The Lowdown

We've been on the move again and thankfully are back home. It all started on October 18th. I got up early to take Sarah to catch the bus to her swim meet. I came home and slept another 30 minutes or so before getting up again to get Ashton ready for the trip to Anderson. Sarah's grandmother met us at the house and we went to find the location of the YMCA. It took us a little while to decipher the directions, but we made it.

The Anderson Y was impressive. The building is modern and spacious. The pool area was chaotic. There were family and swimmers everywhere! Sarah was pumped. She was having the time of her life getting ready for her first event. As a way of team building, the kids draw pictures and sayings all over their body with Sharpie markers. One girl colored a large piranha (the team mascot) on Sarah's back. As the marker faded, she looked like someone had beaten her!

Ashton came with us. He had a pretty good time but was not pleased to have to sit in our laps. In addition to that, it was hot. The poor kid was drenched in sweat. After the meet started, the organizers figured out how to clear the swimmers out of the pool area and it helped to get things moving.

Sarah was amazing. She was kind of frantic in her first race. Then in her second, the backstroke, she was calm as a cucumber. She smiled the entire length of the pool AND her wonderful father managed to capture it all on video (that's another post). I'm guessing the coaches told her to calm down and have fun after the first event. She took their advise to heart!

On her third race, the 25m freestyle, she got into game. One of the kids told her that their were 8 rules to swimming. 1) Win. 2) Win. 3) Win. 4) Win. 5) Win. 6) Win. 7) Win. 8) Win. She put it all together and swam her heart out in that race. She managed to get second in her heat for that race. I think she was 7th for that event.

Thankfully the coaches have the right attitude for the events. They told her that she is not competing against all the other girls, she is competing against herself. So she told me this week that next time she's going to get a better time than what she got at her last meet because she was racing against herself!

We came home elated and tired after our first really long meet. Sar went on to play with Celia and Daniel and I vegged out while Ashton slept. Then we received the call. Daniel's grandmother had passed away sometime that morning. It was peaceful and blessedly quick. We were devastated. Jean just survived a bout with a brain tumor and was expected to make a full recovery. But, that was not God's plan.

On Tuesday, Daniel, the kids and I went up to Old Fort to say goodbye to one of the finest women I've ever met. It was sad and also happy. Sad for the people who will miss her and happy because we know that she is rejoicing with Jesus and it able to see her beloved husband once again.

Jean spent her life looking forward and because of that she was a light in our family and in the community. So many were blessed by her love and kindness. What a legacy. Check out Daniel's blog for more about Jean. I hope and pray that you are blessed to have someone like her in your life.

The whole clan headed for home Thursday evening. This is where it got crazy again. Daniel had been having a pain in his side all week. It started getting worse. We called a friend from church who is a doctor and he advised Daniel to go to the hospital. Since Daniel's parents normally sit for us, we had a problem. Thankfully some friends from church opened their home to the children for the night. Thank you Feria's!

Daniel and I sat in the ER from 10:30 p.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. Friday. We were told that it was a slow night. Daniel did not have appendicitis but may have gall bladder issues. They gave him a shot in each hip - one for pain and the other for nausea. I have to admit, Daniel on drugs is extremely funny. He was slurring his words and walking funny. We laughed so hard that I was crying! He even tried to hit me for picking on him but was unable to get his arm to connect! It was a riot.

Right now, he's in bed and worn out. We have to wait until Friday for the gall bladder tests. If they are poor, he'll have to have it taken out. If the gall bladder is fine then he will have to get more tests! Woohoo.

Now we are back home. Life is still crazy but we are smiling through it!