Update full of Random information

(from a note I wrote to Nick giving him an update on the family happenings)

Athena and I decided to take the kids to Busch Gardens....by ourselves! CRAZY! As a VA resident you can buy a ticket for $56 and use it all summer long. We first used our tickets in May and this was our attempt to get the most out of our money. We got two hotel rooms for one night and went to the park for two days. The first day was a little rough, getting the hang of it, but the second day was very nice. The kids had a blast! We're going to try to go back again before the end of summer.

We got a LOT of looks with our eight children. I get a lot of looks having FOUR children! People stop me and inform me that I have too many children - always men:) Women give me lots of ooohhs and aaahhhhs...men actually blurt out profanities...it's pretty funny! I had one man walk by me and say "no more! They're cute, but no more". Of course Gavin is never with me when this happens - usually just me with the girls - so I'm sure they must assume I'm this out of control, horny, single mom who is too irresponsible to take birth control. It's pretty funny.

Eliot Katherine is amazing. She sings her ABC's and can count to 20. She loves Kung Fu Panda right now!! Elle is so smart. There isn't a single day that goes by that Gavin and I are not amazed...literally. She recently lost her little pink baby bear. We can't find him anywhere. We've all looked every place we can think of and nothing. She was without him for over a week when I bought a new one - bigger and brown - looks nothing like her other one. Jenny and I were together when I got him. We put him in her arms while she slept and she woke up the next morning with him, and in love!! We told her that baby bear sent his cousin, Barry, to be with her while he was gone. She said for a while that baby bear was in school, but yesterday she told mom, out of the blue, that she lost him.....:( Elle really loves her new "baby bear" though - so I'm very happy about that.

Reece - Roo loved VBS this year and it got her thinking about school. She's VERY excited about starting Kindergarten. We'll take a tour of the school and find out who her teacher is in late August. She'll be going to Great Falls Elementary, like Rae did for K. She's so beautiful and has such a great personality. I'm taking her out on a date this week while we're at mom's.

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that I decided since we were already in the southern part of VA that I would go ahead and drive to mom's for a visit. We're here for the next week and then meeting the Blake's at the beach. Gavin is going to take the train down to meet us here and drive over with us to the beach. We're all very excited about that!

Mom had stints put in two major arteries at her heart last week, to everyone's surprise. One artery was 100% blocked and had started it's own bypass called collateralls (sp?) and the other was 95% blocked. They said she was a walking time bomb. Thankfully, they were able to completely open up the one blocked 95% and the other they are treating with medication since it was already starting to take care of itself. She's completely changing her diet, too. She's still staying away from carbs, but no more fatty meats. She's doing well.

Raegan is doing great. She's very dramatic, as usual. The Lord has brought her some great friends from school and she's excited about getting into her year of 2nd grade/French Immersion. She really enjoyed VBS this year, also. She told me that she wants to be a missionary and has talked about it often since. I can definitely see her doing that. She lost both of her front teeth. They are already starting to come in again. We think she's come pretty close to kicking the whole sucking her fingers thing....fingers crossed.

Sutton is changing so quickly. I had to stop nursing her because she was reacting so badly to my milk. I gave up dairy, which helped a little, but her little tummy was still all torn up. She's doing great on formula. It was hard for me to give up because it was just so outside of what I expected....consistent with her so far. I'm definitely having to surrender all expectations when it comes to this little one! She is such a good baby, though, and I'm crazy about her.

Gavin and I are doing great. He's still my best friend and there is no one I would rather be around than him. We are celebrating our 12th anniversary this next week (August 9th)!!

There has been a stirring among Gavin, Jenny and myself lately. We feel a new season coming that will require even more sacrifice. We have no idea what is around the corner but we are trusting in the one that does know. We know, and declare, that He is a good father who knows how to give good gifts and we trust Him. We just want to be about His business.... I've gone through my checklist, personally, and I know that all I have is His and is in His hands. I hold every blessing he has given me with open hands. I'm so thankful for every day I have with my precious blessings, but I know they are His.

I'm anticipating normalcy once school begins. In the mean time, we're out enjoying this summer! I hope you all are, too!
much love,
em