurt? I'm stuck with mine.
We are able to speak frankly with our children about love, understanding,ignorance, forgiveness, education. Are they special kids? YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR THEY ARE!
But not because of the outside that society tries to define them with; but because of the inside that reveals their true spirits of kindness, bravery, confidence and love.
How many people have the privelege of meeting and working intimately with some of the finest Doctors., prosthetists, nurses and all around great folks on a regular basis all for the cause of making a child's life successful?

And I can't forget to mention the silent siblings. First, our 3 other boys, who lovingly cared for and watched over thier brother. Who patiently and sometimes not so patiently protected him. Who waited for him to get back from a missions trip so they could all go to college together. Who encouraged him to keep on keeping on and follow his dreams, when he got discouraged.
And to our little Anna, who quietly serves her sisters. Many times she helps them find their socks. She knows the exact socks they are supposed to wear and many times wakes up early to help them get dressed. She has helped Erika with the bathroom, making sure she has wipes. She has actually surprised us and carried her to the bathtub, out of the tub and gotten her dressed, only to say, "mom Erika's done with her bath, it's time to get her out!" Then, I go to get her out and there is howling laughter at my surprise! She has helped Erika put her legs on and surprised us with Erika walking out of the bedroom all dressed. What joy she brings us with her servants heart.

So we will continue to share our blessings with those who truly know what blessings are. And to educate those who don't.
This is the Life that God has chosen for us, and we are most grateful.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I was looking at some pictures of our new little grandson Sam. Look at how he is engaging his mom at 3 weeks old! His mommy and daddy are his delight. He trusts them fully. He does not doubt that his mommy and daddy will take care of his every need. When he cries, they are there to comfort him. When he is hungry, they are there to feed him. When he is cold they keep him warm. He is cuddled and loved by them and he adores them.

Now, I think our our own dear little girlies. Left in beds. When they cried, nobody came, so they ceased crying. When they were hungry, nobody fed them, so they found other ways to satisfy their most basic needs. When they were cold, they shivered. When they wanted to talk to somebody, there was nobody, so they cooed to themselves, they comforted themselves, they rocked themselves.

To think, that every moment of every day for Sam's first 5 weeks of life now, he has been cared for; I couldn't imagine his needs not being met, even for 5 weeks. That would be terrible!
But, I know, our own dd's needs were not met for YEARS. How can we fathom Years of neglect?
We nearly can't. Our hearts would break.

What amazes me even more is that they are all blossoming into lovely young ladies, full of love and compassion for each other, for their own mommy and daddy, and for others outside of their immediate family.
I am amazed at their capacity to forgive, move on, grow and explore their new world. It IS a new world for them. To see little babies being cared for the way they never were, has got to bring a tinge of pain to them. After we see the babies, they ask if we can rock them. We do.
I cannot make up for their loss. I cannot change their loss. What I CAN do, is grieve for them, with them, and guide them to maturity. I cannot pretend that they were never neglected or that it hasn't effected them in some way. It has profound impact. My prayer is that they will use it as a tool of understanding that most will never know, and not an implement of destruction to continue the cycle of neglect. I have a sneaking suspicion, that they will use it as a tool for the positive.

Thanks for hearing my heart break for them.
Now I will turn around and smile at them, and continue to love them.
They always have a way of mending my heart.

TURKEY MAMA

Sarah is in charge of the baby Turkeys. Today, when she went to the coop, she and Anna found one a little weak and looking rather sickly. We determined that he might be a little cold, getting pushed out from under the warm light. So Sarah decided to keep him warm alone for a while and bring him in the house. The girls were eating their breakfast and Anna asked if she could hold him for a while. Sarah cautiously said, "well ok, but watch his head!"

FARMER ANNA

Today Anna and I drove the sheep to Trenton to be turned into food. She has gotten used to the trip, and enjoys going. She has really turned into a farmer. :)

Today, as we were driving, it seems that we were noticing lots of new housing developments popping up where there used to be corn and wheat fields. It is progress, I guess, but also sad. It seems to way of life that we so love is giving way to "city folks" who want to be country folks, without the country. Meaning, they like having space between their homes, but instead of cows, sheep or goats, there are big fancy swimming pools and rec rooms instead of barns. Then, those very people who encroached on our way of life, turn around and snub thier noses at us "low class farmer types" and start to demand that those smelly animals be moved to where they belong! The country!!
Well hello! We WERE the country, until YOU moved here!
Not that I'm venting or anything..... but, it is getting harder and harder to keep a precious way of life safe.

Back to Anna.

She asked the question. How Long before we will have to get rid of our animals? I told her I didn't know, but my guess was, not too long. She proteseted, WE HAVE to have animals! I can't LIVE WITHOUT animals! :) She is a good animal keeper, I must say. She takes great care of them. I do not have to remind her to feed them or spend time with them.

So, what does she do? What any farmer would do. All the way to Trenton, she was looking at property and for sale signs.
She kept saying, "There's a good place! Look at that barn!" "That one has a pond!"

I think she has the farmer bug. I'm so proud of her. :)

The Post Office and Turkeys

You might be thinking, what do post offices have to do with turkeys? Well, that can be two fold.

The first Turkey I ran into at the post office was an employee. He asked to see my ID because I was purchasing stamps with a credit card. He dramatically looked at my ID, then ME, then my ID, then Me. Finally he said, you look nothing like this picture, IS THIS YOU? DUH!!! Like I'm going to say NO, if I was some sort of terrorist trying to buy a roll of stamps.

Could I possibly look like a terrorist crook? I'm standing there, amost 50 years old, bandana on my head, white t shirt, favorite jeans, socks and birkenstocks. The worst thing somebody dressed like me would commit would be preventing somebody from cutting a tree down in Washington State. I was only lacking my Starbucks to prove the point!

Ok, so the guy was a Turkey.

Fast forward to 2 days later:

I get a call from the famous Post Office telling me my Turkeys are in to please come and pick them up.
HUH!!!! They are a tad early. I wasn't expecting them till next week. Oh well. Turkeys, we aren't ready but what the hey, let's load up in the van and start a new adventure.

We get to the post office and they look at us like we are from Mars. Turkeys? What turkeys? I say, "you called me 10 minutes ago! What do you mean "what turkeys!" So, I call home and have mike get the Number from Caller ID. It turns out my Turkeys are over an hour away at the Coppell Post office. I am trying to figure this out, and it turns out that the Coppell Post Office is a big branch for all the other post offices. BUT... the package said, when it arrives, call customer for pickup!
Now I know, that package went to at least 3 post offices, with that sort of Logic, I would have had to pick them up in Idaho where they originated!
The person on the phone actually tried to defend not sending them to Wylie! Even though we have picked chickens up in Wylie on more than one occasion!
I'm thinking, did they transfer the Wylie guy to Coppell????
DUH.
So, I agree to drive ove ran hour to pick them up. Then they say, oh, you aren't a business? You can't pick them up here, this is only for businesses and other post offices, there is HIGH SECURITY HERE you won't be able to get in!!!
WHAT!!!!
Ok, so my Turkeys are not in Wylie, but Coppell. They called me to come and pick them up, but now that I'm coming, they can't let me in becuase I'm not supposed to be there? It is high security??

I get a call back after they figure things out and get permission to pick up my poor turkeys. When we arrive a lady looks at my license plate, has me write my name on a check list and tells me what loading dock to go to. I walk up and tell them what I am here for. (I'm the Turkey lady!!") They go get my turkeys and ask to see my driver's license. You know, the one that doesn't look like me! That one. I'm thinking OH GREAT, I'm going to get arrested for Turkey Theft because I don't look like me. He didn't say a thing about me not looking like my driver's license picture.

I drove off back to Wylie wondering....... Who are the real Turkeys?

gobble gobble

I WON'T BE WEARING MY LEGS TODAY

Last night when I was putting Erika to bed, she said, I'm not going to be wearing my legs tomorrow. I couldn't really get an answer from her as to why. She isn't in any pain, she likes them, she just decided to leave them off.

Wouldn't it be nice if your feet hurt, to just, take them off? Or if you wanted to laze around for the day, just, remove your legs so nobody would expect anything from you, except that you could sit on the couch and knit?

Well, this a.m., she said again, "I won't be wearing my legs today." Hmmm. Now, I figured last night, she was just tired. But this a.m.? There are places to go, people to see, things to do. So I asked her, "did anybody say anything to you about your legs? No. Did your legs hurt you yesterday? no. Are you mad at your legs? No.

Then, I asked, are you worried about surgery? BINGO! Tears started flowing. I'm going to be in a CAST for 8 WEEKS!!!!
I won't be able to move or get around! That isn't totally true. You will be in a wheel chair and can roll around, albiet from a laying position, but get around YES.
So my question was, "so why are you punishing yourself by not getting around now?" Smile. I dunno.

If she decides to wear her legs, I'll be happy. If she doesn't, my back will be sad.
We'll get through the day together.

I Love You Gramma

I saw Lillian yesterday. We went to take Chuck to register Katie for school next year. She will be in the 6th grade. Lillian came along and was her sweet self. She adores her Daddy. As he was coming out of the school office, she started to smile and was whispering, "that's daddy". As he got closer to the car, those adoring little eyes lit up and she was smiling at me and saying, "THAT' MY DADDY!"
So darling.
When Chuck got in the car, she said, "hi daddy" with a big ole' smile on her face. :)

When we drove to their home to drop them off, Chuck took her out of the car and she looked at me and said, "bye gramma! I love you gramma. "

What a little joy she is, and she brings me great joy.