April 22,2010 A much needed update!

I have recently been told by a dear friend that we have terrible luck. Another friend asked me why the universe was against us. I have to admit that I have had my moments of frustration because of the different things that have been happening to us the past few months, but all in all, we are so blessed! It has been fun getting to know the Elders Quorum a little better. We have a great group of men in our Ward and they are so willing to help when it is needed. Thanks to all that came over to help with our water line. Just thought I would show some pics from that day. I finally have realized (for now... hopefully I will hold on to this insight...) that whatever may happen to us or whatever we may have to endure in this life, there is always a solution no matter what. We are here to help each other through any crisis. Serving and putting everything in the Lord's hands is very important and if we can do this, all will fall into place. We may have to be patient about it and we may go through times where we don't understand the reasons, but the Lord does reveal the reason eventually. Sometimes He is quick to reveal and sometimes it takes years to reveal His reasoning. All I know is that He does this at the right time, the right place, and when we are ready to understand it. How grateful I am for my little family and for Ellie! The Lord knows what He was doing when he sent her to us. She is incredible and doing well! This morning was the first time that she sat with me laughing and smiling--reacting to me for about 5 minutes straight. It was an incredible feeling considering that before this morning, she has had very brief smiles that never stayed. If you blinked, you would miss it. It is so overjoying to see her smile at me. When she was born, she didn't have a facial expression at all. It is amazing to see how far she has come and every little new thing she does becomes another miracle to us. This morning, while I was talking to her and laughing with her, I became overcome with emotion because of this. It is so difficult to not know what the future holds for her and the things that she will be able to do or not do. But, the Lord will give her what she needs. This I know for certain. Our family is so excited to finally be at the end of our homebound saga. Ellie will be blessed on May 2nd at 11:00 am at the Harrison Stake Center. A luncheon will follow. I hope that all who would like to come will come. Everyone is invited to both so please let us know if you are coming. We want to thank all of you in some way for the never ending prayers and love you have shown our family this past year. Call us so we have the correct food count! (208) 733-2059. I will try to not take so long to write the next entry...oh...her medical update for the past month. She is close to 11 lbs now. The Orthopedist believes that her hip has stabilized. They will do an ultrasound on it in May and if all looks good, she will go to part time with the brace. They are planning on bracing her feet as soon as the hip brace is off, but at least she will be able to wear clothes normally with those braces. These feet braces will hopefully help her curled up feet to become straight again. She has been having some acid reflex but the medicine seems to be working. Her uerodynamic test in Boise is coming up soon, so that should give us some more insight on her bladder and bowel control. We still are very happy with our nurse and our physical therapist. Both say that she is progressing all the time. That is what we want to hear. So now that I have made this too long, it is time to post this. Please come to the blessing. We are so excited to see everyone again and to finally show off our beautiful little Ellie in person! We love you and are excited to see you soon!