Where oh where did summer go?

Somehow summer is over, leaves are falling for our kids to make piles with and jump into, and temperatures are definitely changing. The summer was incredibly full of gardening, swimming, blueberry picking, cousins and friends, school planning plans and schedules, and several more trips. It really was great and I thought many times about needing to update here but the desire and the reality of stopping long enough to do it never seemed to connect. This will be a quick overview of some of the events of the last several months.

We were finally able to schedule another play date with Alex’s favorite backward food friend, Ella. We got to head to the pool for a couple of hours. They had a good time swimming and playing together. Two beautiful and unbelievably strong girls both inside and out. I couldn’t be more proud of these incredible girls. With the two girls together they did draw more attention than either does on their own and sadly some of the children were not kind. Alex is not yet at a place where she notices or cares but older children do and I got a different perspective on these kinds of situations. I pray daily for these girls and their hearts, that they will always know how beautiful and amazing they are and be confident in that knowledge. These girls challenge me in many ways. Sweet Ella has a new update on her blog sharing their incredibly hard journey and the new hard that they are stepping into. Please keep this precious family in your prayers and follow their journey and help if you feel let to do so. There is so much hard and so much hurt in this life. We know that with God all things are possible and we pray for miraculous healing.

https://ellabee.home.blog/2021/10/07/a-year-in-review/?fbclid=IwAR0qdhIaKVZ5yk9nEfwLz7VBQtMfi1aje4nA-fwolLLnPGA_Bl7ibokGlBc

We got back home from Texas and then a few weeks later to Florida we went. We had a Ripe for Harvest ministry conference in Bradenton, Florida in July. It was three very full days of worship services, break out sessions, and get to know you opportunities with other individuals and families who are involved in all kinds of ministries around the world. You may be asking why we were there. Brent and I have been called to ministry in the role of care and support for our local foster community. This conference was a great way for us to meet other families in ministry and find encouragement as we move forward with this. We don't have a website for the ministry yet but that is hopefully coming very soon. Please keep our family in your prayers as we make this transition. We are thankful we were able to attend the conference.

Since we were in Florida and so near Clearwater and Orlando we took the children to see winter the dolphin. It was really special for all of them but especially for Alex to be able to see the dolphin she has grown to love so much. We were able to take a couple of beach days for the family which we all very much enjoyed. We rode out a few storms under our canopy on the beach and walked the beach right after the storms to found many beautiful shells. Shell hunting is one of our family's favorite beach pastimes. We celebrated LaRue's 14th birthday on the beach with a sweet family we had met at the conference who were staying in the same area we were.

Before we came home we stopped in Orlando at Prosthetics and Orthotics Association for a second opinion on the prosthetic. This ended up being a very good visit and we were thankful we make the extra part of the trip. They were able to see a few areas where her leg could be improved and went ahead and did the casting for her new socket while we were there. We had a lot of work to do once we got back home to get everything worked out to get the leg covered since her first leg had been made so recently before. POA was able to get us connected with an organization based out of Nashville who help kids get prosthetics and they were able and willing to step in and help make this new leg happen for Alex so quickly. You can learn more about what they are doing here, Jordan Thomas Foundation | Helping Kids Get Prostheses

Alex received the most amazing surprise from her friend at Scottish Rite this summer. One day a package came and when she opened it she found an American Girl doll who had been given a rotationplasty and matching prosthetic leg. Ms. Emily went above and beyond with this and it will always be something Alex cherishes.

We celebrated Ethan's 16th birthday and he took his drivers test and passed. I celebrated by sending him to the grocery store to get hot dog buns 30 minutes before his party since I had somehow forgotten them!! He has proven himself a very responsible driver so far.

Alex celebrated her 7th birthday in August and had a tea party with some friends. Complete with dress up and face painting, thanks to her cousin gifting her a face painting set. It was a fun afternoon. Her favorite gift was getting to start dance lessons again. She is taking Ballet, Tap, and Jazz and loving every single second. One of the things we have wanted to do since Alex’s surgery was to do a fundraiser for Scottish Rite for Alex’s birthday as a way to say thank you to that hospital system for what they did for us. We are a little late but finally have it worked out. When Alex had her surgery the thing she couldn’t wait to do was get up and around. I’m honor of her hard work we are asking anyone who wishes to participate to get sponsors or make a donation and comment how many miles you are committing to walking, running, biking, skating, or rolling to support Scottish Rite Dallas and all the children whose lives they touch. Please share this link far and wide. We will follow all of the comments and see how far we all go together between now and December! Have fun!

https://secure3.convio.net/tsrh/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app30118a?idb=1341171784&DONATION_LEVEL_ID_SELECTED=1&df_id=2040&mfc_pref=T&2040.donation=form1&NONCE_TOKEN=29D6076D39DD50E386CD53117F36F363&idb=0

We got back to Orlando the end of August for Alex to have her new leg made. We made it a girls trip and had a blast. We spent part of each day at the clinic having adjustments made and then were free to go play. Alex got a lot of use out of her test leg and each day we learned a little something new. By the time we were ready to have the final leg made she loved it and was comfortable in it. Over the weekend, while the clinic was closed we went to the beach several times. It was perfect weather. We were able to connect with a friend of a family member and they made us feel so much at home in Orlando. It was so sweet of them to take us under wing while we were there. I am always thankful for the amazing people God has put in our lives all along this journey.

LaRue auditioned for the Nutcracker Ballet at her studio and was cast as one of the Guardian Angel soloists. Alex's class will be the baby angels. It is going to be fun watching them dance together. Ethan and Kyle auditioned for Annie at our community theater and both got roles. Ethan is the butler in the mansion and Kyle is a dog catcher and apple seller. They are both enjoying rehearsals. Ethan, LaRue, and Kyle ran cross country this season with a new homeschool team. They all did well and constantly improved on their times. Paul and Alex were able to run a few races as well. Alex finished both 3/4 mile races with a smile on her face even though she was last to cross the finish line. Paul ran his first 7 min mile. Proud of all these determined kiddos we have.

A few weeks ago a place on Alex’s little foot started bothering her and we noticed a knot there. We took her to the doctor to have it xrayed and it didn’t really tell us anything but that it wasn’t fractured. Since we already had her annual MRI scheduled we decided to see what thay showed and go from there. We had her rest from wearing her leg for a day and during this time spoke to her prosthetist and she explained how we could dremmel out a spot and add some mole skin to make a bit more room in her socket liner for this place that was causing pain. the tweaks to her liner worked and while the place is still there and still tinder to the touch she is able to comfortably wear her leg.

Alex had her annual full body MRI last week. She did it without sedation and I was amazed by how well she did. She watched part of Flushed Away and part of Greatest Showman during the just over two hour scan. She lay so still. They had planned for it to take three hours because of her age and how many times they expected to have to stop and they were amazed they were able to get done so quickly. Today we got a call from the doctor saying that everything looked good but there was one spot of possible concern. Surprisingly this was not the spot we had been watching and dealing with on the little foot. That place showed nothing to see so they suspect it to be a bone spur of some sort. We are still waiting for the vascular anomalies radiologist to read the mri and discuss it at their meeting next week. Please pray that it is nothing, that we are patient and have peace while we wait, and that no matter what the result is that we keep our eyes on Christ and trust that God has not stopped holding our girl or our family and that her story is perfectly written.

This was our last several months in a nutshell.