Spinal Tap & Pneumonia

I was hoping for my next post to give you more of a ministry update on how our presentations and church visits have been going. But, I guess that will have to wait. As you can see from the title we have had a busy and unexpected weekend of ER visits for our family. Thank goodness we have stopped counting the number of ER visits this winter, because it truly would be even more depressing!

Friday: Jonathan goes to the ER
For the past week and a half he had been having some weird sensations of burning, tingling and having pain in his hands and feet. The nerve pain in various areas would come and go so he scheduled a Dr. appointment for this coming Wednesday. However, when he woke up on Friday morning he felt weak and he was having uncontrolled tremors in his fingers and arm, but only when he moved them. The concern was whether or not he could have Guillain-barre Syndrome. Guillain-Barre syndrome is aserious disorder that occurs when the body's defense (immune) system mistakenly attacks part of the nervous system. This leads to nerve inflammation that causes muscle weakness, which continues to get worse. He had a CT scan, blood work and a spinal tap done. All the results came back normal, much to our relief. His symptoms have lessened and improved over the weekend but he is still having some spinal headaches from the spinal tap procedure which is normal. He will visit his doctor this week and see if he recommends more neurological testing.

Sunday: Samuel goes to the ER
Since our arrival Samuel has already made one visit to the Urgent Care for ear pain. He has had a really bad cough for over a month and sometimes I really wonder whether I'll see a lung come out. He had his wellness check-up this past Thursday and the Dr. seems to think he has some allergies and maybe asthma. It does run in both our families. He has been on Allegra since his visit and he had 3 immunizations also. On Sunday we were at a supporting church (Jamestown Baptist Church) which is just about 10 minutes away. Samuel was acting just fine in the morning and then after Sunday School he curled up next to Grandma on a couch and his head felt warm. The Life Group that has adopted our family had a really nice potluck for us after the service. When we sat down with our food I looked at Samuel and was very shocked to see that his lips and finger nails were blue and he was pale as a ghost. Grandma quickly took some vitals and recommended we get him to the ER as soon as possible. He was becoming lethargic and wouldn't say what was hurting him. Jonathan, Grandma and Samuel left immediately. To make a long story short...Samuel had a fever upon arrival to the ER but with some Tylenol and a nap he seemed to perk up a bit by the time the Doctor arrived. Apparently it is not uncommon for there to be a perifial shutting down while the fever spikes in the body. Thus explaining his blueness. He had a chest x-ray which revealed he has pneumonia. The doctor thought that an inhaler would also benefit him with his cough. So he is on antibiotics, inhaler, allergy medicine and taking it easy. He had a fever during the night but seems to be better today.

Please pray for us and for complete healing. We believe it is no coincidence that these things always hit us on the weekend. We know the enemy is trying to discourage us. Pray for our strength to press on, resting in His perfect peace and strength. Needless to say it has been a roller coaster of emotions this weekend.

A huge thanks to Grandma for her medical knowledge and physical support at the ER, Munga for holding down the fort with the 2 other kids, JBC for their understanding and prayers during a frenetic Sunday visit...we were so touched by the welcome home gifts...we truly are blessed by your support! And most of all, Thank you Jesus for protecting our family!

Reunion Slideshow

Reunion - St. Joseph, MI

Last week we traveled to St. Joseph, Michigan for a mini-college reunion. Four families unitied to rent a house for a few days on the shore of Lake Michigan. Jon & Tara Rauch (Noella's college roommate & Jonathan's freshman year RA) came with their 3 kids: Elli, Ethan & Elisha from Indiana. Jesse & Jodi Taubert came with their girls: Grace & Hadassah from Minnesota. Steve & Sarah Kornbau came with their 3 kids: Leah, Caleb, Drew from Pennsylvania. Okay, so you might be thinking what kind of vacation can that be with 11 kids from the ages of 4 months to 5 years?? All I can say is what a beautiful thing it is to see the fruits of godly parents who desire to train their children in the Lord. All the kids behaved so well and really had a wonderful time playing together. It was definitely a time of refreshment and encouragement for us.

Sarah, Tara, Noella & Jodi

Us girls met each other our freshman year while living in Faith Hall at Cedarville College. Everyone except me was a nursing major but they warmly welcomed me in to their circle of love and friendship that has not wavered one bit in 13 years! I always thought I deserved an honorary degree in nursing for all the times I posed as their lab patient. I am so thankful for these women and their testimony for the Lord and example they are to me. I love you guys!

Elisha, Ethan, Grace, Samuel, Luca, Emma, Leah, Caleb, Elli, Drew & Hassah (front)

The weather was wonderful for it being April in Michigan. We enjoyed lots of walks and playing on the beach and on the playground equipment, our kids enjoyed flying a kite for the first time and we even got to the Curious Kids' Museum for a morning. There are a ton of pictures I would like to post so I think a slide show is the best option so you'll have to wait until I get them organized. More later...

3-2-1...Blast Off!

The months and months (literally) of excitement about launching rockets finally came to pass last week. All the kids helped build their own rocket with Munga the first weekend we arrived in Michigan. However, the rainy and windy conditions didn't allow them to launch for a couple of weeks. The rockets went incredibly high in the sky and super fast that it took the kids a few seconds to find them in the sky. Samuel and Luca launched the rockets and Emma wanted to stay a safe distance away, but when the parachutes came out she was the little "rocket runner", so excited to retrieve them. Placing more engines in the rockets for another rocket day is in store.

After rocket launching we went to Haggar Park to play. Here are some more pictures from last week.

Emma came up with the name "choni swing" for this one. (I guess, it's an inside family joke)

Samuel was digging for dinosaur bones.

Children's Museum

Last Friday we went to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. The kids had a blast with all the hands on activities. It was so crowded and it was a good thing there were 4 adults for our 3 kids. Luca showed no fear in the crowd nor with trying to over power the bigger kids to get at what he wanted. Here are some pictures from last weekend.

Luca's Birthday Party Pictures

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Reverse Culture Shock - Top 10

1. Paying in dollars! Jonathan felt like jumping up and down and shouting when we filled up the gas tank for ONLY $50! You would too if it cost you over $100 for a fill-up in Italy.


2. Continuous business hours which allow us to get errands done during the kids' nap time.


3. Buearacracy Speed: We walked in the Secretary of State Office to apply for our MI driver's licenses and walked out 20 minutes later with our application process complete. They said we would receive our licenses in the mail in 3 weeks. We received them 4 days later!


4. Submersion into "everything" Christian. Coming back to the "Bible belt" of Grand Rapids has been particularly shocking with a church or two on every block and hearing people speak about Jesus in doctor's offices, stores, etc. as common as speaking of the weather.


5. The kids have been fascinated by mailboxes and mail trucks. These things they have seen on Baby Einstein DVDs but when they saw them in real life it was like they were so amazed that they actually do exist. Emma is always saying: "Look, another mailbox!" (Mail is delivered on a moto into our lock box attached to the gate entrance of our house in Italy)


6. The kids also like the "spikes" (steeple spires) they see on churches instead of the typical dome seen in Italy.


7. The first couple of times going out to stores was very strange and overwhelming. The amount of choices there are, speaking in English with clerks, and having to ask where to find the hairspray at Wal-mart really made us feel all the more foreign in our own country.


8. Getting behind the wheel of a car and driving after nearly 3 years is also strange (for Noella) and driving an automatic again leaves Jonathan constantly looking for the clutch with his foot.


9. Without the garage door type of window shutters on houses we feel like a fish in a fish bowl here that is totally exposed. Not to mention the adjustments from sleeping in a pitch black room (even at nap time) to sleeping with so much light in the room.


10. Everything feels huge, wide and open from the roads to stores to vehicles etc.