End of an Era

This past weekend, Mike and I drove to Pigeon Forge to get the furniture out of our cabin. The bank is foreclosing on it today, August 4. We tried to work out an agreement to keep the cabin or take another route but Chase did not agree. Plus, their communication skills between each other and to us has been VERY POOR. So, Mom watched Hannah and Andrew while Dad and Joan kept Will so Mike and I could get our furniture. Two Men and a Truck came and helped Mike load a rental truck with all of the furniture, which helped us get through a lot quicker than we thought. It was a quick weekend. Mike and I left Friday morning and got home Sunday afternoon. Got to post more later. I'm on Mike's laptop and the battery is low. More to come.

Review of "The Hope of Refuge" by Cindy Woodsmall

Recently, I was given the opportunity to read a copy of Cindy Woodsmall's newest book The Hope of Refuge before it was released. The book centers on Cara Moore, a young widow and mother. Cara was raised in foster homes after her mother died and her father abandoned her. When she is stalked by a man from her past, Cara and her daughter flee to Dry Lake, an Amish community she and her mother visited just before her death. Little does Cara know, this small community is a major part of her mother's past and becomes a place of understanding and refuge for herself. As secrets about Cara's mother start to surface, Cara is forced to come to terms with long-held bitterness and anger towards her mother's family and her own father.

I liked the way Ephraim Mast listens to God and reaches out to Cara, even though it means his shunning from the Amish community. God uses Ephraim to show Cara He has always been with her and loves her in spite of her past. Oftentimes, doing the will of God will not be understood by those closest to us. Like Ephraim, we still need to follow God's lead and see what He will bring about through the trials and tribulations.

One thing I kept expecting as I got closer and closer to the end that didn't occur was the reappearance of Mike, Cara's stalker. When he makes his appearance at the beginning of the story, and later when Cara tells Ephraim why she fled to Dry Lake, Cara mentions that Mike always seems to find her, no matter how hard she tries to hide. Mike read her mother's diary, which held information about Dry Lake. I was expecting Mike to turn up in this Amish community and stalk Cara again but it never happened.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a pretty easy read and has a great story line. If you are interested in purchasing this book, you can go to the Random House website. Here, you can see all of the different options where you can purchase the book online.

The author, Cindy Woodsmall will be on a book signing tour in Nashville, TN on Wednesday, August 12 from 7 – 8pm at the Barnes & Noble Opry Mills. It is located at 515 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37214. Their number is (615) 514-5000.

Gracy

These pictures of Gracy were taken on July 19th.

Today, Mike and I had to make the hardest decision of our lives, so far. We had to put our dog Gracy down today. As most of you know, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in March. In the last week or so, Gracy was having lots of trouble using her back legs. She seemed to have very little control over them and had great difficulty walking, especially across the kitchen floor and the outside patio. This weekend, Mike and I had to put a towel underneath the back portion of torso to help her get up. Mike had to carry her outside so she could go to the bathroom. Gracy went from a dog who loved to go outside anytime anyone was out there to only going out twice a day. She seemed and acted fine, like nothing was wrong, as long as she was lying down. We both knew that it wasn't fair to her to let her suffer like she was so we made the very difficult decision. Mike and I were both with her until the end, telling her how much she meant to us, that we loved her and that we would see her again.

So far, Baron has been acting okay. I'm sure it will hit him in a few days that Gracy is gone for good. They have been together since they were conceived. They were litter mates and have only been away from each other just a handful of times. We are just going to love on him and try to help him get through it the best we can.

The kids are all taking it differently. Andrew, of course, really doesn't know what is going on. We've told him what happened but I don't think he really understands. Will is just matter-of-fact. He says that Gracy died and is in heaven, but really doesn't show much emotion. It may hit him full on later, too. Hannah is just like her mom. She will be fine one minute and then balling her eyes out the next. I have been balling off and on since we arrived at the vet's. Mike cried while we were at the vet (it's the first time I think I've seen him cry in all the years we've been together). He had to go to work today and hopes to get off a little early.

Gracy is now in God's hands and He and Jesus are taking very good care of her until we get there. She has plenty of playmates: Brandy, Yogi, Pappy, Browser, Shadow, Stormy, Velvet, Barron (Mike's childhood dog), Lucy (Gracy and Baron's mom), and more I can't even list. I told the kids that she is telling everyone about her owners and what fun they were and how much she loved them. She can now chase the ducks, squirrels, birds, and whatever else catches her fancy to her heart's content. She is no longer in any pain and can walk and run perfectly.

Time is suppose to heal all wounds. But, from my experience, they don't heal but just get easier to deal with. We love you Gracy. You will ALWAYS be in our thoughts and prayers.

Grout

Last night, Mike started putting the grout on our bathroom tiles. We both thought it wouldn't take too long, but boy, were we mistaken. He started after dinner, around 7 p.m. He finally finished around 2:45 a.m. He never stopped. I was helping by changing out the buckets and bringing clean water. When he finally finished, Mike's hands were really sore and it hurt to move his fingers. Here are some pictures of the finished product.




We still have to seal the tile and caulk. The inside of the closet needs to be painted and I need to finish painting the trim. We both can't wait for this to be finished.

Memphis in July and the Water Park

Normally in the month of July, the temperatures are hovering in the high 90's - low 100's with the heat index around 110-115. It is hot, sticky, and miserable to be anywhere outdoors, even in the water. Well, today the high is 82 degrees. Yes, you read that right. 82 degrees. A cold front is moving through and making it absolutely perfect outside. The kids and I picked up lunch at Chick-fil-a and took it to the park. With the wind blowing, it actually got a little chilly. I didn't mind a bit!! The temperatures last week and this week have been great. A couple of cold fronts have moved through the area, bring rain and the cooler temperatures. It did get up in the mid-90s last week but, for the most part, the temps have stayed in the mid-80s to low 90s. Wonderful!!!

Yesterday, my friend Tracy and I took all of the kids to the Henderson Aquatics Center in Tunica. She has three kids (one girl and two boys) and I had my three and Nathan. We arrived when they opened at 11 and left around 2:30. The kids had a blast. Hannah played with Kara; Will played with Will; and Andrew played with Seth. Nathan played with all of them until his friend Billy showed up. The Aquatics Center has three areas: a kiddie area with water fountains, sprinklers, and buckets that fill up and turn over. The water here is warm and is between two and three foot deep in the deepest part. The second area is a lap pool that you can also play in. The temperature is cold and is about 5'6" deep. The third is the diving pool with two springboards and three platform diving boards. We started out in the kiddie pool and played for about an hour. After eating lunch, we went to the diving pool where the older kids jumped off the diving boards, having a blast. When we moved to the lap pool, Andrew and Seth found a basketball game and played to their little hearts content. While the little boys were playing with the basketball, they would open one of the nearby lockers, put the ball inside and close the door. After a few seconds, Andrew and Seth would open the door, get the ball out, shut the door, and stand there so proud of themselves. Andrew got in the water with me for a little bit, even though it was very cold. Tracy and I moved the gang back to the warmer pool to play a while before leaving.

Seth does not like water and it takes him a long time to get acclimated to change. So, while we were all playing in the pool, he sat in a chair and could not be coaxed in or played ball with Andrew. When we moved back to the warmer pool, Seth just stood by the edge but wouldn't come in. Andrew saw him standing there and somehow coaxed him in, little by little. They started out playing in the round sprinklers then worked their way slowly to the island in the middle. They were standing in the middle of some fountains, laughing and giggling. Andrew was encouraging him all the way to venture out a little more each time. It was neat watching them together.

Latest Pics of the Bathroom

Here are pictures of the tile Mike laid in the Master Bathroom. It took him a good four hours or more to lay the thinset and tile (there are a LOT of little pieces). Once it is set, Mike can go through and grout the whole bathroom, including the walls. I can't wait to see it without the spacers. We are hoping to have everything put back together by this coming weekend. I can't wait. Sharing the hall bathroom with three kids is not fun at times. Having only one working bathroom for a family of five: interesting! HEHE

This is the area in front of Mike's vanity to give you a closer look at the terra cotta colored tiles.

Slowly But Surely

Here are pictures of Mike's progress on our bathroom.

NO MORE CARPET AND LINOLEUM!!!

Another picture of the floor

Tile around the bathroom closet

Tile around the doorway

The light tile at the top right became lighter when it was put up. When it was on the floor, it was the same color as the other ones.

Tile on the far wall

(The white dots are tile spacers. They are not part of the tile decorations.)