Thanksgiving

All of us seemed to be going in different directions for Thanksgiving so we had our family Thanksgiving on Monday.  I managed to get a few photos for once.

Nick helping Bradlee model his new cap.

 Grandpa amusing the baby while supper is being prepared.

The girls chatting.

Full tummies make for sleepy boys.

It was a wonderful thing to have the kids around the table again with Bradlee adding his own sweet notes to the gathering.  We visited long after the meal was over and played a few board games before they had to leave for home.  

I love watching the kids knit the family ties together.  I love seeing memories being made.  I love the obvious affection between all of them.  May we be able to do this for many years to come.

Month of Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for the spouses my sons have chosen.  They are both loving, caring young ladies and meld well with our family.  I have long known that both of my sons have quirks to their natures and have spent time in prayer that they'd meet the girl who is unique for them.  Nick needs someone strong enough to help lovingly direct his fierce sense of loyalty and duty while Cameron's high level of intensity requires someone naturally calm and even-tempered.  Jenn and Serena are everything I could have hoped for my boys.

And then there's little Bradlee!  We get to see him often and delight in watching him grow.  Something he loves is for a person to get nose to nose and talk with him.  He gets so excited talking, cooing, laughing, blowing raspberries, grabbing your face and ears (and hair ouch!), and kicking his feet.  I was doing this with him yesterday with him on his back and the drool was dripping from his chin down the sides of his jaw from all the raspberries he was blowing.  At one point I told him, "I'm going to kiss your nose, (smack!) and your forehead, (smack!) and your cheek (smack!) and your other cheek, (smack!) but not your chin because it's awash with spit!"  He squealed, grabbed my ear, and blew more raspberries, sending another wave of spit over his chin.

Thankfulness in November

A local homeschooler challenged us to post on our group page once a week about something for which we are thankful.  She went on to say that she was going to post something on her blog once each day of November.  Well, I'm already two days behind so I thought I'd just post twice a week or so.  Maybe.

I can say the typical things about thankfulness for health, job, home, children, etc. but I don't usually do the typical thing.  Today, however, my topic is health.

Richelle and I were in town Monday evening and finished up at the grocery store.  Richelle pushed the cart from the store to the truck as another attack of paralysis came on.  This one was a little worse than the last one (10/23) both in intensity and in type.  There was maybe 20% loss of use but the disturbing thing was the tingling feeling she had as if her thighs had gone partly to sleep.  Up until now, the nerves affected have been the motor nerves - the ones that make your muscles move.  The tingling indicates something going on with the sensory nerves.  However, the herxheimer reaction typically occurs at two days and at four weeks after starting treatment and Monday was four and a half weeks.  Was it a coincidence or the cause?  I don't know.

We discussed this new development on the way home and Richelle expressed her thankfulness for the paralysis because who knew how long she'd have gone without treatment if she hadn't had that first attack back in September.

I echo her thankfulness.  There's a lot of speculation out there that Lyme is the true reason behind so many nebulous conditions such as fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.  So thankful we didn't have to travel into that fog of uncertainty.  The road we're traveling isn't all roses and singing birds but at least we know what we're dealing with instead of simply treating symptoms.

I will add my deep gratitude for a sister who thinks outside the box and has given us several hours of her precious time in advise, encouragement, and treatment and for an excellent chiropractor who also thinks outside the box and attended a conference on Lyme disease last July as part of his continuing education this year.