Update 9/27/24: Stormy

Psalm 107:28-31 “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and Hw guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind.”

Today has been a crazy day with the remnants of Hurricane Helene blowing through Kentucky, which left a mess in its wake. We have to find someone to fix some flashing on our roof, I had to fix a faux wall Wayne built to hide our garbage cans, and I had to chase down a bunch of items that blew away today. I’m sure what we have experienced is only a fraction of the tragedy south of us. I had to go to our Airbnb and prepare it for guests. It was wild to have to drive through the storm. I enjoyed it much more when I was safely back at home.  

It has been a crazy week full of appointments. Lots of trips to Lexington this week! Monday started with cleaning our airbnb and Wayne’s therapy. Tuesday was his pulmonologist appointment followed by Micaela’s orthodontist appointment. 

Wayne’s appointment went well. We will wait for old tests to be delivered so the doctor can compare them and see what we need to do, if anything. It appears like the spot is stable right now, but we will keep an eye on it a year from now.

Shan slipped and fell on Wednesday. He hurt his knee on his amputated leg. I took him in Thursday to be seen since he was limping. He will need to go to PT for a few weeks and we will see if it gets better or if he needs an MRI. His knee had dislocated when he fell. Since it’s on his amputated, it makes treatment complicated. He can’t wear a knee brace because his prosthetic doesn’t fit. It’s always interesting to see how many things we take for granted, like the ability to wear a brace when we get injured. Thankfully, he’s a rockstar with his crutches and is pretty resilient.

Thursday afternoon I visited the doctor to check my bee sting (see story below). After my appointment, I just stayed in Lexington to see Sophia and Micaela promote at Civil Air Patrol (further down).

Funny Story: Rebecca vs the bumble bee

On Monday, I went to our Airbnb to clean it. When I was preparing to leave, I noticed that there were some weeds that needed to be pulled. I preceded to pull weeds and toss them in the garbage bag I was taking out to the can. When I carried the bag to the can, I heard a buzzing sound and realized there was a bumblebee stuck inside the bag. I decided that I would let it out so that it wouldn’t die. It immediately flew and landed right on my chest. I’m not necessarily afraid of bugs, but I don’t like a bug to fly at me and land on me…especially one that could sting me. I flung it off and it landed on me again. We repeated this a few times with me getting a little more animated and loud. I then ran around my van to try to escape it…and it flew after me. I jumped in the car and slammed the door and thought, “Now I’m safe!” It was then that I realized I had to go back into the house and turn off the dryer. I ran into the house, turned off the dryer, and went back into the van. I went to buckle my seatbelt when I saw the bumblebee once again on me! I screamed and flung open the door with it chasing me again. It chased me two times around the van before I could get inside and shut the door. I watched, from safety, that dumb bumblebee fly around the van looking for me. If it wanted to thank me, that is not the way to do that! I called Wayne to tell him that I’m glad we don’t have neighbors close by there because I’m sure I was a sight to behold screaming and flailing my arms to escape. As I’m telling Wayne the about the encounter, I noticed that my leg, where the bumblebee had been the last time, was burning. It was in that moment, as my adrenaline was retuning to normal levels, that I realized the bee had stung me! So much for thanking me for saving its life. Moral of the story: let the bee die!

I haven’t been stung by a bee in years. I don’t miss the experience.

Micaela rescued a bull frog from our pool filter. It took her 30 minutes, but she loves animals so much, she said it was worth it.

Sophia promoted to Captain and received her Amelia Earhart award. She is the 21,390th person to get the award in all of CAP since 1964. She also received another challenge coin. She amazes me! I know God has exciting things in store for her life.

Micaela was prompted as well. She has been growing up before our eyes. My little girl is gone.

I enjoyed having lunch with my friend Janica. I realized during lunch that I am old enough to be her mom! 👀 We discovered a great Asian restaurant near her house.

Prayer Requests:

- Wayne: please pray that the doctors receive the paperwork quickly about his lungs and that we are good for waiting a year for his next scan. 

- Please pray for our friends Mary and Lisa as Mary’s on hospice and not doing well. 

- For a quick recovery for Shan and that there is no long term damage to his leg. 

- Please pray for my MIL, who just had knee surgery, to have a quick recovery.

Update 9/23/24: Trip Part 2

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

The beauty of Washington and Oregon left us breathless. We saw the most amazing sunrise as we drove the gorge in Oregon on our way home. We saw waterfalls along the road and were quickly reminded of how beautiful the west coast is. Wayne and I realized that growing up in California we took this beauty for granted. I’m thankful we still have family out west so we can take trips like this and enjoy God’s beautiful creation. Don’t get me wrong, Kentucky is beautiful too, but the mountains out west are stunning!

As we continued our drive that first day, we drove from Washington into Oregon, and then through the tip of Idaho into Montana. This whole day of driving was gorgeous. I was so tempted to turn off the freeway and head up to Glacier, my favorite National Park, when I saw the sign. Wayne and I agree that once we got east of the Rockies, it wasn’t as pretty. It quickly became flat for many miles…pretty much the rest of our drive home. 

We saw some beautiful sunrises on this trip. We managed to travel 2,600 miles in 4 days: 9 states, 1 new state (North Dakota), 1 new national park (Theodore Roosevelt NP), and lots of wild animals (prairie dogs, wild horses, buffalo, bald eagles). We kept track of license plates for the kids and we saw all the states but Hawaii and Delaware. 

My co-Pilot did a lot of this. He was patient with me and listened to two crime podcasts and a book. I miss the days of us being able to switch off driving. Wayne loved to drive on long road trips, so I know it was hard on him too. I also missed all our long talks on the road. It’s hard for him to talk for hours now, so our conversations were limited. Some days it’s hard to not mourn what we have lost, but I choose to celebrate the fact that he’s still here and doing well.

Prairie dogs…hundreds of them. They were hilarious to watch and listen to.

Our review of this Theodore Roosevelt National park: 👎. Save your time and go to the Badlands instead. Some review online I read said it was the man’s top 5 NP, and he had been to almost all of them. I would argue this was one of our least favorite NP, but at least we can say we’ve been there and to North Dakota…I’m in no rush to repeat either experience. 

While we were in Montana and North Dakota, I managed to complete my races in the evenings. I only have 8 states left to race in and 1 more state to see all 50 states (Alaska)!! It was exhausting to exercise after long days of driving, but I couldn’t miss this opportunity to race in the states I don’t have yet. Plus, after sitting all day, it felt good to move…just not 2.5 hours worth of moving.

We stopped in Chicago on our way home and were able to see our friends. 

You can tell that I was exhausted. I had driven for 15 hours the day before. 

On our way home from Chicago, we stopped by and visited DJ.

We were blessed to be able to stop in Wisconsin and visit our friends Lisa and Mary. Mary has GBM and we have been talking with them for a few years. Unfortunately, Mary is on hospice. We felt privileged to meet in person and pray with them. Please pray for Mary and Lisa during this difficult time.

Update: Wayne

Wayne has his pulmonologist appointment tomorrow. We hope to get some answers about the spots they have found in his lungs. He kicked butt today at therapy. He continues to amaze the doctors.

Update: Rebecca

It’s crazy that last week marked the one year mark from my surgery that revealed that I had an extra tumor in my pelvis that needed to be treated, along with bad cells that required chemo. It has been a wild ride for sure the last year! 

I had my immunotherapy on Friday. Wayne went with me and amazed all the nurses with how well he has done given his diagnosis. I was thankful for his company since I had to have two IVs placed because the first one blocked. I was done with being poked. The only bright side besides Wayne was that I had my favorite nurse! 

Prayer Requests:

- Wayne: for his appointment tomorrow and that what was seen in the CT scan is nothing big to worry about.

- Rebecca: that I continue to not have any side effects from my treatment and that my veins hang in there for the next two years. 

- please pray for Lisa and Mary

- Pray for our kids as they navigate everything: school, work, their parents health, and all the wedding prep.

Once again, we are so thankful for all of you and all your faithful prayers over the years! God uses all of you to keep us going. 🩷

Update 9/19/24: Trip to Washington

Psalm 119:145-148 “I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey Your decrees. I call out to You; save me and I will keep Your statutes. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises.”

On a jet plane to Oregon/Washington to see family and pick up a car.

Naomi drove us to the airport early on Wednesday for our flight to Portland, Oregon. We were so thankful that Wayne was feeling well enough to fly. The hardest part about the trip was I was the pack mule…I had to lug two suitcases and other bags. When we landed in Portland, we were the farthest gate from the exit. I got my workout that day! But, we made it safely and were able to spend a few days with Wayne’s family. We had traveled to Washington to pick up a minivan from Wayne’s parents. 

We played train dominoes and the game lasted 3 hours! 🤣

Wayne’s mom made him homemade ice cream and he was all smiles.

No trip to Oregon/Washington is complete without visiting Bobs Red Mill and Dave’s Killer Bread. We transported 25lbs of oatmeal and hot cereal to KY. 

Playing games with the nieces and nephews. This one here is like Wayne’s twin…sweet and loud. 🤣

Family!

Our new van! A 2017 Sienna. It drives so nice! It made the long drive home comfortable.

Park near Wayne’s parents. It’s just beautiful around them!

I will post the second part of our trip in a couple days. For now, we are thankful to be home after driving 2600+ miles in 4 days. 

While we were gone, Naomi traveled to St Louis to volunteer with Inheritance of Hope. She had an amazing time with her family and the other volunteers. 

Abigail traveled to Lynchburg to celebrate Elijah’s birthday and get engagement photos. 86 more days!! 

Prayer Requests:

- Wayne: he has his pulmonary appointment next week to see what we need to do about those spots on his lungs. Please also pray for him as he does all his therapy. 

- Rebecca: I have another immunotherapy appointment tomorrow morning. I’m thankful for my medical team, but I wish I was done with all of this. I’m still exhausted from the long drive home. I may fall asleep during my treatment.