Well to those 0 or 1 of you who actually read this, I haven't written, computer's been out while Zoomtown sent us a new router gratis.

Been busy helping a lot of people, pregnant moms and babies, children, adults. Today I saw a lot of teeth get cleaned. The day before I saw a lot of fetal checkups and a positive pregnancy result. Thursday I was at a different dentist's for a mom whose little son is in Shriner's.

2 things I want everyone seeing this to pray about:
1. One of the pregnant moms I help has a baby whose brain is not fully formed. In fact, some of it is missing. This baby is not expected to live long after birth. So it is heartbreaking. Please pray God's will and comfort and healing be done. It's not beyond God to fix this whole thing and put a brain in that baby's head. Miracles happen. If God does not choose that route, then please pray for God's comfort in our grief and sadness.

2. Pray please for a little 3-year-old boy (the one in Shriner's). They are from North Carolina. This little boy was burned on a BBQ grill which caught his clothing on fire and burned his little body over 60%. He and his Mommy are here in Cincy while he receives treatment at Shriner's. He's had skin grafts for his torso and much of this skin has come from part of his head. They can only get so much skin from the head (4 layers) and after that no hair would grow. So- they still have donated skin on his thighs, etc. and a little piece of his belly. So don't know if they will have enough of his own skin to cover him...? Don't know exactly how it works so- pray please for healing of this little one. Name is Alejandro. BTW his birthday is Aug. 28 so if you wanna send a toy (Spiderman toys especially welcome) to Shriner's please do! He'll be 4. I know I'm going to. Some good things- little Alejandro's face, head, genitals, fingers, and toes were spared in this burn. So thank God for that!

Micah's birthday was fun. But still haven't done all the celebrating yet. I got him a little walkie-talkie set that set me back a bunch and found out he's already using some CB radios donated to him by Karl and Mike Boyd and so this was a redundant gift but he says he wants it still. (Different channels available, weather radio, plus I got him 2 accompanying sets of headphones, etc.) I figured he'd use this with Brian. I need to know more about his "stuff" so I don't get it wrong again. He really wanted a PS2 but all the stores were sold out- and he wanted a new color TV but Steve said the one he has can be fixed easily- he actually has our old family TV. Not in the best of shape but hey what normal kid gets a TV and all in his room? Most kids don't even get their own room let alone all that. Right?


This weekend we were up north in Medina (near Cleveland) for Steve's friend's wedding at Holy Martyrs which is a beautiful church. Steve was in the wedding.* HM is exceptionally beautiful, with wooden beams and a sort of gazebo-like architecture with windows out toward the native scenery, in which one can do the Stations of the Cross outdoors. It was gorgeous and I can imagine every season is spectacular through those windows.

Later we went on toward Cedar Point but stopped short of going due to shortage of time and funds. We went instead to Maumee Bay which I really enjoyed, though my kids will tell you it was "boring..." Micah and I played Travel Sorry in a sandbox. We took a hike at the Nature Center and saw some cute turtles and raccoons. We went to the beaches (which the kids did not like- Micah said there was too much bird poop, and it IS Lake Erie, much better than before but still not perfect). I myself thought the beach was nice since I never actually SWIM in lake water (yuck). I just lay out and cross-stich, do crosswords, read, or sleep.

We will combine Cedar Point (for Micah's birthday- we promised him and had to break the promise last weekend so we GOTTA do it) with a trip to Gilboa in 2 weeks. Nathanael, who didn't want to go to Cedar Point, and Steve, who'd rather dive, will dive at Gilboa while Micah and I do CP. Next weekend will be the great long Yard Sale (about 500 miles long, Cincinnati to someplace in Alabama) which the kids and I always like.

*Nathanael's journal has some funnier, more descriptive notes about this wedding- but for MY record (since I don't know WHO reads this) I will say it was a lot of fun. OK, they are plain-looking...she's not a 20-year-old bride...OK? He has some extra teeth....OK? But who cares, they were RADIANT! Until someone put vaseline on her car in a silly attempt to "decorate" it. (OK, I am taking the 99.9999% chance that they do NOT know about my blog.) The rehearsal dinner was fabulous. The reception was lots of fun. Of course my son Nathanael thinks everything's boring...I'd post some of his account if he'd let me.