My House Debra

We are all so excited to have Owen in our lives. Babies bring their own special spirit into the world and once they are here we can't imagine how we ever lived our lives without them. I've had a chance to see Frank and Sara a few times now since Owen was born and each time they have a few words to say about how little sleep they are getting these days. Last weekend on Franklin's birthday they mentioned that the night before they were up every hour on the hour with their little one. They actually did look a bit exhausted. I thought of the many hours that parents sacrifice for their children. Obviously, much of what they do goes unnoticed and unrecognized by the very little ones they do it for. Today I was talking to Frank and asked about our little Owen. " So is he sleeping a little better, I asked"? Franklin responded that he was doing a little better but that there was still a lot of room for improvement. I loved his positive approach to the question. How grateful I am for families. Children truly bring new life and value into the world. They strengthen our love and commitment to one another. They affirm the goodness of life and give all of us opportunities to share in the giving and receiving of love - the love we give to them and the joy they bring to all of us. What a marvelous plan. I truly hope that I will remain faithful and committed to this wonderful plan of happiness that the Lord has designed for all us. I know that families are truly central to the Lord's eternal plan of happiness for His children. How grateful I am for my wonderful family and for the little ones that are strengthening us and increasing our joy.
PS. It's kind of funny though. When we are around little Owen he seems to be sleeping quite nicely.

This year Christmas was fast and furious and almost too much for me. The Christmas Concert was held the week before Christmas and we had guests here visiting us during that week from AZ. My sister came and Audrey's inlaws were here. We had a great time but I was huffing and puffing to keep up. Hopefully they enjoyed themselves regardless of my own deficiencies. The Concert was beautiful and most everyone that comes has such a marvelous time watching it that it makes up for everything else. So this is a picture of Mom and I with Marsha, and Dad and I leaving to go to our Christmas Banquet with the Choir.

I had no idea 30 some years ago that I was birthing a gorgeous and beautiful girl that would be absolutely "Foxy" . In case you are wondering if I'm prejudiced... just take a look at her Blog at Living Foxy.com and decide for yourself. She's all about helping others put together just the right look, as in fashion or in home decor. Check it out.

Life is a bit hectic right now. It seems to me that the stress that surrounded all the activities I had going in December have left me a bit ragged and unprepared for the newness of a New Year. We certainly can't predict when someone will get sick in our lives or even when we will have some illnesses to contend with ourselves. So today I'm sitting here in my computer room and am looking at a bunch of papers that are strewn all over the desk. I look in my family room and there are still Christmas boxes to put away and cleaning to be done. My laundry basket is full and there's really not much I can do about it. Poor me, I've had a hitch in the ribs get me down! Let me explain:
I have been so grateful that Mom can be here with me and that I can watch over her. But I was quite taken aback last week when a turn of events really caught me off guard. I was experiencing some pain in my neck and thought to myself that maybe I ought to try out a new Chiropractor that had been referred to me by a friend at Christmas time. I already think my present Chiropractor is great but my thinking was that I could go a couple of times and see how this other guy did and if I liked him better then I could maybe make a change. His rates were less and money is a big deal for us right now. Well it only took one adjustment for me to see that he will never do. Nothing short of a moment in time, a quick jerk, and a crunch, crunch, and pop my ribs were out!! I told him I really felt something move, and it wasn't comfortable. He assured me that he had just put my ribs back into place. Ha Ha!! I think he meant out of place. So my experiment with Chiropractors was to be short lived. I have been in pain ever since!! It hurts to breathe, cough, sneeze, lift anything at all and to turn over in bed is torture. There isn't hardly one thing I can do (including type on the keyboard here) that allows me to be pain free. So I'm back to my trusted Chiropractor and he's wondering what I did to myself. ( I don't have much to say. ) But I am so frustrated to think that right now, when I want to be a strength and support to my Mom; here I am dealing with my own pain. This is not supposed to be happening. The only thing I can do is do the best I can and move forward with a smile - (Oh that's one thing that doesn't affect my ribs - Great! I better take advantage of that movement) So... the New Year has begun regardless if I'm ready for it. No breath taking strides forward... just keeping on keeping on. And regardless of the pain of it all...

... Life is good, It doesn't hurt to smile!!

Christmas has come and gone. I had a breather on the Sunday after Christmas and then on Monday we knew we had to finally find out what was going on with Mom. She had already been taking antibiotics for what we thought was a sinus infection. The Doctor ( her primary care Dr. Freestone) had put her on a 2nd round because the first didn't do the trick. Now here we were at Christmas and she was on a completely new antibiotic. Poor thing. She came and enjoyed a few hours with us on Christmas morning but she wasn't well at all and it was all she could do to be with us. Now all of our activities were over and it was past time for us to buckle down and figure out what was wrong with Mom. She was able to set an appointment for Tuesday morning at 9:00. We went in to see Dr. Stock her allergy Doctor. He could see that she was suffering and decided that he better take an x-ray of her sinuses to see if they were still the problem. They were clear. So he sent us up to the hospital to run some tests. To make a long story short... she was dealing with a bad case of pneumonia. Her left lung was filled with a liter of fluid. She was admitted that day and stayed in all week. She was released to my care on Saturday. She's been here with me now for a solid week and going into the 2nd week. She is doing better but still very weak. I am so grateful that I can be here to watch over her. She is a wonderful lady and we are so grateful for her in our lives. Hopefully we can keep her health up and strong throughout the coming weeks with all this gunk in the air from the inversions. We will have to be very careful with her.
PS She has won every game of pinochle that she has played with us during this time. Looks like no matter how weak she is - her mind is still pretty sharp.

We were so blessed to have everyone home for Christmas this year. Our smaller house seemed a bit cramped to me, but it was cozy and we all had such a wonderful time. Mom wasn't feeling too well and so we didn't have her with us until Christmas morning. We had a fun time in the snow Christmas afternoon with the little ones. We all had a great time and the time just flew by. One special treat was having Audrey and Andy and Lauren as well as James and Christian join us for Church.












We have always enjoyed our Christmas Eve programs throughout the years. When the children were little we had them dress up and depict the wondrous scene of the birth of the infant Jesus Christ. With a seeming spontaneity and recognition of the importance of this event, our children gathered together of themselves and depicted this beautiful experience once again, using adults and the children. Demi was Mary, Joy was the Angel, Lauren was little Joseph and of course the baby Jesus was our little Owen. The older children were shepherds and wise men. I was strengthened in this experience to know that our children believe in the story of the birth of Christ. Their testimonies were evident in this simple and evident expression of their faith. It was a beautiful evening.