Our family loving Lance

Here are a few pictures of the family with Lance. The picture with Matt, Lance, and me was his blessing day, he was 5 weeks old. He is already 2 months old and growing fast. We love him so much and are so grateful for him in our family.

Surgery Update

This will be short and sweet. Both surgeries went well, Matt's surgeon said he has a "cute" kidney, I asked what that meant, if it meant his kidney was smiling because he is such a smiley person. She said, "if a kidney could come out smiling his did." My mom was taken back to surgery when they had just removed Matt's kidney. They stopped at the window where Matt was and held up the kidney so she could see it. The surgery for Matt went well and just as the surgeon would have wanted it. Matt already got up and walked today, he went to visit my mom. That wore him out, then he crashed after that.

My mom's surgery went well and my dad asked the doctor to rate the surgery on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, he said it was a "10." He said when they connected her new kidney to her ureter it began working immediately and flowing, which they were very happy with. She is putting out tones of fluid, the kidney is working!!! They both have a long road ahead of them, both very tired and in pain, but the surgery went very well and we are off to a good start!!!

On a different note, but something special to us. Today is our son Asa's birthday, he would be 4 years old today. The surgery was changed from October 6th to the 5th, Asa's birthday. His name means physician or healer, there are reason's for everything. The Lord loves us and gives us guidance, direction, and comfort in ways we will see it. He has in the past, did today, and will continue as we listen and let him. We are all very happy with the outcome today. Please continue to pray for them both. They are both amazing people, two of the most important people in my life, both amazing examples of Christ.

The Kids All Got New Haircuts

Twas the Night Before Surgery When ...

... all through the house. Not a creature was steering, not even a mouse. Well, that is not entirely true. With four children under six years old, there are actually four creatures making quite a noise in the house. But there noise is what I love and loathe at the same time.

Ironically, the night before surgery feels fairly calm. The weekend was spent watching our church's semi-annual General Conference on television as a family. The messages were uplifting and provided great instruction for living a better life. Today, my mom and I are headed to the Sunday afternoon session at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, and I'm really looking forward to it.

The weekend has also brought a small feeling of missing to my heart. The surgery brings with it limitations that will last 4 - 6 weeks. Limitations like an inability to lift anything over 20 pounds. Which means an inability to hold my children, and strangely enough, I am going to miss that feeling. I'm also going to miss riding bikes, running, wrestling with my kids, and generally, being active. But at least the limitations are temporary and not permanent. I assume these are normal feelings.

All of these feelings add to the experience and present an interesting story. And so, I want to capture these feelings in as they present themselves throughout this experience and plan on contributing to our blog on a daily basis to share how and what I'm feeling. Hopefully, the posts will make sense and bring a unique perspective to donation.

So, I'll see you on the other side.