Girl's first fishing trip

Troy took the girls the other day on their first fishing "trip". We have several "catch and release" ponds in our neighborhood to go fishing at. The girls had fun... Ashleigh caught 5 fish, and Allie caught one... Troy said that Ashleigh did great and loved fishing... Allie was fine until a fish actually bit and then she quickly handed her pole to Ashleigh for her to reel the fish in.

Hurry and take the picture, daddy, the sun is in our eyes.

Ashleigh's first catch!

Allie's first catch!

Rainbow pic

I love seeing rainbows.... it reminds me that God always keeps His promises!
This pic was taken behind my house.

FACING THE GIANTS

I am gonna take my son to see "Facing the Giants".... On the website there is info about the movie as well as clips and a trailer.

Here is the movie description.....

From the award-winning producers of FLYWHEEL comes a new, action-packed, family-friendly drama about a high school football coach who draws up a new game plan for his team … and himself.

In his six years of coaching, Grant Taylor has never had a winning season. Even the hope of a new season is squelched when the best player on his Shiloh Eagles decides to transfer schools. After losing their first three games of the season, the coach discovers a group of fathers are plotting to have him fired. Combined with pressures at home, Coach Taylor has lost hope in his battle against fear and failure.

However, an unexpected challenge helps him find a purpose bigger than just victories. Daring to trust God to do the impossible, Coach Taylor and the Eagles discover how faith plays out on the field … and off.

With God, all things are possible …

Ashleigh's last game

Ashleigh's last game to cheer at was Tuesday night. She has made lots of improvements since her first practice several months ago! She said she wants to cheer next year, but wants to cheer for tackle football next year instead of flag. That is fine with me. I couldn't get into those flag football games!
One comment she did make after she was done was soooo sweet. She said "now that cheerleading is over, I won't have to miss any more of bubby's games!" She loves going to her brothers game and cheering him on!
I love cheering on all of my kiddos!

INFC Playoff time

Well, INFC Playoffs are almost here! Zach's team is 7-0 with 2 more games left to go.... we are definitly in the playoffs, just don't know what seed we will be. We are 1st in our division right now, and to stay in first, we have to beat Sand Springs this weekend, who are also 7-0. It will be an awesome game.
We also have to beat Collinsville on the 28th to keep our place at the top of the division.
Playoffs start Oct 30th or 31st and the finals are on Nov. 11th!
Go Owasso 3rd Grade Black!

Score for today's game....

Owasso Black - 29
Sapulpa - 6

Owasso Black is now 7-0 with 2 more games to go. Next weeks game is gonna be our biggest challenge!

O W A S S O

I frequently visit the forum for the Indian Nations Football Conference, (Well, actually I am addicted! I may have to start a INFC Annonymous support group) The forum has an automatic filter for bad words or phrases. It changes the words to silly words and phrases such as "I'm a dork".... It is even hard to type in Owasso, because of the 3rd, 4th and 5th letter.... sometimes when you type Owasso, it comes out Owhippoo ..... it replaces the "offending" letters with hippo. So the word passer becomes phippoer.
The filter is a good thing, I suppose, because kids read the forum as well and I am glad that it is family friendly, but I think that they need to "turn down" the filter a bit.... right now, people are haveing to type O W A S S O most of the time so that it stays what it is suppose to be! Hope they fix it soon!

A critter amongst us.........

On Sunday morning, I saw an animal of some sort swimming in the pond behind our yard. I knew it wasn't a dog cause it was gliding through the water. For several days, I thought it might be a river otter, but what would a river otter be doing in a pond....?
Well, we figured it out. Well, my hubby did. He got out his binoculars when the critter was out there this morning, and he discovered that it is a beaver.
Pretty cool if you ask me... but it doesn't take much to entertain me!

AWESOME video

CAN World's Strongest dad (click here)
This video made me tear up a little....

"they don't get wet"

We were sitting at the table eating lunch and the girls asked me if the river otter was out in the pond behind our house today (yes, there was an otter in the pond the other day)... and I told them that he probably wasn't out there, cause it's raining, and he doesn't like to get wet. Then Allie piped up and said, "well, he could stay under water and stay dry".... all of us just cracked up with Allie looking at us puzzled with that "what?" look.

We are finally ranked! (Owasso Black) This is for last week. We are now 6-0

3RD GRADE

1. JENKS MAROON(2) 5-0
2. B.A. PLATINUM(3) 4-0
3. BARTESVILLE(4) 5-0
4. JENKS BLACK(5) 5-0
5. OWASSO RED(6) 5-0
6. SAND SPRINGS BLACK(7) 5-0
7. TBC RED(1) 4-1
8. SKIATOOK RED(8) 4-1
9. EAST TULSA MAROON(9) 5-0
10.OWASSO BLACK(NR) 5-0
11.COLLINSVILLE RED(12) 4-1
12.JENKS SILVER(NR) 4-1

Game - Oct 7th

Owasso Black - 35
Pryor - 0
We are now 6-0
GO 3RD GRADE OWASSO BLACK!

The team Ashleigh cheers for lost, but I am not sure what the final score was... I do know that the Dragons didn't score and that the team they were playing against scored 2 or 3 times.

Goofy me....

Well, I pulled an "only me"... after staying up and making the banner that I "showed off" in the last post, I FORGOT it at home.... silly me... oh well, we can use it for our next game, not a big deal.

Banner

I got to make the "spirit banner" for my son's football team for the 2nd time this season.... This is the one that they get to run through.... Basically, I make it, they destroy it.... that's how my life goes :)

One on One time with Ashleigh.....

If you know my middle child,Ashleigh, you know that she always thinks that her brother and sister always get more attention than she does. So, she and I had a little time together today, just me and her! Her brother had his party yesterday and her sister got to go with her daddy to Wetumka for a few days, so she was feeling left out....so, we went to the Tulsa Zoo. We had a great time, just me and my blondie.

Zach's 8th Birthday party

Zachary had his 8th Birthday party yesterday at Incredible Pizza in Tulsa. He had a great turn out and had a blast!

Nostalgia

I was a bit nostalgic tonight.... my friend, Tonja, called me up and asked me to go to the Owasso Band Contest finals with her. So, I decided that I would go.
It brought back a lot of memories!
My Alma Mater, Collinsville High School, was in the finals. They did a really good job and won first place in Class 4A but came in 10th over all. Not use to C'ville band coming in 10th place!
Berryhill HS Band was 1st over all.
I really enjoyed going and seeing all the bands. It brought back a lot of memories!
(I guess that once you're a band geek, always a band geek!)

WOW... what a game....

Went to Zach's game today (of course) and what a game.... we played Berryhill. Both teams brought their "A" game and it was a hard fought game on BOTH sides. My hats off to the Berryhill 3rd grade team. They've got a good one!
Our team didn't really "wake up" until the middle of the 3rd Quarter, but when they finally woke up, man, did they wake up! There was one play where they held Berryhill and it was 3rd down and their running back made a huge run and got a first down.... after that, our boys got mad enough that they decided that they weren't gonna take it anymore and played harder.
Owasso won 12-7..... We scored a touchdown with a little over a minute left in the game.... then we did on on-side kick, and we recovered the ball!
They are now 5-0! Go Owasso Rams 3rd Grade Black!
(after watching Jenks run over Owasso Friday night (yes, I witnessed it and it wasn't pretty) we need some hope for the future!)

Sad day

After a hard fought fight, Ator field will be no more. Read about it here.
Ator field is a well known landmark in Owasso and will be missed. I don't know this man who decided to take the promised land away from the Owasso Public schools personally, but I do know one thing, I don't have a very high opinion of him. I don't think anyone here in Owasso does. I don't understand how someone can be so heartless!

Football Funny

While I was watching my son's football game Saturday, there was a questionable call. I didn't think much of it, cause we were winning the game anyways, when one of the other parents who was sitting about 5 rows above me, and he is an OU fan yelled, "Hey Kim, are we in Oregon? Didn't we recover the ball?"
All I could do is laugh and say, "haven't you gotten over that yet?"
We all got a laugh out of that one...
At least he has a sense of humor!

Picture day

Today was picture day at school. I remember on my picture days, mom said she would fix my hair up really cute but when she'd get the pictures, it was all messed up and looked nothing like it did when she sent me.
So, I wanted proof that I actually did fix Ashleigh's hair before she left the house for school..... When she got home, almost all the curls were gone. I hope that they got the pictured taken before that happened! We will see when we get her pics back.
(Zach got his pic made too, but he wouldn't let me touch his hair, so I didn't bother to take his pic.... besides, there isn't that much on top of his head to mess up!)

GO DRAGONS

Lazy Dog

Our dog Joe fell asleep like this in our kitchen floor... what a bum

8 years ago today....

8 years ago today was the day I became a mommy! It was one of the best days of my life!
Today is my son Zachary's birthday! Happy Birthday Zachary, I'm so proud of you!

Pics of Saturday's game

There was a photographer on the sidelines at the game Saturday. Here is the link if you are interested in looking.... Zach is #10 and is in 4 of the 130 or so pics....
Sure Shot Action Photos Click the "Photo Gallery" button and then "INFC Youth Football" then "3rd grade Owasso vs Broken Arrow"

Sept. 23 game

The team Ashleigh cheers for, the DRAGONS, won yesterday. Those little ones are sooooo cute... on one of the touchdown runs, the little boy carrying the ball took a moment to look at the fans on the sideline and shot us a big "look at me" grin... before running into the endzone.
Zach's team won 35 - 0 against Broken Arrow. The boys played really well again and Zach even got to make a kick off return. He only ran for 2 or 3 yards, but at least he got to touch the ball. I was proud. After the game, that is the first thing that he mentioned. He said "mom, did you see me?" ... I gave him a big hug and told him I was proud of him! His team is now 4-0. Next weeks game at Berryhill will be a test for us, cause they are a really tough team. GO RAMS!

Starting to not feel sorry for them anymore!

(stepping up on soap box)
Okay. In my last post, I stated that OU was cheated at the Oregon game and that I felt sorry for them. We ALL know that they were cheated... and now, the officials who made the bad calls are being punished, which is the right thing to do. They should be punished for it, cause it totally changed the outcome of the game.
But, I am starting to lose my sympathy for OU cause they won't let it go....
It was just a game and an NON CONFERENCE one at that. I don't think it sends a good message to our youth to keep whining about it... yes, I know that Oregon was a ranked team and yes I know that it knocked OU down the polls a bit... but they are STILL in the top 25!
We know that OU was cheated, we know that it was because bad calls, but now OU needs to quit dwelling on the Oregon game and show the world that they can rise above it.
I, as an OSU fan, am accustomed to losing and moving on, OU fans, if you need any lessons on "how to accept a loss" I am sure that I can start teaching classes on it. An REAL fan is a fan NO MATTER WHAT the outcome of the game.
(now I will climb down from my soap box.... OU, please don't give me reason to climb back up on it!)

OU was cheated

Yep.... you saw it here on my blog.... OU was cheated the other day when they played Oregon. As much as I hate to admit it, I actually felt sorry for OU the other day cause there was some really BAD calls made in that game and OU probably would've won if those bad calls weren't made. Now don't get me wrong, I usually don't mind when OU gets beat, (I usually enjoy it thoroughly, jump for joy, etc....) but I want them beat fair and square not by bad officiating!
(BTW, I still bleed ORANGE and BLACK!)

Kid pics

Our Cheerleader, Football player and the "little sis" cheerleader.... Allie says that she wants to be a cheerleader when she "grows up"

Pic from behind my house

Here is a pic I took the other morning behind my house before the fog lifted....

Today's score....

3rd Grade
Owasso Black - 34
Glenpool Blue - 0

Please keep one of Glenpool's players in your prayers. He was hit pretty hard toward the beginning of the game, and an ambulance was called after about 30 minutes. We are all praying that he is okay.

Sport's schedule for the weekend

Here's the kid's schedules for this weekend....Ashleigh - 10 AM (Owasso Sportsplex (they play in the back right corner)) GO DRAGONS!
Zach - @Glenpool (Glenpool HS field) at 12:30PM
Dylan - @Home (Owasso HS field) at 3PM
GO RAMS!

Powerful Video

A friend of mine sent me a link from "YOU TUBE" today... it's very powerful and to the point! All I could say was "WOW" at the end....
CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

Ashleigh's first slumber party

Ashleigh went to her first slumber party last night. It was at her cheerleading coaches house and she had a blast!
I think it was harder on me than it was her cause it's not very often that I don't have all of my little ones "in the nest"! But I did OK and so did she.

Team of the week

Every week, there is a FOR (Future Owasso Rams) "team of the week". This week Third Grade Black was selected! It's a great group of boys and is well deserved! Congratulations, boys!

Sept 9th Football Game

My son's team won their football game today over Jenks. As Zach put it, "they kicked some Trojan butt"
Owasso Black - 33
Jenks Gold - 6

GO RAMS!!!!!

Sanity check

After Saturday, I may have to have a sanity check done. It's gonna be a BUSY day! Zach has football pics first thing, then a game, then 30 minutes after Zach's game starts, Ashleigh has a game to cheer at. Then, she has practice afterwards and a slumber party.... after Z's game, we have a neighborhood block party to go to for a little while that afternoon and then Zach has a football party later that evening.... So, after all of that, I may need to have someone check my "marble count" because I only have a few more "marbles" left and I think that I may loose them all after Saturday!
Ashleigh's coach asked if they could do team pictures that day and when I frantically said "could we do it some other time?" they, thank goodness, changed the time to sometime next week!

My little Cheerleader

Tonight was Ashleigh's first game to cheer at and they all did a great job.... Ashleigh, of course, was the loudest.... and if you ask me, she was the cutest! (I might be just a little biased tho!)

Goofy dog

Okay. It's official. My dog Joey is GOOFY!
I bought him a dog waterer so that he wouldn't run out of water so quickly.... and everytime it refills itself after he takes a drink, it bubbles.... it makes him jump back and run away every time.... I am hoping that he would be a little more brave if he ever had to protect the family! I knew that Joey was skiddish but I didn't realize he was THAT jumpy!

TODAY'S GAME

UNION - Crimson - 0
OWASSO - Black - 14
GO RAMS!

MRI

I have a MRI scheduled on Monday morning to see what is going on with the herniated disk in my neck.

"Joe Cool"

The other day, my husband found his old goggles.... he just HAD to put them on our Golden Retriever, Joe... doesn't he look cool?

1st day of school (August 17th)

Ashleigh's first day of Kindergarten

Showing off the backpacks

Allie had to get into the picture too, she's having "school" at home with mom....

Zachary's 1st day of 3rd grade

Zach's first scrimmage

Here are some pics from Zach's first scrimmage.... the team scored 5 touchdowns on Jenks in 15 minutes... the boys did really well... (Zach is wearing the black jersey with white pants...)

Zach's first football practice....

Here are some pics of Zach's first football practice.... he's the one in the red shirt, black shorts....

Went to the doc

Well, after much prodding from my son, I finally went to the doc. It seems that it wasn't a sprain or a fracture. I have something called a "Ganglion cyst" on my wrist... it is a benign cyst, but causes pain and discomfort.... the doc said that I may have to have it surgically removed.. I am going to see an orthopedic doctor soon to see what he/she says. But, the ganglion isn't what was causing the majority of my pain.... it seems that I have another problem causing the pain. I have a herniated disk in my neck causing all my pain... right now I am on some meds that will help that but have a MRI coming up soon to see just how bad it is.... ONLY ME....
Thank goodness my son was persistent.... most of the time I am NOT thankful for that, but this time I am!

Hurt my wrist last week....

Don't know what I did, but I hurt my wrist last week! I wore a brace for 3 or 4 days but got tired of it..... now it's swelling up again, so I guess I had better put my brace back on and possibly go to the doctor. Ho Hum....
I have had several people ask me what happened, then offer me their opinion.... most have said "you may have fractured it..." others have said "it looks like a bad sprain...."I hope they are all wrong, cause I don't have time to have either of those things be wrong (or anything else for that matter)!
I mainly quit wearing the brace because I got tired of people asking me what happened and then getting their opinion about what I "should do, shouldn't do" etc...... (Sometimes I feel like having a hand out made of what happened to give out to people when they ask me.... so that I don't have to explain it over and over again or have a t-shirt that tells the story....)
Sigh... guess I will break down and go to the doctor.... eventually. At least it is still attached. As I tell my kids when they get hurt "It will feel better when it quits hurting" :)

Zach's 2nd scrimmage....

Zach's team had a scrimmage in Wagoner on Saturday. The team did really well.
We even did well against the Tulsa Boy's Club team. They are a pretty good team with some really good players and they only scored on us once.... and it was during our 4th session during the scrimmage, so the boys were worn out, and still did pretty well. Zach even took some pretty hard hits and bounced right back up. When I asked him if it hurt, he said "NO! It doesn't hurt at all" Guess he is getting tougher. I'd only get hit once like that and would say "I'm not playing any more!"

Football Schedule

Here is Zach's football schedule....

Date -Grade -Time -HomeTeam -VisitorTeam -Field Game
8/26/2006 -3 1:30 PM -Union Crimson -Owasso Black -TUTTLE
9/9/2006- 3 10:30 AM -Owasso Black -Jenks Gold -H.S.
9/16/2006- 3 12:30 PM -Glenpool Blue -Owasso Black
9/23/2006 -3 6:00 PM- Owasso Black -Broken Arrow White -H.S.
9/30/2006- 3 2:00 PM -Berryhill- Owasso Black- BERRYHILL
10/7/2006- 3 1:00 PM -Owasso Black- Pryor Blue -TRACK
10/14/2006 -3 11:00 AM- Sapulpa Blue -Owasso Black- H.S.
10/21/2006- 3 11:30 AM- Owasso Black -Sand Springs Black -TRACK
10/28/2006- 3 11:00 AM -Collinsville Black -Owasso Black

Zach's 2nd scrimmage

Zach's 2nd scrimmage is this coming Saturday, from 8AM - 10AM in Wagoner. You all know that I don't do mornings very well! (Last weeks was from 8AM - 10AM in Inola.)
The good thing about it is that we get to play while it isn't quite so hot.... and we get done early enough so that the day isn't "gone"..... but MAN it's early!

Son's first scrimmage

My son's football team, Owasso Third Grade Black, had their first scrimmage on Saturday. They played really well considering they have only practiced together for 2 weeks!
They did well on offense and defense. They scored 4 touchdowns in one 15 minute scrimmage against Jenks!
They have another scrimmage this Saturday and have their first game on Labor Day weekend.
GO RAMS!

What kind of American English do you speak?

Thought that this was fun to do. I found it on a friend's blog.....

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Dixie

15% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Too funny not to share (sorry OU fans)

This was in an email I received yesterday..... I assume that it was started by a Texas fan.....



When my son heard about what Bomar did on the news, he said "Well, THAT was stupid!"

Which Sesame Street Character are you? Here are my results, I'm Ernie!

You Are Ernie

Playful and childlike, you are everyone's favorite friend - even if your goofy antics get annoying at times. You are usually feeling: Amused - you are very easily entertained You are famous for: Always making people smile. From your silly songs to your wild pranks, you keep things fun. How you life your life: With ease. Life is only difficult when your friends won't play with you!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

BUSY.... BUSY.... BUSY

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!

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!

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!

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."

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."

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!

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

Book

Cristina Meier, a member of my church and a 6th grade teacher at SVCA, has had her first book published. It is called A STORY OF A KNIGHT
Check it out when you get a chance.

June 24th - Gabriel Update

FROM DAWN:
We are now in the Cardiac step-down
unit of ACH. We still have a long way to go but most of the critical stuff is over. We have spent the last few days learning to feed Gabriel through a feeding tube, dress his wounds, mix his milk so that it is a motor-oil consistency, take his pulse-oxygen level, crush his medicine and thicken it, and CPR in the cases where he may aspirate. As over-whelming as it is, we are eager to learn so that we can go home.

The doctors have not given us a date specifically that we can go home, but they indicated a lot would depend on how well he improves this weekend. Currently he struggles to get 30 out of 50 ccs of his thickened milk before wearing out, and that is just for 3 of his 8 feedings. If he is to go home on the bottle he needs to progress to 50ccs by bottle for all 8 of his feeding. The other option is a smaller surgery to put a more permenant feeding tube in his belly. The doctors are not eager for this and are trying to evalute the delay another surgery would create verses how long it will take him to learn to do all his feedings by mouth.

Please continue to pray fo us.

Gabriel Update

Here are some parts of the email that I received from Dawn today.

"The last few days have been very busy and tiring. I cant remember when I
updated last so I will review. Monday morning he had a swollow study to
determine if he would asperate when eating....he did fail the first two
tries but passed the third. Basicly it means he can have milk by mouth and
bottle if it is thinkened. The Ocupational Therapist called it "honey"
consistancy. We are being taught how to give him a bottle and mix it
properly."
"Yesterday was a very busy day with Dr.s and nurses and such...they moved us
to the CV East. WE ARE OUT OF ICU!!!!! Last night was the first night to
be with Gabriel all night. I slept a total of 3 hours. He eats every 3
hours, gets his diaper changed (which he hates), and it takes about 30 min.
to 45 min to calm him down after his diaper changed. He gets very unhappy
and his resperation is high. We are learning more about him...his
sounds....his personality. Our specific prayer request is for wisdom and
courage to know how to care for him. We are very nervous about his special
needs and our ability to care for those needs. Although the Drs and Nurses
are very supportive...they are teaching us to do more for him. He may be
sent home on a NG tube plus the bottle. As he gets stronger the NG can be
removed.

Please pray for us as we near the end of our stay here...we may still be
here for a couple more weeks...all depends on Gabriel and Mom and Dad's
abilities.

We do know that life for us has changed. We will be needing to stay home
more and for Gabriel's health, have limitied exposure to the world. He
still needs time to heal and his ability to fight infections is severly
deminished."

"On a more personal request....I am having some complications from the
delivery. I will have to wait till we go home to see the Doctor for myself.
Please pray for my healing as well."

Update on Gabriel

This is from an email from Dawn....
"Chest tubes came out today and we got to hold him for the first time after
surgery (only the second time we've ever got to hold him). He likes being
held. He was held for over an hour and was loving the whole time. Brian had
to leave behind his hand afterward for him to sleep next to or he would get
cranky. It is neat to spoil him finally."
GOD IS GOOD!

UPDATE ON GABRIEL

Gabriel is doing very well and is breathing on his own now. Please continue to pray for this family!

ONE STEP CLOSER

Well, we are one step closer to getting a house in Owasso. We are working on a contract right now. Looks like the move back home is all systems go!!!!!

Moving back to Oklahoma

For those of you who haven't heard yet, there is a big possibility that we are moving back to Oklahoma this summer in time for school. Hoping to live in Owasso. We are very excited to get to move back to our "home".
I will post more when I know more.

Update on Gabriel Cross

The following is a part of an email from my friend Dawn about Gabriel!

"We are almost 24 house out of surgery and all looks good. The first 24 to 48 hours are
the most critical. Gabriel is doing "very good" according to the Dr.'s"
" Please continue to pray for Gabriel's recovery to be smooth and steady. We
are still expecting to be here at least another 4 to 6 weeks."

PRAYER REQUEST

PLEASE PRAY! Some friends of mine from my school days back in Oklahoma could really use your prayers.
Brian and Dawn Cross' 4th child Gabriel Michael was born on June 7th a very sick little boy. Before he was even born, an ultrasound discovered that he had a heart condition that would require surgery after he was born.
Little Gabriel's surgery is today, June 12th and started around 9AM. It is a very complicated, 6-8 hour surgery. Please pray for baby Gabriel and his family! I will keep you posted as soon as I learn anything!

Zach's last day of school

Today is Zach's last day of school as a 2nd grader. Me and the girls (Troy is out of town on business) went to the awards assembly this morning. Zach made the all A's honor roll again! I'm so proud of him. I will post a picture of his class that I took this morning soon!

Book Character day

My son Zach had a book character day at school. He is in 2nd grade. He chose to be "Luke Skywalker". Here is his costume. I made it myself. He said that he had the only "home-made" costume in the whole class. Unfortunatly, he couldn't take the light saber with him to school because it is considered a weapon, so, he took a flash light instead.

Ashleigh's dance recital

Ashleigh had her dance recital on Saturday. She did a great job! I was one proud momma!

This is a pic with some of her classmates.

This is a pic of her in her jazz and tap costume


This is Ashleigh and her friend that she made in the class, Breanna


Here is her and her class doing a jazz dance to "Pop Music. It was so cute!











This is Ashleigh in her Ballet costume