Here Comes Summer !

School has kinda ended for us. There are a few things left to do, but our end of year testing is over. So, I called the official end, and we promise to work hard in August. We are also still working on finishing their 4H projects. It almost doesn't feel like summer since things haven't slowed down too much. The girls are still doing tennis. Hannah and Emily got home this past weekend from their respective camps and conferences. Rae and I had a good time at home without dad and her sisters. We did have to cut a few things out of our schedule, but we still had some fun. Emily went to Pioneer Camp at Sky View Ranch. She had a great time and made new friends. She stayed the week in "Conestoga wagons", camp under the stars, ride horses, visit an Amish farm/zoo, and learn more about Jesus. This was her second year to attend this camp, and she cannot wait to go again next year. Hannah along with Noel attended Student Leadership 101 in Orlando. She was able to learn more about becoming a Christian leader and set under some great teaching of top Christian leaders. I am happy she came back with some more focus on being the best she can be. This past Saturday, I was glad to have all my family back together after being a week apart. This week has started off with a bang. Rae had an IVIG treatment to get ready for her second eye surgery next week. This week at church is also VBS. It is fun working along side my girls and seeing Rae have fun in her class. She loves having Ms. Beth. It is had to believe Hannah and Emily are old enough to work in VBS now. I still remember their first time going to VBS - Polar Expedition. My how time flies. Rae is loving the singing and crafts. It is just fun seeing all the kids at church learning about Jesus. I will try to post pics later. I am having issues with my computer.

Tuesday Flashback Fun

I was looking thru some photos from last year and found this one. It was a nice warm day and we were getting the "redneck" slip-n-slid ready for Memorial Day. She loved playing in the scooter, but no the slid too much. She has changed so much in a year.

18 Months

Has it really been 18 months since that day in Chengdu when Yang Rui became Rae Michelle Dear. A LOT has happened in the last 18 months. There have been great days and some horrible days. God has blessed us with this amazing little girl who is full of wonder and many questions. She is making great strides in her language thanks to her awesome speech therapist. We seem to have her blood disorder more manageable, and we do not have to do weekly platelet counts.  She will have have her second eye surgery (hopefully the last)this summer. She has also been seizure free which is truly a miracle.  She has defied science and baffled doctors of how well she is doing. We do still have a medical thing or two creep in occasionally (like missing a permanent tooth and no wisdom teeth), but we mostly just laugh and move on.

Yes, we found out she is missing a permanent tooth, one of the front teeth.  I just laughed when the dentist told me, what else was I to do.  Thanks to our wonderful orthodontist, we are waiting till all her permanent teeth come in before they do an implant.  Thankfully she has plenty of space in her mouth.

Rae is an amazing little girl, and it is fun to watch her get excited about things and learn new things. Our family has been so blessed by her.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for her.

Our first family photo 18 months ago

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What to say..

I know I do well writing some weeks and others not so much. I get ready to start, but then something comes up and I don't get it typed up. I often just put a quick blurb on Facebook. Many things happen in our family each week and I need to do better writing them down, not only for me but for my girls. So here goes...

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I left on a Vision Mission trip to Italy.  Our girls did not go, but they did get to stay with my in-laws for 2 weeks.  I know your first thought - Italy - why? why not? Italy is one of the least evangelize countries in modern world.  You may think they are all Catholic - less than 10% are practicing Catholics.  Here is the shocking statistic - less than 1% are evangelical Christians! This is why Italy. Out of a country of 60 million people, less than 1% have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is a sad fact to think of the lostness of such a beautiful country.

For eight days we visited different areas of the country to see where our church would like to partner and help the local Christians and missionaries. We were in Rome, Naples, Arezzo, Milan (Binasco), and Torrino.  We enjoyed meeting local missionaries and pastors, and also enjoyed getting to know the people we traveled with. The main missionary we worked with was Charlie Worthy.  He is basically the coordinator for all the mission work in Italy with the IMB.  It was a crazy, busy trip being in a different city every day.  We are looking forward to seeing where God has us work and sharing with the church how they can. The trip also included getting to see sites of the country and to eat local food.

I enjoyed seeing the areas of the country where Peter, Paul and the early missionaries walked. Visiting the Vatican was amazing as well as seeing the ruins of the Roman empire. We did get to visit the Colosseum where Christians were killed for their faith for sport.  It was amazing to see a country that dates back to Biblical times and to see sites older than America, and it reminded me of when we were in China.  Here in the US we just have nothing that compare to those sites. While there I was just reminded how thankful I am that I have a direct relationship with Christ.  I can go Him on my own and not thru anyone.  He is my sole source of joy and forgiveness

Hubby and I did enjoy a little time away.  We missed our girls and were worried about being away from the little one so long.  They did great, but we did have to do a little disciplining via Facetime. It was nice getting to spend time enjoying each other and to reconnect. We enjoyed holding hands and being silly walking thru the stone streets of Italy. Getting away as a couple is something we need because life gets busy, and we need time alone together away from (almost)everything.

Hubby and I at Sant'Elmo in Naples over looking the city.  That is Mt. Vesuvius on the right.

This church represents the state of the church in Italy. It like many others are no longer in use.

Our Little Reader

We are proud of all our girls. This week all of them performed in our annual homeschool recital. I had trouble figuring out what Rae could do, so I decided she could read one of her books. She has come a long was since November and is really enjoying learning new things. She is proud of herself when she learns something she thought was previously hard. Here she is reading one of her books.

Quick Rae Health Update

Last week we had a busy couple of days of doctors appointments with Rae. In addition to her weekly speech therapy, she had her checkup with her neurologist and ophthalmologist.  Her neurologist is just amazed with how well she is doing.  She has not had to up her medicine, and she has not had any seizures either.  Her doctor was happy how well she has been doing in speech therapy.  She is reading now, and her therapist is helping to fill in the holes in her language that were missing. It is fun to watch her try to sound out EVERYTHING!  It is hard to believe it has been almost a year since that horrible morning.  Rae is just defying science, but all the thanks can be given to God.

Ophthalmologist appointment was a little more difficult.  It was an appointment where they had to dilate her eyes, and do a complete exam. The big question this time was if her eyes were still drifting - sadly - they are.  It is definitely better after the first surgery, but she is still occasionally sees double and the right eye drifts.  We now need to decide if we go ahead and do the surgery or wait another 6 months. She doesn't complain about it, but I do wonder if that causes her headaches. 

This week she will be going to the hematologist to see how things are. She has already had one IVIG treatment this year due to her count dropping way too low.  She is doing great with everything she has to deal with.

One appointment coming up I am dreading is the dentist.  We were suppose to have already seen them, but due to misunderstanding it has been postponed til next month.  I will also be inquiring if we need to go ahead and have some early orthodontia intervention.  I am hoping due to having had all those baby teeth removed so early, it has not caused any spacial problems.

So, she is doing really well with everything as long as we just keep on top of everything.  We are very thankful to God how He has taken care of her.

The Lost Medallion

This past Friday we took the younger girls to dinner and movie since Hannah had teen night. There are a couple of movies out that all the girls wanted to see, so we had to find something Hannah didn't mind missing. I happened to run across a movie being advertised on our local Christian radio's website. I decided to check it out and see if it is was something to we would want to see. It is called The Lost Medallion. It is a clean family-friendly movie with definite Christian themes. It is much like an "Indiana Jones" type movie. One interesting thing about the movie is that it stars Alex Kendrick from the Sherwood Production movies, and he also helped with the movie. The main characters in the movie are 13-something aged kids. There is also a nice little twist in the end.

Check out their website to see if it is playing near you. If you live in Central Ohio it is playing at Easton and Dublin. Go support this great family friendly movie. We need more like this!