Our Texan Relatives

At the end of our summer we were blessed to be able to spend lots of quality time with Becky and her three boys. They flew in from Texas at the end of July while we were in Oregon and left in mid August... just two days after Rei started school. We of course tried to spend as much time with them as possible. Reilly has missed Aidan since their family left Bakersfield in December of '06. The following pictures are from their visit.

June, July, and August 2008

Our summer was wonderful. It was filled with family, friends, and fellowship. We are truly thankful to our Lord for the many blessings in our life. This summer I was able to stay home with both of the girls. While at home Reilly practiced her reading and math and learned a few new chores. But her schedule was pretty packed this summer with soccer camp, vacation bible school, swim lessons, gymnastics, a trip to Chico to visit GG, a trip to Oregon for Timmy J's wedding, and visiting with many friends and family here in Bako.

Rei at a water park in Bako.

VBS had themed days, two of which were crazy hair day and crazy face day.

Reilly and my friend Jill are out on the lake with a jet ski.

Nick and I took Maddy to Pismo to celebrate our wedding anniversary... he booked a suite at the Cliffs... that's where we stayed on our wedding night. We absolutely loved it. Who doesn't love the beach?!

Maddy's first trip to San Francisco.

Rei and Maddy during one of many pit stops up to Oregon.

Timmy J's wedding was a blast! Maddy stayed up all night... she was smiling the whole time.

We stopped in Chico on our way up and back from Oregon to stay with my grandma, aka GG. She turned 90 in May! I love her so much!

Chrissy and Koudjo came to visit us this summer too! They came all the way from Chicago. I really wish that they could have stayed longer.

Swim Lessons For The Girls

June 2008

The Ronald McDonald Walk

(Chandler, Sarah, Nick, Maddy, and me) We would like to thank everyone who helped our team raise over $2,000 towards the Ronald McDonald room at Memorial Hospital!

On the Move

Maddy is 8 months old and she is really enjoying moving around our house. She especially loves anyone chasing her as she crawls. She also enjoys pulling herself up to stand at our coffee table and then she side shuffles around it, holding on by either one or two hands. I can't believe how much she has changed since she was born!

Six Weeks Old

Our family has had an amazing journey this year. Our daughter Maddy was born December 2007 and six weeks later we found our world turned upside down. She had become very ill and the doctors in Bakersfield had no idea what was wrong with her. After an agonizing 24 hour stay at Kern Medical Center a medic crew of four, from the Children's Hospital of Central California drove from Madera (just outside of Fresno) to Bakersfield. Maddy had her first trip out of town in an ambulance without her mom and dad. The hardest part was the unknown. When we found out what was causing her paralysis we were able to breath a sigh of relief. She was diagnosed with RSV and Infant Botulism... and that was the diagnosis that we were praying for (the other possibilities were grim). The doctors informed us that Infant Botulism is totally recoverable... in fact just hours after she was given the amino globulin called Baby Big, I watched one of her tiny fingers move. Each and every day thereafter we saw improvement in her condition.

Many people ask us how she got Infant Botulism. The doctors think that she may have breathed in the botulism spore in the air (maybe during one of our walks or through our AC unit, we will never know for sure). The pH in her tummy had to be just right for the spore to be able to survive and germinate. Apparently babies can get Infant Botulism a number of ways... a spore in the air (which is more common in farming communities and new housing developments), honey, canned formula, and high fructose corn syrup. Only about 70 babies across the United States get Infant Botulism each year. I am so thankful to share that Maddy is now 8 months old and you'd never know how sick she was by looking at her.

Nick and I are extremely thankful for all of the prayers, cards, meals, and sweet gifts sent to us while we were in the hospital. Not only were our prayers answered we saw the Lord's Church come together across the country praying for our tiny little girl; for that we cannot express our gratitude in words.

Our Lord is a faithful, loving, compassionate Lord. "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.." James 5:14-15 Nick and I belong to an amazing church body that we are thankful to be apart of. Thank you LBC.