The End of Summer

 It is crazy that summer is already coming to a close. We have had such a good summer. The kids have really enjoyed their time together. I am pretty sure they watched a movie almost every single night all summer long. I said this on Facebook a few days ago, but the relationship between my kids is so very special. they are truly each others best friend and biggest cheerleader. Maddy told me she has three best friends and they are all boys: Alex, Hart and Newman. She is exactly right!

Alex finished his Internship with an A+. He is gearing up for classes. He has three in person classes and three online. This semester will find him applying to Grad school and graduation. I am not sure how we are here, but what a gift it has been to watch Alex navigate these past few years. He has already been asked to do an internship with another Doctor and the Pain management group wants him to let them know when he is finished with his masters because they would like him to come work for them. It would be a dream come true for him to work for the very hospital that has been his second home and poured into him for so much of his life. Medically, we saw almost all of his doctors this summer and everyone is thrilled with how he is doing. 

Maddy has been preparing for her last show of the summer. This show is a big one and we will be gone for ten days. And when we get home we jump right back into our fall schedule. We will start school, tutoring, ballet, youth group and of course lots of time at the barn! Maddy has also had a lot of appointments and we continue to navigate some health issues and find the best way to support her body. She has definitely used the slow afternoons in that way as she is napping for 3-4 hours every afternoon. Puberty is hard on Mito and I'm glad she is allowing herself time to rest. This show will be her last for a while as we plan to have the first of her knee surgeries this fall. We have put this off as long as possible and we have had a few doctors let us know we can not delay any longer. We also met with a new dog trainer this morning as we would like to get some more training for Hart so he can help Maddy in more specific ways with her health issues. We loved the trainer, but would appreciate prayers for the financial piece to come together so we can pursue this additional, much needed training.

I have also been back on the medical merry go round this past few weeks. I had kind of just accepted my new norm and been trekking along. However after some appointments and testing we are likely going to be making some changes again. I saw my rheumatologist and was surprised when he added anew diagnosis. He diagnosed me with Psoriatic Arthritis and Achilles Tendinitis and I need to be icing my Achilles (especially at the horse show) because I am at high risk for it to rupture. I definitely don't have time for that so i am trying to behave myself. I also had an endoscopy and colonoscopy. The colonoscopy was good (praise God!), but the endoscopy not so much. I have gastric ulcers, inflammation in my esophagus and duodenum. The doctor was very concerned as we have done all the "usual things". She is consulting some other GI's to come up with a plan and I have to have a repeat endoscopy in 2 months to be sure I am starting to heal. No wonder my stomach hurts every time I eat!! Then based on some issues I needed a uterine biopsy and will be having a procedure or surgery depending on those results. I would appreciate prayers for all of this to come together as easily as possible as we are trying to live our best life over here and don't want medical stuff to interfere!

Please pray for my health, safe travels, a fun, stress free horse show and start to the school year, and the financial ability to train Hart.

Thank you for being our village.

Ali

Blessings All Around

 Some weeks it is hard not to look around and seeing how blessed we are! This has been one of those weeks. It is not as if everything went great because lets be honest, when does that happen in real life? It was more that I was constantly reminded that God hears our prayers and always makes a way, even when we least expect it.

There was some of our usual stuff....Alex's internship, doctor's appointments, movie watching, family game night and lots of barn time. That alone was all good. Nothing huge from the doctors appointments a few med adjustments, but basically keep plugging away. The only bad/scary was for Maddy early in the week. She had an ocular migraine and the vision changes were very scary. I was glad I had had one once, but we still had to rule out some things that are a much bigger deal that are seen in some of her diagnoses.

I don't think we could love him any more than we do!

Sunday night, the kids and I headed over to church to meet our new Director of Youth Ministry. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive because he is a middle aged man, but he totally won me over. I loved the answers to all of his questions and look forward to having him shepherd Maddy over the next few years. During this meet and greet, they separated the youth from the parents. As soon as they said that was the plan, Maddy started to panic. There were tears and a look of fear, but I handed her off to our Director of Children and families and one of her closest friends at church and stepped away. She did great and when we got in the car she told me something that shocked me. But also may be the thing I have been most proud of in her whole life. When they sat down to eat she was sitting with her good friend and another girl. She realized that another incoming 7th grader was sitting alone so she got up and left her friend and went to sit with her so she wouldn't be alone. Then all 4 girls wound up sitting together. But the kindness and bravery it took for Maddy to leave her comfort zone is astounding. I have always taught my kids that nothing is more important than being kind and serving God and what a beautiful example this was.

Tuesday Alex received a call from one of the scholarships he had applied for. It was a scholarship for students diagnosed with Epilepsy. I really didn't feel very confident because Alex's epilepsy is very controlled. They let him know that they had a few more questions they needed an answer to before they could move to the next round. He was set to call them at 12:30 on Thursday. When I picked him up from his internship (which he is loving) at 12:00 they were already calling. They surprised him...he was one of four to win the top award out of six hundred applications. This scholarship is so timely and so necessary as we were worried about the financial peace for school this year. We aren't totally there, but this is a huge step in the right direction. And an answer to prayer. Not only me, but two of my good friends had been specifically praying over this. What a loving and faithful father we serve.

Thursday night we got to celebrate Alex's good news by attending Hamilton! I have heard so much about it, but it is a show I had never seen. The kids and I enjoyed it immensely. And I love these days of just spending time together and enjoying each other. Oh how I prayed for days like this when the kids were younger and so medically unstable. While the diagnosis and the prognosis doesn't change having a bit of "normalcy" is such a gift and certainly one I wasn't sure I would ever experience.

None of these special moments happen without the friends and family who continue to love us from near and far. Some we are lucky enough to see almost daily and some far less frequently but we couldn't do this alone. We are so grateful to be loved so well.

Thank you for being our village and the hands and feet of Christ in our life.

Ali

Growth Galore

 We made it home last night from the PHBA world championship show. This show is always one of our favorites. The days are long, the stalls are not air conditioned so we sweat a ton, but there is so much fun with our favorite people and horses. This show will always hold a special place in my heart, because it was our first show with Stable Strides Farm. Maddy had an incredible show, learned some valuable lessons, had an amazing attitude, hung around with her friends and cheered her teammates on. We are exhausted, but our hearts are full!

After driving all day Monday, Tuesday was just a day to hang out with teammates and have a quick ride to get acclimated.

Wednesday was our first real practice day and it was a bit rough for Mad and Newmie. The footing in the practice arena wasn't great and Newman was being very cautious which Maddy could feel. She panicked herself and there were tears as she was worried about her best boy. We all encouraged her and reassured her that Newman was fine. We had a good afternoon complete with ice cream and swimming with friends and all was better!

Thursday was our first day with Halter and Showmanship.

Friday was English Day!

Saturday was our last show day with trail and Western.

We cannot wait for next July when once again we head to IL for one of the best shows of the year!

Ali