Got Questions?

This has been one of my favorite sites!  To look up information it's very well supported biblically.  Sometimes I get lost on tangents and can spend a lot more time on here than I should! ;-)  If you find something that doesn't measure up biblically let me know, but from what I've seen so far I really like.  Hope you enjoy it!

www.gotquestions.org

Robbie

Just to be sure we keep the medical field afloat we've had to take Robbie in to a heart specialist.  What is it with us and our hearts? ;-)  He was monitored multiple times, once for 21 days, and all showed that his heart has episodes where it stops beating. 

The heart doctor stated (implying his belief that Robbie needs a pacemaker), "Someone will have to prove to me that he doesn't need a pacemaker" and referred us to an Electro-Physiologist. That started another waiting game, as we attempted to set an appointment with the EP.  There are only 250 of them in the world!

I called to see if we could get on a cancellation list because it seemed Robbie was feeling worse.  They got us in on Friday which wasn't the doctor's normal office hours, but he was willing to work us in. 
We really liked the doctor!  He was very thorough in explaining everything and drawing us clear diagrams of what he was talking about. (Now we understand more what those readings on EKG's really are! ;-) 

Our next step is to schedule an EP test which will test the electrical system through a catheter.  If they find that Robbie needs a pacemaker, which they believe to be true, then they will put one in at that time.  The hard part is the restrictions a pacemaker brings.  No more basketball, football, frisbie or any contact sport.  Nothing that may jar the pacemaker wires out of place, or cause harm to the pacemaker - which sits directly underneath the skin, unprotected. This will be an extremely hard adjustment for Robbie since he is very active, especially when it comes to contact sports or activities! Wrestling, running, playing with and flipping his siblings is a daily event.

We were not able to schedule the test until January, so until then, as an expirement, Robbie is on a diet with no sugar, no caffiene, and lots of hydration - which we are hoping will bring a solution to the problems he's experiencing. Yes, it's a bit of a long shot, but worth a try.  All wrapped with lots of prayer!

Meanwhile he's getting all the activity in while he can!  And God continues to show Himself evident in our lives!

Lydia's Birthday

Lydia turned 4 on September 21st!  One of the highlights of her birthday was getting her pink violin - it's just her size, and she loves to make noise on it. :)  Also, a friend brought over some baby kittens that we all had fun holding and playing with.

\

Emily's Birthday

Emily turned 13 on September 10th :D  She spent hours in the kitchen making homemade cheesecake for her birthday celebration!  Emily is in 7th grade this year - she got a violin for her birthday, which she has been practicing along with piano.  Emily's favorite thing to do is hold babies, which she does at every possible opportunity. :) 

Use Punctuation

I asked Megan, "Why can't I find this book on Librivox?" Megan quickly finds it for me, then says "Punctuation matters." She goes to the white board and writes:
Let's eat, Grandma!
Let's eat Grandma!
Punctuation saves lives.

:-)  Emily

Robbie's Birthday

Robbie turned 18 in August!  He had his traditional apple pie ... no cake mix for him!  :)  

Robbie's continuing with CollegePlus!, he now has 76 credits, and is planning to transfer to Liberty University next semester, where he'll take courses online to complete his degree.  He's been working this summer as a salesman for Cutco, and loves doing that.

In other new about Robbie, he has an appointment this week with an electrophysicist tomorrow ... they moved his appointment up two weeks, which we were very grateful for.  He's continued to have problems with his heart, and hopefully after this appointment we will have a better idea of the next steps. 

Robbie loves math ... he's working on statistics right now, and he's tutored several of his friends for Math CLEPs.  

Megan's Birthday

Yes, I'm posting birthdays on a 5-month delay. :P  Mom says she still wants the pictures posted on the blog. ;)  I'm going through all the pictures on my computer trying to get updated photos for my grandparent's picture frames, and figured I might as well blog them at the same time. :)  -Megan

On my birthday, I was actually in Pennsylvania with a group of CollegePlus! students.  Robbie very graciously allowed me to go with him to the get-together, and we had an amazing time!  I had the most epic 20th birthday party ever, complete with a card signed by the whole group and a cake.  This cake was my brothers idea, half of it was designed for Robbie's friend Aaron, and the other half was designed for me.  My half was supposed to say, 'Congratulations on surviving 17 years with Robbie'.  What it actually said:

:D

One of my favorite parts of my birthday was the church service on Sunday morning ... 35 young adults studying the Bible, encouraging one another, and singing praises on the Pennsylvania hillside.  It was beautiful!

Since we were little, Mom started having our pictures taken on our birthdays.  Emily took these pictures ... I'm wearing a dress that my friend Anna made for me. :)

Lydia's phone conversation with her Daddy

"Hi Dad!
Um, just walking around talkin on the phone.
We already went for a mile walk.
But now I'm inside my house, not outside my house.
Uh-huh.
Yup.
I think so.
Okay.
Yup, love you too!"

Sling-shotin'

Matthew, Joey and Ben were very excited when Dad told them they could shoot at birds, knowing they probably wouldn't get anything anyway, Ben came and told me "Emily, were going sling-shotin!!! Want to come?" So this was their setup....(it was raining out!)!!!

All three boys are under that board!!!!

Dad took all of us kids (except Megan and Robbie) hunting. then we got donuts at Quality Dairy (A.K.A. The Health Food Store, But most people don't know that)   Lydia eating her donut:

We had a great day!
Emily

Oh, that Lydia!

When Elijah was coming for his first visit Lydia asked, "Is Elijah a boy or a dirl?"

Lydia came running in the house and said, "Hey Dad!  Hey Dad!".  As she ran by me I asked her what she wanted, and she said all excited, "I want to show Daddy something!".  This seemed interesting so I inquired if I could see, and she said, "Nope, it's just for my Dad!"  It made me smile.  And lately when ever he says he's going to town she wants to go!  It used to be if he asked, she'd say, "No, I'll stay with Mommy!" A sure sign of growing up! 

Then she said, "Holding babies is even better than eating sugar!  Even feeding them and holding them is better!"

This morning she confessed, "Mom, I just hummmmed at church because I didn't have my paper to sing out of!"

Then she goes up to Mom and says, "So Mom, how's it going?"

More stuff!

Robbie has been having some concerns about his heart and so as we have persued things he's been wearing a heart monitor that is scheduled for 21 days.  The monitor has been sending reports immediately to an outside source.  They called us last week and told us not to let him do anything that would get his heart rate up, they've picked up some concerning activity and to have him do nothing until we see our doctor.  I got the okay to keeping his room clean, but otherwise it's board game mode!

So we went and had a stress test and along with the monitor readings, the doctor believes he needs a pacemaker.  His top electical node frequently malfunctions, and thus he misses some heart beats.  He's being referred to an electro physicist and will have an EP test to investigate further.  This doctor's exact words were, "He will have to prove to me that he doesn't need a pacemaker!"

Then we took Benjamin in on a mother's hunch and sure enough he has a hernia that will need fixing.  Thankfully his eye sight is 20/20!

I'm continually reminded that these children are God's gift to us, not to do with as I please, but God created them! And it is for His purpose and for His glory that they exist.  And, that this is earth.  A sinful plagued, temporary exhistance, full of so many good things that come only from Him!

Romans 8:28  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

So, There's This Guy ...

This is Megan here, y'all. :)

For those of you have not seen the news on facebook or heard it from my mother, I am now being courted by a young man named Elijah Lofgren.

:D :D :D

our first visit

And for those of you who have already heard the news, and are clamoring for details and pictures ... this post is for you. ;)

At the end of June, my friend Anna and I went to the Homeschool Alumni National Reunion.  My Dad likes to tell people that I went to a reunion where I didn't know anyone.  Which, I suppose, is sort of true. ;)  Basically, about six years ago, a group of homeschoolers got together and decided, Hey, homeschoolers don't get to have class reunions, we'll start one!  And so Homeschool Alumni (HSA) began.  They host an annual reunion, it's like a huge conference for homeschool grads of all ages.  It's great fun!

The reunion started on Thursday evening with an opening ceremony and an enormous bonfire.  I met Elijah that evening, since we were on the same team.  I also met his sister Anna.  Elijah and I talked some on Friday, and we talked a lot on Saturday.  Sunday morning I e-mailed Mom and told her that there was a 'tall, sweet, blond guy following me' and that I would tell her all about the weekend when I got home.  (To be fair, I wasn't exactly avoiding him, either. :)

The day I got home, I found a friend request from Elijah on HSA and facebook, and he'd asked about my 4th of July and how our trip went.  I wrote him back and we started talking, which quickly turned into 10-15 paragraph messages every day or two.  Not quite two weeks later, he asked me for my Dad's phone number, and called to ask if he could come out to visit.

He planned a short trip for the first weekend in August.  The day before he got here, Dad asked Lydia, "So, Lydia, why is Elijah coming out?"

"To meet me and talk to Megan," Lydia replied.  :D

Elijah arrived late Friday night, and we sat in the living room and talked with my family for awhile.  I imagine that had to be highly disconcerting to walk into a room with 10 sets of eyes watching your every move!  But the visit went well.  We played games with the kids, went berry picking, went for walks, and talked a lot. :)  Before he left, he made plans to come out again over Labor Day.

After his first visit, we also started talking on the phone each weekend - I think our first conversation lasted two-and-a-half hours. :)

So ... he came out this weekend for a longer visit, and we had a great time!  Saturday we all went for a 10 mile bike ride, and then had a campfire on Sunday night.  Saturday night we had a really good conversation with Mom, Dad, Elijah, and myself.  We talked about our relationship and about courtship, mostly, but we covered a lot of topics.  About halfway through the conversation, Elijah looked at me and said, "So ... I guess we're courting, then," - and smiled.  Mom said she was cracking up at the two of us just sitting there with cheesy grins on our faces.

We talked for quite a bit that night - we decided that we would call each other boyfriend/girlfriend, and that we would post it on facebook once we'd had a chance to tell some family/friends.

Elijah's Dad defines courtship as "Answering the question, would it be both wise and God-honoring to get married?"  We have really enjoyed getting to know each other, and we're very excited to see what God has for us in the future, as we seek wisdom for upcoming decisions.

We've discussed the fact that the Bible doesn't have a list of '101 Rules for Courtship', but there are some things that we feel are important.  I like to phrase it as 'Stay pure, and stay accountable'.  We haven't spent extensive amounts of time alone - most of the time we're around my family, though we like to go for walks together.  And we are both seeking counsel from our parents and other friends.

As far as future plans go, Robbie and I are planning to drive out to visit Elijah at the beginning of October, and spend a weekend meeting his friends and visiting his church.  We're also planning to spend Thanksgiving at his family's house, so I'll get to meet his parents and some of his siblings then. :)

To answer the questions I usually get asked :) ... Elijah is almost 23, and he works as a software engineer.  He was homeschooled, and he has 6 siblings.  He also has a blog - if you'd like to read it, let me know and I can send you the link. :)

I have been so encouraged by Elijah's love for God and his thoughtfulness towards people, as well as his heart for evangelism.  My younger siblings adore him - Lydia especially is his little shadow - she is constantly begging us to read books to her. :)

Thank you to all of you who have expressed excitement to us and offered to pray for us - we really appreciate it!

pictures from Labor Day weekend

thanks to Emily for being our photographer!

On Grandma's Swing

Great Grandma has an awesome swing in her yard - I remember swinging on it with my cousins when we were little and were at Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. =)  Last week we spent the afternoon at Grandma's, and Ben and Lydia were swinging together - they had so much fun!

~Megan