Still Here...

Still here as in still alive and still in our current house. No new updates on our housing situation. An investor was here today and another will come tomorrow so it is just a wait and see thing. So, for now we are taking it one day at a time and knowing that tonight we know where we will sleep and tomorrow we may not! The owner is a wonderful Christian man and he really does have our best interest at heart and we are all praying for God's will in this situation. Whatever happens-GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF US!

Our new home in Red Springs is coming along. Finally decided on a paint color for our kitchen cabinets, painted one and actually liked it! Soon I will begin posting some before and after pics. The girls' bathroom was our biggest project (some of which a contractor did and we are finishing up) so hopefully it will be finished SOON!

Tidbit I learned last week at MOPS: anti-perspirant stick can be used on insect stings (bees, ants, etc) to help with the pain. Never knew that!

This is a new pound cake recipe that I have cooked recently: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-pound-cake/ Cream cheese is my favorite pound cake but I saw this one and decided to try it for supper club. It is lighter (as in not as dense, not as in fewer calories!) and has a citrusy taste. It was really good with fresh strawberries and homeade whipped topping (the homeade stuff is really better!) I made another one this week to take to a friend who had a baby. My sister Connie wanted the recipe so I put the link here in case anyone else might want it.

Valentine's is quickly approaching and the Hall house is EXCITED! You know we LOVE Valentine's and celebrate in lots of different ways. Since it is on Sunday this year we will do our traditions at different times. Our church has a widow and widowers banquet each year and that is Sat nt. and we are looking forward to that being part of our celebration this year.

I am speaking at church on Sunday. We have opening assembly before SS and the man who usually does that is in Africa right now so he asked me to do it. I still do not know what I am speaking on. I am really hoping God will reveal that to me SOON! Prayers please. I am not the speaker of the family! Seriously, what do I have to say??? Well I have a lot to say but not sure everyone wants to hear it!

Sallie cut herself some bangs this week. Thankfully she did not cut them short and they are even. She already had a hair appt for today so our hair stylist blended them in some. She is so proud of them! Me, not so much!!!

We are supposed to have snow moving in tonight. We'll see!

Lizzie has been singing a song that says, "without grumbling or complaining" and something like "service to Jesus". She sings the same parts over and over. However, she has NOT stopped grumbling or complaining about doing what I ask her to!!! Maybe it will sink in soon!

I need to go clean or pack or de-clutter or pray about what I am supposed to speak on Sunday or sleep or something productive!

Just a pic to share until the next post

Preparing to be missing in ACTION!

I decided to take some time to do a blog post since it will possibly be my only for this week. There is a possibility that the sell of our house (here) may move much faster than we were anticipating. A realtor is coming the end of this week to look at the house possibly for investment property. So, #1 we have a lot to do to prepare for them to come. It is so hard to keep everything done especially with us being gone on the weekends. I used to think my house would be more in order if I did not work. Wrong! We are here in it every day and cooking and eating, etc. and it is hard to keep up with it all. Elleigh is really busy with school right now and everything else she has going on. #2 we are not sure what we will do if we have to be out before May. Our prayer is that this situation works out best for all involved (us and the family who owns the house). We know they need to sell the house so we are hoping that works out for them even if that means us having to get out sooner than we have planned. They and this house have been a huge blessing to us! I really am NOT worried about any of it. Yes, we have some uncertainties but God will take care of all of that and us. It is just that my mind is spinning with all that needs to be done. We had made the decision once we knew we were moving to Red Springs to not do any major projects in the house until Jan. I am not sure now that was the right decision. Things are moving slowly and it takes a long time to do anything since we are there for a limited time each weekend and most of that time is spent at church. Church is going really well. A has begun some teaching on Sunday nights on discipleship and our people really seem to be on board and that is very encouraging. He has such a passion for discipleship and the fact that churches do not focus on discipleship nearly as much as we should (if at all). We are told to go and make disciples yet somehow we miss the make disciples part and that there is so much more to that than what we give it. So, that is what is going on with us right now (and we have learned to be prepared for change at any moment!)

I realized that I never shared that Millie is potty trained! How could I have forgotten that??? We trained her the week of Thanksgiving. We had tried just before she turned 2 with no success, around the time she turned 2 again with no success, and this was our 3rd attempt and it was a huge success. Within a week she was night trained also! After 8 years of buying diapers for at least one and often 2 at a time this is a big deal for the Hall house!!! I am sure I will be in trouble one day for this picture! A recent pic of Elleigh that I love! She is beautiful INSIDE and out! I can say that, right?!

Classic Mill! Elleigh is constantly snapping pics (she is my child!) and she took this one and while I was looking on my memory card I noticed Millie being in her carseat. It has now been 17 months since we have been traveling each weekend. The girls spend nearly 6 hours every weekend in the car and they do great! I could not ask for them to do any better. Thank you God!

Elleigh caught this picture as she was giving Sallie a high 5. I love the expression on her face! The joy you see in her face is HER JOY every day! We all could learn a lot from this face! After my last post many of you have asked about how therapy is going. Thank you for your being thoughtful. It means a lot to us! She has only been once because her therapist was off this past Friday so we will see how tomorrow goes but it did go a little better. Please continue to PRAY! How sweet are they? Well, in this picture at least! They have been fighting more than ever lately! MAN! I prefer them holding hands and smiling! Ell took this of us yesterday headed out the door for church and I never see me in Elleigh. I see all A but I actually see a little resemblance in this picture. Have a great week!

Texas Girls, They Keep us Laughing, and Prayers

Western Day for our little Texas Girls!

(this is about as Western as it gets in our house!)

Speaking of our little Texans:

Conversation I had with Millie yesterday after lunch (she was not clothed because I had taken her church clothes off for her to eat):

Me: "Millie, you are so cute"

Millie: "No I am not!" "I don't have my clothes on yet"

Me: "Millie, your clothes don't make you cute"

Millie: "Uh... yes they do!"

Last night while I was in the nursery at church:

Millie (speaking to a baby doll): "I am going to spank your booty"

Lizzie (who is across the room): "GASP" (while running over to Millie) "Millie, don't ever say that again, don't ever say booty IN CHURCH again!!!" "Do you understand me?"

I know so many of you pray for Sallie daily and we are very grateful for all your prayers. I have a specific prayer. Therapy has been so frustrating lately. It is not that we are not seeing results and we are so thankful for those results. However, Sallie does not seem to be into it as much as she was at first and there are certain activities that she just simply will not do. She becomes very defiant about it. I have tried not to think too much about it and just push through and keep on keeping on knowing that this is going to be a slow process and that sometimes she is not going to cooperate but last Friday it just really got to me. As parents we have to make some upcoming decisions about how long we will continue with the current plan of therapy and at what point we change approach. All of this to say, PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY some more! My heart is ripped out every time she doesn't succeed at whatever we are trying to accomplish. I try to focus on what we are accomplishing but sometimes I just can't help it. Thank you all!

Terrific Tuesday Truth

Conversation between Millie and I concerning frisbees that A had purchased for the church for an upcoming trip to Africa that have the plan of salvation on the back of them:

Millie: "Whose frisbees are those?"

Me: "They are for the children in Africa."

Millie: "Why?"

Me: "To give them something to play with and to tell them about Jesus"

Millie: "Why?" (Notice a pattern here!)

Me: "Because we need to tell everyone about Jesus"

Millie: "Because he loves us soooo... much?!"

MELT MY HEART! So innocent, so true, straight from a 2 year old!

JESUS LOVES US SOOO.... MUCH WE SHOULD WANT TO TELL EVERYONE!!!

Mama needs to clear her head

How is it already mid-January??? Today I was burning a candle that smelled like Christmas and it hit me that Christmas has come and gone and my 4 months to get A LOT done is now 3 1/2 months!!! I must move on from this thought!

Speaking of 3 1/2 months, A has his first class of his last semester (for his MDiv-I say that because well I know my husband really well...) tomorrow! Really, as hard as parts of this has been it has been a wonderful 5 years of spiritual growth, amazing growth in our marriage, a time that God used to refine me as a wife and mother (still a lot of refining He has to do!), developing friendships that will last a lifetime, and the list goes on. So, I am ready for him to not be in school (at least for a while) and I am ready to move on with our ministry BUT I really wouldn't take back this time for anything!

My head is spinning with decisions about paint and tile and countertops and lighting and paint and more paint... I LOVE doing this kind of stuff! Why does it feel so overwhelming right now?! Then I think of packing and stuff I need to give away and stuff I need to throw away and stuff I need to throw away........................... I really just want to relax and enjoy! I am thrilled to be able to choose everything for our new home. I know this is not an opportunity I would normally get and I love how the Lord has allowed me to do something I love and allowed me to have a home that will feel more like mine. HE is so good! Wow, I am glad I thought through all that. I already feel less overwhelmed. I think I will read this daily!!!

Eating healthy really is no fun.

I must stop reading Pioneer Woman cooking in our efforts to eat more healthy! Seriously!

Eating healthy would be much easier if we did not love to cook (or to eat for that matter).

Sallie has something crazy going on with her eyes. Took her to the Dr-either eye infection or an allergic reaction. Giving her meds to cover both. One of her eyes looks terrible! Yes, I know you are surprised there is something strange going on (especially with Sallie) and the Dr. can't completely diagnose it!

I stop and look at Ell possibly a hundred times a day and wonder where my little girl went. It is really insane! The past few years she has changed a lot but the past few months have been unbelievable. I handle it better than her Daddy! Seriously, take in every bit of them while they are younger because they will be a new person in no time.

Speaking of independence, my sweet Sallie now refuses to allow me to open or close the car door for her (this is just one of the many examples of her recent independence). Mama is not handling this well at all. She really thinks there is nothing she can't do. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly thankful for everything she can do but well, she's my Sallie!

Lizzie and Millie are planning their birthdays (which are not until July and Aug!). Everyday, at least 10 times a day they ask how old they will be on their next b-day. Like I want to think about that all day every day!!!

They are also really into Kindergarten (possibly because they were just around Zeke (my nephew) who is in K). They ask over and over how old they will be when they get to go to K. Once again, don't want to think about that!

Since seeing the chipmunks movie, they are constantly singing "Single Ladies" Millie is too cute saying "if you like it then you should have put a ring on it" Maybe I can get them to let me video them.

My sweet Millie is uhhhh.... not so sweet right now. She has been taken over by a not so mild mannered Mill. WOW! I dare say she is the most defiant of the 4 Hall girls when she wants to be. Don't let her size and the fact that she is "the baby" fool you. Mill is fiesty!!! Praying this is a stage and time and a few hundred spankings will result in the old Millie coming back to us. I do love her and still think she is my adorable baby girl (who is making bad choices!)

I need to document this. Christmas morning Millie looked around at all her stuff and says "where is my laptop?" Sallie had gotten a play laptop for her b-day (Nov 8th) and Millie said she wanted one to which I said "maybe you can ask Santa." That is the last conversation we had about the laptop. She never mentioned it again until Christmas morning and she wanted to know where her laptop was. I told her that we don't get everything we ask Santa for (she didn't like that answer). I also told her maybe Santa didn't have room for everything (probably not the best answer but it did seem to work a little). Later on Christmas Day I heard Lizzie talking to Millie and she said, "I guess Santa didn't have room for my bag" I said "what bag Lizzie?" and she said "the one like Sallie got for her b-day" (Vera Bradley duffel) which she told me she wanted but I told her maybe she could get for her b-day (because she told me like the day before Christmas). THESE GIRLS!!!

A few days ago I heard Lizzie say to Millie, "I can't get on facebook, can you?" Hilarious!

Tonight they both told us they wanted Ipods (NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!). Lizzie looked at Elleigh and said "how do you download to this thing" What does a 3 year old know about downloading???

On a more age appropriate level, the girls got GloDoodles for Christmas and we all love them! We have so much fun with them. We laughed while we were at my mom and dad's because us adults Doodled as much or more than the kids. We spend an hour or so each day playing with them. They are great to play with the girls. They draw stuff and we guess what it is and they want us to draw stuff for them. There is something about the glo that makes it more fun. I highly recommend them. Here is the link to them at WM. They are on sale right now. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11061051

Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for allowing me clear my head (like I gave you a choice)!

Christmas and New Years

We had a great WHITE Christmas in Texas before going to AL. It was wonderful to see everyone and to spend time with them. Millie and Sallie were both sick for a lot of our trip which presented some challenges but it was still a good trip. I of course had a lot of pics and had a hard time choosing which ones to post so to not take so much time I did a slideshow of all our fun. Hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus from 4 Hall Girls

Lizzie and Millie love birthdays so they ask every day if it is Jesus' birthday yet! It has been great to be able to use that to focus on the real meaning of CHRISTmas! May we never forget WHY we celebrate CHRISTmas. I have to remind myself of this a lot! Satan does all he can to change our focus and steal our joy especially when we are focusing on Christ most.

I will not even go into what it took for me to do Christmas cards this year because just thinking about it might steal my Christmas spirit! So I can laugh about it I thought I would share some "outtakes"

Sallie says, "mama, enough already!!!"


And my personal favorite! I think Sallie is ready to hurt Elleigh!
Photo session #2 after church-worse than photo session #1
"Can we please just run away from you?"


Lizzie, Millie, and I went to our small group MOPS party several weeks ago and our discussion group leader was so sweet to allow us to make ornaments and then she fired them for us. I love them!!! The girls were so sweet making them and I treasured that time with just the 3 of us.


I made the star
They made Sallie and Elleigh a snowman and a candy cane but somehow the candy cane pic did not download.

We head to AL in a few days so I will not be blogging but I will be back soon with LOTS of pics.

Wishing you all a wonderful time of celebrating JESUS' BIRTHDAY!!!

Whirlwind Week

This picture of Lizzie really suits our week! WILD and CRAZY!!!

This was made today before Discovery School. Her class wore their pj's which she loved and then they all wore Santa hats which she did not love. She liked the hat but she said it hurt her head and well she IS a princess so... I have no idea what she was doing here! I sent her and Elleigh out to the porch to take some pics while I finished getting ready and this is what I got! Bless their hearts, I make them freeze to get pics since my flash will not work. I am about to resolve that though. I can't get my dream camera but I am going to get something that I can take pics with and not freeze my children to do it!!! WM has some really good deals on a few Nikons right now and I think I am going to switch to Nikon. I have loved my Kodak but it is my second and neither have lasted long.

I do not have any pics of Millie on her party day because she is sick and could not go. She began running fever on Monday and I kept holding out thinking it was a virus that would eventually end. I ended up taking her today and they said it was viral but also double ear infection with 1 ear being really bad. This is her first ear infection. She has been a sick girl but she seems to be getting over the viral part and we have meds for the ears so hopefully she will be back to new in no time. She loves to go to the Dr. I really think it is because she gets to go somewhere by herself so it is special to her. She told me on Monday as soon as she got sick that I needed to take her to the Dr and she got MAD when I told her we were not going then. She loves medicine even more than the Dr. She was getting tired of Motrin so I was very relieved the Dr gave her meds because I would have never heard the end of that!!!

Today was our second trip to the pediatrician this week. I took Sallie in on Monday for an UTI. They said her counts were very elevated. UTI's make her so sick. She threw up like crazy on Monday morning and was running a high temp. Thankfully the meds kicked in quickly and she was feeling better by Tuesday. I am so thankful that she does not react to Bactrum anymore because it does help her much more than anything else.

We had to reschedule therapy on Monday since Sallie was sick so she went today and will go tomorrow. She is doing well. She is slightly (or maybe more than slightly) stubborn so she means she is not going to do what she does not want to do! It really is funny (but you know we can't laugh as much as we want to!)

It is hard to believe it is 1 week until Christmas! I still have a good bit left to do. My plans this week were to get lots done so next week would be carefree. Well, that didn't happen but my babies have needed me so that's OK. Everything else will get done or if it doesn't then it just doesn't.

It is also hard to believe that in 1 week from Saturday the girls and I will be flying to AL!!! YES, I said flying! Last week A called to ask me what I thought about flying home. My response, "well since that is not an option, why are you asking me that?" We never think about flying us all home because of the expense. However, our God not only meets all our needs but sometimes we get surprises and this was a huge one! Someone (who does not want us to know who they are) wanted to fly us all home for Christmas!!! I just can't tell you how much this has touched us! It is an amazing blessing. We had discussed the girls and I driving and A flying so that we could stay longer but we decided we did not need to spend the money for him to fly so we were not going to spend less than a week at home. When 2 full days of that are in a car that is a short time. So, by us flying this allows us to spend several more days. A will fly in a few days after us and then we will all return on the same day. Prayers are appreciated as I will be flying alone with all the girls. A flies back on the same day as us but on a different flight. The person contacted a guy A works with and he was the go between on the whole deal. No one (except our families) even knew we were not getting to stay long or anything about our trip so this was a total God thing! I get chill bumps just thinking about it! I hope that I will spend this holiday season reflecting on the true meaning of CHRISTmas and the many, many, many things we have to be thankful for because CHRIST was not only born but died for us and loves us more than we can EVER understand!

P.S. I miss blogging and hope to be back to blogging more often soon! The girls do and say so much every day and because I am not blogging as much I forget!

Broken and Busy

I am not enjoying not blogging very often! Not only is my computer dying, but my camera is broken! Yes, my camera and my computer. This is not easy for me!!! My camera will work but the flash will not and even on pics that do not need a flash they still are not quite right. You can only imagine how I am handling not having a working camera. Christmas cards should be in the mail eventually! I borrowed my friend Rebecca's camera today to take the pics . Thanks Rebecca!

We have been unusually busy with holiday stuff and life. I decided this year to attempt to do something special and Christmas related each day of December leading up to Christmas Day. Of course, no pics :( We have made Christmas cookies, somedays we just read a Christmas story, etc. Today our MOPS discussion group had our Christmas party and our discussion group leader makes pottery so she allowed us to make ornaments with our kids. We had a lot of fun doing that. Maybe I will be able to post some pics of them once we get them back. They were so cute!

A is almost finished with this semester! One more to go!!! He is itching to get several things started at church and will begin some of those in January. It seems strange that we are already looking at dates for VBS. Summer will be here before we know it. We are also looking at dates for another trip to Africa this summer. A begins a radio spot in Jan as well so lots going on but he is loving all this "going on" and I am loving watching him be able to do what he has been called to do.

For some reason I have not been in the decorating mood this year. No reason, just not as into it this year. I think it is maybe the feeling of having 2 houses or something. It is strange but it is like I am already disconnecting myself from this house. Weird, I know! We did finally get our tree completely decorated this week. I was not as picky about it as usual and pretty much let the girls do it and they loved it and are very proud of it. I only put up 1 tree this year as opposed to 4! I do already have plans for our new house next year though and look forward to entertaining in our new home next Christmas.

The girls LOVE the tree. They are constantly looking at it! They have moved lots of ornaments around!Because I know you all wants pics on my posts I took these yesterday morning as the girls were on their way to Discovery School. Bless their hearts it was cold and I had to take them outside to have light for the camera! I did it for you all!!!

This is the only smile I can get from Millie these days but this is classic Millie!

Too funny!

Sallie's therapy is keeping us busy as well. She is doing great in therapy.We participate as much as she does so it is tiring! It is as much a learning process for us as for her. Please pray that we will catch on quickly and always be mindful of how we are supposed to interact with her. It is difficult to train yourself to always be in teaching mode for Sallie which is different than normal conversation. This week she had testing and 2 days of therapy so 3 trips this week. Yesterday she had some booth testing with the BAHA and she did really well. It appears that she is hearing a good bit better with the BAHA band than with the aids. Major Praise! I know we have LOTS of people praying for her. I know it! We feel it! So, the audiologist is trying to get insurance to cover the band and then we (along with her ENT and the audiologist) will more than likely proceed with the surgically implanted BAHA which of course first involves getting insurance to cover it. This will mean several surgeries. As far as the method of communication, we will proceed in therapy as we are now and then see how things go from here. The big deal is that according to the test she had yesterday she is hearing a lot more of the speech sounds with the BAHA on. Another major praise is that she has become comfortable with both the audiologist and speech therapist which makes life easier on all of us! Please continue to pray!!! Whatever happens we have a long road ahead of us but we are ready!!!

THANKFUL for Thanksgiving!

I know this post is late and I have some pics of our Thanksgiving but I do not have the time or energy to try and get this computer to upload them so... you get a post without pics. First of all we did have a great time of spending time with each other and LOTS of food! The first few holidays we were not with family were so hard for me (and I still get very homesick on holidays) but after a couple of holidays of sitting around feeling sorry for myself I thought I just have to make the best of this. It is what it is and this is not fair to Aaron or to the girls or to myself for that matter so we started our own traditions and we all look forward to those every year. It is much better than sitting around crying all day!!! So, this Thanksgiving was no different. We did not have guests this year (which I missed) but we just relaxed and wore our comfy clothes (and no makeup!).

One of our traditions each Thanksgiving is to make a list of the things we are most thankful for that particular year. It is a time for us to stop and be thankful and to realize just how much we have to be thankful for. This year this tradition meant more to me than it ever has. It has been a tough month or so. I haven't mentioned anything because I just haven't been able to talk about it. I wrote on here a while back that we had taken Sallie for a speech evaluation and received very good news. The therapist thought 6 months of therapy a couple of times a week and we should be good to continue therapy at home and all would be well. A little over a week after that appt I received a call on a Thurs. nt from the speech therapist. There had been a mix-up with Sallie's files and another child's hearing tests had gotten in Sallie's file. So, she was basing everything on those tests in giving her plan for therapy and the future. She informed me that Sallie was not hearing about 1/2 of the consonants (aided) which means if she can't hear them she probably will never be able to say them. She said that we needed to proceed with a total communication approach (using sign, verbal communication, and possibly devices to allow her to communicate with us). I have to tell you I was numb. I told her I did not understand why we had never been told this before, etc. I really do not remember a lot of the conversation after that point but I did tell her we needed to talk in person. So the next week A and I went to meet with the speech therapist and the audiologist. The night I got the call I completely lost it. I have not been that torn apart in a really long time. I felt that all the hope I had for her had been snatched from me and that everything we had worked so hard for was all in vain. I spent a lot of time just telling the Lord how I felt about it all. As usual, because our Lord is wonderful and He gave me Aaron to share this responsibility, Aaron was holding it together. I am always amazed that we lose it at different times. The Lord gives us each other to be strong for the other because if we were both a mess at the same time things would really be bad! For the next week although I did think about our meeting often I did not dwell on it and I think handled that time pretty well. However, on the way to the meeting was a different story. That was a very hard drive for me. We got to the meeting and it went really well considering what we were being told. They told us they were not giving up on Sallie. The deal is that her latest tests are showing she is not hearing a lot of the consonants that are necessary for speech that is good enough for communication. The change from the past is that it very likely that when they removed everything from the middle ear it has affected her hearing negatively. She is wearing much higher powered aids now and is responding so much better but it still could be that there are a lot of speech sounds she simply is not getting. The issue is her testing is obviously from behavioral responses and we are not sure how accurate that is. They both were very sensitive with us but factual. Aaron lost it several times which in turn caused them to nearly lose it. I mean the dad is sitting there crying and telling you how badly he wants everything for her, it is heart breaking. A BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) is a possibility however the audiologist does not seem to think she will benefit more from the BAHA. It is a surgically implanted device and of course insurance does not cover it. We applied for insurance to cover it one time in the past and it was denied. There is what they call a temporary BAHA which they wear on the outside and the audiologist is beginning the process of getting insurance to cover that. This would be for her to use any time she is not able to wear her aids. If we need this and insurance will not cover it I know Sallie will get it somehow. The Lord has provided in great ways time and time again and I just am not going to stress over this one. If she needs it, HE will make it happen! We also have testing scheduled to try and see if she would benefit from the BAHA as well as some more extensive testing to determine exactly what sounds she is or is not hearing. We greatly appreciate your prayers through this testing. We pray that she is calm and that she does indeed respond when is aware of a sound. At times the fear takes over and I know she is not responding accurately. So, our greatest prayer is that she respond accurately so that we have the best possible info to work with. We do begin therapy 2 times a week beginning this Friday. Basically the therapist is going to try several means of communication and we are going to figure out what works best for Sallie. Aaron, Elleigh, and I will begin sign language classes in Jan so that we can use sign to the extent we need to with her. We are not giving up! We are still going to do everything we can to do what is best for her-whatever that means. We know that we serve a God who is able to do anything and if it is His plan for her to verbally communicate then she will and if He has other plans for her then He will be glorified through that and we will accept that. I know this post is already so long but this is my journal and I know we have some prayer warriors who read this and we need all the prayers we can get. We will be traveling about 30 miles each way for therapy 2 days a week and one day we have to be there early and will have to fight traffic so our travels each week is another prayer. Just pray, please!

All of this to say, that this year I am more THANKFUL for Thanksgiving than ever before. I was forced to think about the things I have to be THANKFUL for (and it was at a time I really needed to be forced) and there is so much I have to be thankful for that it was difficult to come up with a list that was not incredibly long. No matter how tough life seems right now I am THANKFUL.
I have said this a million times before but I will say it again. I can never thank God enough for giving me my husband. I can't imagine dealing with all this with any one other than Aaron. As hard as this all may be, we draw closer together through it all because we draw closer to God.
I am thankful for friends and family who accept Sallie. I will be honest the older she gets the harder her acceptance becomes. I have had several incidents lately in public of people looking at her like she was crazy because she tried to "talk" to them. It upsets me so badly I can't explain it and I just want to tell them what I think but I know that God made her and it doesn't matter what they think. She is His and He has given her to me for now!
I am thankful for a church that has taken us in and is so good to us and that God has placed us there. There are so many who wait so long to have their first full time church and we feel very blessed that God has led us there before Aaron graduates.
I am thankful for all my girls. They are all so different and have different strengths and weaknesses and am thankful that God entrusted them all to us! They all bring me joy every day!
I am thankful for provisions in so many ways.
I am thankful for life and for all the things that Sallie is able to do that we once thought she might not be able to.

When Sallie was in the NICU they took her picture and made cards for the parents which said Happy Thanksgiving from your little blessing. Sallie was stronger than they ever knew and we were home with her before Thanksgiving but that card still hangs on my fridge as a daily reminder of my blessings and of how strong she is, and of how far she has come. I need to see that. I need to remember to find what I have to be THANKFUL for every day not just on Thanksgiving!