David Update

David is doing much better than my last post!  I promise I had good intentions of updating along the way, but things have been a little crazy.  Warning:  this post is random and not in order; it may cause confusion when reading, ha! 

David has been back to see Dr. Brooks several times and we will go back again tomorrow.  The visit to remove the staples was ROUGH.  However, I truly believe that having the staples out of his leg lessened his discomfort.  At our last appointment, Dr. Brooks said he was healing great!!  The infection had cleared, the wounds were healing and his range of motion was good...well after Dr. Brooks worked a little magic.  David left with strict instructions to work his ankle. 

David was released to drive a few weeks ago.  I really think this made a big difference for him.  A little independence goes a long way...I also think the men's Bible study at Church has been wonderful for him.  Some of the men are doing Tony Evans' Kingdom Man.  David has really enjoyed the study and the fellowship.

David has done his best to put on a happy face for the kids.  He has attended most practices and every game except for the one immediately after his accident, which just happened to be the first game.  Mr. Dennis and Mrs. Charlene came down for a Saturday visit back in September.  I am not sure who was more excited about the visit...them or David!  They helped transport David to the football game and Austin Kieff sure was proud to have his Daddy there. 

We have been blessed to stay with  my parents since David came home from the hospital.  They have been a great help in caring for him and the kids.  Mom takes Caroline to school each day and brings her home.  Caroline is going to miss this arrangement when things return to normal!!  In fact, Caroline has said on numerous occasions that she is moving in with Grandmomma and Papa for good.  We will just see about that! 

Here are a few pictures from the last month or so:

David's Big Break

The title to the post almost sounds like an event that led to stardom or fame...unfortunately, that is not the case.  I posted on facebook Tuesday morning that I thought the day was going to be a stereotypical Monday.  I only wish it had been!  Our day started earlier than usual thanks to water issues.  We thought our normal day would just be delayed a bit.  I would take Austin Kieff to school as is the norm and then take Caroline to school in Troy before going to work.  David would be a few hours late depending on how long it took to resolve the water problem.  This was not even close to how our day transpired. 

I arrived at work Tuesday morning hating that I was late and trying to work through a few items from being out Friday.  I took care of a few things when I had a call from David.  Well, I was rather busy and almost did not answer.  I thought I can call him back in just a minute.  He is just calling to tell me he is headed to work.  I am so glad I did not do this.  David called to tell me that he broke his leg.  His exact word were, "My leg is broke."  To which I rather loudly repeated, what to him was obvious, "YOUR LEG IS BROKE? oh, that was loud" and in much quieter tones I asked what happened and where was he.  He then informed me that the road had collapsed as had the embankment.  In the process, he was fairly certain his leg was broke and the rescue squad was on the way.

I immediately informed my boss that David was hurt and I had to leave.  The whole leaving the office and getting to David is a bit of a blur.  I followed the rescue squad.  Pulling up on the scene was a bit more than my stomach could handle.  I really thought I would be sick or pass out.  I saw the hole in the road first.  My initial thoughts were it looks like something took a giant bite out of the road.  Seeing David down in that hole took my breath away.  He was so pale and obviously in pain.  I could tell by the way his leg looked that it was bad.  It was at an unnatural angle. 

The guys with Coffee County EMS were fabulous...as were my Dad and Mr. Wiley Vann.  I hope it is not an experience we have to repeat, but if so, I will take this same team, ha!  I followed the ambulance to Enterprise Medical Center.  We could not have asked for better ER attendants.  The nurses, doctor and other staff were wonderful...particularly Martha, Keith and Penny.  After several attempts, the x-ray the doctor needed to see was finally obtained.  I have not seen it yet.  Keith told me he "threw up a little bit."  David kept saying the EMS guys said they could not diagnose...they could not tell him it was broke.  Well, his initial observation was correct.  His leg was broke.  Anyone looking at it could tell.  The x-ray just confirmed it.

After viewing the x-ray, Dr. Brooks said to bring him up for surgery.  David received another photo session, this time of his chest and an EKG complete with custom cut, ha!  Some blood typing had to be done before he could go up.  I road the elevator up with him and said my goodbye.  Waiting was not fun.  While I was and am definitely thankful he only had a broke leg, he was in so much pain.  I am not sure what I expected, but this was definitely not it.  I really thought we would be home Tuesday night. 

After the surgery Dr. Brooks came by to talk to me.  He said David had a very nasty break.  But, with his age and health, he should heal fine.  Our biggest concern would be infection of the bone.  I was not prepared for how David would look or feel when came back from surgery.  My brother drove down to be with us and we are so thankful for his presence.  He stayed with David while I went and picked the kids up.  Telling them was not easy.  They reacted as I expected.  The ride back to Enterprise was difficult, but the joy on their faces of just seeing their Daddy was just what I needed.  They were and are both very concerned about their Daddy.  Austin Kieff is a little more vocal about it and Caroline is showing it in other ways.  Brother Bart and Chris from church came Tuesday to visit and pray with us.  My Dad and John Wayne both came by yesterday.  My Mom is working on getting a room setup so we can stay with them for a few days. 

We are so thankful for the prayers, calls, texts, messages and visits.  God has truly blessed us with wonderful friends and family.  I will update this post later, but wanted to get the basics posted.

Here are a few pictures:

The EMS guys were great and quick to get David's leg stabilized

and something for pain

David broke the tibia and fibula and

had an intramedullary nail placed in his left leg by Dr. Brooks.

Caroline was glad to be able to see her Daddy.

Austin Kieff was a little hesitant and did

not want to get too close

He did want to take his Daddy's Coke with him

Today

A little swollen

And he is up...not ready for a marathon just yet,

but so glad to see him up and about.  It has been a long three days!

We have not seen his yet, but this is what it may look like when we do

Vacation - Day 3

Finally, trying to catch up on our vacation posts, ha!

What a week! My one goal was to make some lasting memories for my kids, memories like I have of summer vacation spent in Pensacola. I truly think this goal was achieved. Our day-by-day: Day 3

Monday, July 2, 2012 was our first vacation day with David...and when the Daddy comes there will be…fishing…fishing…fishing…and more…FISHING! Austin Kieff was ready to see his daddy, but he was even more ready to go fishing. Daddy went to McDonald's for breakfast platters. I had had intended to cook breakfast, but the kids wanted McDonald's so we obliged…after all we were on vacation….Picking up breakfast allowed David the opportunity to pick up some live bait as well.

 

After breakfast Caroline and I enjoyed a little picnic in the Florida room with Maggie and Ariel while the boys gathered their fishing gear. It was to be a day of swimming and fishing fun! We started out in the Braithwaite Bayou before heading over to Big Lagoon Park later that afternoon.

Big Lagoon Park was a big hit and definitely somewhere we will visit again. We drove around to an area that had restrooms, a playground, picnic tables and of course beach! The boys fished while the girls searched for hermit crabs. There really wasn’t a whole lot of searching…hermit crabs were everywhere! We even had a little hermit crab race thanks to Grandmomma’s suggestion!

After swimming, fishing and crabbing, we cleaned up and let the kids play on the playground for a bit. By this time we were all hungry and decided to check the GPS for restaurants in the area. I read from the list and both kids agreed on the same restaurant…at the same time. So, it was an easy enough decision to pick where we were eating. What was not as easy was the wait once we got there! However, I definitely recommend a visit to Tacky Jacks if you are ever in Orange Beach.  We explored the various decks of the restaurant, watched people feed the fish and visited the gift shop.  The kids were never too restless because of the scenery.  We even enjoyed a little fireworks show!

Here are a few pictures:

She spread out her "blankets" and had her guests seated beside her.

She is not choking Maggie

 

Skittles, such fancy food and she brought out the good china

Swimming with Daddy

Discovered this...LOVE it

So much fun

This bird was thinking about biting David

Let thr race begin

The big catch

The playground was fun...but not as fun as fishing with Daddy

Our view from the upper deck of Tacky Jacks

Beautiful

Souvenir...that is now broken, but she loved it for as long as it lasted!

Jamboree

Saturday was Austin Kieff’s first football game! His team played in a Jamboree in Highland Home. I will get the Negative Nancy bit out first so that I can focus on the FUN that was had!! This was our first experience as parents at a jamboree. We were expecting a lot of heat and a little football. We definitely got the heat! The football, not so much…it seemed like more time was spent by the referees trying to figure out which two teams were supposed to be on the field, what direction they were going in and who had the ball than actually playing ball. Four teams played at one time…two teams on the home side and two teams on the visitor’s side. These teams switched up playing offense/defense. It would have been much more organized to allow two teams to play for shorter periods of time if the purpose was to have more teams play in less time than to try to use this format.  Oh well, it was a learning experience.

The success for me was that Austin Kieff was happy…almost giddy he had so much fun. The heat was not really an issue for him because he was so excited to be there.  I worried he might need his inhaler, but he did great!  The waiting for his game to start was a bit tough.  The little guys were so full of energy and ready to play ball.  They really did well considering all the confusion.  Zion Chapel even scored first!  The game ended with the teams tied.  Austin Kieff said as we were leaving: It’s okay I didn’t play long, I am just glad to be part of the team. Proud to be a ZC Rebel and happy to just stand on the side lines. I am sure a little fear helped with that contentment, but this momma is OKAY with that!!

We enjoyed a delicious supper at The Old Barn in Goshen on our way home and were home in time for me to get a little jogging/walking in before settling in for the night.

After practice last night David came home and said, did you know the Coach prays with the boys after every practice?  I did not know this, but it sure makes me happy!  First home game is September 8th.

Here are few photos from the day:

Excited boys!

 

It was a hug, promise!

Getting Ready!

Ready to go!

On the field!

This was from the night before...they were having a dress rehearsal, ha!

Global Focus

So before I tell about the kids latest adventure, I want to take a few minutes to tell about our Sunday School class this past week.  Well, first, we had a combined Sunday School class with all youth and adult meeting together to hear a special speaker.  I must say, to be honest, I was not exactly looking forward to this class.  I really enjoy/prefer meeting in our small group.  Well, the Lord sure did take away any reluctance I had to be there!  The speaker was great.  He definitely kept his audience engaged.  Here are few stats he shared:

• The most populated nation in the world is China...with India possibly going to surpass it in the not too distant future
• Christianity is the largest religion in the world today
• On average, 2,400 churches are being planted weekly worldwide (PRAISE GOD!)
• In 1950, Nepal, had no known believers...today an estimated 700,000!
• In 1949, China had less than one million Christians, today an estimated 100 million!
• In 1900, Latin America was home to about 50,000 evangelicals, today over 100 million!
• Africa has the fastest growing church in the world
• Of every dollar given by North American Christians to any type of Christian cause, 4 cents goes overseas to help advance the Kingdom of God
• There are about 6,600 unreached people groups in the world today
• And, the saddest statistic...an estimated 72,000 people die each DAY never having heard a clear gospel presentation in their entire life

The Global Focus speaker said something that really stuck with me...although all people equally need the Gospel, the Gospel is not equally accessible to all people.  He presented an idea of reached vs. unreached instead of saved vs. unsaved.  He also reminded us that first God tells us to love Him with all our mind, heart and soul.  Then, second to this, He tells to love our neighbor.  And one day, whether reached or unreached, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. 

The Global Focus vision and purpose states:  Our vision is to see the global church spiritually revitalized and strategically mobilized to fulfill its role in God's global mission.  Global Focus exists to glorify God by helping the local pastor and church leaders to be more effective in mobilizing the church to reach the world of Christ.

Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to shine upon us, Selah (Stop)

that your way may be known on earth,

your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you judge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth. Selah (Stop)

Let the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its increase;

God, our God, shall bless us.

God shall bless us;

let all the ends of the earth fear him!

 

Praying that "passion for God will lead to compassion for people."

Graduation Day

From August 9, 2012

Today my little brother graduated from A.P.O.S.T. in Northport.  My brother-in-law told us not to expect much.  You would almost think considering what these men and women are willing to give up to serve in the positions they have chosen that there would be a huge celebration and demonstration of thankfulness from the public...complete with press coverage and everything.  Like most positions of service, there is not much recognition outside the proud families and friends present.  However, it was a nice ceremony.  What was the best about it was seeing so many men and women commit their lives to serving others.  The keynote was given by a U. S. Marshall and I enjoyed listening to him.  He offered advice to the new officers.  Some of the items that stuck out to me were:

• sometimes you don't have to  carry out the letter of the law for justice to be served
• you don't have to ticket every person you stop, sometimes a warning gets the job done
• have compassion for the people you serve
• remember you are serving even when you are not on duty
• be mindful of what you post on facebook and other social media outlets, what opinions you share...what you do reflects on your department as well...and someone is always watching...

The class president also gave a speech.  She was pretty succinct and closed with, "Stand to be seen, speak to be heard and shut up to be appreciated."  Good advice.

Today was not just the culmination of 12 weeks of training.  It was the realization of a dream.  A goal my little brother has had for quite some time.  While he has served in areas that have allowed him to step towards achieving this stepping stone, it was not until today, when his certificate was handed to him, that he could mark a key step off his list of things to do to achieve his ultimate career goal.

Proud is not a strong enough word for how I feel.  But I will say it, I am so proud of him.  I am so proud of him for being the person he is.  I pray he will allow God to guide his decisions in all that he does.  I pray that God will protect him and keep him safe.  I pray he will find success in his chosen profession and attain each and every goal he sets.  I pray he will be happy in a profession that requires selflessness, that can be dangerous, that is often  under appreciated.  I pray his desire for justice and love of the law will always be as strong as it is now. 

After graduation we enjoyed a family lunch, not something we are able to do often.  I can only think of maybe one other time we have all been together in a restaurant and that was after Poppa's graduation!  We didn't have as many members then, ha!

Congratulations John Wayne!  I am so thankful I was able to be a part of your big day!

First Day of First Grade from the First Grader's Perspective

First, here are a few more things about what may become back to school traditions at our house.  I am not sure what we will do when Caroline starts "big" school.  But, for now, you pick what we have for supper the night before school starts.  Two years in a row it has been Vic's.  Now, for those of you who read our blog and are not local, "Vic's" is actually Mr. Ho's and "Vic" is actually Vijay!  He is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and once you meet him the first time, he will remember your name and all about your family.  There have even been articles written about him!  Sweet and Sour Chicken is your favorite (Caroline's, too!) with extra soy sauce.  So, of course this was added to our order.  We ordered Daddy pepper chicken and I thought I ordered steamed brocoli and chicken with no sauce for me.  Because Daddy was working, we ordered our food "to go."  We listened to your choir music, which has been such a blessing this week, on the ride home.

While preparing to pack your bag, we discovered a slight problem.  Your response totally sums up your attitude most days, "Well, if it gets dry, I use it.  If not, we got other bags.  Just pack me one of them."  You are definitely a glass half full kind of person when it comes to some things...a little anxious when it comes to others.  I am trying to be more like you!

So, the first day from your perspective:

I was on green. I liked lunch.  I like extended day.  I couldn't wait for football practice.

Yep.  That was it.  How disappointed was this momma? 

So before bed, I tried again and got a little more out of him

He sat by Zoe.  He met a little boy named Chase.  He has to raise his hand to leave his seat, talk and go to the bathroom.  He is going to have lots of work to do and "math is still a subject this year.  Didn't we have enough of that last year?" (Totally my kid...we are continuing to have conversations about how important Math is.  His Poppa uses Math everyday and his ability to do Math so well, in his head mind you, is very important to his work.) Mrs. Barron is an Auburn fan, but that is okay because so was Mrs. Jones.  He did get to see Mrs. Jones, but not for as long as he wanted.  He is going to have spelling tests and homework, lots of homework (that is what a big kid [a.k.a. 2nd Grader] told him in extended day).  His LEAST favorite part...NO REST TIME!  Yep, same as last year.  This boy wants his rest time!!

Here is his schedule:

  8:00-10:00  Reading Street

10:00-10:30  Language

10:30-11:00  Tier II Reading

11:00-11:20  Math Meeting

11:20-11:40  Lunch

11:40-  1:00  Go Math!

  1:00-  1:30  P.E.

  1:30-  2:00  Tier II Math

  2:00-  2:15  Snack

  2:15-  2:45  Science/Social Studies

Many more posts on First Grade to come!

After Day 1...Still Smiling

Had to take a funny picture!