Trip to Missouri, Part One

As many of you know, John and I had a long trip to Missouri. In the middle of it, while I was staying with family and John was on a fly fishing trip to Colorado, our niece Audrey (12) had a heart surgery that involved several unexpected and scary complications. I'm delighted to say that she's doing better now--in fact, she left the hospital yesterday--but it was a long, sobering ordeal. Before we get into that, though, here are some pictures of our time with family before Audrey's surgery.

After hearing my brother, Ryan, preach our first Sunday in Missouri, we all went to get pizza. It was a lot of fun, although Caleb--Ryan's youngest--took to eating plateware because the pizza didn't arrive soon enough.

Audrey and Katie (Ryan and Joy's daughter) hanging out.


Nana and Caleb, Ryan and Joy's baby boy.


John and Caleb--all babies in our family eventually get used to being passed around.


Caleb taking matters into his own hands.


Noah and I, photo courtesy of Noah.


You can get a lot of bang for your quarter if you're willing to pile on the kid's corvette.


Here's Audrey during her long rest after surgery; she looks beautiful even with the ventilator tube.


Papa and Nana with Jackson, Tyler and Jerilyn's boy--who's soon to be a big brother!


Jackson interacting with the older kids at the hospital computer.


While Steph and Jeff were at the hospital with Audrey, John and I got to play Mom and Dad for a little bit with their two boys. Here are John and Noah after Noah's first grade orientation night.


Of course, we couldn't act completely grown-up. One morning, we let the Seth and Noah do their own hair, complete with mousse and hairspray.


That's it for now. We're so grateful that Audrey's home and doing better. We'd like to thank everybody for their prayers and especially Steph and Jeff's church for taking such good care of them.