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

FUNNY!

I received this one in an email today. I thought it was a good one!

God is good!

Just a little update. Ashleigh had her doctors appointment today at John Hopkins and she got a clean bill of health. The doctor said that the PDA was so small that it doesn't matter and isn't affecting her health at all. God took care of my little angel and I give Him all the glory!

Global Impact Celebration

Our church is hosting a Missions Conference this week. I am really enjoying getting to hear from these people who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of Christ. It is awesome. We are hosting THUMB missionaies (T=Tribal, H=Hindu, U=Unreligious, M=Muslim, B=Buddist) as well as missionaries from Score International
I have always been excited about missions! In Acts 1:8 - it says that "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" Most missionaries that we all hear about are taking care of the "Judea and Samaria" parts of the world but what about the "Jerusalem" places?
I learned something very important a while back... I learned that the Jerusalem that Jesus was talking about is wherever you live? So, you become a missionary for "Jerusalem" when you become a Christian. The rosponsibility of carrying out the "Great Commission" is not just the job of your churches pastors and staff! When you become a Christian, it is YOUR job as well!
You may ask yourself "How can I carry out the 'Great Commission'?"
Here's the answer! Get involved in your churches ministries! At our church, we have many ministries that our members can get involved in. Here are a few examples:
We have a Prison Ministry where our Pastors has a Bible Study at our local prison.This is carrying out the "Great Commission" to people who society has shunned and forgotten about. Most of these inmates feel that noone loves them, but our Pastor teaches them of the unfailing love of Jesus!
We have a MOPS ministry where moms can come and get a break from their kids as well as learn how to be better moms! This is carrying out the "Great Commission" because the mom's needs are being met by not only getting a break from their children but they are also learning Biblical principals about parenting and life in general.
We have people from our church that volunteer at the ABBA Pregnancy Crisis Center here in Winchester. T
Even volunteering in your church nursery is carrying out the "Great Commission" because by volunteering, the parents can go and hear the Word Of God!
Take the time today to consider and pray about what you are doing in your own "Jerusalem" community.

Ashleigh's doctors appointment

Ashleigh has a doctors appointment with a pediatric cardiologist at John Hopkins tomorrow. She has PDA - Patent Ductus Arteriosis (not sure if I spelled that right).... it's nothing too serious that it can't be fixed, so we are putting her in God's hands and are confident that He will take care of her!

Whoooops!

In my last post, I forgot to include pics of my son! Aren't I a WONDERFUL mom! I also couldn't resist putting the one of Troy!

Trip to Disney World

Well, since the last time I posted, Troy and I took the kids to Disney World! We took them there for spring break and it was a total surprise to them. We had a wonderful time! We stayed at the Disney All Star Movies resort. The pic of the pool is the pool there at the resort!
On Monday, we went to the "Animal Kingdom". On Tuesday, we went to the "Magic Kingdom". (The kids liked these two parks the best) That night, Zachary and I went by ourselves from 9PM - Midnight. We had a blast!
On Wednesday, we went to MGM. Zach and Troy went one way in the park and me n the girls went the other way. This park wasn't quite as fun as the other two, but, we got to see a lot more of the characters. The pic with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum was taken at MGM! (no, Tweedle Dee and Dum ARE NOT me and Troy!)Me and the girls also got to meet Mickey Mouse and Goliath and Jo Jo.
On Thursday, we went to Epcot... this one isn't quite for kids but we got to see what was inside the "big golf ball" (as Troy calls it) And then we went back to the Animal Kingdom for an hour or so and got SOAKED on the "Kali River Rapids". That was the kid's favorite ride! We rode it 5 times in a row so I don't think there was a piece of dry clothing on any of us! After changing quickly, we went on to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks and to ride more rides. We stayed to closing that night too, so that was a fun night.
Early Friday 4AM, Zach got sick.... we aren't quite sure what caused it but it wasn't pretty. By noon, we thought he was OK so we headed to the Animal Kingdom. We found out that he wasn't okay when he smelled food as we stopped to get some lunch. So, Zach and Troy went to the hotel while me and the girls stayed and saw the rest of the "Animal Kingdom".
By that evening, Zach was feeling much better, so we went to the Magic Kingdom to catch the Fireworks one last time (they were awesome by the way)

Then we got to see the "SpectroMagic" Parade which was pretty cool too!

I will post pics from the first part of our trip later as they are on Troy's laptop. I should have them soon to share!