Validation

PLEASE pray NOW for a little baby named Stellan. He is a newborn and is in the hospital NICU after contracting RSV (respiratory virus). They are holding off a little longer before they put him on a ventilator - so PLEASE pray that he turns the corner tonight! He has been through so much in his short little life, and this is a hard one for their family. You can read their story through the link on my sidebar: "My Charming Kids." PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

Papa and Nana's house! Papa and Nana at the park Christmas Cacti singing "O Holy Night" Desert beauties Kids enjoying the sun.... Our first night in Arizona - Christmas dinner! Present time! Mom took a nap in the sunshine. Ahhhhhh.... The kids took a ride to the community center. The neighborhood Papa and Nana live in is part of a master planned community with lots of amenities..... The kids at the neighborhood park. Ben begged Papa to drive him over in the golf cart to to play. :) The kids at a prehistoric ruins site called "Casa Grande." Ben in his "room" (Nana and Papa's walk-in closet) with Toby The fam on Papa's golf cart again - probably the highlight for Ben. Mel even got to drive it! What we came home to - a Christmas we won't forget!! BBQ anyone?

After a flight delay on Christmas Eve, we made it home. Yay! We arrived too late to attend our church's Christmas Eve service, but we were just so glad to be back. After a quick trip to Taco Bell to fill our tummies we made it home. What a great feeling to walk into our warm home with our Christmas presents waiting under the tree. Our kitty was so happy to see us (she has hardly left my side since we got back). Ben developed a skin staff infection that we had to see a doctor for in Arizona. We think he had it before we left, so our first task was to disinfect all of our bathrooms and wash all our bedding,just to make sure. Once we had the house cleaned up, I stuffed our stockings. One of our Christmas traditions is to open our stockings on Christmas Eve. Papa and Nana had given us a DVD of a fire in a fireplace, so we put that on as well as some Christmas music and opened our stockings together. The kids woke up about 7:00 am on Christmas morning. Santa had left a remote con...

After two days in a row of flights cancelled into Seattle, we are back at Joe's parents in Arizona. The airline is saying we might be able to get home on Christmas Eve morning, but I'm not going to get my hopes up too much because the weather is still bad there. It was a sad thought that we might not be waking up in our own home on Christmas morning to open presents. Amanda and Ben were teary, and I was fighting mine back for their sake. Melanie is happy-go-lucky, and is perfectly happy coming back to Nana and Papa's. I told the kids that whenever we get back, we'll still have our Christmas. I tried to keep them cheered up, and asked each of them if they would like to know what one of their presents are. They thought it was pretty funny, so I told them each one present. Their dad was down at the ticket counter, so I told them it was our secret, and not to tell dad that they knew. :) I enjoyed the lifted expressions I saw on their faces, and decided to make sure ...

Flight cancelled again. Trying for Christmas Eve morning. Kids sad. Mom sad. Dad sad. Dog in the kennel sad. Kitty home alone sad. Pray for us.

Hey from the sun! We are packing up to leave Joe's parents in Arizona, and I would like to ask for your prayers for our return flight. Our flight home yesterday was cancelled due to the severe winter storm in Washington. We will be coming home to several inches of snow I hear, plus freezing rain. We have a 35 mile drive from the airport to home once we get there. So, please pray that #1: we get to fly into Seattle today; #2: safe driving once we get there. Thanks so much my blog friends!

I got 'em. My final grades. My little heart is pounding out of my chest. Abdominal Sonography: 95% A Abdominal Lab: 89.5% B Pathophysiology: 89% B PRAISE THE LORD!! Oh. Here comes the tears....

If you haven't watched the video located below this post, I urge you to do so! It's AWESOME. My favorite part is when he says the "people you're supposed to love." HAHAHA! Perfect! Anyway, Joe and I had a picture-perfect outing to downtown Seattle on Saturday night. It was SUPER cold, so we bundled up in our scarves and gloves, and headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for a delicious dinner. I was in the mood for Famous Dave's grilled salmon, however (I get these things stuck in my head sometimes) - but lo, and behold, the Cheesecake Factory presented their new menu with grilled salmon! They even had onion strings just like Famous Dave's! Mmmmmmmm......Joe and I shared a slice of heavenly Tiramisu cheesecake afterwards. Mmmmmmm again...... After dinner, we walked off some calories shopping a bit downtown. There were so many PEOPLE! And, there were lights everywhere, and a carousel, too. Inside one of the malls, there were choirs singing Christ...

I'm taking a quick break from studying to ask for your prayers as I embark on my last four finals. I am most nervous about my Thursday final, so pray for skilled hands and quick thinking will you please? Amazingly, I am finished with my Christmas shopping. I have done most of my shopping online, plus quick stops on the way home from class. Amazon, Avon, Best Buy and Overstock.com were my friends this year. If I were to have an addiction, it would be to receive packages in the mail. It is so FUN! I proclaim "Santa's elves came!" when a package arrives. And, did you know that a lot of stores have a set-up where you buy stuff online, and then pick it up at the store? I kinda like that idea for the fact that you don't have to fight any crowds to shop - you get to shop at home in your jammies and have the item waiting for you at the front of the store when you're ready to pick it up. It also means no shipping costs - yay! Another "almost addiction...

One final down, four more to go....I took my Pathophysiology final on Tuesday and I felt very, very good about it. I think I only missed a few, but then I'm pretty sure I got all of the extra credit correct, so that might make up for what I missed. Next week I have finals in Abdominal Sonography, Ultrasound Physics and Instrumentation, Cross-Sectional Anatomy and Abdominal Sonography Lab. I'm quite nervous about my Lab final. We will given six images to scan, and fifteen minutes to do it. We will not know who we will scan ahead of time, which means no practice time on that person. I will have a teacher sitting there watching my scanning techniques, and then judging my images afterwards for their clarity, etc. I'm scared! So, again, if you think of me, I could use your prayers!