Pictures can say 1000 words - Summer so far!

So far summer with Addison has been awesome! She loves the water which is perfect since Josh and I do too. The only problem is finding the time to actually go to the park and the pool....

On Saturday Addie and I will go to the Highlands Street Fair - on of my favorite Denver things - a huge street/arts and crafts fair in a really eclectic part of town. There is yummy food and concerts all day. Sunday we may get to go swimming again too. The sad part of all this is that on Saturday morning Josh leaves for two weeks of camp. We will miss him a lot! I'm slightly nervous about two weeks of single parenting but I know there are people I can call if I need anything and I will be going to see my mom and my brother Sean in the middle of that time for the weekend. Plus, Addie and I have our routine down and are used to hanging out by ourselves. Still, it's not the same without Daddy here.

Overall things are going well. I love summer and am really enjoying this time with my sweet baby!

mEye Walk 2010/Dry Bones

A few weeks ago Josh and the youth group did a service project based like the mission trip last summer where they drove around and just looked for opportunities to serve. They heard about this man who was walking 1000 miles in 1000 hours - a mile at the top of every hour- to raise awareness for blindness. Lee Shayler began going blind when he was 22. He had heard a story on BBC about a man in England (where he is from) who enjoyed walking and when he went blind he decided it wouldn't keep him from walking. After being inspire by several other stories, Lee came up with a plan for this journey he recently finished. He and his wife lived in their camper in the parking lots of several parks in Highlands Ranch for the 42 days that it took to complete the 1000 miles.

Anyway, Josh and the group found out about this and decided to walk a mile with Lee. While they were walking they were able to hear a little about his story. On the second day of walking Lee injured his achilles tendon pretty badly. His wife went to Sketchers and asked what type of shoes to buy so that Lee could continue. Sketchers donated I think around 50 pairs of the shoes with the rounded soles so that Lee could keep his foot in a position to not hurt his achilles further.

He had a tread mill inside the camper that he would walk on during the night and several miles during the day. By the end of the 1000 miles (Lee finished on June 5th) he had muscle tears and spasms in his calves, tendon problems,  back problems etc. He was going straight into the hospital the next day.

It was really neat for the kids because as they left the church buiding that morning they prayed for God to open their eyes to see people who needed Him and who they could serve. They irony of that prayer was not lost on them during their day. The rest of their day was spent in downtown Denver walking around looking at the areas where the homeless population lives. Dry Bones is a ministry here that our youth group gives their own money to support each month. Most of them had never actually gone downtown to see what they were supporting though. As they walked around they saw places where bars and jagged rocks were put up for apparently no other reason than to keep homeless from sleeping there, they saw places that were considered safe for these kids to go and get help.

All in all it was a pretty powerful day. Below are some links to Dry Bones and to stories about Lee's
mEye Walk. Check them out!


http://www.meyewalk.com
http://www.coloradocommunitynewspapers.com/articles/2010/05/01/lone_tree_voice/news/22_cm_blind_ltv.txt
www.drybonesdenver.org

"I'm Concussed"

I should probably fill everyone in on our weekend. I debate if I would post this or not. I know that it's good to keep friends and family informed in your life so they can pray with and for you, support, help etc. But at the same time, it's also a little embarrassing or makes me self conscious so I hesitate to tell people when challenges are going on. Well, anyway....Friday night while Josh was at the grocery store I was home with Addie after day of running errands, playing in fountains etc. I was getting her ready for bed and was carrying her down the stairs to answer Josh's phone call when I tripped and fell. I don't really remember much of what happened other than feeling like I was about to fall backwards and then like I couldn't breath ( I hit my back). I knocked myself out and either slid or rolled down the stairs. I woke up at the bottom after what I guess was a few minutes and saw that Addison was ok - she was laying on my arm and then I guess I was out again.

Josh came home a few minutes later and we were lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He later told me that I was lying on my back with my legs still partly up on the stairs. Addie was apparently lying on my arm asleep. I'm sure she probably cried when we were falling or when I was out but afterward she just snuggled up to me and went to sleep. At first Josh thought she was hurt too but when he picked her up she started laughing and playing. He put her in her high chair after checking to make sure she wasn't hurt and then  woke me up. I was pretty freaked out when he woke me up and Addie was gone but he assured me she was fine. My back hurt really badly so I didn't want to move but after a few minutes I was able to sit up. Josh called Connie (the friend that watches Addison during the day) and she came over to put her to bed while Josh took me to the ER.

They did a CT scan and X-rays. Everything looked fine and they sent me home. I go to my regular doctor for a follow up this afternoon. So, I just have a concussion with loss of consciousness and a pretty sore and bruised body.

God was so in control because however I held Addison, my instincts kicked in and she is 100% ok. She was snuggled up to me asleep and then didn't cry at all and was watching Josh like a hawk to make sure that he was taking care of me.I could have been hurt a lot worse and this could have ended very differently. I'm not even sure what made me fall. I wasn't rushing and there wasn't anything on the stairs. Saturday and Sunday were pretty rough and I felt really bad. Yesterday I pushed myself to do more stuff knowing I had to go back to work and my normal routine today. I'm sore and still have a bad headache today but so far so good. I have been thanking God over and over again for watching out for us, for letting Josh come home quickly to find us, and for helping me to protect Addison. I have only walked on the stairs a few times with her since then and Josh has been behind us. I'm pretty nervous now but I know that we will be ok.

So, that's really about it. There are so fun pictures of things that have been going on but as usual, those will come later. Please pray that my body continues to heal with no complications and that my nerves calm down as well. Most of all, praise the Lord for his protection and mercy.