Last day with friends!

We stopped by our neighbors' house today to say good-bye. We thought it would be great to take a picture of all the kiddos. How did we do? Haha!
We sure are going to miss them!

Cox South, again.

Andy experienced appendicitis at the end of May.  We rushed him up to Springfield, thanks to our wonderful local doctor.  We farmed out the kids to friends, and I stayed with Andy at Cox South Hospital in Springfield.  His surgery went well, and I was blessed to have our pastor wait with me during the procedure. 
Fast forward five week... Allison wakes up coughing one morning.  The boys had been coughing for a couple of days, so I honestly didn't think much of it.  We loaded up and went to Lebanon, MO, to spend the day with our Camino friends (De Colores!).  When we picked the kids up at lunch time from the nursery, Allison had a fever.  So we cancelled the rest of the day, said a rushed good-bye, and headed home.  As we were heading into the Springfield area, I asked Andy to go ahead and stop at Urgent Care.  It was a Saturday, and if we went all the way home, and she got worse, then we'd be going to the ER.  Urgent care is just a little bit cheaper than ER.  :) 
By this time, Allison was very lethargic.  We went in, and the triage nurse hooked Allison up to the O2 machine.  I guess it had bad news, because they immediately put her on Oxygen and sent us for a chest Xray.  Andy and the boys were at Guitar Center playing - we all thought it would be a quick in and out. 
When Andy called back to check on us, I told him, "She's on oxygen, has had two chest Xrays and we're being admitted.  She has pneumonia."  Not what you expect! 
Thankfully, one of our pastors and another good friend were on there way home from Lebanon at this time, so they picked up the boys and took them to eat.  Then they dropped them off at Aunt Amanda's for the night.  We headed up stairs, to the same floor Andy had been on 5 weeks earlier.  This time we were on the fun end of the floor.  Once Allison was hooked up to her IV and had sort of slept through the night, with breathing treatments, back beatings (loosening up the junk in her lungs), and vital checks, we got to "enjoy" our time.  Here's a few pictures I took on Sunday.

Allison driving the car around the hallway.  There is even a dotted yellow line all along the unit.  Notice the hallway?  She even did a scavenger hunt with the pictures on the wall!

They brought in a bunch of toys for Allison to play with.  Her favorite, of course, was a baby doll and a doctor kit.  So much fun for a sick baby!

After her IV was removed, we had a fun time in the play room.  She could have gone in with the IV, but we had too much fun checking out movies and doing the scavenger hunt.  Considering the circumstances, I can't believe how much fun we had!!
Thankfully she's all better.  This article was released a week after our stay at Cox.  Good to know!!
Top Hospitals in the Nation.

Bittersweet Cousin Time

About a month ago, Andy's grandmother had a stroke.  We didn't make it to see her, partly because she seemed to be getting better.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see her at all, but thankfully, she's now with the Lord, celebrating!  We were sad to not have a recent visit with her, but while we were down in Southern Arkansas last week for the funeral, we were blessed to have a wonderful time with family.  One of the days (they all ran together - I didn't sleep well while we were there), our niece came over and brought her three kiddos to play.  So much fun!!

Here are the two blondes!  We couldn't believe how much Abi and Ryan looked like family.  So cute!

Here I am (fuzzy picture - one of the kiddos took this), holding our newest great-niece, Julianne. 

Allison, of course, loved the new baby.  Ryan loves to make babies laugh!

A visit to Nashville isn't complete without a Tea Party with Mama Sue.  This one was extra special because Allison had a cousin to enjoy it with.  The girls played great together!

Parker, our great-nephew, loved the jelly beans!! He has a mouth full, here!

Parker wanted in on the tea party!

Cousins, having fun!!

Garret wasn't really sure about all the girl-play.  Cuddling with Mama is just as good. 

This was the funniest thing all day.  Andy was looking at a truck magazine.  Parker wanted to see tractors.  Andy kept explaining, "Truuuuck."  Parker would shake his head and say, "Traaactor."  So cute and funny!!
We had a wonderful time with cousins! 

Neighbors

"A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing."  Hesiod

I can't believe it, but we've lived in Missouri almost two years, already.  Where has the time gone?  We moved here and really knew no one.  And we didn't move into a neighborhood.  We moved to a farm house, out in the middle of fields.  We can not hit a neighbor's house with a rock if we wanted to.  And, yet, if you look out our front door, you can see a cute farm house settled in the middle of a wheat field.  We've taken hundreds of pictures of this house.  Mostly because we've taken hundreds of pictures of Mid-Western sunsets, and well, the cute farm house is straight West of our house. 

They also had a crop duster plane this last year, and since none of us had ever seen one in action - here's a not-so-good picture of the crop duster, right on the field, and the cute farm across the County Line.

It is with a heavy heart that I'm writing this post.  You see, the cute farm across the line, is the home of a wonderfully sweet family.  That family has been SUCH a blessing to us since moving here.  We've had so much fun getting to know them, and the kids have really enjoyed playing with their boys.  But that all ends this month.  They are moving onward and upward.  The husband is going to Optometry School, and well, there isn't one right here.  So, off they go.  May God bless them with amazing new neighbors, wherever they may be.  I thank God often for the blessing of wonderful neighbors.  It sure makes life more enjoyable when you have someone to share it with.  And I also pray for whomever may move into that cute farm house.
Don't take your neighbors for granted.  And if they bother you, pray for them.  There may be a reason you're placed together!

"We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next door neighbor."  Gilbert K. Chesterton


We recently had a yard sale with the neighbors, and here's the only picture I took for the two days.  Here's 3 of the 5 kids eating homemade pizza.