Iowa, You Make Me Smile

My oldest sister April

Katie Grace and Micah Kearns

My Mom and Dad at Pray Over Iowa

The weekend before last was my trip home to Iowa. It was wonderful! I got to see everyone in my family except for my brother, John Hurston, who lives in San Francisco now. I also happened to be there on the same weekend as Pray Over Iowa which is like a big, statewide prayer meeting. I saw a lot of people who I’ve known forever. And I got to hear my daddy-o preach not once but twice! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and reminded me why Fall is my favorite time of year up there. I felt so refreshed after being there, and the only thing that could have made it better would be if Joseph could have gone too! I sure do have a precious family :).

Roll Tide!

Well, it's official. I've been converted to an Alabama fan, right down to the Houndstooth hat! I didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter because my in-laws might have kicked me out of the family if I didn't cheer for the Crimson Tide :). Joseph and I went to Wings this weekend with some friends and watched the first game of the season. It was really fun! The place was packed with fans and everytime something happened everyone in the restaraunt stood up and screamed. One of the elders at our church played on the '69 Alabama championship team for Bear Bryant so you can't get away from discussions about football, even at church! And when Alabama wins on Saturdays, all the men wear their Alabama ties on Sunday! On one hand, some people take football a little too seriously around here but on the other hand, it's really hard not to get caught up in the excitement. It's like high school football in Texas all over again!

Yea!!!!

Thanks to my very thoughtful Father-in-Law, Danny, and his Delta Points, I get to fly home in September to see my family!!! I haven't been there since Christmas but I did get to see my parents in May. Still, five months is too long! Mr. Danny knew that I have been missing my parents and so he booked me a flight. He's so good about making you feel appreciated. I'm not sure this family business would work well with just anybody, but Joseph's dad does a great job of making sure we are taken care of. He continuously shows appreciation for the work we are putting in. It definitely makes the effort worth while. I could not have been blessed with better in-laws!

Angels

I tell you what, God had to be surrounding my dad with angels on Saturday. After a few days in the hospital they were able to see that his heart and his brain were in good condition. They sent him home where he discovered that his bicycle was stored in the garage where he doesn't usually put it. When he took a closer look he saw that the back wheel was bent at a 45 degree angle and his helmet was cracked in pieces. He decided to check the clothes he wore on Saturday and discovered that there was a rip, blood, and tire tracks on the back of his shirt! He doesn't remember anything but it looks as if he rode his bike about a block away to get fresh cantaloupe and had some kind of crash on the way back. It also looks like somebody must of brought him home and put his bike in the garage for him because otherwise he would have had to carry the bike (because of it's condition) and the cantaloupe home. He hasn't been eating sugar for awhile and he had a couple of brownies that morning so they think his blood sugar might have plummeted, which would explain why he might have crashed. All that to say, God has really blessed my dad. There was a very flat spot on his helmet where it appeared that his head hit the ground. Without that helmet he would have been gone! It also explains why he has been so sore. THANK GOD FOR MY DAD!

Prayers for my Dad

Saturday night my sister April, who lives in Minnesota now, called me and I could tell right away that something was wrong. Her son (my nephew) Micah was staying the week with our parents just to have some alone time with them. My mom left my Dad and Micah at home yesterday and did a little shopping. While she was gone she got word that a very close friend of our family was in the hospital with possible strokes. My mom went home to get my dad and Micah and go to the hospital. When she got there my dad was walking around the house, very disoriented and he kept asking her what day it was. My mom told him that they really needed to go to the hospital to see Keven. Once they were at the hospital my dad continued to act groggy and disoriented (very unusual for him) and he began to complain of chest pains. My mom said that he was shaking and having cold sweats as well. They took him to the emergency room and began working on finding what could possibly be wrong. They did a CAT scan and a chest x-ray and both his brain and his heart appeared to be working normally. They did discover that he was bleeding from his colon and he had an infection in his bloodstream. They kept him in the hospital in Marshalltown over night and in the middle of the night his heart rate plummeted to 30 BPM a few different times. One of the worst parts is that my mom who just isn't quite as strong as she used to be, was there trying to take care of my dad and Micah (who is 3) and Micah would not go with anyone else (poor guy was probably really scared). My sister April was six hours away and her car had broken down on her earlier in the day causing her to need all new tires! Her husband was fishing way off in the boonies and couldn't be reached so she was stuck and starting to panic. She called me and we talked and prayed until her husband got home and they headed to Iowa as soon as they could. On Sunday, due to my Dad's heart rate dropping and the fact that they could not figure out what was wrong, they transported him by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. He is in the cardiology wing but will also be seeing a neurologist today for all kinds of testing. Please keep him and our family in your prayers. They mentioned something about a pacemaker and I'd really like to pray that it will be something more simple than that. He has been so healthy for a long time. He works so hard and he exercises at least 5 times a week. For Father's Day we got him an outdoor bike and he rode it 25 miles last Saturday! We are a little worried that he might have overdone it but they haven't said anything about that. Please pray also that I will know if I need to go up there or not. Given our history with my Mom, my initial reaction is to jump on a plane, but it really may not be necessary. Both of my sisters are there now taking care of my parents so I know they are okay. They just need lots of prayers. My dad really is the backbone of our family and it's really hard to see him down. I just have to remember that God is in control. Now that I've rambled on and on, I'll just ask one more time for your prayers! Thanks.

Near Death Experience

Yes, that's right. Joseph was at Wal-Mart today buying some quick groceries when it was hit by a tornado! He said that you could feel the air pressure leave the place and people were panicking as well as getting sick in the aisles!!! I attached a picture from the news channel of the funnel cloud. God had to be watching out for my Joseph today! 8 people were sent to the hospital but otherwise the storm just did some pretty serious damage to our neighborhood Wal-Mart. So, we don't have food but I do have a husband and I would much rather have him any day:).

Lucy and Friend

Some of you know already, but for Christmas Joseph gave me a cute, cuddly, little puppy dog! Since we aren't prepared for baby mode yet, Lucy is a nice beginning! It's surprising how much joy a little dog can bring :). She's just about the sweetest dog I've ever had and a very quick learner (although I have found a stubborn streak in her!). Her favorite place to be is sitting right between me and Joseph, touching both of us. She'll play full blast with him for as long as he will play and then she crashes on me! Her second favorite thing is the duck you see in these pictures. It goes everywhere she goes and as you can see, it is almost as big as she is. It makes a sound like a real duck when she chews on it so it sometimes feels like we have more than one pet! Last weekend we decided to take Lucy with us to a barbeque out in the country at Joseph's boss' house. Unfortunately Lucy got into a bed of fire ants and her face was swollen to about twice it's size! Her lips were so huge that they felt like they were going to pop when I touched them! We had to give her Benadryl and now she's back to normal. We still call her Big Lips though and occasionally Angelina. (Jolie, that is)