Sorry it has once again been so long since I posted. Things have been going well for us. Both Jamie & Anne were excited to get their braces off early in March. Jamie particularly had some very challenging things to overcome with her bite, etc. so the dentist was thrilled with the outcome after 4+ years. In fact Jamie’s mouth will probably be appearing in a prominent dental journal soon. He thought her dramatic results called for publishing :o)

We had a chance to catch our breath over spring break. Both shows the girls were involved in closed just before, so it really felt nice to have a brief reprieve from intense theater and school schedules before it all began again this week.

Our biggest family news is that David and Emily are engaged, planning a December 16th wedding at Good Shepherd. He managed to surprise her with the timing of the proposal and a beautiful dainty heart-shaped diamond ring. He knew exactly what she’d like, so I drove with him across town to the jeweler he wanted to buy from and he explained to them what he was looking for… we were outta there in 15 minutes :o) Because you choose your diamond and setting separately there we needed to return to pick up the finished product the following week. I hung out in the car and managed to get a picture just after he came out. He proposed on Saturday afternoon, March 19th. We already had plans to be at Emily’s family’s home for dinner after church that night, so it ended up being a special time of celebration. We also presented Emily’s dad with a ‘bride price’ gift, a token of sincerity from David and our family….a cow that will be delivered once they finish getting their fences in place. This steer will happily laze about in the pasture thru the spring and summer before he gets butchered in the fall. We knew it would be well received as they had been planning to get one...You can’t just buy a cow for anyone these days :o). As for their plans, they both plan to finish their associate degrees next spring. Emily then plans to work while David transfers to Portland State to pursue his degree in Criminal Justice. He’s not looking at police work, per se, but is interested possibly in investigative work with the FBI or Homeland Security. Emily’s parents have a small farm up in Sandy and several years ago built a big farmhouse. The second level was built with a separate apartment in mind, so while her mom makes her wedding dress this summer, Bill will be finishing the apartment for them. They have generously offered to rent it to them for a very reasonable rate while David finishes school. It will also be a great opportunity for David to learn the ropes of farm work….they have quite a few chickens (they sell eggs), raise pigs (a few months of the year) and grow/can lots of vegetables from their garden. David and Emily have been reading together and are meeting regularly with a wonderful young Christian couple. They also plan to do Financial Peace University at Good Shepherd and participate in pre-marital counseling….so along with a Christian Community Theater production they both hope to be in this summer, they have some busy months ahead of them. We love Emily and her family and have enjoyed getting together often for meals, fun, Face to Face (Bible Read Thru) and visiting. Emily has been working with Benjamin the past few months too and it’s been so nice to have her around….she’s really good with Ben and then we’ve just enjoyed the opportunity for us to get to know each other better with her here daily during the school week. Because she was hired as the choreographer of the CYT Spring show (Tom Sawyer) she’ll have to reduce her time here some for the next couple months, but we’re excited for this opportunity for her too. Anne auditions for that show this afternoon. Jamie chose to be on crew again up in Vancouver this session.  

We are planning towards my returning to Uganda this summer for another medical outreach. They asked that a team come again, and so far 3 out the 4 of us that went from the US last year are planning to return. Dr. Will (Florida) and his wife will be coming in May to meet with us and plan for the trip. We ideally would like one more physician on the team, so appreciate your prayers that God will provide in ways that He knows are needed.  

Krissy is doing pretty well. She’s in a calmer place these days and I think rather than get our hopes up that it’s permanent, we need to enjoy it. Her behavior tends to cycle (which is very comforting when things are much more challenging!). She’s happy at her school and plans to attend the Autistic Children’s Activity Program this summer (ACAP).  

I think that about covers the news on our end!

Love, Janelle for the family

Quick updates...

Just wanted to let you know we had a nice uneventful trip home.  Last day at Disneyland was great...she was a little sad to leave which was an appropriate response.  Larry & Emily met us at the airport while Anne looked after Ben at home.  

I had good news on my previously mentioned infection/screw loose in my head (no comments necessary).  I geared up for the procedure on Friday and Larry took me in to the clinic.  I was a little nervous, but the CT had showed only cellulitis and not osteomyelitis like the MD thought. So I thought, this shouldn't be too bad.  He gave me probably 6-8 injections of local anesthetic and I declined the tranquilizer.  So glad I did, because it was very easy...no discomfort at all.  Partly this was because he only removed the outer portion.  Apparently he feels this bone anchored hearing aid is salvageable and so while I don't have a post in my head anymore, he can, in the future just do a small surgery in the office and access the base of what he left there (I will need to warm up to this idea down the road)  For now I'm relieved and happy to have this screw and post gone as it was very uncomfortable and bugged me a lot.  

We're looking forward to being together with some very good friends tonight.  One couple invited us and 2 other couples over for a special valentine dinner...all are people we enjoy a lot, so this will be fun!  Kids are having their own party here at home with pizza, strawberries, salad, ice cream and cookies.  

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful week ahead!

Janelle

...she ain't heavy,she's my sister (and other moments from Disneyland)

Highlights from the last 24 hrs...

My new 'do

Krissy did a great job at the salon today getting a new hairdo.  This cut took alot of sitting still and Lacee said Krissy held still better than some of her adult clients.  She looks so much perkier, and it's just in time for her mini-vacation coming up this weekend.

Hmmmm....what to call today's blog?

As you might suspect, this isn't a good question to raise :o)  But since you're wondering, the two choices that immediately come to mind are

a) Curiosity killed the.....TV

b) "...And I just thought I had a screw loose"

So first, we'll go with option A.  Since our nice big screen TV  is now out in the side yard awaiting transportation to the dump, you'll see the heat pump and possibly some grass reflected in what's left of the screen.  Last Saturday morning, on my watch I was out in the kitchen doing things.  Krissy was her usual 'back and forth' but quite interested in a video in the living room.  We had gotten this big TV in December (a Salvation Army find for $75, which actually made its' demise a little less painful than if we'd recently purchased it new)  I had recently checked on her and in fact, Larry had also just walked by and there was nothing of concern. However my next visual check revealed a hole in the lower left corner and the entire bottom of the screen caved in.  Apparently with the characters being so life-like (life-size) Krissy was quite convinced that they were actually inside the TV and she had impulsively decided to have a look.  I was pretty mad, I'll admit....and layed the guilt trip on pretty thick.  The next morning she got up saying, "Mommy, I'm sorry TV...I forgive you" repeatedly.  Guess she wanted to keep replaying both sides of the culmination of our 'discussion' over ever doing it again.  We thought we should probably not get another one for awhile, although this sort of punishes everyone (including Ben) who enjoys his videos.  We sat tight for a couple days and then 'out of the blue' some friends from CYT who had heard what happened, let me know that they had a large TV they were storing in the garage, as their adult daughter had gotten a smaller one.  She just wanted $50 for it and it's very nice...in fact it seems identical to the one we had except just a few inches smaller, which is fine!  I didn't want to spend much on a replacement, not knowing if her curiosity was now satisfied or not.  She seems to have taken the message to heart...

B)  About 15 months ago, I opted to have a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) implanted.  This is done by the MD installing a small steel post behind the ear (in the operating room).  After it 'sets' for about 3 months, you snap an external small processor onto it and it conducts sound, increasing hearing.  Well, I found that it wasn't ever comfortable to wear this...it hit my head in a way that felt like I was getting pinched.  When I told the MD about it, his solution was changing it to a longer post, a simple thing done in the office.  So...at the end of this last December I did that.  However a couple weeks later when I attempted to put the processor on, it hurt and it felt like the post wasn't firmly attached.  So back I went and the Dr said that he needed to tighten the screw, that it didn't make sense that it was sore (which didn't really relieve my symptoms at all) but he didn't have the right tool at the office he was at, so I scheduled to go  to the other one the following week.  Unfortunately that was the day of ice, so I didn't go...but finally, two days ago, I finally made it AND he had the right tool to fix me up.  We thought so, anyway.  He started looking at it and it hurt BAD, like clear thru my skull.  He said "I don't like that at all" ("You don't like it?????) He said that the screw wasn't loose at all, but the whole post was loose and he believed I had developed osteomyelitis (explanation...infection in the bone with some of it dying) around it.  He wanted a CT scan right away (which I was able to walk downstairs and do immediately) and started me on antibiotics.  Now the whole thing has to be removed surgically.  Often with osteomyelitis, IV antibiotics are necessary, so we're eager to hear the CT results to know how bad this is.  With airline tickets to Disneyland a week from today, I really don't want to have my head cut open before as it's just something else to deal with.  I'm thinking the antibiotics should settle it down and unless it becomes alot worse, he seemed agreeable to putting it off for a few extra days.  

Which brings me to happy news....we're really excited to head south to hopefully warm weather and fun at Disneyland.  David, Krissy and I plan to fly down Saturday evening.  Jamie had an event that she really wanted to attend on Sat evening, so she'll fly down Sunday morning, arriving about the time we would need a lunch break anyway.  We'll have a car, so we'll pick her up and then return to the park.  Krissy is very excited about this and has her schedule made up for the first day.  I see that we are going back to our hotel (just across from the entrance) for a little down time around dinner, then returning for Space Mountain (mom is NOT going on this) , the fireworks and the water show.  We plan to have 3 pretty full days before our flight home Tuesday evening.   My next blog post will probably be from there.

Otherwise all is well.  Larry is anticipating his unit likely going to all 12 hr shifts, which will be quite a change for us.  David is doing well at Mt. Hood Comm. College and is looking for part-time work as he's wanting to save for 'the future' :o)  Jamie is really busy, but seems to be thriving with it.  She's a full time college student, doing driver's ed, usually helping me with getting Krissy and Ben out the door in the mornings as well as being the stage manager for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang this winter at CYT Vancouver.  Anne and I get a country drive twice a day as she attends Damascus Christian School.  Her efforts were rewarded when she worked hard on her audition song for Annie and got exactly the role she wanted....that of the feistiest orphan, Pepper.  She gets to be very snotty, fight and do some gymnastics as well as singing, dancing and having some lines....all in all, a good fit for her and she's happy with it.  We've had a challenging few months with Krissy, partially attributable to an injection she had at the end of October.  It's a hormone medication that was intended to make her life easier, but not quite how it worked out.   It lasts for 3 months, so we had to ride it out.  This last week has been a noticeable improvement, calmer both at school and home.  Benj is doing well and really enjoying his new after-school buddy, Emily.   It was so cute yesterday as I was watching them play...he put his little hand up to give her a high-5.  His health has been stable.  My week was busy with making 12 dozen cinnamon rolls as a special favor for a large family breakfast tomorrow following their daughter's wedding today. The little photo is one of the last 3 pans ready to go in the oven....I am so done making rolls for awhile and am quite certain after this marathon,  I will be able to "just say no" to any future similar requests!  It was not as easy as it sounds.

Catch us up when you can...we'd love to hear from you too!

Love, Janelle & all

Good Morning...I think Benjamin has surpassed all previous records of staying out of the hospital, this time making it from July...until yesterday.  He's ok, but has had a rough week with fever and 'stomach bug' type symptoms. Thankfully no one else is sick but he just got dehydrated enough that our pediatrician felt he needed to be hospitalized yesterday.  I realized how bad he looked (and how worried they were) when they asked if I'd like them to call an ambulance to take him in.  I declined and we made a stop by home to pick up a few things.  Jamie cancelled her plans for the evening to come along and help (thank you again!) and spent the night here with Ben and I.  He's looking considerably better already and I'd like to get out of here before we get something we didn't come with!  We'll see how the day goes, but thanks for praying for him to recover and hopefully the rest of us to stay well for awhile here too.  Blessings to you all this Christmas season!