Pray for Emma

I am asking for prayers for Emma today as she goes into surgery.
She woke up on Wednesday from her nap with a large bump on the side of her neck. It was too late to get her in to the doctor so we decided to wait and see how it was the next morning. It seemed larger so I made her an appointment for the afternoon on Thursday. I thought surely I would go and they would say it was no big deal - give her some motrin and send us home. Dr. Daley and Dr. Dutter were concerned and sent us to the E.R. for scans and tests. We met Caleb there at 6:30 and got in right away. They wanted to do a cat scan to figure out what it was. They sedated her to put the i.v. in. It took about 45 minutes for them to find a vein that would not blow :( during which her sedation wore off and it was very heartbreaking as they tried to get a vein. Finally the called a NICU nurse and she got one on the first try. Memorial doctors and nurses were so wonderful! The cat scan showed a very large abcess in her neck so they transported her to a hospital in Sacramento that has a specialized children's unit. They said the abcess is pressing against veins and if it gets larger it will press against her airway. We got here around midnight. We talked to the doctor here and she is scheduled for sugery sometime today to get rid of the abcess. Between midnight and 2:30 she had more examination a new i.v. started (tragic again) and then she slept. She is doing well - tells the nurses and doctors "bye-bye" because she wants them to go away. She wants in her "buckles" to go "bye-bye YES mommy!" She likes the pretty lights out the hospital window :) Those who have heard her this Christmas season know what that sounds like! We just learned she is scheduled for 10:00 this a.m. to go in and drain the abcess. Pray that all goes well and we can take our girl home soon. If only we could trade her places we would.... Praising our Creator for answered prayers so far and trusting Him for today.
 ~Clinton and Kelley

Wonderful

Wonderful... is the word that best describes our Christmas holidays this year.

Perfect? No.

But still wonderful.

I think not having things perfect makes me more thankful for the people that we were surrounded by

this year ~ treasured family and friends. There were missing places at the table at every family Christmas we had except for Clinton's immediate family. Yet, while these people were missed, it seemed as though all the rest of us loved a little more to make up for it. And I am left with a feeling of tremendous gratitude for the love that the Father continues to pour down on His children...

There's a lot of spunk in that group - from ALL of them :)



Sweet Kinzie cousins



December fun with Grandma Bowman



Shopping in S.F... new holiday tradition!



Grandma Jane and Aunt Coreen's girls - off to Christmas Tree Lane



Brrrrr... bundle up and play outside





Simple. We love them!



small obsession with "bows"



Grandma's Girls

more to come!

The November Blur

Wow! October/November was pretty much a blur for our family. Our month was filled to the brim with both things we had planned, and then lots of unplanned events also. We had funerals, weddings, parties, (few) wonderful days at home, evenings out... the list goes on! We said hello to old friends and new family, said congrats, good-bye, good luck to dear family, and see you in heaven to dear grandparents we love. Life moves on. I've been trying to write down our busyness, and I really can't explain it all. (It would take another whole month!) Contrary to the rest of the world - we're excited for this month so we can slow down... just soak in the warmth of Christmas, the joy of the gift of Jesus, and the love and comfort of family.
Sooo ~ here's a few pictures to show our past month...


We accepted that this world was not Grandma Glenna's
home and watched as her family lovingly let her go




We said good-bye to Grandpa Bowman as we
praised God for the joy that awaited him



 

and resolved to soak in our sweet Grandmas who
we are so blessed by





We birthday partied!





and bride partied



We started exciting plans



We stayed home and played silly games

and celebrated Uncle Clark and Aunt Elaine's wedding!



Baked and had fun with family on Thanksgiving
as we praised our Creator
for all these good and perfect gifts from His hand

          And as we begin a new month with anticipation of this Christmas season,

          we rejoice in the knowledge that although we don't know what the future

          holds, we KNOW that our Father God has a plan to bless His children.

                                      Praise Him for His unspeakable gift!

Punkins in the Pumpkins (part two)

Train ride! Zachary and Rosanna are back there too... the boys loved this :)



dear kid-free friends who are such good sports- watching the tinybabies so their mamas can take their big brothers on the train and in the petting zoo...






 

"Moommeee! Pump-uh-ki! Pump-uh-ki!"

This day was a farmgirl's idea of GREAT fun - notice the fists clenched in excitement :)



Punkins in the Pumpkins (part one)

Nothing like a trip to the pumpkin patch to welcome in fall! (except it was 93 degrees)
A bunch of us girls decided it would be fun to take the kiddos to the pumpkin patch for some good ole' fun... and fun we had! There was hundreds of pumpkins, train rides, and a wonderfully interactive petting zoo :)
We all had a grand time!


every picture we have, someone was in mid-jump



trying to byo byo on the pumpkins! LOL!

awww so sweet - Grady is one of the few she will allow to do this!

Grady and Emma cornering the chickens so they could grab them!

Like mother like daughter - love the goats! We're begging daddy ;)



This goat followed Emma around - she kept swatting at it to quit munching on her.





Cinderella

little Cinderella loves to clean...

                                and gather food...

                                                               



and cook...

she makes me smile

because she does things like this...

and this...

then gives me a giggle and smile like this...



deja vu

These two girls had lots of fun at the ocean together...just like their mamas used to (and still do!) A few times we had to just laugh at how great it is that here we are again - at the beach - in the sun - so relaxing... wait a minute? - with our kids???  ~~~and we wouldn't change a thing~~~ well, except we're missing half of our friendsforever beach crew (Barb and Bev, get your kiddos out here too)

something must have been really funny?!





Would you rather?

Seeing these pictures in the same month of my picture files reminded me of a silly game my friends and I used to play... Would you rather? Questions like "Would you rather be deaf or blind?" or usually more sarcastic questions like "Would you rather have a 1972 Mercedes (Heather) a 1969 bug (me - hated that car) or a 1980something Honda civic (Barb)?" OK that one was a toss-up :) Anyway, I'll stop before I reveal how immature we really were, here's my Would you rather? pictures...

So would you rather see a dust cloud out your back door?

                                                    OR.....

Gee that's a hard one.

What wonderful fun Emma and I had in Monterey playing in the sand

with Heather, Miss Mae, and sweet Olivia!