Sarah Turned Sweet 16!

Sarah and Mom


Sarah and the gang!

Sweet Sixteen

Sisters

Sarah and Dad (before he shaved his beard!!!)

Before my eldest daughter left to go back to Maryland in August we celebrated her 16th birthday. However, she just turned 16 on the 13th of September. When she called I found out that she was having a barbecue of sorts for her party. I did miss not being able to be with her on that day, but I did call and sing her "Happy Birthday"!Anyway, here are some of the photos of the day we celebrated her birthday while she was here. I can hardly believe how grown-up she is becoming. We will be picking her up on our way down to visit my parents in November this year. A long overdue visit to my parents and my sister and her family. Maybe I'll get some pictures!

Demo Days and Kidney Stones

My sweet husband

Yesterday, our Tractor Supply (Scott is the manager there), was conducting Demo Days; a day where they demonstrate a certain type of equipment. Log splitters and chain saws were the items of the day, and Scott really enjoys this part of his job. He asked me to come out yesterday and take some pictures for his boss and those on the regional team. There were quite a few people out, and they even had the Boy Scouts selling popcorn and some 4-H girls out with their fund raiser. It was a really nice New England fall day, so the weather was perfect. He did an awesome job, and the store did really well as a result!

Scott using the log splitter

However, last night when I went to pick him up from work, he told me that his lower left side was really hurting him. He was able to sleep until about 1 am when he woke with terrible pain. He walked for a bit, really hurting, but we thought perhaps it was just his diverticulitis acting up. He took a warm bath and tried to get to sleep again about 4 am. When I woke up at 7:30 he was completely doubled over in pain, so we packed up and went in to the emergency room. First, I called our pastor and let him know we wouldn't be at the service this morning (again - we have been out for a month with all of the children's strange flu-like sickness) and he said a prayer for us over the phone. As soon as we got to the emergency room, they took us right in. They said they would do a CAT scan, but were pretty sure that he was dealing with a kidney stone. After they gave him some pretty strong pain meds, they took him for his scan. When the doctor came back he said that the stone was almost to his bladder. They also said that it was a fairly large one. Scott has no history of kidney stones, nor does his family, from what they have said. So for now we just continue to work on adjusting his diet. The pain meds that they gave him made him so nauseous. The trip home was pretty hard, he couldn't keep anything down, and he kept falling asleep. As soon as we got home he went to bed. He has only stirred a tiny bit and isn't able to eat anything. He is insistent that he is going to work in the morning so I pray that the Lord will help him feel better somewhat by then. Wow! what a day - what a year! He has had so many issues with his health over the last year. The children have done very well with it all, albeit they were very concerned for Daddy today. We continue to pray that God will heal his eye amongst so many other things. I know that God is faithful and we pray that He will help us to see what He is trying to show us through this struggle.

14 Years!

Last month on August 30th, my husband and I celebrated our 14 wedding anniversary! Wow, has time flown. We drove to Providence and had dinner at Smoky Bones - Scott LOVES this restaurant! The food was great. I had to fight back the desire to bring my knitting with me - only to discover later that I probably should have brought it to work on. There were televisions all over the place at this restaurant and on each table there was a speaker that would let you select which tv to listen to. College football is just kicking off and of course, there was the baseball game (Scott is HUGE into sports so it was impossible to keep his eyes off the screens!) So I should have just brought my knitting and all would have been well. After dinner we went over the Barnes and Noble to peruse the shelves of books. I could look for hours! Anyway, the children were very well behaved while we were gone ( the oldest two are "official" babysitters - certificate and all!) which was nice - no major problems. Although the driving was foggy (I couldn't believe the fog last night!) we had a good night.

After 14 years of marriage we are still in as much love as ever, only a lot closer.

My Sweet Husband had Laser Eye Surgery Today

My dear husband went to the hospital this morning because he had been having blurry vision in his left eye all weekend. He had started getting "floaters" in his vision and was having a hard time seeing at all. He went to an eye care center this morning and they sent him to a specialist. Apparantly, he had a large tear in the retina of his left eye. After they dilated his pupils and had a good assesment of the situation, they decided he needed immediate laser eye surgery! What a hard time to be on opposite sides of the country. It was very hard not being able to be there for him today, but I hung by the phone for any information. He called finally this afternoon when he returned to his hotel and told me everything that had occurred. I am relieved that his retina did not completely separate, which is what the doctor said would have happened if he had let it go a few more days. Aside from his eye being sore, he should be fine. The doctor said that the blurry vision and the floaters should clear up within the week, so his vision will return to normal. It is so hard having him so far away. I miss him so much. When things like this happen I long to be next to him, to be his support. I am grateful, though, that the Lord watches over Scott, and He was there with him today as he experienced this procedure with his eye.

It's Been a Long Time...

Wow, I can hardly believe that an entire year has flown by. We have been so busy with "life" that I have barely had any time to spend online. Currently, we are in the process of yet another move - hopefully to be the last. Scott is already in place, having just finished his training this last week. Because of a variety of reasons, some of which I am sure to remark on at a later time, he decided to change companies. So, we are no longer employed with Home Depot. The company my husband chose employment with is Tractor Supply Company (TSC). I am, so far, quite pleased with the experience. He has been promoted to Store Manager, which is something that will allow him a lot more flexibility to spend time with the family and it also allows him more freedom to create the environment in which he works. He is very happy with this decision and aside from some of the health issues he is going through, he is very content.

We can hardly wait to join him. We are taking this month and going through boxes that we haven't gone through since we started this whole "round the country" move from Maine to Arizona to Wyoming. Now, thankfully, our last move takes us to Connecticut. This will put us halfway between both of our parents, mine in Virginia and his in Maine. The land is beautiful, and it is in a rural enough area that when we are ready to once again start our farm, we will be in a good location. Our move is scheduled for the end of this month and the children and I are excited! We understand that there is a fairly large homeschool group in the southeastern part of CT, which is where we will be - Griswold. Plus, we will be close enough to see the ocean again, which is something I have missed terribly. God has blessed us incredibly with the beauty of His creation we have been able to see on this side of the country. I can find no suitable words to describe the majesty of the mountains here. However, the Northeast is "home" for us and I long to see the pine forests and the rocky coasts once again.

Scott was able to be home for Christmas which was a blessing. It was a nice time to spend together. We recently got a digital camera that can be put on a timer, so we finally were able to take a picture of the whole family at one time! All of the children had been passing a cold/virus around and in this picture Mae-Marie was right in the middle of it. But she was quite a trooper and tried to manage a smile!