Just Life

Well.... my desire to post weekly has obviously not happened :) What is the expression, the best laid plans of mice and men??? The past month has tested me. Life has a way of doing that, doesn't it??? The week after writing our family letter for the year I miscarried our seventh child; a child we were announcing in our letter. However, it didn't seem the place to state our loss.

Miscarriage is always difficult. The doctor's best guess is that the baby had a positive blood type. Tim and I are both RH-negative; we have never had that problem. Apparently though they have found that even if both parents are negative a baby can still be RH-positive if there is a positive blood type further up the genelogical line. In layman's terms I had an allergic reaction to the baby that caused me to expell it. The baby was two months.

Physically it was medically uneventful. My body is recovering well all considering. My hormones crashed and that was tough emotionally. There are always questions. It has been tough to grieve it out. At the end of the day, however, I had to come back to trust. In all that I don't understand I know that God's plans for me are good. He does not harm, but offers us a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Marilynn and Gavin came out for Thanksgiving to see their son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. It was wonderful to see them. It has been four years since we got to visit in person. It was also nice to have their love and support during a very difficult week. We had a very blessed day. Thanksgiving dinner at my house with lots of family traditions. Mark and Lynde brought their family (Marilynn, Gavin, Arlene (Lynde's mom), and Sammy) Everyone pitched in; it was a great day.

I was overwhelmed and VERY honored to be able to participate in two different birthday celebrations this week. Two young ladies turned 16 this week and the families did a very unique celebration of their monumental birthdays - they had older women (that was my part) come and participate in their birthday by sharing various aspects of being a Godly woman. Although it is hard to think of myself as an "older woman" it was neat to be able to share my heart and my passions with two very special young ladies. One family who celebrated on Monday had all the older women speak with their daughter one at a time and then honored her with a very special dinner for the older and younger women and then presented her with a hope chest so that she could remember the best kind of life is one that follows God's ancient paths - one that includes her heritage (the past), the present (her now) and the future (her hopes and dreams). It was a very memorable occassion to be a part of.

In kid news, Elijah tagged out this year - he got a little fork mule deer last day of season. He was VERY jazzed!!!! He has been butchering this week. He has done the entire process himself from field to freezer. He is growing up WAY too fast.

Gabrielle had a fun week - PEARLS celebrated Hannukah with a Hannukah celebration that included Davidic dancers. They taught all of us two Jewish dances. It was a neat experience!!! We have been learning about the Jewish customs and traditions. So many of the scriptures are even more rich when you look at the history and meaning of the events/words, etc.

We had snow all of Thanksgiving week - it has been quite cold actually until this Monday. Things warmed up to 50 degrees and all the snow disappeared. The kids are anxious for the snow again. They had been having too much fun sledding.

Well....... I should scoot. The kids need attention (as does my house!!) I will endeavor to be more dilligent in keeping this updated. Much love - dria