Palm Trees and Ocean

I was looking at a palm tree recently remembering how I used to be in such awe of them. Still am sorta. When I was little, we traveled to Florida several times (I had 2 different grandparents living there). I was so excited to cross the Florida state line and would begin my palm tree hunt. It was agonizing b/c it would be a long time before seeing one! LOL
So the other day when looking at a palm tree, I stopped and thought....wow, I can look at these trees, that many people dream about escaping to (a place that has them, that is), whenever I want. I love hearing their big palm leaves blow in the wind and rustling against one another. They are pretty messy trees though. They HAVE to be professionally maintained. I thought, wow I can look at these trees, see them whenever I want! But not for long, and while that seems a little sad, I'm far too excited about many other things about living in "up north" Michigan! :-)

I will, however, REALLY miss the ocean!!!! But I remind myself that we will be close to Lake Michigan and it has waves and long, big beaches just like the ocean. It won't have shells and the wildlife you'd see at or near the ocean but it will definitely suffice! (and won't be salty!) We'll also live near my grandmother (about an hour away) who LOVES to go to Lake Michigan! So it'll be nice to call her up and have her meet us over there. She hasn't even ever met Owen!

I do want to soak up as much of the ocean as possible before we leave! I'd like to go every weekend if we could! LOL We'll see! :-)

God is so good!

"Can't Wait!"

Aaron made the mistake of telling Owen that we're moving. Owen is so excited! Aaron's been sharing stories of things we'll be able to do and Owen simply can't wait to move and refers to it nearly everyday. He's always talking about taking such-n-such to our "new" house, etc, etc. He's very excited to go fishing, hunting, swimming in the lake, exploring in the woods, sledding, snowmobiling, but especially fishing and hunting. Yesterday he got our all of our suitcases and began "packing." He went around the house and starting collecting things he thought we should bring. It kept him busy and he was having a ton of fun, but it was a mess to clean up! LOL

I've had some ebbs n flows to my emotion toward moving. I go from super excited to are we doing the right thing? Sometimes I can't wait to go and think about the things I WON'T miss and wish we could go now, but other times I think about all the things I'll miss and feel sad (mostly related to anything affecting my kids). Seems this is all normal and I'm glad to have much time to process and plan and have closure. God is good and always provides and takes care of us so there's nothing to worry about, yet I still do. :-) It's my nature, I'm a worrier!

Logging (or blogging) a new journey...

It's been a long time since I last blogged. I've spent more time on Facebook and have kept in touch with many friends and family that way. However some family and friends are not on Facebook and also there are many friends on Facebook that I do not wish to announce some things to.

Anyway, we are embarking on a new journey. There is never a dull moment with us. When I look back over the 8 short years we've been married, soooo much has happened! It's been an incredible adventure! Moving to Ohio, adopting Otto and having Owen just 10 mos later, traveling to Guatemala numerous times including going to language school there, moving to Texas to do mission work in Mexico, traveling deep into Mexico to deliver water filters, are some of the highlights. Now we begin the planning stages of a new journey....

Aaron started school this fall toward a social science degree (history) in order to teach high school. We are planning to move back home to Michigan in May 2010 until Aaron finishes school and then move to wherever he finds a teaching job (maybe staying in MI, Lord willing). We are sooo excited about this decision for multiple reasons.

Traveling to Mexico has become increasingly dangerous by ourselves. It's much safer in groups. We've had a couple incidents and with the increased violence due to the drug cartel we had decided to change gears a bit. Instead of driving into Mexico ourselves to deliver water filters, we decided to visit churches here in the states that go to Mexico or other places in the world where clean water is scarce and show them how to make the filters. But then after further thought, we realized that we could do that anywhere and the reason we moved here was to travel into Mexico but now we weren't going to be doing that anymore. The Rio Grande Valley is not a place we would choose to live and raise our children otherwise. Aaron's parents have very unselfishly allowed us to occupy their cabin up north so we're going to camp out in their vacation cabin up north Michigan on Higgins Lake for the next couple years while Aaron finishes school. We are so excited for the many activities we can do with the kids that we have been unable to do here. I will miss the ocean and my friends and the kids' friends (that will of course be horribly sad to say good-bye), but am excited to be nearer to family and experience milder summers and beautiful autumns and yes snow! (although I'm sure after several months of snow, I'll not be too excited for it! LOL) All the while continuing to spread the word and knowledge of how to make these very cheap and very easy to make water filters that can change a family's life for up to 10 years!

Delivering Water Filters

This was an incredible weekend for me. I was blown away by how these people live. Each house we delivered to, we were invited into their home. One teenage boy we delivered to, his mom wasn't there. She was in town in the hospital b/c she was sick from the water, they told us. Unbelievable. What a blessing these water filters will be for these people. Even as I look at these pictures, I can't believe what I see and I was there! It was crazy. We drove 5 hrs south into Mexico, past the Tropic of Cancer, into the mountains. It was so beautiful! The village we visited was nestled in the middle of the mountains and it was breathtaking!

There was electricity coming into the village but not all had it. None had running water, no sinks or toilets, only outhouses. Mostly dirt floors, but some had a cement floor. Unbelievable.

The boys had a blast! One house had kittens and Owen was loving it! The boys gave their toy gun that was in the car to this little boy (below). He was so scared looking and shy (in fact Otto just walked right up to him and put his arm around him and touched his head to the boy's and just sat like that for a minute, to die for!) The boy wouldn't even touch the gun, but as we were leaving, I looked back and he was holding the gun with a big smile on his face waving to us! I wished I had brought more stuff, I had nothing else in the van and couldn't believe I didn't think of that. Darn. Next time we'll bring clothes and stuff.

The 1st day, we arrived and all the men of the village were having a meeting at the school. So Aaron went over there and introduced himself and explained to them what we had for them. He said at first their faces were like, "what the heck is this white guy doing here and what does he want?" Then after a little explanation of why we're here and what we've got, he said their faces changed and looked more like, "hot dog! sweet! no way!" They all wanted one so we passed out 6 that day and then planned to come back the next day with the rest. We obviously didn't have enough for everyone in the village but encouraged them to share with one another and that we'd be back in a couple months with more.

The little girl in the red shorts....the 1st day after we delivered to her house, she asked if she could come with us to deliver the rest. Then the next day, a school day, she came on her break and found us delivering more and hung out for her recess time. She was a doll, Silvia.

We took a little swimming break on the 1st day and swam next to a huge cliff! Awesome!

Update on the ND!

It's been a month and a half since consulting with an ND (Naturopathic Doctor) and making all the changes she suggested.  

For Otto, all hyperness gone, solely do to diet!  Amazing!  We cut out all sugar, white flour, preservatives, and artificial anything.  All ADD meds we've tried have not worked for Otto (and we've tried a ton!), they all gave him terrible side effects.  So we've just lived with the extreme hyperness along with the other issues he suffers from....anxiety, moodiness, etc.  He is still on a med for these other issues, but our goal is to get him off of it.  The homeopathic remedies we tried last month helped with many, many symptoms that he deals with but didn't help a few.  So we are trying a new remedy this month.  

I have had extremely good results also!  My lump has shrunk!  In addition to diet, I have also been doing hydrotherapy to my lump as well as castor oil packs to my lump, liver, and ovaries.  I also had other complaints which have all improved except for a couple.  I have extremely irregular periods and last month received one!  I have always suffered from headaches (migraines and other).  I was taking 4 motrin a pop everytime I'd get one.  Those have significantly decreased and when I have had one, I only took 2 motrin and it worked.  I was on Lipitor for high cholesterol and took myself off of it and the ND ok'd it as long as I increased my fiber (via flax seed) and fish oil and limited my carbs to 3 servings a day.  The ND said today that she is confident the lump was probably noncancerous since it responded so quickly to treatment (decreased in size).  I was so relieved and excited by her saying this!!!!!

In addition to this change in diet, Aaron and I have started visiting a gym that has free daycare!  LOL  Chance to continue this quest toward health together and have some "us" time.  :-)  He's already lost 14 lbs in 2 weeks and I've lost about 12 lbs since I started the diet a month and a half ago.  Only been working out for 2 weeks.  I praise God for my lump b/c it has led to all of this!  

Alternative Medicine

I have been enlightened into the world of alternative medicine.  It all started in January when we discovered a lump on my thyroid the size of what my ENT described as a golfball.  At the same time in January, I learned that I would be losing my insurance coverage Jan. 31^st.  We tried to rush in a biopsy but was unable to do so.  I had one done in early February at my own expense.  $4000 later, we learned that the results came back “negative for malignancy” (praise God!) but the ENT wasn’t happy with the sample that was taken and therefore wasn’t comfortable telling me I was out of the woods.  Thankfully the hospital covered the hospital cost (praise God!), but we still have to pay the radiologist/ultrasound tech bill and the lab bill.  The ENT suggested either another biopsy or surgery to have the lump removed.  He told me that biopsies are only 90% accurate so the possibility existed that even if I had the biopsy redone, it may be false info.  If I opted for surgery, they wouldn’t just remove the lump but the whole left side of my thyroid (where the lump is located) so as not to disturb the lump if it is in fact cancerous.  The thyroid may continue to function normally, but if not, I would have to take thyroid pills for the rest of my life.  Either of the choices, redo biopsy or have surgery, would not be covered and would have to come out of our pocket.  Also, all of this…..and it may not even be cancerous!!!!!

So this was a big dilemma.  We talked with several people, prayed about it, mulled it over and over and over.  And after talking with a friend, the idea got sparked in me again of alternative medicine.  I say “again” b/c over the years, I’ve known people who are pretty into it and have crazy stories to tell.  And when Otto was diagnosed with ADHD and it was suggested to me to put him on medication, I researched alternative methods b/c I did not want to put him on meds.  However, researching alternative medicine on the internet is a daunting task b/c there is so much!  How do you know which sites to trust, etc?  So I used the networking tool of Facebook and put the question out there…..”Does anyone know about alternative medicine?”  I got great feedback!  Some suggested sites turned out to be very informative and I learned of many people curing their own cancer and getting rid of their lumps.  I also remembered someone I knew back in Ohio whose dad had prostate cancer and got rid of it in 6 mos on his own without chemo or radiation or surgery.  I began trying a couple things on my own to try to “shrink” the lump.  But wanted a trusted expert’s opinion on what to do, how much and what to take.  A friend from high school on Facebook said she consulted a Naturopathic Doctor and also sought a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) for her son who was on the Autism spectrum and now ISN’T anymore!  What?!  The thought was resparked in me to consult an ND (Naturopathic Doctor) for Otto too and all his issues.

I visited a website for the American Association of Naturopathic Doctors to find one near me.  Called a few up to compare prices, etc and learned that they actually go to medical school!  This made me feel very good and very excited to talk to one.  Of course insurance doesn’t cover them usually but I didn’t have any anyway!  Their philosophy is to treat the whole person, not just the current ailment and not just to throw a medicine at it and send you on your way.  It was an incredibly enlightening several conversations.  I learned a ton and was given several suggestions for both Otto and I.  First and foremost, Otto and I are on a “whole foods” diet meaning no refined sugars or white flour, no additives or preservatives.  Only fruits and veggies, whole grains, and protein.  After only 2 or 3 days, Otto’s hyperactivity reduced significantly!!!  I could write so much more detail about this but this is already sooooo long!

My lump has already shrunk considerably!  In fact, I really have to feel around for it to find it and have a hard time anymore!  I wanted to include a picture of my lump when I had a cold.  My glands were all swollen, the lump was swollen, and it was enormous!  Unfortunately I can't find the pic, bummer!  It was crazy!  If I find it, I'll post it!  Now, like I said, I can barely find it when feeling around!  I could write so much more detail and maybe I will in some other posts.  But for now, just wanted to share our miracle(s)!  I pray it continues to go away completely! 

Easter Fun!

     Colored eggs

    Owen was so excited to finally get to eat the eggs that as soon as I said he could, he grabbed one and bit into it!!!!  Unpeeled!!!!

    Cascarones!!!!  The eggs are drained, filled with confetti, and dyed.  You crack em over each other's heads!  So much fun!


        

Hubby's picture hobby

Check out Aaron's pix blog @ http://iphoneaventura.com.

Visitors from Austin

Aaron has a friend in Matamoras, Mexico.  He and his wife live there and are missionaries.  They run a preschool and also tutor older kids in English.  They had a group come down this week to volunteer and work, and the group was a little large for the projects they had planned.  So his friend wondered if we could take about 9 of them and find some work for them to do.  Of course!  There's always work to do!  The village we work in, Revolucion has many things that could be done to bless people.  The church building we are meeting in is one room.  Recently they have added on a room to the back of the building so the children could meet there during the service.  It has been done for a while, done meaning "roughed in", all cement block.  A family we know from Michigan donated all the money needed to buy stucco to finish it (it wasn't going to be finished for awhile til they had more money).  So the men worked and finished the inside before the group came, and the group did all the painting.  They painted a Noah's Ark theme.  I don't know if the pix do any justice but it turned out sooooo cute!  And the kids love it!  Under the rainbow, we had them do handprints with their names and they just loved it!  The group also brought crafts to do with the kids and we ran the after school program extra long and both the days the group was painting.  So the teenagers in the group helped the kids with the crafts, sang all the songs together with lots of energy, and practiced their Spanish most of them were taking in high school!  :-)  Our kids got to practice their English introducing themselves and asking some intro questions like "how are you," "how old are you," "what's your name."  It was great practice for them to speak with other people besides us and practice.  And the teenagers were great with them!  What a fun time for all! 

Like....Mexico?

A friend of mine asked me recently if I like Mexico, and my 1st reaction was "Yeh!"  But then in my head I pictured the Mexico that I see when we go and I began to wonder, "Do I like it" I realized the answer was yes and no.  I LOVE going and seeing the children and being with the people.  The children are so comfortable with us now in the after school program that they run up to us when we come and the good-bye is several minutes long with hundreds of repeated "good-bye's."  It's so cute, worth every trip!  And the people are so warm and welcoming and grateful.  I love that!  I love their sense of family and getting together and hanging out.  They are such relational people.  I love that!

Physically though, the parts of Mexico I see are dry and dusty with litter everywhere.  They are not conscious of making sure to throw garbage in the garbage can.  Here, you can get a fine!  Also, it seems we're more environmentally conscious.  But I remember a day when I was little when it was acceptible to open a piece of gum in the car and throw the wrapper out the window and it wasn't a big deal.  I didn't think anything of it, and I didn't get in trouble for it.  Nowadays, I'm totally into recycling and at least "thinking" of the environment and would NEVER allow my children to litter!  But in Mexico, it's not a thought.  It's no big deal, everyone does, and no one thinks anything of it.  Hence, it affects Mexico's appearance.  Also they don't have nicely manicured medians and sidewalks and not much lush, green grass like I'm so used to here.  So there is quite a noticeable difference.  Of course there are areas that are nicer than others, but what I see is as I described.  Of course, the houses are another big difference.

I love the adventure of going to Mexico though, being in another land, it looks so different, smells different, sounds different, it's another culture and I love that!  And the boys LOVE going too!  They always ask if it's a "Mexico Day"!  Mexico makes me appreciate lots about my life!  Mexico grounds me, humbles me, gives me a realistic perspective on my life.  All that to say, after processing the question more, "Yes, I like Mexico!" 

Happy Adoption Day, Otto! 4 years!

My goofy nut!  And he totally is!  Otto loves to make people laugh and feel good.  At therapy today, there was a little boy crying and Otto walked over to the boy and offered him one of his pretzels.  So sweet.

As I reflect today on our precious boy, so many wonderful attributes come to mind.  And I think what makes it all that more amazing to me is that they exist despite the many trials Otto has faced in his short little life.  Despite it all, Otto is a very trusting, loving, little boy who lives for people!  He loves to be with people!  He is aware and concerned for your state of being as well.  Are you happy, sad, mad, etc?  He wants to know and also how he can help.  When we came home to visit in January, Otto was in social heaven!  Every single day was jammed packed with visits with friends and family.  He was so happy and living it up that week!!!!  One day right before going down for a nap that week, he asked me (with anticipation) who he would see after he woke up from his nap.  

As you can imagine, he loves school!  When he's home, he's always asking when he goes back and is always talking to his friends from his class while playing or is pretending he's his teacher.  He is such an inspiration to me.  What he's overcome and continues daily to overcome.  He is an example to me of God's compassion and love for people and also of God's strength and mercy.  Otto's perseverence to survive and thrive spur me on.

Please pray with us for God's absolute best for Otto and that Otto would reach the ultimate potential that God's already planned for him.

I'll share a poem I wrote for Otto before we had him that we recite often with him....

"Once upon a time, a long, long, time ago,

God thought of a little boy, his name was Otto.

He knew the place and time, when you would arrive,

He planned you all along, from the beginning of time.

On November 23rd,  a little cry was heard,

Otto Gabriel was born, and the world you did adorn!

Dump Truck

Aaron accidentally ran over Owen's favorite toy in the whole world, his big Tonka dump truck.  We knew he'd be devastated.  But Aaron and Oe talked about it and Owen was ok with the fact that we'd get a new one.  In fact he told me the whole story Aaron told him about how he didn't see it and all of a sudden felt this big bump and that it was an accident and he was sooooo sorry.  It was cute.  Aaron asked Owen if he wanted to see it the next day (it was nighttime at the time of the confession!  LOL) and Owen said yes.  So the next morning, Owen was excited to get a new dump truck.  When leaving for the store, we asked again if he wanted to see it and he said yes.  Oh the trauma of a beloved toy!  :-)  So pitiful!

Shakin' it and movin' it!

1st clip is of Owen doing a funny little thing, I don't know where he got it from!

2nd clip is a little jingle he got stuck in his head the day we saw "Madagascar 2" at the dollar theatre.

Super Jump!

The boys were playing with a helium-filled Valentine balloon that was attached to a string.  Owen said, "I want to take this string off"  I said, "No, b/c then you won't be able to reach it anymore.  It'll be up at the ceiling and you'll want it and you won't be able to get it."  He responded with an attempt at a convincing, "Yeh!!!?"  Then continued with, "I'll Super Jump to get it!"  I laughed.

Visti to MI and Aaron's Message

We had a great visit to MI last week!  It was the 1st time we've been home to MI since we left a year and a half ago to come to Texas.  It was really good to see everyone!  The boys LOVED the snow!  Owen was pretty sick and we made 2 emergency room visits but besides that it was great!  We are excited to hopefully come back this summer for a long visit.  We're hoping 6 or 7 weeks!  This way we can spend more time, visit some we couldn't squeeze in last week including some in Ohio!  Also want to take the boys up to Aaron's parents' cabin up north.  Owen's never been (outside my belly that is!).

While in MI last week, Aaron spoke at Paradox Church in Warren, MI.  He shared stories about life here for us.  Here is a link for anyone interested in listening!  :-)  God Bless!

Click on the link below and go down to the message dated 1/25/09 and just click play!

Click here

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Owen 3yrs 2mos, reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle.

Sick

I am just sick.  What's going on in this country is so unnerving!  So many people losing their jobs.  Unemployment rates breaking records.  Recession.  People losing their homes.  It has affected many people we know and seems to especially affect our home state, Michigan.  It's just crazy.  I feel so worried for several people I know who think they may lose their job.  People with families, children, bills.  What are they gonna do?!  I know what it's like to lose a family-providing job.  It happened to us a couple years ago and we lost our house as a result.  It was a very tough time in our lives, but looking back now we learned and grew so much from it.  I'm worried about marriages going through crisis at the prospects or the reality of these things.  I wish I could protect them all from it.  Even though that was an incredibly rough time in our lives, we are all the better for it.  I would never wish for tough times, but we all know they can do 1 of 2 things.....make us (better) or break us!  And of course we have a choice.  I pray that we all choose to put our lives, our WHOLE lives, all of it, every last thing we can think of, in God's hands.  He is so much bigger than any situation that comes our way AND He can bring "life" to our lives....so much more than we ourselves could even deam up for ourselves.  I never could have imagined where we are now, doing what we're doing, and the joy it would bring.  And it could only come through the journey we've been on, one that involved devastating loss.  I can now say, "Thank you for that trial!"  However, I'd never want to relive it and during that time it was hard to believe we'd survive it!  Nor do I want anymore trials!  LOL  But I know it's life.  They are gonna come.  I pray next time I remember how God has provided and taken care of us and that He of course will do it again.  I pray it brings more peace, less fear, and less worry each time.  God bless you! xo 

You are beau.....ti......ful.......!

This is a song Uncle Nathan sings on a video we made for Otto.  When Otto sings it he says, "for to you"  So Owen's imitating that!

Mommy Has a Name!

Aaron called my name today from the other room, "Jenn?"

Owen said, "Jenn?  Why Poppy said 'Jenn?'  You're not Jenn, you're mommy!"

Can You Help?!

I am wondering if anyone has a blanket, warm kid pj's, or coats (all of which any size would do) that they wouldn't mind spending a couple bucks to send to me.  There are many freezing folks across the border (WHO DON'T HAVE HEAT) that have to survive 40 degree nights......WITH NO HEAT!  Contact me for sending info and I can get these things to them.  These folks are poor and ask especially for warm things for their children.  Thank you in advance!  :-)

Little Man!