Plans and the Unexpected

"Today is the greatest day, and I am in it." ~Jacob Damoff

I started this blog post a while back and have been meaning to post it. Well, last night Mary Graham showed us something we were not expecting and it was as if all God had been teaching me came full circle and I knew it was time to post these words I had written.

 She did this....

I
Walking from Jennifer Sheppard on Vimeo.

Then she did THIS!! Lee and I were thrilled to say the least. She has been moving really fast in her walker lately but always been too afraid to let go. Then all of the sudden, she decided she could do it and it was as if God just took away her fear and moved her.

Walking2 from Jennifer Sheppard on Vimeo.

We are so thankful God has given her the ability to move around a little more independently. Just a couple months before turning 3. I really don't have the words for watching her do it for the first time last night. It was a glimpse of God's glory in the midst of this hard journey we have been on with her.

She still is fearful and has fallen a few times, pretty hard, because she doesn't  have good balance and the strength to brace herself. She has walked some today, but still asks for her walker. But we praise God for this unexpected gift and pray for safety and strength for her as she moves around on her own.


God has been showing me so much these last several months. The above quote is from a 15 year old boy, that he hung on a sign in his bedroom, only later that year would face a drowning accident and by the grace and healing of God, in a hopeless situation, would learn to walk, talk and live again...although he would face tremendous challenges for the rest of his life as it was forever changed. The book "Parting the Waters" was given to me and is written by Jacob's mother. And her heart and words shared in the book have affected me so much. Her life and plan for Jacob and her family was shattered the day of his accident. I can't begin to do this book justice, so read it for yourself.....especially if life has not gone the way you planned (which I believe may be all of us).

Recently a friend shared about a difficult path her daughter may be facing. She spoke with a counselor who gave her some good advice and ways to help and pray for her daughter, but then told her, as God tells Job (vs. 42:2) really in the end, whatever this difficult journey or path your daughter may be on, if it is God's plan and His will for her to walk this difficult road, then there is really nothing you can do to thwart that. A wise woman once told me that God is writing His own story for each of our children's lives.

And I believe she is right.

I trust (or I think I do) that God has a plan for Loftin, Lucy and Mary Graham, a good plan...which scares me to death, because, let's face it, sometimes (a lot of the time) God's plan for our children is a hard thing to swallow, to let go of......it's often not what we as parents would choose. Oh, and my kids are only 7, 6 and 2 years old! There is so much more to come.

We don't have control.

I thought so much about this with MG and her disease (one we certainly couldn't control or change). Just last week I picked out her first wheelchair, a bubble gum pink tiny wheelchair. Even though she is moving so well with her walker and beginning to walk, she needs this as another option to help her more towards independence and help her with long distances. There was that mix of pain and joy. God has chosen this path for her and this is where the beauty lies. Deep in my heart, 2 years ago when I was grieving over the loss of who I thought she would be and the reality of her situation, God gently whispered in my heart...."I have great plans for her." Really? Do you God? Because, as Jacob's mom says, I wanted her to grow up healthy and happy and to impress the world and receive the praises of men. But God is doing something greater and His plans will  not even compare to what I had wanted for her....even in a bubble gum pink wheelchair....even in the hardest times....and even in the most joyous times like watching her walk for the first time.

His plan in better.

These last few months, in my mind, I have been brought to a place and wanted to say outloud that I'm simply astounded that Mary Graham has been given to me, to us. That God would chose us to raise her, to love her, to care for her and all her challenges (not at all because he thought we were well equipped-ha! I wish). But because I get a front row seat to see the beauty of God working in the most unexpectly places. Lately I have realized, as Jacob's mother puts it, "God doesn't always allow us to observe what he is doing, sometimes he waits for us to get out of His way." God doesn't need me to accomplish his plan in my children's lives, but I'm so thankful that I get to be a part of it.

Slowly, God is taking me to a place of thankfulness for everything about her, everything about her today. Will there be much harder days ahead? Absolutely. Will we continue to pray for healing? Always. Will I wish things were different? Yes. Will I think we don't deserve this? Daily.

Truthfully though, we really deserve nothing....but Christ gives us everything.

Mary Graham's progress has been amazing lately. I hear the muffled voices of the doctors, the prognosis and all they have to say.....but God's gentle whisper is louder.....

He says, "I have great plans for her."

God has laid so much on my heart....I'm learning to try and not just call for help when I need God, but to realize I have already been rescued....2000 years ago on the cross. What it comes down to is do I trust in the One who died for me? Who loves my kids more than I do?

He does. He is for them. He is for you and me.

So, I will leave you with some pictures of our life the last several months. Blessings to all of you this Christmas! We head back up to Philly for an expansion surgery on January 14th. Not really excited about that, but hoping it will be short and sweet with no complications. Will update more on that in a couple weeks! Thank you for praying! What a mighty God we serve and how faithful and loving is He to have others praying for her and getting to watch His beauty unfold in her life.

The girls and our turkey, Tom

Fun with Cousins

Lucy turned 6 and we celebrated at the American Girl Store

MG's school picture

Selling donuts for our church Christmas outreach

Lee and I got to take a weekend away to the mountains, it had been over three years since we left all the kids :)

Annie, Auburn football player and Ariel

War Eagle! What an incredible season for Auburn!

Lots of "firsts" this week....

First day of second grade for Loftin....

First day of Kindergarten for Lucy (and she never looked back, she loved it)

First day of walking together to school....

 Our wonderful new teachers....

And, this is huge....Mary Graham's first time to stand up without holding on to anything....I snapped this picture of her buckling her babydoll in the stroller. She didn't even realize she had let go of her walker to do this. Praise God for this little miracle....

First time dressing up, she loves the princess shoes...



Gratitude

Here's the long version of last week in more detail....Got to Philly Sunday, good travel, great weather. Unfortunately, we didn't get in Ronald Mcdonald House, so we stayed in the city. Got to do some sightseeing....my flip flop broke and I walked 10 blocks barefoot until we found a store to by some $5 flip flops...think they are my favorite shoes now :)

Monday came and we still did not know if we would see Dr. Bonnemann, but I felt like God was going to work it out. I called first thing and left a message. Friday I had been emailing anyone I knew that could have a connection to him. I even emailed Dr. Bonnemann himself, we have corresponded some already and he said he would be at CHOP and hoped to meet with us. So, I gave him my cell number (probably not the right etiquette, but I couldn't forsee being in the same place and not getting a chance for him to see MG).

We walked to Starbucks and neurology called. The receptionist said we could see Dr. B any time. So we scheduled for 2:30 that afternoon after our other appointments would be finished, or so we thought. When I sat back down to eat, I told Lee, "we are in to see Dr. Bonnemann." Then MG looked at me and said "we should pray." Not kidding....so we did.

Off to CHOP for first appointment with anesthesia-it lasted almost two hours. Mainly because MG had started coughing and had been the night before. So the actual anesthesiologist came to check her out. He thought her lungs sounds "hyperactive" and albuterol treatments before surgery would be a good idea. Well, guess who left the albuterol inhaler and chamber at home...me.So, I called and emailed two doctors back home and got those called into Walgreens. We'd just run by and pick it up later that day (well, it turned out to be after 6:00 before we left the hospital and two different Walgreens later to get it all filled). And the anesthesiologist basically said he thought she would be ok, but it was possible the surgery could make her more sick and she could possibly end up in the ICU with pneumonia on the ventilator. I love it when they are so honest.
But as you know, God kept her safe...I was so fearful...and she went through surgery beautifully and took her time to recover on some oxygen. Dr. Campbell only expanded the rods 1 cm each, she can't handle much more than that with her history of broken ribs. So, she is recovering really well. We are so thankful!

After that appt on Monday, we headed to see Dr. Campbell at 1:30 and he was very backed up with appointments (meanwhile, MG is done...she is worn out from exams and bloodwork). So around 2:15 I run upstairs to neurology to tell them we may be late and they say you are the only patient Dr. Bonnemann is seeing today and he has to leave at 3:30 to catch the train. What?? the only patient.....I said, "I will be right back with her." So, I run back downstairs and tell Lee and we tell ortho what's going on and they were understanding and Dr. C would just have to wait :). So off to meet the famous doctor :) Apparently he is selective about who he sees, not because he is arrogant or anything like that, but because he is at the NIH now and is very involved in research of very rare, difficult to diagnosis muscle diseases. And Mary Graham fits into that category for sure. So she was "chosen." Not sure if Lee and I felt good or worse about that. But being one his patients will help her so much because he is on the cutting edge of everything to do with neuromuscular diseases, from treatments, to clinical trials and running tests that other doctors may not be able to do.He was super nice and thorough...he asked about her history and knew some of it already. Then he did an ultrasound of her legs, arms and back. To summarize, he believes she has a congenital myopathy, which crosses over with dystrophies also. But some are just now in the last year being able to be studied more clearly. He said it was "perplexing" that she is so weak through her torso and back, but her legs and arms are stronger. Also, many of these diseases can come with facial deformities and she doesn't have this. These myopathies can involve respiratory and cardiac issues. He ordered a huge DNA test that will take 5-6 months to get back (this test can't normally be done at hospitals). And an echocardiogram. We had this done at CHOP on Wednesday and thankfully it was normal. We will continue to see cardiologist to monitor her heart. Also, the respiratory function can decline over time, but that is why we see pulmonology here and at CHOP constantly. The stablity or progressiveness of the disease is not very predictable, especially since some are just now being discovered and every child is different.

So, more waiting. Lee and I both have said that at this point it doesn't really change anything once we know what her specific neuromuscular disease is, but it can give us more insight to best helping her as she gets older. We have learned over the last few years that nothing is truly definitive with neuromuscular diseases and that is where we just put our trust in God alone. And God has placed amazing doctors in our path, and we are so confident that she is getting the best possibly treatment and we are so thankful for that.The most important thing for us is that she is doing very well right now, her veptrs are holding and keeping her chest wall stable and she is not showing any signs of respiratory distress. She is getting stronger and these things are nothing short of miracles and the power of prayer.

God always uses these times to show more of himself to me and lead me to these verses below.

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Daniel 3

This was the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendigo in Daniel who worshipped God, and were about to be thrown into the fiery furnance because of that. Their trust and belief in the Lord blows me away. And after reading this blog (and she puts it so much more beautifully than I can) God showed me this in this last week. How many times am I begging God to answer my prayers....in big and small things. From asking God to protect my children, provide for our family, blessing us.....to asking God to get MG through one more surgery. And I wonder how many times at the end of these prayers do I say, "But even if you do not Lord." Do I still give him thanks? Do I still trust? Do I still believe all He does is good?This is hard. Very hard....I want things to go my way. And this is where Christ comes in....he loves us so much.....He loved us to death on the cross.
Ann Voscamp puts it like this..."Faith is this unwavering trust in the heart of God in the hurt of here. Unwavering trust all the time though I don’t understand all the time....That which we fear might happen to us — might be the thing to produce deep faith in us. Why be afraid of anything — when He’s using everything?"

So, I don't always understand....but I have seen God in the details of this journey with MG so vividly and in other circumstances in my life, he has answered many prayers in miraculous ways and some with a "maybe not, not today." And I have experienced fear that it won't turn out how I want. I will continue to cling to the promises of Him, of His love and hope, not in my circumstances.

This song, Gratitude by Nicole Nordeman, says of prayers

Maybe not, not today
And if that's the case...
We'll give thanks to you, with gratitude
For lessons learned to trust

It takes a choice every second of the day to trust that God is working for the good for MG, for Loftin and Lucy, and for each of us, even in the smallest things....handing it all over to Him. We will continue to pray, to make requests, to beg for healing and for the hurt to go away....and God hears the prayers of his people. But I do want His will, to give thanks in all circumstances, to believe, to trust, to say, "But even if He doesn't." And when he doesn't.....give thanks and know He still loves us and this is His best. We are blessed beyond what we even understand.

Thank you for being a part of Mary Graham's journey and praying for her.

Going home

We have been without Internet, so haven't been able to update.
MG was discharged late yesterday and she had a good night sleep at the hotel. We fly out this afternoon. She's doing great...just finished eating a huge plate of eggs, bacon and hashbrowns and is singing and playing.

So thankful for her and how well she is doing. Still more to tell about our trip, God's faithfulness and teaching me more about gratitude. Will update after we make it home.

Thank you always for praying!

Annie

We have watched Annie about four times this morning :)

MG is doing pretty good, and just now starting to breathe room air and off oxygen. She slept good last night, in some pain and still tired. Still coughing a little bit too.

She has had X-rays already and we saw Dr. Campbell. We will most likely be discharged late today if her pain is under control.

Dr. Bonnemann ordered an echocardiogram of her heart. Some of these muscle diseases come with heart problems. We ask for your prayers for that today.

Overall, she is doing well, we are glad yesterday is behind us and we can be thankful for God's hand in every minute of the day and keeping her safe. Thank you for walking with us and praying. More later...

Surgery

Surgery went well, she is still in recovery about to head to pulmonary floor. She's on a little oxygen but has been talking and drinking. More later....thank you so much for the prayers.

Full day

Kind of a lot to tell and my brain is so tired, so i will update more in detail later. We were at chop for almost 6 hours and back to back appts.

Please continue to pray for surgery tomorrow, mg still has a cough and we saw anesthesia and are doing albuterol treatments to try and help before surgery. Pray for the drs to keep her safe under anesthesia and the surgery and recovery to be smooth. I am much more nervous now that she is sick, but I know they will only go ahead with the surgery if she is healthy enough. We have to be there at 8:00 am.

Our visit with Dr. Bonnemann was really good and we are thankful God worked it out. MG was the only patient he saw today. Lots more to share on all that he said after we get through tomorrow.

Appreciate all your prayers for MG.

Good days

" And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:1

We have been on the move this summer, moved out June 1st, rennovating our house for about 6 weeks, visiting grandparents (actually, living with my parents for about 5 weeks), beach, vbs, sports camp, art camp and on and on. Mary Graham has probably had the best 5 months of her life. She has been healthy and happy and moving more and more on her walker, wheeling all around in her zipzac and gaining strength and she has even gained 3 pounds since March. It feels like she is finally spending more time out of my arms and on her own-this is a huge praise!

All three kiddos are growing so much, we have had some really good days this summer and have enjoyed all the "togetherness" with each other (with a few disputes here and there...I mean they are 7, 5 and 2 years old...MG is definitely showing more signs of being a 2 year old :).

 So even though chaotic, we feel very blessed. And we are so so thankful for no sickness, hostital stays, and very few doctor appointments.

So now, back to Philadelphia this Sunday and MG will have surgery this Tues. August 6th at CHOP for an expansion of her rods. We ask for your prayers for travel, her surgery and no complications with infection. 

Also, we are hoping to meet with Dr. Bonneman, a very well know pediatric neurologist who comes to CHOP once a month for clinic. It is still not finalized yet, but we hope and pray it happens. We scheduled her surgery at this time because he is suppose to be at CHOP. He specializes in some of the rare muscular dystrophies and we feel like it would be so beneficial for him to see MG. And we have heard wonderful things about him. We ask you to pray for that to work out and for all that he has to say as we are still waiting to get a more definitive MD diagnosis and learn more about the disease and progression.

The verse above, from a bible study I've been doing, has been a such good reminder to me this summer and wanting to be in control of my life, my kids and the meeting the needs of my family all by myself. Really believing that He is enough and meets all my needs and the needs of those I love is hard for me. God is helping me close some of these gaps and focus on Christ being enough. Not just enough, but everything.  

Thank you for praying for us and MG and for the progress she has made. I will keep you posted on the surgery and appointments.   

 Here's a little of what we have been up to in pictures and videos of MG, Loftin and Lucy.....








Getting bigger

 

Art camp



Loftin and Lucy dressing up

Swimming

Eating lots of popscicles

Hanging out with cousins

Playing in the sand



Lucy was in a little muscial "Annie" in Tallahassee



Fun with friends at the park

Zoo train

Lake

This first video was at the beginning of the summer and she has gotten even faster since then and the screaming is Loftin and Lucy in the back ground "loving" each other

The second video is at the library, its been fun to take her walker and zipzac out in public and let her practice some independence (and give my arms a break :)

IMG 0754 from Jennifer Sheppard on Vimeo.

Kids riding in driveway from Jennifer Sheppard on Vimeo.

Chaos and Rest

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Psalm 116

We have been busy finishing up the school year.....saying good-bye to preschool for Lucy, wonderful teachers for Loftin and Lucy and Mary Graham's amazing therapists. I am not one to cry much at endings, but this year, with all its ups and downs (mostly with MG and spending nearly 7 weeks in the hospital), has been so good for each of my children and it had such a happy ending for each of them. So I was sad to see it end, maybe a little fearful of starting over again in September with new teachers, new therapists, new schools and on and on.

These are a few pictures to share from the last several weeks...everyone is doing well. And Mary Graham just seems happier and healthier than ever, making more progress with her walker.

So now, bring on summer. Hence the other title of this post "chaos." We are going to be traveling some, swimming lots and doing some rennovations to our house (meaning we are moving everything out of our house, living various places, mostly with my parents....yes, chaos). So, I will probably be out of touch in updates for a while. 

 I was a little worried to post, as life seems to be so calm for us right now. The verse above says it perfectly.....for once, and it seems like its been a very long time, my soul is at rest. So many fears, anxiety and weariness have washed over us these last two years and now....a season of rest.

Of course we don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we will remain thankful for this season and maybe this season of rest will give us more clarity of God's hand when we face storms again. We return to Philly in August for another expansion surgery. We feel so blessed.

Taking the zipzac to the library



MG's awesome and loving Mother's Day Out teachers

Laura, MG's child assistant at the Bell Center-she is one of the best things about this year

MG's super Bell Center Team

First buzz cut for this rising 2nd grader

Getting toes done with Mommy



Mrs. Dennis, Loftin's wonderful first grade teacher

Mrs. Ellen and Mrs. Rachael, Lucy's precious 4K teachers



Lucy's dance recital





Glimpses

What can we say to describe just a glimpse of Your Glory
How can our words portray but a thread of Your Majesty
But still we praise our Savior in Spirit and in Truth
For we cannot say enough about You 

(lyrics by Mercy Me)

Throughout this blog, in telling Mary Graham's story, I have tried to describe in words, as the lyrics say above, a "glimpse of God's glory and a thread of His majesty" through her life and our entire family.....but it never seems like I can truly say enough about Him.

....God has shown me glimpses of his glory....through Mary Graham's physical struggles, surgeries, delays and weakness and just having to hand it all over to Him each day. Thankfully he never gets tired and always pours out his daily mercy.

...when I watch and help her, and it's quite exhausting these days helping a 2 year old move, since she can not move on her own....just last week in therapy, she did this....

MG walker from Jennifer Sheppard on Vimeo.


....He is at work.....a glimpse of His glory and majesty is so much brighter after such dark days. And when we are at our weakest, His glory shines the most.

She is doing fabulous, feeling wonderful and wanting to move more and is talking like a 4 year old :)....she is gaining weight and it feels like we are finally out of the dark for now and just enjoying life.We went for a checkup with Dr. M (aka. "best doctor ever"), who has been with us since she was 8 weeks old. He commented that things looked so dim for her in the beginning and he is so encouraged by her progress.

After these 2 years, it seems like we are starting to really embrace who she is and how God made her, not just accept it, or in my case, run from it....some days it is still painful, but the little person she is becoming is so beautiful.

Thank you for continuing to pray for her. We praise God for these glimpses of His hand in her life and in ours.

Seven, Disney, Norovirus and Jobs

Loftin turned 7 on March 16th (first day of Spring Break for us) and that morning, when the kids woke up, we had a big surprise for them....



surprise from Jennifer Sheppard on Vimeo.


Loftin has been asking almost everyday for two years, and now Lucy has joined in, when we were going to go to Disney and with all that has gone on with MG, we haven't been able to plan a trip. I told Loftin and Lucy one day you are going to wake up and we will say "we are going to Disney World!" So, literally about two months ago, sitting at Children's hospital when MG had RSV, Lee and I had the idea to plan a spring break trip. We managed to plan this surprise with Mary Graham's surgery pending and hoping and praying that she would be fully recovered, as it was only 3 weeks after her expansion and gtube surgery that we would be heading to Disney. With help from Bill Wingate, our neighbor and disney travel agent, we were able to plan a great trip. And of course Lucy started running 102 fever the night before and was sick most of the trip, but she hung in there. Motrin was our best friend and Mickey, Minnie and Cinderella seemed to help too :). It wouldn't be a Sheppard vacation without someone getting sick (aka "Sheppard Christmas 2012" when we all got the stomach bug-Lucy throwing up all the way to Tallahassee, me throwing up all the way home). After returning home from Disney we all (Lee and Loftin only briefly, me and Lucy are always the worst victims) got the same stomach/fever virus which I have now learned is the norovirus-have you heard of it? If so, you know it's terrible....run far away from anyone who has it. It's not like a typical stomach virus, it lingers for up to a week. So I'm still dealing with it and hoping to be at the end. I know this is what Lucy had at Disney, bless her, she rode all those rides....and now everyone in Disney World may have norovirus :(

MG got an ear infection and respiratory infection right when we returned home (but antibiotics can treat all of that, thank goodness). I really had my doubts back in January that we would make to this magicial place. But I prayed that God would allow us to get there and have an awesome family trip. I even had a few people praying that the trip would work out, you just never know with our family.

So, enough of our sickness woes......it was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to go back! Here are some pictures to show....

The famous Cinderella castle picture

Apparently when you turn 7, you have to be cool in pictures

MG's ride

Princess dinner

My kids favorite thing was getting autographs

Loftin got to be Sleeping Beauty's prince, he secretly loved it

Meeting characters at "Chef Mickey" breakfast
Look at MG's face....she loved them from afar, but when they got to close she would cry or try to get very small in her highchair 

Check out MG again

Aloha from the Polynesian

Disney World is exhausting, but she loved every minute of it

Dumbo, about the 5th time

Loftin kept saying, "I can't believe Walt Disney made all of this!"

Enjoying the pool

Remember, she is running 102 fever in most of these pics, you would never know it, she did have a few meltdowns, but I think everyone does at Disney World (no pictures of those)

My favorite, Tinkerbelle magically appeared in their hands when we got this picture :)

Loftin has seemed so much older to me lately...7 just seems big. I wanted to share his school journal from back in January. I believe God has grown each of us in different ways this year. The other night, he was sick and thought he might throw up (everything these days is related to stomach bugs, bleh) and he looked up at me and said, "mommy can we pray?" On one hand I almost laughed, as he was hanging over the toilet, but on the other hand, it was so moving....he was desperate and needed God and was asking for prayer. I teared up and we prayed right there on the bathroom floor. In this moment I knew that God was becoming more real to him. And so many days I feel I fall short as a mom, juggling all three of them with MG's disease, and God gently reminds me that He is taking care of each one of them, filling in all the gaps where I miss, and I miss so many, He's loving them perfectly.

Here is his sweet journal....it is the perfect way to describe our days...we eat donuts and deal with oxygen. Loftin has handled all the change over the last two years so wonderfully and that is only by the grace of God. Praise God for all his blessings in the midst of it all.

Another quick funny story....lately Loftin keeps saying, "mom you should get a job." And he is very serious about this. He said he doesn't want me sitting around all day getting bored. Really? Without jumping down his sweet little throat, I calmly said, "i have a great job, I take care of daddy, you and your sisters." Last night it came up again and I asked what kind of job they thought I should have and Lucy piped in, "you should be a taxi driver!" Have no idea where she got that. Then Loftin said, "I think you would be a good doctor." Well, little do they know most moms are both of those things....driving kids around all day and being their doctor when they are sick (I guess for me a little more with all of MG's issues). In fact, I may open my own clinic... now that I have all this equipment I can start seeing other patients in my home :)

We are hoping a praying for good, calm (yeah right?) smooth,  healthy months ahead. Mary Graham's next surgery in Philly is Aug 6th. And we will get to see the wonderful neurologist at CHOP at that time to as we are doing more genetic testing these next few weeks. Since she has had the gtube, she has gained one pound in just a month-this is huge! But, since she's been sick she's not tolerating her feeds at night and keeps throwing up in the middle of the night. Not sure if she had the norovirus too. Please pray this resolved, as she has lost some of that weight she just put on. Just don't want more new "issues" with her.

I am planning to change things up a little on my blog....adding more of our entire family "stuff" rather than just MG medical updates, although I will still be doing those of course and putting those on the caring bridge site too. I pulled out all my scrapbooking stuff the other day, laid it all over my den floor and looked at it and thought, "I really hate scrapbooking." So much easier to write and add pics on my blog to remember fun memories about the kids.

We are always grateful for your prayers for MG and our family.