Full Speed Ahead!

Well it's official.....

I have a 3rd grader and a 7th grader!  I love these two beautiful girls!  They make life so much fun!

We've been living the busy life and having a blast!  Macy made the middle school golf team this year, and has practice 2 days a week and a match once a week.  She's also in Girl Scouts and Student Council.  She loves all of her activities!!!  And if you didn't notice, she got her braces off, and looks so grown up now.

McKenna played rec softball as well as All-Stars this summer.  So our summer was full of tournaments.  She is now playing travel soccer, and recently tried out for an Alliance softball team that her dad so happens to be coaching.  Basketball starts in November.  

Jeremy just finished coaching rec and All-Star softball, and is currently holding try-outs for the Alliance team.  He will also be coaching basketball this winter.  I must also mention that he has been amazing in taking Macy to the driving range on her off days to hit some balls, while I run McKenna to soccer.  

Busy, busy, busy!  I am currently in my 16th year of teaching.  I have an AMAZING kindergarten class this year, and can't wait to watch them learn and grow into 1st graders this year.  My awesome mom came before heading back to Florida and volunteered in my room all day.  She could see why I love this group of kids so much!

We've had some good times lately, more fun times to come, as well as some challenging times ahead.  I will like to start with the positives, so here goes......

We just finished a fantastic Labor Day weekend at the lake with my whole family!  It was our last weekend at the lake until Christmas.  We are already looking forward to the fun Christmas game this year, and some more family fun times with the crazy bunch!

We are headed last weekend to the Purdue game with Jeremy's family, and had a blast cheering for Purdue and hanging out with his fun family!  The girls were so excited!!!!

Next month, we are taking the girls to Washington DC.  I am the only one in our household that has ever been there, so it should be a neat experience for everyone.  We have some fun tours planned, an Airbnb booked, and even put in for a White House tour (which is a multi-step process).  We won't even find out about the White House tour until 2 weeks before we leave.  

Now the challenges.......

Macy's medical case (for her liver), was brought to a team of liver specialists.  Her trending down platelet counts, increasing ammonia levels, and her ultrasound from June leads the team to think a closer look is the next step.  We recently had more labs done, and things are even worse than in June.  We head back to Chicago in December.  At that time, Macy will have another venogram surgery to take a closer look at her liver.  They go in her neck and travel down to her liver.  They will be able to closely see the portal vein area, as well as get very accurate pressures in that area.  She is currently in portal hypertension.  She was purposefully put in portal hypertension as a result of her liver surgery in May 2016.  The hope was that a portal vein would grow and take over.  Instead, Macy had many tiny collateral veins take over.  This is not an ideal situation to continue.  If things aren't looking better following the venogram in December, she may have to have another surgery.  It is called the Rex Shunt.  The take a vein from her neck, and place it as her portal vein.  Please pray that her labs start to improve and her venogram will show better flow and good pressures!  

Regardless of the outcome, God has a plan! Full speed ahead! 

For now, we are looking forward to our fun times ahead, changing weather, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, bonfires, and fun with friends!  

Thanks for checking in on us, and thanks for your continued prayers!