Well, my first week in Oklahoma has been really busy! Zach had football camp 3 evenings last week. We also changed my cell phone number, got a home phone, unpacked boxes,ordered Zach's football uniform, ordered his sports goggles, unpacked more boxes,got Zach's football equipment checked out, unpacked boxes, my inlaws got us a new fridge, we had our cable installed, unpacked more boxes, removed plastic and foam inserts for blinds etc... in our house, put together a new lawn mower, unpacked even more boxes, put together a new bed with a million pieces for Zach, cleared away cobwebbs in about every corner of the house, unpacked more boxes .... and the list goes on and on.... in the middle of all of that, we have been catching up with friends and family!
Even after all of that, it's great to be HOME! When we told some of our friends in Virginia that we were moving back to Oklahoma alot of them asked us "Why? Do we like heat and tornadoes? " or made comments like "You are moving to Oklahoma on purpose?" .... and when we told them that we grew up here and this is HOME for us, they said, "Well, that is the only thing that can explain why you'd want to live in Oklahoma!" .... they think that they have a sense of humor. I for one will be glad to be away from those hurricanes. Went through one and that was ENOUGH for me (and we lived about 70 miles from the coast!)
We're glad to be home!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
We are officially in Oklahoma again
We are finally in Oklahoma. We got here last Thursday and it has been a whirlwind ever since! Lots and Lots of unpacking to do! And Zach has already started football, so we are already busy!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Moving Day is almost here!!!!
Wow! I can't believe that moving day is almost here! It seems as if we have been wanting to move back for sooooo long, and it's unreal that it is finally going to happen. I moved away from home in '94! I can't believe it's been that long!
God as always been faithful and has taken care of me no matter where we have lived. He has ALWAYS watched over me and provided for me all these years! God is ALWAYS faithful to take care of His children!
I have loved the 4 years that I have been here in Virginia. It a beautiful place to be and I feel blessed to have been here! It's so full of great people and lots of American history!
I love my church and my church family here. The folks at our church, knowing that we are away from family,have taken us under their wing and taken care of us like we were their family. They also have acted like family to my kids and have spoiled them rotten! Ashleigh's class even had a pizza party today in her honor! We are going to miss everyone and miss serving in that church.
But, we will be near our family when we move back to Oklahoma and I will get to be near my childhood friends and watch their kids grow up! And all of my "little" cousins are all starting families as well, so that will be a blast!
I will also get to be near my god-children, Hannah, Jordan and Harlee. I've missed so much of their lives being so far away!
I will also get to start rooting for my POKES in person. For some reason, they don't care much for my POKIES up here! Something about that Virginia/Virginia Tech thing...! I just can't understand it... HA HA!
One thing is for sure though! They don't like OU either, so we DID have that in common. So watch out POKES! I'm comin' to root you on!
We are leaving here on the 18th and will be moving into the rental in Owasso on the 20th, so look out OKLAHOMA, here we come!
God as always been faithful and has taken care of me no matter where we have lived. He has ALWAYS watched over me and provided for me all these years! God is ALWAYS faithful to take care of His children!
I have loved the 4 years that I have been here in Virginia. It a beautiful place to be and I feel blessed to have been here! It's so full of great people and lots of American history!
I love my church and my church family here. The folks at our church, knowing that we are away from family,have taken us under their wing and taken care of us like we were their family. They also have acted like family to my kids and have spoiled them rotten! Ashleigh's class even had a pizza party today in her honor! We are going to miss everyone and miss serving in that church.
But, we will be near our family when we move back to Oklahoma and I will get to be near my childhood friends and watch their kids grow up! And all of my "little" cousins are all starting families as well, so that will be a blast!
I will also get to be near my god-children, Hannah, Jordan and Harlee. I've missed so much of their lives being so far away!
I will also get to start rooting for my POKES in person. For some reason, they don't care much for my POKIES up here! Something about that Virginia/Virginia Tech thing...! I just can't understand it... HA HA!
One thing is for sure though! They don't like OU either, so we DID have that in common. So watch out POKES! I'm comin' to root you on!
We are leaving here on the 18th and will be moving into the rental in Owasso on the 20th, so look out OKLAHOMA, here we come!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
SEARS
The following is from an email that I received today.... I checked it out on snopes.com and it is true! What a wonderful thing for Sears to do for their employees.....!!!!!
"Thought this information was important to share. Our National Guard and Reservist troops need to know that we want the Sears policy to become our national policy!!
Let's all show up at Sears
I assume you have all seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up...Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.
Suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves."
"Thought this information was important to share. Our National Guard and Reservist troops need to know that we want the Sears policy to become our national policy!!
Let's all show up at Sears
I assume you have all seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up...Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.
Suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves."
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
July 4th - Update on Gabriel
Here is an update on Gabriel.... Sorry I haven't posted in a while about this....
From an email from Dawn received on June 27th....
"Many people have asked us when Gabriel might be released from the hospital.It's certainly something we've been interested in as well. We are thinking of taking bets. :) Until this weekend there was a possibility that we might be able released this week That hope has since been dashed. Still we want to keep everyone informed as to what we do now know.
Our current situation is this: The decision to put a feeding tube into Gabriel's side has been made. We are now only waiting for a series of two tests which will tell if he has reflux. Depending on whether he has reflux tendencies or not will determine what sort of surgery they need to do to put the tube in (and whether a band needs to be put above the stomach). Once both tests are done, then they can schedule the surgery. Then, after the surgery there will be a span of three or four days of recovery and watching before we can be released (assuming no infection or fever).
Until this we had not experienced any great delay in getting tests done, however this test was scheduled for Monday, then pushed to Tuesday, and now appears to be set for Wednesday morning. This test is of dye that is put down his throat and take only minutes to resolve. The second test takes place over hours. The second test can't be scheduled until the first test is concluded. We are hopeful that they can get both tests in on Wednesday, but there is no guarantee. After this, they will start to schedule the operation. Depending on how busy they are at that time, that could be as early as the next day, or as late as five to six working days.
So here is the best case scenario that we are hoping for: if we can get both tests on Wednesday and scheduled for surgery on Thursday or Friday, perhaps they will count the weekend time after surgery as "recovery" and we can go home to NW Arkansas early next week. I'm still holding out hope that we can all get home before July 4th but dark clouds are hovering over that prediction."
From a email from Dawn received on June 30th....
"Hello again from Little Rock,
Late last night we were informed that Gabriel's stomach button surgery will be Monday at 7:30am. We are relieved to know the date and that it is Monday and not any later. After trying to work on the bottle feeds, Gabriel is loosing weight due to the use of so much energy. The doctors strongly recommended this procedure so he can be fed directly into his stomach. We are told this is very typical for babies like Gabriel. On Wednesday, he was tested for reflux, which he has "significant reflux"...so the doctor will do a procedure, putting a "nessin" (? spelling) which will block the flow of reflux.
As he grows he will improve and at some point will not need the button feed. For now, he needs to grow and gain strength and to do this he needs a little help.
Today we moved out of the Ronald McDonald House. Yesterday Gabriel had moved from a semi-private to a private room where we can both sleep with him.
I cannot begin to tell you how homesick we all are. The children have been doing good in OK with the grandparents, but they are missing us and home too. We need to be together again...and soon. Since his surgery is on Monday, we are hoping to be home by next weekend. Our hopes are high.
Thank you for all the prayers. Please continue to pray for Gabriel, his surgery and speedy recovery."
From an email from Dawn received on June 27th....
"Many people have asked us when Gabriel might be released from the hospital.It's certainly something we've been interested in as well. We are thinking of taking bets. :) Until this weekend there was a possibility that we might be able released this week That hope has since been dashed. Still we want to keep everyone informed as to what we do now know.
Our current situation is this: The decision to put a feeding tube into Gabriel's side has been made. We are now only waiting for a series of two tests which will tell if he has reflux. Depending on whether he has reflux tendencies or not will determine what sort of surgery they need to do to put the tube in (and whether a band needs to be put above the stomach). Once both tests are done, then they can schedule the surgery. Then, after the surgery there will be a span of three or four days of recovery and watching before we can be released (assuming no infection or fever).
Until this we had not experienced any great delay in getting tests done, however this test was scheduled for Monday, then pushed to Tuesday, and now appears to be set for Wednesday morning. This test is of dye that is put down his throat and take only minutes to resolve. The second test takes place over hours. The second test can't be scheduled until the first test is concluded. We are hopeful that they can get both tests in on Wednesday, but there is no guarantee. After this, they will start to schedule the operation. Depending on how busy they are at that time, that could be as early as the next day, or as late as five to six working days.
So here is the best case scenario that we are hoping for: if we can get both tests on Wednesday and scheduled for surgery on Thursday or Friday, perhaps they will count the weekend time after surgery as "recovery" and we can go home to NW Arkansas early next week. I'm still holding out hope that we can all get home before July 4th but dark clouds are hovering over that prediction."
From a email from Dawn received on June 30th....
"Hello again from Little Rock,
Late last night we were informed that Gabriel's stomach button surgery will be Monday at 7:30am. We are relieved to know the date and that it is Monday and not any later. After trying to work on the bottle feeds, Gabriel is loosing weight due to the use of so much energy. The doctors strongly recommended this procedure so he can be fed directly into his stomach. We are told this is very typical for babies like Gabriel. On Wednesday, he was tested for reflux, which he has "significant reflux"...so the doctor will do a procedure, putting a "nessin" (? spelling) which will block the flow of reflux.
As he grows he will improve and at some point will not need the button feed. For now, he needs to grow and gain strength and to do this he needs a little help.
Today we moved out of the Ronald McDonald House. Yesterday Gabriel had moved from a semi-private to a private room where we can both sleep with him.
I cannot begin to tell you how homesick we all are. The children have been doing good in OK with the grandparents, but they are missing us and home too. We need to be together again...and soon. Since his surgery is on Monday, we are hoping to be home by next weekend. Our hopes are high.
Thank you for all the prayers. Please continue to pray for Gabriel, his surgery and speedy recovery."
Monday, July 03, 2006
MOVING TO OKLAHOMA
Well, the official word is finally here. We are moving to Oklahoma this month. We are packing up here on the 17th and will be arriving sometime the 19th.... then we will be unpacking at our house on the 20th! So if anyone wants to help us out, either here in VA or there in OK, we could sure use the help!
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Too much time on your hands....
You ever wonder what could happen when people have too much time on their hands? Check this out.... COKE & MENTO GEYSERS
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