What's Up?

I haven't been posting a lot, but that doesn't mean we are not busy.

- Luke went to basketball camp last week. Not exactly his favorite sport, but he enjoyed being with friends and giving it a great effort.

- Luke has been going to Vacation Bible School this week at the nearby Lutheran church. He is having fun and tonight is a program the kids have prepared for the adults.

- I bought a new camera lens on the suggestion of Lisa Hezlep, our recent photographer. I love it! It's harder to use but I'm loving the way the portraits are looking!


- Last weekend we had back to back cookouts for Father's Day.

- Mitchell went to see his GI doc this week. Turns out there is something to Mitchell's weight being heavy for his height. Since he doesn't move a lot, he doesn't need a lot of calories. We're told we need to watch what he eats and weighs now because if the trend continued, he'd get quite large on a small frame and without movement it would never come off. So, we're tracking in a food diary what he eats each day. Most days it's under 500 calories! He also had some blood work done today. The results will tell us what to do next. Everyone recalls how we've wrestled multiple times with whether to have him set up with a feeding tube because we couldn't get him to eat, right?

- We are counting down to the annual vacation we take without Mitchell. Chris, Luke and I have big plans to cover Chicago in a few days. There is so much to do there and we will certainly try our best to do it all!

You Have Options, Very Cool Options, For Viewing This Blog

Scrolling linearly through blog posts is so old school. Blogger now has dynamic viewing options.You can view any site powered by Blogger in one of five different ways: Flipcard, Mosaic, Sidebar, Snapshot, or Timeslide. Click here to see my blog my two favorite ways: Flipcard style and Snapshot style. Very, very cool.

Photo Shoot

There is a photographer I came across who has taken photographs for numerous Mito families. I contacted her before the holidays to schedule a photo shoot to find she was booked until March. Well the way the calendar went we didn't get together until May. Therefore I'm happy to report I am now planning way ahead and will reserve some of the great shots she took for our Christmas card!

It's so hard to take good pictures of Mitch, but it was Luke who seemed to have more trouble. He's at the stage where he excels at delivering a fake smile. The more the photographer tried to get him to be more natural, the more frustrated he became. Just last week Luke volunteered a reflection on the experience saying, "Wasn't that weird the picture taker didn't like me to smile?"

Uncle Darrell

My uncle Darrell, who is my mom's brother,came for a visit recently. He lives in Mississippi and was seeing family throughout Ohio. Both boys took to him right away. You can tell he's a good grandpa himself!

A link to this song video came to me through a Mito listserv. A theme in our life and often expressed on this blog is our understanding we can find joy in our suffering (Romans 5/James 5) and this song is just about that.



Laura tells the story behind the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9irePc-iI What's not said is that 2 years into her marriage her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. His recovery has exceeded expectations, but his issues linger - he is not completely healed. But they understand they are blessed.

Sharing in case someone needs to hear this right now!

Lyrics:
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

I Swear He Likes Doing It