One Month

Today, July 2nd, marks one day since I had my little girl. I expected it to be a hard day. Don't get me wrong, it was hard, but it was not as hard as I expected. The morning was difficult. We got up and started to get ready to go to Enid. The day kind of loomed ahead of me. I knew it would be hard, and it was as if it was already planned out for me, like the weather man saying "and today folks, we have a 100% chance of sadness with a huge possibility of tears".

We ventured out of town and the clock in the van seemed much larger than it really is. As the minutes clicked by I recalled what was happening to me at that same moment a month ago. As the hour of Ila's birth neared, my stomach knotted up. I don't know why the minutes mattered any more than the day itself.

Just as we got everyone into my mother in law's house the tears started to come. I didn't really hide so much as go out of the way a bit to avoid making everyone else sad. My sweet husband 'found' me and loved on me. He's such a great comfort. This last month I haven't wanted to be away from him at all.

We left the boys at Grandma's house and headed out to prepare the lake house for the upcoming holiday. I scrubbed and cleaned all day while Stephen and his dad took care of the outdoor work. It was nice to spend the day helping someone else. I thought of Ila often but didn't spend my day in a puddle, which was what I anticipated after the last couple days being so hard. So many friends offered me such comfort and a needed release just by listening to me talk ( or type ).

As we finished our days work and headed back into town, I started to get that knotted feeling again. We had planned to go out to the cemetery with the boys to show them where she is buried and place a pretty pink pinwheel we picked out. The closer we got, the sicker I felt. I honestly thought I might throw up, literally this time! I sent a text to a few prayer warrior friends of mine and asked them to pray for me. I'm not one to go to cemeteries and put out flowers and such. But for some reason, it was important to me to go there today.

Just how most things turn out, it was different than I expected. When we first arrived I kind of stalled a little at the van while half the family ran on ahead. When I made my way over to my family, I wasn't crying or throwing up. I was kind of a numb feeling for a bit. When Stephen and I started talking is when my tears started to pour out. I love him so much and I'm sad for him too, he also, lost his lil' cupcake.

We talk about our baby, our boys and had a sweet moment reflecting on a special aspect of her name. While gathering up our troops we meander through the cemetery and little Stephen talks to me about a couple of headstones. He questions one that has two names but one name only has one date. I told him it was a husband/wife plot but the wife was still alive. He seemed completely baffled by that and really made a face when I said Meme's headstone was already there. We drove over to where my Dad, grandma and brother are buried to show him. As soon as Danny jumps out of the car he points at my dads headstone, not even knowing it's his Papa's, and yells "I call that motorcycle!!!" It lightened the mood in a perfect way.

Tonight I am grateful that I got to tuck my boys into bed, sing Jesus Loves Me, kiss my husband and remember my daughter. Tonight, with a peace that only God can provide, I will sleep. Today was a good day.

6 years, 4 weeks and 2 days

What a dumb day! You would think getting your braces off would be a good day, albeit a bit painful. Not so in this case. In fact, it was one of the worst 'good' days I've had. It reminded me very much of my 16th birthday, another of those days that was suppose to be great but ended up sucking big time.

Slide backwards a few years...ok almost 1/2 my life ago... Sweet 16, something to get excited about eh? My oldest sister, Ronda, bought me roses and balloons and had them delivered to the school. My other sister, Renda, came to town to take me after school to get my license. Lunch time rolls around and I run out to the parking lot to discover that both of my lunch buddies have abandoned me. My boy friend thought I was going with my best friend and my best friend, Kenda, thought I was going with my boyfriend.

Nice. Alone, on my birthday, my 16th birthday, carrying around a bunch of roses and balloons. I go to the office to call my sister to tell her that I'm not staying at school the rest of the day and ask her to please come get me now! I then walk out to the parking lot lovingly dubbed "BFE" where Kenda's Granny Wagon is parked. (Sidebar - It may have seemed like an old station wagon but we LOVED the Granny Wagon! It was awesome! And nobody could do the Washington 'Dip' better than Kenda in the Granny Wagon!) All my stuff was LOCKED inside the Granny Wagon. All my stuff, my purse, my books, my backpack. We lived like a block away from each other, it's not like I couldn't have just got everything from her after school. But that isn't the point!

I see that the little flip window was open and try to stick my arm in to unlock the door, no good. My arm is way to short. The vice principal is driving through the lot about that time and I am sure I'm about to get in trouble for trying to break into a car. When he gets out I just started to explain that all my crap is in the car and I'm locked out and everyone left me for lunch...all while on the brink of tears. So, like any good principal, he helped me break into the Granny Wagon. He never asked if it was my car...and I never said it wasn't. So after several near melt downs my sister shows up, I get my crap and we are off. I wish that today had been that good of a day...

I don't do mornings. I just don't. I hate being up early, and early to me is before 9:30 and even then, I'm not happy about my sleep being over. Today I had to get up and take Stephen to work since we are a one van family right now. I get back home just in time to get everyone ready since I have an appointment at 10:20 to get my braces off! Yippee!

9:35 - All kids dressed, all kids loaded into the van...wait, there is one missing... why is the oldest not here... He's getting the dog hooked up on his chain, but then here he comes with the dog collar in hand and the dog close behind him. "I was looking at some birds and I tripped and spilled his dog food and it was too far from his chain for me to hook him up..I tried to drag him over to it, but he slipped out of his collar."

I hop out of the van, have Stephen fetch some ham, and head back to Duke's chain. After untangling it from the pole I use the ham to get him close to the collar, but he's fast and dodges in and out to quickly. After a few more tries we get him recollared and hooked to his chain. In house, wash hands, out of house, back in van, on way.

We arrive at Stef's house to unload all the kids that are staying with her. Randon is going with me since he has a consult appointment since his teeth are just like mine were, jacked up. After the dog fiasco, we are running late so I run kids in and run back out and we are off. All is well. We had to go the south office for this appointment so it is quite a drive. We get there only 5 minutes late, doing good. We get back to the room fairly quickly and I take my seat in the exam chair. Everyone is amazed that I am FINALLY getting these suckers off. Doc comes in and starts snapping off those brackets. The force it took to get them off, I am surprised that kids break them off so often. It doesn't really hurt much, just like the pressure when they change my wires and not as bad as when they would pull those power chains so tight I think my teeth might shatter.

Then he gets out his little drill with the sandpaper style head on it and starts grinding away the glue spots on my teeth. Not so bad....except the assisting, Heidi, is squirting water in my mouth too and the limited suction is causing me to feel like I'm drowning. Every now and again when I start to gag and sputter, they pause and get the lake out of my mouth. Now...they get to my front teeth, and they are sensitive. That drill and cold water was more than I bargained for. I was white knuckling the mirror they had given me to hold in one hand and the exam chair with the other. I even made some noise a few times that I needed a second. They would just keep on going with no reprieve until I started thrashing my feet a little bit or pulling my head back! Not fun! If you have ever had a cavity and then taken a big drink of ice cold water and it hit that cavity and it sent you to the roof...it was like that, only on several teeth at one time and I couldn't just warm my mouth back up or make it stop in any way! NO BUENO!!

My heart rate is through the roof and I'm actually getting nauseous and shaky over all this. I must say, I'm a touch chic, and I've been through hell and back with my teeth, jaw and face over the past 7 years and I can handle a LOT of dental pain. Not saying this to brag, just to express the magnitude of the disaster of today considering all that I have been through with dental work, oral surgery, oral surgery, orthodontics, oral surgery, oral surgery and more orthodontics. After more grinding of glue, drowning on water and being sent to the roof, we are done. Oh, Happy Day, the braces are off and my teeth are smooth and I'm not even sore. I know they will ache a little in the days to come, but usually I leave that place feeling like I want a chocolate shake for dinner (eaten with a spoon since even sucking through a straw hurts like crazy).

We then have to do my impressions, which I have done twice before, and already knew they weren't fun and make you want to gag. Two lower, two upper. No biggie. Done. Pick up retainers in a couple hours. Got it, can do!

Now it's Randon's turn for his consult. They had already done his x-rays while I was being drilled to death by the glue getter. Doc takes a look, tells me what's going, no surprises, let's do it. His impressions didn't go as well as mine. He screams, he cries, he kicks, he pukes. Twice. A quick visit with Sami, a sweet, quiet young gal who is an expert on the financial end of this mess, 600 bucks later and a contract for a few thousand more we are done. Again. Praise God, lets go eat.

Randon picks Chick-Fil-A for lunch and we go in, sit down and enjoy a nice lunch together recalling some of the horror we had just experienced together that has surely bonded us for life while causing him years of therapy and me years of Xanax use. With still a little time to kill before we have to pick up my retainers (which will be quick in, quick out) we decide to run to Michael's which is only about ten miles away according to my husband. We head out in the direction he sends us only to end up NOT where he told us we would. Then he argues with me about where I am and where I am not. Whatever, I get there....way after I expected to, run in, don't have what I want, run out and head back to the torture chamber, I mean the orthodontics office.

We run in and sit. And sit. And sit. I finally approach the counter to remind the front desk gal, Anna that I have to go all the way back to Edmond to relieve my sitter of the 7 kids she has and her shift was up hours ago. Normally I would be thrilled to wait there for an hour if need be since I'm usually childless and can read a magazine and never once have to say something like "Will you please not shove your brother's finger up his nose....or your nose." They got me back quickly so I know we are on the home stretch. Lets try these suckers on, adjust to fit and head home. Or not.

Kim comes in with these mouth pieces for me that look like I'm in the corner prepping to fight Rocky. She asks me to try them on. I get the bottom one on no problem, the top doesn't fit so well. It's down fairly low in my mouth. I know they want me to wear these all the time and that is just laughable considering I sounded like I had an entire Snickers bar stuck to the roof of my mouth. Doc comes in and takes a look. Oh, no, that isn't all the way on...so he jams it up over my teeth while I try not to die. Once in, the retainer itself didn't hurt. My left molars did since they were the only teeth making any contact with each other when I bit down. I always love it when they say "Bite down. (pause) Bite down all the way on your back teeth." I freaking am, but only a couple of them touch each other okay!

Doc sits up the chair and suggests I practice taking them in a out a few times before hitting the road. Sure, no problem. Bottom one out, back in, back out, back in. Tada! I'm a pro! Now for the top. Umm, this isn't working, it's not coming out...at all. "You will probably have to use your fingernails to pull down on both sides to get it down." Doc says. Uh huh, yea, um, no. Not moving. My nails are like paper and bend and shred at the slightest use so there is no way these weak babies are getting this new super glued layer of nightmare plastic off my teeth. Clearly, it will have to stay on forever. Kim comes in again and says she will help me get it off. She takes a crack at it and it's still on. I'm certain it's now permanent, or I will want it to be after they start trying to pry it off.

Kim disappears for a minute and comes back donning this little pink plastic thingy with a hook at one end. She tried to hook it on the retainer and pull down. Again with the white knuckling! After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like a year or so, it's about 1/2 way off. Randon is visibly concerned and comes to my side to hold my hand. As Kim starts to tug on it again I start to grip whatever is near as my teeth feel like they are being pulled from my mouth. I push Randon's hand away after I realize I am digging my nails into his wrist and grab onto the arm rest. It literally felt like 3 or 4 of my teeth were being torn from their sockets as the retainer was being pulled down. There were tears in the corners of my eyes and my heart was beating like crazy. I could feel my blood pressure rise and my hands start to shake.

With all that I have had done to my face, there have only been three times I have wanted to scream, cry or kick someone. Once was when a young guy at the orthodontics office was replacing a wire and was jamming the end into the flesh at the back of my mouth so deep I almost kicked him. I guess he stopped when my mouth pooled with blood. The second was during a follow up to one of my oral surgeries where a shunt was placed in my cheek to drain infection from a previous surgery into my mouth (yes, it was a gross as it sounds). My doc was unavailable so some torturous fellow filled in and squeezed my face so hard with some pointy tweezers that he bruised my cheek. I almost kicked him too, really...I was thrashing pretty good. I swear he enjoyed it.

Kim had to stick the retainer remover in a few different spots to get the retainer off of my teeth and out of my mouth. Each place it was put felt like it was being stabbed with needles since my gums were swollen and sensitive. After it was finally off, I laid in the exam chair, flustered and depleted while texting my husband about the horrifying experience. It's a good thing he wasn't there, he wouldn't have been very nice with me in pain, even when it wasn't anyone's fault.

Kim worked on the retainer and came back and tried again. Similar experience as before but with a little less tugging, while knuckling and tears. She goes back yet another time to work on the retainers. Finally this time I don't want to run screaming from the place when I put them on. Taking them off still hurts like crazy, but it's doable without screaming or striking anyone. In other words, it's safe to come into the bathroom while I'm doing it, but don't ask me for anything because the answer is still "OOooowww!!"

Completely wiped out both physically and emotionally, Randon and I drag our defeated selves to the van and drive back to Stef's with very minimal exchange of words. We get back to Stef's and wonder into the house. Kids are mostly outside but a they venture in a couple at a time and view my new look, a look some of them have never seen before since it hadn't existed during their lifetime. After apologizing profusely for being extremely late and messing up Stef's date with Eli, I decided to load up the kids and head out. Problem number 1, shoes. Everyone has taken off their shoes in different places and only one kid could locate and put his one without assistance from everyone around! After what seemed like forever, the kids are shoed and shoved out the door. I run back in to grab the keys but can't find them anywere.

Stef and I, along with the oldest kids start hunting down the keys. We look under the table, all through my purse (three times) and all over the kitchen before finding them....in the van. Locked. In. The. Van. As this sinks in I flip the switch and start with the psycho mommy voice and try to retain some semblance of control over the situation, kids and myself. Some are looking better than others. Micah pulls up just in time to enjoy the near miss of a psycho mommy melt down. He finds a wire hanger and he and Stef attemp to break into my van while I head for the medicine cabinet for something that might help me to not scream bloody murder and run down the street waving my arms around like a maniac.

Finally, the car thieving couple get the deed done and we are in the car...with the keys. I load up 4 children so we can pick up Daddy from work, then Landon from work, then Lynley from Grandma's to take Landon home, and Lynley to our house.

Since I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet our options for dinner were chicken and nothing. So Lynley and Aven go to the store to get some side dishes for our dinner while I lay down in my bed and shut the door. I feel straight to sleep. I know it wasn't long, since the store isn't very far, but that little bit of time, that brief check out of reality, did wonders for the rest of the night. My blood pressure my still have been a little up...but I was able to calmly enjoy some grilled chicken and shells and cheese with my family.

I wish I had some grand ending to this terrible story but I don't. I've been told so many times over the past 6 years, 4 weeks and 2 days "Oh you will be so glad you did it when it's all over." I've been told countless times between visits to the oral surgeon (to have my lips peeled back, gums sliced open and bones chiseled and spread apart, teeth removed, shunts put in and shunts taken out) "Oh, it's not that bad and it won't be forever." And I've heard it said many times as I go back and forth to the orthodontist (to have brackets put on, expanders put in, removed, retainers in, retainers out, bands here, spacers there, buttons here, power chains there, springs here, hooks there) "It will be all worth it when it's over!"

Well guess what all of you people who have said "You will be glad you did it, "It won't last forever or "It will be worth it when it's done." It's over, it didn't last forever, it's done and you know what? I wish I had never done any of this. It was not worth it, it was a terrible experience I would never wish to repeat and I would wipe it from my history of experiences if I could. Perhaps it's just easy for me to sit here and type this since I'm no longer in the place I was in before we began this journy. That place where I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to get in a Hershey's Kiss. If I had to visit there again I might reconsider...I do love a Hershey's kiss......Nah, there's always chocolate shakes!

So many Questions...

Some things I just don't understand.....

Why there is a kid sleeping in the closet..(it is a big closet..but it's still a closet!)
Why Aven thinks he should get up and eat everything in site at 2am
Why are Daddy Long Legs everywhere at my house..in the sink, on the house plants, all over everything outside
Why Labrador retrievers are dumb for so long

There are soooooo many things I don't understand...but that are the few plaguing me tonight!

Silly Putty......The Scourge of Fabrics Everywhere

This evening my husband and I tucked our children into bed and left them in the care of my sis in law while we ventured out to spend some quality time together doing laundry! Yes, laundry. Our dryer is broken, so we went into town to use the dryers at the apt complex that my sister manages. When we arrived home we found our sweet three year old cuddled on the couch with his cousin Miranda.

While we were putting things away a teary eyed Miranda came in with her baby doll, covered in green silly putty. History....this doll.....Lucy, has been Miranda's baby doll since she was one year old. Her daddy got it for her on a quick trip to the store and brought it to her during a short hospital stay she endured. This doll has been through 9 years of some serious loving. She is faded and worn, but is still and always will be a treasure. The silly putty came from another of our nieces birthday party this afternoon.

When I saw the doll, I tried to remain calm, for Miranda's sake. Stephen tossed the doll in the freezer and then we pulled off the excess putty. Most came off, but there was still a large stained area where there wasn't really any to remove, but the color and tiny bits remained. I hopped online and found a fix. Alcohol. And of course, I'm out. But I do have some alcohol prep wipes! I fetched the box of those and went to work on the face, neck and chest of Lucy. Within minutes she was looking great and smelling like she had just come from outpatient surgery. The Westfamily Surgical Center got 5 stars from Miranda, Tracy and Lucy!

Miranda's tears were gone and she was ready to go back to bed. Then she found more silly putty. Only this time, it was in Daniel's hair. A very large, mostly irremovable chunk of green silly putty was smashed into the back of his beautiful hair. After a tug or two it became apparent that alcohol wasn't to play a part in this surgery...we had to go straight for the razor. Okay, not a razor really, but the clippers anyway. No guard either, we couldn't get one under the mess. Daniel was not happy as Daddy held him and I preformed the first cut. It came off rather quickly, with only three or four quick snips but lots of yelling and some flailing about.


Luckily, Daniel's curls had been cut off several months ago. Had this happened to Aven, who still has curls, I would not have been able to just shave off his hair all the way to the skin! It wasn't ideal with Dan Dan either, but at least his hair is mostly short to began with. Now we will just have a story to tell about why he has a bald spot. Surely we can come up with some interesting stories like he had a grey spot so we cut it out instead of dyeing it, or he chronically rubs that spot until the hair falls out or he wanted to go bald but when he felt the bare shavers he changed his mind. I could draw on some stitches and we could pretend that one of his brothers helped him sustain an injury that required a shaved head and some local anesthetic. Of course there are many more....any ideas?

Year In Review - Blood Sweat and Tears

Rain, Rain....Go Away!

If you live in Oklahoma and recall anything about summer 07, you will recall the rain. That's pretty much all it did that summer, rain. And then it rained some more. After that, it rained again.

We live on about 5 acres, and I love every inch of it. I love to hold events at my house to enjoy this space. When our homeschool group halted it's summer meetings, I offered to hold, not meeting, but get togethers at my home each month. This way, we could still take a break from the meeting style setting, but still enjoy the fellowship of each other. Just days before our first gathering was scheduled, it was raining...go figure. Our yard was so soggy that we had to cancel the get together. I was not happy about it. But there was always next month!

The soggy mess continued and for days we couldn't open our garage door because of all the water rushing by it. There is no ditch or drain out near the road by our house. Water and more water runs into one of our fields from I don't even know how many acres to our west. All of this water then runs down and pools beside the driveway. After it levels with the driveway, it runs back up towards the garage, fills the cement driveway in front of the garage, travels down the sidewalk and out across the front yard. As if this isn't enough, while the rain is coming down, it can't make this journey fast enough so the water also spills over the driveway from the 'pond' and takes out across the front yard from another direction. After running through the yard and taking a significant amount of dirt with it, it spills down under the fence...where erosion has removed several feet of earth and there it forms a creek. Behind the mini barn thing and out into the south east field and its on its way towards the lake.

When we moved into this house, I decided this place needed a name. Between Scissortail Landing and Deer Run, Deer Run stuck. On the phone with my husband one afternoon, letting him know the extent of this particular day's flooding, I said "Well, I was thinking of changing the name from Deer Run to A River Runs Through It." Once, Stephen called to say he was on his way home and I told him that at the bend of the driveway, it was likely that he would have to abandon car and swim for it. Other days I told him to stop by Academy and pick up a canoe so that he could get to the house! While those are obviously just exaggerations, our family thrives on the humor that comes out of all situations. Not everyone would appreciate the way we see some things as just plain laughable.

It was beyond wet. No shoe could survive a trip to the van, even it was parked in the closest spot. There was no way you could park in the yard to shorten the trip, it was so soggy the van would have been our new yard flamingo, but more expensive and less vibrant. On days that the rain didn't pour down from the sky all day long, we were never dry. Our pond remained filled and we had three ducks. Really, we had three ducks that came here every day that we had water to swim in. The kids enjoyed to 'pond' too and they had a great time chasing those ducks around. We also had our very first time witness of wildlife love in action. "Oh honey, that duck isn't hurting her (on our porch)!"

Many a days did I stand on the porch watching the water rushing by wondering if it would overtake us. It was so close on a few occasions. Had the water reached the top of the porch, it would have been right in the house, as the porch is tilted. Had the water reached the house, it would have been in my living room, as it is sunken.

When we investigated the flooding in the garage, it was, well, wet. Really wet. We rented a giant dumpster and our LifeGroup came over and helped us clean up the soggy mess. As we sifted through the moldy puddles and soaked boxes, we realized the water went much further into the garage then we thought it did. In some places the water went all the way up the back wall. The dumpster was filled with damaged stuff from our garage. Lots of it was junk. I mean before the flood! After it, nearly everything was junk! It was certainly a way to lighten our load and for the most part I was okay with it. When we found things that were special I was upset. I had to throw away moldy photographs and lots of artwork that my children had made when they were very young. A box of my oldest sons stuffed animals got ruined and he did not take it lightly when we had to chunk his things in the trash.

Large black stains marked the floor in each place a moldy box was pulled up. I learned that nothing should ever be stuck in a cardboard box. Even though the water was only a few inches high, the cardboard just soaks up the water and ruins everything inside. We tossed yearbooks, birthday cards and momentos of all kinds. We lost clothes and Christmas stuff, computer parts and more. As I think back about it, it saddens me remember what we had to throw out, but I remember that they are just things and my memories do not require tangible items in order for me to enjoy them. That was a lesson that I know will benefit me forever, as it has come in very handy during the past year.

It's amazing how, so many times, we can see God's hand all over our messes that are so much more than just messes. Did that make any sense? I mean, being able to look back and see His purpose for our mess. The Lord gave us humor to deal with lots of soggy, smelly, ruined shoes. He reminded us that we have our memories as we sifted through garbage bound keepsakes. He gave us ducks to enjoy while our house was all but floating away. He even gave us a rainbow to remind us He has all things under control.

Year In Review : Blood, Sweat and Tears

July may seem like an odd time to do a review of the last year. It's actually going to be a little more than a year, as our 'adventure' started in June. For us, the last year has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, giving and receiving, highs and lows, openings and closings, laughter and tears, openness and withdrawl, joys and sorrows.

At church this weekend, during a sermon on loss, this verse reminded me of what I had already written in the paragraph above.
Ecclesiastes 3 A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.


June 2 - Stephen and I had been talking about opening up a church in Enid for quite some time. We had lots of great excuses like "Oh, we are expecting." or "We have a baby." or "Our van isn't reliable." and a host of others. We went to church to hear the last week of a series called Fearless. This particular sermon was on 'facing your Goliath." The gentleman that spoke talked about how is most recent Goliath was the sermon itself, as it was the first one he had ever given. During service Stephen leaned over to me and said "Enid is my Goliath." I acknowledged his statement and continued to listen to the sermon.

As we were getting up to leave, Stephen said "We are going to Enid next weekend." I replied with something really clever like "You mean, like the one seven days from now?" Uh, huh. I asked several questions on the way towards the exit, which takes quite a while when you sit in the front row. He didn't know the answer to most of them, but he knew we were going, and that's all he needed to know right then.

The following week we packed up our van, hauled our family and a bunch of stuff to Enid to set up church in the American Legion. Since we had zero advertising, we put on church for our mommies! We did a couple of weeks of 'dry runs' before we even made some fliers. One afternoon after packing things back up, we went to lunch at one of our local favorite restaurants. My husband had previously worked for the owner and I suggest that he ask if we could put out some fliers. He did, and we left a small stack of fliers there. Those were the only ones that we ever put out. From that small stack of fliers, an amazing transformation occurred!

A gentleman picked one up and excitedly called his coworker and friend and read it to him. The gentleman he called was Marshall Billingslea. Marshall made a bunch of phone calls, tracked us down at home and talked to Stephen about what we were doing in Enid. The Billingslea family came to our rented room at the American Legion the following week and instantly became an intricate part of Anew Church. A year and two moves later, the church has grown so much!

There is so much more to come in this 'Year In Review.' I hope you will visit again to read about everything from puppies and kittens to injuries and surgeries. We will also cover flood, fire, fungus, famine, foliage, flood (yes, twice) and funerals. We will cover the good, the bad and the ugly.

What is your favorite memory of your past year?

The Retriever.....He Retrieves!

We have a new puppy. His name is Duke. Duke is an adorable

yellow lab. Duke is quite possibly the cutest puppy ever. This morning, he and I played for a long time before the kiddo's ever got up. We bought him a store full of toys, and we had to get him the miniature tennis balls.

I started tossing his little ball across the living room and say "Get the ball Duke, get the ball!" and he would get it! Then I would say "Bring it to Momma!" and most of the time, be brought it back to me! First of all, I have never taught a dog anything, so if it does something for me, then it must be instinct!

We've had Duke for less than a week and fell in love with him immediately. He rides in the car with us, sleeps peacefully in his crate (most of the time) and hasn't been to terrible with accidents considering his age. He's almost 8 weeks.

The boys want him to sleep with them (on their top bunks!) so bad they can't stand it. Aven loves to play with him. He runs and giggles as Duke chases after him. When the puppy sniffs Aven's toes, he belly laughs so hard he can hardly breathe! It's hysterical!

We think Duke's favorite new family member is the teddy bear that he gave his heart to. Well, that wasn't exactly his heart he gave to it, but he 'loves' it just the same! Our last dog was female so we didn't have to deal with the male 'instinct' and I'm not liking it at all. While he hasn't 'enjoyed' anything but the bear, I can just see him jumping visitors legs in the future! I know he is bound to do it in front of the boys very soon. At least we had kittens recently so we have covered a little on the subject of animal mating. Maybe it will encourage them to keep all their stuffed toys off the floor! That's one way to get their room clean I guess.